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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Our resident coach and technical expert Chris Meadows has plenty of experience in the sport and has worked with some of the biggest names in golf. Chris has worked with more than 100,000 golfers throughout his career. Growing up beside Nick Faldo, Meadows learned that success in golf comes through developing a clear understanding of, and being committed to, your objective. A dedicated coach from an early age, he soon realized his gift was the development of others. Meadows simple and holistic approach to learning has been personally shared with more than 100,000 golfers in a career spanning three decades. Many of his instructional books have become best-sellers, his career recently being recognized by the Professional Golfers' Association when he was made an Advanced Fellow of the PGA. Chris has been Living Golf's resident golf expert since 2003.

Chris Meadows has worked with some of golf's big names . He has personally coached more than 100,000 golfers . Chris was made an Advanced Fellow of the PGA .

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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- If you're out of work like Steve Lippe, who was laid off from his job as a salesman in January, you know you already have problems. But looking at the fine print that came with his new unemployment debit card, he became livid. A brochure that goes out to Pennsylvanians seeking unemployment via debit card lists a number of fees. "A $1.50 [fee] here, a $1.50 there," he said. "Forty cents for a balance inquiry. Fifty cents to have your card denied. Thirty-five cents to have your account accessed by telephone." He was quoting fees listed in a brochure that goes out to every unemployed person in Pennsylvania who chooses to receive benefits via debit card. He was given the option when he filed for jobless payments: Wait 10 days for a check or get the card immediately. Like most of the 925,000 state residents who received unemployment benefits in February in Pennsylvania, he chose the debit card and only then, he says, did he learn about the fees. "I was outraged by it," he told CNN. "I was very noisy about it. I just couldn't believe it. An outrage is just too weak a word. It's obscene." According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 30 states offer direct deposit cards to the unemployed. Many of the nation's biggest banks have contracts with the individual states. JP Morgan Chase, for instance, has contracts with seven states and has pending deals with two others, according to Chase spokesman John T. Murray. About 10 states, the Labor Department says, pay by check only. The National Consumer Law Center says fees range from 40 cents to a high of $3 per transaction, if the debit card is used at an out-of-network ATM. Most banks give jobless debit card users one free withdrawal per deposit period, which averages every other week in most states. But consumer advocates, including the Law Center, say the unemployed "should be able to obtain cash and perform basic functions with no fees." A key Democratic member of the House Financial Services Committee, which oversees bank regulation and theTroubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), told CNN she agrees wholeheartedly. "Fees should not be attached to unemployment benefits that the taxpayers are paying to help Americans," Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, told CNN. "Particularly, these fees should not be attached by banks that are getting TARP money and are being supported by taxpayer dollars." CNN asked some of the major banks involved in the debit card program for a response. Spokesmen for JP Morgan Chase, Wachovia, Bank of America and Wells Fargo all directed us to the individual state governments for comment. The acting secretary of labor and industry for Pennsylvania is Sandi Vito. Via e-mail, her staff invited CNN reporters to Allentown, Pennsylvania, where she was taking part at a public meeting at an elementary school. Afterward, she said, she would answer questions about the debit card fees. But when the meeting ended, her staff said she was too busy to talk. Watch Vito leave meeting in a hurry » . Her spokesman, Troy A. Thompson, spoke with CNN after Vito left. "The distribution system for people getting their benefits has been improved by the use of debit cards, way above and beyond the distribution by check," he said. The U.S. Department of Labor provided what it called "talking points" to CNN when asked for comment on the fee structure. "States can do a better job negotiating fees with banks," the department said. "Many states have obtained terms far more favorable to claimants than those described in media reports." In addition, according to the talking points, the Labor Department said it was aware states are offering unemployment debit cards for good reasons: . • It is less expensive for claimants without bank accounts because they don't need to pay check cashing fees. • Claimants can use the card free at merchants and therefore don't need to carry excess cash. • Generally, these cards are safer and more secure than checks. "We will be working with states as they gain experience with debit cards to resolve these problems related to fees," the Labor Department said.

Pennsylvania one of several states offering debit cards in lieu of checks for jobless . Some who opted to go with debit cards outraged to get fees without notice . State labor official says debit cards have greatly improved distribution system . U.S. Department of Labor: States can do better in negotiating fees with banks .

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

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

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House has invoked executive privilege to keep President Bush's top political adviser, Karl Rove, from having to testify Thursday about the firings of at least eight U.S. attorneys. The White House invoked executive privilege to keep . Karl Rove from having to testify Thursday. Rove, "as an immediate adviser to the president," can't be ordered to testify and has been told not to appear, White House Counsel Fred Fielding told the Senate Judiciary Committee. The committee called Rove and his deputy, Scott Jennings, to testify Thursday morning. The White House says it is trying to protect the president's ability to receive candid advice and offered to let top aides discuss the firings only if they were not placed under oath and no transcript was taken. "It is regretted that the committee has forced this action, as the president's offer of accommodation to you and to the House Judiciary Committee could have provided information being sought in a manner respectful of presidential prerogatives and consistent with a spirit of comity," Fielding wrote. But Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, accused the White House of trying to cover up Rove's role in the firings. He questioned why Rove discussed the matter publicly when the issue first made news, but now "is suddenly unable to talk it about when he is under oath." "Mr. Rove has given reasons for the firings that have now been shown to be inaccurate, after-the-fact fabrications," Leahy said in a statement issued Wednesday evening. "Yet he now refuses to tell this committee the truth about his role in targeting well-respected U.S. attorneys for firing and in seeking to cover up his role and that of his staff in the scandal." Mark Paoletta, a lawyer for Jennings, told CNN his client will appear before the Judiciary Committee but would refuse to answer questions he feels are covered by executive privilege. Former White House political director Sara Taylor testified under similar circumstances in July. The White House already has invoked executive privilege to block previous testimony by Taylor and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, who skipped a hearing in the House two weeks ago, and to keep Chief of Staff Josh Bolten from turning over documents subpoenaed as part of the inquiry. The panel voted to cite Miers and Bolten for contempt of Congress for failing to comply with subpoenas. The decision on whether to pursue any action on those citations lies with the Justice Department. The privilege claim can be challenged in court. But Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, has said the courts would be unlikely to resolve any challenge before Bush leaves office. Vice President Dick Cheney dismissed the congressional investigation of the attorney firings as a "witch hunt" during a CNN interview Tuesday. Democratic congressional leaders, however, say administration officials have been unable to answer their most basic questions -- who compiled the list of prosecutors to be dismissed, and why were they selected? While the Bush administration has maintained that the prosecutors' firings were handled properly, the controversy has led to the resignations of at least three top Justice Department officials and triggered widespread criticism of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who repeatedly told a Senate committee in April that he did not recall details of the firings. Critics say the attorneys were forced out for political reasons, such as for failing to bring voter fraud cases pushed by Republican activists, and administration officials have acknowledged that one was fired to allow a Rove protege to take a post in Arkansas. E-mail to a friend . CNN's Kevin Bohn contributed to this report.

Executive privilege to keep Karl Rove from testifying about attorney firings . White House says it is trying to protect president's ability to receive candid advice . White House invoked executive privilege to block other advisers' testimony . Senator accuses White House of trying to cover up Rove's role in the firings .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A distraught, sobbing Afghan Taliban member begged the court for mercy, but got none as an unmoved federal judge here Monday handed down maximum life sentences for convictions on drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges. A guard watches over a pile of burning drugs in Kabul, Afghanistan, on June 25, 2008. Khan Mohammed, 38, of Nangarhar Province became the first person convicted and sentenced in the United States under a 2006 law that increased the penalty for a defendant found to be involved with terrorism and distributing illegal drugs. Mohammed, who had been extradited from Afghanistan, was convicted by a jury in May of plotting a rocket attack on U.S. military forces and Afghan civilians at Jalalabad Airfield. He also was found guilty of distributing between $1 million and $3 million worth of heroin into the United States "to kill Americans as part of a jihad." Mohammed's court-appointed lawyer, conceding that "what he did was wrong," urged U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to be lenient and sentence his client to only 20 years in prison. Then the full-bearded Mohammed, dressed in an orange jailhouse jumpsuit, addressed the judge. With tears streaming down his face, and choking back his words, he begged for only one or two years. "I have little children and a woman. They depend on me," Mohammed began. "I'm so worried about them." His lengthy emotional appeal went on to include his reason for selling opium. "In my village that's how you have to make a living. There is no house there without opium," he said. Justice Department prosecutor Matthew Stiglitz, however, urged the court to "send a message of deterrence," and warned against "the confluence of drug trafficking and terrorism." "No, he's not the Osama bin Laden of terrorism. No, he's not the Pablo Escobar of the drug world," Stiglitz told the judge. "But this is where the rubber meets the road." Bin Laden is the head of al Qaeda, while Escobar, who died in 1993, was the most powerful of Colombian drug lords. "Afghanistan is ground zero for opium, and an almost limitless source of funds to the Taliban," he argued. Kollar-Kotelly agreed fully with the prosecutors, and strongly admonished the Taliban defendant. "You were convicted 99 percent by your own words," the judge declared, as she recalled how a "courageous" Afghan police chief wore an undercover wire to record Mohammed's plotting. "The fact that no one died is only because you didn't get the missiles you wanted," she said. "In 2006, you celebrated the Americans' use of the opium. It was a jihad. You knew the damage it could cause," the judge continued. "Because of your undiluted hatred for the United States, you might well have launched other attacks had you not been arrested." She added, "Terrorists stand unique among criminals. Deterrence is very important here." Then, concluding dramatically, the judge turned directly to the defendant. "I heard your concerns for your family but no acceptance of responsibility for your action," the judge said. "Defendants often express worry for their families, but if they considered the consequences of their actions beforehand, maybe they would have acted differently."

