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Tokyo (CNN) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has waded deep into the effort to deal with the aftermath of the world's worst nuclear accident in a quarter century. His government said Tuesday it would spend the equivalent of $470 million to try to tackle the alarming toxic water crisis at the country's tsunami-crippled nuclear power plant. National authorities are stepping in as Tokyo Electric Power Company struggles to cope with an array of daunting problems at its stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant. The move is a gamble for Abe, who comfortably won elections last year and has so far remained popular. Why Fukushima is worse than you think . "Today, instead of the previous stopgap countermeasures, we have put together a basic policy for countering the contaminated water issue," Abe said after a ministerial meeting Tuesday. TEPCO has accumulated a huge volume of tainted water at the site since a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 set off meltdowns at three of the plant's reactors. A litany of leaks . Last month, it said one of roughly 1,000 huge storage tanks at the site had leaked 300 tons of toxic water, prompting Japan's nuclear regulator to declare the situation a Level 3 serious incident, its gravest assessment since the meltdowns at the plant in 2011. TEPCO looks for outside help to stabilize Fukushima . Now, the regulator says it suspects more leaks from other containers after the company detected high radiation levels in some parts of the water storage system over the weekend. TEPCO is also having difficulty managing the large quantities of groundwater that flow into and out of the area around the plant each day. In July, it admitted that radioactive groundwater was leaking into the Pacific Ocean from the site, bypassing an underground barrier built to seal in the water. Michael Friedlander, a former nuclear plant operator and engineer, described the groundwater problem as one of the biggest long-term issues at the plant. "It's like having a leak in your basement," he told CNN Tuesday. Government measures . Amid mounting concerns about the crisis and TEPCO's ability to deal with it, Abe said last month his government would step in. Fukishima tuna study finds miniscule health risks . In the plan outlined Tuesday, the government said it intends to spend roughly $320 million on a technologically challenging project to freeze the ground around the reactors to prevent groundwater from leaking into the plant and carrying radioactive particles with it as it seeps out. Japan ponders freezing ground . The plan to freeze the ground had already been proposed by TEPCO, but the government says it is trying to speed up measures to get a grip on the water crisis. It earmarked a further $150 million for a new, more effective processing system for the tainted water at the plant. Authorities will also replace water storage tanks that are held together by bolts with welded tanks, which have a lower risk of leaking. The three main elements of the government's plan are to decrease the amount of contaminated water in and underneath the reactor buildings and surrounding trenches, keep groundwater away from already toxic water and prevent tainted water from seeping into the ocean. Frozen ground . The plan to freeze the ground around the reactors is particularly ambitious. The Japanese government has previously described the task as "unprecedented." The technology has been used before in the construction of tunnels, but never on the massive scale that the Fukushima plant would require. It also has never been used for the years or decades that experts think will be needed at the plant. It is likely to involve plunging tubes carrying a powerful coolant liquid deep into the ground. The liquid would freeze the ground solid so that no groundwater could pass through it. Friedlander said that the ground freezing is "a good solution as an interim fix" until the leaks underneath the reactors are permanently sealed. TEPCO has been grappling with water issues ever since the plant was hit by the natural disasters in 2011. The resulting meltdowns constituted the second-worst nuclear accident in history, trailing only the 1986 disaster at Chernobyl, in the former Soviet Union. CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki reported from Tokyo and Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Junko Ogura contributed to this report.

The prime minister vows to move on from TEPCO's "stopgap countermeasures" The government says it will spend about $320 million on a plan to freeze the ground . An expert describes that measure as a good "interim fix" It is intended to stop groundwater from entering the site and mixing with toxic water .

(CNN) -- The three soldiers killed Wednesday at Fort Hood, Texas, came from different places. Two grew up in small towns, and one came from a seaside city in Puerto Rico. They all died in a shooting rampage that also left 16 others wounded. Sgt. 1st Class Danny Ferguson . Ferguson was killed trying to hold a door shut to stop the shooter, his fiancée, Kristen Haley, told CNN affiliate WTSP-TV in Tampa, Florida. "He held that door shut because it wouldn't lock. It seems the doors would be bullet proof, but apparently they're not," Haley told the station. "If he wasn't the one standing there holding those doors closed, that shooter would have been able to get through and shoot everyone else." Haley, also a soldier, said Ferguson was a native of Mulberry, Florida, and an outstanding athlete at Mulberry High, where he graduated in 1993. The small town is about 30 miles east of Tampa. He'd just returned from Afghanistan, she said. "This was his life. He was proud to be part of a great service," Haley told WTSP. CNN also spoke to Ferguson's parents in the Tampa Bay area. They declined to comment. Staff Sgt. Carlos A. Lazaney-Rodriguez . Lazaney-Rodriguez, 38, was from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and planned to retire from the military soon after serving 20 years, Aguadilla Mayor Carlos Mendez told CNN en Español's Mayra Cuevas. "It was a very close-knit family," Mendez said "Excellent, decent, very good people. I know his family and his parents. They are good people." Lazaney-Rodriguez graduated from high school in Aguadilla and enlisted at 18, Cuevas reported. He had a wife and family. Aguadilla, a town of about 60,000 people, is on the northwest corner of Puerto Rico. His immediate family, including his father and three brothers, lives in Tampa, Cuevas reported, and his aunt still lives in Aguadilla. "His aunt was destroyed; she almost couldn't speak," Mendez said. "They weren't expecting this. It is a pity that seven months before that he was meant to leave the Army something like this happens." Sgt. Timothy Owens . Owens, 37, was a counselor in the Army and had served in Iraq. "Very terrible that they had to shoot my son," his mother, Mary Muntean, told CNN affiliate WICS-TV in Springfield, Illinois. "He was a good person. Why would they shoot a good person that was helping them?" Owens grew up in Effingham, a town of about 12,000 people in central Illinois. He got married in August and had two teenagers from earlier relationships, WICS reported. Owens loved the military and planned to make it his career, his mother told the station. "He didn't answer the phone so I left a message on his phone. 'Son, call me so I know if you're OK or not.' Well, never got no call from him. I thought: 'Oh God, please don't let it be,' " his mother said. The wounded . Three patients previously listed in critical condition at Scott & White Memorial Hospital have been upgraded to fair condition, according to the hospital's Twitter account. One other patient at the hospital is expected to be released Friday, the hospital said. Five others who were wounded had been released from Scott & White by Friday. One of the wounded was identified as Maj. Patrick Miller of Allegany, New York, according to CNN affiliate WGRZ-TV in Buffalo. Friends said Miller, 32, is expected to make a full recovery after the gunman shot him in the abdomen. Miller's hometown buddies organized a prayer service at the Allegany Baptist Church on Thursday night, WGRZ reported. "He's like a brother," his friend Dustin Bottone said. "We're just trying to get the community together, to be there for Pat to let him know that even though we're far away, we're thinking about him."

Sgt. 1st Class Danny Ferguson came from Mulberry, Florida . Staff Sgt. Carlos A. Lazaney-Rodriguez was from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico . Sgt. Timothy Owens grew up in Effingham, Illinois . Sixteen others wounded in the shooting rampage .

(CNN)Lesley Gore, whose No. 1 hit "It's My Party" kicked off a successful singing career while she was still in high school, has died. She was 68. Her death was confirmed by family friend Blake Morgan, who produced her 2005 album, "Ever Since." "We loved her and we are very sad. She was an incredibly powerful, incredibly beautiful talent," he said. According to People magazine, the cause of death was cancer. Gore, born Lesley Sue Goldstein, had just turned 17 when "It's My Party," produced by Quincy Jones, topped the charts in June 1963. The song, about a girl whose party is ruined when she catches her boyfriend, Johnny, with a rival, became a pop classic, its catchy chorus often imitated. She was an overnight success, with fans suddenly converging on her family's house in Tenafly, New Jersey. "When the disc jockey ... would say, 'That was Lesley Gore, the sweetie pie from Tenafly,' well, people just came to Tenafly. You know, I'd wake up and there were people camped out on the grass," she said in an interview, according to Biography.com. The follow-ups, "Judy's Turn to Cry" and "She's a Fool," were in a similar teen-love vein, but Gore's next hit, "You Don't Own Me," was something else entirely. "You Don't Own Me," also produced by Jones, was a dramatic assertion of independence and pride. Released in late 1963, it peaked at No. 2, kept out of the top spot by the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand." Over the years the song, written by John Madara and Dave White, became a feminist anthem, recorded by such artists as Dusty Springfield and Joan Jett. During the 2012 presidential campaign, a number of celebrities -- including Lena Dunham, Tavi Gevinson and Carrie Brownstein -- appeared in a commercial lip-synching the song in an effort to urge women to vote. "It's hard for me to believe but we're still fighting for the same things we were then," Gore wrote on her Facebook page in 2012. "Yes, ladies, we've got to come together and get out there and vote and protect our bodies. They're ours. Please vote." The political activism suited Gore. After her singing career started winding down in the late '60s, she volunteered for Robert Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign. She later worked for New York politician Bella Abzug and such projects as a Bronx community health organization, healthpeople.org. "I worked for people like Robert Kennedy and I thought: 'Wow, that's what it's about. That's how you change the world,' " she told The New York Times in 2005. She also did some acting, playing Pussycat, a Catwoman sidekick, on the TV series "Batman." As an adult Gore came out publicly as a lesbian, though she told the website AfterEllen.com she never tried to hide her sexuality. "I just never found it was necessary because I really never kept my life private. Those who knew me, those who worked with me, were well aware," she said in 2005. "Times were very different then, so, you know, I just tried to live as normally as humanly possible. But as truthfully as humanly possible." She had some songwriting success with a tune she co-wrote with her brother Michael, "Out Here on My Own," a song from the 1980 film "Fame" that was nominated for an Oscar, but she went almost 30 years before releasing an album of new material in 2005. "Ever Since," a low-key collection of songs, was "very sparse, very organic," Gore told The New York Times. She had continued to perform, however, always ready to trot out "It's My Party" and her other hits. "If I've learned anything in this business, how stupid would it be not to do 'It's My Party' when people come to hear it?" she said. Gore is survived by her partner of more than 30 years, jewelry designer Lois Sasson. People we lost in 2015 . CNN's Tony Marco contributed to this story.

Lesley Gore hit No. 1 with "It's My Party" in 1963 . Her hit "You Don't Own Me" became feminist anthem . Gore was also nominated for an Oscar .

(CNN) -- Tom Cruise should have been a rock star. Remember him pounding his air guitar in not much more than a shirt and shades in "Risky Business"? He turned a pool hall into a concert stage, strutting his stuff in "The Color of Money," shook his moneymaker under layers of latex at the end of "Tropic Thunder" and took a chance, singing in his own voice in "Top Gun" and "Magnolia." He always had the moves, and more important, he had the self-belief. He turns himself on. Still, the challenge of a full-blown musical has apparently not been something he's been in a hurry to tackle, perhaps wary of undercutting his action-man credentials. Turns out, some things are worth waiting for. Will audiences show up for 'Rock of Ages'? I don't know how much they may have finessed his vocal tracks, and it doesn't matter. He owns "Rock of Ages," an addled tribute to '80s hair metal, from the very minute he appears. He emerges hazily from underneath layers of discarded groupies in a palatial hotel suite, sporting gunslinger body art and outrageous crotch jewelry, dispensing intensely eccentric, deeply fried philosophical nuggets before stumbling into the indoor Jacuzzi. Ladies and gents, meet Stacee Jaxx, God of Rock. A caricature of already larger-than-life personalities Axl Rose and Steven Tyler, Stacee is very much a supporting character in Chris D'Arienzo's Tony-award-winning 2009 musical. But he's also the star of the show, the one everybody else is dying to see, to make or to emulate. Cruise has the charisma to sell all that even as he shows us a boozed-up captive to celebrity, sex and ego. When he does perform, he's electric. However, Cruise is just as good in the dialogue scenes, whether it's messing with club owner Alec Baldwin's vulnerable brain or fending off an increasingly hot-under-the-collar "Rolling Stone" features writer (Malin Akerman). A karaoke musical in which almost everybody bursts into FM anthems at the drop of a hat (yes, even Baldwin, who duets with Russell Brand on a camp rendition of REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling"), by rights "Rock of Ages" shouldn't come off as a one-man show. But it's an uneven fight, and you might find yourself itching for the fast-forward button whenever Cruise is off-screen. Julianne Hough, who portrayed Ariel in "Footloose" and who appeared in the strikingly similar "Burlesque," plays the movie's ostensible heroine, Sherrie Christian, a small-town girl from Oklahoma who gets off the bus in Hollywood ready to pursue her dream of being a singer. Instead, she finds herself playing out a PG-13 version of "Showgirls," waiting tables at the legendary rock club the Bourbon Room and falling in love with a co-worker, Drew (Diego Boneta). Drew's own singing aspirations get considerably more screen time than Sherrie's, but he still fails to make much impact. Hilariously, within hours of meeting her, he claims to have been inspired to write "Don't Stop Believin." "It goes on and on," he explains modestly after giving her a taste of the first verse. You couldn't accuse the filmmakers of taking themselves -- or anything else -- too seriously. Director Adam Shankman, the veteran choreographer who also directed "Hairspray" (and a couple of episodes of "Glee"), encourages the cast to amp everything up to 11, or in the case of Catherine Zeta-Jones, 111. She plays the mayor's wife, Patricia Whitmore, crusading to clean up the Strip and shut down the Bourbon Room for reasons more personal than political. All this sound and fury signifies next to nothing, and music fans may feel it's a funny sort of tribute that mocks as much as it rocks. Even so, it's good to see Tom Cruise letting his hair down. It's a fun show if you roll with it. 'Rock of Ages': 8 fun facts about the movie's costumes .

Tom Cruise stars in the musical film "Rock of Ages" Critic says he shines as Stacee Jaxx, "God of Rock" The film also stars Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Julianne Hough .

(CNN) -- The 152-year-old Melbourne Cup is back on home soil, after a surprise win by Green Moon in Australia's most famous horse race. Bred in Ireland but owned and trained in Australia, Green Moon's victory will be sweet for local horse trainers and racing fans, who have seen the cup go to international entries in recent years. The six-year-old stallion took the winner's share of the AUD6 million (USD6.2 million) prize money, beating Fiorente second and Jakkalberry third. Green Moon was ridden by Hong Kong-based Australian jockey Brett Prebble. The win also marks the fourth time a horse owned by Lloyd Williams, an Australian businessman and property developer, has won the high-stakes contest that is watched by millions across the country. Green Moon was an early contender but questions emerged over his form after a disappointing seventh place at his last race just over a week ago. Six of the eight favorites in this year's race were from overseas and were dubbed by Australian media as "international invaders." Last year's winner was Dunaden, a French stallion and another French horse -- Americain -- won the race in 2010. "There is nothing like winning the Melbourne Cup. The Melbourne cup is Australia," says trainer Mark Kavanagh, whose horse Shocking won in 2009. "Any other race I don't think it would really matter but the Melbourne Cup is such an Australian icon that it is hard for them to stomach that it might be leaving Australian shores," he told CNN's Winning Post. Home-grown entries have been overshadowed by foreign contenders as a lucrative prize pot lures horses bred and trained mainly in Europe. The prize money has become all the more tantalizing in the past few years as the Australian dollar has strengthened against other major currencies, making it worth the $150,000 it costs to transport and stable the horses during their stay down under. "Well they've got to travel half way across the globe, they've got to settle in and they've got to get used to our dry Australian tracks but at the end of the day there is six million Australian dollars waiting for them so there are plenty of them that are going to have a crack," Kavanagh said before this year's race. It's hard to overstate the significance of the race in the Australian sporting and social calendar. Imagine the party atmosphere of the Kentucky Derby with the tradition and pageantry of the Grand National and Royal Ascot. A novice's guide to the Melbourne Cup . Held at Flemington Racecourse, the race meet attracts some 100,000 punters dressed in their finest hats and formal attire, along with more comical takes on the occasion. It is also watched by millions at bars, homes and outdoor screens across the country. "There are race meetings, I understand, in other parts of the world. But no-one promotes their race like we do," Robert Doyle, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, told CNN. "I mean who else has a public holiday for a horse race? We do and we think it's perfectly natural." The race, part of a week-long meeting, also has a huge economic impact for the city, with millions bet and more spent. Race goers alone are estimated to spend nearly $30 million during the week, while the carnival and other events that accompany it bring in $350 million, Doyle said. Cup memories: The legs that stopped a nation . British horse trainer Luca Cumani, who has twice narrowly missed out on winning the cup, says another reason why there are more international entries is because European horses tend to be bred for covering longer distances compared to their Australian counterparts. However, he says the international horses have their own obstacles to overcome. The animals have to travel for 50 to 60 hours and then face two weeks of quarantine. Quarantine regulations also make it difficult for international trainers to bring in their own food so the horses have to get used to the local cuisine. "Which is not a help and they suffer from jetlag just the same as people do and they take quite a while to adjust," he told CNN's Winning Post. Kavanagh, like most Australian trainers, is not particularly sympathetic to the foreign horses' plight, but as long as the prize money remains high, it's likely that entrants will come from far and wide.

Green Moon has won Australia's most famous horse race, the Melbourne Cup . The six-year-old stallion took the winner's share of the $6.2 million prize money . Australian horse-racing fans thrilled to have cup back on home soil . More international horses have been competing lured by lucrative prize pot .

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- Every day, tens of thousands of fertilized hen eggs are delivered to Sinovac laboratories in Beijing. Each egg is infected with the H1N1 virus, then incubated for three days. White-coated employees examine every egg individually before the virus is extracted and used to make a vaccine. Vials of H1N1 vaccine before they are labeled and packaged. Sinovac Biotech Ltd. was the first company in the world to successfully complete clinical trials for an H1N1 vaccine. It was also the first company approved by the Chinese government to produce millions of doses for the public. China is set to become the first country to begin mass inoculations sometime around the beginning of October. According to Sinovac CEO Yin Weidong, the secret lies in years of vaccine research and development. Sinovac was the first and only company ever to create a vaccine for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the worldwide pandemic that left almost 350 people in China dead. The SARS vaccine was never used. By the time it was discovered, the outbreak had subsided. However, the breakthrough has enabled Sinovac to stay ahead of the curve. Watch as the H1N1 vaccine is produced » . "The SARS vaccine helped us achieve the H5N1 (bird flu) vaccine, which helped us get the H1N1 vaccine," says CEO Yin Weidong. "That's why we could be so fast and be the first." Since Sinovac's success, at least two other Chinese companies and several around the world have also produced H1N1 vaccines. China has reportedly ordered 3.3 million vaccines from Sinovac, 4 million from Hualan Biological and another 3 million from the Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences. According to Yin, the main challenge for China will be providing enough vaccines for everyone. "A country with 1.3 billion people needs 1.3 billion vaccines," he says. Watch report on China's inoculation preparations » . The Chinese government has long warned an outbreak of H1N1 could be catastrophic in a massive country with an underdeveloped health system. In recent weeks, the instances of H1N1 infections have risen dramatically throughout the mainland. There have been more than 9,000 cases of the H1N1 virus in China so far, and more than half of them have happened in the last few weeks alone. "It's basically affected all provinces of China and we're worried because of the sheer number of people involved," says Vivian Tan, communications director for the World Health Organization in China. "It's moving from the urban and coastal areas into more rural remote areas." According to the WHO, the rapid acceleration of H1N1 is occurring in part because flu season is starting, the weather is cooling down and school is back in session. More than 80 percent of China's swine flu cases have occurred in schools or due to school-related activities. China has had perhaps the most extreme and active response to the virus than any other country in the world. For months, masked Chinese officials have boarded international flights upon arrival, checking all passengers' temperatures and administered health surveys before granting entry. Thousands have been quarantined, including entire flights and school groups. Health authorities have heavily publicized the risks posed by the virus and rolled out a Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment plan, as an alternative to the vaccines produced by Sinovac and others. Yet, some Chinese citizens remain skeptical that a vaccine is even necessary in the first place. "It doesn't seem like my baby is going to catch the swine flu," says one mother at a hospital in central Beijing. "And what if it affects his health in the future? I'm just going to avoid crowded areas." Like any vaccine, the WHO has warned the H1N1 vaccine may have negative side effects. Sinovac plans to track and test patients for several years after vaccinations are administered to determine if there are any dangers. Ultimately, in China, the central concern remains that the H1N1 virus itself could expand and spin out of control. According to Tan of the WHO, "I think one of our biggest fears is that (the H1N1 virus) could re-assort with the H5N1 avian flu virus that's out there, to create this 'superbug' which is both easily transmissible, quite lethal and quite deadly."

Inside the Chinese lab that has created world's first H1N1 vaccine . Sinovac Biotech Ltd is first company approved by the Chinese government . The company will now produce millions of doses for the public . Sinovac got headstart after creating a vaccine during SARS pandemic .

(CNN) -- Jared Gabay is like many other college students. When he has a big test coming up, he turns to what's called a "study drug" for a little extra boost. "I'm more driven. I don't focus on anything else," the Auburn University senior says about taking the drugs. "If I have a paper, that's all I'm doing. No distractions, no socializing, just on with it. " Gabay takes the prescription drug Adderall, designed to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. He doesn't have ADHD or a prescription, but the drug is not hard for him to get. "It's easy -- not sketchy or perceived in a bad way," he says. "Maybe a simple text or a phone call. 'Hey mind if I get some Adderall? I've got a long night ahead of me.'" After taking the pill he hits the books in his fraternity house room, pulling an all-nighter studying. It's a scene that is playing out at college campuses across the United States. Alan DeSantis, a professor and researcher at the University of Kentucky, has tracked study drug use there. "It's abused more than marijuana and easier to get," he says. DeSantis' research found that 30% of students at the university have illegally used a stimulant, like the ADHD drugs Adderall or Ritalin. The numbers increase with upperclassmen. Half of all juniors and seniors have used the drugs, the study found, and 80% of upperclassmen in fraternities and sororities have taken them. Adderall is an amphetamine and can be habit forming. The federal government lists it as a schedule II drug. Drugs in that category have, according to U.S. law "the highest abuse potential and dependence profile of all drugs that have medical utility." Dr. Raymond Kotwicki, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Emory University's school of medicine in Atlanta, says he worries about students who might take these drugs. "They might produce euphoria, they might temporarily make it easier... but in the long run there are significant problems both in terms of thinking, mood problems, maybe even functionality." Kotwicki, who also is the medical director at the Skyland Trail mental health treatment facility in Atlanta, says drugs like Adderall can produce jitters, headaches, stomach problems or even eventually lead to psychosis, a mental disorder that includes the loss of contact with reality. Additionally, he worries about pressure on students to be perfect, saying, "If you're a student and you feel you are not good enough to be able to do things without the aid of external help, that's an idea that gets reinforced that can lead to a whole bunch of different problems." Students apparently don't see it that way. Another telling statistic from DeSantis' research at the University of Kentucky is how dangerous the students think these cognitive enhancing stimulants are. They say they see Adderall as slightly more dangerous than the soft drink Mountain Dew and nowhere near as dangerous as drinking beer and smoking. Taking drugs without a prescription or buying the controlled substances is illegal and students who use the drugs could face prosecution. But for students like Gabay, use of study drugs is so common they don't see it as a problem. "I would see how the law is there," he says. "I consider it kind of an unwritten rule. It's accepted. ... It's OK if you're just getting it for one thing. If you're consistently using it and not prescribed that's crossing the line." Some scientists say cognitive enhancement drugs should be carefully legalized and made available for this kind of use. In the journal Nature in 2008, a commentary by five researchers said, "We should welcome new methods of improving our brain function." They added, "Safe and effective cognitive enhancers will benefit both the individual and society." Gabay says the drug works for him. "I'm just in a really good mood right now," he says, leaving a university building. "I just did great on the test. I can still feel some of the effects, but they are starting to wear off." He aced the test and got an A in the class. It's something Gabay has seen happen over and over since he started taking study drugs. He says he used to get Cs, but now with the help of Adderall, it's B's and A's.

Researcher finds 30% of students have illegally used ADHD drugs Adderall or Ritalin . "I'm more driven. I don't focus on anything else," user says . Expert says drugs like Adderall can produce jitters, headaches, stomach problems .

(CNN)As they took their seats on a TransAsia Airways flight that crashed in Taipei on Wednesday, Lin Ming-wei and his young family were looking forward to a vacation on Kinmen, an island in the Taiwan Strait. Minutes later, Lin was fighting his way out of the plane's wreckage and searching frantically for his toddler in the shallow, murky waters of the Keelung River. He searched for three minutes before spotting his son's feet in the water. "When he pulled him out, he had no heartbeat," Lin Ming-wei's brother, using his English name Chris Lin, told CNN. "His lips were blue. There was no sign of life in him." Lin Ming-wei didn't give up, performing CPR on his son. "He is my only child. I absolutely have to save his life -- I can't lose him," the Liberty Times newspaper quoted him as saying. The 2½-year-old boy made it and was in a hospital Thursday, about to be discharged from the intensive care unit as he battles pneumonia, his uncle said. Chris Lin said that his brother, Lin Ming-wei, suffered some scratches, while his sister-in-law fractured some bones and is recovering well after surgery on her left hand. "My brother was really grateful for the rescue teams (and) the pilot," said Chris Lin. "Because of (the pilot's) heroic act, he was able to save a lot of people -- and allow our family to survive." Chris Lin refuted earlier claims by local media that the Lin family switched seats before takeoff after a noise made his brother uneasy and it was this hunch that saved the family from death. He told CNN on Monday that his brother and family switched seats at the check-in desk and not when they were on the plane. Chris Lin said his brother told him the plane suddenly dropped after its left engine lost power. After it hit the water, Lin Ming-wei -- who was strapped to his seat and upside down -- unbuckled himself before helping free his wife, the brother said. A fire department rescue worker who was one of the first on the scene said the cabin was already chest-deep in water when he entered. "Many passengers were tangled up in their seat belts and hung upside down," the Taipei Times quoted him as saying. Huang Chin-shun, 72, said he helped save four lives by unclipping safety belts. "Shortly after taking off, I felt something was not right," he told CNN affiliate ETTV. "I thought: 'something's wrong with the engine,' because I always take this flight." Thirteen people were saved in the initial rescue effort but progress slowed and water had completely filled the fuselage by evening, when a crane lifted it from the water. The Lins were not the only ones to have a lucky escape. As the out-of-control plane spiraled into the river on the outskirts of the island's capital, it clipped a taxi traveling along an elevated highway. The driver, 52-year-old Chou Hsi-tung, and his female passenger sustained only minor injuries from shattered fragments of windshield glass. Photographs showed a yellow Volkswagen with a flattened windshield and engine hood. After the plane hit, the taxi driver made a shocking report to dispatchers. "I just brought a passenger up unto Huandong, and as I was getting on (the expressway), a plane flew by and hit me," he said, according to an audio recording of the call released by taxi company Crown Taxi. "A remote-controlled model plane?" the dispatcher asked. "My car is completely wrecked," Chou replied, going on to explain that it wasn't a remote-controlled plane, but a manned plane. "Huh?" the puzzled dispatcher responded. "Are there any casualties?" The driver described the dire situation: "The whole thing fell into the Keelung River. My passenger can't get out of the vehicle. My car's wrecked." According to the Taipei Times, Chou's family didn't believe him at first when he telephoned home to say: "I'm OK. My car got into a crash. It was hit by an airplane." CNN's Vivian Kam and Mitra Mobasherat in Hong Kong, Shen Lu in Beijing and Greg Botelho and Catherine E. Shoichet in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Taxi driver to dispatch: "A plane flew by and hit me" Lin Ming-wei's son was blue with no heartbeat when his father spotted his feet in the water . Lin's family is one of a handful of survivors of this week's airplane crash in Taiwan .

(CNN) -- As I've written on various top 10 lists (and mentioned to anyone who will listen) Asghar Farhadi's "A Separation" is an exceptional film. It has been picking up awards since winning the Golden Bear at its world premiere at the 2011 Berlin International Film Festival and is one of the front-runners for best foreign language film at the upcoming Academy Awards. Nader (Peyman Moadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) are a married couple in trouble. Simin wants to leave Iran with her husband and daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi), but Nader refuses to leave his ailing father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi). As a result, Simin sues Nader for divorce. But unless Nader either agrees to a divorce or permits Simin and Termeh to go without one, Simin cannot leave the country with her daughter. Nader refuses to give his permission and Simin moves out, choosing to live with her parents while continuing to try and get her husband to agree to either come with them or allow Termeh to go. However, it's not clear that their daughter even wants to leave and she chooses to stay with her father when Simin leaves. "A Separation" is a family drama, a mystery and an exploration of modern Iranian society. It's a deeply political film that hides its politics in every day occurrences. It's also a story that on some levels could be played out in any society and yet it reads as a very Iranian tale. This is a society about which Americans know very little yet one that is, on the surface, easy to relate to. Nader and Simin appear to be relatively secular. They are a modern, well-to-do, intellectual and cosmopolitan couple. So when Nader hires Razieh, a deeply religious, working class woman to care for his father who has advanced Alzheimer's, it sets in motion a rather unexpected whodunit of sorts. Razieh is repeatedly presented with dilemmas that challenge her faith and require her to call her spiritual adviser for guidance. For example, while her religion forbids her to touch a man who is not her husband, she is caring for an elderly and sick man. Surely she is allowed a dispensation for charitable or compassionate works? While her Imam assures her that this is indeed acceptable, the situation proves too much for Razieh who suggests to Nader that her unemployed husband Hodjat (Shahib Hosseini) might be a better fit. Unfortunately, Hodjat is arrested for being in debt before he can start work and Razieh must return. From day one she seems, for lack of a better word, squirrely. She's obviously hiding something from Nader and when he returns to the apartment one day to find his father non-responsive, on the floor and tied to the bed, he loses his temper and things go pear shaped. Here's where the mystery kicks in and things get complicated, but to reveal any more would deprive you of watching this film unfold. While the relationship between Nader and Simit is still front and center, so too is the story behind what happened to Nader's father and the aftermath. Who is lying and why? Who did what to whom? The answers to those questions lie in explorations of Iran's social, religious and political customs and serve to deepen the emotions that run through this film. I feel like a broken record, heaping praise on "A Separation," but I really can't find anything wrong with it. My natural instinct is to try and bring some sort of balance to a review. Find a crack in the armor of a great film or some small bit of light in a dreadful one, but there is really nothing to criticize here and I get the feeling that upon a second viewing, it may rise even higher in my various top 10 lists. Moadi, Hatami and Bayat are all deeply convincing and moving actors. A true strength of an actor's performance is when the viewer doesn't understand a word of dialog and is still moved. Farhadi's direction and screenplay (the final 10 minutes of the film is among the best endings I've ever seen) combined with the brilliant work done by the performers, make this one of the truly great films of this year or any other. A Separation is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It contains some family dynamics of an emotional nature.

"A Separation" is one of the front-runners for best foreign language film . Nader (Peyman Moadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) are a married couple in trouble . Moadi, Hatami and Bayat are all deeply convincing and moving actors .

(CNN) -- Presidential kids are off-limits. That's the unwritten rule in Washington. But rules are broken -- and Elizabeth Lauten is hardly the first one to do so. Lauten, communications director for Tennessee Rep. Stephen Fincher, resigned from her post after setting off a social media firestorm by railing against the Obama daughters. In a Thanksgiving-Day screed on Facebook, she scolded Malia and Sasha Obama, 16 and 13 years old, respectively, for what she said was their inappropriate outfits and their bored looks during Wednesday's turkey pardoning ceremony. "Try showing a little class," Lauten wrote. "Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don't make faces during televised, public events," she concluded. She later apologized, but the post went viral. CNN political analyst John Avlon said Lauten's reaction was "way out of order. " "Let's reality check here, folks. This is a turkey pardon. This is not a matter of war and peace. This is kind of an odd bit of show dating back to Harry Truman," he said. "And I think a bunch of teenagers could be pretty easily forgiven for not taking it too terribly seriously without insulting the republic." GOP staffer resigns over criticism of Obama daughters . The White House expressed shock, but so did the GOP. "Children, especially the first daughters, should be off-limits in the political discourse from attacks," said Sean Spicer, the Republican National Committee communications director. It has long been a bipartisan goal to respect, and protect, the privacy of presidential kids, who are living in a fishbowl through no fault of their own. But that hands-off policy has limits. Here are some examples from the recent past: . Amy Carter . Amy was just 9 years old when her father, Jimmy Carter, took up residence in the White House in 1977. Her first day of class at a public elementary school was a media circus, with photographers snapping shots just a few feet away of her in a stocking cap, jacket and Snoopy tote bag. The school quickly established some ground rules to ensure a semblance of normalcy. Even the Secret Service agents who accompanied her had to wait in an office across the hall. Chelsea Clinton . This first daughter turned 13 about a month after the inauguration of her father, Bill Clinton. Wanting her to have a normal childhood, the Clintons asked the media to limit their coverage of Chelsea to public events. "We really work hard on making sure that Chelsea doesn't let other people define her sense of her own self-worth," President Bill Clinton said in a 1992 People magazine interview. "It's tough when you are an adolescent because peer opinion and other people's opinion become more important. But I think she'll be OK." Still, it wasn't long before "Saturday Night Live" and Rush Limbaugh took a crack at Chelsea, mocking her appearance. Limbaugh compared her to a dog. . He then recounted how he apologized once to Amy Carter for calling her "the most unattractive presidential daughter in the history of the country." Jenna and Barbara Bush . Jenna and Barbara, daughters of George W. Bush, were already young adults -- but not of legal drinking age -- when their names were splashed in headlines during the spring of 2001 after getting caught with liquor. Largely ignored by the media up to that point, the 19-year-olds were branded "party girls" by the tabloids. Five weeks later, Jenna was in trouble again for attempting to use a fake ID to buy alcohol. A "New York Post" headline screamed: "Jenna and Tonic - Bush daughter in new booze incident as twin sister watched." And all of this happened before the age of social media, in which the Obama daughters now live. When everyone has a voice via Facebook, Twitter and the like, the children of political families may be subjected to the same swings and arrows as their parents. It shows how "divided and how dumb and mean-spirited so many of our debates are right now," Avlon said. "It's an indication of how ugly and undercutting the politics are that even kids are fair game to some people who are punching way below their weight. It's ugly, ugly stuff." Dana Bash, CNN's chief Congressional correspondent, reported from Washington; Ed Payne reported and wrote from Atlanta.

There's an unwritten rule that presidential kids are off-limits . A GOP staffer is resigning after breaking that rule . Commentators and satirists made fun of Chelsea Clinton . The Bush twins got in hot water over underage drinking .

(CNN) -- She tackled one of the toughest jobs any nurse could take on -- treating a highly contagious Ebola patient. And somehow along the way, she contracted the deadly virus herself. Now, Nina Pham tries to recover in the same Dallas hospital where she works. Here's what we know about the 26-year-old Texan: . 'I'm doing well' On Tuesday, Pham said she was "doing well" in a statement released by her employer, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. "I'm doing well and want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers," she said, according to the hospital. "I am blessed by the support of family and friends and am blessed to be cared for by the best team of doctors and nurses in the world." Pham was in good condition, said Wendell Watson, spokesman for Texas Health Resources. She's Vietnamese-American . Pham grew up in a Vietnamese family in Fort Worth, Texas. She didn't go far away for college, attending Texas Christian University in the same city. Pham graduated with a nursing degree in 2010. And just two months ago, she received certification in critical care nursing, which deals specifically with life-threatening problems. She's very religious . "She is a very devoted Catholic, and always puts the other people's interests ahead of her own," said family friend Tom Ha, who has known Pham since she was in eighth grade. Ha taught Pham in Bible class at his church. "She comes from a family that is (of) a very strong faith," he said. So he wasn't surprised "that she (did) more than her duty called for in order to make sure the patient had a chance to survive." When Pham called the church to let members know she had contracted Ebola, "everybody at the church" began crying, he said. How did she contract Ebola? She loves her job . Ha, the family friend, said nursing isn't just a job for Pham -- it's a calling. "I think that she takes it (as) more than a career. I think it's a vocation, because her family, from the time that we met, they always serve other people," he said. When she was accepted into nursing school, she was really excited, a family friend told The Dallas Morning News. "Her mom would tell her how it's really hard and a bunch of her friends quit doing it because it was so stressful," the friend told the paper. "But she was like, 'This is what I want to do.' " What's a hospital supposed to do if an Ebola patient shows up? She's a good teacher . Not only is Pham skilled in proper nursing techniques, she was a scrupulous teacher, too. Jennifer Joseph trained under Pham at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Though she now works at another hospital, she remembers the guidance she received from Pham. "Knowing Nina, she's one of the most meticulous, thorough, effective nurses," Joseph told CNN affiliate KTVT. "She taught me infection control and hand hygiene and protocol. I learned so much of that from her." Joseph said she also has faith that those taking care of her now will help their colleague recover. "I have full confidence they'll be able to get her through this." She has a sense of humor . Among the boards she set up on her Pinterest account are two filled with funny e-cards: "Laughter is the best medicine" and "Nurse things." "I hate the questions that start with, 'So you're a nurse, let me ask you ...' " read one of the pins she posted. She adores her dog . Many of Pham's photos on social media feature her Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Bentley. After Spanish authorities euthanized an Ebola patient's dog last week, many in Dallas feared Pham's dog might face the same fate. Can pets get or spread Ebola? But Dallas city spokeswoman Sana Syed said Bentley is safe and being cared for in quarantine. "That dog was very important to her," said Mayor Mike Rawlings. "We want to make sure that dog is as healthy as can be at this point and being taken care of." Officials emailed a video of Bentley to Pham on Monday night, he said, hoping that it might boost her spirits. Complete coverage on Ebola . CNN's Brooke Baldwin and Erin Burnett contributed to this report.

Nina Pham graduated from Texas Christian University in 2010 . She received her critical care certification just two months ago . Pham's family is known for always helping other people, a longtime friend says . She adores her Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Bentley .

(CNN)After the death of King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia quickly announced that one of his younger brothers, Crown Prince Salman, was succeeding him. The man taking control of the world's top oil exporter is well established in the Gulf kingdom's corridors of power. Salman, 79, is "a stalwart of the royal family" who is "viewed as a pragmatic and cautious reformer, much like his predecessor," says CNN's Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. He has served as defense minister and deputy prime minister of Saudi Arabia, a vital U.S. ally in the Middle East, for years. Like Abdullah, he's one of the dozens of sons of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdulaziz. Here are some of the key points about the new ruler. Salman was governor of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for nearly five decades during a period of significant change. "When he became governor in 1963, Riyadh had 200,000 inhabitants — today it has more than seven million," Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Middle East Policy, said in a commentary. "Salman presided over this remarkable transformation with a record for good governance and a lack of corruption." "He had to be a combination ... of a reformer, of a judge, a jury in some cases, and deal with dissent, as well as dealing with economic issues," Robert Jordan, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told CNN. "So I think he's well prepared for the task at hand." Salman's experience running Riyadh also involved keeping many of the numerous members of the Saudi royal family in line. "Since most of the royal princes and princesses live in Riyadh, he was also the family sheriff, ensuring any transgressions were dealt with smoothly and quietly, with no publicity," said Riedel, who worked for the CIA for 30 years. His national roles have since brought him wider responsibility. Salman "has been chairing cabinet meetings for several months and handling almost all foreign travel responsibilities for the monarchy since he became the heir in 2012," Riedel said. Salman's ascension to the throne is in line with the appointments put in place by Abdullah before his death. "I think that you'll see a continuation -- very similar policies, very similar dynamics unfolding," said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. "The kingdom is modernizing; it's changing, it's reforming and it will continue to do so over the next several decades." Riedel says the royal family "values family collegiality and harmony highly." "The two previous Saudi kingdoms in the 18th and 19th centuries were wracked by internal family squabbles, which their foreign enemies exploited," he explains. "With the Arab world facing its worst crisis in decades, the royals will want to present an image of stability and strength." Salman's first order after assuming the throne was to appoint his youngest brother, Prince Muqrin, as the new crown prince. Analysts see that appointment as an effort to ensure future stability. Abdullah had named Muqrin as deputy crown prince in March. At 69 years old, Muqrin is relatively youthful. A former head of intelligence for the kingdom, he is also reportedly well-liked by world leaders. Muqrin "has been closely linked to Abdullah and his policies of modernization and reform," according to Cordesman. But the succession plan isn't without its critics. Muqrin's mother does not have royal blood, which is a sticking point for some people in Saudi Arabia. Several of Salman's sons also hold prominent positions. They include Prince Sultan, who in the 1980s became the first Muslim astronaut and is now the president of Saudi Arabia's tourism authority; Prince Abdulaziz, the deputy oil minister; and Prince Faisal, the governor of the Medina region. Another son, Prince Khaled, was reportedly among the pilots who carried out the first airstrikes on ISIS positions in Syria last year. Details about Salman's earlier life and upbringing weren't immediately available Friday. But an official biography contained one nugget about his youth: he had apparently memorized the Quran by the age of 10, it said. King Abdullah's legacy: 5 things to know . CNN's Dana Ford contributed to this report.

Salman is "viewed as a pragmatic and cautious reformer," CNN's Becky Anderson says . He ran the Saudi capital for nearly five decades as its population grew significantly .