Khan Mohammed convicted of plotting rocket attack, selling heroin . Mohammed the first convicted under law increasing penalties for "narco-terrorists" Citing his family, Mohammed cries and pleads with judge to have mercy . Judge says Mohammed had "undiluted hatred for the United States"

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(CNN) -- Harold Pinter, the Nobel Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter whose absurdist and realistic works displayed a despair and defiance about the human condition, has died, according to British media reports. He was 78. The much-honored Harold Pinter received the French Legion d'honneur in 2007. Pinter's wife, Lady Antonia Fraser, confirmed his death. Pinter, who had been suffering from cancer, died on Christmas Eve, according to the reports. Fraser told the Guardian newspaper: "He was a great, and it was a privilege to live with him for over 33 years. He will never be forgotten." Pinter was known for such plays as "The Birthday Party" (1957), "The Homecoming" (1964), "No Man's Land" (1974), "Mountain Language" (1988), and "Celebration" (2000). The works caught a linguistic rhythm -- the legendary "Pinter pause" -- and an air of social unease that resonated throughout the English-speaking world and in myriad translations. His movie credits, like his plays, span the decades and include "The Quiller Memorandum" (1965) and "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (1981). Pinter also wrote the screenplay for his 1978 play "Betrayal," the story of a doomed love affair told backward, which was made into a 1983 film with Ben Kingsley, Jeremy Irons and Patricia Hodge. He received the Nobel Prize in literature in 2005. Pinter's later plays were more overtly political, with works such as "One for the Road" (1984) and "The New World Order" (1991) focusing on state torture. In commentaries, he became a blistering critic of the United States, writing in his Nobel lecture that the country "quite simply doesn't give a damn about the United Nations, international law or critical dissent, which it regards as impotent and irrelevant. It also has its own bleating little lamb tagging behind it on a lead, the pathetic and supine Great Britain." But Pinter could also be a man of great humor. In 2006, he recounted a story about a fall that had landed him in the hospital a year earlier. "Two days later, I woke up to find that I'd been given the Nobel Prize in literature," he said. "So life is really full of ups and downs, you see." Harold Pinter was born in London on October 10, 1930. He was the son of Jewish immigrants, his father a dressmaker, his mother "a wonderful cook," he once recalled. In 1948 he was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, then as now one of Great Britain's most renowned drama schools. But the RADA didn't take; Pinter hated the school and dropped out after two terms. He became an actor and turned to playwriting with his first work, "The Room," in 1957. Later that year he wrote "The Birthday Party," a "comedy of menace," in the words of one critic, that helped make Pinter's reputation -- though, in an irony he could appreciate, after it closed in London due to scathing notices. Ensuing Pinter plays, including "The Dumb Waiter" (1957) and "The Homecoming," made him Britain's most famous playwright, as influential to "late 20th-century British theater [as] Tennessee Williams is to mid-century American stages," CNN.com's Porter Anderson wrote in 2006. "What's generally meant as a 'Pinter play' in the purest sense usually revolves around one or more characters who are imposing on themselves a constricted, even deprived existence in order to hold off a presumed but uncertain threat," Anderson wrote. Pinter's plays featured sparse dialogue, often spiced with paranoia or simple befuddlement. In "The Birthday Party," a boardinghouse resident is accosted by two malevolent visitors who insist it's his birthday; in "The Homecoming" -- which won the Tony Award for best play when it premiered on Broadway in 1967 -- a professor and his wife return to his working-class British family, where the wife becomes the center of attention. Pinter credited Samuel Beckett, among others, as an influence. (He starred in a production of Beckett's "Krapp's Last Tape" in 2006.) In turn, writers such as David Mamet and Sam Shepard followed Pinter's elliptical lead. "One way of looking at speech is to say it is a constant stratagem to cover nakedness," Pinter once said. He was married first to the actress Vivien Merchant. Following a 1980 divorce, Pinter married writer-historian Lady Antonia Fraser.

Harold Pinter died on Christmas Eve, his wife tells British media . Pinter, 78, had been suffering from cancer . He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005 .

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(CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama's victory speech Tuesday night compares favorably with a number of historic orations, a linguist said Thursday. Barack Obama speaks at a rally in Chicago, Illinois, after winning the presidency Tuesday night. "His goal was to be understood by the widest possible audience during his victory speech, and he seems to have done a great job doing it," said Paul J.J. Payack, president of the Austin, Texas-based Global Language Monitor, which analyzed the speech for content, tone and length. "He's at his best communicating directly and forthrightly with this audience and using different types of rhetorical devices," Payack said, noting that the speech was written to a seventh- or eighth-grade level. That's lower than the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech (grade 8.8), President Reagan's 1987 "Tear Down This Wall" speech (grade 9.8) and even Obama's own 2004 Democratic Convention speech (grade 8.3), Payack said. In the four years since then, "he has learned to speak more directly and more succinctly when he's giving a major address," the word aficionado said. He spoke admiringly of Obama's repeated use of the phrase "Yes, we can," calling it "very effective." "That's a very short, direct sentence," Payack said. "Almost like a drumbeat hammering into people's minds and hearts." He added, "something like that comes across as a very effective rhetorical device." That phrase compares with Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall" and President Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country," delivered in his inaugural speech. At about 2,000 words, the speech was short enough not to lose the audience's attention but long enough to cite specifics and cover the subject matter, Payack said. Watch Obama's victory speech » . Twelve of those words were "hope" or variations of the word, which indicates optimism about the change (used nine times) he has promised to effect. Another 23 of the words were "will," another way of making the speech forward-looking. Though most of Obama's verbs were in the active voice, 11 percent of the sentences were in the passive voice, a dependable method of deflecting responsibility, Payack said. He cited Obama's "There will be setbacks and false starts" as an example. "He's spreading the responsibility around," Payack said. "He didn't say, 'I will have setbacks. I will be wrong. I will make mistakes.' He used the passive voice for those types of constructions." But the vast majority of the hopeful references were in the active voice, he said. "It's very personal and very active. 'I promise we, as a people, will get there.' " The speech was notable for what it omitted, too, Payack said. In this case, the absence of a reference to the September 11 terrorist attacks indicates a change in tone, he said. In his closing phrase, Obama repeats the mantra, "Yes, we can," which serves as a call to action, an acknowledgment that the country faces hard work, Payack said. Obama is saying, "I'm asking you to do something big, but we can do it together," Payack said. "We are the change; we are the hope."