(CNN) -- As an NBA executive, I'm always looking for untapped potential. As a proud native of Nigeria, I believe that Africa is one of the world's greatest resources in that area. From Angola and Tunisia to Senegal and South Sudan, there is so much size and athletic ability across the continent. Some tribes in Sudan and Senegal have an average height of 6-foot-6, which also happens to be the size of the average NBA player. People in Nigeria, Mali and Congo tend to be very big and physical. We need to build a strategy to go into these regions and cultivate the talent through infrastructure and instruction. Not long ago, soccer in Africa was almost the same way. It was untapped. Kids in Africa start kicking a ball when they are six or seven years old, if not younger. It's like baseball, basketball and football in America. If you're talented, people will find you. That's what happened with soccer. The number of academies has grown rapidly, and people are really into it. As a result, nearly every major soccer team has a lot of African players. Through my experience as a Nigerian player, coach and now NBA executive, I believe basketball can follow a similar path. It starts with building facilities. We need to start investing in outdoor courts and indoor gyms for kids to play. From African Voices: Nigerian NBA boss finding basketball stars . Most kids in Africa don't start playing basketball until they are 13 or 14 years old. This puts them at a disadvantage because they lack the instincts and must work harder to develop the skills and habits formed at an early age. With a tremendous assist from the NBA, Nike and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), we have been trying to provide opportunities for the next generation of African basketball players. Every year, we conduct the Giants of Africa camp, sponsored by Nestlé Milo and Nike, as well as the NBA Basketball Without Borders Africa elite camp. Nearly 100 campers have gone on to play college basketball in the United States, including Luc Mbah a Moute, who now plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. Mbah a Moute (Cameroon) is one of several African success stories. Serge Ibaka (Democratic Republic of Congo) is a rising star for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Luol Deng (born in Sudan) was an All-Star last year for the Chicago Bulls. These guys are great examples for young people in Africa. Kids are beginning to see the possibilities because of the exposure of the NBA. It was unfortunate that Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria), Dikembe Mutombo (Congo) and Manute Bol (Sudan) -- three African giants -- came in an era before the internet, cable and satellite television. A lot of African kids have heard of these guys, but they don't know the scope of their accomplishments. Deng, Ibaka and Mbah a Moute are trying to become giants themselves, but they can't do it alone. Read related: Team Nigeria gears up for motorsports debut . Through the Sprite clinics and Basketball Without Borders, we've been to Congo, Guinea, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. On a continent with more than a billion people, we still have a lot more ground to cover, and we need help from sponsors in Africa. We need more companies to help build courts and gymnasiums for kids to play. Nestle Milo paid for a world-class floor made in the United States. That's what we use for my Giants of Africa camp. For years, Nike has generously provided shoes and equipment for the players. That is the kind of support we need from influential investors in Africa. As you can probably tell, the push to develop talent in Africa is personal. I grew up there. I played there. I know how much talent there is. We have to concentrate on building facilities, establishing successful leagues and finding investors to help young players. America gave me the opportunity, but I truly believe Africa is going to be the next big thing. It is going to be prominent in tapping basketball talent. I really hope I'm alive to see it happen. This much is certain: I will die trying. The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Masai Ujiri.

Africa "the next big thing" in basketball, says Denver Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri . Soccer talent on the continent was also untapped until academies were built . Young Africans need more outdoor courts and indoor gyms, argues Ujiri . Basketball Without Borders and Giants of Africa camp are helping but need support .

(CNN) -- The sun had not risen yet on that February day in 1986 when Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier's eight-vehicle motorcade of luxury cars and jeeps arrived at the Port-au-Prince airport, then named for his father. Surrounded by soldiers and about 100 journalists who came to witness the end of an era in Haiti, the dictator boarded a United States Air Force C-141 jet along with his glamorous wife, Michele Bennet, their two children and 20 friends and servants. Also on the plane that day were trunks of designer clothes, gold, jewels and priceless art. What could not be seen was the hundreds of millions of dollars Haitian officials accused the Duvalier clan of stealing from state coffers. The pillaging of Haiti's national treasury now lies at the heart of legal action against Duvalier, who stunned the world by returning to Haiti this week from some 25 years of quiet exile in France. Some lawyers who have been following the Duvalier money trail for years were flabbergasted that such a man was able to enter Haiti legally, that he was not arrested right away. "I don't know how a criminal like him goes free," said Enrico Monfrini, a Switzerland-based lawyer who has been representing the Haitian government in a long and drawn out legal battle over Duvalier's cash. Duvalier reportedly lost a chunk of his wealth when he and Bennet divorced, but the family still has $5.7 million in assets in a frozen bank account in Switzerland that belongs to a family foundation. Now, a Swiss law enacted specifically to help repatriate stolen funds from failing states may help return the Duvalier money to Haiti, said Daniel Thelesklaf, executive director of the International Centre for Asset Recovery in Switzerland. "I am optimistic there will be a decision by the end of the year," he said. The law, which goes into effect February 1, was enacted to help Switzerland overcome existing hurdles with states that have no mutual legal assistance partnership with Switzerland or with troubled nations that are incapable of dealing with such issues, according to the Swiss Foreign Ministry. For a judge order restitution, a government must prove a discrepancy between the wealth of a "politically exposed person" and his or her earnings, along with high levels of corruption in that country. "They managed to draft this law very quickly," Monfrini said, adding that legal proceedings in Haiti would not affect efforts at restitution. He said $5.7 million is not a large amount compared to what Duvalier allegedly stole, but morally, repatriation of the money would be a huge victory. But not a complete one until Duvalier is made to stand trial for his alleged crimes, said human rights lawyer Mario Joseph, who has worked in Haiti on building the legal case against Duvalier. Joseph said no one in Haiti ever imagined that Duvalier would return to face charges. His presence in the country has enabled the court to reopen a 2008 case against the strongman, he said. But Duvalier's lawyer, Reynold Georges, expressed confidence Wednesday that Haitian authorities have little evidence to press charges. Duvalier, said Georges, would not only remain a free man but he could decide to return to politics. Georges later told CNN that Duvalier had given "all that money" to charity for Haitian relief after the earthquake. "I don't know if the Swiss bank transferred that money already, so I don't have any details on that," Georges said, "but I guarantee you that that has been done." Dismayed by the thought of the return of a brutal dictator, Monfrini pressed upon Haiti's justice system to prevail, and for the courts not to forget what Duvalier pledged in the aftermath of Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake. He expressed "complete solidarity" with those who were suffering in "these hours of great national distress" and called on Swiss authorities to transfer all of the money from his foundation to the American Red Cross for the relief effort. Monfrini doubted Duvalier's sincerity but not the new Swiss law. "This money will go back to Haiti for sure," he said. "It will never go back to Duvalier."

NEW: Duvalier's lawyer says "all that money" has been given for Haitian relief . A new Swiss law will ease repatriation of funds . A government lawyer in Haiti says the money will never go back to Duvalier . Jean-Claude Duvalier may be charged in Haiti for pillaging state coffers .

(CNN) -- We've been nearing the end of the late-fees era for years -- and, thanks to technology, we're one step closer this week. Amazon just launched a no-fees library loan program for digital books. This shift actually started more than a decade ago with the DVD-rental business. Or, more specifically, when Reed Hastings, now the CEO of Netflix (er, Qwikster?), forgot to return a copy of the movie "Apollo 13" for six weeks and racked up a $40 late fee from a video-rental store. That inspired his DVD-by-mail service, according to a 2006 essay in The New York Times, in which customers pay a monthly fee for the privilege to leave "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" under their couches for as long as they'd like without financial penalty. Ba-da-bing. No more late fees. (Customers still gripe about Netflix's prices, though). Now, books are the next frontier. Sure, there have been previous no-tech attempts to waive library fees. Some book-loaners have programs called "Amnesty Week," in which good-willed librarians let anyone return an overdue book -- no questions asked. Last year, someone brought a 35-years-overdue book back to a library during one of these events. The fine otherwise would have been $1,400, according to Time. In other cases, the fees to be charged were so hefty that libraries just decide to give up. In Oakland, Jim Pavon returned a 78-years-overdue copy of a Rudyard Kipling book, according to a 2005 story in The San Francisco Chronicle. "Stunned library officials agreed to waive the late fees," the paper says, "which under the 1927 rate of 2 cents per day would have amounted to more than $550 by now." Digital books allow for a different approach. Instead of charging owners for overdue e-books, the files just lock up on the borrower's e-book reader or smartphone. "E-books automatically expire," said David Burleigh, a spokesman for a company called OverDrive, which is managing this library book-loaning program for Amazon and has apps that work for other e-reading platforms. "So that definitely is a benefit from borrowing e-books. And you don't have to go back and forth to the library. You can do it remotely." That's good for forgetful types, who can stash books away from weeks or decades before remembering they've borrowed them. And it's good for libraries, too, since they can loan these books out again right away -- rather than waiting for them to be returned. "It's fantastic," said Carrie Russell, director of the American Library Association's program on public access to information. The fact that libraries don't charge late fees on overdue e-books isn't a big deal, she said. "Having been a librarian, the libraries don't really rely on late fees as a big budget boost," she said. "It's negligible. It doesn't matter to us if we don't collect late fees. We'd rather the information gets out to people." Most digital book "rentals" last for two weeks. Libraries purchases a certain number of licenses for the digital books, and then lend those out to patrons. So it's not like the library can loan out 1,000 copies of "The Help" just because that book is popular. That's a good start, but is based on the "print model," Russell said. In the future, she expects new "Netflix models" for books to emerge, where libraries pay monthly fees to publishers, perhaps, and can lend out as many copies of a book as their patrons would like. Amazon is in talks to do that for consumers, according to The Wall Street Journal. "Customers would pay an annual fee to access a library of content" under the potential plan, that paper says. The Amazon program is the largest so far, with 11,000 libraries participating, all of those in the United States only. That sounds like a lot, but it's only 9% of the libraries in the country, according to data from the American Library Association. The rest of the country may have to keep sweating overdue book fees. But perhaps not for too much longer.

New program lets libraries lend e-books to Kindle users . 11,000 libraries in the United States participate . There are no late fees for the e-book rentals, but the files lock when they're overdue . Tech has slowly been whittling away at the idea of late fees .

(CNN) -- Spanish art dealer Jose Carlos Bergantiños Diaz helped persuade wealthy buyers to shell out millions of dollars for works he claimed famous masters of modern art had painted. But in reality, U.S. authorities allege, the works he sold as Rothkos and Pollocks were fakes painted by an artist he met on a Manhattan street corner. The alleged scheme stretched for nearly two decades, involved several New York art galleries and earned the conspirators more than $30 million, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court on Monday. Last week, authorities closed in on Bergantiños and his brother, arresting them in Spain, federal prosecutors said. The brothers, according to the indictment, face conspiracy and money laundering charges. The painter, Pei Shen Qian, was also indicted. He's accused of making false statements to FBI agents, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Investigators believe he fled to China as the alleged scheme started to unravel. The indictment is the latest chapter in a case that's rattled the modern art world, involving several galleries and wealthy buyers. Galleries made more than $80 million off of dozens of fake works, the indictment alleges. And Bergantiños and his associates made more than $33 million. "Today's charges paint a picture of perpetual lies and greed. As alleged, the defendants tricked victims into paying more than $33 million for worthless paintings which they fabricated in the names of world-famous artists," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement Monday. "The Bergantiños Diaz brothers then laundered and hid their illegal proceeds overseas. With today's Indictment, the defendants must now answer for their alleged roles as modern masters of forgery and deceit." What started with a meeting between Bergantiños and Qian on a New York street corner evolved into an elaborate plot, the indictment alleges. Qian would paint works in his home in Queens, New York. Then Bergantiños and his associates would peddle them through galleries to unsuspecting buyers who paid millions, the indictment says. The alleged forged works purported to be paintings by famous artists, including Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Robert Motherwell and Clyfford Still, the indictment says. But long before the works of art were sold, according to the indictment, Bergantiños played a role in the forgeries. To make the paintings more convincing, Bergantiños bought old canvases at flea markets, stained newer canvases with tea bags to make them look older and gave Qian old paint to use. Then, after the works were completed, according to the indictment, Bergantiños "subjected many fake works to various processes, such as heating them, cooling them, and exposing them to the elements outdoors, in an attempt to make the fake works seem older than they actually were." In at least one instance, the indictment says, Bergantiños used a blow dryer to heat up a forged painting. Authorities have said his girlfriend, Glafira Rosales, was a key player in the alleged conspiracy. After pleading guilty last year to charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering and filing false federal income tax returns, she's awaiting sentencing in federal court. In an interview with Bloomberg in Shanghai last year, Qian admitted imitating modern masters' works, but said he never intended to pass them off for profit. In court documents, prosecutors allege he received between several hundred and several thousand dollars for paintings the art dealers and galleries sold for millions. "I made a knife to cut fruit," he said, according to Bloomberg. "But if others use it to kill, blaming me is unfair." If the lawsuits filed against Bergantiños and his associates are any indication, there's already plenty of finger-pointing over the alleged forgeries. A number of civil cases against him are still pending, according to federal court records. It was not immediately clear whether Bergantiños had legal representation or whether Spanish authorities plan to extradite him to the United States. Confiscated art collection returned . Missing artworks valued at close to $1.5 million . Stolen Gauguin and Bonnard art recovered after hanging on a kitchen wall . CNN's Laura Ly contributed to this report.

Prosecutors allege a New York-based art dealer bilked buyers by selling them forged art . Spanish authorities arrested Jose Carlos Bergantiños Diaz, federal prosecutors say . Investigators allege that he and associates made more than $30 million off fake art . The painter behind the works was also indicted; Bergantiños met him on a street corner .

(CNN) -- A Muslim woman and the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations sued a judge Wednesday for allegedly ordering the woman to remove her hijab, or religious head covering, in court. Raneen Albaghdady, of Wayne County, Michigan, contends that Judge William Callahan told her to remove her hijab on June 16 when she was petitioning for a name change, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in a U.S. district court in Michigan. Wayne County is also listed as a defendant in the suit. Callahan and the 3rd Circuit Court of Michigan said in a written statement that they had not seen the complaint and could not comment on the lawsuit. However, they said that Albaghdady did not object to removing her head covering and that she had not informed the judge that she wore it for religious reasons. The lawsuit says Callahan "insisted" that Albaghdady, a naturalized citizen, remove her hijab and that she eventually complied. It says the judge denied Albaghdady's petition for a name change, saying that she had filed her petition five days too early. No further details were offered. The lawsuit seeks an order declaring the practice of "forcing Muslim women to remove their hijab as a precondition to appearing in court" unconstitutional and illegal. It asks that the judge and Wayne County not be allowed to "take similar unconstitutional actions." The Michigan Islamic relations council released a partial video of the incident Tuesday on YouTube. In the 30-second video, the judge can be heard saying, "The head piece? No hats allowed in the courtroom." The statement from Callahan and the 3rd Circuit said that the YouTube video was "missing some critical footage." "In response to Judge Callahan's direction, 'No hats allowed in the courtroom,' Ms. Albaghdady responded, "Okay, it doesn't matter,' and immediately removed her head covering, without protest or explanation," the statement said. "Judge Callahan and the court have the greatest respect for spiritual practices and all religious preferences. Had he been informed that the head covering had some religious significance, the judge would have permitted Ms. Albaghdady to continue wearing it in court," it said. The suit comes a day after the state's Supreme Court issued an order allowing lower state courts to "exercise reasonable control" over the appearance of witnesses and parties to lawsuits, a rule change that had been proposed after a Muslim woman refused to remove an Islamic garment in a small claims court. The order allows courts "reasonable control over the appearance of parties and witnesses" so as to "ensure that the demeanor of such persons may be observed and assessed by the fact-finder and ensure the accurate identification of such person." The order, which amends a rule of the Michigan Rules of Evidence, is effective September 1. The justices had voted earlier this summer to change it. The amendment was prompted by a 2006 small claims case in Michigan filed by Ginnah Muhammad, who wore a niqab -- a garment that covers the entire face and head, except for the eyes -- to court, the order said. The judge asked her to remove her niqab, saying he needed to be able to see her face to tell whether she was telling the truth, according to court documents. Muhammad refused, saying she was a practicing Muslim and would take off the veil only in front of a female judge. The judge said a female judge was not available and told Muhammad she could remove the niqab or have her case dismissed. She chose the latter, according to court documents. She sued the judge in federal district court, which declined to exercise jurisdiction over the case. Muhammad has since appealed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to court documents. Michigan is home to about 600,000 Muslims, and close to 500,000 live in the southeastern part of the state, according to the Michigan office of the American-Islamic relations council. The Detroit area, in Wayne County, ranks fifth nationwide for the number of Muslims, it said. Last month, the Judicial Council of Georgia adopted a policy allowing religious head coverings in the state's courtrooms. Daniel Mach, the director of litigation for the American Civil Liberties Union's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, said Wednesday the issue has "come up in a variety of states." "We are concerned about the growing number of incidents restricting religious expression in the courtroom," he said. "... This is an issue that affects a variety of religious faiths and others."

Lawsuit claims naturalized citizen was forced to remove religious head covering . American-Islamic relations group seeks order declaring the action unconstitutional . Judge: Woman didn't protest, never said it was a religious garment .

Moneygall, Ireland (CNN) -- "You discover a lot about yourself when you're running for president," Barack Obama said on the campaign trail in 2008. "It was brought to my attention last year that my great-great-great-grandfather on my mother's side hailed from a small village in County Offaly." Two years into his presidency and Obama has decided to pay that small village a visit. If a village can get emotional, Moneygall -- with its 300 residents -- is in raptures. Children sporting "O'Bama" T-shirts skip along the high street waving American flags. Beaming villagers scramble up ladders to smarten up the fronts of their homes. "Dulux provided all the paint for all the houses in the place, they sent down a lady to coordinate all the colors and she's done a pretty good job on it you know," says resident Timmy O'Conor, brandishing a paint brush. "If it passes the man himself now, that's the thing." There's speculation the man himself may swing by the Ollie Hayes Inn for a pint of Guinness. Ollie Hayes says he's had the CIA come through some months back but there's still no certainty that it'll actually happen. If Barack Obama does stop by though, he'll find a large faux-bronze bust of himself gracing the bar and Hayes says he'll be ready and waiting with the Guinness. "Who knows," says Henry Healy who I meet in the pub, "we may all have to join him and raise a glass to his re-election campaign in 2012." Healy is a distant relative of President Obama and was invited by the Irish-American Democrats and the American-Ireland Fund to go to Washington for his inauguration. "Our relationship goes back to 1761 when there was a marriage between Sarah Healy and Joseph Kearney. Joseph Kearney is the great-great-grandfather of Falmouth Kearney who emigrated from this village in 1850." Relatives though are a dime a dozen in this part of the world. Healy's aunt, 75-year-old Sadie Williams, says she thinks she's Barack Obama's oldest living relative in Ireland. "It's very exciting for us all," she tells CNN. "We all had great excitement in the beginning when the word came through he was related to us." Williams' grandson goes to school at Kilkenny College, about an hour from Moneygall. The college boasts alumni like author Jonathan Swift and philosopher George Berkeley, the namesake of what is now the University of California - Berkeley. Now it boasts 13 students who all claim some family connection with President Obama. "I was only aware of these two boys being my cousins," says the oldest of the 'Obama cousin' clan, 17-year-old Kate Condell. "We didn't realize we were interlinked before." There's a huge star spangled banner draped across the classroom table and the deputy headmaster has laid out a number of Barack Obama biographies. But the children admit they haven't read them. Kate Condell is the only one who's even visited the United States. "Just Florida on a family holiday, but an invitation to the White House would be much appreciated!" Perhaps not at Kilkenny College, but elsewhere in Ireland there is a palpable anxiety in the air. The dire state of the economy, the burden of day-to-day financial struggle, the uncertainty over whether Ireland can ever escape its debts -- these are issues which weigh heavy on a people known for their good cheer. "We all just want a rest from it, to talk about something else," one pub-owner tells CNN. As many of his predecessors -- including John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and the Bushes -- have done before him, Obama is in search of his Irish roots, not least because it is sure to go down well with the 40-million Irish emigres with Irish roots living in the U.S. This is after all the start of his 2012 re-election campaign. But to the Irish on the Emerald Isle it is a home-coming; a gesture of solidarity and kinsmanship in troubled times. And a chance for the villagers of Moneygall to throw a party that will likely last long after the president's gone.

Obama visits village in Ireland where his great-great-great-grandfather hailed from . The village has spruced itself up in preparation for the visit . The trip is sure to go down well with 40-million with Irish roots living in the U.S.

(CNN) -- In the new HBO comedy "Veep," Anna Chlumsky plays the young chief of staff to the Vice President of the United States played by ex-"Seinfeld" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus. If the actress looks familiar, it may be because a few decades ago she starred in "My Girl" opposite an equally adorable Macaulay Culkin. The 31-year-old Chicago native took a break from acting, went to college and even worked as an editorial assistant for a year until she found her way back to her thespian roots. She recently spoke to CNN about the new show, politics and what it was like being a child star. CNN: Are you interested in politics? Anna Chlumsky: I'm interested in current affairs and social policy as a whole, but I don't watch politics for sport. I think people can get really wrapped up into it. When I was in college I was much more into it. I was an international studies major. CNN: What does that mean? That you wanted to become a diplomat? Chlumsky: It's a liberal arts education. You study things you like to learn, not to necessarily be anything in particular. CNN: Did "Veep" make your more cynical about politics? Chlumsky: I find it to be kind of liberating in a way because really the spotlight that is put on people in politics is that they're people. Some people are really good at their jobs, some people are really bad. People have good and bad days. Everyone uses the restroom. Personally I find that to be liberating because when we mythologize our politicians, we put too many expectations on them, both positive and negative, and we kind of make them supernatural in a way. I think a better way is to think of politics as a pragmatic discipline. The idea that people are trying to work things out and make deals like anybody else kind of takes the scariness out of it. CNN: You became a big star when you were a kid. Chlumsky: (Laughs) I wouldn't say star. CNN: Come on! That movie was huge! Chlumsky: Yeah the movie was big. CNN: Was it weird having adults groveling and treating you differently? Chlumsky: It definitely makes you start to see the world in a different way in the sense you start to weigh who your friends were before and who your friends were after. As far as adults groveling, my mom was really wonderful about that on set. Anytime somebody would ask what I wanted and I didn't ask her first I would get into trouble, and that was absolutely right. She was very sensitive to people treating me differently than anyone else on the crew, and I'm so grateful she made a point of that. CNN: Still, you're on movie sets. Chlumsky: I think what affected me the most was being taken out of school for a few months every once in a while. When I say I wasn't a star, the reason why is most of my time was spent in school in Chicago. The movies felt more like a hobby. CNN: You dropped out for a while. Chlumsky: It was not my decision at first. It was me going through puberty and not being cute on screen. I auditioned a lot during my adolescence for things and it just didn't take, so that took its toll because being an adolescent it can be less than fun to be told that someone doesn't like you anymore. So that was pretty much what drove me to the conscious decision to give it a rest. Also in college you learn you have all these other interests, and you really want to commit to them for the time being so that's what I did. I thought I was not going to be an actress. I moved to New York right after college and you see enough Broadway shows, and I was inspired again to really give it a go for all the right reasons. CNN: You must have been nervous diving back in that you might not get work. Chlumsky: Yeah but that's what was so great about coming to the decision as an adult because I kind of know that's a hazard of the job. I had to prepare myself and know that I'm strong enough to persevere through that, and I am rational enough to realize that only one person can get any role, and it doesn't mean it's personal. It doesn't mean you're bad. I came at it from a much healthier point of view.

Anna Chlumsky plays Amy Brookheimer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus' chief of staff . A couple of decades ago she starred in "My Girl" opposite an equally adorable Macaulay Culkin . Chlumsky spoke to CNN about the new show, politics and what it was like being a child star .

(CNN) -- Authorities in Alaska were working Friday to ensure public safety after a woman was mauled to death by animals -- most likely wolves. The victim, Candice Berner, 32, was found dead Monday in the village of Chignik Lake, authorities said. If the attack is confirmed, it would be the first fatal encounter with wolves on record in Alaska, said Megan Peters, spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers. If officials determine which animals were responsible, authorities will try to find them and destroy them, Peters said. An investigation determined the death was "non-criminal in nature," the troopers said in a news release, adding that "it has been concluded that the animals most likely responsible for the attack are wolves." Troopers were working with the Department of Fish and Game "as it addresses public safety concerns regarding wolf activity close to the community of Chignik Lake," the troopers said. Berner, a Pennsylvania native, moved to Alaska last year. Chignik Lake is in the southwest part of the state, part of the Alaska Peninsula that shoots out from the mainland. The community of about 105 residents is about 475 miles southwest of Anchorage. Several Chignik Lake residents have reported recent encounters with wolves, some of them threatening, Peters said. Authorities saw a bloody trail where Berner had been dragged off a road and wolf tracks near the body, Peters said. "It's hard. It's really hard. I feel horrible, you know, empty," her father, Robert Berner, told KTUU-TV in Anchorage, Alaska. "They said Candice put up a good fight," he said, "and there must have been two, maybe three of them." Berner described his daughter as "small and mighty," a woman who liked to box, lift weights and run, according to a dispatch in the Slippery Rock Herald, the newspaper in her Pennsylvania hometown. She was training for a race and could get into a meditative state when running, her father said. Foul play has been ruled out, Peters said. Berner was an itinerant special education teacher, according to CNN affiliate WTAE-TV of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Authorities listed her address as Perryville, Alaska, around 30 miles from where her body was found. She had arrived in Chignik this week to work at the school there, the Slippery Rock Herald said. Berner had been with the Lake and Peninsula Borough School District since August, schools official Rick Luthi said. Her co-workers last saw her alive at the end of the workday Monday, Luthi told the newspaper. "She had made the comment that she wanted to get out and get some fresh air," Luthi said. "We assumed that that meant a run for Candice, because she had a habit of doing that whenever she could." Her father was a professor and taught her first special education class, KTUU-TV said. "I felt like it was work worth doing, and I've always felt that way," Robert Berner said. "I thought Candice would be able to handle it well, because she has a tremendous tolerance for those who are different." Residents in Berner's hometown recalled an adventurous woman who loved the outdoors and longed to live in Alaska, WTAE said. Patrick Grant, of Slippery Rock University's Special Education Department, told the station that Berner returned home for grad school and that he last saw her about 18 months ago. "She cared about other people," Grant told WTAE. "She cared about kids. She cared about how she'd make a difference in the world. That's why she was there. She wanted to make a difference in the world." Berner was featured in Slippery Rock's winter 2010 journal, where she talked about life in Alaska without television and having her groceries flown in. She also wrote a blog called "Adventures of an Alaskan Bush Teacher," posting photos on it and writing about the wildlife -- particularly the wolves that lurked in the wilderness. "This tragedy affects all of us. We're all deeply crushed by it," Grant said. "We're all deeply concerned about someone so young reaching such a tragic death, and we're all asking ourselves, 'What can we do?' And I don't know what the answer is." CNN's Greg Morrison and Dave Alsup contributed to this report.

Authorities work in response to "public safety concerns" about wolves . If it is determined Candice Berner was killed by wolf, it would be first such death on state record . Berner's body was found Monday night in remote area near village of Chignik Lake . Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman says foul play has been ruled out .

Nicosia, Cyprus (CNN) -- "It is a jungle," the taxi driver told me. "It is a jungle and we are the rabbit surrounded by lions." It's a dramatic analogy, but one that accurately sums up Cypriots' disgust and helplessness at what they perceive to be the ultimate betrayal by the European Union. The last two weeks have been the most dramatic in decades for Greek Cyprus, still reeling from the harsh terms of a €10 billion bailout from international lenders to save the island nation's banking sector. Large bank deposit holders are being forced to take huge losses, and unprecedented limits on the movement of cash have been imposed here. LATEST: Cyprus' banks reopen for first time in two weeks . The prevailing mood is one of utter helplessness. Greek Cypriots are used to fighting. They fought Turkey for the very land they live on. But today there is no battle to fight against the nameless, faceless group of EU and International Monetary Fund bureaucrats and officials who have now become deeply involved in the future of their country. "We wanted to be Europe's friend," continues the driver, "but now it is turning on us." It's difficult not to sympathize. Groups of locals sit in pavement cafes in the capital city of Nicosia, anxiously watching state television, waiting for the next move, waiting for the next development in a seismic event which has rocked the Cyprus economy to its very core. Every interview, every comment is being dissected assiduously. The biggest question this week was whether money would really be there when Cyprus' banks finally reopened Thursday. It is, but it can only be withdrawn €300 at a time. But Cypriots are also discussing and arguing about the long-term effects of the bailout. What does austerity mean? How come the Irish and the Spanish didn't lose their savings? Why us? Walking down Nicosia's main shopping streets, there is little sign of an economic crisis. No queues at the ATMs. Restaurants are busy. Tourists are browsing through the many local stores. Heated discussions over Cypriot coffee can be heard everywhere, and although I can't understand the words, I can sense the frustration. These people are stuck in a state of limbo. Journalists bandy the term "an uneasy calm" around quite a lot, but it seems a perfect fit to describe the mood here. What's the point in getting angry if you don't know what you're getting angry about? What can you say to the government when their hands are being forced by Europe? What does it all mean for Cyprus? Ironically, it is Cyprus' youth who seem to have foreseen the long term effect of the bailout. Hundreds of high school students have taken to the streets to voice their dismay over what they see as a threat to their future, though they weren't blaming the government for everything. Placards bearing unflattering comments about the German Chancellor Angela Merkel peppered their morning marches, orchestrated to pass under the gaze of the cameras of hundreds of journalists who set up camp in one of Nicosia's main squares and at the parliament building. The feeling of worry was palpable. The Russians might lose their money, the young protesters seemed to be saying, but what about us? We could have just lost our future. I reached the end of the street and at the border crossing stumbled across a completely different, more Turkish side of Cyprus. I walked about 100 meters and spotted the bank. The bank's doors were open, its Turkish flag blowing in the wind. Here people are pleased with the weather. Summer is coming. It's the high season for tourists and hopefully this year will be fruitful. Spare a thought for your Greek counterparts? A shop assistant shrugged. What the long term effect of this bailout will be is anybody's guess. The rules change every day and while the government insists that the bailout -- and all that comes with it -- is the lesser of two evils, the people sitting in the cafes, those trying to run a business, and the shoe shiner trying to eek out a living remain unconvinced. The last two weeks have shattered Cypriots' confidence in their country, and the people are fully aware that like a rabbit in the jungle, Cyprus has been well and truly cornered.

Cyprus' banks reopen for first time in nearly two weeks . Cyprus agreed to allow big losses for large deposit holders in exchange for €10 billion bailout . Young Cypriots see the bailout and its harsh terms as a threat to their future .

(CNN) -- Loyda Rodriguez says she can still remember the day her daughter was taken. What began as a simple walk home from a shopping trip more than five years ago became a nightmare, she says. "November 3, 2006, is when they stole my daughter," she told CNN Thursday. "I had left to go shopping. When I came back, I did not realize that a woman was following me. When I entered my house, my daughter stayed on the patio, and that was when she was taken." But that account is not what she has told other news organizations in describing what happened that day. In 2008, she told ABC News a woman appeared in her backyard and grabbed her out of her arms, while she was trying to enter her house. Last year, the Associated Press reported that Rodriguez felt someone tug at her daughter as she tried to enter her home, and then turned to see a woman get into a waiting taxi, along with her young daughter. And the El Periodico newspaper reported that Rodriguez said she left her daughter on the patio with other children while she went to deal with clothes on the terrace. Reached Friday by phone, Rodriguez told CNN she does not remember telling ABC or anyone that the girl was snatched from her arms. She said she's given multiple interviews on the case, and stood by what she said earlier -- that she left the girl outside after returning from a shopping trip. It all happened in about two minutes, Rodriguez said. Now, the 7-year-old girl is at the center of an international custody dispute. She is a child with two identities, in two countries, with two sets of parents who claim her as their own. In Missouri, they call her Karen. In Guatemala, she is known as Anyeli. Guatemalan authorities say Anyeli was snatched from Rodriguez and sold to an international adoption agency. Last year, a Guatemalan judge ruled that the girl belonged with Rodriguez and not with her adoptive U.S. parents. The Guatemalan government suspended adoptions in 2007 after authorities found multiple cases of falsified birth certificates and paperwork, as well as alleged thefts of babies. This week, the U.S. State Department weighed in on the case of the 7-year-old girl, saying a U.S. state court would have to decide whether the girl should return to Guatemala, because when the incident happened, the two countries had not yet signed an international treaty dealing with abducted children. "Our view remains that, at the time, this appeared to be a legitimate adoption. So again, our preferred course of action would be for any claims to be pursued in the state courts of the United States," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. Rodriguez told CNN she was devastated by the news. "I feel very sad, and I am still suffering, because I had hope that the United States would respond to me and would return my daughter. ... I do not know why they are unfair, because I have my rights, because I am her real mother," she said. In Guatemala at least 10 people have been charged with human trafficking in connection with the case of this adoptive girl. So far, two of those people have been convicted, and the others are awaiting trial. That's more than enough proof, Rodriguez says, that her daughter should come home. "There is very important evidence, which revealed that she was stolen from me, and DNA evidence proves that I am her real mother," she told CNN. However, a source with knowledge of the case told CNN that while Rodriguez's DNA matches the DNA of a child brought to the embassy in Guatemala, there is no evidence the child in question in the United States is the same child tested at the embassy. Also, questions have been raised about whether the person presenting the child at the embassy was, in fact, Rodriguez's sister, which casts doubt on the kidnapping story, the source said. Guatemalan authorities say the adoption agency falsified documents to make the girl eligible for adoption, something that the adoptive parents in Missouri apparently didn't know. Rodriguez says she now hopes to go to court in Missouri to get her daughter back. The adoptive parents were unavailable for comment, referring CNN to their lawyer in Washington, who declined to comment. Last year a family representative said the adoptive parents would "continue to advocate for the safety and best interests of their legally adopted child. They remain committed to protecting their daughter from additional traumas as they pursue the truth of her past through appropriate legal channels."

The mother has given various accounts of how the child disappeared . The 7-year-old girl is at the center of an international custody dispute . The U.S. State Department says the case should be settled in U.S. state courts .

(CNN) -- This week MME speaks to the man charged with boosting growth in the Kingdom of Bahrain: Sheikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa. Sheikh Mohammed is concerned the nuclear dispute with Iran is deterring potential investors . As chief executive of the Economic Development Board, one of Sheikh Mohammed's main tasks is to ensure Bahrain stays ahead of its competitors. The government's pushing ahead with economic reforms to reduce the Kingdom's dependence on oil. But with crude prices near $100 a barrel, John Defterios asked whether the appetite for change had diminished. SM: The reforms are being done for aspirational reasons rather than necessity, so we are trying to enter the post-oil area because we want to. And therefore, because of this aspirational aspect, trying to get to as opposed to people pushing us somewhere we don't want to go. JD: How do you redefine Bahrain's role? Traditionally it's been a financial center, but you have Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Dubai even Abu Dhabi emerging in financial services. How you redefine it to sustain a lead? SM: The rising tide lifts a lot of places and as the region is booming and growing, financial services are growing throughout the region. Bahrain's strengths have been and will continue to be its human capital, the people that have led the financial sector and the long standing regulations that have been established in Bahrain. JD: Strategically and a geopolitical question here: the Crown Prince came out and declared what Iran's intentions really are -- in his view -- for a nuclear policy, and called for greater diplomacy right ahead of a visit by the President of Iran to the country. What's the motivation here? SM: We feel that the distraction caused by the Iranian nuclear issue is holding investment back in the region as a whole, and increasing the security threat of the region. Nobody is debating the right to peaceful nuclear power, but we all have that need and we all need a peaceful resolution to this. JD: Historically, Iran has even made claims against Bahrain, what do you do now moving forward now? Do you bring Russia, China, the United States and the European Union closer together, in terms of where we should be going in the future? SM: We've resolved our historical issue with Iran, and we are well beyond that, but going forward... This is such a important issue affecting security worldwide, that we feel it is important and at a level high enough that we need all powers involved because it does affect everybody. JD: Can the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) become much tighter as an organization to have a voice in that process; as opposed to speaking from the sidelines and hoping that the major powers move forward? SM: Absolutely, I mean, the GCC is speaking with a unified voice. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia came out with a proposal for providing nuclear fuel from an independent authority; this was completely backed from the GCC. We are all moving forward and are willing to play a beneficial role to resolve this issue. Meet the Sheikh: . Sheikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa is chief executive of the Economic Development Board, the organization responsible for stimulating and supporting growth of the Bahraini economy. He was appointed in June 2005, following 10 years working directly for His Highness Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Commander-in-Chief of the Bahrain Defense Force and Chairman of the Economic Development Board. From 1995 to 1999, he was director of the Crown Prince's office. In 1999, he was appointed head of the court and also deputy head of the Crown Prince's International Scholarship Program. During this time, Sheikh Mohammed was heavily involved with the Crown Prince's initiatives to liberalize the telecommunications sector and with labor market and economic reforms. A keen motor sports enthusiast, Sheikh Mohammed was deputy board chairman of the Bahrain International Circuit and is a former vice president of the Bahrain Motor Club, now known as the Bahrain Motor Federation. Sheikh Mohammed, who is married with two sons and one daughter, was born on April 14, 1969. In 1992, he received a bachelor's degree in economic theory from the American University, Washington DC. Two years later, he received a post-graduate diploma in business studies from the London School of Economics. (source: Bahrain Economic Development Board) E-mail to a friend .

Sheikh Mohammed bin Isa Al Khalifa steers Bahrain's economic growth . Says Bahrain's strength is its "human capital" in the finance sector . Calls on world to unite to resolve nuclear dispute with Iran .

(CNN) -- For the first few moments of her life, Veronica was with her birth mother. For the next two years, she was with her adoptive parents. And for the last week, the toddler has been with her biological father, over 1,000 miles away from the only home she'd ever known. It's been a long, complicated journey for young Veronica -- one made possible by a federal law meant "to protect the best interests of Indian children" that, in the process, has tugged at the heartstrings of all involved. The story began in 2009, when Veronica's biological mother and father, Dusten Brown, signed a legal document agreeing to put the girl up for adoption. Brown's attorney, Shannon Jones, says that her client signed the waiver but didn't quite understand it. Soon after the girl was born, Brown -- a U.S. Army soldier -- headed off on a 1-year deployment. It was then that the baby moved on as well, to the Charleston, South Carolina, home of Matt and Melanie Capobianco. It was an open adoption, family friend Jessica Munday said. That meant the girl's birth mother could and did maintain a relationship with the girl. But Brown, the biological father, wasn't on board. Four months after Veronica's birth, he began legal proceedings seeking custody of her. "My client has been fighting for custody of his daughter since shortly after her birth," Shannon Jones, Brown's Charleston-based lawyer, said by e-mail. "He loves this child with all his heart." Brown appeared to win that battle late last year. On New Year's Eve, he arrived in South Carolina, picked up Veronica from her adoptive parents, and headed west to his home in Oklahoma. "It's awful," Matt Capobianco said days later to CNN affiliate WCIV. "Everyone keeps saying how bad they feel for us. But, I mean, she's a 2-year-old girl that got shoved in a truck and driven to Oklahoma -- with strangers." Key to Brown's case is a 1978 federal law called the Indian Child Welfare Act. Its aim is to "promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and Indian families by the establishment of minimum federal standards to prevent the arbitrary removal of Indian children from their families and tribes and to ensure that measures which prevent the breakup of Indian families are followed in child custody proceedings." Brown is enrolled in the Cherokee Nation, a "federally-recognized government" of Indians that has "inherent sovereign status," based near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. That means young Veronica has Indian blood, as well. Chrissi Ross Nimmo, assistant attorney general for the Cherokee Nation, says that the protections inherent in the Child Welfare Act are clear and important. Applied as she sees it, Brown -- as an Indian and the biological father of Veronica -- is entitled to custody of the girl. "There's a placement preference. If children are removed by the state or if they're placed in private adoption, the first preference is for a family member," Nimmo told CNN affiliate KOTV. Others disagree. CNN legal analyst Avery Freedman, for one, said the law was misused in this case. "It's a wonderful law which seeks to protect the integrity of ... Native American families," she said. "But it cannot be used as a bludgeon to destroy existing families." Jones insists that Brown "would still be entitled to custody of his daughter under South Carolina law." "It is important to understand that the Indian Child Welfare Act was not used as a loophole in this action," the lawyer said. Whatever the legal arguments, the emotions are still raw. The Capobiancos have spoken to Veronica once since she left, on New Year's Day. "She said, 'Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy! She sounded really excited to hear us. And she said, 'I love you!' numerous times," Melanie Capobianco told WCIV. She added that her husband felt like he'd failed as a father, sending her off with people she didn't know and not knowing what the little girl must think of them and the whole situation. Melanie Capobianco said she is worried about what's next, and how Veronica is getting through each day and night. "We just wish we could be there, if she was afraid," she said.

A Cherokee Indian man wins custody of his 2-year-old biological daughter . She'd been adopted by a South Carolina family soon after her birth . Lawyer: The biological father didn't understand the waiver he signed . A federal law meant to protect Indian family breakup is key to the case .

(CNN) -- We're reviewing two $99 turn-by-turn navigation applications for the iPhone, TomTom and Navigon. Yes, that's right, a $99 application for your phone to take the place of a stand-alone device that doesn't cost much more than that. First off, if you plan to use your iPhone as a turn-by-turn navigator, you'll need some sort of mount that keeps it in constant view of the sky (and to keep you from wrecking your car while trying to look at the screen). As I was driving around downtown Atlanta, Georgia, both applications spent a good amount of time telling me they couldn't get a good GPS lock, even after I dug out a window mount from my box of bits and pieces. Both of these applications have most of the features you would expect; basically, put in a destination, and they tell you how to get there. Both can save favorites; both even have a walking mode (though I haven't played with this enough to recommend it). Both take up a ton of space, and both currently cost $99 (though the Navigon had an early buy-in price of $69). Navigon also has the TomTom beat on features: An early update added text-to-speech, which means Navigon's app says the street you should turn on and not just "turn left." Navigon also just released a $24.99 (intro priced at $19.99) upgrade option that will give you live traffic information. I've asked TomTom about possible updates, and they say they're considering what features to add. My early call for the best interface goes to the Navigon app. And this held up the more I used both of them. I find it much more intuitive; things are where I expect them to be. When I want to change something on the TomTom, I often find myself repeatedly clicking through the categories, trying to find a particular setting. The Navigon's interface is better for me. An example of the interface conundrum: When I got the software, I hit the "home" icon to tell it to direct me to my house. Of course, I hadn't set that address up yet. The TomTom told me I had to add it from the "manage favorites" menu; the Navigon app asked me if I'd like to add it and let me do it right there. Bottom line . Overall, my preference for the Navigon app holds true. I like the look and feel of the maps better, how it switches to night view automatically and its on-screen and voice alerts. The TomTom, by comparison, seems very low-end -- the maps aren't as nice -- and without text-to-speech, the voice prompts fall short. I like to know what street I'm looking for without looking at the screen. The big feather (at an additional $120) in TomTom's hat is its car kit. Essentially a dock designed for your car, the device adds power, a bigger speaker and a better GPS chip. The bigger chip should help the application be more accurate with your location and provide quicker prompts when you need to turn. But at that point, you'll have spent more than $200 on a navigator that uses your iPhone as its brain. I just got my hands on TomTom's dock, and although it's nice and should improve the GPS performance, I'm not sure it's worth an extra $120. So, down to brass tacks: Is it worth it to pay $99 for a smart phone navigation application when you could buy a stand-alone model (likely with a better GPS chip) for the same or not much more? Personally, I like having it all on my phone, one unit that does everything (and I probably won't forget it in the car to be stolen). Other people will probably rather have the stand-alone. And of course, there's a big caveat: Google. The technology powerhouse has a turn-by-turn application in beta for its Android 2 operating system. It's free for phones that run Android 2.0, and word is that they're in talks with Apple to get it on the iPhone (word that brought a big hit to the stock of both GPS giants, Garmin and TomTom). Who knows what's in the future for these apps? But I'll bet they'll come up with something to remain at least somewhat viable.