Linguist says Obama's speech was on seventh- or eighth-grade level . That's lower than King, Reagan speeches . Speech was optimistic and forward-looking, expert says . Lack of 9/11 reference was significant change in tone, linguist says .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Subtlety may not be in Kevin Smith's vocabulary, but a lot of off-color words are. They're sprinkled liberally throughout the writer-director's new movie, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." Kevin Smith can't understand why the word "porno" is still a hot button for some people. The comedy stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as roommates and longtime friends who decide that the solution to their money problems is to make a porn film. Strong language is nothing new for Smith, whose first film, "Clerks," put him on the map with its merrily scatological musings. Though the film had little violence or exposed skin, it was initially given an NC-17 rating by the MPAA based on the language. "Zack and Miri" was also a possibility for an NC-17, considered the kiss of death by studios because of distributing and marketing challenges, until Smith argued its merits to the ratings board and received an R. Since "Clerks," Smith's films have been almost wistfully romantic ("Chasing Amy," "Jersey Girl") or as joyfully profane as "Clerks" ("Dogma," "Clerks II"). "Zack and Miri," which opens Friday, is a blend of the two Smiths: full of sex and colorful language, but with a sweet side. Indeed, Banks told CNN not to be fooled by the film's tawdry talk. "Kevin Smith is a huge romantic," she said. "He likes to wrap up the romance in profanity, but the guy is more sweet than spicy." Watch why "Zack and Miri" is so controversial » . In an interview with CNN, Smith, 38, cheerfully acknowledged that this is not a film for prudes. The following is an edited version of the conversation. Kevin Smith: There's a bit of language in this picture. I'm not going to lie to you. ... I don't even think of it as salty. To me, it's just like part of a lexicon. CNN: Well, you do hear it a lot. Smith: Yeah, yeah, yeah, no doubt. We're raising our kid in a household where people curse, as an experiment. And I think our experiment is working, because I don't tame my language around the kid. I don't run up to her and yell [expletive] in her face, but I don't go out of my way to like not curse in front of her. And honestly, ironically, she doesn't curse. And I've tried to get her to curse for like friends and family, because it's always entertaining to hear a child curse, and she doesn't do it. CNN: Well ... I almost hesitate to ask, but tell me what the genesis was of the film. Smith: It's a movie I've been researching since I was like 12 years old, to be honest with you. And sometimes three or four times a day. ... But it only really came together when I saw Seth Rogen in "40-Year-Old Virgin" and instantly fell in love with him and was like, "I got to work with this guy." ... So I started thinking about this movie, and immediately it kind of crystallized. Seeing Seth and thinking about porn, I was like, boom, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." I wrote the script with him in mind. And by the time I finished with it, "Knocked Up" was about to open, and the word was it was going to be huge, so I was like, we missed our window. This guy's going to be famous, and he'll want nothing to do with this movie. But I sent him an e-mail anyway where I said, "Look, man, I wrote this flick with you in mind. Please give it a read." ... And I got an e-mail back within five minutes that said, "When I first came to Los Angeles, an agent asked me what I wanted to do with my career. I said I wanted to be in a Kevin Smith movie. That has not changed. Please send me the script; I would be honored to read it." And I was, I was like cha-ching! You know, my God, it worked out. CNN: You're working with some professionals here, and by that I don't mean Seth and Elizabeth. I mean working with actual people with porn experience. Smith: We got ourselves a former pro. ... Traci Lords, man. Who, for the last 20 years, has not made an adult film. Has been keeping that industry at arm's length as she concentrates on a mainstream career and her musical career and stuff like that. But you know, it just seemed like if we're going to make this movie, Traci Lords would just fit into it so well. We approached her agent, and her agent was like, I don't know, it's got "porno" in the title, she ain't going to want to do it. Then she heard that Seth was in it, and she heard that I was making it, and so she was like, well, I'll at least read it. She came over to my house and read it. And I remember, I was sitting downstairs while she was upstairs reading it, and I was like, if I could go back in time and tell the 16-year-old version of me that Traci Lords is going to be hanging out in your living room ... my 16-year-old head would explode. First, the 16-year-old would be like, where'd you get a time machine, and then the 16-year-old would be like, does she want to have sex with us, and then I'd have to break it to the 16-year-old that, no, Traci Lords -- even many years from now -- [is] still not interested in your fat ass. So, she loved the material. ... Maybe it's time to embrace it and make fun of it. I said yeah, please do it. Katie Morgan is still active in the adult film industry, and she brought a kind of a current vision to it. She was able to kind of tell me where to put the camera to make things look as convincing as possible. So I was like, wow, man, this chick who most people know from porn has taught me how to direct. So if the movie looks any better than my normal stuff, it's probably because of Katie Morgan. iReport.com: Will you see 'Zach and Miri'? CNN: The title has created some challenges in terms of the marketing, that some newspapers are not taking ads for it and some buses and what have you. What do you make of that? Smith: I think it's strange that in this day and age, the 21st century, that people are hung up on a word, and the word is "porno." It's not like we put salacious posters out there. ... The poster is literally stick figures. ... People are afraid like, what if my kid asks what porno is? Just tell them. Tell your kid that the porno's not for you. My kid asked me what a porno is, I'm going to be like, guess what? Hannah Montana is not in it. Not yet. Are you still interested? Of course she's not interested in it, because it has nothing to do with her world. So I just think its kind of sad that like some people lobby against it. Like, based on the dude who called in, or the many people that called in after the Dodgers ran a spot. ... Just tell your kid, man; just be honest with them. It's like, look, [the] movie's not for you. ... It's crazy to me, because it's like, some people think that it's real porn that's being advertised. Can you tell me the last porno that you saw that had the word "porno" in the title? Like, it doesn't exist. I don't think it's ever existed. CNN: I understand that you were able to convince the MPAA to give you an R rating. Did that require any cuts? And if not, were you surprised? Smith: Initially, I was kind of surprised that they gave us the NC-17. Especially because the two areas they focused on were easily addressed: one ... they felt [was] gratuitous thrusting in the first porno sequence between Katie Morgan and Jason Mewes, and the other was what we'll call the egregious bodily fluid shot. ... I was able to go to the appeals process with the film, where you show it to a different audience. ... [You] screen it for [theater owners], and then you get up and do 15 minutes on why you feel it should be an R. Joan Graves [of] the MPAA gets up and does 15 minutes on why she feels it's an NC-17, then you get 10 minutes to rebut, she gets 10 minutes to rebut. You leave the room, and that audience makes the vote. ... You have to win by a two-thirds majority [to have the rating changed]. And they changed the rating. [The] appeals group that we screened for ... flipped it, gave us an R. And I didn't have to make a single cut, so everything I wanted in the movie is in the movie. That's kind of cool as a filmmaker. CNN: Your own presidential debate. Smith: A little bit. ... It was kind of like "Inherit the Wind," but about porn, not the Scopes Monkey Trial.

Kevin Smith is a fan of being bluntly honest . Writer-director can't understand why some words, profanity bother people . New movie "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" has rough language but sweet side .

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Kept in a derelict warehouse at Baghdad's airport for months, sleeping four to a bed with poor food and no money, hundreds of would-be contract workers are stranded, claiming they were duped by unscrupulous recruiting agents into coming to Iraq for nonexistent jobs. Men staying in an airport warehouse say they paid recruiters to take them to Iraq, believing they'd get jobs. The recruiters told the men -- from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Uganda -- that jobs were waiting for them with American defense contractor KBR, through a Kuwaiti company called Najlaa Catering Services. The recruiting agents charged them between $3,000 and $5,000 to make the trip to Iraq; many sold their farms or other valuables to raise the money. But when they arrived in Baghdad, they said, Najlaa housed about 1,000 of them -- 600 in the one-room warehouse -- in the compound within the airport, surrounded by private security guards. Showers are there, but are useless because the taps are nonfunctional. Many have questions about their visas and status in Iraq. Legally unable to stay, they lack the money to return home. Asked if their governments were helping them, the men said, "Nothing, nothing." They said that when they protested, their guards fired guns upward to silence them. Watch footage of the men, warehouse » . Najlaa's officials in Iraq refused comment to CNN. The company's Kuwaiti office said the situation was "under control" and being dealt with. Some Ugandan men said the Iraqi police handcuffed and beat them. "They say, 'If you are here for the U.S., we're going to show you the difference between the U.S. government and the Iraqi government. Let's see if the U.S. is going to help you,' " one man said. Iraqi police would not answer questions regarding those allegations. As the men spoke to CNN on camera, an official in charge of them threatened to lock them out of the compound unless they returned inside within two minutes. KBR was not involved in recruiting the men. The company told CNN it does not condone unethical behavior, saying its contractors abide by its code of conduct, including training in human trafficking. The company said when it becomes aware of possible trafficking it works "to remediate the problem and report the matter to proper authorities. KBR then works with authorities to rectify the matter." Meanwhile, men at a separate makeshift camp nearby said they were duped by different recruiters. They live off food donated by Iraqi workers, and say the men who brought them to Iraq have disappeared. The men in the makeshift camp said their immigration status is in limbo. Their passports have been taken, or pages with visas have been torn out. Help may be on the way. The men said United Nations workers had visited them. The world organization told CNN it is aware of the situation and is figuring out how to assist the men. The U.S. military told CNN it takes human rights abuses seriously and is looking into the matter. The Iraqi government has also confiscated the passport of a Najlaa official until a solution is found. But for the stranded men, help can't come soon enough. "It's not fair," one said. CNN's Thomas Evans and Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.

Men claim recruiters duped them into going to Iraq for nonexistent jobs . Men say they were charged between $3,000 and $5,000 to make the trip . One group staying in derelict warehouse in Baghdad; another in makeshift camp . United Nations says it is trying to determine how to help the men .

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(CNN) -- Andrew McMahon always wanted to be a rock star. When his band, Jack's Mannequin, started touring in spring 2005, the unexpected happened. Andrew McMahon, singer for the band Jack's Mannequin, was diagnosed with leukemia in 2005. McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Four years later, McMahon, now 26, is still at it. He has a new album out called "The Glass Passenger" and has taken the driver's seat in starting a cancer research organization, the Dear Jack Foundation. CNN's Nicole Lapin spoke with McMahon about living and working with cancer and now singing about it. The following is an edited transcript of the interview. Watch Andrew McMahon's entire interview » . Nicole Lapin: For those people who don't know, you were formerly the front man for Something Corporate. When you started touring there, you had a bout with leukemia. When you were 22, you were diagnosed. What happened there? You first thought it was just fatigue, but it was something a lot worse. Andrew McMahon: Yeah, I was on the road. It was actually Jack's [Mannequin's] first tour; we had actually just finished recording "Everything in Transit," which was my first record apart from Something Corporate. I was on the road and just kept losing my voice. It was just this thing that I couldn't figure out. I always had kind of this really durable voice and was known for being able to go out all night and wake up the next morning and be signing like a bird. Sure enough, I went to my voice doctor in New York City after having to cancel a show, and he thought I looked pale and didn't think I looked well, and he took my blood. They sent me to the hospital for more tests, and I found out the next week [that I had leukemia]. Lapin: But you kept touring. McMahon: No, after that point I was in the hospital. I started in New York and eventually flew back here and was treated at UCLA by a great doctor there. I spent the better part of six to eight months kind of battling back from that. I had a stem cell transplant from my sister in that period of time, and I eventually got back on the road the following summer.

Andrew McMahon is the lead singer for Jack's Mannequin . Singer was diagnosed with leukemia during first headlining tour . He created Dear Jack Foundation to raise awareness of cancer . The band has since released "The Glass Passenger"

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- British bank Lloyds TSB has agreed to forfeit $350 million dollars to U.S. and New York authorities for criminally hiding information about prohibited dealings with Iranian and Sudanese customers. Prosecutors said that the bank's misconduct took place between 1995 and 2007. Under a settlement reached in a federal court in Washington late Friday, Lloyds acknowledged criminal conduct and forfeited $175 million to U.S. authorities and an equal amount to New York authorities. Court documents say for more than a decade Lloyds had been falsifying data which moved through U.S. institutions by "stripping out" of wire transfers any references to business deals involving customers in the two countries. Lloyds officials acknowledged they feared if the U.S. had been aware of the deals they would likely have been blocked because of restrictions on commercial deals with Iran and Sudan. "For more than 12 years Lloyd's facilitated the anonymous movement of hundreds of millions of dollars from U.S.-sanctioned nations through our financial system," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich. "Lloyds stripped identifying information from international wire transfers that would have raised a red flag at U.S. financial institutions and caused such payments to be scrutinized," he said. Although the money must be forfeited, under terms of the deal Lloyds will not presently be prosecuted because it accepted responsibility and has vowed to abide by the U.S. laws. After two years the U.S. will forego prosecution and formally drop the criminal charge. In a statement, the bank said: "We committed substantial resources to a thorough internal investigation, the results of which were shared with U.S. investigators and regulators. "We are committed to running our business with the highest levels of integrity and regulatory compliance across all of our operations and have undertaken a range of significant steps to further enhance our compliance programs." In October, the British government agreed a deal with Lloyds TSB, HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland to make a multi-billion investment in the three to help them through what Prime Minister Gordon Brown described as the "first financial crisis of the global age."

Bank accused of helping customers in Sudan and Iran avoid U.S. sanctions . Violations took place between 1995 and 2007 . U.S. Justice Department: Lloyds TSB acknowledged "criminal conduct" It said Lloyds agreed to forfeit the funds in return for an end to its investigation .

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(CNN) -- Nearly eight years later, Connie Chung still remembers being surprised. "Stonewalling is what gets politicians in trouble, when they ... try to cover up," Connie Chung says. It was one of those television moments that linger in the national consciousness, like Barbara Walters sitting down with Monica Lewinsky, Dan Rather with Saddam Hussein, or Jay Leno asking Hugh Grant what the hell he had been thinking. Chung was with ABC then, and she got the "get" -- the first interview with Gary Condit, the California congressman at the center of the Chandra Levy media frenzy. The former Washington intern, you'll recall, had been found murdered in Rock Creek Park, and law enforcement sources let it be known that the married Condit had been having an affair with her. In an interview airing Sunday on "Reliable Sources" (10 a.m. ET, during CNN's "State of the Union with John King"), Chung says she was surprised when Condit refused to acknowledge the romantic relationship. "Stonewalling is what gets politicians in trouble, when they stonewall or they try to cover up," she says. "I think that the general public and the news media wanted him to be honest, and if he could be honest about that part of the story, then he could be -- then he would be believed when he was answering other questions as to whether or not he had anything to do with her disappearance." I often focus on media excess and media mistakes on the program, but we also try to highlight good journalism. The segment includes two Washington Post reporters, Sari Horwitz and Scott Higham, who cracked the Levy mystery in a 13-part series last year. They did what the D.C. police could not: They identified Ingmar Guandique, an illegal Salvadoran immigrant, as Levy's likely killer. Authorities issued an arrest warrant for the imprisoned suspect this week. But Horwitz and Higham talk about how they were roundly criticized for resurrecting the case and accused of sensationalizing it. It's clear that Levy's case became a huge deal in 2001 because of the Condit connection. At the same time, Chung says, "The news media had changed. This was the gradual evolution of what the news media was doing. There was flavor of the week, the story du jour." The Levy frenzy became the precursor for the missing-women TV melodramas that followed: Laci Peterson, Stacy Peterson, Natalee Holloway. The stories of women who were not celebrities, whom no one had heard of before, became national soap operas because they drove cable and morning show ratings. At least, in Levy's case, the soap opera appears to be drawing to a close.

Congressman wouldn't admit affair with murdered former intern . Honest answer might have helped Gary Condit, news anchor says . Chung recalls scandal for "Reliable Sources" Sunday on CNN .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Western cinema's relationship with martial arts has been a rocky one. Like many genres, kung fu has drifted in and out of fashion, but it has never regained the same popularity as its glorious heyday in the early 1970s. There's nothing funny about either Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris. And they've got the fists to prove it. After breaking into the United States and Britain with TV hardmen like The Saint and The Green Hornet duffing up the occasional bad guy, the revolution really kicked in at the cinema. When Bruce Lee -- who had already made waves in America as the Green Hornet's karate chopping sidekick, Kato -- appeared in the Chinese-made "Jing wu men," or "Fist of Fury," he established himself as the genre's poster boy. Lee found initial success in his native China, but with his next movies, "Meng long guo jiang" ("The Way of the Dragon"), which pitted him against U.S. karate champion Chuck Norris, and the classic "Enter the Dragon," he became an international star. The plots of his films all followed a set structure: our gifted hero pursues a path of revenge or tough justice, accompanied by a stiff dose of morality. In this way his characters became representatives and protectors of the less powerful who have been unjustly treated. At the same time, the U.S. TV show "Kung Fu," which started in 1972, raised the profile of martial arts, and, through the lead character Caine, built an image of the patient, wise man, who uses his skills in combat as a last resort when reasoning fails, and again, is motivated entirely by his unshakeable morals. The reluctant hero isn't a new concept: he's shared by the Far East and Wild West. The lone gunman in a western, too, tends to be loath to kill, and acts as the moral enforcer in a lawless place. But while the gunman in an isolated western town still commands the same respect from movie audiences as he lays down the law, our wise eastern mystic has almost entirely disappeared from Hollywood. The biggest martial arts stars today -- with the notable exception of Jet Li, who continues to take on a mix of serious art movies in China and gang-war films set on the streets of urban America -- are either laughed at or laughed with by western audiences. Kung fu superstar Jackie Chan has the impressive reputation of being almost indestructible. He does his own stunts and puts himself in some incredibly dangerous situations. But Chan is essentially a comedian. His stunts are used, in a very similar way to Chan's cinematic hero Harold Lloyd, to amaze and amuse an audience. We are shocked that someone could do the things he does, hanging off moving buses with a walking stick, leaping across buildings. He is almost superhuman, but it's done mainly for laughs. The other major kung fu stars have become figures of mockery. The Internet was awash with Chuck Norris gags pointing out just how strong he is ("Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.") while Steven Seagal has done himself no favors by appearing in some of the worst films ever made. Hollywood doesn't take them seriously -- and nor do we. Directors have also mocked the 70s obsession with kung fu that gripped the western world, with heroes from films such as "Boogie Nights," "Austin Powers" and "Starsky and Hutch" fighting with cod seriousness while displaying laughable skills. So what has changed? Kung fu is not inherently funny. No matter how many times you watch "Enter the Dragon," it never ceases to be awe-inspiring. Perhaps the answer is simple: we Hollywood film junkies have grown cynical. There is no room in our modern world for an unexplained, almost supernatural power against pointlessly evil adversaries. Have we have lost our ability to suspend our disbelief? So what can a real fan do? Are we condemned to trawling the movies of the 1970s in order to get our kung fu hit, harking back to a time when Chuck Norris really was feared and respected everywhere he went? The answer is no. While Hollywood seems to have dumped its one-time darling, kung fu is alive and flourishing in Asia, where it all started. Jet Li puts out some great offerings in China, and there is a rising star in the form of Tony Jaa, a Thai actor with amazing technical skill, whose films like "Ong Bak" have wowed audiences across the world. While Hollywood misses a trick and spends all its time laughing at its most skillful martial artists, the industry in Asia is doing what it has always done: bringing us all the high kicks, karate chops and spinning nunchucks we could ever want. E-mail to a friend .