TomTom, Navigon iPhone apps use GPS to give detailed street directions . Navigon app ($99) is intuitive: Things are where reviewer expects them to be . TomTom car kit adds power, a bigger speaker and a better GPS chip . Google has beta turn-by-turn app for its Android 2 operating system .

(CNN) -- It's February and Black History Month, and networks and major consumer brands are reprising their annual ad campaigns honoring the contributions of African-Americans to the arts, politics, technology and commerce. This year, a new player is sponsoring Black History Month ads: the Republican National Committee. In spots airing on black radio and television stations in select media markets, the RNC praises the contributions of black Republicans such as Louis Sullivan, a former secretary of health and human services under President George H.W. Bush. RNC makes first ad buy for Black History Month . This ad campaign is part of a larger Republican strategy to reach out to minority voters. After President Barack Obama won more than 70% of the vote among blacks, Latinos and Asian-Americans (93% among blacks alone) in 2012, the Republican National Committee redoubled its efforts to court minority voters. This ad campaign is a part of that effort. A well-produced, uplifting ad campaign will not be enough to convince black Democrats to switch their party identification, though. For every ad praising Sen. Tim Scott, the Republican Party has had to put out fires created by state and local officials who make insensitive racial comments. For instance, in the past two weeks, the Iowa Republican Party had to fire the mastermind behind the "Is Someone a Racist?" flow chart on its Facebook page. The flow chart flippantly charged that racists are white people you don't like. RNC highlights strategy for building 'new generation of black Republicans' By this point, some Republicans are probably wondering why blacks don't seem to punish liberals and Democrats for their racial missteps. Democrat-friendly MSNBC has faced strong and valid criticism for its recent taunts of the Romney family's transracial adoption and its assumptions that conservative Republicans don't marry interracially. For his part, Fox host Bill O'Reilly raised eyebrows when he asked Obama why he had not done more to lower the out-of-wedlock birth rate among blacks. The answer is rooted in a long, complicated history of race and partisanship and in psychological frames that the GOP ignores at its peril. RNC clarifies tweet that suggests racism is over . Some Republicans rightfully point out that during the civil rights movement, Southern Democrats tried to block passage of the Civil and Voting Rights Acts. They forget, however, that in the past 50 years, white Southern Democrats (both racists and non-racists) have gradually shifted their party identification to the Republican Party. They don't account for the fact that GOP has admitted to (and apologized for) purposely using racially coded language to win over racially resentful whites in the wake of the civil rights movement. And they ignore data that confirm that while black political views have moderated in the past generation, blacks still tend to prefer a stronger federal state and greater governmental intervention, in large part because they perceive the federal government to have done a better job than state and local officials at protecting civil rights. The 'white' student who integrated Ole Miss . Perhaps the biggest impediment to the GOP's outreach efforts among blacks, though, is its misunderstanding of the importance of group dynamics to individual political decision-making. Republicans value limited government and personal liberty, traits that celebrate rugged individualism and a view of politics that assumes that self-interest informs most policy preferences. Numerous studies have shown that many blacks and Latinos believe that what happens to other blacks and Latinos affects them. This belief that their fates are linked to the fates of their co-ethnics informs liberal policy and political preferences. It means that an affluent black person might be willing to pay higher taxes if it helps maintain the food stamp program, which helps poor, disproportionately minority people. Or that a Latina born in the United States might wince when Republican congressional candidates voice their opposition to immigration reform because she perceives that tone of the opposition evinces a general antipathy toward Latinos regardless of their nativity. Don't get me wrong, Republican outreach to blacks is a good thing, and I hope to see more of it. Republican candidates who win office need to engage their black and minority constituents, and Democrats should not assume that blacks (or any other group) will always vote Democratic. However, a polished ad campaign alone is not enough to win over black voters. If the GOP hopes to become significantly more competitive among blacks, it will have to acknowledge the importance of group identity to blacks and other minorities and learn how to frame their principles in terms of group interests. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Andra Gillespie.

Republican National Committee ad campaign celebrates Black History Month . Andra Gillespie says the effort should be encouraged but falls short . Gillespie: Ads fail to recognize the complexity of the communities .

(CNN) -- Brazilian model Mariana Bridi da Costa, whose hands and feet were amputated in a bid to save her from a deadly and little-known illness, died early Saturday, two friends of the model told CNN. Brazilian model Mariana Bridi da Costa died Saturday after undergoing multiple amputations. "Unfortunately Mari couldn't resist any longer. She passed away at 3 a.m. today," Henrique Fontes, executive director of Miss World Brazil, said in an e-mail to CNN. Renato Lindgren, a friend of the model who runs a blog dedicated to her, confirmed da Costa's death. On his blog, Lindgren wrote that he and other friends were going to the hospital. "On behalf of all the family, we are grateful for the support and the affection that the entire world has sent to us," he wrote. Da Costa, 20, had fought a pernicious disease that has ravaged her body and forced doctors to perform the amputations and extract part of her stomach as well as both kidneys. She had been breathing through a respirator, officials at Dorio Silva Hospital in the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo said Friday. Da Costa suffered from necrosis, or the fast deadening of tissue, caused by septicemia. Septicemia, triggered by a bacterial infection, causes insufficient blood flow that can lead to organ failure. Da Costa first sought medical advice after feeling ill in late December. Hospital officials said she was transferred to Dorio Silva on January 3 in "septic shock," a serious medical condition caused by an inflammation. Da Costa was first diagnosed as suffering a urinary tract infection. By the time the infection was detected, it had developed into septicemia. Doctors decided to amputate first her hands and then her feet after the condition reduced the amount of oxygen being delivered to her limbs. Just less than one month ago, da Costa was a healthy young woman well on the way to achieving her dream of becoming a world class model. She placed sixth in the Miss Bikini International competition in China last year and took first place for the "Best in Swimsuit" category. In 2007 and 2008, she came fourth in the contest to become Brazil's entrant for the Miss World pageant. Thiago Simoes, da Costa's fiance, said she was on her way to international stardom, signing with prominent model scout Dilson Stein, who brought Brazilian models, including Gisele Bundchen and Luize Altenhofen, to the world stage. "All the agencies were very interested in knowing her. I know for a fact that they would have loved her because Mariana is beautiful," Stein told Brazil's Tribuna newspaper. Simoes told CNN that da Costa woke up from a coma 10 days ago and told him how much she wanted to be alive. "She told me she was praying to stay alive, that she still had a lot to do on this earth, that she wanted to go on with her plans," he said. "She comes from a humble family and she was the main breadwinner," said Simoes, who refuted rumors that da Costa was dieting and that might have affected her health. "She never dieted, never took pills...she is a very simple, very warm human being," he said. A doctor who recently published an article in The New England Journal of Medicine on the disease, told CNN that little was known about the illness, although it is the tenth leading cause of deaths in the United States. "We know a lot about what happens once a patient contracts the illness but we know very little about what causes it," said Dr. Greg Martin of Emory University in Atlanta. Martin said sepsis is a "response" to an infection that can cause the immune system to lose its balance. "Basically, the immune system goes haywire after contracting an infection and begins to overreact," he said. Men are more susceptible than women, Martin said. News of da Costa's condition spread quickly throughout Brazil and then worldwide. A message on her Web site said that the volume of traffic had caused it to crash, and that the site had received more than 15,000 hits in two days. "The whole world, I repeat, the whole world is touched by the case of Mariana," it said. The message said they had received "e-mails of solidarity from all corners of the world: Australia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, France, Italy, USA, Russia, etc." CNN's Hilary Whiteman and Helena de Moura contributed to this report.

NEW: Brazilian amputee model Mariana Bridi da Costa died early Saturday . Da Costa's hands, feet were amputated after she contracted septicemia . Da Costa placed sixth in the Miss Bikini International competition in China .

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Furniture made infamous by crime scene photos shown in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor go on the auction block in Beverly Hills Saturday. The table where Jackson's sedatives sat and the rug on which paramedics tried to revive him are among more than 500 pieces of fine art and home furnishings that filled Jackson's rented mansion, the house where he died on June 25, 2009. Julien's Auctions has been careful not to call it a Michael Jackson auction out of legal and public relations concerns, instead marketing it as by the mansion's now-famous address -- 100 North Carolwood Drive. Jackson did not own the beds, chairs, clocks, paintings, dishes and other items, but their value may skyrocket because of the personal touch added by the pop icon and his children in the months before he died. Without the connection to Jackson, the property might bring $400,000, Nolan said. But with it "the sky's the limit," Julien's Executive Director Martin Nolan said. A chalkboard left behind in Jackson's kitchen may have cost a few hundred dollars, but what his children wrote on it makes it a very valuable object, Nolan said. The note, handwritten on the black board attached to a 26-inch-tall ceramic rooster, reads "love Daddy/ I (heart) Daddy/ Smile it's for free." It sat in the kitchen where, according to testimony in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson would eat lunch each day with Prince, Paris and Blanket Jackson. It was not known which child wrote the chalk note, but Nolan said his research suggested it was from Paris, who was 11 when her father died. Another striking piece is Victorian revival style armoire from the Jackson's master bedroom. On the mirror, presumably where Jackson looked each day as he dressed, is a handwritten message of inspiration: "Train, perfection March April Full out May." The wax-pencil note is significant, considering that Jackson was battling the calendar as he prepared for his "This Is It" concerts set to premiere in London in July 2009. Dr. Conrad Murray's defense lawyers argued during the trial that the intense pressure on Jackson to rehearse for the 50 shows put him in a desperate fight for sleep, which led to Dr. Murray administering the surgical anesthetic propofol nearly every night in the last two months of his life. Julien's Auctions backed away from selling the bed in which Jackson received the fatal dose of the propofol after a personal request from his mother, Katherine Jackson, Julien's Executive Director Martin Nolan said. The auction house's recreation of the bedroom where Jackson died -- euphemistically called "the medicine room" by the company -- features a bed-sized memorial covered with love notes from Jackson fans instead of the death bed. The nightstand seen next to the death bed in coroner's photos, bearing numerous bottles of sedatives and other drugs, is for sale. the "French occasional table" is listed for between $300 and $500. The room-size oriental rug that covered the floor where Jackson was placed when paramedics tried to revive him is listed in the auction catalogue for between $400 and $600. The couch and chairs where Jackson likely sat with show producers worried about his health in the days before his death are for sale. One chair in Jackson's bedroom has a stain which Nolan suggested was make up spilled by the star as he sat in front of a mirror. None of Jackson's relatives have expressed an interest in any of the items, Nolan said. He pointed out that they had a chance to take whatever they wanted from the house in the months after his death. The notes and posters brought to the auction house by Jackson fans and placed on the "medicine room" memorial will be sent to Jackson's mother and children, he said. Jackson's relationship with Julien's turned sour in the last months of his life when he filed a lawsuit to stop the sale of furnishings from his Neverland ranch. The singer sued the auction company, claiming he did not authorize the sale of items that were removed from Neverland after he sold the ranch. The suit was settled in April 2009 when Julien's canceled the auction and later returned the items to Jackson.

Auction includes a chalkboard love note from Jackson's children . The bed he died in will not be sold at Jackson's mother's request . The rug on which paramedics tried to revive Jackson is on the auction list . Julien's will auction more than 500 items from 100 North Carolwood Drive on Saturday .

Abu Dhabi (CNN) -- China's Xi Jinping, who is expected to be named president in March and likely next premier Li Keqiang will inherit a foreign policy that puts a premium on partnerships that can help China fuel its resource-hungry economy. In the world of geo-politics, symbolism goes a long way in forging lasting, strategic relations. This is certainly the case when it comes to China's role within the Middle East, specifically with Saudi Arabia, the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves. When King Abdullah took over the throne in Saudi Arabia, his first foreign visit in January 2006 was to Beijing after an invitation of President Hu Jintao. Six years later, the countries' two state-run energy giants, China's Sinopec and Saudi Aramco, inked a huge oil agreement guaranteeing the Asian nation an additional 400,000 barrels a day from a Red Sea refinery in the Saudi city of Yanbu. This is on top of the estimated one million barrels of oil a day it now orders from the Kingdom. "We need China as much as China needs us," said Khalid Al-Falih in a CNN interview right after he signed the agreement, "But the energy corridor is only part of it. We envisage an exchange of goods and services and trade in other areas that add value to the Chinese economy and to the Saudi economy as well." That deal follows a major equity investment in the Fujian province where Saudi Aramco invested in petrochemical manufacturing facilities along with U.S. energy giant ExxonMobil. In the 19th century the battle over influence of Central Asia was described as the "Great Game" as the British and Russian empires vied for control and influence in the region. In the 21st century, one may view China's influence in the Middle East in a similar vein. "Clearly there are mutual interests in terms of large energy suppliers and consumers, but there will be stress points, of course," said Ben Simpfendorfer, co-founder of Silk Road Associates, an investment advisory firm specializing on trade between the Middle East and Far East Asia. China, experts say, is keen to lock in strategic commodity supplies rather than exercise political influence at this juncture. This is reflected in its vetoes -- together with Russia -- striking down resolutions against Syria on the United Nations Security Council. This strategy of non-intervention may not be sustainable, says Simpfendorfer, "I think China's position will be challenged by the Gulf countries and that is certainly a risk the new leadership has to look out for" especially since Beijing is so dependent on the region to fuel its economic expansion. But one cannot doubt whether the world's second largest economy is instrumental in rebuilding the ancient Silk Road. China continues to go to great lengths to foster developing market trade partners -- some argue to exploit their natural resources in the case of Africa -- as part of its "Great Game" strategy. China rolls out the welcome mat on its soil, for example recently inviting Arab leaders to Yinchuan, in northern-central part of the country, for the 3rd China-Arab States Economic and Trade Forum. There are some lofty expectations for trade between China and the Arab states. The United Arab Emirates' foreign trade minister, Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, said bilateral trade between the Gulf and China could hit $300 billion by 2014. Trade between China and the UAE grew 10% last year alone, witnessing a fivefold increase in less than a decade. Some see Dubai's Jebel Ali port as an excellent gateway for China into the African continent. This keen business interest in the Middle East is not likely to change with Xi Jinping taking over the helm in 2013, but is China ready for a G-2 world dominated by Washington and Beijing? Not yet, strategists suggest. Beijing prefers the relative comfort of the broader G-20 world that brings the developed and developing world under one umbrella, with the ability for the new leaders of China to seek political alignment from BRICS partners Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. All the while, China continues to blaze new trails beyond the Middle East in search of strategic supplies. This autumn, the country made inroads into Afghanistan with the first high level visit in more than a half century. The bounty is a promising one with more than a trillion dollars of mineral deposits estimated in the country. China's "Great Game" continues with an ever expanding footprint from the Middle East well into South Asia.

China's foreign policy values relationships to fuel its resource-hungry economy . Oil drives strategic relationship between Middle East and China . China's "Great Game" seeks supplies rather than political influence .

(CNN) -- American Nate Henn, who was killed in the Uganda bomb blasts, advocated for the rights of children forced into fighting in the east African country, a California nonprofit group said Monday. The 25-year-old former University of Delaware rugby player joined the nonprofit Invisible Children last year and spent much of his time as an unpaid volunteer, traveling with the group around the United States, said spokesman Jedidiah Jenkins. He became close friends with one of group's success stories -- a 20-year-old Ugandan named Innocent. Henn had arrived to Uganda last week on his first visit to the country. "Now that he had shown Innocent his country, Innocent was going to show him his," Jenkins said. Innocent, who was standing next to Henn at the time of the attack, survived the bombings, and tried to help Henn, who had been struck by shrapnel, Jenkins said. The nonprofit organization works with Ugandan children affected by decades of war between rebels and government forces. Rebels abduct the victims -- referred to as invisible children -- and force them to fight the government. Some younger girls are forced into sex slavery. Aid groups estimate tens of thousands of children have been abducted by one such group, the Lord's Resistance Army. "These are some of our Ugandan students who fell in love with Nate's wit, strength, character and steadfast friendship," said a post on Invisible Children's website. "They gave him the Acholi name 'Oteka,' which means 'The Strong One.'" Invisible Children Co-Founder Jason Russell said Henn was in Uganda to visit his relatives and work with the organization. On Monday, two Invisible Children's founders headed to Uganda to assist in returning the remains to his parents in North Carolina. Henn, who lived in San Diego, California, joined Invisible Children through his sister's work with the organization. He was staying in Uganda with his aunt and uncle who are missionaries and planned to meet up with the Invisible Children program later in the week. The program has now been postponed. Brenda Kibler, Henn's longtime childhood friend and fellow church member, said she had e-mailed him after he arrived in Uganda last week, telling him she was thankful he was safe. The two took mission trips together in high school, including a visit to Peru. "Nate was a very happy, friendly, outgoing person. He loved kids and he just loved people in general," said Kibler, who lives in Wilmington, Delaware. "He was always one of the first people to sign up for community outreach like Habitat for Humanity, missions, whatever." Henn raised money among friends and family to travel to Uganda for a month -- a lifelong dream. When they chatted last week, Henn told Kibler he wanted to continue working with charitable organizations. "He was passionate for doing the work that the Lord did and helping people," Kibler said. "I know for a fact he would be proud to know he died, living the life that he did. And that people are proud of him and know for a fact that he lived a selfless life." Henn -- a native of Raleigh, North Carolina -- had worked with the nonprofit for a year and a half and raised money to help educate Ugandan students affected by war. Separately, Henn's brother was hospitalized Monday after being injured in a private plane crash at the airport in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, police and hospital officials said. Jenkins said the brother was aboard the plane of a family friend, en route to be with Henn's family. At the time of the bombings, Henn was with some of the students he worked with, the group said. Henn is the only confirmed American fatality -- five other Americans were wounded, according to U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. The explosion killed at least 74 people, Ugandan officials said Monday. At least 85 people were injured, authorities said. The three explosions Sunday ripped through two venues, where crowds were watching the World Cup in the Ugandan capital of Kampala. The first one struck an Ethiopian restaurant in a neighborhood dotted with bars and popular among expatriates; two were at a rugby sports center. Henn was watching the game at the rugby center, the organization said. CNN's Sarah Baker contributed to this report.

Childhood friend says Nate Henn planned a life of service . Henn was visiting his aunt and uncle who are missionaries . Henn advocated for the rights of children forced into fighting in Uganda . Henn is the only confirmed American fatality .

(CNN) -- The recent controversy over arms sales to Russia reminds me of an interesting exchange during a hustings I took part in during the 2009 European Election campaign. We were in the Friends Meeting House in Gloucester and, being a Quaker, I felt very at home. A question came up about the arms trade and I fully expected to be ridiculed for being an absurd idealist. I said that some products should not be part of a market system and that arms were one of those. To my astonishment, all but one of the candidates agreed. The candidate who disagreed, a Tory, at least had the decency to look sheepish about defending this trade in the weapons of death. The prime ministers of the UK and France have not demonstrated even this level of decency in recent days as they have sought to defend the sale of military equipment to Russia. This first came to my attention in the European Parliament debate on Ukraine when a French member of our group challenged his compatriot for removing from our motion a call on the French government to ban the export of Mistral helicopter carriers and end the training of 400 Russian sailors at St. Nazaire. This questionable deal has become considerably more embarrassing since the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. Yet despite French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius' earlier comments that if relations deteriorated he would ban the deal, the culture of shamelessness amongst arms traders and their political friends remains unchallenged and it is expected to proceed. The unseemly trading of accusations of hypocrisy across the English Channel does nothing to build the confidence of the victims of the world's conflicts that our countries are concerned for their plight. Export licenses for UK arms exports to Russia increased in the last 12 months at the very time that our prime minister and Foreign Secretary were mouthing meaningless platitudes about getting tough on Russian President Vladimir Putin. So, while money talks, the children suffering in the world's conflicts zones are condemned to silence. Which brings me to Gaza. By international consensus Israel is not a regime that is guilty of abusing human rights and so is an excellent market for arms exports: the UK agreed licenses worth over £10 million just last year, according to the Campaign Against Arms Trade. In 2009 Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted that Israeli equipment being used in Gaza probably contained UK-supplied components and the same is almost certainly true of the current atrocities. During another debate in Strasbourg last week, where our agenda was dominated by foreign policy I had to watch while the Green motions calling for "a comprehensive UN arms embargo to all parties in the region in order to prevent further violations of international humanitarian law and human rights" was expunged by the Grand Coalition demonstrating its commitment to business before morality. The Campaign Against Arms Trade recently called for an end to what it labeled "arms control by embarrassment," with governments waiting for catastrophes to occur rather than issuing ethically motivated bans on regimes with a history of abusing human rights. Although it is Ukraine and Gaza that are the current flash-points the main export markets for British arms are the wealthy oil states of the Middle East including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and UAE where citizens put their lives at risk for merely asserting their basic human rights, and their safety is threatened with arms made in the civilized countries of Western Europe. Since becoming an MEP I have received many letters from lobbyists for different industries. The most disturbing by far was from a French arms company inviting me to the Farnborough Air Show, recently opened by David Cameron. As well as their enthusiasm to demonstrate the effectiveness of their weaponry they also supplied me with statistics about their "economic contribution" in terms of annual turnover and healthy profits. I found this sickening because for every child that has died in Gaza and each of the 80 children on flight MH17 there was a weapon with a maker's serial mark and a country of origin. Even for those who would not join me in calling for an international ban on the sale of arms surely there is a need not to treat this as an industry like any other. READ MORE: What is Israel's endgame in Gaza? READ MORE: Americans who fight for Israel . READ MORE: Map: Tensions felt around the world . READ MORE: U.S.: Russia violated missile treaty . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Molly Scott Cato.

Molly Scott Cato says UK, France have not demonstrated decency as they've defended arms trade . She says a culture of shamelessness amongst arms traders and their political friends remains unchallenged . The Green MEP says that, even if people don't want an arms ban, they should not treat industry like others .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush signed an executive order Friday expanding U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe, the White House said. About 200 victims of election violence seek safety outside the U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, this month. "The new executive order significantly enhances our ability to designate individuals in and entities connected to the Mugabe regime," Bush said in a written statement that calls the Zimbabwean government under president Robert Mugabe "illegitimate." Just after the announcement, the Treasury Department said it has designated for sanctions 17 entities, including three government-owned or controlled companies used by Mugabe and his government "to illegally siphon revenue and foreign exchange from the Zimbabwean people," as well as one individual. "This action is a direct result of the Mugabe regime's continued politically motivated violence, disregarding calls from the Southern African Development Community, the African Union and the United Nations to halt the attacks," the White House said. "The regime has also continued its ban against NGO activities that would provide assistance to the suffering and vulnerable people of Zimbabwe. No regime should ignore the will of its own people and calls from the international community without consequences." The U.S. has been pushing for sanctions against Zimbabwe since Mugabe ignored a U.N. Security Council appeal to postpone a presidential runoff election June 27. The vote initially was intended to be a runoff between Mugabe and opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai, who did not win the presidency outright in the general election, according to government tallies. But Tsvangirai, of the Movement for Democratic Change, withdrew just before the vote, saying Mugabe's supporters had orchestrated a campaign of beatings, intimidation and murders against Tsvangirai supporters. Earlier this month, Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution pushed by the United States, Britain and France that would have imposed international sanctions on Mugabe and senior members of his government. Bush said last week he was "displeased" at the vetoes, but the Treasury and State Departments were working on potential U.S. action. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer told members of Congress last week that more than 100 people have been murdered, more than 3,000 have been injured by beatings or torture and more than 30,000 have been driven from their homes because of violence that broke out after the general election. Entities designated by the Treasury Department include Minerals Marketing Corp. of Zimbabwe, the company that serves as the sole marketing and export agent for all minerals mined in Zimbabwe except gold and silver; Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp.; and Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Co., among others. The individual named is Thamer Bin Saeed Ahmed al-Shanfari. The Treasury Department said he is an Omani national who has close ties to Mugabe and his top officials and uses his company, Oryx Natural Resources, to "enable Mugabe ... to maintain access to, and derive personal benefit from, various mining ventures in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Under the sanctions, any assets tied to al-Shanfari or to the designated companies that are within U.S. jurisdictions must be frozen, and people living in the United States are prohibited from doing business with them. On Monday, Mugabe and Tsvangirai signed an agreement that paves the way for power-sharing talks to take place in the next few weeks. They will be mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki, as a representative of the Southern African Development Community, and Jean Ping, chairman of the African Union Commission. Bush said Friday the United States is ready to provide a "substantial assistance package, development aid and normalization with international financial institutions" should those talks result in a new government "that reflects the will of the Zimbabwean people." In the meantime, the president said he is authorizing the use of up to $2.5 million from the U.S. Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund to assist Zimbabwean refugees and those displaced by the violence. In addition, he said the United States will continue efforts to provide food and medical care to Zimbabweans.

U.S. President Bush signs order expanding sanctions against Zimbabwe . In written statement, Bush calls Robert Mugabe's government "illegitimate" Russia, China have vetoed U.N. resolution calling for international sanctions . Mugabe, Tsvangirai have signed agreement paving way for power-sharing talks .

(CNN) -- Leszek Balcerowicz, Poland's former finance minister, recently said his country is enjoying "its best period in 300 years." CNN looks at how the country emerged from communism to become one of eastern Europe's most stable and thriving democracies. Solidarity leader Lech Walesa addresses striking workers in Gdansk, Poland in 1989. Modern Poland gained independence in 1918 only to be overrun by Germany and the Soviet Union during the Second World War. Almost six million Poles, including the majority of the country's large Jewish population, died during the devastating six-year conflict. The shadow of Stalin continued to loom large over Poland after the war, when the communist-dominated government ensured that Poland would become a Soviet satellite state for the next 40 years. The following decades were punctuated by revolts against the repressive authoritarian regime in Warsaw, but none had a greater impact on Poland's political future than events in 1980 at a shipyard in western Poland. With a struggling economy and rumors of corruption and mismanagement within the state causing widespread discontent, a series of strikes by workers paralyzed the country. Eventually the government was forced to negotiate and on August 31, 1980, workers at the massive Lenin shipyard in Gdansk, led by an electrician named Lech Walesa, signed a deal giving workers the right to strike and form trade unions. This heralded the creation of the Solidarity movement, which would ultimately be instrumental in bringing Poland's communist era to an end. The presence in the Vatican at the time of Polish-born Pope John-Paul II was also a significant influence on the movement throughout the 1980s, as the Catholic church had remained a very potent force in Polish life. The Pope even made a visit to the country in 1979. Despite Soviet-endorsed attempts to slow the erosion of the regime's grip on power -- including the declaration of martial law by General Wojciech Jaruzelski in 1981 which outlawed Solidarity -- Poland's worsening economic situation, compounded by further nationwide strikes, meant that the government had no alternative but to negotiate a date for free elections with Walesa and the Solidarity movement. Solidarity members won a stunning victory in the election of 1989, taking almost all the seats in the Senate and all of the 169 seats they were allowed to contest in the Sejm or parliament. This gave them substantial influence in the new government. Activist and journalist Tadeusz Mazowiecki was appointed prime minister, while Lech Walesa was elected as president the following year. After years of economic mismanagement under the communists, Poland embarked on a painful reform program under finance minister Leszek Balcerowicz -- especially in traditional heavy industries such as coal and steel -- which moved away from the inefficient state-controlled system of economic planning. Despite growing unemployment and a dilapidated infrastructure, Poland was slowly transformed into an investment-friendly, market economy. Banking and lending policies were reformed, while newly reshaped ownership relations, independent enterprises and strengthened domestic competition all had a massive impact. Over a relatively short period of time, Poland had become one of the most dynamically developing economies in Europe and by the mid-1990s, it became known as the "Tiger of Europe." Poland also liberalized its international trade during this period. The national currency -- the zloty -- became convertible to other currencies and internal convertibility was also established, providing another platform for dynamic economic growth. New markets in countries that had been treated not so long before as ideological as well as economic enemies were opened up to Polish companies. The EU and U.S. were now the key markets for Polish goods. This realignment of policy was emphasized by its accession into the European Union in 2004. It had also joined NATO in 1999. Unfortunately the continuing problem of high unemployment and the promise of better salaries encouraged many Poles to work in other EU countries after 2004. However this trend started to reverse in 2008 as the Polish economy enjoyed a boom period. Politically, Poland has also successfully transformed itself into a fully democratic country. Since 1991 the Polish people have voted in parliamentary elections and four presidential elections -- all free and fair. Incumbent governments have transferred power smoothly and constitutionally in every instance to their successors.

Poland was ruled by Soviet-backed regime after the Second World War . Solidarity movement became a key factor in the fall of communist regime . Centrally-planned economic system replaced by free market economy . Poland joined the European Union in 2004 .

(CNN) -- Researchers in Tanzania have chemically reproduced the stench of smelly feet in an innovative new approach to combat the spread of malaria in the country. The scientific team at Tanzania's Ifakara Health Institute has developed a potent serum -- similar to that of human foot odor -- to lure and kill mosquitoes, which can carry malaria and other diseases. Four times more powerful in attracting mosquitoes than natural human odor, the synthetic smell is now being used in a pioneering research program aimed at killing mosquitoes outdoors using a "mosquito landing box." "The goal is to eliminate malaria," said scientific researcher, Fredros Okumu, who is developing the technology. "We are going to do this by tackling the transmission of disease outside the house." Mosquitoes are lured inside the boxes by the synthetic odor, which is dispersed by a solar-powered fan. Once inside, the insects are either trapped or poisoned and left to die. "We know mosquitoes don't see people, they smell them." Okumu said. "Substances we emit when we sweat, such as lactic acid, act as a signal to mosquitoes ... The aim here was to produce a mixture that would mimic a human being." The result, said Okumu, was a chemical blend that "smelt just like dirty socks." "If you came to our lab when the research was being done, you would have thought that someone had just come off a soccer field," he admitted. Okumu, who is currently completing a PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in England, plans to develop the mosquito landing boxes over the next two years, thanks to a $775,000 joint grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the not-for profit organization Grand Challenges Canada. "This is a great example of an African innovator, with an African innovation, tackling an African problem," said Dr Peter Singer, CEO of Grand Challenges Canada. "Malaria kills about 800,000 people a year, mostly children, in Africa. At the moment existing technologies, such as bed nets and sprays, tend to repel mosquitoes inside the home. "This technology attracts mosquitoes outside the home to kill them, and could be complimentary to what is there now," Singer continued. Working closely with villagers in remote communities where malaria is endemic, Okumu is aiming to produce a practical and sustainable technology that will be easy to run and operate. Okumu is keen to explore further cost-saving measures in order cement the mosquito boxes as part of everyday Tanzanian life. Ideas include using the boxes' solar-panel technology to supply energy to people's homes and substituting the costly chemical mosquito lure with actual foot odor collected from specially designed cotton pads placed in people's socks. "We hope at the end of the two years we will be able to tell the world this is a good strategy to use and start involving industry and more communities and villages," said Okumu. The prevalence of malaria in Tanzania has decreased in the last 10 years and Okumu has seen rates in his region dramatically decline from 40% in 1997 to around 7% today. "We are sure that the reduced rates are due to the improved delivery of bed nets, drugs, insecticides and living standards," said Okumu. "But malaria is not going to disappear using these existing methods." Okumu says he hopes to see his boxes used across the region before existing methods become less effective. "Mosquitoes can modify their behavior quite rapidly to deal with the added deterrents of sprays and bed nets," he said. "For example, instead of going into houses to bite people, mosquitoes are now starting to wait to bite people outside," he said. For Okumu, this is a personal as well as a scientific venture. Born in western Kenya, malaria has been apart of Okumu's life for as long as he can remember. "All the places I have lived have been malaria zones. When I was growing up I had malaria at least twice every year," he said. He continued: "Malaria has claimed so many lives and diseases like this are one of the biggest blocks to our social and economic development."

Scientists have chemically reproduced the pungent smell of foot odor . The chemical mixture is four times more powerful in attracting mosquitoes than natural odor . The synthetic smell is being used in a new initiative to kill mosquitoes in the open air . "The goal is to eliminate malaria" says researcher Fredros Okumu .

(CNN) -- America's defense budget is headed for a big reduction, as a result of the congressional super committee's failure to reach a debt reduction compromise. The automatic 10-year budget cut of more than half a trillion dollars now facing the military is reminiscent of a strategic decision Britain confronted nearly a century ago. When the empire had to address the profound debts it accrued during World War I, the answer was the Ten Year Rule. Formulated in 1919, this rule dominated Britain's defense planning throughout the 1920s. It worked on a simple, rolling assumption: "That the British Empire will not be engaged in any great war during the next 10 years." As long as the planning assumption held, the government could assume strategic risk by reducing the military's size, deferring its modernization programs and delaying improvements to base protection. Winston Churchill, chancellor of the exchequer during much of this time, was its most famous proponent. Observing on several occasions that there was no foreseeable danger of war with Japan, he cautioned Britain against building any ships or bases that might alarm the Japanese government. Indeed, Churchill's voice was decisive in Britain's decision to delay strengthening the Royal Navy's vital base in Singapore during the 1920s. Although the Ten Year Rule saved the British much money in the short term, the calculated risk turned into dashed hopes in the 1930s. In short succession, Japan conquered Manchuria in 1932, Hitler rose to power in 1933 and suddenly a world war loomed on the horizon. Britain finally repealed the rule in 1932 -- the same year Manchuria fell. As Britain's weakened position in Asia became evident, the government realized it was in no position militarily or financially to address the challenges it now confronted. Through its inaction, Britain signaled the beginning of the end of its leadership role in Asia and of its ability to meet its continental commitment to European allies. Thus, in 1939 Britain entered World War II with a woefully inadequate military. The inadequacies of this force were best symbolized by the fall of Singapore in 1942 and the surrender of 80,000 British-led troops to the Japanese invaders. The loss of Singapore was a profound psychological shock as well as a military blow to the British. Churchill, originally a strong proponent of the Ten Year Rule, had to deal with its consequences as wartime prime minister. Any sound grand strategy must account for economic, political and military factors. But the strategy can't substitute hope for fact. The British hoped they could focus on their economy in the 1920s with a rule based on the assumption that their security would not be threatened during the next decade. They thought they could undertake whatever military expansion program necessary if a threat were to manifest. In short, the government hoped world events would unfold benignly until the British economy rebounded. Instead, the economy worsened as part of a global depression. Military dictatorships emerged in response to turbulent times and soon threatened British security. By the mid-1930s, it was evident that by focusing solely on a hopeful strategy, the British had, much to their regret, failed to create a less optimistic Plan B. As America embarks on a tough strategic journey in the aftermath of Iraq, and contends with an ailing economy, it is wise to be mindful of the difference between hope and fact. The president and Congress might focus on strengthening the economy and assume for a time that a smaller military will suffice. Pursuing prudent military reductions in this environment makes sense; however, relying on a budget-driven process to make these reductions does not. The nation's leadership needs a Plan B so that a heroic assumption -- or hope -- about the unlikelihood of future wars does not inadvertently lead to strategic disaster. This is harder than it seems. Plan B would allow more flexibility to meet what could go wrong in the strategic environment rather than just making budget cuts. In tough economic times, hope makes planning easier and defense reductions more palatable. Indeed, the mistake is an easy one to make. After all, Winston Churchill, perhaps the greatest democratic leader of the 20th century, succumbed to the temptation. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paula Thornhill.

Paula Thornhill: With super committee failure, automatic cuts could lead to harsh defense cuts . She says U.S. could repeat mistake made by Britain in cutting defense after World War I . Arbitrary budget cuts could leave America at risk in a dangerous world, she says . Thornhill: A new strategy is needed to determine how to manage the budget .

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Pakistani Taliban vowed Thursday to carry out attacks against India to avenge the death of a man executed by Indian authorities for his role in the 2008 terrorist assault on Mumbai. Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani, was hanged Wednesday in Pune, a city southeast of Mumbai. He was the lone surviving gunman from the attacks in India's financial capital in November 2008 that killed more than 160 people. Read more: Who are the Pakistani Taliban? Ihsanullah Ihsan, the spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, said the militant group would conduct various attacks in India in response to the execution. He didn't provide further details. The Pakistani Taliban, who are closely linked with their namesake in Afghanistan and with al Qaeda, operate in the ungoverned area that sits on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Read more: Mumbai attack survivor: 'It's like a dead man living' India has requested extra protection for its diplomats in Pakistan following the execution, said J.P. Singh, an official at India's Ministry of External Affairs. India executes last Mumbai gunman . He said the ministry had no immediate comment on the threat from the Taliban. The Taliban spokesman said they are demanding that Kasab's body be returned to Pakistan for an Islamic burial. He criticized the Pakistani government, saying it had failed by not requesting the return of the body. Read more: The Mumbai attacks: Getting the story amid chaos . Indian authorities said Wednesday that Kasab had been buried in the "surrounding area" of the jail where he was hanged. They didn't say what kind of burial rites had been performed. The Pakistani government has so far barely commented on the execution. The foreign ministry declined to give an immediate reaction Thursday to the Taliban's criticism. Read more: Islamists protest NATO route opening in Pakistan . India blamed Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a Pakistani-based terror group allied with al Qaeda, for the Mumbai siege. Indian authorities said Kasab was trained by the organization, which was banned in Pakistan in 2002 after an attack on the Indian parliament. The group has denied responsibility. The Mumbai attacks destabilized peace talks between the Indian and Pakistani governments, which remain bitterly opposed over issues such as the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir. Read more: Pakistan wants 'concrete evidence' on Mumbai suspect sought by U.S. Since then, the two nuclear-armed nations have resumed the high-level meetings and relations have improved. In April, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari met with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi during a brief private trip. It was the first visit to India by a Pakistani head of state in seven years. Indian sporting authorities also this year announced the resumption of bilateral cricket tournaments with Pakistan. The sport has often been used as a platform to ease relations. But tensions remain close to the surface. In August, New Delhi alleged that "elements" in Pakistan were using social-networking sites to stir religious unrest in India amid ethnic clashes between Muslim migrants and native tribal groups in the northeastern state of Assam. Read more: Clinton urges Pakistan to do more in fighting terrorists . News of Kasab's death was positively received Wednesday by many Indians. The conservative Bharatiya Janata Party, the country's main opposition party, expressed support for the government's decision to go ahead with the execution. "It's a strong message that India does not and will not tolerate terrorism," said Prakash Javadekar, a party spokesman. But human rights activists criticized the move. "The hanging of Ajmal Kasab marks a distressing end to India's moratorium on executions and is a step backwards for India's justice system," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, an advocacy group. "The government should take prompt and decisive action toward a total abolition of capital punishment." The last state execution in the country was in 2004, when a man was hanged for the rape and murder of a teenage girl. CNN's Sumnima Udas in New Delhi contributed to this report.

Mohammed Ajmal Kasab was hanged Wednesday in India for his role in the attacks . The Pakistani Taliban say they will conduct various attacks against India in revenge . They also say they are demanding his body be returned to Pakistan . Indian authorities say they have already requested extra security for diplomats .

(CNN) -- Jose Mourinho's remarkable nine-year unbeaten home league record came to an end on Saturday as Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by Sporting Gijon which allowed Barcelona to take an eight-point lead in Spain's La Liga. The Portuguese coach had not lost a home match since February 2002, a 150-match streak taking in his trophy-laden stints with Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and now Real. His injury-hit team took to the field without top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, in-form striker Karim Benzema, defender Marcelo and suspended key midfielder Xabi Alonso, though Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain made a welcome return as a second-half substitute after back surgery. Former Real star Ronaldo was honored at the Santiago Bernabeu before the match to farewell the club's fans following the Brazil legend's recent retirement, but Gijon -- placed a lowly 15th before kickoff -- ruined their hopes of an anticipated routine victory. Those expectations rose when Ricardo Carvalho had the ball in the net in the fourth minute, but the veteran Portugal defender was ruled to be offside. Miguel de las Cuevas, formerly at Real's local rivals Atletico, scored the only goal with a low shot that went in off the post in the 78th minute as Los Merengues were left to rue a series of missed chances. Mourinho must now decide whether to bring back Ronaldo for Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal first leg at home to English club Tottenham, with Real's hopes of a domestic crown all-but over with eight rounds to play after a similarly-depleted Barcelona side scraped a 1-0 win over Villarreal in Saturday's late match. "We will have chances to win against Tottenham Hotspur if we play a solid game and don't have problems in attack. It wouldn't be dramatic to draw against them at home," Mourinho told Real's website. "Luck plays a role in this game and our opponent had all of it tonight. Our only problem was the absence of creative players. Xabi Alonso will play on Tuesday and he's the only one who can change our style a little. "We can earn a different result on Tuesday with the same players. Cristiano Ronaldo will play if he and his coach decide to take a risk. The decision of risking it belongs only to him and to me. I may risk it." Barcelona started the match at Villarreal with top scorer Lionel Messi on the bench after missing Argentina's midweek friendly due to an injury worry, while captain Carles Puyol, key midfielder Xavi, winger Pedro were ruled out along with veteran French defender Eric Abidal. Stand-in skipper Victor Valdes kept his side in the match with some important first-half saves, but the match turned when coach Pep Guardiola brought on Messi for midfielder Seydou Keita seven minutes after the interval. The winning goal came, however, from an unlikely source in the 67th minute as central defender Gerard Pique showed good skills to chest down Sergio Busquets' header from Dani Alves' corner and volley into the net despite suspicions of handball. Valdes came to Barca's rescue with five minutes to play as he did well to block a goalbound shot from midfielder Santi Cazorla. Barca will return to the Nou Camp on Wednesday for the Champions League quarterfinal tie at home to top Ukraine side Shakhtar Donetsk. Villarreal lost third place after Valencia won 4-2 at Getafe earlier in the day, bouncing back from two successive defeats as Roberto Soldado scored all four goals against his former club. The Madrid side led after 12 minutes through Manu del Moral, but Soldado leveled a minute after the break from Juan Mata's pass. The striker made it 2-1 on 64 from a Jonas assist and clinched his hat-trick soon after, while Mata was again his provider in the 77th minute. Adrian Sardinero scored a late consolation for Getafe, who have slumped to 14th place -- five points above the relegation zone -- after winning just once in 14 games.

Barcelona's lead grows to eight points after Real Madrid's defeat by Sporting Gijon . Real coach Jose Mourinho suffers his first home league reverse in nine years . Barca, also hit by injuries, edge a 1-0 victory at fourth-placed Villarreal . Valencia reclaim third as Roberto Soldado scores four goals against former club Getafe .

(CNN) -- The University of North Carolina has launched its own investigation into claims highlighted by CNN that too many of its student-athletes read poorly. Chancellor Carol Folt posted an open letter to campus, saying: "I take these claims very seriously, but we have been unable to reconcile these claims with either our own facts or with those data currently being cited as the source for the claims. Moreover, the data presented in the media do not match up with those data gathered by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions." The university also released some of its own data, which it claims shows that the allegations of academic problems highlighted in a CNN investigation by whistle-blower Mary Willingham are not true. Folt's letter said: "Only two of the 321 student-athletes admitted in 2012 and 2013 fell below the SAT and ACT levels that were cited in a recent CNN report as the threshold for reading levels for first-year students. And those two students are in good academic standing." But a larger analysis of SAT and ACT entrance exam scores released to CNN show the situation is not so bright. UNC data shows that, since 2004, the university admitted 34 players to play in the revenue-generating sports of football and basketball who scored below a 400 on the SAT verbal test, or below a 16 on the ACT reading and English tests. That's 10% of those athletes admitted under "special talents" to play football or basketball. Willingham reported 8% of student-athletes playing in revenue sports were reading below a third-grade level as part of a research project that was university approved. However, Willingham's research included other factors, and used a smaller sample size. On Thursday, CNN talked to a psychologist who administered the academic achievement test that Willingham used in her research, and that psychologist backed up Willingham's findings. The psychologist, who asked not to be identified, said a spreadsheet with the results of the tests was given to UNC academic support center staff each year the testing was done. "You have to do really badly on that test to get a low score," the psychologist also said, noting that some student-athletes scored even lower on later evaluations. "I have the utmost confidence in Mary's integrity and she's trying to do the right thing, and always has," the psychologist said. The SAT and ACT thresholds were used by CNN, after consulting several experts, to represent a reading level too low to understand college textbooks. That was the standard applied to several universities as part of CNN's national look at the reading levels of college athletes. UNC officials talked with Willingham, a learning specialist, on Monday in what they said was a "cordial" meeting; Willingham described it as being "condescending." But the university continues to dispute her findings. And her university approval to do the research was pulled Thursday by UNC, Willingham said, partly because she was aware of the identity of some of the athletes in her findings. While UNC says it will do its own review of what Willingham found, it also disputes the claim that it admitted students who could not do work at UNC. "There have been 34 students evaluated in detail at length and we believe were capable of succeeding here," said Steve Farmer, UNC's director of undergraduate admissions, referring to the 10% who scored below the threshold. "When we evaluate someone, we don't just rely on one score." Farmer also pointed out that in 2013, no student-athletes were admitted with scores below the threshold, and in 2012, only two student-athletes in the revenue sports were admitted with scores that low. CNN first requested comment from the university on Willingham's research back in September. The university originally said it was not aware of the research, then later said the university would not comment. Only after the story was published has the university responded to CNN's requests for information. Two years ago, UNC's own internal investigation uncovered an academic scandal in which several athletes were enrolled in classes where little or no work was required. The North Carolina attorney general recently indicted a former professor who allegedly accepted money for teaching those "no-show" classes. Willingham, who has spoken publicly about that scandal and has received threats since talking to CNN, insists she worked with several student-athletes who would not have been able to read this article on the day they were admitted to college. "We were going back to letters and sounds," Willingham told CNN, recounting stories of athletes, one who could not read multisyllabic words.

UNC will investigate claims regarding student-athletes . Mary Willingham was shocked by the number of UNC athletes who struggled to read . University releases own data .

New York (CNN) -- A 57-year-old musician arrested in connection with the drugs found in actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's apartment was granted bail Friday. The musician, Robert Vineberg, was among four people arrested in Manhattan in the days after the apparent heroin overdose of the Academy Award-winning actor on February 2. Prosecutors said Vineberg, who was arrested on a felony charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance, had just under 50 small bags of heroin as well as packaging paraphernalia in his apartment during the raid. In another one of his apartments in the same Mott Street building, prosecutors said, 250 small bags of heroin were found. In addition, prosecutors said, detectives recovered nearly $1,300 in cash on Vineberg. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Edward McLaughlin set bail at $200,000 bond or $40,000 cash. Vineberg is due back in court Tuesday. Vineberg's attorney, Edward Kratt, asked for a lower bail, saying his client has been an "accomplished musician" since the late 1980s and a "functioning heroin addict" with a 10-bag-a-day habit. The large quantity of drugs found in the apartments were for Vineberg's personal use, Kratt said. The judge, however, appeared to doubt that assertion, saying that the amount of heroin in Vineberg's possession was "off the charts." Vineberg was found to have the actor's phone number stored in his cell phone, a law enforcement official told CNN. Police discovered the largest amount of what is believed to be heroin in his apartment, the source said. Outside court, Kratt said his client hoped to raise bail money with the help of friends. Asked if his client sold heroin to Hoffman, Kratt said: "I really can't comment on that. I know that he did have a relationship with Mr. Hoffman as a friend, how that translated into other aspects of their behavior, I really can't comment." Michael Holman, a friend of Vineberg who attended the hearing, described Vineberg as "very talented, very generous, very smart." "We are shocked and believe that he is being railroaded for political reasons," Holman said outside court. "It's convenient that they find someone to blame for ... Philip Seymour Hoffman's overdose and death but I just don't believe that Robert had anything to do with it, and the fact that he might have been friends with him is no surprise. Robert was friends with a lot of people, a lot of important people, a lot of important artists." Two other people arrested in connection with Hoffman's death -- Juliana Luchkiw and Max Rosenblum, both 22 -- were released last week until their next court dates. Luchkiw pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance. Her attorney, Stephen Turano, told the court his client had no criminal record. He said her father, who was present in court, is a lawyer and her mother a doctor. The prosecution asked for Luchkiw's bail to be set at $1,500, but McLaughlin ordered her released on her own recognizance. Rosenblum, who is to live with his parents until his next court date, had bond set at $35,000, or $8,500 cash, which his family posted. Prosecutors did not file charges against a fourth person arrested in the raid. The New York medical examiner's office said a determination of the cause and manner of Hoffman's death is pending further study, including toxicology reports. When police were called to Hoffman's fourth-floor Manhattan apartment, they found the 46-year-old actor lying on the bathroom floor with a syringe in his left arm. He was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, his eyeglasses still resting on his head, according to law enforcement sources familiar with the inquiry. Investigators discovered close to 50 envelopes of what they believed was heroin in the apartment, the law enforcement sources said. They also found used syringes, prescription drugs and empty plastic bags of a type commonly used to hold drugs, the sources said. Also found in Hoffman's apartment was his personal journal, resting on a living room TV stand, two law enforcement sources said.

Robert Vineberg was among four people arrested after the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman . Judge Edward McLaughlin set bail at $200,000 bond or $40,000 cash . The Academy-Award winning actor was found dead February 2 of an apparent overdose .

(CNN) -- At 16, my innocence was shattered when two gunmen murdered 13 people at my school and wounded countless others. Columbine High School promised to be a safe and secure place of learning. And that promise was broken on April 20, 1999. On that morning, I headed to school worried about my 10th grade math test and my upcoming track meet. Useless worries: The test was never given and we never held the meet. Scars remain from that day that no one can see. Scars that made my worries about math tests or track performance pale in comparison to whether my science partner would live or whether my classmate's speech would be impaired by the shrapnel lodged in his skull. Today, those mental scars throb in large crowds and force me to scan the room for exits. They make my heart beat faster when I hear the blades of a helicopter overhead. Now, as a teacher in my eighth year in the classroom, I consider every day that I go to work a privilege. I cherish my students' joy and enthusiasm, and most importantly, their innocence. I believe that it is our job, as a society, to protect these virtues in our young people. I want them to be worried about math tests and track meets and about science fairs and student council elections -- the kind of normal school stuff that builds character. But our epidemic of gun violence is creating a culture of fear in our schools, where students are anxious about safety and intruders. These are worries no student should have. This becomes even more apparent when we conduct our monthly emergency drill at our school. It's a way to be prepared for the worst, so we practice lockdowns, fire drills and evacuations. The other day, I was explaining to my third graders that we were going to practice a lockdown just in case a bear happened to be on the playground -- a real scenario for our Colorado school. I have used this example my entire teaching career because it's an easy and nonthreatening reason to practice a lockdown. One girl raised her hand and asked: "Is this what we would do if a bad guy came with a gun to hurt us?" I felt kicked in the stomach when I heard this question. A bear is no longer the worst thing for students to anticipate: They fear what is happening across our nation. It is a shame that my students must learn these drills at such a young age -- a shame they must learn them at all. I thought to myself, "This is a result of the Columbine shootings, along with so many other acts of violence. This is my reality, and now it is theirs too." It is a sad reality, but we are not helpless. I teach at a wonderful school, which has done everything within its resources to keep our students safe. But it is not enough. If there were a simple solution, then this epidemic of violence would have ended. The solution is complex, multifaceted -- and achievable. I believe a comprehensive approach can help ensure a safe learning environment. • Our children deserve more mental health resources to identify, treat and follow up with people who need help. • Our children deserve enhanced school security: This includes identifying who is in the school and sensible steps to keep the building secure -- without bringing guns into the place of learning or turning it into a fortress. • Our children deserve common sense gun legislation: I believe this should include a ban on high-capacity magazine clips. And at the very least, it should include comprehensive and enforceable background checks to help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Unfortunately, our Congress refused to take this common sense step and turned this legislation down. The shooters at my school obtained their guns illegally, through private sales and straw purchases. Today they could easily go online and buy those same weapons without a background check. What is to stop the next person who chooses from doing just that? We can do better. I think I can speak for all of us that the murders at Columbine High School, the Aurora movie theater, Sandy Hook Elementary, and so many others shocked us to our core and created lasting feelings of sadness. But we can't let these events create feelings of vulnerability. We have the power to work together to create a safer world for our students. Learn from my experience -- do not wait until you experience violence first hand to realize that we need to take action. We need to take action now. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Katie Lyles.

Former Columbine student Katie Lyles bears hidden scars from the day of the massacre . Lyles, who is a teacher, says Columbine students lost their innocence that day . It was a shock when her student asked if lockdown drills were for when a gunman came . Lyles: Our kids deserve more mental health resources, enhanced security without guns .

(CNN) -- Without question, the most valuable thing I've ever just found was probably a stray $20 bill. And that makes sense. People don't randomly misplace their Fabergé eggs in the parking lot of a Denny's. Cracker Barrel, maybe. It's classy up in that joint. That said, I'd like to think that perhaps one day I'll accidentally trip over some insanely valuable hidden treasure in my own backyard that poked through the earth after a heavy summer rain. But the sad truth is that if I stumble past anything out there, it's likely going to be a cartoonishly large pile of dog poop. Which is worth nothing. To date, my Great Dane hasn't eaten any Google stock. Thus, until that glorious moment occurs, it seems my best bet for getting rich quick is to simply wander the beaches of Dorset, England, and hope that I happen upon a huge chunk of whale puke. Seriously, whale puke. You see, a popular trending story this week was about an 8-year-old British schoolboy who found a 600-gram mass of it in the sand that seems to be worth about £40,000. For those of you keeping score in America, that's 1.3 real pounds of hardened hurl valued at $63,000. By comparison, a decent Lexus starts at half that and probably wasn't yakked up by a sperm whale coming home from an all-night bender. "Dude, I was a complete mess. Allen kept pouring shots down my blowhole." So why, then, is a giant glob of whale barf worth more than a luxury car? Well, according to the Bournemouth Daily Echo, what the boy found is actually called ambergris, and it's a highly sought-after fixative to prolong the scent of perfume. "Pardon me, I couldn't help but notice you smell like whale spew. Is that Calvin Klein?" These days, manufacturers mostly use synthetics. Clearly, the real stuff is hard to find, and the whales just don't party like they used to. (Though, deep sea crime statistics show 'ludes are making a comeback.) Still, there's high demand for actual ambergris, and young Charlie Naysmith is holding on to the mother lode. Even more amazing is the fact that his golden glob of whale heave may have been floating around the sea for decades. After all those years, it literally could've landed anywhere, but it landed right at his very feet. It's just like the old saying: Sometimes, you don't find the whale vomit; the whale vomit finds you. I think that was Whitman. So, now the lucky boy has to figure out what to do with his newfound treasure. As if selling it isn't the one and only option. However, his dad, Alex, says that at the moment, they're just waiting for more information from marine biologists. While I appreciate their shared interest in science, I really can't stress this enough: SELL IT NOW! IT'S WHALE THROW-UP! Look, I'm all for learning, but if you happen to be holding a projectile from the belly of another living thing and somebody wants to give you money for it, you don't ask questions. You ask for cash. And some Purell. The conversation should be rather straightforward: "Yes. I. Will. Sell. You. This." Fortunately, the boy does plan to eventually make a profit from his discovery, and he couldn't be sweeter about how he wants to spend it: He'd like to build a house for animals. Though, the article didn't specify whether the word "house" refers to some large sprawling ranch or, perhaps, an English Tudor where gorillas and bears and whatever else can run around humping and fighting and breaking things. Think Noah's Ark meets "Jersey Shore." "Please do not feed the Snooki." Anyway, if you plan to go out searching for whale retch, be prepared to have a bad time. The boy got lucky. You probably won't. And besides, there's plenty of other good stuff from the ocean floor washing up on the beach. Apparently 'ludes are making a comeback.

"Apparently This Matters" is CNN Tech's weekly offbeat look at social-media trends . This week, Jarrett breaks down a trending story about whale vomit . It turns out, the stuff is used in perfume and is really valuable . The finder wants to build an animal house. It may be like "Jersey Shore"

(CNN)Darfur has a long, dark history filled with horrors. But these nightmares aren't all in the far past, according to Human Rights Watch. Citing 130 interviews with locals, the advocacy group said this week that in October, Sudanese soldiers raped more than 200 women and girls over a 36-hour period in the north Darfur town of Tabit. "Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that during (the) attacks, government soldiers went house-to-house in Tabit, searching houses, looting property, severely beating residents, and raping women and girls," the report stated. "On the two nights, soldiers forced many of the men to outdoor locations on the outskirts of the town, leaving the women and children especially vulnerable." The advocacy group said that civilians were the only ones affected and that it had "no evidence of any rebel force in the town immediately prior to or during the attacks." The United Nations and African Union have a force in Darfur, but according to Human Rights Watch, the Sudanese government has "prevented (them) from carrying out a credible investigation." "Immediately after they entered the room they said: 'You killed our man. We are going to show you true hell,' " a woman in her 40s recalled of an attack on her and her three daughters, two of whom were less than 11 years old, Human Rights Watch reported. "Then they started beating us. They raped my three daughters and me. Some of them were holding the girl down while another one was raping her. They did it one by one." Yusuf Kurdufani, a Sudanese Foreign Ministry spokesman, dismissed the report as "an attempt to reproduce an issue long closed after the world was convinced about the incredibility and illogicality of the claims of mass rape." According to the official Sudanese News Agency, Kurdufani said mass rapes "go contrary to the logic of things and also contradict ... the customs and traditions of the local population." "He argued that by making such allegations, the rebel movements wanted to create an impression that the situation was still unstable in the region," the SUNA report added. "The spokesman reaffirmed that the allegations of mass rape in Tabit is a file that has been closed." Yet not everyone in the international community buys Sudan's story, at least without a credible outside investigation. "To this day, the government of Sudan has shamefully denied the UN the ability to properly investigate this incident, despite this (U.N. Security) Council's mandate to do precisely that," said Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The United Nations itself said two months ago that its team had found no evidence supporting the claims, though the ultimate findings are "inconclusive and require further investigation." Violence in Darfur -- an arid region in western Sudan -- began raging in the early 2000s, with then-U.N. envoy Tom Eric Vraalsen at one point calling the humanitarian crisis there "one of the worst in the world." The United Nations has estimated about 300,000 people have been killed and another 2.7 million wounded in the unrest. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is charged by the International Criminal Court with multiple counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. But al-Bashir hasn't agreed to stand trial, with his information minister at one point dismissing the ICC as a "white man's tribunal." There have been seemingly positive developments in the region in recent years, like South Sudan declaring independence after a peace agreement and subsequent referendum. In Darfur in 2013, a splinter group from the Justice and Equality Movement -- the largest Darfurian rebel group -- signed a peace deal with the Sudanese government, and countries pledged $3.7 billion to reconstruct and develop the war-torn area. Yet the violence never really went away. In December, Under-Secretary-General for U.N. Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous briefed the Security Council about increased fighting, "deadly" internal conflicts and an alarming rise of crime in Darfur. "This insecurity as well as the persistent restrictions imposed by government forces, armed movements and militia groups continued to challenge the ability of the (UN/AU) mission to implement its mandate, particularly as regards the protection of civilians," Ladsous said.

Human Rights Watch: Mass rapes occurred over a 36-hour period last October . A Sudanese official rejects the claim as unfounded and illogical . A U.S. ambassador blasts Sudan for "shamefully" denying UN access for a full investigation .

(CNN) -- China's top security official has linked the deadly vehicle crash this week in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, which killed five people and is being described by Chinese authorities as a terrorist attack, to an Islamic separatist group. "The terrorist attack in Beijing was organized and premeditated," said Meng Jianzhu, the secretary of the Central Politics and Law Commission of the Chinese Communist Party. "The instigator behind the scenes is the terrorist group the East Turkestan Islamic Movement that operates in central and west Asia." Meng was speaking Thursday in Tashkent, the capital of the central Asian country Uzbekistan. His brief comments were carried by the broadcaster Phoenix TV, which is based in Hong Kong. Chinese officials have blamed the East Turkestan Islamic Movement in the past for fomenting unrest in Xinjiang, the western Chinese region that is home to the largely Muslim Uyghur ethnic group. The Tiananmen Square crash -- which took place Monday in the politically sensitive heart of the Chinese capital underneath a giant portrait of Mao Zedong -- would be the most high-profile attack in recent years. No group has claimed responsibility for the crash so far. Five suspects arrested . The U.S. State Department listed the East Turkestan Islamic Movement as a terrorist organization in 2002 during a period of increased cooperation with China on security matters after the September 11 attacks. But details on the group's activities and capacity are scarce. Chinese authorities said this week that they worked with police in Xinjiang to arrest five suspects in the Tiananmen case. And they identified the three people inside the vehicle, which plowed through crowds of people before hitting the rail of a pedestrian bridge in front of the Forbidden City and bursting into flames, as members of the same family with Uyghur-sounding names. The vehicle killed two tourists and injured 40 other people. Authorities say its occupants died when they set light to gasoline inside the vehicle. As well as the gasoline, police say they found two knives, steel sticks and a flag "with extremist religious content" in the vehicle. Questions over transparency . The World Uyghur Congress, a diaspora group, has urged caution about the Chinese government's account of the Tiananmen crash. "The Chinese government will not hesitate to concoct a version of the incident in Beijing, so as to further impose repressive measures on the Uyghur people," it said in a statement earlier this week, citing a lack of transparency over the investigation. State media inside China have given relatively limited coverage to the story. Images posted immediately after the incident on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, which showed black smoke and a vehicle engulfed in flames, were largely deleted. Searches combining the words "Tiananmen," "terrorism" and "car crash" were also blocked. CNN broadcasts about the subject were initially blacked out inside China. Simmering tensions . Tensions have run high in Xinjiang between Uyghurs and the millions of Han Chinese people who have migrated to the large, resource-rich region over the past several decades. Uyghurs complain of discrimination and harsh treatment by security forces, despite official promises of equal rights and ethnic harmony. Activists say that a campaign is being waged to weaken the Uyghurs' religious and cultural traditions and that the education system undermines use of the Uyghur language. The simmering tensions have periodically boiled over into deadly violence, most notably in July 2009, when rioting in Urumqi, the regional capital, killed around 200 people and wounded 1,700. That unrest was followed by a heavy crackdown by Chinese security forces. Beijing exaggerates the threat from Uyghur separatist groups, Sean Roberts, an associate professor at the Elliott School for International Affairs at George Washington University, said this week. Little of the violence that has occurred inside Xinjiang should be considered terrorism, according to Roberts. "Most of it looks like spontaneous civil unrest or isolated revenge violence carried out by individuals or small groups of local citizens, rather than by an organized militant group," he said. However, Uyghur groups claimed responsibility for bus bombs in Shanghai and Yunnan prior to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. The Chinese government blamed an attempted hijacking of a flight in 2012 on Uyghurs.

A Chinese official says a separatist group is "the instigator behind the scenes" The East Turkestan Islamic Movement has been blamed for past unrest . The crash in Tiananmen Square this week killed five people and wounded 40 . Police say they have arrested five suspects in the case .

(CNN) -- Both President Obama and Mitt Romney flubbed the big question on jobs at Tuesday night's debate. Moderator Candy Crowley noted that Apple makes its iPhones and iPads in China and asked, "How do you convince a great American company to bring that manufacturing back here?" Romney talked about reducing corporate taxes, getting tough with China by making it "play by the rules," and stopping its currency manipulation. Obama said that some jobs are just never going to come back because the labor wages abroad are so much lower than in America. What the president wants to do is to double U.S. exports and create new high-wage jobs to replace the low-wage jobs that have been sent offshore. Obviously, neither debater knows the details of how the dynamics of trade and globalization work. Why Apple will never bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. For starters, the iPhones and iPads are not really made in China. They are only assembled there. According to the Asian Development Bank, the assembly accounts for $6.50 of the final $178.96 wholesale cost of an iPhone. Researchers at the Personal Computing Industry Center estimate the assembly value of a $500 iPad at about $12. The major value of these devices is in the semiconductors, electronic displays and other key components. These high-technology and high-capital components are largely made in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and to a lesser extent Germany. A few are even made in America. None of these are low-wage countries. Japan and Germany, in fact, are high-wage countries. The labor component of making these parts is quite small. What about taxes? Japan's 39.5% corporate income tax rate topped the 39.2% of the United States until it was dropped to 38.01% earlier this year. So it's not exactly a tax haven or low tax jurisdiction. Nevertheless, Japan's computer chip and electronic display makers are major suppliers of components to the iPhone and iPad as well as to the whole range of competing phones, tablets and computers. Furthermore, Apple and many global electronics companies are already paying less taxes by dint of elaborate accounting schemes that funnel revenue to tax havens like Singapore, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Liechtenstein. As for China's practice of currency manipulation, it has been an irritant, but not an insurmountable one. Technically at odds with international trade and monetary rules, the Chinese government has intervened frequently in currency markets to keep the dollar strong and the yuan weak by buying dollars. More recently, China has allowed the yuan to rise closer to market rates, although many analysts believe it is still undervalued because present rates do not fully reflect increases in Chinese productivity. Romney may thus be justified in his critique. The risks of doing business in China must also be taken into consideration. In the past two weeks, we have seen Japanese factories in China trashed by mobs in the wake of a dispute between Japan and China over who owns a few specks of rocky islets in the East China Sea. Even if Chinese labor is cheap, incidents like these can be costly. The real reason that these kinds of jobs aren't coming back is that U.S. producers no longer know how to produce many of these product components. There is no significant U.S. producer of flat panel electronic displays. And U.S. semiconductor makers have continually been losing to competitors like South Korea's Samsung and Taiwan's TSMC. The jobs involved in the production of these components are exactly the high-wage, high-benefit jobs Obama said he wants to create. The only way to get them back is for the U.S. to regain the strong position it once occupied in making things. Obama seems to be edging in this direction with his call for spurring manufacturing. But a U.S. production renaissance will require a lot more than the president's piecemeal approach so far. It means we need a comprehensive competitiveness strategy similar to those now pursued by South Korea, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, China and others. It is not written that America must suffer a drain of ever more highly skilled jobs to overseas locations. To halt this dynamic, we must fight fire with fire. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Clyde Prestowitz.

Clyde Prestowitz: Debate shows neither candidate understands details of global trade dynamics . Prestowitz: The major value of iPhones is in the semiconductors and other key parts . He says U.S. producers don't know how to make these key components anymore . Prestowitz: If we want high-wage jobs in the U.S., we need a competitive strategy .

(CNN) -- On one hand, Cristiano Ronaldo is still scoring goals for fun and Gareth Bale is starting to justify his mammoth transfer fee. On the other, Real Madrid's defensive game is appalling. Carlo Ancelotti, who learned the game in a league where solidity at the back is everything, must be having kittens. So would you if your team took a three-goal lead against the bottom team in La Liga, then proceeded to hang on nervously for a 3-2 win that so easily could've ended in misery. Especially when your previous outing started similarly and ended in a 7-3 scoreline. And even more so when your next game is a trip to Juventus in the Champions League. "A disaster," Ancelotti called Saturday's second-half display against city rival Rayo Vallecano, a team which had conceded 27 goals and scored just eight in 11 previous Spanish league matches. "Against Sevilla we were 3-0 up and let them back into the game. Today the same thing happened and that is not a coincidence," the Italian told reporters. "We need to change and remove the superficiality we have on the pitch, the second half was a disaster. You cannot let a team back into the game like that when you have the quality of Real Madrid. "It is something that we have to talk about in the dressing room. It has happened twice that being in front has changed the attitude out on the field, and that is not good." Real had started so well, with Ronaldo waltzing down the left and firing in a low shot for a third-minute opener. Rayo had a good penalty appeal turned down and a goal disallowed before Real's marquee signing Bale laid on a perfect cross for Karim Benzema to head the second just after half an hour, having been set free by Xabi Alonso. Alonso, making his first start this season, was a major factor in Real's first-half dominance but the Spain midfielder did not come back out after the break due to another fitness problem which puts him in doubt for Tuesday's trip to Italy. Nonetheless, Bale was again the provider as Ronaldo punished Rayo at the near post soon after the interval, putting the Portugal captain above Atletico Madrid's Diego Costa in the Pichichi standings with his 13th league goal this season. It was downhill from there for Real. Vallecano won two penalties in quick succession -- both converted by Jonathan Viera, one coming after Joaquin Larrivey hit the bar -- while Diego Lopez did well to tip Alberto Bueno's shot onto the post. The result left third-placed Real six points behind Barcelona -- which won 1-0 against Espanyol on Friday -- and two behind Atletico, which hosts Athletic Bilbao on Sunday. Real Sociedad moved up to seventh with a 5-0 drubbing of Osasuna, while Almeria climbed off the bottom on goal difference with a 1-0 win over Valladolid. Celta Vigo moved away from the bottom three with a 1-0 win at Sevilla -- which had conceded seven against Real in midweek. In Italy, Napoli and Juventus moved to within two points of Serie A leader Roma with respective victories on Saturday. Second-placed Napoli, which hosts Marseille in the Champions League on Wednesday, beat Catania 2-1 with first-half goals from former Real Madrid forward Jose Callejon and Slovakian Marek Hamsik -- putting both on six in the league this season. Juve, which needs to beat Real to have any chance of a place in the knockout stage, triumphed 1-0 at Parma thanks to a 77th-minute strike from midfielder Paul Pogba. Struggling AC Milan lost 2-0 at home to fourth-placed Fiorentina ahead of Wednesday's trip to Barcelona in Europe's top club competition, further progress in which may be the key to the future of under-pressure coach Massimiliano Allegri. His Rossoneri hold the second qualifying place above Scottish side Celtic, but languish 11th in Serie A -- 18 points behind pacesetting Roma, which will seek an unprecedented 11th successive win at Torino on Sunday.

Real Madrid struggles to 3-2 win over Spain's bottom team Rayo Vallecano . Carlo Ancelotti's team had to hang on nervously after leading by three goals . Win leaves third-placed Real six points behind La Liga champion Barcelona . Wednesday's opponent Juventus wins 1-0 at Parma in Italy's Serie A .

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Brazilian filmmaker Jose Padilha knows how to get people talking. Jose Padilha's movie "Elite Squad" examines police violence and corruption in Brazil. The director of "Elite Squad" stirred controversy when his action thriller premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year. The movie tells the story of an elite police squad that employs a no-holds-barred approach when it comes to battling the drug gangs who control Rio de Janeiro's slums, known as favelas. Told from the perspective of a member of Rio's State Police Special Operations Battalion, or BOPE, Padilha's film has elicited criticism for its extreme violence and what some say is a glorification of ruthless police tactics. Padilha, who co-wrote "Elite Squad" with "City of God" screenwriter Braulio Mantovani and Rodrigo Pimentel, a former BOPE captain, says he wanted the film to explore the roots of police violence and corruption in Brazil. The movie, which casts light on the vicious cycle of violence in Brazil, "is basically about how the police institution turns individuals into corrupted cops or violent cops," Padilha told CNN. "Elite Squad," or "Tropa de Elite" in Portuguese," is one of the harshest Brazilian slice-of-life movies since Fernando Meirelles's 2002 drama "City of God." The violent tone of Padilha's film contrasts sharply with other recent movies chronicling favela life. Walter Salles offers a somber look at Sao Paulo's underclass in "Linha de Passe," which was released earlier this year. The film from the director of "The Motorcycle Diaries" and "Central Station" depicts the lives of four brothers and their mother as they struggle to overcome their circumstances. Meanwhile, Lucia Murat's "Mare, Nossa Historia de Amor" (2007), or "Mare, Our Love Story," sets the tale of Romeo and Juliet in a Rio slum and tells the story of gang warfare through music and dance. Padilha started out making "Elite Squad" as a documentary. But the members of the police who he interviewed for research didn't want to appear on screen so he decided to turn it into a fictional movie instead. The movie was filmed in the favelas, and people on the street offered input as the scenes were shot, Padilha said. Shooting in the slums added to the grim realism of the movie, but the undertaking wasn't without its own perils. At one point during the shoot, a car containing fake guns and five crew members was hijacked by armed drug dealers. (The crew members were eventually released and a police raid ensued.) Rio's slums are, for the most part, populated by honest people striving to survive by honest means, Padilha told CNN. "But unfortunately, favelas have small groups of heavily armed drug dealers that control the life of everyone there. They are the rulers, they are the judges and they can kill you and that's it." "Elite Squad" became the focus of heated debate when it was released in Brazil last October, prompting discussions about acceptable thresholds of police violence. (The police in Brazil even went as far as trying to get a court order to ban the film.) Those efforts failed, and the film went on to achieve commercial and critical success. It became the most popular film in Brazil last year and took home the Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlin festival, in February. The drama, which raises challenging questions about the problems confronting Brazilian society, is not the first time Padilha has tackled tough issues on film. He earned acclaim for his 2002 documentary "Bus 172" about the true-story hijacking of a Rio bus by a former street child. "In that documentary I told how or why the street kid became so violent and I said basically that it is the way the state restricts small time criminals -- by torturing, by killing, by putting them in crowded jails," Padilha said. "Elite Squad" follows a similar vein. It takes the same idea but applies it to the police. "The bottom line is we are trying to say that the whole violence that goes on in Rio is mainly caused by ourselves and we can possibly undo that," he said.

"Elite Squad" tells the story of a violent special operations unit in Brazil . Jose Padilha's movie has raised debates about police brutality . Padilha says he wanted to explore the roots of police corruption and violence . "Elite Squad" won the top prize at this year's Berlin International Film Festival .

(CNN) -- It is six years since Lewis Hamilton was first crowned world champion but the Briton is treating Sunday's title win in Abu Dhabi as though it was his maiden success all over again. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was billed as the "Duel in the Desert" as the battle between Hamilton and Nico Rosberg for the 2014 drivers' championship went down to the wire. Instead, it proved a solo march to glory. "Winning the first world championship was something very, very special, it was obviously my dream as a kid and it was my dream to get this championship, it feels like it was the first time," Hamilton told CNN. "Maybe because it has been those six years it does feel like it is the first time and you know I am going to enjoy it, I'm going to embrace it with my family and go to the factory and see the guys and really enjoy it." The six-year gap between Hamilton's twin triumphs equals Graham Hill's previous record wait for a second drivers' title following his first victorious season in 1962. Hamilton is no stranger to championship deciders having been in title contention at the final race of his rookie season in 2007 only to be pipped by Kimi Raikkonen. The Briton went one better the following year, edging out Felipe Massa on the final lap of the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix. In 2010, he arrived in Abu Dhabi with a mathematical chance of winning the world title but came up short. In contrast, his return to the Yas Marina Circuit at the weekend saw Rosberg finish outside of the points after his car suffered a significantly loss of power. The German's frustrating race ensured a comfortable 64-point winning margin for Hamilton as a result of the double points on offer at the final race. "Obviously I have only had it once with this kind of championship but growing up it takes time [to sink in] because it's a long season, it's not just a one-off race and there's a lot of emotions and a lot of focus that has gone on through the years," said Hamilton, who joins an elite band of 15 other multiple champions. "So I think the initial feeling is of relief, of course massively proud of the group of people that I have been working with and of course very much conscious of what we've achieved and what I've achieved. But I think the whole 'two-time champion' is going to take some time to kick in." The margin of his victory in the points standings is not a complete reflection of a title race that ebbed and flowed between the formerly close friends, whose relationship fractured during the course of an occasionally tense season. In the end, Hamilton proved victorious by virtue of his 11 grands prix victories to Rosberg's five, with the former clawing back a 29-point deficit following August's Belgian Grand Prix to win six of the last seven races. Hamilton relished the battle. "It makes no difference who are you competing with, you want to beat the guy with whoever you're fighting for the championship with," he said reflecting the morning after the night before. "Obviously, you always want to beat your teammate because he's in the same car with the same opportunities and the same opportunities so perhaps it's even sweeter when you do beat your teammate because obviously people can see the difference between you. "I had a great competitor throughout the year, I wouldn't want it any other way, I wouldn't want it easy that's for sure and I definitely don't feel I ever had it that way." Rosberg was quick to overcome his own personal disappointment and congratulate his teammate ahead of the podium presentation, although Hamilton admitted he had not seen him again bar a brief passing in the Mercedes team garage. Hamilton likened their championship fight to "life or death, we both wanted it more than anything we'd ever desired in our life." Mercedes, with the same driver line-up in 2015, look set to dominate the sport once more next season, leaving Hamilton and Rosberg as that likely title protagonists. Asked how long it would take for title number three after enduring such a long wait for his second title success, Hamilton added: "Oh geez, I have no idea. I'm just going to enjoy this one."

Hamilton says it's like winning the title for the first time after topping Duel in the Desert . Briton insists he never wanted to win the title easily and relished fighting to the last race . The 29-year-old admits the idea of being a multiple world champion will take time . It equals the record of six years for the longest wait between a first and second world title .

(CNN) -- Amanda Knox's parents are hopeful that an Italian court's decision not to re-evaluate the evidence against their daughter means she will be found not guilty of killing her roommate. Edda Mellas and Curt Knox say they have never believed their daughter was guilty. "We asked for the independent review because we were sure that anybody [who] independently looked at it would support our position," Edda Mellas, Knox's mother, told CNN's Larry King in an interview to air Friday night. "Now, maybe the court decided that they don't even need that support. That our arguments have already been good enough." Knox, of Seattle, Washington, has been in an Italian jail and on trial for nearly two years on charges that she helped murder her roommate, British student Meredith Kercher. Knox's defense lawyers had asked the court for an independent review of the evidence, which can be requested if there is contested or contradicting evidence. Prosecutors say a kitchen knife, allegedly the murder weapon, has Knox's DNA on the handle and Kercher's DNA on the blade. The defense disputes that, but last Friday, the court denied the request for a review. Closing arguments in the trial are expected at the beginning of November, and Knox's parents hope a verdict will finally vindicate their daughter. Watch Curt Knox say why he thinks his daughter was arrested » . Her father, Curt Knox, told CNN that he thinks Amanda Knox was targeted as a suspect from the beginning. Within days of Kercher's murder, Knox and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were questioned and portrayed in the media as the undisputed killers. "I believe that there was a huge mistake made very, very early on by, you know, having a -- literally a 'case closed,' you know, presentation by the police over there," he said. Prosecutors held news conferences weeks after the killing, declaring the case solved. Knox, Sollecito and bar owner Patrick Lumumba were believed to have killed Kercher during a sexual game gone horribly awry. Knox was criticized in newspapers and tabloids around the world for her demeanor after the killing, which included photos of her and Sollecito comforting each other as crime scene investigators looked for clues in her house. Knox's mother told King that those headlines couldn't be further from the truth. "You know, she's very much a person who internalizes," Mellas said. "She was extremely upset, and her roommate testified that when she found out it was Meredith that was killed, she was very upset. She cried; she did all of that. But by the time those photos were taken, it was hours later, and she was being comforted by Raffaele." As the investigation went on, the scenario of what happened changed. Lumumba was released because he had an airtight alibi, and DNA evidence from the crime scene soon pointed to a different suspect: Rudy Guede. Guede was sentenced to 30 years for the murder in a separate trial and is appealing the verdict. Knox's parents believe that Guede is the sole killer, but because the prosecution hammered the idea that Knox and Sollecito were guilty, they couldn't back away from it. "They were just too far into it, and they've been trying to press it ever since," Curt Knox said. Knox's family and friends insist that the girl they know wouldn't kill anyone. Her parents say they never believed that she was guilty. After the murder, Mellas said, friends and family told Knox to leave Italy -- to either come home or stay with relatives in Germany -- but Knox refused because she wanted to help find the killer and prove that she had nothing to do with it. "Many people asked her to leave, but she said no. 'I'm going to stay. I'm going to try and help. I'm going to try and finish school,' " Mellas said. Looking back, her parents wish Knox had left. Now, all they can do is wait -- and hope things turn out how they believe they should. "We have to believe that what they're hearing in court -- and it's so clear that she had nothing to do with it -- then they'll come out with the right answer," Curt Knox said. "I mean, that's -- that's what we have to believe."

Knox is on trial in Italy, accused of killing her British roommate, Meredith Kercher . Italian court refused defense request to re-evaluate evidence . Amanda Knox's parents hope that means she will be found not guilty of murder .

(CNN) -- On June 4 this year, it will have been 20 years since I have seen Beijing, the city in which I spent much of my youth and attended university. It will have been 20 years since I saw my parents. My parents are older. I hear their health is not what it was, but it is something they take pains not to trouble me with. I hear Beijing is much changed. I hear China is much changed. Wu'er Kaixi has been living in exile outside of China since 1989. One thing has not changed. Many of us are still in exile and cannot go home. This is an odd thing, if you really think about it. Last year, amid much pomp and ceremony, China held the 2008 Olympics. In the same year, China conducted its first space walk. In the same year, it overhauled its property laws, allowing far greater rights of ownership than China has seen since the communist revolution. This year, amid a financial crisis of the kind the world has not seen since the Great Depression of 1929, the world looks to China as the motor of possible economic revival. Yet China -- unlike other nations that aspire to international recognition and respect -- still imprisons and exiles those with dissenting views. The pity of this for me is that dissenting opinions have been behind every step of China's long journey to the place it now prides itself on occupying. Sacrifices were made to bring about the end of the Qing imperial dynasty and usher in a nationalist government in 1911. The student movement of May 4, 1919, against the Treaty of Versailles, which ceded German rights to Shandong province to Japan, initiated the nationalist, populist movement that arguably led to the rise of the Communist Party and the liberation of China from foreign control. Equally, it was internal pressure within China that compelled the ruling Chinese Communist Party to move from a position of insularity to what it is today - a voice that has authority in the international arena. China has seen enormous changes since May and June of 1989, when the students of Beijing stood up and called on the Beijing government to make changes. The movement emerged largely out of a sense of frustration with a system amid unique circumstances - the death of a politician who was seen as more sympathetic to reform than most and ahead of a historic visit by then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It was a movement that was born out of a yearning for an end to official corruption and a stifling system that provided no opportunities to the country's best educated. But it became a wider call for change, when workers' unions and common people joined it. Five months after the Tiananmen student movement was put down with live ammunition in Beijing on June 4, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. Two years later, the Soviet Union collapsed. Early the following year -- in 1992 -- Chinese Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping embarked on what is now known as the Southern Tour. In the relatively freewheeling Special Economic Zone of Shenzhen, he reiterated a dormant catchphrase of the 1980s, "To get rich is glorious," and effectively initiated a new era for China. This new China is the only China that most foreigners who do business with the world's potentially biggest market know. But the only China I truly know is the one I was exiled from - and it was a China where you could not buy Nike or have a quiet drink in a bar, it was a China of empty department stores and streets thronging with people in drab Mao suits. To this day, I believe that the people who sacrificed their lives in Beijing in June 1989 had a huge role in transforming the China of my youth into the place it is today, the place that today the world recognizes as China - and hopes will help revive the global economy. I am proud of what China has achieved. I simply wish it had achieved more. It is a personal tragedy for me that, after 20 years, I cannot see my parents or my homeland. But I think it is a far greater tragedy for China that, after 20 years, it cannot openly discuss its recent history, and let its people decide for themselves how and why the world's most populous nation has come to occupy the place it rightfully deserves. To me this says that China may have appeared to have stood up, but in reality it is still sitting down.

Author was a student leader in China in 1989 . Wu'er Kaixi has been living in exile outside of China since the events at Tiananmen . Author: Dissent has fueled historical progress in China .