Kung fu has never regained its 1970s popularity in the West . The genre has been mocked in movies like "Austin Powers," "Starsky and Hutch" But fans know the genre is alive and flourishing in Asia .

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VIENNA, Virginia (CNN) -- The acting chief financial officer of mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac was found dead Wednesday morning at his home, police said. David Kellermann, acting CFO of Freddie Mac, was found dead on Wednesday, police said. David Kellermann was found dead of an apparent hanging, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN. There were no signs of foul play when officers arrived at the home in Vienna shortly before 5 a.m., said Lucy Caldwell, a spokeswoman for police in Fairfax County, Virginia. She said the death "may have been an apparent suicide." A second Fairfax County police spokesman, Eddie Azcarate, said Kellermann's body was found in the basement. "The exact cause of death ... we're going to wait for the medical examiner," he said. Police were called by someone inside the home, he said, but he didn't know who made the report. Watch why police don't suspect foul play » . Family members remained in the home, and several visitors went inside. Freddie Mac has been immersed in financial problems since last year, when the government took it over in the midst of the escalating subprime-mortgage loan crisis. Federal prosecutors in New York and Virginia have been investigating it, as has the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a March 11 company filing. Sharon McHale, Freddie Mac's vice president for public relations, issued a statement at midday, saying, "Freddie Mac knows of no connection between David Kellermann's death and the regulatory inquiries that were discussed in our recent SEC filing." Neighbors indicated there was no sign that Kellermann had problems. "They were very friendly with all the young families in the neighborhood ... terrific people," said neighbor Paul Unger. "We saw him when he was out working in the yard. ... We didn't spend a lot of time together." "We're beyond shocked," he said. "He was a great family guy with a beautiful young child." They had the most decorated home at Christmas, Unger added. "I cannot imagine what has happened. ... This is a nightmare." "I asked the policeman what was going on and he told me. I was stunned, silent, shed tears. I feel terrible," Unger said. "This is a solid, salt-of-earth kind of family ... and I just cannot imagine what would have driven him to it." Another neighbor said the family was very "community-oriented," and liked hosting parties at their house. "We're very, very upset right now," said the woman, whose daughter baby-sat for the Kellermanns' 5-year-old daughter. "This is just too much for us." "They were a very happy, happy couple. So it was a shock when we came upon it." Kellermann, 41, was a man "of great talents," Freddie Mac's interim CEO, John Koskinen, said in a written statement. "He dedicated those talents to Freddie Mac for more than 16 years, serving in many business and finance capacities before recently taking the reins as acting chief financial officer. "His extraordinary work ethic and integrity inspired all who worked with him. But he will be most remembered for his affability, his personal warmth, his sense of humor and his quick wit." Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner offered his condolences in a written statement: "On behalf of the Treasury family, we are deeply saddened by the news this morning of David Kellermann's death. Our deepest sympathies are with his family and his colleagues at Freddie Mac during this difficult time." Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the nation's residential mortgage markets. It supports communities across the nation by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Kellermann, who served as a senior vice president in addition to acting CFO, was named to those posts in September. He was responsible for the company's financial controls. This included overseeing financial reporting, compliance with tax requirements and regulations, and annual budgeting and financial planning. Before assuming his current posts, Kellermann was corporate controller and principal accounting officer. According to the March 11 company filing, Freddie Mac was subpoenaed for documents relating to accounting, disclosure and corporate governance matters in September, October, January and February. The filing also says that SEC staff was interviewing company employees. The government took over Freddie Mac last year. In September, it and Fannie Mae were placed under conservatorship by their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Both companies back mortgages held by private homeowners, and have received massive cash infusions from the government to keep them afloat. Kellermann held a master's degree in finance from George Washington University and a bachelor's in political science and accounting from the University of Michigan. He had served as a volunteer board member of the District of Columbia Coalition for the Homeless. "We at [the Federal Housing Finance Agency] are very saddened by the death of David Kellermann," the agency said in a written statement. "As the acting chief financial officer of Freddie Mac during particularly challenging times, David was an inspiration to his staff and many others who were privileged to work with him." A spokesman for the SEC declined to comment. As part of its rescue of Freddie and Fannie last year, the government made $100 billion available to each to cover future losses -- amounts that President Obama has since doubled. In March, Freddie reported that it had asked the government for $30.8 billion after losing $50 billion in 2008. Nearly the entire loss came in the second half of the year, following the government takeover, and the company's losses deepened as the housing market continued its decline. CNN's Kate Bolduan contributed to this report.

NEW: Freddie Mac says no known link between CFO's death, regulatory probe . Neighbors describe Kellermann and wife as friendly, happy, "terrific people" Freddie Mac CFO died by hanging, according to source familiar with the case . No signs of foul play at home where David Kellermann found dead, police say .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Masks beneath masks, the click-clack of Mahjong tiles and the sheen of silk cheongsams: Taiwanese director Ang Lee ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"; "Brokeback Mountain") brings an intoxicating tale of lies, deceit and corruption to the screen with his latest film, "Lust, Caution". Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Tang Wei star in Ang Lee's latest film, "Lust, Caution" Japanese-occupied Shanghai, 1942. Mrs Mak, an impeccably coiffed Chinese lady, makes a telephone call from a cafe, then sits and waits. Cue a flashback to 1938, where her story begins. Mrs Mak is not the sophisticate she appears -- just a few years earlier, she was shy drama student Wong Chia Chi. Ang Lee's adaptation of Eileen Chang's short story tells the tale of a girl caught up in the winds of change of World War II. The fast-paced erotic thriller tracks Wong Chia Chi's transformation from bookish student to collaborator bait. The film has already received wide acclaim, winning Lee his second Golden Lion at Venice with a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film already in the bag. "Lust, Caution" cleaned up at Taiwan's Golden Horse awards, scooping seven trophies including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, which went to Tony Leung Chiu Wai, and Best Newcomer, for Wei Tang. Wei Tang plays Wong Chia Chi, a student in Hong Kong whose fate is set when she meets Kuang Yu Min (Lee-hom Wang), a handsome fellow student who wants to use drama to provoke his compatriots to rebel against the Japanese. As Kuang's leading lady, Wong Chia Chi blossoms, but when Kuang urges his fellow players to move from inspiration to action, she finds herself at the center of a plot to ensnare and murder Japanese collaborator Mr Yee (Tony Leung Chiu Wai). Dressed in cheongsams and primped and curled to perfection, Wong Chia Chi sets out on the biggest role of her life. As Mrs Mak, she gains Lee's trust through his wife, and the plot progresses as planned until an unexpectedly fatal twist spurs her to flee. Cut to Shanghai three years later: Wong Chia Chi is caught in a listless existence when Kuang unexpectedly re-enters her life. He lures her back into the unfinished sting operation, and before long she and Mr Lee, now head of the collaborationist secret service, are engaged in a torrid affair that pushes her soul and her loyalty to the limit. Newcomer Wei Tang gives a startlingly assured and subtle performance. At times, she seems to mirror Wong Chia Chi's transformation into Mrs Mak from dowdy student to rouged mistress, but she rises to the challenge and ably carries the film on her slender shoulders. As she is thrust into the spotlight by Kuang, stripped mechanically of her virginity in readiness for her role as temptress, and placed alongside Mr Lee, Wei Tang, with serene stillness, lets Wong Chia Chi be swept along to her final destiny. Every diamond demands the right setting to sparkle, and Tony Leung Chiu Wai's generous performance as the enigmatic Mr Lee lets his co-star shine. Leung is pitch-perfect, and shows his quality as he lets Lee's beautifully impassive mask shift and slip, revealing a tightly-wound coil of repressed emotion beneath. Leung is remarkable: a highly skilled actor capable of expressing a world of emotion in the smallest muscle movement. The audience is left to imagine the horrors he unleashes during his interrogations of Chinese resistance fighters. The already-infamous sex scenes can appear a little clumsy and contorted at times, less intimate than acrobatic; it's when Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Wei Tang sit in silence that they most project how intimate and electric their connection really is. The lead characters are ably supported by a stirling cast, most notably a splendidly nuanced performance from Joan Chen as Mrs Lee, forced to turn a blind eye to her husband's affairs, both in business and of the heart, while Asian pop superstar Wang Leehom gives a convincing and impassioned performance as romantic, ruthless Kuang. As for the ambience, Ang Lee is known for his attention to detail, and at times the 30s luxe and glamour is perhaps a little too perfect, a little too glossy, with a depth of style usually reserved for more placid period pieces. (Note for fashionistas: while "Atonement" might inspire a 2008 trend for bias-cut 30s dresses, "Lust, Caution" will add perfectly formed cloche hats and cocktail rings to the mix.) But this chilling, thrilling film-noir-inspired tale is both poised and elegant, bloody and erotic; if not quite a diamond the size of a quail's egg, "Lust, Caution" is certainly a precious pearl of a movie. E-mail to a friend .