Washington (CNN) -- A Senate committee will expand its probe into the U.S. Secret Service this week following a scandal involving prostitutes in Colombia in advance of a recent trip by the president. The Homeland Security Committee will send the Secret Service "some questions this week, as the beginning of our broader investigation, asking whether... this was an exception, or is there anything in the records that show this is a pattern of misconduct that has gone on elsewhere by Secret Service agents on assignment, but off-duty?" Sen. Joe Lieberman, the committee chairman, told "Fox News Sunday." "Why wasn't it noticed if that was the case? What's the Secret Service going to do to make sure it never happens again?" Some Secret Service members and agents allegedly brought back several prostitutes to a hotel in Cartagena, according to sources familiar with the U.S. government's investigation. The Secret Service says 12 members of the agency have been implicated in the incident. Across the Sunday political talk shows, officials expressed confidence in Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan, saying they believe he has handled the scandal well and will get answers. "History is full of cases where enemies have compromised" people with security or intelligence information through sex, said Lieberman, I-Connecticut. He added that based on what he has been told so far, "there is no evidence that information was compromised" in this case. Down the road, the committee will hold a public hearing on the matter -- perhaps more than one, Lieberman said. "Anyone who's found to be guilty" will lose his job, Rep. Peter King, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told NBC's "Meet the Press." King told CNN last week that four investigators were assigned to his committee's probe. One person who was "partially exonerated" will instead likely face administrative action, King said. In a letter sent to Sullivan on Friday, King listed a series of questions, including how many employees were aware of the alleged incident and how many total employees were in Cartagena in support of President Obama's trip to the Summit of the Americas when the incident occurred earlier this month. "Please provide a comprehensive, minute-by-minute timeline of all known actions, locations, and possible violations of U.S. or Colombia law," codes of conduct, and directives, King wrote in the letter. But King and other officials are quick to emphasize that those allegedly involved in cavorting with prostitutes at a hotel in Cartagena are the exceptions. "In any organization things can go wrong," President Obama's chief campaign strategist David Axelrod told CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday. "I must say that in my experience the Secret Service has been completely professional, so impressive. I always felt like they were ... willing to do anything to protect the president and the people around the president. And so this was really disappointing. "Obviously we have to get to the bottom of it, but those problems should not denigrate the efforts of so many who do such a good job." Sen. Susan Collins, ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney of the House Oversight Committee suggested having more female agents could help avoid such scandals. "I can't help but wonder if there'd been more women as part of that detail if this ever would have happened," Collins told ABC's "This Week." Maloney agreed, and added that she was told 11% of agents in the Secret Service are women. The agency did not immediately confirm the figure to CNN Sunday. "We probably need to diversify the Secret Service and have more minorities and more women," she said. Six Secret Service members have left their jobs in the wake of the incident in Cartagena, Colombia, which came while they were on a security detail in advance of President Obama's trip for the Summit of the Americas. One employee "has been cleared of serious misconduct, but will face administrative action," the Secret Service said. Five employees are on administrative leave and have had their security clearances temporarily revoked. In addition, the U.S. military is investigating 11 of its own troops for possible heavy drinking and consorting with prostitutes. White House staff have not been implicated in the controversy. After the scandal broke, President Obama called for a "thorough" and "rigorous" invsetigation. "If it turns out that some of the allegations that have been made in the press are confirmed, then of course I'll be angry," he said.

Senate committee Chairman Lieberman asks whether there's a pattern of misconduct . House committee Chairman King asks for minute-by-minute timeline . The actions of a few should not denigrate the many professionals, Axelrod says . Collins and Maloney suggest more female agents could help avoid such a scandal .

(CNN) -- Three white Mississippi men pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes Thursday in connection with the 2011 beating death of an African-American man in Jackson, the Justice Department announced. Deryl Dedmon, John Aaron Rice and Dylan Butler each admitted to conspiracy and violating the 2009 federal hate-crimes law in last June's killing of James Craig Anderson. They face sentences of up to life in prison and $250,000 in fines, federal prosecutors said. The 19-year-old Dedmon had already pleaded guilty to state murder and hate-crime charges Wednesday in a state court and was sentenced to life in prison. Rice, 19, and Butler, 20, made their initial appearances with Dedmon in federal court Thursday morning. The men are among the first defendants to be prosecuted under the federal hate-crime statute that President Barack Obama signed in 2009 and the first to be prosecuted in a fatal attack, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, the head of the Justice Department's civil rights division, said in a statement on Thursday's pleas. "The Department of Justice will vigorously pursue those who commit racially motivated assaults and will use every tool at our disposal to ensure that those who commit such acts are brought to justice," Perez said. "And I note that our investigation in this matter is ongoing." Life sentence in Mississippi hate-crime case . In court Thursday, all three admitted to harassing and assaulting African-Americans on several occasions in the weeks before Anderson's death, hurling beer bottles, firing slingshots and driving at them with cars, prosecutors said. They targeted people they believed to be drunk or homeless, believing them less likely to report the attacks. They are also expected to testify against other teens implicated in Anderson's killing, two sources close to the proceedings told CNN. They admitted to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, named for the victims of two 1998 killings that shocked the country. Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming teenager, died after being kidnapped, beaten and left tied to a fence, while Byrd was a black man dragged to death in Texas by white supremacists. Anderson's death prompted several large marches and prayer vigils in Jackson, a city of about 537,000 people. At his state plea hearing, Dedmon told the court that his crimes were the result of being "young and dumb, ignorant and full of hatred." But Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill told him, "Whatever excuse you offer, forget that. There is no excuse." Anderson, 47, died after he was beaten and run over by a truck driven by Dedmon, who was part of a group of seven white youths from largely white Rankin County who decided to "go f**k with some niggers" after a night of partying and drinking, law enforcement officials have said, quoting some of the suspects in the case. Authorities have said they believe Dedmon led and instigated the attack. They said the youths climbed into Dedmon's green truck and a white SUV and drove to the western edge of Jackson, where Anderson was standing in a hotel parking lot just beyond a highway exit ramp. On a videotape obtained exclusively by CNN, the group pulls into the parking lot and stops where Anderson is standing, although he is just off camera and not visible. The young men can then be seen going back and forth between their cars and Anderson. Witnesses told authorities this is when Anderson's beating took place, as the white youths yelled racial epithets, including "white power." After the beating, Dedmon drove his Ford F-250 truck over him, leaving him to die, according to what some of the teens cooperating with police have told authorities. Rice initially faced state murder charges as well, but a judge reduced the charges to simple assault because he was not believed to be driving the vehicle used to kill Anderson. At Dedmon's sentencing Wednesday, Anderson's sister, Barbara Anderson Young, said her family was praying for "racial conciliation." "These last months have been very difficult," Young said. "We cried. We wept. We reminisced about our beloved brother, Craig, a loss I cannot even explain. Craig was a big-hearted person who loved his fellow man."

NEW: The defendants admitted to previous assaults in the Jackson area, prosecutors say . Three men plead guilty to federal hate crimes in Mississippi killing . One of the defendants pleaded guilty to a state murder charge Wednesday . They are the first charged with a killing under a 2009 federal hate-crime law .

(CNN) -- Franklin D. Roosevelt had his Hundred Days. Papa Francesco has had a little less than a month. Yet, like FDR, he has used bold gestures to alert the world that things in the Catholic Church would not be returning to business as usual. For Catholics, images conveyed in a genuine way can be symbols of deeper realities. We are a sacramental church. God speaks to us through his word, but that word is often accompanied by ritual, gesture and symbol. Pope Francis really believes in simplicity. So far, he has waved off any vestige of opulence (gold pectoral crosses and ermine lined mantles), walks rather than rides in a chauffeured limo, and for now at least refuses to live in the Apostolic Palace (a complex oxymoron, what apostle ever lived in a palace?). He chooses to live in a less pretentious guest house. He invokes the patron saint of evangelical poverty, St. Francis, but this also comes from his Jesuit formation. The vow of poverty and the commitment to the poor is taken seriously among the Sons of Loyola—at least the ones I know. Forming young people to be "men and women for others" is not an idle slogan for a lamppost banner. Jesuits really do it and do it well. Pope Francis washes youths' feet at detention center . This may seem to the cynical a mere show or public relations, and a few of those cynics are in the church. But something tells me this is the real thing. This is how he lived in Buenos Aires. He could have had a palace and all the accoutrements of fine living, and yet he chose something else—something simple, and closer to the people he wished to serve. On Thursday, he washed the feet of young juvenile offenders at a detention center in Rome. Among them were two women; one of them was a Muslim. Let Catholics around the world take note. I can only marvel at this generous and loving gesture. But in Catholic life, rituals are usually accompanied by words. Sometimes the words are difficult to understand or are prayed in flat and boring tones as though the celebrant doesn't believe them. But when word and ritual come together in the best way, it can strike fire in human hearts. Pope Francis has uttered some marvelous words to accompany his actions. To his frail predecessor, "We are brothers." To the gardeners and janitors of the Vatican, "If we have a closed heart, we have a heart of stone." To priests, an exhortation to "pray over the realities of the everyday lives" of their parishioners, and "their troubles, their joys, their burdens and their hopes." To the young people at the prison, "Help one another. This is what Jesus teaches us. This is what I do and I do it with my heart." Why did the pope wash prisoners' feet? Simple, direct words from the heart of a pastor—words people can and will remember because they are accompanied by actions. Eventually, the novelty of all this will fade, but the tasks ahead for the Catholic Church will not. Repairing its shattered credibility, especially with the young, will be awaiting Pope Francis each morning with his coffee. Who will advise him? What kinds of men will he choose as bishops? How strong will he be in the face of certain opposition within and outside the church? We will see. "Francis, rebuild my church," said the Lord to the Poverello of Assisi. Pope Francis I'm sure also hears this same, "small, still, voice." But perhaps we are in for even more surprises. The new pontiff has yet to complete the ritual of taking possession of his four basilicas in Rome. These highly ritualized events are accompanied by droves of cardinals and other clerics and offer the pope an occasion to say a few words to mark the occasion. Opinion: Pope Francis' humble superiority . It was during one such ceremony in January 1959, at St. Paul Outside the Walls, that Pope John XXIII shocked the world by calling for an ecumenical council. Could Pope Francis do the same? If he did, another Roosevelt --Teddy--might say, "Bully! " So would I. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Steven Avella.

Steven Avella: Pope Francis has used bold gestures to signal changes to come . Avella: Francis believes in simplicity and has embodied it in his actions and words . When words and rituals come together well, it can strike fire in human hearts, he says . Avella: Francis faces many challenges ahead, like repairing the church's credibility .

(CNN) -- When Frederick Hutson left prison in 2012 after serving four years on marijuana-related charges, he realized he had gained something more than his freedom: insight into an overlooked consumer market. Many inmates are stuck in an age before Instagram or Facebook, relying on envelopes and pay phones to connect with family on the outside. So Hutson founded Pigeonly, a photo-sharing and low-cost phone call service that has already helped 50,000 incarcerated individuals connect with their loved ones, maintain their ties to society, and remain a presence in their children's lives. The story of Pigeonly is statistically unlikely: a disruptive technology created by a member of a disenfranchised community, in order to solve a problem within that community. It is also a model for the type of entrepreneurship that can revive American capitalism: both inclusive of and responsive to America's changing demographics. One of the great achievements of the civil rights and women's rights movements was that they unleashed an enormous pool of talent into the economic life of America. Desegregation and the women's movement broke down barriers to education and employment and made our nation stronger by making it more competitive. Yet 50 years later, a narrow vision of capitalism once again threatens to leave many Americans behind. Our nation's failure to achieve equal educational opportunity has exacerbated race-based economic disparities and produced two starkly different American economies. And while women have made strong gains in professional life, they remain dramatically underrepresented in many of the most profitable sectors. Silicon Valley is hardly the only place where this is evident, but addressing it here is crucial to turning the tide. Last year there were eight states where zero Latino students took the Advanced Placement exam in computer science, and 11 states in which no black students took the test. In three states, not a single female student sat for the exam. It is no surprise, then, that 99% of venture capital-funded startups in 2010 were founded by whites or people of Asian descent, the vast majority of whom were men. The result of this pipeline problem is an enormous amount of untapped talent and a tech sector that fails to reflect the demographics of its users. To be sure, government can play a crucial role in leveling the playing field. But it can only go so far. The leaders of the innovation economy can and should play their part in reviving capitalism by making it more responsive to a changing country's full range of widespread needs and more inclusive in the process. This is a practical demand as much as a moral one. Underrepresented populations are uniquely prepared to do what the tech sector claims to do best: innovate. Look at the app store on any smartphone. There are thousands of programs to edit a photo or help you check the weather, but far fewer that exist to close the gaps in our society. In Silicon Valley, we like to say that every problem is a potential opportunity. But it takes a diversity of backgrounds to identify the real-world problems begging for a solution. Simply put, startups like Pigeonly are shattering expectations of what the market demands. Smart investors are looking at firms like Regalii, which helps immigrants send cash remittances back to their home countries, or Plaza Familia, a Latina-founded multilingual education software platform that helps parents track their children's' school progress in their native language. Our firm, Kapor Capital, invests in these companies and dozens of others that work to close gaps. We saw that startups like Pigeonly were launched by entrepreneurs who identified an unmet need in the market as a result of their life experiences. Silicon Valley tells an idealistic story of itself and the revolutionary role of tech leaders in the 21st century economy. Tech innovation can and should expand wealth, democratize access to opportunity, and build a meritocracy where talent matters most. However, we still have a long way to go. We will be there when companies like Pigeonly, Regalii, and Plaza Familia and their founders -- African-Americans, Latinos, women of all colors, and others historically excluded -- are no longer the exception to the rule. Capitalism remains our nation's operating system. The current version needs an upgrade. Investing in the people who are too often locked out, and their ideas, can advance our economy and our country to the next level. Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.

Mitch Kapor and Ben Jealous worry that a lack of diversity in tech firms is stalling innovation . Startups succeed, they say, when they meet unmet needs . Innovators from diverse backgrounds can uncover fresh, unsolved problems . Capitalism, they say, is U.S. operating system but current version needs an upgrade .

(CNN) -- Eagles may be thin on the ground for most golfers at the Bear Trace course at Harrison Bay. But up in the treetops, it's a different matter. Bald eagles Elliott and Eloise have been par for the course at the Tennessee club for the past three and a half years, scoring highly with both local and global audiences thanks to a camera installed by their nest in a pine tree behind the 10th green. "The eagles came in and started building a nest in December 2010," explains golf course superintendent Paul Carter. "The first year they had two eaglets and both fledged successfully. We were just watching them from the ground not really knowing what was going on until about mid-May when two black heads popped up out of the nest." The discovery prompted Carter to install an Eagle Cam which has been live since early 2012. This year, the pair -- who were given their names by Carter's daughter -- welcomed two more eaglets who go by the more functional names of HB5 and HB6. Bald eagles were once on the U.S. endangered species list, but numbers of the nation's symbol have risen since the government banned the pesticide DDT -- which contaminated the birds' food sources. The wingspans of the female eagles, which are larger than the males, can be up to eight feet. "Tennessee has had some good success with its eagle population, but this is the only one on a golf course that I know of. We are trying to show that golf courses can be a sustainable habitat for wildlife," Carter told CNN ahead of Earth Day -- an initiative started in 1970 aimed at improving the world's environment, and marked globally this year on April 22. Bear Trace's round-the-clock live feed has received almost a million views to date. The virtual presence has also helped business at the club. "I've been in the pro shop several times and people come in and ask which hole Eagle Cam is on," Carter says. "We've definitely had a considerable amount of play off it." The project is one of many environmentally-minded measures Carter and his colleagues have tended to in recent years. "It's not just about how we mow the grass or what fertilizer we're putting down. We have an education center which has environmental information, awards and pictures of the course," he says. Carter, who also writes about environmental improvements on a blog and gives talks, was recently recognized for his green leadership. Last November, Golf Digest magazine awarded the course its Green Star Award and in February Carter was crowned overall winner of the Environmental Leaders in Golf Award for 2013. The prestigious prize, which is open to golf courses around the world, is jointly run by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and Golf Digest. Historically, golf courses haven't attracted praise for their green credentials but rather criticism, often being held up as examples of resource profligacy for over-watering and widespread use of chemicals. But this view may now be outdated says Ray Semlitsch, curators professor of biological sciences at the University of Missouri. "Golf courses are aware of some of these negative things and actually they have done a very good job over the last 10-20 years of trying to improve environmental practices," says Semlitsch, who recently led a study on the effects of golf course development on salamander populations in the southern Appalachians. "We studied 10 golf courses interviewing golf superintendents and managers. These were young, highly educated people -- many had degrees in biology, turf science or wildlife management. "They are well aware of these problems and very excited and very willing to make changes and use environmentally sound practices." Carter says things have shifted "180 degrees" since 2001 when he started at Bear Trace, a Jack Nicklaus-designed course -- noting that the club has substantially reduced mowing, fertilizer use and water consumption. "We've removed over 50 acres of highly maintained earth in the last decade. When you figure that out from a water standpoint, we save 7.39 million gallons annually." As individuals and organizations around the globe mark Earth Day, it's good to know that people like Carter are keeping an eagle eye on the environment not just today but all-year-round. Read more: How many more majors can Bubba win? Read more: Hornet attack 'my scariest moment'

A Tennessee golf club is home to two nesting bald eagles . Pair named Elliott and Eloise recently joined by two eaglets . Eagle Cam set up in 2012 has been viewed by nearly one million worldwide . Course has been recipient of several environmental awards .

(CNN) -- Actors call it "backstory." Hugh Jackman stars as the title character in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." It's all the stuff that happened in the past, before the movie begins. All the stuff that might explain how the character became what he or she is today. It's obvious why that might be fascinating to the actor playing the role. But as for the rest of us, well, you have to figure the writer left it out for a reason. But these days we're seeing a lot more "origin" stories as the studios milk each franchise for every last drop, and thus arrives "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," about the blade-wielding character Hugh Jackman plays. (Jackman, no dummy, has a producer credit on the film.) You can be sure that someone at Twentieth Century Fox will be running the numbers Monday with a view to fast-tracking a sequel to this prequel, as well as further putative episodes devoted to Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, Mystique and the rest of the class of X. Based on "Wolverine," it's hard to get excited about the prospect. The film exhibits all the overly familiar hallmarks of the 21st-century comic book movie: an inflated sense of its own importance, turgid plotting and action sequences designed to showcase lavish CGI effects. In many ways, it was the first "X-Men," back in 2000, that set the tone. On the one hand, director Bryan Singer embedded an earnest allegory about prejudice and minority rights; on the other, it was an FX geek's wet dream. Each mutant came with her or his own gimmick: One could shapeshift; another could levitate; yet another had a bad case of wind. The mutants all shared the same nasty temper, but Logan/Wolverine (Jackman) had the shortest fuse -- and the silliest haircut, a '50s ducktail with ferocious rockabilly sideburns. Predictably enough, "Origins" devotes more time to exploring the roots of his anger issues than his hair, but it doesn't worry about where his most distinctive genetic features might have come from: the retractable claws that spring from his knuckles when he's irked and his invulnerability to anything short of decapitation. In "Wolverine," Logan has lost his taste for war in Vietnam after more than a century as a fighting man (or mutant) and finally walks away in disgust from the elite mutant unit put together by Col. Stryker (Danny Huston). But his brother Victor (Liev Schreiber) has other ideas and knows how to get Wolverine to embrace his true, animalistic, nature. Borrowing wholesale from "The Incredible Hulk," with Schreiber fairly effective in the Abomination part, "Wolverine" struggles to establish an identity of its own. The two brothers charge at each other like medieval knights jousting, and Victor -- also known as Sabretooth -- affects a dog-like, four-legged bound. But no matter how often he tries it, director Gavin Hood ("Tsotsi") never works out how to make a fight between indestructible foes tense or exciting. That's the trouble with CG-enhanced action: What you gain in spectacle, you lose in impact. Filmmakers today can engineer destruction on a scale that would have been unimaginable 20 or 30 years ago, but it's all so much collateral damage. It's rare, these days, for an American action movie to impart any genuine sense of pain or hurt or loss. Too much Wow, not enough Ow! In fairness, there are fleeting moments in "Wolverine" where we do feel Logan's emotional anguish. But they're only as a prelude to his anger, which is the only quality an audience is likely to find interesting about him. Serviceable but inescapably redundant, this "Wolverine" movie does just enough to keep the "X-Men" franchise on life support, but the filmmakers will have to come up with some evolutionary changes soon if it's going to escape X-tinction. "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is rated PG-13 and runs 108 minutes. For Entertainment Weekly's review, click here.

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" has all the drawbacks, none of heart of comic-book film . Film has wonderful CGI effects, but to what end? Star Hugh Jackman tries hard, but script, pacing let him down .

(CNN) -- Despite its obvious advantages -- there's less rubber on the road, there are fewer moving parts and both your hands are free for carrying the shopping -- one-wheeled transport has had a patchy history. From the impressive and futuristic "dynasphere" prototype of the 1930s to the circus unicycle, mono-wheeled transport has suffered a fatal design flaw: it's difficult to steer. Typically in a two-wheeled vehicle, one wheel provides the motor force while the other does the steering. In a mono-wheel or unicycle, the wheel has to do both jobs. Now, thanks to more advanced, cheaper and smaller gyroscopes, all that is about to change. Companies such as Ryno Motors in the United States and Airwheel in the UK are producing unicycles with internal stabilizers that will scoot a passenger along at 12mph. Portable, cheap to run and fun to ride, Airwheel is now the supplier of the Chinese-made unicycles for the English postal service Whistl which is trialing a fleet for its mailmen in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. But it's not just mailmen that are giving the futuristic transport the thumbs up. City commuters are now using them to get that final leg from the Tube station to home. "They immediately put people in mind of the hoverboard in 'Back to the Future,'" said Simon Parham, CEO of the London-based company. "In many ways, it feels like technology and science is headed in that direction; towards that mode of transport." The electric unicycle has an effective range of 28 miles, can recharge its batteries when it goes downhill and is rugged enough to gutter jump and even take off road. "It really feels like you're gliding on nothing," said Parham, a former stuntman in James Bond films. "You could relate it to something like snowboarding or skiing but obviously you're doing it on concrete and gliding around at your leisure rather than requiring mountains and snow." He said that he could see the efficacy of and market for the devices immediately and hadn't even ridden one before he decided to become a distributor for the gadgets. "We were aware that people might want them just for fun but we've been somewhat overwhelmed by how interested business commuters have been in using them to drive into the center of cities or to get to the train station." Some customers, he said, had found uses for the electric unicycle that his company had not even imagined. "We got an email from a disabled user who had mobility problems who was now able to go on nature walks with her partner -- they would hold hands and actually go quite some distance off-road with these which really opened up a new lease of life for her," Parham said. Already designers are looking at unicycles that can go further, faster and are even more lightweight and easier to ride. "Compared with a Segway for example they're already so lightweight," he said, referring to the electric two-wheeled personal transporter. "I can't imagine picking up a Segway, whereas with an Airwheel, you can scoot to your station, stick it on the overhead compartment, get to your destination, take it down and scoot to work. "It's a fun alternative means of transport and there's a market for it." The company sells a twin-wheeled version, which is easier to learn to ride, and a smaller one-wheeled version that Parham says everyone has been able to negotiate after a sometimes shaky start. Like a Segway, the driver must shift their weight forward to make the unicycle accelerate and lean backwards to slow down and brake. But the proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating and Airwheel say that "posties" -- as mailmen are called in Britain -- have taken to its ease of use and rugged go-anywhere design. The chief executive officer of Whistl, Nick Wells, said in a statement that the postal company had a long track record of innovation. "This radical new delivery device grabbed our attention," Wells said. "Our teman have had fun getting to grips with the gadget and it's gone down well with customers too. "We are committed to ongoing efficiency and if the trial proves successful then the Airwheel will be adopted by Whistl posties across the United Kingdom."

Electric unicycles are being trialed in Britain with more than 100 mailmen . The rugged one-wheeled devices can go 12mph and have a range of 28 miles . The unicycles can even recharge their own batteries when going downhill . Airwheel says businessmen have been snapping up the devices for commuting .

(CNN) -- Airports aren't exactly stress-free zones -- not yet at least. But it's certainly something airport managers are working on. Still, all the spas, yoga studios and movie cinemas in the world can't detract from the main source of travel anxiety: grueling lines. It's an irksome feature that may soon become a relic, thanks to the advent of mobile tracking technology. Helsinki Airport recently became the first in the world to track passenger movements in real time, from the parking lot to departure gates. "The whole idea is to get better analytics of passenger flow. Really, it's only because we want to know better where bottlenecks form in the airport during rush hour," says Jarno Putta, vice president and chief information officer at Finavia Corporation, which manages the airport. Passengers can meanwhile get updates about their flight status, bookmark where they parked (so they can find their car after their return flight) and chart how long it will take to get through security. Once inside, when they pass partnered shops, they can get pinged with offers. While receiving updates directly to one's phone may seem intrusive, Putta is adamant that the system doesn't collect any personal information. Rather, it uses iBeacons and Wi-Fi routers to collect unique identifier numbers (or MAC addresses), and only from devices with the Wi-Fi settings turned on. "The MAC addresses we use are scrambled, which means no one can be traced," he says. EasyJet makes use of drone inspections . EasyJet is trialing similar technology at London Gatwick, Luton and Paris Charles de Gaulle airports, also using iBeacon. The carrier is starting small -- placing the devices at baggage drop offs and security areas. The EasyJet app also uses the technology to alert passengers to ready their documents at key points. Though still in its early stages, James Millett, EasyJet's head of digital, anticipates it could have father-reaching uses. "In time, we could see applications supporting individual challenges, like when a customer needs to be in a different location because they are carrying skis, or aren't carrying any hold luggage," he says. The European low-cost carrier has been at the forefront of utilizing the newest technology. In May, it started trialing inspection by drone on its fleet of Airbus A319 and A320 planes. The airline is also looking into the use of virtual reality glasses to allow engineers and pilots to capture pictures of potential issues, and send them directly back to base. "It's another good example of how we're applying new technologies to our business to help us be more effective and efficient," says Millett. Passengers need power to opt out . Not everyone is comfortable with the new technology. "Who wouldn't be creeped out by the idea of having your phone tracked? If I tell you someone's tracking you, and don't tell you why, of course you'd be upset," says Jules Polonetsky, executive director and co-chair of the Washington-based think tank Future of Privacy Forum. He adds that, contrary to how it may seem, airport tracking is kept pretty general. "It's not like it reports, 'hey, this phone belongs to the guy with blue glasses and a shabby suitcase.' It's '38,000 devices were in this location between these hours.' It's critical for airports and retailers to demystify this technology's uses for users." Transparency is key, says Polonetsky, and airports need to make sure to alert passengers to the when, how and why of this technology, and provide them with an option to opt out -- which both EasyJet and  Helsinki Airport do. Passengers who don't wish to be tracked can either switch off Wi-Fi on their devices, or provide their MAC address to walkbase.com and smart-places.org. (In doing so, the tracking systems knows to ignore the address in the future.) Mainly, though, he recognizes the many potential uses of this technology at the airport. "An airport is the type of place where you probably do want to get pinged about gate changes, or find out where you can get a cup of coffee once you're checked in, or information on where the gate is and how much time it will take to get to it," he says. "It's a big space, and anything the venue can do to help me navigate it easily and quickly is useful."

Airports are using phone tracking to give passengers updates on flight status, airport retail deals, more . EasyJet is also trialing drones for plane inspections . The carrier is looking at virtual reality to help pilots and engineers .

Istanbul, Turkey (CNN) -- Sitting down with the protesters in Gezi Park, the message to the government from demonstrators, young and old, seems simple enough: Don't try to control us. Incinerated cars, desecrated monuments and homemade banners now litter Istanbul's commercial hub, Taksim Square, after demonstrations at the weekend turned violent when police moved in to scatter protesters. "They are trying to decide whether we drink alcohol," industrial design student Ozgsa Bertag-Apunaman, 20, says calmly: "Telling us how many children we should have and if a woman should have an abortion or not." He recalls how he was left breathless after being struck on the back with a tear gas canister fired by police. "They're aiming at us. A shell exploded on my backpack. Luckily I had it on." The clashes were sparked following a peaceful demonstration against the government's proposal to uproot Gezi Park and erect in its place a shopping mall styled like a 19th-century Ottoman barracks. But for many Turks now massing in the park and on Taksim Square, a new mall is more than just another eyesore; it is a symbol of autocratic rule from a government that, in their view, is harking back to bygone days when this city -- once considered a gateway to Asia -- was ruled by emperors. Gozde, 19, a university pupil studying genetics, joined the protests with her mother and is worried for the future of her country under the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "Everyone thinks he's a dictator," she tells CNN. "He is acting with his ego... We're not terrorists but that's how he wants to show it." Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted party Justice and Development Party further infuriated demonstrators by labelling them "a few looters," adding that the protests in Istanbul and Turkey's capital, Ankara, are the work of opposition extremists trying to challenge the government. The prime minister has said that he could bring large crowds of his supporters onto the streets should he chose to do so. He has also attacked speculation about his position online, criticizing Twitter for helping people spread "lies" and saying that social media "is the worst menace to society.'' A more conciliatory tone from the government emerged Tuesday, when Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc apologized "for the police aggression against our citizens who were involved in the initial protests and acted with environmental concern," Anadolu, Turkey's semi-official news agency, reported. Metehan, 19, a university student studying English literature, believes the government's latest policy initiatives and the "brutal" measures taken by police are a true reflection of the state of Turkish democracy. "Democracy is not just voting but protecting the voices of the minorities," he says. "Istanbul is a historical city and many cultures existed here and we want to protect this history." Istanbul -- a metropolis of 12 million people -- is famed as a melting pot of cultures where Christianity and Islam heritage are fused into one city. While the protests rage on in Taksim Square, much of the city remains peaceful. In the tourist hub of Sultanahmet, across the Bosphorous, it's business as usual. But according to Ayean, 33, a fashion designer, the "beautiful" mix that exists in Istanbul, along with people's way of life in the city, is under threat. "He [Erdogan] is starting to define people as alcoholics if they drink," she said in a reference to the recent enactment of stricter alcohol controls. "It's just against freedom whatever your background." Modern-day Turkey was founded in 1923 under secular laws which replaced traditional religious legal codes. Under Erdogan and his ruling AKP party, Turkey has lifted curbs on public expression of religion, including strict limits on women wearing Islamic-style headscarves. Rock star and environmentalist Haluk Levent, 44, believes it's about time that Erdogan listened to the concerns of the country's young people. "It does not surprise me that the police have been so brutal. The government is turning Turkey into a police state and this worries me."

Anti-government protests have swept Turkey for over a week . The message to the government from demonstrators is simply: Don't control us . Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party labeled the protestors as "a few looters" Rock star and environmentalist Haluk Levent, 44, says Erdogan needs to start listening .

(CNN) -- A West Virginia state judge pleaded not guilty to federal conspiracy charges Wednesday for allegedly plotting to frame his secretary's husband in crimes, after the secretary broke off an affair with the judge. Mingo County Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury, 57, was arraigned Wednesday on two counts of conspiracy against rights, according to a federal indictment based on grand jury findings. According to allegations in federal documents unsealed last Thursday, the alleged five-year vendetta included plotting to plant drugs under the husband's car, recruiting a state trooper to arrest the man on bogus theft charges, and persuading a police officer to arrest him on groundless assault and battery charges, the documents say. "Judge Thornsbury set off on a campaign to persecute his secretary's husband, his romantic rival. In the process he corrupted the system of Justice in Mingo County for his own nefarious purposes," U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said. His trial date was set for October 15, and he was released on a $10,000 bond. Thornsbury's attorney, Stephen Jory, declined to comment on the charges. Thornsbury, who had "engaged in intimate physical contact" with his secretary, according to the indictment, asked her to leave her husband in 2008. She refused. Michael Callahan, who represents the secretary and her husband, on Friday called the incidents that led up to the indictment a "terrible abuse of a public office." Callahan represented the husband in two criminal cases allegedly conjured up by Thornsbury. The charges were dismissed in both cases. "I represent both RW and KW as they begin the process of putting their lives back together and seek their own justice. At this time, my clients are unwilling to make any public statements or do any interviews," Callahan said in a statement to CNN. The secretary and her husband were identified in the indictment only by their initials, K.W. and R.W., respectively. West Virginia state judge faces federal conspiracy charges . When the federal charges against Thornsbury were announced, West Virginia's highest court, the Supreme Court of Appeals, voted to suspend the judge without pay, and also voted to suspend his law license, according to an official news release from the high court. According to the indictment, the conspiracy charges stem from three alleged incidents: . • In 2008, Thornsbury allegedly tried to have a friend plant illegal drugs in a metal box under the husband's pickup truck. The friend agreed to do it but never went through with it, according to the indictment. As part of the scheme, the judge had "purposely cultivated a relationship" with a state trooper, apparently to have the trooper investigate after the drug plant was done, according to the indictment. • Thornsbury "repeatedly insisted" that the same state trooper get an arrest warrant for the husband, for supposedly stealing "scrap mine bits" from the coal company where he worked and selling them. The husband was subsequently arrested, but charges were dismissed. Callahan, the attorney for the husband, said not only did the man have permission to take and sell the scrap bits that were "refurbished," then sold back to his company, the company approved of the practice. • Thornsbury allegedly seized upon an argument between the husband and some of his relatives to cause the arrest of the husband a month after the argument. A family dispute in 2012 led to one of the husband's relatives pulling a gun outside a convenience store, according to the indictment. The husband called police, and even though investigating officers saw a store videotape of the incident and they concluded the relative was the aggressor, Thornsbury allegedly persuaded another officer to arrest the husband weeks later on charges of assault and battery. Charges were later dismissed. Thornsbury has been Mingo County's sole circuit judge since 1997, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Thornsbury was first appointed to the state bench by the then-governor to fill a vacancy 1997, according to Jennifer Bundy, public information officer for the state Supreme Court of Appeals. Thornsbury subsequently was elected to serve as circuit judge.

Michael Thornsbury, 57, is arraigned on two counts of conspiracy against rights . He's accused of plotting against his secretary's husband over a 5-year period . Indictment: Plot included drug plant attempt, bogus theft charges, groundless arrest . His trial date was set for October 15, and he was released on a $10,000 bond .

(CNN) -- Adam Scott -- the lanky, easy-going 32-year-old golfer who made history by becoming the first Australian to win the U.S. Masters -- not only has to contend with national hero status at home but also the role of golf's latest sex symbol. Jessica Korda, a member of the LPGA tour who won last year's Women's Australian Open, tweeted: "Adam Scott!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A million girls just fell in love." It's not the first time the 6-foot (182cm), 180-pound (81kg) Australian has provoked a Beatlemaniac response on the course . In 2005, during the Players Championship in Florida, Scott struggled to ignore teenage girls yelling their phone numbers at him as he concentrated on his game. "They looked a little too young to be giving me their phone numbers," the self-effacing golfer reportedly told a Florida newspaper at the time. Born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1980, Scott showed early promise as a golfer growing up in Australia's tropical state of Queensland -- a favored golfing destination in Australia. His father, Phil, said he remembers his son hitting a golf ball around a par-three golf course at the age of four. "In his primary school days a golf club was the same as a cricket bat, tennis racquet or football," Scott Snr. told Queensland's The Courier Mail newspaper. "Whatever he picked up first was good enough." His father was the first director of golf at Twin Waters Resort and, naturally enough, became his son's coach. He perfected a simple swing technique which Scott has used to devastating effect throughout his career. "I tried to keep it simple and natural," he said. "As a golf pro, I appreciated the need for solid technique, but I never tried to cloud his mind with too many technical thoughts." Battling demons . In 1996, at the age of 17, Scott enrolled at Kooralbyn International School south of Brisbane, a school with a renowned golf program. His teacher Peter Claughton told Australian media that Scott had been a cut above the other golfing students. "Adam was switched on and organised. He knew all about golf courses all over the world, the great players, the touring pros and what other amateurs were doing," Claughton said. "He was single-minded and talked about what he wanted to do. On weekends, he'd plan exactly what he was doing. He wasn't a kid to just hit balls on the practice range. He'd always work on something specific." From there, the golf prodigy went on to attend the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, turning professional in 2000. Since then, it has been a steady climb. He has won nine PGA Tour events, eight on the European tour, four on the Asian tour, one Sunshine Tour title and three PGA Tour of Australasia competitions. Scott has always idolized Australian golfing giant Greg Norman -- nicknamed was the Great White Shark -- whose defeat in at the U.S. Masters in 1996 became a defining national moment in Australia. Scott is now being viewed as an avenging angel for Norman's defeat from a seemingly unbeatable position. "Australia is a proud sporting nation," Scott told a press conference following his Masters victory. "And this is one notch in the belt that we had never go." He then paid tribute to Norman, his childhood idol. "It was one guy who inspired a nation of golfers, and that is Greg Norman," Scott said. "Part of this definitely belongs to him." Scott has also had to battle his demons on the golf course, which was epitomized by his stunning capitulation at last year's Open Championship at Royal Lytham in England. Going into the final round with a four-shot lead, a disastrous run of four straight bogeys from the 15th hole saw him finish one shot adrift of former world No. 1 Ernie Els. The young Australian wore a haunted look in the post-match press conference that suggested the experience would permanently scar his sporting psyche. But as with many great Australian sportsmen and sportswomen down the years, Scott's battling determination gave him the last laugh.

The 32-year-old self-effacing golf champion has become a national hero in Australia . Born in Adelaide in 1980, Scott showed early promise as a professional golfer . His father, also a golf professional, perfected his easy and straightforward swing . Scott's victory is seen as avenging Australian golfing great Greg Norman's defeat in 1996 .

(CNN) -- Lukas Rosol shocked the sporting world, and perhaps even himself, by defeating two-time champion Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon, but the unknown Czech is not the first to have triumphed against seemingly impossible odds. The history of sport is littered with tales of underdogs toppling heavily-fancied favorites. But how is it that Rosol, ranked 100th in the world and having won just 17 ATP Tour matches prior to Thursday, can rise to the occasion and defeat an 11-time grand slam winner such as Nadal? Rosol sends Nadal crashing out of Wimbledon . "It's always far easier to strive for a goal than achieve it," tennis coach Pete McCraw explained to CNN when asked about how sport's "Davids" can get the better of imposing "Goliaths." "It's all mental, you either believe or you don't," he said. "Truly believe and, as a result, you give yourself a real chance of both playing well and achieving victory in the moment. In the end, so few believe and just want to not get embarrassed." McCraw, the current director of coaching for Tennis New Zealand, believes the main difference between title-winning stars like second seed Nadal and underachieving journeymen, such as the 26-year-old Rosol, is mentality and an innate belief in their own ability. Who is Lukas Rosol? "Champions really live in a different place than the rest - they dare to dream," he said. "They have the courage to believe and the confidence to create. The result : they succeed. "In tennis, when any highly-ranked player is taken to five sets, or three in the women's game, the lower-ranked player drops their level. In the end, they hand victory to the higher-rated player." But Rosol did not drop his level. The Wimbledon singles debutant produced devastating strokes in the fifth set to pummel Nadal into submission and reach the third round. His only other appearance on the hallowed grass courts ended in a first-round doubles defeat last year. The 26-year-old's bullish approached impressed observers all over the world, so is aggression the key to overcoming an imposing opponent? "You don't make top 100 or even the top 10, let alone win a grand slam, by being aggressive all the time," said McCraw, who has worked extensively with stars such as Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic. "The scoreboard rewards conservative decision-making, the court rewards percentage cross-court tennis. No different to golf -- getting up and down in two shots rather than hitting for the pin. The margins are just not there. "He played to win, backed himself and held his line at the critical time. It's what you train for all your career, so when the moment arrives there should be nothing to fear as you have been preparing for this for years." Despite his scintillating performance, two tennis greats have questioned whether Rosol can advance past his next match against German 27th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber. Eight-time grand slam champion Jimmy Connors tweeted: "In ‪tennis we call Rosol a stopper, he won't win or even go deep in tournament but he will stop a top seed from advancing." Rosol's compatriot Martina Navratilova, winner of 18 major singles titles, agreed: "Happy for Lukas Rosol, but really feeling bad for Rafa. Would be shocked if Rosol can get anywhere near that form again." But McCraw argues that speculation over Rosol's chances in the rest of the tournament is irrelevant, and all that matters is celebrating his remarkable win. "Who cares, sport is about on the day, on your merit, and Rosol took his chance, he had a go and backed himself on the day and was rewarded. "It's got nothing to do with how far he goes after that, only that on this day he lived his dreams, played to or above his potential and the moment rewarded him with a victory. "Whether he believes in himself again or not, wins another round or not is irrelevant -- that's sports as it is life."

Lukas Rosol beat No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal in five sets at Wimbledon . The Czech world No. 100 had only previously won 17 matches on the ATP Tour . Tennis coach Pete McCraw believes success is down to mentality and self-belief . Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova doubt Rosol can build on his win .

Los Angeles (CNN) -- You wouldn't have expected Charlie Sheen to go quietly after his increasingly bizarre behavior prompted his TV bosses to fire him from "Two and a Half Men," and Sheen would not want to disappoint you. He spewed an eight-and-a-half-minute, grandiloquent, profanity-laced tirade online late Tuesday, a day after he was sacked. At first Sheen comes across like a college student who's read too much of the Beat writers Jack Kerouac or Allen Ginsberg, referring to himself as the "raven-wise, Gibson-shredding napalm poet before you, alone and unshackled. "Oh how they once begged to attend my perfect banquet in the nude," Sheen intones. "Now they just beg for the keys to my gold." He calls himself the "Malibu Messiah" and repeatedly refers to himself as a warlock. But, clearly reading a prepared speech in video recorded live on Ustream.com, Sheen goes on long enough to make it hard for viewers to laugh off his rant. Chuck Lorre, the creator of the program that starred Sheen for eight years, comes in for the greatest abuse. "I see you, you little worm, I see you behind your plastic smile, your bitchy pout, and your desperate need to be liked," Sheen says, calling the TV executive "Chuck E. Cheese Ball," not using Lorre's full name. He accuses Lorre of "narcissism, greed (and) hatred of yourself -- or women," one of several moments in the video that should give armchair psychiatrists plenty of material to mine. He says of CBS chief executive Les Moonves: "You gave me your word so you gave me nothing. It must really suck being your missus," again mangling the name. "A high treason has occurred," he concludes. "The scales of justice are in a state of radical disarray. Together we must right this infantile wrong. Stay tuned, good soldiers. I'll see you all on the battlefield. Dogspeed." The video ends with helicopter sound effects and a single person clapping. Warner Bros. Television fired Sheen Monday. "After careful consideration, Warner Bros. Television has terminated Charlie Sheen's services on 'Two and a Half Men,' effective immediately," the company said in a statement. Sheen, 45, has been known for his highly publicized marital, legal and substance abuse problems as much as his acting. The show was put on hiatus after he entered a rehabilitation program in January, and production was halted after Sheen blasted Lorre and Alcoholics Anonymous in a February 24 radio interview. He has followed that up with a series of interviews in which he threatened to sue CBS for shutting down the show, demanded a raise from $2 million to $3 million per episode and insisted he was "clean, focused and ready to get back to work." "I feel more alive, I feel more focused, I feel more energetic," Sheen told CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" last week. "I'm on a quest to claim absolute victory on every front." Amid his professional squabbles with Warner Bros. and CBS, Sheen's estranged wife, Brooke Mueller, won a court order removing their twin sons from Sheen's home after she told authorities he had threatened to cut her head off, "put it in a box and send it to your mom." In an interview with NBC's "Today Show," Sheen denied making the threat and insisted the quote was fabricated. Sheen earlier pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge involving Mueller in August 2010, receiving a sentence of 30 days probation, as well as rehabilitation and anger-management counseling. The following October, adult-film actress Capri Anderson accused Sheen of terrorizing her during a drunken rampage in a room at the Plaza Hotel in New York; Sheen sued her in November, claiming she tried to extort money from him. And Sheen's second wife, Denise Richards, accused Sheen of physically and verbally abusing her and threatening her life. She obtained a restraining order against him in 2006. The couple divorced that year, and Richards has custody of their two daughters. Warner Bros. Television is a division of Time Warner Inc., also the parent company of CNN. CNN's Brittany Kaplan contributed to this report.