Ang Lee's latest film, "Lust, Caution" is a film-noir spy tale set in Shanghai . "Lust, Caution" is the follow-up to 2005's Oscar-winning "Brokeback Mountain" Asian cinema icon Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and newcomer Wei Tang star . Too perfect in parts, with OTT sex scenes, the film is still a killer thriller .

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ROME, Italy (CNN) -- An Italian woman who had been in a coma for 17 years and whose right-to-die case was being debated in the Italian Parliament has died days after doctors began removing her feeding tube. A portrait of Eluana Englaro. She was in a vegetative state for nearly 17 years. The speaker of the Italian Senate announced the death of Eluana Englaro, 37, Monday night, then called for a moment of silence in the chamber. Even as the silence ended, one legislator declared, "She has not died -- she was killed," prompting other right-to-die opponents to join in with calls of "Murderers!" Englaro had been in a vegetative state for 17 years, after suffering what doctors determined to be irreversible brain damage in a 1992 car crash, when she was 20 years old. For years, Englaro's father, Beppino, fought to have her feeding tube removed, saying it would be a dignified end to his daughter's life. He said that before the crash his daughter visited a friend who was in a coma and told him she didn't want the same thing to happen to her if she were ever in the same state. Confirming his daughter's death Monday, Beppino Englaro told Italian media: "Yes, she is no longer with us, but I don't want to say anything further. I need to be left alone." But the intense debate swirling around her case will go on. Watch as Italians protest against her death » . When Englaro's death was announced, the Senate was debating a proposed law that would require doctors to provide nourishment to all incapacitated patients, and that would have forced doctors to resume feeding Englaro through tubes. Debate on that proposal as it would affect other patients is likely to continue in Parliament. Last year, a court ruled that the feeding tube could be removed, and Italy's high court upheld the ruling on appeal. Englaro was transferred last week to a private clinic, where the removal process began Friday -- even as the Senate took up a debate aimed at reversing that process. A decree aimed at preventing doctors from completely removing the feeding tube was passed unanimously Friday by Italy's Council of Ministers, with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi leading the effort. "I will do everything I can to save her life," Berlusconi said. "We have to do everything possible to stop a person from dying." But President Giorgio Napolitano refused to sign the decree. According to a statement from Napolitano's office, "An emergency decree cannot be in contrast with a court decision." The case has been a controversial one in Italy, a heavily Catholic country where the Vatican has great influence. Earlier this month, Pope Benedict XVI told pilgrims that "euthanasia is a false solution to suffering." Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, president emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said Friday that Englaro had the right to be kept alive. "It is the duty of the doctors, of society, and of the political institutions to administer her essential foods to keep her alive. No one has the right to take her life away from her," he said. Euthanasia is illegal in Italy, but patients have the right to refuse treatment. It is on that basis that Englaro argued his daughter should be allowed to die, because some time before her accident she had expressed the wish not to be kept alive while in a coma -- indirectly refusing treatment, he said.

NEW: Woman in coma for 17 years in Italy has died, her father says . Eluana Englaro has been in vegetative state since a car crash . Her father has fought for years to have her feeding tube removed .

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(CNN) -- President Obama takes his first foreign trip Thursday, but domestic politics will loom large as he tackles the explosive issue of protectionism in a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the leader of the United States' largest trade partner. Trade will be a major issue when President Obama visits Canada beginning Thursday. At issue is a controversial so-called "Buy American" provision requiring the use of U.S.-produced iron, steel, and other manufactured goods in public works projects funded by the $787 billion economic stimulus bill. Several Democratic-leaning unions and domestic steel and iron producers favor the provision; a large number of business and trade organizations are opposed. Administration officials altered the language in the final version of the stimulus bill to ensure that the provision will not trump existing trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA. Canadian companies will therefore still have the chance to sell products used in stimulus-funded projects. Canadian government officials, however, are still concerned by what they perceive as rising protectionist sentiment in the United States that could potentially spark a trade war and, in their opinion, deepen the global economic crisis. Canada has been hit hard by the global downturn. The country's critical manufacturing-based sales dropped 8 percent in December, reflecting roughly equal decreases in both volume and price, according to Statistics Canada, an agency charged with tracking key economic data for officials in Ottawa. In a recent letter to U.S. Senate leaders, Canada's ambassador to the United States warned that the U.S. was losing the moral authority to pressure other nations not to erect their own trade barriers. "A rush to protectionist actions could create a downward spiral like the world experienced in the 1930s," wrote Ambassador Michael Wilson. "In the end we got into this economic crisis together. We need to work together to build ourselves out of it." Some Canadian leaders also cite unresolved concerns over what they perceive to be vague and potentially harmful language in the "Buy American" provision. Specifically, they are questioning whether NAFTA and World Trade Organization rules will apply to state and city governments receiving stimulus money for local infrastructure projects. They also cite uncertainty over what rules of origin apply to projects covered under the stimulus bill. A number of components in Canadian products come from countries such as China and India, which are effectively excluded by the "Buy American" provision. "This is no merely technical question; different parts of many products come from different places, and intricately entwined supply chains could be seriously disturbed if they have to be disentangled, to the detriment of both the U.S. and Canada," the Toronto-based Globe and Mail newspaper editorialized Tuesday. "Such questions cannot wait for judgments in trade litigation," the Globe and Mail argued. "Canadian governments and businesses ... have to be ready for a long series of many minor battles." Obama stumbled over Canadian trade issues during last year's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. Shortly before the Ohio primary in March, he was extremely critical of NAFTA. Many Rust Belt voters believe the accord has cost countless jobs by accelerating the erosion of the U.S. industrial base. During a debate with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama agreed that the United States should abandon the treaty if it could not be renegotiated. It was later revealed that one of Obama's economic advisers, Austan Goolsbee, had met with officials at Canada's Chicago, Illinois, consulate and allegedly assured them that Obama's trade rhetoric was more a function of politics than any deeply held policy position.

President Obama leaves for Canada on Thursday; to meet with Canadian PM Harper . One big issue: the "Buy American" provision in stimulus plan . Bill now says that provision will not trump existing trade agreements like NAFTA . Still, Canadian officials worry about what they see as new U.S. protectionist tilt .