The actor posts a long video rant on Ustream . Ccreator of "Two and a Half Men" is target of abuse . Sheen was fired on Monday . He's been in the news for marital, legal and substance abuse problems .

(CNN) -- A student who videoed a re-enactment of the "Jena 6" incident apologized and said the video was not intended to make fun of the six black students arrested in the beating of a white classmate, according to The News-Star newspaper of Monroe, Louisiana. The incident involving six black students has sparked protests across the country, like this one in Washington. The video, taped by University of Louisiana-Monroe student Kristy Smith, shows students in blackface apparently acting out the beating of Jena High School student Justin Barker. One of the males in the tape runs onto the beach acting as if he is holding a noose, and three others -- covered in river mud -- pretend to knock him to the ground, punch and kick him. At least one racial epithet can be heard. It was unclear when the video was made. Smith said she taped it on the banks of the Red River in Alexandria, Louisiana, and posted it on her Facebook page, according to The News-Star. The page has since been made private, but the video was posted on YouTube and The Smoking Gun. Watch Jena 6 re-enactment » More than 500 people attended a forum held Tuesday night at the university in response to the video, a university statement said. "The majority ... decided not to let the actions of a few define the entire student body." Vice President of Student Affairs Wayne Brumfield told students "there are no words to express the dismay at what happened in that video ... We're here tonight because the action of one or two set our university in motion." In a Tuesday interview with the News-Star, a tearful Smith denied being racist. "This is so not me," she said in the Wednesday article. "It wasn't that we were making fun of the Jena 6 incident. We were just fed up with it ... I have just as many black [friends] as I do white friends." School administrators are reviewing the incident for possible disciplinary action from ULM's Office of Judicial Affairs, university spokesperson Laura Harris said. Smith and another participant in the video are ULM students, Harris said. The beating of Barker followed an increase in racial tensions in Jena, Louisiana, including at least two fights, sparked originally when three white teens hung nooses from an oak tree on the grounds of the town's high school. The six black teens arrested in the beating were initially charged with attempted murder. Those charges, later reduced and moved to juvenile court, focused nationwide attention on Jena and led about 15,000 protesters to the town to participate in a march on the youths' behalf. Smith did not respond Thursday to an e-mail from CNN. Harris said she has left the ULM campus and returned home. Smith told the News-Star she has taken the video off her Facebook page and has apologized to Facebook groups and bloggers. She said she is getting threats that have prompted her to delete her e-mail address and has had to keep her cell phone off. "My dad's back home dying of cancer, and I can't call him," she said. Brumfield told students at Tuesday's forum that Smith "is suffering terrible shame right now." ULM asked Facebook and YouTube to remove the videos, Brumfield said, but it was still available on YouTube as of Thursday afternoon. Brumfield also created his own Facebook account to respond to the video. University President James Cofer has directed that educational materials be developed for students, especially freshmen, on cultural sensitivity and racial diversity, according to a university statement. "We are naturally appalled, and we intend to face this matter directly by gathering our community together and exploring these difficult issues," Cofer said in a statement. Students at the forum offered ideas for strengthening racial unity on the campus of about 8,500 students. "What we're doing here right now is a very important thing," said Ma'ya Blount, a ULM junior from New Orleans, according to a university statement on the forum. "Racism doesn't get resolved when people hush up about it and sweep it under the rug. It only gets resolved when we talk about it in an educated manner ... As long as we continue to do this, maybe 10, 20 years from now, race won't be so much of an issue. We need to talk about it in a positive manner. We can only learn from this." E-mail to a friend .

Student tells News-Star of Monroe, Louisiana, she wasn't making fun of "Jena 6" Kristy Smith posted tape on her Facebook page; it has since been removed . Hundreds meet on University of Louisiana-Monroe campus in response to video . Six black students, dubbed "Jena 6," accused of beating white student .

(CNN) -- There is no word more reviled in America than "Ebola," especially since the death of Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian national who had traveled to Dallas. But as Ebola has spread, it has become increasingly clear that if there is to be any chance of stopping the disease -- not only here in America, but across the world -- then the United States must lead through inspiring example. Unfortunately, the response of some institutions that should know better has been anything but inspiring. First, this idea of a travel ban. Amidst numerous calls for a ban on air travel to and from West Africa, including from Texas Gov. Rick Perry, it is worth noting that West Africa is not a single country, but a region comprised of 15 nations. And while Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone have been ravaged by the disease, Nigeria (20 cases) and Senegal (one case) have contained the disease, while Ghana, Togo, Cameroon and the other countries in this subregion of Africa have not reported any cases at all. Should the U.S. follow the lead of countries, including Jamaica, which have instituted such a travel ban? The trouble is that doing so would give us a false sense of security, and at a huge cost. In spite of the hundreds, if not thousands, of Americans that are volunteering on the frontline to fight this disease, only one infected person has so far made it into the United States. And while it is true that the virus has also been contracted by Duncan's caregivers, the hospital appears to have had a golden opportunity to halt the disease in its tracks here, when Duncan reportedly told staff about his symptoms. Perhaps worse than the heated rhetoric over a travel ban has been the way some of our academic institutions -- supposedly bastions of knowledge against ignorance -- have themselves been overreacting. Take the widely publicized case of Navarro College, a school in Texas, which reportedly rescinded admissions to Nigerian students based on a school policy of "not accepting international students from countries with Ebola cases." Meanwhile, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland recently reportedly withdrew an invitation to Richard Besser, ABC News' chief health editor, who was scheduled to speak at the university on the need for good communication during health crises, citing his September visit to West Africa. Syracuse University for its part has also uninvited Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Michel du Cille from participating in its fall workshop for journalism students, despite his having passed the 21-day Ebola incubation period without showing any symptoms and having accompanied CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden to Congress. These institutions appear to be choosing to err not only on the side of caution, but of fear. More encouragingly, President Barack Obama has appointed an Ebola czar, Ron Klain, to help the United States tackle the problem. But if he is to make a success of his assignment, he will need to enlist the help of West African communities within the United States. Doing so will require reassuring these communities that they will not be stigmatized, but instead will be treated fairly -- even in cases where there are suspected or confirmed Ebola cases. My own experience working with the Clinton Health Access Initiative in HIV-ravaged parts of Swaziland in southern Africa showed me firsthand the perils of panic and stigmatization in an epidemic, and how these could drive people into the shadows, even if their illness is not actually related to Ebola. As with any epidemic, simple, clear and fact-based mass education is important. I was part of Nigeria's virtual EbolaAlert.Org team that leveraged mobile technology and social media to help create mass awareness and respond in real time to questions, concerns, tweets and rumors before Nigeria was able to contain the spread of the disease. The United States, with its huge technological advantage, needs to do even better and quickly embark on a social education campaign about the disease and help to allay concerns. Ultimately, we must remember that we live in a truly global world, and simplistic measures such as banning flights to and from West Africa won't resolve these issues. And welcome as their assistance is, the United States will need to do more than just send soldiers to West Africa to address the immediate crisis. The United States should also ensure personnel are available to help develop social infrastructure, especially in Liberia. We are all in this together -- and that is the only way we can beat this virus. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Idris Ayodeji Bello .

U.S. response to Ebola is key for setting global example, writes Idris Ayodeji Bello . But too many institutions are overreacting, Bello says . Travel ban for flights from West Africa would be counterproductive, he says .

London, England (CNN) -- The British government said Wednesday it will appeal a European court ruling that certain police stop-and-search powers are a breach of human rights. Under Section 44 of Britain's Terrorism Act 2000, uniformed officers may stop any pedestrian or vehicle and search them, regardless of whether they have reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. Human rights groups complain the rules are subject to abuse, but the British government calls the powers an important tool in the fight against terrorism. British Home Secretary Alan Johnson said he was disappointed in Tuesday's ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, because the appeals had previously gone through the British courts and been rejected. "We are considering the judgment and will seek to appeal," Johnson said in a statement. "Pending the outcome of this appeal, the police will continue to have these powers available to them." London's Metropolitan Police said that because of sensitivity and concerns about use of the stop-and-search powers, they are only being used at "pre-identified significant locations" like landmarks, tourist sites, and crowded places, or where certain police operations are taking place. The case began in September 2003, when police stopped and searched two British nationals who were on their way to a London demonstration. Kevin Gillan was on his bicycle and wearing a backpack when police searched him. He was allowed to go after about 20 minutes, the court said. Pennie Quinton is a journalist who was on her way to cover the demonstration when police stopped and searched her, the court said. Police ordered her to stop filming even though she showed her press cards; the official record of her search said she was stopped for about five minutes, though she says she thought it was closer to half an hour. Gillan and Quinton complained that the police use of the stop-and-search powers under Section 44 breached the European Convention on Human Rights -- specifically their right to liberty and security, right to respect for private and family life, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly and association. The case reached the Law Lords, Britain's highest court, but the Law Lords dismissed the appeal in March 2006 because they said they weren't convinced the police search disrespected the plaintiffs' private lives. Even if the search did not respect the plaintiffs' private lives, the Law Lords found, the procedure was in accordance with the law and was proportionate to counterterrorism efforts. Gillan and Quinton then appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, which heard the case in May and issued its ruling Tuesday. "It's fantastic news after a long struggle," Gillan said, in a statement issued by the human rights group Liberty, which took the case to court. "I look to the government for a strong response." Said Quinton, in another statement issued by Liberty, "There has to be a balance between private life and security. The court has shown that Section 44 is an invasion of people's right to liberty and privacy." The court found that the "coercive powers" of the anti-terrorism legislation amounted to a clear interference with the right to respect for private life. This interference was compounded by the public nature of the search, because it brings an element of humiliation and embarrassment, the court found. Legal safeguards were not adequate enough to curb the wide discretion police had to use the powers, the court found. It said that wide discretion was a cause for concern. "The officer's decision to stop and search an individual was one based exclusively on the 'hunch' or 'professional intuition,'" the court wrote in its decision. "Not only was it unnecessary for him to demonstrate the existence of any reasonable suspicion; he was not required even subjectively to suspect anything about the person stopped and searched." Because officers have no obligation to show a reasonable suspicion, it is "almost impossible to prove that the power had been improperly exercised," the court said. As a result, the court said, the stop-and-search powers were not in accordance with the law. Liberty called on the British government to ensure that Section 44 is only applied when authorities believe it is necessary to prevent terrorism. It should be applied to specific areas and for not longer than 24 hours, Liberty said, which would prevent authorities from applying the measures on a rolling basis and over large parts of a city. Liberty also called on the government to publish notice that authorization for Section 44 has been given.

Britain will appeal ruling against police searches allowed by its anti-terrorism legislation . European Court of Human Rights ruled that searches breached plaintiffs' human rights . Case was brought by two Britons who were stopped and searched by police in 2003 . Britain says the powers are an important tool in the fight against terrorism .

(CNN) -- If you are reluctant to challenge your physician on a certain procedure or medicine, you are hardly alone. Focus groups show that many patients feel intimidated by their doctors. They're reluctant to take an active role in discussing their care because they're afraid that the doctor will see them as "difficult." Recently, nine medical associations each took the unusual step of listing five medical procedures commonly used in their fields that patients don't need, amounting to 45 tests or procedures. The associations report some of them might actually be harmful. Eight medical associations have signed on to release additional lists in the fall. An annual EKG is an example of one test you can do without, unless family history or symptoms suggest otherwise. Some procedures, such as repeated abdominal CT scans without a significant change in the patient's condition, subject patients to a relatively high dose of radiation and can increase their cancer risk. It is not the government or the courts that issued these lists; the physicians' own professional associations decreed that these procedures usually should be avoided. But many doctors perform them anyway. There are many reasons for this: One is that doctors are often paid a fee for each procedure, and it doesn't take much creativity to convince themselves the patient needs the intervention. Another reason doctors I interviewed told me is that the medical associations' recommendations have no legal standing. These doctors said they can be sued for not screening properly if their patient has a heart attack or some other untoward event. And sheer inertia is also a powerful factor in preventing reform; the test is performed because "this is what we have been doing for years." On these and on scores of other medical matters, you cannot be a passive bystander. You need to keep an eye on what is ordered to be done to you and why. Form your own judgments, disregard those doctors who pooh-pooh the Internet. If you can find somewhere to park your general misgivings about the big, bad federal government, you will find that it runs excellent web pages where you can find very reliable information about what ails you, as well as information about possible treatments. For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health provide extensive resources. And if you can let go of the notion that the private sector is the best way to get what you need, you will find that nonprofit organizations provide very sound guidance, for instance, the Mayo Clinic and the Cleveland Clinic. It's true there are dubious medical sites on the Internet, and you do best by following the same guidelines that serve well in the financial world: If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If anybody tells you that you can lose 30 pounds easily if you buy their junk, let alone cure your cancer with apricot pits and coffee enemas in a few easy visits, click off and move on. Behavioral economics has shown that people are more swayed by anecdotes than by statistics. Parents will think the risks of vaccination are much higher after reading testimonials from parents whose children had negative reactions, in spite of having seen statistical information that says the risks are low. You need to pay more attention to people who say it with figures. When I read in the New England Journal of Medicine that a procedure I was to undergo had a 10% risk of "esophageal injury with ulceration," I forced myself to pay more attention to this statistic than to the tale of a friend who had the same procedure and did well. I am sorry to say that I know quite a few people who agreed to undergo major surgery upon their doctor's recommendation without investigating their options. Some of those surgeries went awfully wrong. But they would not dream of buying a lawn mower, let alone a car, in this way. If you keep in mind what can and often does go wrong, you are likely to find the inner strength to ask questions, even if you have to apologize for not saluting the doctor and doing what you are told. And if you have to pay from your pocket for a second opinion, it's worth it. I have been an inquisitive patient, which is one reason I am hitting 83. I refused to undergo more surgeries than I have and, politely, left some doctors who were too eager to conduct a lot of tests that seemed to me hard to justify. I am not saying it is easy; just that it is vital. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Amitai Etzioni.

Nine medical associations each listed common medical procedures you don't need . Amitai Etzioni: Patients too intimidated to question doctors about procedures . Etzioni: Doctors order tests anyway; for money, out of habit or fear of lawsuits . Beware of doctors dismissing your research, he says. Stand up and demand answers .

(CNN) -- What a difference a Messi makes. Last weekend "King Leo" inspired Barcelona to a seven-goal victory on the opening day of the Spanish soccer season, but in his absence Sunday the reigning champions battled to beat Malaga 1-0. With the four-time world player of the year rested after suffering a bruised thigh in the midweek Spanish Super Cup draw with Atletico Madrid, new coach Gerardo Martino stuck to his word and left $75 million signing Neymar on the substitutes' bench. And without a recognized striker, Barca struggled to make the team's usual dominance of possession pay off -- the winner at Malaga came courtesy of a superb curling shot by defender Adriano from outside the penalty area. Neymar did get another run, but the 21-year-old Brazil star was unable to repeat his goal against Atletico as he was subjected to a series of rough challenges -- and had a late free-kick well-saved. Earlier, Xavi's free-kick was deflected against the Malaga crossbar, but Barca ultimately had keeper Victor Valdes to thank -- as well as the woodwork. Fabrice Olinga scrambled a shot that rebounded to safety off the post, then Sebastian Fernandez headed straight at Valdes when he should have equalized. The win left Barca top of the table on goal difference from Atletico, despite the Madrid side's 5-0 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano earlier Sunday. Raul Garcia scored in each half while Diego Costa, Arda Turan and Tiago also netted in a perfect warm-up for Wednesday's trip to the Nou Camp for the second leg of the Super Cup. Real Madrid can also move onto six points by beating Granada on Monday, ahead of the expected unveiling of Tottenham forward Gareth Bale in what is tipped to be a world-record transfer fee. Levante recovered from last week's drubbing by Barca, holding Sevilla 0-0, while Real Betis Celta Vigo beat Real Betis 2-1 in Sunday's late match despite having Borja Oubina sent off near the end. In Italy, Inter Milan beat Genoa 2-0 in Walter Mazzarri's first match in charge, with Japanese defender Yuto Nagatomo and Argentina forward Rodrigo Palacio scoring in the final 20 minutes. "We must remember that these lads had gone four and a half months without winning at home, and there were lots of defeats in there too," former Napoli coach Mazzarri said, referring to the disastrous form which left Inter ninth in the table last season and well short of European qualification. "We needed to shake off this fear that we'd concede on the first counter-attack. The players just needed a bit of belief." Napoli's new coach Rafael Benitez also had a winning start as last season's runners-up beat Bologna 3-0, with two goals from Slovakian playmaker Marek Hamsik and the opener from former Real Madrid forward Jose Maria Callejon. French coach Rudy Garcia was similarly successful in his first match with Roma, coming away from promoted Livorno with a 2-0 win thanks to second-half goals from Daniele De Rossi and Alessandro Florenzi. Lazio, fifth in the previous campaign, bounced back from last weekend's 4-0 Italian Super Cup defeat by Juventus to beat Udinese 2-1. In France, champions Paris Saint-Germain won for the first time this season, beating Nantes 2-1 following two earlier draws. Edinson Cavani, an $84 million signing from Napoli, put PSG ahead in the first half before an own-goal by defender Alex, but Ezequiel Lavezzi pounced for a 74th-minute winner after Lucas' shot was blocked on the line. The result left Laurent Blanc's team four points behind top side Marseille and two behind second-placed Monaco. In Germany, Eintracht Frankfurt notched a first win this season, 2-0 at Eintracht Braunschweig which left the promoted side bottom of the table without a point. Stuttgart's 2-1 defeat by Augsburg left the five-time Bundesliga champions also on three losses.

Sunday's 1-0 win at Malaga keeps Barcelona top of La Liga . Defender Adriano scores only goal in absence of Lionel Messi . Atletico Madrid also on six points after 5-0 thrashing of Rayo Vallecano . Winning starts in Italy for new coaches at Inter, Napoli and Roma .

(CNN) -- Zac Brown is a foodie. He sings about fried chicken, pecan pie and cold beer. Food and music are two things that are very close to this Grammy-award-winner's heart. "I grew up singing as soon as I could talk. I grew up in the kitchen as soon as I could stand." Brown told CNN while sitting in his tour bus strumming his guitar before a recent show at Chicago's Wrigley Field. It was his love of music and food that got Brown thinking about a better experience for some fans at his shows. He thought the traditional "meet-and-greets" were impersonal and did not allow for a performer to really know fans. So, he teamed up with his friend and chef, Rusty Hamlin, to create the "Eat & Greet." Brown also throws a giant music and food festival . "What we love about the Eat & Greet is that it completely turns the table around on the fans" Brown said "We're eating with them and serving them, hanging out with them. That is the best fellowship we can create." So where does chef Rusty get enough food to feed 150 selected fans in a strange town with only a few hours to prepare? "My forte is to make a huge meal for a lot of people off the top of my head" Hamlin explained as he headed in to the open air Greencity Market in Chicago. "It is nerve-racking and it's very challenging, but why make it easy? This is my life, this is what we do." For nearly five hours the chef bobbed and weaved through the various tents sampling fresh ingredients and looking for inspiration for this night's feast. "Got some black garlic...it's fermented garlic"..."It's a rat-tail radish...It's got a really spicy kind of radish bite to it." Finally some inspiration rolled over Rusty and he dialed up one of his assistants back at the kitchen outside Wrigley. "How are you, buddy?" he asked the voice on the other end of the phone "We're gonna do a mixed beet salad today so I'm gonna need one of those large pots of water going." In his phone Rusty carries the menus from every Eat & Greet since 2009. He mixes and matches to come up with something new every night) Hamlin's stage is 54-foot semi that has been converted in to a state- of- the art kitchen with all of the bells and whistles. Her name is "Cookie". Throughout the afternoon, Hamlin directs a staff of cooks as they start making the meal that will feed 150 people before the concert. It is a show in and of itself. "Rusty's personality is way too big to be stuck back in a kitchen some place." Brown said when describing his friend before they went out to talk to the gathered crowd who would enjoy this meal. For over an hour band members stand behind tables spooning large helpings of Rusty's food on to fans plates and Zac Brown stands at the end of the line talking to each and every person as the pass by. They are not curt conversations. People linger and talk food and music. There is one rule. No pictures or autographs. Brown says he thinks that takes away from really listening to everyone. "I love that connection that is made and hopefully it's something they remember. A lot of times I'm playing and I walk out to the edge of the stage and people are looking at me through their phones so they're filming instead of being in the moment." Brown reflected. "It's kind of like going back to analog interaction, which I love." And for fans lucky enough to break bread with the Zac Brown Band a picture is the last thing they needed to take away. Lisa Dent who attended the Wrigley Eat & Greet had a rave review. "They had a rat-tail radish. I've never seen one, I've never consumed one. It was awesome!" When the lights dimmed and the band walked through the ivy covered walls of the 100-year-old Wrigley Field it was time put down the plates and pick up instruments and play. After nearly three hours the band was playing the last song of the night and, once again, singing about fried chicken, pecan pie and cold beer.

Grammy-winning musician wanted a better experience for some fans at his shows . Brown: "We're eating with them and serving them, hanging out with them" Chef Rusty Hamlin thrives on pressure of whipping up meals for 150 . No pictures or autographs; Brown says it takes away from really listening to each other .

Washington (CNN) -- A civilian guard at a new U.S. consulate in China pleaded guilty on Thursday to attempting to sell Chinese security officials photographs and access to the compound so they could plant listening devices. According to a court proffer, Bryan Underwood had lost a significant amount of money in the stock market and hoped to make between $3 million and $5 million by supplying classified photos and information to China's Ministry of State Security. Underwood, 32, appeared in federal court in Washington and pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to communicate national defense information to a foreign government. Under the terms of a plea agreement, the government agreed to drop charges that Underwood made false statements and that he failed to appear at a court hearing last year. In the court proffer signed by Underwood, he admitted writing a letter last year addressed to the Chinese Ministry of State Security. "I know I have information and skills that would be beneficial to your offices (sic) goals," Underwood wrote. "And I know your office can assist me in my financial endeavors." Underwood tried to deliver the letter to China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) but a guard turned him away and would not accept the letter. According to court documents, Underwood then "left the letter in the open in his apartment hoping that the MSS would find it. He believed the MSS routinely conducted searches of apartments occupied by Americans." Prosecutors said that Underwood's job was to protect the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou -- not to make it vulnerable to Chinese counterintelligence. According to a news release quoting prosecutors, "The U.S. government has found no evidence that Underwood succeeded in passing classified information concerning the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou to anyone at the Chinese MSS." Officials said there is no evidence suggesting the Chinese ever tried to recruit him for espionage. In May of 2011 Underwood took 30 photographs in restricted areas. Prosecutors said 15 of those "depict areas and/or information that are classified at the SECRET level." He drew a diagram showing the locations of security cameras at the compound and created a schematic listing all security upgrades to the building site. The proffer also said Underwood "mentally" came up with a plan in which Chinese agents could get into the compound undetected for approximately six hours to "install listening devices or other technical penetrations." In addition to working as a guard at the consulate in February 2011 Underwood was asked by a U.S. law enforcement agent to help on a counter-surveillance project. Underwood was to tell the American agent about "any suspected attempts by the Chinese Government to recruit him for intelligence purposes." Underwood later came up with the idea to use his role helping law enforcement as a "cover" for contacting the Chinese. According to court documents, Underwood's stock brokerage account dropped from almost $69,000 in February 2011 to a negative sum of more than $89,000 in April 2011. His account was frozen and he "became panicked about his financial situation," according to the court papers. Underwood was interviewed by law enforcement several times and finally admitted he was trying to sell information to the Chinese for financial gain. He was arrested September 1, 2011. Underwood failed to show up for a court appearance in Washington later in the month. The FBI caught up with him a few days later at a Los Angeles hotel, arrested him again and he's been in jail ever since. "Bryan Underwood was determined to make millions by selling secret photos of restricted areas inside a U.S. Consulate in China," said U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen. "His greed drove him to exploit his access to America's secrets to line his own pockets." Underwood appeared in federal court wearing an orange jail jumpsuit. He answered questions asked by U.S. District Judge Ellen Huvelle in a calm, clear voice. When asked about any history of psychological problems, Underwood said he takes medication for anxiety and depression. Underwood is scheduled to be sentenced on November 19. The plea agreement recommends a sentence of at least 15 and a half years up to almost 20 years. Huvelle is not bound by the recommendation and could sentence Underwood to up to life in prison. From the archives: Chinese general discusses spies . Report: Russia and China are top thieves of U.S. technology .

Bryan Underwood had lost thousands in the stock market, prosecutors say . He wrote a letter offering "information and skills" to a Chinese ministry . "I know your office can assist me in my financial endeavors," said the letter . Underwood pleads guilty to attempting to communicate national defense information .

(CNN)These days, finding somewhere to live in London is one of the city's biggest challenges. The Greater London Authority estimates that 49,000 new homes are required in the UK capital every year to cope with its burgeoning population. In 2013, just under 20,000 new properties were built. With space tight and increasingly expensive, some are predicting micro-living -- residency in compact homes and apartments strategically designed to maximize usable space -- could become a common theme in the coming years. "There's huge housing pressure," said Lucien Smithers, sales and marketing manager at Pocket, a micro-home developer. "The last five years have seen a real population growth in London. We've just crossed 8.6 million and by 2030 we're going to be knocking on 10 million." According to Smithers, shaving off excess space in new-build properties can squeeze more people in while still providing all the necessary amenities of city living -- although Pocket would argue that their 38 square meter properties (409 square feet) are perfectly proportioned. "They don't have any car parking because (people) don't have cars anymore, they have space for bicycles. There's a big living area, and you know to be honest, you don't need a bath in your bathroom ... a wet room is exactly what's required," Smithers said of the properties. Pocket's development in London's transport zone two would sell for around $350,000, roughly 20% below market value. Special conditions ensure the properties maintain their status as affordable housing. "All of the developments are prioritized for sale to people who live or work in the borough (local area). They have to earn under £66,000 ($100,000) and they can't already own another property," Smithers explained . Demand is far from in short supply. "We currently have over 15,000 people registered for it, the demand is unbelievable," Smithers said. Yet even with these conditions, owning a home is still out of reach for many Londoners. This is a fact recognized by Reza Merchant, CEO of The Collective, another London micro home developer. "We're now in a position where most people in their first or second jobs, in their early to late twenties can't even afford to rent a studio flat or one-bedroom flat," Merchant said. The Collective's Camden development is an upmarket hostel-style set up which is aimed at young professionals featuring small bedrooms, and shared communal spaces. Individual properties range from nine square meters rising to 20 square meters (97 sq ft to 215 sq ft). "Our prices here start at about £200 ($304) a week," Merchant explained. "That's all inclusive of all your utility bills, so your gas, your electricity, your council tax and then also the services ... the weekly linen change, the room cleaning, the concierge; it's an all-inclusive rent. "People are happy to take smaller bedrooms as almost like crash pads," he added. Resident Bianca Pollio pays $425 dollars a week for 14 square meters (150 sq ft) and finds it suits her needs. "When you live in a city and you're a student or a professional, you don't want to carry many things with you anyway. You want to be quite light," she said. The likes of Pocket and The Collective have caught the attention of businesses who are keen to keep their workers in the city. Pocket is popular with local authorities for providing living space for workers near to council offices while the Collective is in talks with KPMG to house its graduate workers. And despite the smaller spaces, neither skimps on the facilities. The Collective has a new 170,000 sq ft project in the works in London's Wilesden Junction area that will include common facilities like spas, libraries, secret garden rooms, discos, laundrettes and private dining rooms which people can hire out when they have dinner parties. "I think it is a new, more permanent approach to living, especially in city centers, because there's only a finite amount of space so people can't build more." Merchant said. While the next few years will reveal how successful a concept micro-homes will become, it's safe to say they've given many Londoners an interesting option to consider.

UK capital needs to build 49,000 new homes a year to keep up with city's rising population . Some suggest micro-homes can offer affordable housing solution for many in city .

(CNN) -- Six inches of snow in Chicago. A foot or so plastering the Upper Midwest. And up to 20 inches expected just west of Washington. Surely, there's a silver lining to these snow clouds though, right? Don't they bring much-needed moisture to parched states? Not quite. Snow is very fluffy, and it takes up to a foot of it to squeeze out an inch of rain, meteorologists say. Snowfall is "definitely a benefit, but not a drought-buster," said CNN meteorologist Dave Hennen. Many drought-stricken states need a foot of rain, not snow. Frozen ground . When the ground is frozen, little of the moisture left by snow sinks into the soil. "All of the snow that has fallen over the winter by and large remains on top of the landscape," said Minnesota's state climatologist Greg Spoden. Winter storm moves in on D.C. When the sun comes out, it melts the snow first, while the ground remains hard, causing the water to flow off into lakes and rivers, or evaporating, instead of sinking in. Lake City, Minnesota, has received 11.5 inches of snow since Sunday morning, which amounts to about an inch of rain. Not much for a state with levels of soil moisture near all-time lows, according to Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources. "Even flooding at this point won't alleviate a drought," the agency said. But the recent snow will give river and lake levels a nice bump. The snow sent motorists sliding off of slick roads Tuesday, in spite of widespread coverage with salt spread by trucks. Plains states have it worst . Comparatively, Minnesota doesn't have it that bad, according to U.S. Drought Monitor. About half of the United States is now "abnormally" to "moderately" dry, or worse. Things look particularly bad west of the Mississippi River. When 21 inches fell on Wichita, Kansas, in February, it broke a monthly snowfall record set in 1913. But the state is still plagued by "severe," "extreme" and "exceptional" drought, U.S. Drought Monitor said. Oklahoma and Kansas will keep more of the moisture the snow left behind, because the ground there isn't frozen, said meteorologist Joel Widenor. Only one state is drier, Nebraska, where U.S. Drought Monitor is located at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Most of the state is going through an "exceptional" drought. Climate change and snowfall . Record snow falls combined with record drought comes as no surprise to climatologists studying climate change. Total snowfall in the western half of the country is dropping, said Princeton climatologist Sarah Kapnick, which will mean less accumulation of moisture from snow. At the same time, the storms that sweep the United States should grow more intense, said meteorologist Marshall Shepherd from the University of Georgia. With global warming, "we're loading the dice or stacking the deck toward more intense blizzards," he said. River water levels . Snowfall has bolstered water levels on the Mississippi River, which had dropped due to drought, said Ann McCulloch, spokeswoman for American Waterways Operators. When high temperatures dried out much of the country last summer, barges were restricted to floating at a depth of nine feet instead of 12 feet. Recent snows have pushed water levels up enough to allow barges to run at 12 feet of depth again. McCulloch is afraid this might not hold, when the summer heat returns. Water where it's not needed . As the current storm reaches the Atlantic coast, dumping snow on the nation's capital, the white precipitation should become slushier and deliver more moisture per foot of snow, according to CNN's Weather Center. The District of Columbia and Baltimore are bracing for potentially significant accumulations, according to the National Weather Service. Snow plows have been readied. Airlines have canceled flights to and from Washington's Dulles airport ahead of the storm's arrival: United 650, U.S. Airways 350, American 20. But by the time the storm gets there, it could turn to rain. The Northeast doesn't need it. It is already plenty moist, Drought Monitor said. In the parched Plains states, snow hasn't helped enough. They could use that rain. CNN's Mariano Castillo, Dana Ford and Phil Gast contributed to this report .

It takes up to a foot of snow to deliver an inch of rain . About half of the United States is too dry . Chicago sets snowfall record for the day .

Iowa (CNN) -- The day did not start well. Lightning, thunder and torrential rain poured down over Bloomfield, Iowa, where I had come to watch a civil war reenactment. In 1864, here in Davis County, the Confederates made one of their most daring and northerly guerrilla raids of the war. Each year, enthusiasts from the Unionists and Confederates remember that battle. Amtrak train: No better way to connect with U.S. voters . I have chosen to leave Amtrak's California Zephyr train in Iowa, because this swing state is in play -- with President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney jockeying for the lead. While Iowa's six Electoral College votes may be few, at this stage of the campaign every one counts. And Iowa has split the last 10 elections five to five Republican and Democrat (although more Democrat since 1988). Crucially it has voted for the winner in seven of those ten races. This swing state could be a barometer of the way other swing states are trending. So I am at the battle ground, watching the men and women dressed in period costumes and waiting for the storms to subside (they will fight in the rain, but holding metal tipped muskets in the air is too dangerous with lightning).The attention to detail is impressive. Honest Abe's 19th century wisdom for 20th century problem . The players each have individual characters and play them with gusto, rarely coming out of role. One soldier would only answer me as if we were still in 1861. Another believed Abraham Lincoln had the right answers for today too. With muskets set aside, it soon became clear why this is a swing state. A Unionist soldier said it was only now that people like him were really focusing on their choices. His Confederate rival bemoaned the deceit in the campaign, which made it hard to know who was telling the truth. And the civil war nurse, tending to her potions and lotions, admitted it was hard to know who was best. American Quest begins in Obama country . At the core of the election, all agreed, was the role of government in America. Getting government "out of our lives" was the constant refrain. Government had gone too far, they believed. "A return to the Constitution" was needed I was told, again and again. There needed to be more respect for individual freedoms. "Government" was the problem, not the solution. Nowhere was this more crystallized than on the issue of gun control. I would hardly expect men and women running around the Iowa countryside brandishing civil war weaponry to favor stricter gun laws, but they believed their "right to bear arms," enshrined in the second amendment, was under threat. Although neither candidate has really taken up the issue of gun control, here there was a stronger anti-Obama tone. Romney was the candidate of choice. Amish life: An America without sound bites . This "role of government" theme is now at the heart of the election. It permeates all issues: Economic: Should the government have rescued the banks in 2008? Social: Is it the government's business to legislate on marriage? In commerce the phrase I keep hearing is, "get government off the backs of business," and in issues seen as highly personal, the refrain is "that's none of the government's damned business." Americans seem to want everything and nothing from their government at the same time. It is the great contradiction of this country, which makes covering its elections so fascinating. It is perfectly displayed on this civil war field in the views of the soldiers and their families. The U.S. election: The world looking in . In this battle both sides agreed to let the Confederates win, as they did in 1864. Tomorrow it will be the Unionists' turn to enjoy victory. I guarantee that the election for Iowa's six electoral votes will see no such gentlemanly agreement. They will be fought for with the passion, but thankfully, not the violence of their predecessors. I won't be here to see Unionist victory. I have a train to catch. The horn of the California Zephyr is calling and Colorado is a night ride away.

CNN's Richard Quest is in Davis County, where in 1864 the Confederates made one of their most daring raids of the war . He is in the U.S. as part of American Quest, a series on the election airing from October 29 . Quest stops in Iowa because it is a swing state which often votes for the election winner . Quest finds the "role of government" theme is at the heart of the election, permeating all of the country's issues .

Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is recovering after facing complications during cancer surgery this week, officials said. "This process of recuperation ... will require a prudent time, as a result of the complexity of the surgical procedure, and also because of complications that came up in the surgery, when bleeding presented itself, requiring the adoption of corrective measures to permit its proper control," Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said in a televised address Thursday afternoon. Vice President Nicolas Maduro said doctors had acted quickly to control the unexpected bleeding. Speaking at a rally in northern Venezuela on Thursday evening, Maduro said Chavez's recuperation had "evolved from stable to favorable" but did not provide details about his long-term prognosis. The news drew cheers and thunderous applause from those at the rally, which marked the end of campaigning for Sunday's regional elections. Officials: Chavez faces 'difficult' recovery . Chavez, who first announced he was battling cancer in June 2011, underwent surgery Tuesday in Cuba. He has not disclosed what type of cancer he has, and the Venezuelan government has released few details about Chavez's illness, fueling widespread speculation about his health and political future. On Wednesday, the officials struck a more somber tone when discussing Chavez's treatment. The information minister suggested Chavez might not be not be back in Venezuela in time for his scheduled inauguration, which is a month away. Venezuelans "should be prepared to understand" if Chavez doesn't return to Venezuela before the inauguration on January 10, Villegas said. "It would be irresponsible to hide the delicacy of the current moment and the coming days," he wrote in a post on the information ministry's website. The title of his post -- "Chavez Will Live and Overcome" -- was similar to many official announcements since Chavez's illness was announced last year. But the message's tone was markedly different from previous ones. "The president is a human being," Villegas said. "He underwent a difficult, complex, delicate operation. And now he is in post-operation, which is also difficult, complex and delicate." Maduro said Wednesday that Chavez would face a "complex and difficult" recovery after the six-hour surgery. His voice cracked as he asked Venezuelans to remain united and pray for Chavez. On Thursday, the vice president said some had criticized him for delivering the news with such a somber expression. "Our faces are expressions of pain and worry and the most pure love that we feel for our Commander Hugo Chavez," he said. "He gave us the order to prepare the people for any circumstance. And we have followed that to the letter." Chavez has undergone several surgeries and radiation treatment in Cuba in the past year and a half. Read more: Venezuela's Hugo Chavez emerges from 6 hours of surgery . Health rumors dogged Chavez on the campaign trail this year but didn't stop him from winning re-election in October. Over the weekend, as he prepared for the latest operation, Chavez said he wanted Maduro to replace him if "something were to happen that would incapacitate me." It was the first time since his diagnosis that Chavez had specified a successor. Neither Cuban nor Venezuelan authorities have disclosed where Chavez is being treated. The government in Havana has remained tight-lipped about the treatment of their close ally, who sends Cuba millions of barrels of oil at deeply discounted prices. Many Cubans are worried that Chavez's illness could mean an end to those generous subsidies. The island's economy never fully recovered after the Soviet Union cut their huge aid package following the fall of the Berlin Wall. On Tuesday, panelists at a discussion about a new documentary on Chavez in Havana touched upon the leader's ill health. Venezuela's military attache to Cuba appeared to tear up as he discussed Chavez's cancer. "My commander in chief has been the man to take on problems," Col. Eldan Rafael Dominguez Fortty said. "We have overcome every obstacle, and now with this battle to survive, he will figure that out, too." CNN's Patrick Oppmann reported from Havana, Cuba. CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Atlanta.

Venezuela's vice president says President Hugo Chavez's recuperation is going favorably . Chavez has asked officials "to prepare the people for any circumstance," he says . Officials: Unexpected bleeding was a complication during Chavez's cancer surgery . They have not specified what type of cancer the Venezuelan president is battling .

Washington (CNN) -- As he battles with congressional Republicans over the budget and the debt ceiling, and as a key component of his health care law kicks in, new polling suggests that President Barack Obama's standing among Americans continues to deteriorate. The president's approval rating stands at 45%, according to a CNN average of four national polls conducted over the past week and a half. And a CNN Poll of Polls compiled and released Thursday also indicates that Obama's disapproval rating at 49%. In the afterglow of his re-election and second inauguration, the percentage of those approving of Obama's job performance hovered in the low 50s as the year began, according to CNN Poll of Poll averages. But his numbers slipped to the upper 40s by spring and now have edged down to the mid 40s. At the same time, his disapproval numbers have edged up from the low 40s to right around the 50% mark. Anxiety and skepticism over the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, continuing concerns over the sluggish economy, and a drop in the president's approval on foreign policy -- once his ace in the hole -- all appear to be contributing to the slide of Obama's general approval rating. "Not a precipitous drop, but more like a continued erosion in the president's numbers," says CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley. "The Boston Marathon bombings, Edward Snowden's 'big brother' revelations, the 'non-coup' in Egypt, the 'now we bomb, now we don't' policy in Syria, an economic recovery that remains disappointing, the uncertainty of how/what will change under the new health care system, shall I go on?" "It all adds up to an awful lot of uncertainty and unfairly or not, uncertainty tends to breed lower poll numbers for the guy in charge," added Crowley, anchor of CNN's "State of the Union." Besides being the main indicator of a president's standing with the public, a presidential approval rating is a good gauge of his clout in dealing with Congress. The drop in his numbers comes as the president pushes back against attempts by congressional Republicans to use deadlines to keep the federal government funded and to extend the nation's debt ceiling to try and defund the health care law. A slew of national polls conducted this month indicate that a majority doesn't support shutting down the government in order to defund Obamacare. But if the fight shifts to the debt ceiling, public opinion appears to turn against the president, who reiterated on Thursday that he will not negotiate with the GOP in Congress over extending the debt ceiling. "As for not letting America pay its bills, I have to say, no Congress before this one has ever -- ever -- in history been irresponsible enough to threaten default, to threaten an economic shutdown, to suggest America not pay its bills, just to try to blackmail a president into giving them some concessions on issues that have nothing to do with a budget," Obama said at a healthcare rally in Maryland. But two surveys released Wednesday, CBS News/New York Times and Bloomberg National Poll, indicate that a majority of the public rejects the president's push to raise the debt ceiling with no strings attached. The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the debt ceiling, which is the amount the federal government can borrow to pay its bills, must be raised by October 17 to prevent a possible default. The president's numbers may be nothing to brag about, but his polling still soars over that of Congress. The approval rating Congress ranges from 13% to 24% in five national polls conducted earlier this month, with the approval for congressional Democrats slightly higher than their GOP counterparts. While the president's approval rating doesn't afford him much leverage, as Crowley points out, "it's not anything Congressional Republicans can take to the bargaining table. Their approval ratings are consistently far worse than anything the president has posted." The new CNN Poll of Polls averages four non-partisan, live operator, national surveys that asked the approval rating question: Gallup daily tracking poll (September 22-24); Bloomberg National Poll (September 20-23); CBS News/New York Times (September 19-23); and American Research Group (September 17-20). Since it is an average of multiple surveys, the Poll of Polls does not have a sampling error.

New polls suggest president's standing with Americans continues to erode . Latest approval rating stands at 45%, according to CNN Poll of Polls . Anxiety and skepticism over healtcare law and sluggish economy appear to contribute to decline .

Madrid, Spain (CNN) -- The Basque separatist group ETA said Monday it was declaring a permanent cease-fire. In a statement released to the Basque newspaper Gara -- where it typically releases information -- ETA said it declares a permanent general and verifiable cease-fire as a "firm commitment towards a process to achieve a lasting resolution and toward an end to the armed confrontation." Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said that the statement that the government wants to see is one where ETA calls for a definitive end, which he said the statement does not do . "Am I more tranquil today than before? Yes," Perez said. "Is this the end? I would say no." Spain's Socialist government has repeatedly called for ETA to announce unilaterally a definitive end to its decades of separatist violence, blamed for more than 800 deaths, and a pledge to lay down its weapons. ETA wants Basque independence in northern Spain and southwest France. Various Basque leftist parties -- including the Batasuna party, outlawed for its links to ETA -- as well as four Nobel peace laureates and the Nelson Mandela Foundation also have called in recent months for the organization to establish a permanent and verifiable cease-fire. The Batasuna party's ban from running candidates in municipal elections will not be lifted because of ETA's statement, the interior minister said. The latest statement comes after weeks of speculation in Spain that ETA would issue a statement during the holiday season. "It is time to act with historical responsibility. ETA calls upon those governing Spain and France to end all repressive measures and to leave aside for once and for all their position of denial towards the Basque Country," the statement said. Another part of the message said, "The solution will come through the democratic process with dialogue and negotiation as its tools and with its compass pointed towards the will of the Basque people." "ETA will continue its indefatigable struggle and efforts to promote and to bring to a conclusion the democratic process until there is a truly democratic situation in the Basque Country," it added. The organization has announced cease-fires before and broken them, notably its unilateral 2006 cease-fire that was announced as "permanent," only to be broken months later with a car bomb at Madrid's airport that killed two people. Despite ETA's current cease-fire, in effect since September, the government has not eased up on the police pressure against ETA operatives in Spain and the organization's hideouts in neighboring France and Portugal. In the past few years, police have arrested many of ETA's suspected top operatives, as well as many of its foot soldiers, and seized bomb-making materials and weapons from hidden arms caches, virtually shutting off ETA attacks. There are about 800 ETA convicts or suspects in prison, mainly in Spain but also in France, the Interior Ministry said recently. ETA's statement comes two days after a march Saturday in the largest Basque city, Bilbao, by relatives and friends of the prisoners. They want the prisoners transferred to jails in the Basque region instead of being dispersed across Spain, which authorities have said is done for security purposes. ETA is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union for its campaign of car bombings and shootings. The Spanish government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero began a peace process in 2006 during ETA's earlier unilateral cease-fire, but after the organization detonated an airport bomb, the government called off negotiations. Since then, officials of Zapatero's government have said they would not accept another cease-fire, only a definitive statement from ETA that it would end its armed fight, and specifying when and where it would lay down its arms forever. The Basque region in northern Spain already has considerable home-rule authority, with its own police, parliament, taxing power and control of health and education. But ETA rejects those as partial steps, and has fought for full independence. ETA's goal is an independent Basque nation comprising the three-province Basque region and the neighboring Navarra region in Spain, along with three departments in southwest France that also have Basque roots. About 3 million people live in those areas now. Officials have said that in recent years, ETA has become weaker and more isolated from its traditional base of popular support.

The Basque separatist group ETA has announced and broken other cease-fires . ETA seeks independence for Basques in northern Spain and southwest France . About 800 ETA convicts or suspects are being held in prisons, officials say .

(CNN) -- As 2010 draws to a close, we who report on the ever-evolving digital space have been given the perfect backdrop for looking back at the year that was and the year ahead. In a year full of gray -- think of the debate over whether Facebook and WikiLeaks are forces for good or evil -- two high-profile attempts to make things black and white bubbled to the surface in the past few weeks: the federal government's rules on access to internet service and its proposed "do not track" registry for online advertising. Both represent a significant shift in thinking about the internet, even if the results for the average American aren't immediately obvious. For starters, an internet version of the "do not call list" for telemarketers would seem to destroy the holy grail that online publishers and advertisers have sought since the early days of the Web: advertising directly targeted to individual consumers' behavior. Although marketers have long used cookies to track your Web surfing, recent innovations have given them a whole new level of precision. Facebook's "like" button -- derided this year as a major privacy infraction because it exposes you and your preferences not just to friends but to advertisers -- has been installed on more than 2 million Web sites, with tens of thousands more adding it daily. Geolocation services like Foursquare, in their infancy a year ago, now track the whereabouts of millions of users. With smartphones growing ubiquitous and location-aware applications of all kinds becoming commonplace, advertising that knows both where you are and what you like is very much a reality. Most advertisers and publishers do allow users to opt out of such targeting, but the Federal Trade Commission believes that simpler, more transparent options are needed. The devil is in the details here: Opt-outs on obscure Web pages or hidden browser menus won't help consumers much, but in-your-face requirements that encourage more users to take their privacy more seriously may pose a huge problem to some of the Web's most promising companies. Information and how it travels are also central to "net neutrality," the buzzword for unrestricted access to internet services and content. Rules passed this month by the Federal Communications Commission probably won't much alter the way you use the internet, but they pose interesting questions. For starters, as an internet regulator, would the FCC have the authority -- through its new relationship with internet service providers -- to block a site like WikiLeaks, which posts information potentially harmful to government interests? Thus far, we've seen the private sector self-regulate by cutting off services to WikiLeaks, but the new FCC-ISP dynamic could create intriguing (frightening?) scenarios down the road as WikiLeaks intensifies its document dumps, which seems likely. Other internet issues that seized our attention in 2010 are at least tangentially related to this debate. A largely unregulated internet has created knowledge and wealth, but it's also long provided a medium for predatory, abusive and bullying behavior. Concern over this came to a head this year, with social networking services taking heat for their role in cyberbullying. Perhaps the most prominent example of internet harassment came in September, when Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi committed suicide after a video stream set up without his knowledge showed his sexual encounter with a man in his dorm room. Although prosecution of cyberbullies falls out of the FCC's jurisdiction, provisions in the net neutrality rules, such as the ability for businesses that provide internet access (like coffee shops and bookstores) to block content as they see fit, have the potential to cut off a readily available source of the anonymity that bullying thrives on. Of course, blocking access to the likes of Facebook and Twitter has negative repercussions too, especially as more consumers turn to these services both for communication and to share news and information. But like much of what went on in 2010, that's still a gray area, too. The reality of the year ahead probably falls somewhere between doomsday scenarios and an internet that continues to evolve for both consumers and big business. Information is coming of age, and the stage has now been set for some interesting all-but-inevitable conflicts that will probably be right there on the surface when we take a look again, roughly 365 days from now. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Adam Ostrow.

Adam Ostrow says 2010 brought gray areas such as WikiLeaks and privacy issues . He says new rules on internet access and proposed "do not track" registry loom . These raise issues for new year of who gains, cedes control on the internet, he says . Ostrow: Consumer, business control, privacy, bullying are key in evolving information age .

London (CNN) -- For six years, Eve King worked as a commercial lawyer for a leading London City law firm, complete with its long hours and fat pay check. But after she had her first child eight years ago she felt she had no choice but to swap the lifestyle for that of a stay-at-home mom. "I gave it up because I knew I couldn't be a city lawyer and spend time with my kids," she said. "After that I discounted myself because I knew that if I had been out of law for a few years, who was going to be interested in me?" Today, King is helping to run a company that allows highly qualified former City lawyers to work flexibly from home to fit in with family commitments. Run by an all-woman core team, Obelisk Legal Support, has around 100 lawyers and 250 legal translators on its books. The company was founded in 2010 by Dana Denis-Smith and Charlotte Devlin in an attempt to harness the talents that are lost to the legal profession when women leave after having children. The exodus from the profession is stark. According to the Law Society, there were 25,786 women solicitors in the UK aged 26-35 last year, but only 17,524 aged 36-45, and 9,622 aged 46-55. Denis-Smith said: "At the starting point in their careers, 70% of lawyers are women, but at partner level just 12% are women. "I had seen all these talented people dropping out of the profession around me and had the idea to go back and find out what all these women were doing. "These women feel they have been forgotten and their skills don't matter anymore." She added: "We have built a business around a skillset that has not been tapped into. We have fantastic lawyers of City caliber who can deliver results. "We are using people that have disappeared from the market. I'm keen to challenge the idea that professional women with children should be given work out of sympathy rather than be seen as a fantastic business proposition." Also on Leading Women: Why women will impact global economy as much as China . Obelisk works as a legal outsourcing company, taking on support work for law firms and in-house legal departments. It then distributes the work to the lawyers on its books, who choose how many hours they want to work. Mateja Simic, the company's marketing director, said: "This is not a compromise on the part of the lawyer or the client. The client is getting 'top brain' for their money and the lawyers are totally committed." The idea has been popular with some top names in the legal profession, who are keen to see the gender imbalance redressed. Helen Mahy, one of only a handful of women General Counsels in the UK, has agreed to become chairwoman of Obelisk's advisory board when she retires from her job as group company secretary at National Grid next year. She said: "There's a hole in the market for somebody like Obelisk to tap a pool of talent that is otherwise being wasted. Nobody else is doing that." Mahy said everyone in her own team of 100 lawyers at National Grid was offered flexible working, but that was rare in private law firms. "Most of their staff are willing to flog themselves to death, so (the firms don't worry) if they lose a few good people," she said. "If law firms used a bit of creativity in helping women get back after a career break, it would be a huge benefit to everybody." Also on Leading Women: $800 million biotech business started in a garage . Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, president of the UK Law Society, said: "The situation will only change if the legal sector takes resolute action by investing in specific career development support for women, improving support around maternity transition and addressing the lack of flexible working practices which continues to hinder women's career development." While the vast majority of lawyers on Obelisk's books are women, the firm also welcomes men who want flexible working. The lawyers were on average earning $160,000 (£100,000) before their career breaks, and are now paid an equivalent hourly rate. "What do we want to say to our daughters?" said Charlotte Devlin, co-founder of Obelisk. "That law is a great profession until you have children?"

In the UK, the legal profession loses a huge number of women after career breaks . City lawyer mothers feel they can't balance long hours with child rearing . Firm offers flexible home working for former high-flying lawyers . Clients benefit from "top brain" lawyers otherwise out of work, says firm .

Saariselka, Finland (CNN) -- It has been a long and cold winter in Europe. You might think an invitation to spend a weekend in Northern Finland with more icy weather would be the last thing anyone would have wanted. Not a bit of it. When the invitation came to attend the Lapland Retreat deep in the Arctic Circle I jumped at the chance. Finland's PM Jyrki Katainen and Europe minister Alex Stubb, host the retreat and this year invited the prime ministers of Denmark, Croatia and Latvia, along with the president of Estonia, the deputy PM of Turkey and the Europe minister from Ireland. Several more including a member of the ECB and ministers from Spain and Portugal pulled out at the last moment. This is an eclectic group of countries: two hardline EU members, (Finland and Denmark), a country about to join in July (Croatia), one in the middle of a bailout (Ireland) and one on the outside wanting to join but so far spurned (Turkey). Read Quest: Cypriot disastrous decision . The idea was to avoid being bogged down in the crises du jour, this year, Cyprus. Rather, think Big Thoughts about the future of Europe while wearing slippers, wrapped up in blankets in a remote log cabin. It is a quixotic goal since the very future of Europe depends on its ability, or failure, to handle crises, such as Cyprus; which frankly it has spectacularly failed to do. The metaphors were everywhere. The reindeer at the welcome family photocall managed to poop all over the ground, which was quickly shovelled over with fresh white snow in time for the pictures ... like the euro crises, covered up but still smouldering underneath. Looking at the reindeers antlers was imaging leaders impaled on the horns of euro-dilemmas. Freezing European economies. Icy conditions. Oh I could go on. Read Quest: Cyprus bailout is nothing more than usual Euro nonsense . It was striking how strident these leaders were about what needs to be done. "Austerity with growth," said Finland's prime minister, in other words, just as his country has done. Finland incidentally has just had a tax-raising budget, cutting spending but still managing to lower corporation tax. It can be done, came the satisfied shrill from the north. "Follow the rules," said Denmark's Helle Thorning-Schmidt. She returned to the theme again and again. If countries had done what they were supposed to do, we wouldn't be in the mess we are. Whatever sympathy there may be for the people of Cyprus froze like the lakes outside when they spoke of the Cyprus banking system. Sobriquets such as "unique," "unusual," "unprecedented" were used when what they wanted to say was "out-of-control-Wild-West-money-laundering banking-industry." Oh yes, with Russian money (you can always rely on the Finns to put the boot in, ever so politely, to Russia). Read Quest: U.S. economy to dominate Davos 2013 . The Finnish PM rejected the idea he was a hardliner (he is) preferring to call himself a pragmatist. The difference matters not. Finland is one of those countries, along with Germany, that has had enough of bailouts. Alex Stubb, its Europe minister, made clear the future for European rescues is bailing in with investors' money not bailing out with Finland's taxpayer cash. Attending the Lapland retreat was fascinating. Not because of the reindeer I ate (it really is a delicious meat) or because the snow this far north is, well, really white. But because I got to see leaders at their most honest: all the PMs had taken their own hard decisions, for instance Croatia preparing for euro membership and terrified about Italy's chaotic economy on its doorstep; Estonia, dealing with multi-year recession; Finland with its own anti-Europe factions. So they have had enough. They want the 27 member countries to get on with it. Sort it out. Deal with it. Concentrate on issues like digital single market, growth. The only problem, everyone says, is that change comes as quickly as a Lapland thaw. Just as with the reindeer poop, which as far as I know is still there, covered up, like the euro crises.

Finland's political leaders held an informal summit in Saariselka, Lapland this weekend . Policy-makers from Spain and Portugal pulled out at the last minute . Quest: Retreat was an opportunity to see leaders "at their most honest"

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Drawing on 2006 remarks in which he compared former U.S. President George Bush to the devil, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, speaking at the United Nations Thursday, said, "It doesn't smell like sulfur anymore." Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez spoke highly of President Obama at the United Nations on Thursday. In a rambling speech at the U.N. General Assembly, Chavez spoke highly of current President Obama, saying he is an "intelligent man" and comparing him to President John F. Kennedy. "I hope God will protect Obama from the bullets that killed Kennedy," he said. "I hope Obama will be able to look and see, genuinely see, what has to be seen and bring about a change." Three years ago, Chavez spoke at the gathering the day after Bush spoke, and said the lectern "still smells of sulfur." But on Thursday he looked around the podium and said, "It doesn't smell of sulfur. It's gone. No, it smells of something else. It smells of hope." He did, however, criticize some U.S. policies, questioning whether there are "two Obamas." Watch Chavez speak at the U.N. General Assembly » . Chavez accused the Pentagon of being behind the ousting of Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya in a military-backed coup in June. "American soldiers knew about the coup and supported it," he said. "Hence the contradiction that Obama has to face. Are there two Obamas? Obama spoke here yesterday. Does he have a double? ... Let's hope the one we heard yesterday will prevail. Let us hope. That's what the world needs." The United States and Brazil have said they support dialogue between Zelaya and de facto President Roberto Micheletti, centered on the San Jose Accord brought about through the mediation of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and the Organization of American States mission. That deal calls for Zelaya to be restored to office. "The U.S. government, and this is strange, has not recognized the fact that a military coup d'etat has occurred," Chavez said. "There is some friction between the State Department and the Pentagon." He said the coup was engineered by the Honduran bourgeoisie, "four or five wealthy, powerful families." Chavez also called for the United States to lift what he called the "savage, murderous blockade" on Cuba, and was critical of plans to open U.S. military bases in Colombia, saying what the nation needs instead is aid to lift itself out of its civil war. In addition, Chavez criticized capitalism and extolled the virtues of socialism, saying it is "the road to salvation for this planet." He spoke for almost exactly an hour, less than the hour and 36 minutes Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi used on Wednesday. The Venezuelan president joked that he would not speak as long as Gadhafi, but said he planned to speak as long as Obama. Asked to expand on his "two Obamas" comment at a news conference after his speech, Chavez said, "I think that one of the serious failures of the United States has been that, for a long time, it has underestimated and undervalued Latin America and the Caribbean. ... I hope that Obama turns around the vision of the White House and the Department of State of Latin America. They cannot continue to mistreat us." He said one Obama spoke about peace in addressing the General Assembly, yet has seven U.S. military bases in Colombia. "There's a double somewhere," he said. Asked by a reporter about the closures of television stations in Venezuela, Chavez said it was "a big lie" and asked her to provide an example. She asked about RCT, or Radio Caracas Television. Chavez told her the station broadcasts every day, but that a contract, or concession, had expired for its "open signal" and was not renewed. "Never in Venezuela do we have as much freedom of expression as we do now," he said. But, he asked, "What would happen here in the United States if CNN and other stations supported a coup? Not only would they be shut down, but their owners would have been taken to the electric chair."

Three years ago, Chavez said it "still smells of sulfur," referring to President Bush . Chavez spoke highly Obama, saying he is an "intelligent man" Chavez said Pentagon behind ousting of Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya . Chavez called for U.S. to lift "savage, murderous blockade" on Cuba .

NEW YORK (CNN) -- They've been called "bromances": those buddy films and TV shows, such as the movies "Pineapple Express" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," that feature non-sexual but deep friendships between two or more males. Jason Segel and Paul Rudd star in "I Love You, Man," which opens Friday. The forthcoming "I Love You, Man," which opens Friday, appears to fit the bill. In the film, Paul Rudd plays a man who needs a best man for his wedding but has never made any male friends. Enter Jason Segel as Sydney Fife, whom Rudd's character, Peter Klaven, pursues on several "man-dates" that end up threatening his relationship with his fiancée (Rashida Jones). But don't call the film a "bromance" in the presence of Rudd and Segel. "We hate that word," Segel told CNN. "It was not part of the lexicon while we were filming," added Rudd. Still, both actors have plenty of experience in the, uh, guy-pal genre. Rudd has been in several comedies written, directed or produced by Judd Apatow, considered one of the leaders of the "bromance" trend with his softer, more openly emotional male characters. Segel has also been in Apatow projects -- including last year's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" -- and he stars in the TV series "How I Met Your Mother," which finds plenty of humor in male bonding. Segel observes that what helps the films work is the discomfort of two men trying to talk about their emotions while hoping to maintain a dispassionate, hard-edged, prototypically manly façade. And he knows he's good at bringing out that discomfort in his co-stars. "Judd Apatow told me that my special skill was that I am able to maintain my likability while getting incredibly close to the creepy line, and that's what I should try to cultivate," he said. "That's what he does," Rudd noted. "He just holds [the moment] a little too long." "It's the fraction of a second too long that makes people uncomfortable," Segel added. In "I Love You, Man," Segel's character is rougher and looser than his characters in "Sarah Marshall" and "How I Met Your Mother." He welcomed the change. "It was a real treat for me, to be honest for a minute, to play this character, because I've played sort of a puppy dog guy in 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall,' and on ['Mother'] I play a husband, you know, a loving husband," he said. "So to get to play a character who is a bit more of a man of mystery was very exciting for me." In real life, claims Segel, he even has a man cave. "It's filled with puppets," he said. "And I keep wondering why I don't have a girlfriend. I'm like, 'hey, this is my house; come check it out. This is where I keep my 40 puppets.' ... I think that I have a reputation for being weird because of that." But he quickly turns serious and maintains that "I Love You, Man" does have a message to go along with its comedy. "I think we both had something to learn from each other," he said. "Paul's character had to learn that it's all right to take a little distance from your significant other and have some dude friends and someone to vent to about things you can't necessarily talk about with your girl." "Sometimes buddies hold a mirror up to the way you behave in ways that relationships with the opposite sex don't," Rudd said. "Yeah, and my character had to learn that maybe it's time to grow up a little bit," Segel added. So, this "bromance" thing, allowing a few feelings to show. Perhaps it's not so bad after all? Rudd says that the idea has its upside, despite its name. And he's glad it's been successful. "That's us in a nutshell, not macho, not tough," he said. "I think that we've all been kind of drawn to real stories, you know, characters that hopefully people can relate to and what's funny about just certain insecurites and just certain things in life. "They could easily be dramatic," he pointed out. "Just less fart jokes."

"I Love You, Man" stars Paul Rudd, Jason Segel as two men trying friendship . Neither Rudd nor Segel likes the term "bromance" Comedy makes some serious points about friendship, Segel says .

(CNN) -- For the past five years, Austria-based art historian and photographer Alfred Weidinger has traveled across Africa in search of royalty. His photography project, The Last Kings of Africa, is his attempt to capture the beauty and mystique of the region's most powerful sovereigns. So far he has photographed 220 tribal kings and leaders, with many more to go. "I have a sort of deadline for myself -- which is the end of next year. It's not a question of the amount of kings or tribal leaders, it's just a question of countries," says Weidinger, who plans to visit Africa twice this year and six times in 2015. "There are still countries I definitely want to visit, for example Swaziland and the southern part of Sudan." Weidinger's photographic endeavors in Africa started in 1979 but the cumbersome equipment typical to that era quickly deterred the photographer. Fast forward 30 years, and a chance commission for a photographic exhibition sparked a long-term project where the lavish culture of Africa's dynasties became the focus. Weidinger had no definitive guide to help him locate all of Africa's royals and tribal leaders. Armed with only two cameras and a tripod, his trips were mostly improvised. "There is no list, there is nothing! So you just have to go there," says Weidinger. "The most important thing is to find one king -- when I have one, he will guide me to the others." The power game . There are hundreds of African monarchies scattered across the continent but in most cases governing power is either restricted or nonexistent. Government officials, however, know it's best not to overlook the influence these leaders possess over their respective communities. "Some countries put the monarch system back into the constitution, they give power to the traditional leaders," says Weidinger. "In effect, some politicians use it because every tribal leader (represents) an ethnic group and they still follow the words of the elder or the tribal leader, they are not following what is happening with the politicians in the capital." According to Richard Dowden, the director of The Royal African Society and author of Africa: Authored States, Ordinary Miracles, monarchies tend to flourish in countries with a weak government structure or lacking a formal constitution. In these instances, tribal leaders and monarchs are deemed more trustworthy for getting things done. Niger, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Benin are a few examples of countries with a strong tribal leaders, some of whom occasionally tackle government functions. Fon Ndofoa Zofoa III, for example, makes official decisions over hereditary land in his chiefdom in Babungo in Cameroon. Other leaders, like Sarauniya Aljima, the queen of Lougou in Niger, weigh in on private matters, such as marriage. "When there is a marriage to be made (in the village, monarchs) will return to sort it out. In these sorts of matters, they do retain a lot of power," says Dowden. Weidinger found that one thing that seems to distinguish African monarchs from royals across the globe is a keen religious focus: . "Their power is in spirituality and this makes (African monarchs) so unique." The danger of cell phones . Weidinger says that in his opinion, the biggest threat to Africa's last remaining monarchs isn't local government, but modernity. Though poised in luxurious cloths and perched on gilded thrones, the threat of globalization has disturbed the influence and social standing of many of Wedinger's subjects. "When you come to a region and you see that they are working with mobile phones, it's a kind of sign. If you see mobile phones you definitely know that it's a dying ethnic group. African culture is changing, there are changes in communication. People are going to the capitals and living where there is no need for a king anymore," he says, adding that cell phones have made people living in rural communities less isolated. Now, the problems they would typically raise with their community leaders they can take to experts further afield. Dowden, however, thinks these monarchs will retain their power for a while yet. "I think the chiefs will survive," he says. "Depending on how local governments in Africa develop, they'll either become figures for tourists or they'll continue to play a very important role."

Photographer Alfred Weidinger is traveling across Africa to capture the continent's last remaining monarchs . He has photographed 220 tribal kings and chiefs since 2009 . The biggest threat to these monarchs, says Weidinger, is cell phones .

(CNN) -- "Do not be afraid," Bella tells herself as she prepares to stride naked upon a moon-kissed Brazilian beach and consummate her marriage to Edward. It's been her credo through four films now in the boffo "Twilight" saga, and for all the criticism that novelist Stephenie Meyer preaches good old-fashioned abstinence, it's worth pointing out that this gutsy heroine has a habit of making up her own mind and going after what she wants, even if (like everyone in her onscreen life) we can't bring ourselves to wholeheartedly approve of Bella's determination to wed and bed a vampire at the age of 18. "Breaking Dawn -- Part 1" marks the beginning of the end for Bella (Kristen Stewart), Edward (Robert Pattinson) and his arch rival, local wereboy Jacob (Taylor Lautner). But fear not, the fat lady hasn't sung just yet, and there's still some life left in this domesticated gothic romance, even if you can feel it draining out before your eyes, drip by drip. It's a rare series that improves the longer it goes on. "Breaking Dawn" is too padded to compete with last year's "Eclipse," but on the other hand, the production values have gone up each time, the actors have grown more comfortable in their roles (yes, even Lautner) and with each new film comes a new, more accomplished director. Bill Condon, taking over from David Slade, was a surprising choice for the job -- he's best known for A-list fare like "Dreamgirls," "Kinsey" and producing the Hugh Jackman Oscar telecast a couple of years ago -- until you remember his breakthrough film, "Gods and Monsters" (with Ian McKellen as "Frankenstein" director James Whale), and before that a long apprenticeship in pulp schlock. Condon immediately makes himself at home, throwing in a sneaky tribute to "The Bride of Frankenstein" and milking the wedding sequence as if he means to outdo William and Kate. (More trees!) It's not all about the extravagance though: The cross-cutting as the couple exchange their vows is a lovely, simple touch that crystallizes the emotion of the moment. Then Condon reverts to "Lifestyles of the Rich and Fatuous," with a ridiculously ostentatious and overlong honeymoon getaway. iReport: Fans go crazy for the latest 'Twilight' Unlike Mrs. Frankenstein, Bella isn't freaked by her monstrous other half. But the long-delayed and much-anticipated love scene does have a nasty sting in the tail: In Meyer's world, it seems that sex isn't safe even within the bonds of marriage. It's not the act itself ("Awesome" -- despite the bruising and considerable property damage) but the after-effects, which I suspect most everyone knows by now include the prospects of a little bloodsucker running amok. Having split the last book into two, screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg struggles to parse enough plot to keep this episode on the boil -- or even simmering. The aggressive threats from Washington's wolf pack ring hollow, a lame attempt to inject macho excitement into the movie's self-inflicted prolonged pregnant pause. iReport: A 3 out of 5 for this 'Twilight' A doggy powwow is easily the movie's biggest unintentional howler. But mostly, Condon ladles on the atmosphere effectively enough with the now-customary indie-pop soundtrack (Iron and Wine; Sister Rosetta; Mia Maestro) so up front we're only a whisker away from a full-on musical. And he delivers the grotesquely bloody finale with something approaching operatic gusto. We've come a long way since dads could escape labor pains by putting the kettle on and pacing outside in the hallway; this scene could send birth rates plummeting. iReport: 'Twilight' more a social event than a movie . Critics will scoff, and this isn't a very good movie, but it's been a while since I saw anything so deliciously delirious.

"Breaking Dawn -- Part 1" is too padded to compete with last year's "Eclipse" The long-delayed and much-anticipated love scene does have a nasty sting in the tail . Bill Condon delivers the grotesquely bloody finale with operatic gusto .

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

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

Kitamoto, Japan (CNN) -- Incense burns in the corner of the Nakai family living room -- part of an altar to their daughter Yumi, who committed suicide seven years ago. Yumi was just 12 years old when she took her own life, jumping from a condominium building. "We never saw this coming," says her father, Shinji. "She was a daddy's girl, we went swimming and skiing together and loved to take trips. I was convinced there had been a mistake." Her mother, Setsuko, lights another candle at her daughter's altar and says a prayer for her, as she does every day. She is convinced bullying at school was one of the main reasons Yumi killed herself. In the months preceding her suicide, Yumi told her mother she was being taunted by some of her classmates. "I called the school and spoke to her teacher," she says. "The teacher said, 'I'll deal with this problem' and never got back to me, so we assumed it was solved." Yumi hinted at bullying in the note she left behind, writing that her decision to take her life "may be because of some of my classmates, studies and exams." But the parents are still fighting a legal battle with the school and the Kitamoto Board of Education. The family alleges the school was negligent in bully prevention and investigating her suicide. Shinji Nakai claims the school only showed him a fraction of the investigation they carried out -- a claim the board of education rejects. In a statement to CNN, the Kitamoto Board of Education said it was "co-operatively investigating the cause of her suicide, hearing from her parents, collecting as much information as possible including the possibility of bullying." The school also spoke to students, but school officials found no information that connected to her suicide, they said. A recent court case ruled in the school's favor. Yumi's parents filed an appeal to a higher court on Monday. South Korea teenagers bullied to death . This ongoing legal drama comes as a recent bullying case has horrified Japan. A boy in Otsu, west of Tokyo, committed suicide last year by jumping off a building after bullies allegedly forced him to practice killing himself. Japanese media and the parents claim the boy had sought help from a teacher, but his pleas were ignored. The case has prompted the government to set up a special team to help schools and board of education curb bullying. The new anti-bullying task force will be responsible for identifying cases of serious bullying at an early stage and giving advice to education boards and schools, said Hirofumi Hirano, Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, at a press conference Tuesday. The education ministry also announced plans to conduct an emergency survey of all elementary, junior high and high schools in Japan next month in an attempt to draw up appropriate prevention measures. "People have pointed to how there's too much academic pressure on adolescents in Japan which creates stress and leads to bullying in schools; other people talk about how Japanese cases of bullying can be group orientated," says Sachiko Horiguchi, an anthropologist at Tokyo's Temple University. Horiguchi, however, believes the problem is far more complex and bullying is certainly not an issue peculiar to Japan. But one issue recurring in Japan is "the problem of the school and the Board of Education failing to accept the fact there's some bullying," Horiguchi says. "That can be quite common in many schools, but it's increasingly become more difficult probably to deny that." Yumi's parents agree. They believe there has been a cover up at her school and no one wants to accept there is a problem. "I think the problem is the evaluation-first system in Japanese education. If the school admits a bullying incident, it would affect the teacher's career," says her father, Shinji. "The members of the board of education and the school are like family members, they tend to protect each other. It's disadvantageous for them to make the investigation open, so the truth is hidden." Yumi's parents want acknowledgment of their daughter's bullying to finally feel enough closure to be able to bury her ashes in the graveyard. "I just want to know the truth, why did she have to die?" Shinji says. "Unless I know, I just can't accept her death." CNNs Junko Ogura contributed to this report .

Family: Yumi Nakai committed suicide seven years ago after being bullied . Her parents have waged a lengthy legal battle against her daughter's school . A boy bullied into rehearsing his own suicide has shocked Japan . Japan's Education Ministry to set up a special team to help schools curb bullying .

(CNN) -- A series of explosions and shootings killed 44 people and injured more than 200 in Baghdad and elsewhere Thursday morning, Iraqi police said. Police believe the wave of attacks, most of them within a two-hour time frame, were a coordinated effort by militants. While most of the Baghdad attacks targeted majority Shiite neighborhoods, explosions also took place in the majority Sunni provinces of Salaheddin, Diyala, and Mosul. No militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but authorities believe they may be attempts to unnerve Iraqis and erode their confidence in the ability of Iraq's army and police, a police official said. The country has seen more coordinated attacks since American troops withdrew from Iraq at the end of 2011, the official said. An Iraqi government spokesman declined comment on the incidents. But the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it "strongly condemns" what it called terrorist attacks. "These heinous acts targeted people going to work and shopping, children going to school and security forces working to protect the citizenry," the embassy said, adding the attacks were "targeted at all the people of Iraq in a desperate effort to undermine Iraqi society and its institutions." The United Nations' Assistance Mission in Iraq also condemned the violence "in the strongest possible terms." "The continuing violent attacks on Iraqis are totally unacceptable and have to stop," said Martin Kobler, special representative of the U.N. secretary-general, in a statement. The attacks "are meant to hinder the achievement of national unity and stability," he said. In Baghdad, incidents included gunmen opening fire at a police patrol checkpoint, a car bombing in a busy square and an attack at an outdoor market, according to police officials. Roadside and car bombings were also reported in towns including Hilla, Baiji, Kirkuk and Dujail, police said. In the town of Mosul, two suspected suicide attackers were shot dead by Iraqi security forces as they were attempting to carry out an attack, police officials said. The death toll in Iraq has fluctuated over the past four months as U.S. troops completed their withdrawal. In November 185 Iraqis were killed, the majority of them civilians, according to sources within Iraq's Ministry of Interior. In December, that number dropped to 155. Iraqi government figures for January showed 151 deaths in violence. However, sources with the Ministry of Interior disputed that, saying 293 people were killed. And the London-based Iraq Body Count group, which tracks civilian deaths, put January's deaths at more than 400. "The situation is worsening," said Hamit Dardagan, co-founder and principal analyst of the organization. January's figure "shows a constant level of violence that doesn't seem to let up." While the 2011 death toll -- more than 4,000, according to Iraq Body Count -- was drastically lower than that recorded at the height of the violence, between 2005 and 2007, the group predicted in a January 2011 report that a low level of conflict in Iraq would continue to claim a number of civilian lives for years to come. Iraq's Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders have squared off in recent months after an arrest warrant was issued for Tariq al-Hashimi, the country's Sunni vice president. Al-Hashimi is accused of organizing his security detail into a death squad that targeted government and military officials. The warrant was issued shortly after the vice president's Sunni-backed Iraqiya party said it would boycott Parliament, saying Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was cutting it out of the decision-making process. Al-Hashimi last week denied the charges in a televised speech, saying the Iraqi judicial council is under the control and influence of the central government and that the charges are "politically motivated." Iraqi officials expressed concern Thursday that the violence could cast a shadow over Iraq's hosting the next Arab summit on March 29. The government said earlier this month that logistical and security arrangements had been agreed upon for the event. The U.S. Embassy said, "We are confident the Iraqi people will remain firm in their desire to keep sectarian division at bay and not allow the terrorists to win or their corrupt vision to triumph over the democratic will of the people."

NEW: The United Nations and U.S. Embassy in Baghdad condemn the attacks . More than 200 people are injured . Official: More coordinated attacks have been seen since U.S. troops withdrew . Iraq hosts an Arab summit on March 29 .

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (CNN) -- President Obama said Monday the United States remains Mexico's partner in the fight against drug cartels, despite some calls in the United States to delay counter-narcotics aid because of alleged human rights violations by Mexican soldiers. President Obama speaks at a news conference in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Monday. Mexican President Felipe Calderon reaffirmed his commitment to transparency and human rights in his offensive against the cartels, Obama said. Some $100 million in anti-drug aid, known as the Merida Initiative, could be delayed because of concerns about human rights violations, it was reported last week. "We have been very supportive of the Merida Initiative, and we remain supportive," Obama said. Obama also said the United States would work to reduce demand for drugs and stop the illegal flow of weapons south to Mexico. The remarks came at a summit of North American leaders in Guadalajara, Mexico. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also expressed support for Mexico's strategy, saying that the drug cartels were a problem shared by all three countries. Turning to immigration, Obama said he is committed to "fix the broken immigration system." The three North American countries depend on their borders being safe and secure, Obama said, adding that he supports "orderly and legal" migration, while respecting the American tradition of welcoming immigrants. He also responded to critics who say that the United States has not been forceful enough in demanding the return of ousted Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya to power, calling them hypocritical. "The same critics who say that the United States has not intervened enough in Honduras, are the same people who say that we're always intervening and that Yankees need to get out of Latin America. You can't have it both ways," Obama said. "We have been very clear in our belief that President Zelaya was removed from office illegally, that it was a coup, and that he should return," Obama said. The United Nations and Organization of American States, including the United States, have called for Zelaya's return, but more than one month later, the interim government of Roberto Micheletti remains firm and talks between the two sides have so far been unsuccessful. Harper agreed with Obama's stance. The United States has very clearly stated its position while letting a multilateral process take the lead, he said. "That's precisely what we want to see from the United States," Harper said. Turning to trade, Obama said a "Buy American" provision in his economic stimulus plan had little effect so far on the multibillion-dollar trade partnership with Canada. Obama told journalists that Harper has raised the issue every time they have met. Harper has complained the "Buy American" provision is protectionist and could harm trade relations between the closely linked North American economies. "This in no way this has endangered the billions of dollars of trade taking place between our two countries," Obama said, standing beside Harper and Calderon at a final news conference. Harper responded to the same question by saying the leaders had a good discussion on the issue, and their respective trade ministers also were talking about it. Canada is the top trade partner of the United States, with cross-border commerce worth more than $1 billion a day. The $787-billion stimulus package enacted in February included a provision that only American goods be used in stimulus projects. It also stipulated that the measure would not override existing U.S. trade treaties such as the North American Free Trade Agreement. Obama also talked about comparisons between the U.S. and Canadian health care systems, saying Canada's government-run health care model won't work in the United States. "We've got to develop a uniquely American approach to this problem," he said. Opponents of health care legislation in the U.S. House and Senate say it will lead to a single-payer system like the government-run program in Canada, with some warning the Canadian system means restrictions on treatments and long delays. Obama noted the U.S. system is based on employers providing health insurance for most Americans. Throwing that out would be too radical an overhaul, he said. However, he said he expects opponents of health care legislation to continue to make what he called the misleading comparison between proposed U.S. legislation and Canada's system. "I suspect that you Canadians are going to continue to get dragged into the debate," he said.

Obama: Mexico has reaffirmed commitment to human rights in drug fight . U.S. president says he supports "orderly and legal" immigration . Obama rejects criticism of U.S. response to Honduran president's ouster . "Buy American" push hasn't hurt Canada, Obama says at three-country summit .

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan has been thrown into political turmoil after a months-long dispute between two presidential candidates prevented a successor to outgoing President Hamid Karzai being named. The country's presidential election was held on April 5, and was followed by a runoff vote in June after the first result was inconclusive. The two contenders, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, have accused each other of fraud and manipulation. Despite pleas from Karzai and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to come to a resolution, the two opponents remain at an impasse, sparking concerns of bloodshed and instability in the fragile, war-torn country. It has significantly delayed what was to be Afghanistan's first democratic transfer of power. This comes at a time as the Taliban have carried out deadly attacks on high-profile targets and fought heavily for control of the Helmand province. As the U.S.-led war effort against the Taliban winds down, most NATO troops are due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of this year. Afghanistan "urgently needs a new government," and the two runoff candidates must form a unity government, Karzai said earlier this week. "We want a new government and that can be brought to us by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai." A crumbling agreement? In July, Abdullah and Ghani came to an agreement, brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, to accept the result of a nationwide audit and form a unity government. The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan conducted the audit, under the supervision of UN specialists and international observers. It completed the audit of about 8 million votes on September 4, but the results have not been released. "The audit work is completed," said Noor Mohammad Noor, a spokesman for the election commission on Wednesday. "Only some physical work is yet to be done and we are hoping to be able to announce it in the next few days." Meanwhile, both candidates appear they are backing off their July commitment with statements reported in the media that Abdullah would reject the official results and Ghani indicated he may not be open to power sharing. In a statement this week, Ban urged the candidates to fulfill their end of the agreement "on a government of national unity in accordance with the commitments they reached on 12 July," according to his spokesman. "The Secretary-General emphasizes that this is a pivotal moment for Afghanistan, and that genuine partnership will be required in tackling Afghanistan's many challenges. Both parties share a real responsibility to guide Afghanistan to a peaceful and more prosperous future. Given the scale of the challenges, this can only be done jointly." The impasse has also vexed Karzai, whose last day in office was supposed to be three months ago. After 13 years in power, Karzai had said that he hoped to leave office by September 2, but was asked by the UN Special Representative to stay as the vote audit was underway. Abdullah and Ghani at odds . There are concerns that the political deadlock can spiral into a bloody dispute between supporters for the two candidates. On Tuesday, Abdullah's supporters took to the streets to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the death of Ahmad Shah Massoud, who is regarded as a national hero. At the scene, a boy died when members of the crowd fired their guns into the air. In the general election on April 5, Abdullah secured 45% of the vote, while Ghani got 31.6%. Abdullah was a vocal critic of the Taliban during their years in power. Although he was once an ally of Karzai, serving in his government as foreign minister, he become an opponent in recent years and even challenged him in the 2009 election. Abdullah dropped out after that election after the first round to protest what he said was large-scale voting fraud. In the June vote, Ghani appeared to pull off a comeback, gaining more votes over Abdullah. Ghani is a former academic and U.S. citizen who gave up his passport to run for the Afghan presidency in 2009. He worked as an adviser to Karzai and as finance minister in his Cabinet. CNN's Masoud Popalzai reported from Afghanistan and Madison Park wrote from Hong Kong.

Afghanistan's government is at an impasse as awaiting election audit results . Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani accuse each other of fraud and manipulation in June election . Dispute has stymied what was to be Afghanistan's first democratic transfer of power . UN's Ban Ki-moon and Hamid Karzai call for unity government .

Barcelona, Spain (CNN) -- World champion Jorge Lorenzo has told CNN that he has a difficult relationship with his former teammate, motorcycling legend Valentino Rossi. The Spaniard usurped the seven-time MotoGP titleholder last season, setting records for most wins and points scored as Rossi struggled to recover after a series of injuries. The 23-year-old Lorenzo accused Rossi, now 32, of dangerous riding in Japan last October before clinching his maiden crown in Malaysia in the following race. The Italian subsequently ended his seven-year stint at Yamaha, where he and Lorenzo had been awkward stablemates since 2008, and joined Ducati. "I think it was a problem of character," Lorenzo told CNN World Sport's Pedro Pinto in an exclusive interview in Barcelona. "We had a very tough character, really strong. We just didn't ... have a feeling. "Look, I don't have any personal problems with the riders I'm competing with. I believe you can be friends with a rider while you are fighting for the championship. I don't have any friends, but I believe in it!" Despite their problems, Lorenzo said he did not expect Rossi to join Ducati, replacing Casey Stoner -- who moved to the Italian's first team Honda. Ducati have been off the pace since Stoner won his and the team's first and only world title in 2007. "I was a bit surprised, because it's a big challenge for him, but I also would think if I was in his position, it could be a really interesting challenge, no?" Lorenzo said. "Because Ducati being an Italian brand ... it's really difficult, but for them it's a nice idea." The Mallorcan became only the second Spaniard to win the world title in motorcycling's elite class, but admits he was a little underwhelmed at the time. "This happens always in life. When you like a girl, you have obsession for the girl, you want to be with this girl and when you finally are with this girl, you think 'That is it? Not anything more?' "With the world title, it's the same. You imagine, you dream a lot about this; when it happens, then you think, 'It's only this?' But then, after a few hours, when you are more calm, when you are alone, with your friends, with the people who are more close to you, then you start to realize how important the thing you got is." Stoner strikes first blow of 2011 MotoGP season . Lorenzo was named Spain's sportsman of the year and later met King Juan Carlos, but is still coming to terms with his newfound celebrity status. "When I wasn't famous, I wanted to achieve that because it's cool, no? But when it happens, every time you go to a restaurant you have to stop your meal to take a picture. When you are going to a discotheque it's impossible to dance, it's impossible to be with your friends because every meter you walk you have to take a picture!" Lorenzo goes into this weekend's Spanish Grand Prix having finished second behind Stoner at the season-opening race in Qatar, but said he feels no pressure to emulate last year's achievements. "I really don't think about this. I have this new adhesive on the front of the bike -- this number one. I'm proud of it but I don't think I am number one forever or that I can't lose," he said. "I don't have more points than anyone else in the category from the beginning and I guess I can lose the championship. The other riders can beat me if I don't work hard or if I have an inferior bike." Lorenzo started riding at the age of three when his father, himself a former racer, built him his first bike. "I have always had this necessity to win. When I played with my friends on the street, football or running, I always wanted to be the best," he said. "I competed in everything in Mallorca, all the championships, and I won a lot. You dream about getting into the world championship someday, to be professional, but it's a very long way and you don't know if this is going to happen or not."