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A female suicide bomber Friday detonated in a crowd of mostly women and children on their way to a religious festival, killing at least 38 people and wounding 50 others, an Interior Ministry official said. Devout Shia Muslims walk in Baghdad towards the holy city of Karbala. The attack took place around noon between the towns of Iskandariya and Mussayib, south of the capital, Baghdad, as hundreds of thousands of Shia pilgrims are making their way to Karbala for Arbaeen, one of the holiest Shiite events. Ten of those injured are in critical condition. The suicide attack comes on the heels of other bombings targeting Shiite pilgrims earlier in the week and are signs that the sectarian conflicts that devastated Iraq in recent years are not over. An explosion in Karbala on Thursday killed at least five Shiite pilgrims and wounded 50 near a shrine. On Wednesday, a double car bombing struck a Baghdad bus station where Shiite pilgrims gathered for the holy day. Sixteen people were killed and 43 were wounded. Also, two pilgrims were killed and 16 were wounded Wednesday in roadside bombings in Baghdad. The holy day commemorates the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed and one of the most revered Shiite figures. He died in battle in the seventh century and is buried in Karbala. In recent years, insurgents have targeted Shiite pilgrims, who usually walk to Karbala from across Iraq as a demonstration of piety and as part of tradition. The city is about 60 miles (100 km) southwest of Baghdad. Last year, a flurry of attacks on pilgrims killed at least 48 people. In 2007, more than 180 pilgrims were killed in a series of attacks, most from suicide bombings in Babil province, through which the pilgrims pass. More than 30,000 Iraqi Security Forces troops have been deployed in and around Karbala this year to protect the anticipated millions of pilgrims heading there for Monday's commemoration, according to Karbala's military commander, Gen. Othman al-Ghanemi. CNN's Yousil Bassil contributed to this report.

Female suicide bomber detonates in a crowd on way to a religious festival . In recent years, insurgents have targeted Iraqi Shiite pilgrims walking to Karbala . 2 children killed in separate incident when unexploded mortar round exploded .

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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The international group Human Rights Watch is accusing Israel of firing weapons containing white phosphorus into Gaza. The group demands that the alleged practice cease. Israel is declining to say whether bursts like this over Gaza involve white phosphorus. The group's researchers in Israel "observed multiple air-bursts of artillery-fired white phosphorus over what appeared to be the Gaza City/Jabaliya area" on Friday and Saturday, the organization said on its Web site. "Israel appeared to be using white phosphorus as an 'obscurant' [a chemical used to hide military operations], a permissible use in principle" under the laws of war, the HRW posting said. "However, white phosphorus has a significant, incidental, incendiary effect that can severely burn people and set structures, fields, and other civilian objects in the vicinity on fire," the posting said. "The potential for harm to civilians is magnified by Gaza's high population density, among the highest in the world." HRW said the use of white phosphorus in Gaza would violate "the requirement under international humanitarian law to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian injury and loss of life." Last week, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman told CNN: "I can tell you with certainty that white phosphorus is absolutely not being used." Now, however, Israeli officials have a different response to questions about the possible use of phosphorus: "Any munitions that Israel is using are in accordance with international law. Israel does not specify the types of munitions or the types of operations it is conducting." Still, a doctor familiar with the material said it is not possible to tell, based on pictures of burns, whether white phosphorus was responsible. "Dead tissue pretty much looks the same," said Dr. Peter Grossman, president of the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, California. The chemical "can burn down houses and cause horrific burns when it touches the skin," said Marc Garlasco, senior military analyst at Human Rights Watch. Since January 3, when Israel began its ground offensive in Gaza, news reports have circulated about the possible use of white phosphorus by the IDF. HRW's assertion was supported by munitions experts and some Palestinian doctors, including Nafiz Abu Sha'aban, who said the burns it caused were unlike anything he has seen in 27 years of practice. Watch footage of burn patients in Gaza . Though most severely burned patients have been sent to Egypt, the ongoing fighting has made it impossible to evacuate all of them, including one man with deep burns over 47 percent of his body, the doctor said. White phosphorus is known to burn flesh down to the bone. It's intended to provide illumination or to create a smokescreen in battle. Under an international protocol ratified by Israel in 1995, the use of such incendiary weapons is allowed when "not specifically designed to cause burn injury to persons." There is no prohibition per se against white phosphorus in conflict. But the timing and location of its use are restricted. For example, it is illegal under the protocol to use white phosphorus against any personnel, civilian or military. It can be directed only against military targets. International law says incendiary weapons cannot be used where civilians are concentrated. A house north of Gaza City was hit Sunday by something that observers contend may have been white phosphorus. "It's been burning since one o'clock in the morning," Munir Hammada told CNN 11 hours later. "If you move it with your feet, it reignites. You can't put it out with water, only sand." Those characteristics match the properties of white phosphorus, which ignites on contact with air.

Researchers in Israel saw bursts of white phosphorus over Gaza, group says . White phosphorus can burn people, set structures on fire . Protocol allows use when "not specifically designed to cause burn injury to persons" Group: Use in densely populated Gaza would violate international humanitarian law .

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with public health officials in 42 states to determine the cause of an outbreak of a particular type of salmonella called Typhimurium. Salmonella bacteria are transmitted to humans by eating contaminated foods. According to CDC sources, at least 388 people have been infected with this strain since September 3, but most cases occurred between October 1 and December 31, the disease agency said. About 18 percent of cases were hospitalized as a result of their illness, and patients have ranged from two months to 98 years of age. California is reporting the highest case count with 55, followed by Ohio with 53 cases, Massachusetts with 39, Minnesota with 30 and Michigan with 20. The other 37 states are each reporting anywhere from one to 19 cases. The eight states that have not reported any cases connected to the outbreak are Montana, New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Florida, Alaska and Hawaii. King Nut peanut butter was identified as the source of an outbreak that may have contributed to one death in Minnesota, state public health officials said Friday in a news release. CNN was unable to reach the company for comment. CDC has not identified what food or foods might be causing this outbreak. CDC officials and state public health workers are conducting case control studies, which means they're tracking down people who have been infected as early as September to determine what they may have consumed, to find a common cause. Learn more about salmonella » . The Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are in contact with the CDC, but without a determination of the cause of the outbreak, their involvement is limited. Various strains of salmonella have been linked to previous outbreaks, caused by contaminated eggs, meat, poultry, vegetables, pet food and even peanut butter. Contaminated tomatoes were blamed for a salmonella Typhimurium outbreak in fall 2006, which sickened at least 183 people in 21 states. Most of the victims had diarrhea and fever for about a week. Nobody died in that outbreak. Salmonella infections are caused by bacteria and if necessary can be treated with antibiotics, although some strains have become resistant to these drugs, according to the CDC Web site. Most people infected will develop diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps within a few days of infection, and their illness can last up to a week. Most recover without any treatment, but some may suffer dehydration and in severe cases require hospitalization. The youngest and oldest patients and chronically ill people with compromised immune systems are at highest risk for severe complications, according to the National Institutes of Health. Until a cause of the outbreak is confirmed, the CDC is recommending the following: . Consumers should thoroughly cook meats, poultry and eggs. They should also avoid consuming raw or unpasteurized milk and other dairy products. Produce should be thoroughly washed as well. Avoid cross-contamination of uncooked meats and produce to prevent spreading any potential salmonella. Frequent washing of hands during food preparation can also help reduce cross-contamination.

At least 388 people infected with strain of salmonella since September 3 . Type of salmonella called Typhimurium hospitalized approximately 69 people . CDC has not identified what food or foods might be causing this outbreak . Consumers urged to thoroughly cook meat, poultry and eggs, wash produce .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Karma caught up with former Culture Club singer Boy George on Friday when a court sentenced the star to 15 months for falsely imprisoning a male escort, a court spokeswoman said. George O'Dowd, also known as Boy George, arrives at Snaresbrook Crown Court, in east London. Full details of the sentence weren't immediately clear. A jury unanimously found the pop star and DJ, whose real name is George O'Dowd, guilty of the charge last month after a seven-day trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court in northeast London. The jury determined O'Dowd, 47, had chained male escort Audun Carlsen to a wall at his apartment in London's hip Shoreditch neighborhood. Carlsen had also said the singer beat him with a metal chain. Watch as Boy George arrives at court » . O'Dowd, who maintained his innocence, came to court Friday sporting a multicolored tattoo on his bald head, none of his trademark makeup, and a black winter coat. The star quit Culture Club in 1987 after a string of hits with the group, including "Karma Chameleon," "Do you really want to hurt me?" and "Church of the Poison Mind." He has since become a DJ and revived his singing career, releasing a single last year called "Yes we can," inspired by Barack Obama and featuring clips of the U.S. president-elect. O'Dowd is no stranger to the law. In August 2006, he spent five days cleaning the streets of Manhattan as part of a community service sentence for falsely reporting a break-in at his New York City home. He has also publicly battled drug addiction.