Jorge Lorenzo says he and Valentino Rossi had "a problem of character" at Yamaha . World champion says Rossi faces a difficult challenge at new team Ducati . Spaniard is still coming to terms with his maiden MotoGP title last season . He goes into this weekend's Spanish G.P. after placing second in 2011's opening race .

(CNN) -- Not long ago, attending international oil and gas conferences, East Africa was the graveyard session. All the smart money was on the Gulf of Guinea and I and a few other analysts would sit through almost empty sessions more out of courtesy than curiosity. No longer, East Africa is the new oil and gas frontier, and the meetings are packed. Three statements released in March by international oil and gas companies prospecting in Eastern Africa demonstrate this - a fourth impressive gas find in Tanzania by BG Group and London-listed Ophir Energy saw their shares soar. Italian energy company ENI also announced new gas reserves in Mozambique, and Anglo-Irish Tullow Oil, announced an oil discovery in Kenya, that "is beyond our expectations and bodes well for the material programme ahead of us." How times have changed. Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, couldn't contain his excitement on 26 March and interrupted a scheduled speech to announce the find by Tullow in the country's north-western Turkana region. You could feel his relief as he called it a "major breakthrough". Ever since independence Kenyans officials have been wondering why their geology has been less generous than others, and in recent years the pressure has been on, gold, Tanzanite and now significant gas finds in Tanzania and oil in Uganda. Read more: Oil discovered in Kenya . Kenya has a strong agribusiness base, exporting tea, coffee, flowers and vegetables. It also enjoys a major tourism industry and Nairobi is a regional hub, providing financial and other services and is a continent leader on telephone banking. If significant oil reserves are found, this could be transformative for its economy. It will also embolden Kenya, that has ambitions to become a leading regional power, but as a columnist in Kenya's Business Daily wrote, 'Kenya's economic and diplomatic clout had largely suffered from a lack of known natural resources that are of strategic importance to the rest of the world'. Kenya's politicians will need to keep a close eye on this, as regional co-operation within the East African Community rather than head-on competition makes better economic sense. Kenya has already been positioning itself to develop regional oil facilities for exports of oil from Uganda and South Sudan. Work started in March on building a huge deep-water port in Lamu, to service a pipeline across northern Kenya to connect to the port. The West sees Kenya as a regional anchor state although its reputation as a stable democracy, took a knocking with the surge of violence that followed the presidential elections in 2008. New presidential elections are scheduled late 2012 or 2013, and oil will additionally raise anticipation of the spoils of billions of future oil dollars for the victorious. The stakes in these elections have just risen, and the resilience of Kenya's institutions to ensure a fair election, but also its politicians to gracefully accept defeat is critical. President Kibaki, himself will not be running and has a golden opportunity to secure his legacy by working tirelessly to ensure credible and peaceful elections take place. See also: Ghana's oil discovery: blessing or curse? The greatest worry about oil finds in Kenya is that oil money might further blight an already corrupted political class that many Kenyans complain about. Kenya has a poor reputation for corruption, especially by its political class. A former anti-corruption tsar, John Gitongo fled the country in 2005, fearing for his life and lived in exile in Britain. He returned to Kenya in 2008 and has set up Kenya Ni Yetu (Kenya is Ours), a campaign aimed at mobilizing ordinary people to speak up against corruption, impunity and injustice. If Kenya is to effectively benefit from oil, and avoid the resource curse that many other oil producers have experienced it needs to learn from the mistakes of others. The lessons are clear, strengthen independent institutions and oversight; publish all the taxes and royalties from oil; do not rush into prestige projects and extravagant consumption and don't neglect creating meaningful employment for Kenyans. Kenyans need jobs, but the oil industry itself never employs many. The key is to use any oil funds, to build up a competitive economy - Kenya's luck is that it already has a successful base from which to build from. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Alex Vines .

Alex Vines, an expert on Africa says East Africa is becoming the new oil and gas frontier . The author suggests the discovery of oil in Kenya adds complexity to the upcoming presidential election . He says many worry that the oil money may further blight an already corrupted political class in Kenya . Using oil funds to build up a competitive economy is the key to avoid a resource curse, concludes Vines .

(CNN) -- It is not easy to capture a man's life in 152 minutes, let alone a life as illustrious and complex as Nelson Mandela's. For London-born actor Idris Elba, who played the South African leader in the 2013 biopic "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom," the task was sure to feel Herculean. "I could never really articulate what it felt like to play Mandela properly in an interview," he admits in a phone conversation with CNN. Though the actor is British, and physically bears little resemblance to the late South African leader, Elba recalls the unexpectedly warm reception he received, particularly from extras on set -- many of whom were locals who lived through the apartheid era. "South Africa is very embracing. Even though I'm not from South Africa and was about to play Mandela, they still gave me a lot of love," he says. By the end of filming, many were even calling him "Madiba." The experience, life-changing in many ways, was bound to feel odd. For Elba, the best way to capture not just the man but the feeling of playing him on film, was through music. Next week will see the release of "Mi Mandela," a tribute to Mandela made up of songs written and produced by Elba himself, and performed by a mixture of South African and British talent, including Mumford & Sons, the Mahotella Queens and Maverick Sabre. "There were various sensations I experienced (playing Mandela), and I could never give an answer I was satisfied with. I think this album represents that answer. It allows me to express the feelings of playing him," says Elba. The "Luther" actor describes the record as a "character album," and hopes to produce similar projects for the many other roles he's taken on over the years. In this respect, "Mi Mandela" is as much about his own journey as it is about Mandela's. In the album's title song -- the only one that Elba performs on -- he has a tongue-in-cheek lyric about the casting choice. "All the families showed me love, the people wished me well/The whole town wondering how Mandela could be played by Stringer Bell," he sings, referring to his breakout role in HBO's "The Wire." "It's the thoughts I was thinking at the time of making that film. Music is a good way to get closer to a character, closer to an actor. It describes the whole journey of playing Mandela. It's better than any picture, any postcard, any script, any autograph from an actor," he says. "I would love to hear a character album from Marlon Brando in 'The Godfather,'" he admits. "Just to understand what Marlon was going through at the time of making that film, how he was feeling playing that character. What kind of music would that be? What would it sound like? That would be fascinating for me." A link to his father . For Elba, playing Mandela had personal resonance as well, as filming for the role coincided with the death of his father. "I lost both men around the same time," Elba confides. "Mandela reminded me of my dad, and my dad reminded me of him. They were both massive symbols in my life." Elba describes how his father, a Sierra Leone-born shop steward working out of London's Hackney, fought for the rights of union workers at a time in English history when their plight was particularly arduous (it was Maggie Thatcher's time in power, after all). "He was always equating himself with Mandela and people like Mandela who were standing up for what they believed in, and I would always succumb to 30-minute lectures about rights," he recalls. He co-wrote the song "Tree," which features on the album and is performed by American artists Audra Mae and Cody Chesnutt, partially as a tribute to his father. "Somebody tell my father, that we are standing by his tree/ And even though we miss him, we are glad that he's set free," the lyrics go. "That song is particularly moving to me," says Elba. "As much as I wrote it for my dad, it relates to Mandela too, even more so now." Idris Elba's "Mi Mandela" is set for release on November 24 .

Actor Idris Elba releases his first album, "Mi Mandela" next week . It describes the sensation of playing Nelson Mandela in film "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" Elba plans to release other "character albums" for Luther and Stringer Bell in the future .

(CNN) -- The lawyer for comedian Bill Cosby, in response to over a dozen allegations of sexual assault by different women over many years, made this statement on November 16: . "Over the last several weeks, decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced. The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. Mr. Cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment. He would like to thank all his fans for the outpouring of support and assure them that, at age 77, he is doing his best work. There will be no further statement from Mr. Cosby or any of his representatives." This terse press release tries to convince us that an accusation of rape cannot be true if it is 1) old news 2) already disbelieved by at least one person and 3) made against a man almost 80 years old. We don't know what Bill Cosby did or did not do, but these allegations should not be easily dismissed. Over a dozen women have come forward alleging remarkably similar patterns of abuse. While alone with Cosby, they say they were drugged and assaulted, then silenced afterward by Cosby handlers. One of the victims is Barbara Bowman, a 46-year-old married mother of two, who said Cosby repeatedly raped her when she was a teenager and aspiring actress under his tutelage. Bowman has no financial incentive to speak out; she never asked for or received money from Cosby, and the statue of limitations in her case has long passed. It takes a surprisingly long time for victims' denial to crack. I know this firsthand. Five years passed before I spoke about my own abuse, and another 10 before I wrote about it. Some victims can't admit for years -- even to ourselves -- that we were raped. Denial, shame and self-doubt are all typical psychological byproducts of being abused by someone you trust. No one wants to be a victim of sexual abuse. It's hard to admit it and it's natural to think that denying a traumatic, demeaning, embarrassing assault gives you control over the damage. Victims sometimes need decades to come forward about what is perhaps the most traumatic physical and psychological betrayal that one can experience. It is harrowing to speak out about rape and other acts of abuse perpetuated by someone you know. You feel complicit; someone you trusted caused you terrific physical pain and humiliation. This is not like describing how you lost your wallet or broke your leg skiing. Immense courage is required to report the crime, and to allow others to intentionally or unintentionally make you relive painful experiences you'd give anything to forget. The trauma compounds when your rapist is famous. Everybody grills you about meaningless, salacious, intrusive details. Many people do not want to believe you. It is excruciating to hear about rape and assault. Most listeners therefore want to disbelieve victims. So it's not surprising that these allegations about Cosby have been discredited before. Lawyers, police officers and prosecutors had powerful psychological and financial motives not to believe victims who reported Cosby's attacks. For these reasons, acquaintance rape and all other forms of intimate violence are vastly under-reported, under-prosecuted crimes. Victims need and deserve extra time, and extra respect, when they summon the courage to expose their assaults. The stigma of being a rape victim is starting to erode little by little. People who were never raped are beginning to internalize that it's normal to delay reporting rape, it's normal to have great difficulty confronting an abuser, particularly a powerful celebrity, and it's normal for a victim to feel shame, reticence and confusion. Rape and relationship violence experts know that one of the most important factors in recovering from assault is that the first person you tell believes you. Even if decades-old allegations are surfacing, we need to take them as seriously as if the assaults occurred yesterday. Let's hope that the media, corporate leaders and our criminal justice system begin to offer compassion and dignity to women (and men) coming forward with allegations of violence and sexual assault. Let's try to find ways to end rape on college campuses, in the military, in the NFL, in our religious institutions, in our homes and elsewhere.

Leslie Steiner: Bill Cosby's lawyer tries to dismiss allegations against Cosby . Steiner: We don't know what Cosby did or did not do, but we should take this seriously . She says over a dozen women have come forward alleging similar patterns of abuse . Steiner: No woman wants to be a victim of rape or abuse; it takes courage to report it .

(CNN) -- A summer climbing expedition in the French Alps turned to tragedy early Thursday when a six-foot wall of snow came crashing down on two groups of climbers, leaving nine dead, French police said. Two people caught in the avalanche on the Mont Blanc massif were found alive in the snow afterward. Four others had been unaccounted for but later were found, police said. They had taken a different path on the mountain. Before the four were found, the search for them had been suspended just before 5 p.m. because of weather conditions, police said. Three people from Germany, three from Britain, two from Spain and one from Switzerland were killed, Haute-Savoie police said, but the nationalities of the missing are unknown. There were also French climbers in the party. Twelve people were injured, some of whom have already left the hospital because they had only minor injuries, police said. Police said a slab of snow and ice was thought to have triggered the avalanche but did not know what had dislodged it. Two groups of climbers were caught in the avalanche on the north side of Mont Maudit in the Mont Blanc range, near Chamonix on the French-Italian border, police said. A total of 28 climbers in the two groups were connected by ropes, said authorities in Annecy, France. Some of the climbers managed to get themselves back to their base at the Refuge des Cosmiques and raised the alarm. A mountain rescue unit was called out at 5:25 a.m. The route the climbers were taking up Mont Maudit is very popular with alpinists tackling the mighty Mont Blanc, said Alexis Hennebelle of Radio Mont Blanc. The climbers were very unlucky to be caught in such a catastrophic avalanche, he told CNN. Local newspaper Le Dauphine said it was the deadliest accident in the French Alps since 2003. French Interior Minister Manuel Valls visited Chamonix on Thursday afternoon to see the rescue efforts for himself. Speaking to reporters, he said the Mont Blanc range is, sadly, often the scene of dramas, but this is a particularly unfortunate incident. Valls paid tribute to the efforts of the emergency workers, French and Italian, who searched in perilous conditions of snow, ice and wind from the early morning for those who were missing. "They've shown their professionalism, their sense of duty, to bring help in difficult conditions," he said. Valls said it was too soon to establish any responsibility for what had happened, and asked people to wait for the results of an investigation. Chamonix official Jean-Louis Verdier, who is responsible for mountain security, said there had been no clue Thursday morning that such a deadly avalanche might be unleashed. The climbers were on a steep slope where there was snow, which meant an avalanche was possible, but there was no reason to suspect it would happen then, he told CNN affiliate BFM TV. Bertrand Francois, of the Haute-Savoie police, told BFM the number of victims was a result of the high number of people in the area at this time of year. CNN meteorologist Mari Ramos said changes in temperature and heavy rainfall over the past week in the area may have created conditions in which sheets of ice like the one that fell are formed. According to the website pistehors.com, which recorded climbing deaths in the French Alps between 2003 and 2008, the number of deaths seen Thursday is unusual in a single incident. For the 2007-2008 season, there were 12 recorded avalanche deaths for climbers, eight of them in one accident. However, in the other years, the annual total for climbing deaths by avalanche ranged between one and five, according to its figures. Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Western Europe, at nearly 15,800 feet. Mont Maudit, about 1,000 feet lower and the third-highest peak in the range, seems to have lived up to its name, which can be translated as "hateful" or "cursed." 4 climbers feared dead after Mount McKinley avalanche . Pakistani rescuers search for 139 trapped in avalanche . After avalanche, Dutch prince suffers brain damage . CNN's Richard Allen Greene contributed to this report.

Four climbers thought to be missing are found alive and well, police say . Police: Three of the dead are British, three German, two Spanish and one Swiss . 28 climbers were caught by falling snow high in the Mont Blanc range, police say . French climbers were also involved in the accident .

(CNN) -- At the closing ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympics Juan Antonio Samaranch, the International Olympic Committee president, declared that the Games had been the best ever. Freeman celebrates after winning gold in the 400 meters. Superbly organized and featuring a record 10,651 athletes, Sydney produced a number of memorable moments, such as Steve Redgrave's fifth consecutive rowing gold and the three golds and two silvers taken by Ian Thorpe in the swimming events. But one performer stood out above all others: Australia's Cathy Freeman. Every Olympics produces one unique individual who somehow comes to define those Games: Jesse Owens in 1936, Emil Zatopek in 1952, Nadia Comaneci in 1976. In 2000 it was the aboriginal Freeman, whose lighting of the Olympic flame and subsequent victory in the 400 meters were of huge symbolic significance to a nation still wrestling with the legacy of its maltreatment of its indigenous peoples. Freeman was already an Australian sporting icon prior to Sydney 2000, having won two gold medals at the 1994 Commonwealth Games (for 200 meters and 400 meters), and back-to-back 400 meters gold medals at the 1997 and 1999 world championships (as well as a 400 meters silver medal at the 1996 Olympics). It wasn't simply her athletic prowess that had made her a national heroine, however (in 1998 she was named Australian of the year), but the fact that she was one of the very few native aborigines to achieve success, sporting or otherwise, in a country that until 1962 had refused to even allow aborigines the right to vote. Although she was never an overt political activist, preferring to make her statement on the running track, Freeman was nonetheless deeply proud of her heritage, and made a point, whenever she won an international race, of carrying not just the Australian flag but the aboriginal one as well on her lap of honor. Powerful statement . Her choice as the person to light the Olympic flame at the Sydney 2000 opening ceremony -- the last in a relay of Australia's great Olympians, and the first time in Olympic history a participating athlete had been given the honor -- was seen as a powerful statement of national contrition and reconciliation. If her role in the opening ceremony was replete with symbolism, however, it was just a prelude to the events of 10 nights later when, in the most eagerly anticipated contest of the Games, Freeman lined up in lane six of Stadium Australia for the 400 meters final. Wearing a hooded green and yellow bodysuit, and cheered on hysterically by a sell-out crowd of 110,000 people -- not to mention the tens of millions glued to their television sets worldwide -- she paced herself perfectly through the race, crossing the finishing line in a time of 49.11 seconds to take the gold medal, ahead of Lorraine Graham of Jamaica and Britain's Katharine Merry. So intense had been the pressure she was under, and so enormous the weight of expectation resting on her shoulders, that, once the race was over, she could do nothing but sit down on the track and hang her head, physically and emotionally exhausted. "I was totally overwhelmed," she later said. "I could feel the crowd totally around me, all over me. I just felt everybody's emotion and happiness and joy. I was totally absorbing it into every pore in my body. I just had to sit down." Her victory was not simply a great sporting achievement, but a defining moment of modern Australian history, the entire country united in jubilation at a performance that seemed to hold out hope for a less divided, more racially inclusive society. When she had finally recovered herself Freeman came to her feet again and, holding the Australian and Aboriginal flags above her head, set off on a lap of honor, the stadium echoing to the sound of the chanting of her name. "Her victory was one of the great sporting events of our generation," said Australian Prime Minister John Howard. "She is a great Australian." "All I know is that I made a lot of people happy from a lot of backgrounds who call Australia home," was Freeman's assessment of her achievement. She retired from athletics in July 2003.

she was one of the very few native aborigines to achieve success . she was chosen to light the Olympic flame at the 2000 Sydney games . she always carried both the Australian and aboriginal flag on her lap of honor .

Washington (CNN) -- There's a lot to like about Herman Cain. He's funny and personable. He's a great American success story. His 9-9-9 tax plan may be half-baked, but the concept behind the plan -- replace the corporate income tax with in effect a consumption tax -- has a lot to recommend it. (Although, the plan has a lot of problems, too.) Finally, in a political cycle that has seen too many coded racial attacks on President Obama and his family, it's a source of great pride to me to see an African-American topping my party's polls. If Herman Cain had served as governor of Georgia, or even mayor of Atlanta, he'd be a valid and credible candidate for president of the United States. But here's the trouble: he has not held those offices or any other executive office at any level of government. He did serve on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in the 1990s, including two years as chairman -- a distinguished position and an important responsibility, but not one that involves the management of a public agency. So what? So everything! The president's most fundamental job is to run the government. That job is very, very hard. The consequences of a mistake are very, very serious. For that reason, Americans have historically demanded a record of successful accomplishment in public office from their presidential candidates. The current president is an exception to the rule, and -- well -- enough said. Barack Obama became president despite a negligible record in large part as a reaction against the perceived failures of the George W. Bush presidency. Many voters in 2008 made a calculation like: "Obama may never have governed anything. But George W. Bush was a two-term governor of the country's second biggest state, and he got us into Iraq and a terrible recession. So maybe experience doesn't count. Maybe what we need is a different style: somebody more cautious than Bush, somebody who doesn't always go with his gut." You might expect Republicans to react similarly against the Obama presidency, demanding from their nominee skills that Obama lacked: administrative experience, negotiating skill, deep policy knowledge. But no. From Donald Trump to Michele Bachmann to Herman Cain, the Republican activist base has again and again fixed its hopes on people who have never held an executive public office -- and who defiantly reject the very idea of expertise. Meanwhile Mitt Romney -- the man who saved the 2002 Olympics and who inaugurated the nation's first universal health insurance program as governor of Massachusetts -- can't rise above 25% or so among Republicans. And the seemingly most logical alternative to Romney -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- has collapsed in the polls. Perry may not be the sharpest pencil in the pack, but he can at least claim experience in government. The Trump, Bachmann and now Cain boomlets reveal a worrying disinclination among some Republicans not to value government management very highly. These voters assume that if a candidate professes the right values, he or she will make the right decisions. Barry Goldwater gave this disregard its classic expression in his "Conscience of a Conservative." "I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them." But guess what? Repealing laws is just as hard as passing laws. A president who wishes to extend freedom must still staff his or her administration with people who can do their jobs. And the more you reduce government's size, the more important that what remains should work well. Back in 2008, National Review editor Rich Lowry talked about a Republican "competence primary." That year, the Republican field was dominated by candidates who could claim some huge success in government: Romney; New York's crime-fighting former Mayor Rudy Giuliani; and the very effective three-term governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee. The race was won by John McCain, the man who had devised and pushed the "surge" strategy that turned around the Iraq war. This time, apparently, the competence primary has been canceled. Too bad. In the depths of the worst economic crisis since the Depression, competence is needed more than ever. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of David Frum.

David Frum: Herman Cain is a great American success story . He says Cain's tax plan is off-base but the concept behind it is admirable . Frum: Cain's lack of executive experience in government is a big problem . He says that in today's economic crisis, competence needed more than ever .

(CNN) -- Earlier this month, Walt Disney World celebrated its 40th anniversary. The Magic Kingdom opened its doors to the public for the first time on October 1, 1971, and not only did the landscape of Central Florida change, the landscape of the family vacation did as well. Many non-Disneyphiles had no clue about the milestone. There wasn't a big marketing push or makeover of the iconic Cinderella Castle as there was for the 25th anniversary in 1996, a celebration that lasted more than a year. For the anniversary this year, all the "Mouse House" did was hold a special parade and a brief ceremony, along with a tweak to the nightly "Wishes" fireworks display. Guests who came to the park that day also received a commemorative pin. The lack of hype for the anniversary can be tied to a recent change made by Disney executives, says Chad Emerson, who just edited a book of essays on the Magic Kingdom's 40 years in business, titled "Four Decades of Magic." Disney is cutting costs by streamlining operations at its domestic parks, located in Anaheim, California, and Orlando. Several industry experts, however, are questioning Disney's newest plan of not only streamlining the behind-the-scenes aspects of its domestic parks, like human resources, but also the entire Disney experience -- down to attractions and merchandise. Brent Young, co-host of the theme park-focused podcast "Season Pass" and managing director for Super 78 studios, said Disney fans wanted the hoopla of a 40th anniversary bash. "Frankly, the fans would love for them to celebrate the 40th. The fans of Walt Disney World understand the impact that Walt Disney World has made not only on the United States, as a destination park for the United States, but the world as well," he said. Emerson believes Disney is taking the wrong path when it comes to its latest plan. "That synthesizing and making a generic Disney park experience for merchandise, for attractions, for food and beverage for these other guest interaction pieces has been one of the most unfortunate decisions that the parks and resorts division has ever made," Emerson said. Disney spokesman Rick Sylvain said marketing this year does incorporate all parks. "Our focus during this 'Let the Memories Begin' year in Disney parks remains on our guests and the memories they have made, are making and will make in our parks," he said. The Central Florida parks of course remain a popular destination for families like the Hickmans, from Atlanta. Jeff and Kristi Hickman opted to take their two girls to Walt Disney World for the very first time this summer, and it was a hit. "There's a first time for everything, and that first time was great! And I want to (go) again when I'm older, or in a couple of months because it was really ... enjoyable and I had a great time," said 8-year-old Hannah Hickman. That's despite the Central Florida summer heat. Hannah's mother, Kristi, said she was prepared not to have a good time and was making the sacrifice for her children. "We were going in July. I set my mind that I know it's fun, I had a blast when I was little, but I'm an adult now and it may not be as fun. I'm going to wait in lines, it's going to be hot, I'm going to be thirsty," Kristi Hickman said. "You know, it was amazing, all that didn't even bother me. It was like, you know, I was just their age again. I loved it just as much." Jeff Hickman was focused on the finances of bringing his family to Walt Disney World, but enjoyed the trip. "We saved up for it. We spent every penny that we saved. We're still trying to recover. But I would go again in a heartbeat. I would have to save up again ... but I think it was definitely worth it. It was a great family memory," he said. According to Emerson, other families might not opt to go to Walt Disney World, but would just look for a "Disney experience" elsewhere -- and that should have the Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau concerned. "If I was the Orlando CVB, I would be a little bit concerned about this strategy, because it's basically telling guests go to a Disney park, it doesn't matter which one," Emerson said.

Walt Disney World marks 40th anniversary with little hype . In contrast, celebrations of the park's 25th birthday lasted more than a year . Observers say the company is focusing on "making a generic Disney park experience"

(CNN) -- This week, Washington state opened recreational marijuana stores for the first time. And these stores don't just carry your father's kind of weed. In addition to highly potent cigarettes -- which are much stronger than those some people might remember from Woodstock -- stores will also soon sell super-strength, pot-infused cookies, candies, sodas, vapor and wax concentrates. Time will tell what the effects will be, but the state is not the first place to implement such a policy. Colorado started to sell marijuana six months ago. When President Barack Obama stopped by a Denver bar on Tuesday night, it comes as no surprise that someone offered him weed. Colorado's experience with pot legalization can hardly be called a success. In fact, it should be considered a warning for the residents of Washington. Special-interest "Big Tobacco"-like groups and businesses have ensured that marijuana is widely promoted, advertised and commercialized in Colorado. As a result, calls to poison centers have skyrocketed, incidents involving kids going to school with marijuana candy and vaporizers seem more common, and explosions involving butane hash oil extraction have risen. Employers are reporting more workplace incidents involving marijuana use, and deaths have been attributed to ingesting marijuana cookies and food items. So much for the old notion that "pot doesn't kill." Marijuana companies, like their predecessors in the tobacco industry, are determined to keep lining their pockets. Indeed, legalization has come down to one thing: money. And it's not money for the government -- Colorado has only raised a third of the amount of tax revenue they have projected -- it's money for this new industry and its shareholders. Open Colorado newspapers and magazines on any given day and you will find pages of marijuana advertisements, coupons and cartoons promoting greater and greater highs. The marijuana industry is making attractive a wide selection of marijuana-related products such as candies, sodas, ice cream and cartoon-themed paraphernalia and vaporizers, which are undoubtedly appealing to children and teens. As Al Bronstein, medical director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center recently said, "We're seeing hallucinations, they become sick to their stomachs, they throw up, they become dizzy and very anxious." Bronstein reported that in 2013, there were 126 calls concerning adverse reactions to marijuana. From January to April this year, the center receive 65 calls. And, since Colorado expanded marijuana stores for medical users, peer-reviewed research has found a major upsurge in stoned driving-related deaths (that is not surprising since marijuana intoxication doubles the risk of a car crash). It is little wonder that every major public health association, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Society of Addiction Medicine oppose the legalization of marijuana. The scientific verdict is that marijuana can be addictive and dangerous. Despite denials by special interest groups and marijuana businesses, the drug's addictiveness is not debatable: 1 in 6 kids who ever try marijuana will become addicted to the drug, according to the National Institutes of Health. Many baby boomers have a hard time understanding this simply because today's marijuana can be so much stronger than the marijuana of the past. In fact, more than 450,000 incidents of emergency room admissions related to marijuana occur every year, and heavy marijuana use in adolescence is connected to an 8-point reduction of IQ later in life, irrespective of alcohol use. As if our national mental illness crisis needed more fuel, marijuana users also have a six times higher risk of schizophrenia and are significantly more likely to development other psychotic illnesses. It is no wonder that health groups such as the National Alliance of Mental Illness are increasingly concerned about marijuana use and legalization. That does not mean we need to arrest our way out of a marijuana problem. We should reform criminal justice practices and emphasize prevention, early intervention and treatment when necessary. But we do not need to legalize -- and thus commercialize and advertise -- marijuana to implement these reforms. The only people better off under legalization are the big companies that stand to profit from sales of marijuana. And we can be sure they will get even richer while public health and safety suffers. New York legalizes medical marijuana . 'I like weed, and I'm a good person': Pot smokers fight stereotypes .

Sales of recreational marijuana began in Washington state this week . Kevin Sabet: Colorado's experience with pot legalization can hardly be called a success . He says marijuana companies will profit from sales while kids will be harmed . Sabet: Marijuana users have higher risks of schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses .

MINGORA, Pakistan (CNN) -- Gen. Nadeem Ahmad swirls the helicopter over Pakistan's ground zero. Below is the Swat Valley of North West Frontier Province. A Pakistani soldier patrols a ruined street in Mingora. From the air, the valley in the foothills of the Hindu Kush looks undisturbed. Green fields amid clusters of drab houses. A closer look at Swat reveals how well the Pakistani Army fared in its military campaign to wipe out the militants. The cost of success: massive destruction that is sure to hamper the lives of already suffering residents just starting to trickle back to the homes they fled. A few months ago, ferocious battles between Pakistan's Army and Taliban fighters erupted here -- in Swat, Buner and Lower Dir districts. War's remnants serve as a constant reminder. A destroyed bridge. Pockmarked houses. Hotels that look like they've been abandoned for years. Nadeem maneuvers the chopper to circle Mingora, the largest city in the Swat Valley. From the hilltop Army sentry posts that come into view, soldiers survey the ground below, hard won from Taliban fighters. The militants, Nadeem says, have fled to nearby mountains. On the ground, he shows off a cache of weapons seized in the fighting. The soldiers are keen to boast their victory. Mingora remains on high alert. A curfew has been lifted for morning hours, although soldiers keep close watch on those who venture out. The city's pain is plainly evident on its scarred, deserted streets. Many shops are shuttered or destroyed. Watch Stan Grant tour the shattered streets of Mingora » . The United Nations estimates that 375,000 Swat Valley residents fled their homes during the fighting. In all, 2.5 million Pakistanis were displaced in what was said to be one of the largest human migrations in recent history. About 260,000 people have been living in 21 refugee camps in neighboring Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Peshawar and Charssada districts, but the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees say the "vast majority" of internally displaced Pakistanis have been staying with host families, rented houses or in schools. The government plans to return people first from the camps and then focus on those living elsewhere. But this week, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that as many as 1 million people could remain displaced until December because of the widespread destruction in their home towns, such as Mingora. Relief agencies have reported dire humanitarian conditions in Mingora: hospitals without electricity that are inundated with patients, an erratic supply of water and natural gas. One resident, who identified himself only as Abdullah, told CNN that returning people are facing shortages in food, water and basic supplies for survival. Some displaced families also expressed concerns about schooling for their children, reported the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), the U.N. news agency focusing on humanitarian issues. Louis-Georges Arsenault, emergency office director for UNICEF, said 1 million children were at risk of not starting school by September, mainly due to the Taliban's widespread destruction of schools and that 4,000 existing schools continue to shelter displaced people. Businessman Muhammad Khan, 40, who recently returned to Mingora, voiced the despair of returning residents. He told IRIN that "everything is in ruins." "Everything is in ruins," IRIN quoted Khan as saying. "It will take months for life to return to normality." But that normality will no longer include the Taliban, Pakistani soldiers say. The fight was hard, but it was victorious, they say. They point to an area in the city where they say the Taliban displayed the bodies of their victims, some beheaded. It became known as "Slaughter Square." Slaughter Square's name may be outdated for the time being, but residents like Abdullah say it will be a long time before life in Mingora returns to what it once was. "I don't like army. I don't like Taliban," Abdullah says, standing among the ruins of what used to be a thriving market. "I only want peace."

Pakistani forces in Swat Valley claim victory in fight against Taliban militants . Refugees trickling back to the region find towns, bridges destroyed . Up to 2.5 million Pakistanis estimated to have been displaced by conflict . Local businessman: "Everything is in ruins. It will take months to return to normality"

Los Angeles (CNN) -- The Calling's lead singer, Alex Band, told police he was abducted, beaten and robbed Sunday, just hours before his group announced a comeback effort. Band suffered "a fractured lower spine, 15 stitches to lower chin, three broken teeth and is bruised on his side and stomach from the baton beating," his publicist said Monday. The singer countered speculation that the attack was related to his drug use or a hoax. "This just happened to me. I didn't kidnap myself, or beat the crap out of myself. So the whole hoax thing is honestly kind of disgusting to even think about, or hear," Band told CNN. He told investigators he was walking down a street in downtown Lapeer, Michigan -- where his group had just performed at a music festival -- about 3 a.m. Sunday when two men forced him into a blue minivan, according to a police statement. "Alex was grabbed by his shirt and hit from behind and lost his footing," publicist Brad Taylor said. "He was beaten with a police baton with a gun pointed to his face demanding Band's 'Hollywood money.' After Band fought back, he was cornered in the van with gun to his face." Band picked up the story from there. "At this point, I was crying, I'll admit it, I was scared, and I was pleading for my life, but then it occurred to me. I was like, 'You know, I just found like a couple of weeks ago that I'm going to be a dad,'" he said. The assailant responded, "It's your lucky day," Band said. "He kicked me out of the car onto the train tracks, and that's when I hit the tracks and I fractured the bone in my lower spine, and I was unconscious and they left," said the singer. According to his publicist, Band was left for dead at a local railroad track in Lapeer. Earlier, Band issued a statement to CNN about the incident. "I never thought my unborn child would be my savior," Band said. "I am grateful to be alive and I know that I am destined for bringing my music back to my fans." The singer "reported being assaulted, robbed and dropped off on another street," according to Lapeer Police Sgt. Craig Gormley. Another band member picked Band up and took him to the emergency room at McLaren Lapeer Region hospital, Gormley said. He was treated and released, he said. Police, who interviewed Band at the hospital, are investigating, Gormley said. Word of Band's alleged abduction hit online celebrity websites Monday morning at the same time entertainment reporters received an e-mail from a publicity firm announcing that The Calling is coming back "stronger than ever" after "fighting through trials and addictions." The singer has "brought together a new band and has a fresh look on his past hits like 'Wherever You Will Go,'" the news release said. Band "was at the height of music stardom in the early 2000s pop world but took a severe, almost death drop on a roller-coaster of a ride by almost dying from drug abuse combined with the struggle of personal relationships," the release said. "Having a global hit was amazing, but due to my personal struggles and relationships, I was robbed of the enjoyment of being on the top of a musical high of a career," it quotes Band as saying. "I dropped everything to fight for my ailing wife, followed by a divorce, which equaled with a substance abuse problem that almost took my life. Coming out of my addiction with yet another struggle is something of a freedom. This second chance and has given me great fodder for our new music." The rock/pop group is "in the midst of signing a major record deal and are setting up a global tour to bring forth their music to a worldwide fervent fan base," it said. "He is jumping back into finishing the record to help in the healing process and is resting for optimal healing," his spokesman said. The comeback announcement would normally get little attention in the media, but coverage of Band's alleged abduction put The Calling back into the headlines. CNN's Denise Quan and Tory Dunnan contributed to this report.

NEW: Alex Band: "I'll admit it, I was scared, and I was pleading for my life" Singer suffered a fractured spine, 15 stitches to chin, broken teeth, bruises, spokesman says . The singer told police he was "assaulted, robbed and dropped off on another street" News of the incident comes as the group announces a comeback after a decade .

London (CNN) -- A stiff upper lip. Show no emotion. Master of the understatement. The stereotypes about the British have been around since our ships first set sail to collect an empire. Certainly the idea of showing public emotion is a very un-British thing to do. We keep our feelings to ourselves ... or at least we did. Walking around London this weekend one is tempted to believe you've arrived in another country. Large men standing outside pubs singing "God Save the Queen." Okay, they were a bit drunk. Roads cordoned off so the bunting can be draped in time for street parties ... my local hardware shop has set up a stall selling Union Jack paper plates, napkins and just about everywhere, flags, flags and more flags. I am well used to seeing a fiesta of stars and stripes in the U.S., but to see so many Union Flags fluttering on buildings from the grand museums to the corner shop in London is a very unusual sight. So this is no usual time as the nation rallies behind the queen as she celebrates her diamond jubilee. I am old enough to remember three jubilee celebrations. The first, was Her Majesty's silver jubilee in 1977. I still have the souvenir mirror I bought on a school trip to London. It cost me £2 -- funny how we remember the little facts. I don't remember much else about it except we had time off school! And 25 years later for the golden jubilee, I was front and center covering the event outside Buckingham Palace for CNN. I have no shame in saying tears were in my eyes when the crowds massed around the Victoria Memorial outside Buckingham Palace singing the national anthem. The royals arrived on the balcony and Concorde took part in the flypast. Concorde has gone the way of the Super Stratocruiser and the Boeing 707 but the queen remains on the throne and, if the latest polls are to be believed, commands up to 80% support from the British people. It is not hard to see why. In a social media era where we count contributions in 140 characters and have Facebook friends by the hundreds and frankly, none of it much matters, the queen stands for something much, more. Stability. Loyalty. Dedication. Commitment. While these concepts might sound old-fashioned in a here-today-gone-tomorrow world they are the backbone for what monarchy represents. In her coronation broadcast in 1953 the queen pledged herself to a life of service, saying "Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust." It was a vow she repeated earlier this year before parliament, saying she would "rededicate myself to the service of our great country and its people now and in the years to come." How many of us rededicate ourselves to anything, let alone a promise we made six decades ago? The British people may not go gaga very often but when we do, we do it full throttle. After the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 all national reserve was lost as we went into emotional collapse. And again, after the Queen Mother's death in 2002, hundreds of thousands of people lined up to pay their respects: The authorities had feared no one would show up! While the royal wedding last year showed we like the glamour that a new star joining the royal team brings. Ultimately, for real deep-seated, honestly felt emotion, that goes to the British core, it is usually left to the very top senior royal, the queen. This weekend, those people who call Elizabeth their queen are saying "thank you." So, in my coverage on Sunday and on Tuesday I will be taking all this on board as I bring you the majesty of the day, the fun of the moments and the celebration of the times. I know most of you are not subjects of the crown and so I ask you the indulgence of remembering I am British and this is the celebration of 60 years of my head of state. I promise my coverage will be fair, but it won't be neutral. Listen carefully when she goes past and you may just hear me joining in as the crowd sing "God Save The Queen."

The idea of showing public emotion is a very un-British thing to do, says Richard Quest . But this is no usual time as nation rallies behind queen as she celebrates her diamond jubilee. British people may not go gaga very often but when we do, we do it full throttle, he says . Quest: You may just hear me joining in as the crowd sing "God Save The Queen"

(CNN) -- Theodore Wafer said he was sorry from the bottom of his heart Wednesday for gunning down an unarmed young woman on the front porch of his Michigan home, but a judge said "mistake" was the wrong word to describe a murder and sentenced him to 15 to 30 years in prison. Wafer, 55, looked down, his lawyer patting him on the back, as Wayne County Circuit Judge Dana Hathaway sentenced him for second-degree murder in the November shooting death of Renisha McBride, 19 -- a racially charged case because the victim was black and Wafer is white. Wafer had testified that he feared for his life when loud banging startled him awake in the early morning hours of November 2, 2013. He opened his front door and fired a fatal shotgun blast into the face of McBride, who prosecutors say was seeking help after a car accident. "To the parents family and friends of Renisha McBride, I apologize from the bottom of my heart and I am truly sorry for your loss," Wafer said. "I can only hope and pray that some how you can forgive me. ... From my fear, I caused the lost of a life that was too young to leave this world and for that I carry that guilt and sorrow forever." Hathaway said it was one of the "saddest cases" she had ever presided over. "I do not believe that you are a cold-blood murderer or that this case had anything to do with race or that you are some sort of monster," the judge said. "I do believe you acted out of some fear but mainly anger and panic and unjustified fear is never an excuse to take someone's life." Hathaway said she was confident Wafer was remorseful and would likely never commit another crime in his life, but that McBride came to his doorstep seeking help and lost her life. "You made the choices that brought us here," the judge said. "I don't know that you could ever use the word 'mistake' to describe a murder, and a person was murdered." The defense had argued for a sentence of four to seven years, saying a longer sentence guaranteed that he would never get out of prison alive. But Hathaway said the sentencing guidelines were reasonable for the crime, giving him 15 to 30 years for second-degree murder and two additional years for possessing a firearm while committing the felony. Before sentencing, Walter Simmons, McBride's father, addressed the court. "This man has ruined our family's life," he said "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about my daughter." McBride's sister, Jasmine, said: "Losing my sister was one of the most devastating times of my life. Mr. Wafer, your actions impact a lot of other people other than just yourself." After Wafer was convicted in August, McBride's mother, Monica, described her daughter as a "regular teenager" who was "well-raised and brought up with a loving family." During his trial, Wafer testified feeling the floor vibrate under his feet from the violent pounding on his front and kitchen doors. He said he couldn't find his cell phone to call 911, but retrieved his Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun from a closet and opened the front door at a quiet moment. "I was not going to cower. I didn't want to be a victim in my own house," he said. "I drew first, that's how I see it." McBride had a blood-alcohol level more than two times the legal limit at the time of her death and had smoked marijuana earlier in the evening, according to testimony. Witnesses said she crashed her vehicle into a parked car in Dearborn Heights, Michigan, just before 1 a.m. and wandered off disoriented and bloodied. Some three hours later, she lay dead on Wafer's porch. The incident sparked protest and was likened by some to the shooting of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin in 2012. After the incident, Wafer told police he was angry and "full of piss and vinegar" when he opened the door that night, according to prosecutors. CNN's Lena Jakobsson contributed to this report.

Theodore Wafer sentenced to 15-30 years in prison for shooting teen on front porch . Wafer said: "I apologize from the bottom of my heart" Judge: "I don't know that you could ever use the word 'mistake' to describe a murder" Prosecutors said McBride was seeking help after a car accident .