Former Culture Club singer jailed for falsely imprisoning a male escort . The victim, Audun Carlsen, claimed he was also beaten with a chain . Boy George, whose real name is George O'Dowd, has battled drug addiction . He spent 5 days cleaning the streets of Manhattan in 2006 on community order .

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NEW DELHI (CNN) -- India's Tata Motors Monday announced it would begin delivery of the Nano, billed as the world's "cheapest car", in July. Tata Motors expects to begin delivery of the Nano, billed as the world's cheapest car, in July. The four-door Nano is currently being built in "limited numbers" at a company plant in the north Indian hill state of Uttrakhand. Tata Motors, however, aims to make 350,000 Nanos a year from 2010 at another unit elsewhere in the country, a company statement said. "It is to the credit of the team at Tata Motors that a car once thought impossible by the world is now a reality. I hope it will provide safe, affordable, four-wheel transportation to families who till now have not been able to own a car. We are delighted in presenting the Tata Nano to India and the world," company chief Ratan Tata told a news conference in Mumbai to announce the "commercial launch" of the $2,000 car. Watch more on the Nano » . Tata Motors said the Nano would initially be available through bookings or reservations filed on a request form priced around $6, or Rs 300. Tata will accept the bookings from April 9 to April 25. Within 60 days of the closure of bookings, Tata Motors will process and announce the allotment of 100,000 cars in the first phase of deliveries, through a computerized random selection procedure, it added. "Deliveries will commence from July 2009," said the company statement.

Tata Motors to begin delivery of the Nano in July . Tata aims to make 350,000 Nanos a year from 2010 . Car is billed as the world's cheapest, costing $2,000 .

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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- The death toll from an outbreak of hepatitis B in India's western Gujarat state reached 38 on Sunday as authorities prepared to begin a vaccination drive against the disease. Hepatitis-B patient Mahir Husain, center, is comforted at a hospital in Ahmedabad. Malayappan Thennarasa, the top administrator of the affected Sabarkantha district, told CNN the toll had climbed to 38 and that shots would be administered free of cost starting Monday. Health officials have recorded 125 cases of the infection in two weeks. Authorities were carrying out raids at medical stores for bogus drugs and recycled syringes. Police have so far arrested five medical practitioners. One of them was charged Sunday with attempted murder. The doctor is accused of reusing syringes, Thennarasa said. Hepatitis B is a contagious liver disease resulting from infection with the hepatitis B virus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It usually spreads through blood, semen, or other bodily fluids, often through sexual contact or sharing needles or syringes with an infected person. The disease can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, chronic illness resulting in long-term health problems or death, the CDC said.

An outbreak of contagious liver disease hepatitis B kills 38 people in India . The victims died in the state of Gujarat in western India in the past two weeks . Officials have recorded 125 cases of the infection . Doctor is facing attempted murder charge .

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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Authorities were carrying out raids at medical stores in India's western Gujarat state for bogus drugs and recycled syringes after a hepatitis B outbreak left 32 people dead, officials said Saturday. Hepatitis-B patient Mahir Husain, center, is comforted at The Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, Wednesday. Five medical practitioners were also arrested for violations, said Malayappan Thennarasan, the top administrator of the state's Sabarkantha district. One of those arrested is being held for allegedly reusing injection syringes, Thennarasan said. Health authorities have recorded 111 cases of hepatitis B infection in the district over the past two weeks, he added. "Of them, 32 have died," he said. Health officials have launched an awareness campaign in the district, Thennarasan said this week. Hepatitis B is a contagious liver disease resulting from infection with the hepatitis B virus, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It usually spreads through blood, semen, or other bodily fluids, often through sexual contact or sharing needles or syringes with an infected person, the CDC says. The disease can range from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, chronic illness resulting in long-term health problems or death, according to the CDC.

An outbreak of contagious liver disease hepatitis B kills 32 people in India . The victims died in the state of Gujarat in western India in the past two weeks . Officials record 111 cases of the disease in the Sabarkantha district .

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(CNN) -- Swedish golfer Henrik Stenson carded a solid 69 in the opening round of the WGC-CA Championship but it was his highly unusual recovery shot on the 12th on the Blue Monster course at Doral which raised more than a few eyebrows. Stenson did not leave much to the imagination with his Doral antics. Stenson stripped down to the bare essentials -- a pair of white boxer shorts -- before wading into the mud to hack out his ball after an wayward tee shot. The watching galleries could hardly believe their eyes as the tall Swede peeled off his clothes. "Shirt, trousers, socks, shoes, hat, the lot was off," he told the Press Association. "Because of the mud I couldn't really afford to play in any of my clothes as they would have been a real mess down the last six or so holes so I had no option," Stenson explained. After getting the ball back on to the fairway, Stenson eventually made a one-over par bogey on the hole when he could have dropped at least two shots by taking a drop. "If you are saving a shot, that has to be worth taking your shirt and trousers," he added. What do you think of Stenson's cheeky recovery shot ? The incident proved the main talking point on the day that Tiger Woods made his return to strokeplay golf and 32-year-old Stenson jokingly said it might offer a new avenue for sponsorships. "Absolutely, you never know, after this I might have a new endorsement with PlayGirl or something like that." European Ryder Cup star Stenson is playing for the $1.4 million first prize in the tournament in Florida which has an elite 81-strong field. His recovery shot evoked memories of the last-hole drama at the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie when tournament leader Jean Van de Velde waded into the Barry Burn after taking off his shoes and socks. The Frenchman at least spared the blushes of the crowds by keeping on his clothes but he made a hash of hole and lost his chance of winning the famous major.

Henrik Stenson creates a stir with 'striptease' at top tournament in Florida . Swedish star strips down to the bare essentials to play his ball out of the mud . Tactic works as he saves at least a shot and cards a three-under 69 .

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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A Florida boy remains in stable condition just days after he found his parents' long-forgotten handgun in a closet and accidentally shot himself in the head. Police are deciding whether or not to charge parents after their son found a forgotten gun and shot himself. Sheriff's detectives in Pinellas County, Florida, near St. Petersburg, say the boy found the .25-caliber European semi-automatic handgun in a box in a closet in their home. "They are dealing with this very tragic situation, and at this point, no charges have been filed," said Cecilia Barreda of the Pinellas County sheriff's office. His stepfather found Jacob Larson, 12, with a gunshot wound to the head Friday. The stepfather called 911. Police say the shooting took place between 7:40 a.m., when his mother, Tracy Newman, leaves for work, and about 11 a.m., when his stepfather, Joseph Newton, returns home. The boy normally goes to school about 8:30 a.m. "A few years ago, they moved, and [the gun] was stored in the closet. The mother never checked it, never fired it," Barreda said. "They told detectives that they forgot they had stored it in a box inside a closet. Both her and her husband forgot about it," she said. Newman told detectives that she received the gun six years ago from a former employer. Police say that both she and her husband are cooperating in the investigation into the incident. The sheriff's office says it's unlikely that they will face charges. Florida law prohibits a person from leaving a loaded firearm where a minor might have access to it. Prosecutors do have some discretion, and depending on what happens with the gun, charges ranging from a misdemeanor to a felony can be filed in the event of death or serious injury. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that 17 states have child firearm access protection and safe-storage laws. Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett says that although laws are needed, an accident with a firearm can be a greater penalty than any judge could ever hand down. "Sometimes, the injury of a child is more severe from a punishment standpoint than any kind of criminal charge," he said. The CDC says one child, on average, every three days died in accidental incidents in the United States from 2000 to 2005, the last year data are available. Bartlett said his office has filed charges in previous cases when there was culpable negligence on the part of a gun owner. But, he says, there are cases where accidents happen, not crimes. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence says that 34 percent of children in the United States live in homes with at least one firearm, so people have to be aware. "It's a horrible thing, and those parents will blame themselves from here out, and you have to look at things real close to see if it warrants any enforcement from our end," Bartlett said.

Boy, 12, found .25-caliber gun in box in closet . Police have not charged anyone in relation to incident . Florida law prohibits leaving a loaded firearm where minor can access it . Prosecutor: "Sometimes, the injury of a child is more severe" punishment .

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INDIO, California (CNN) -- Parents danced with their young children to the infectious hip-hop beat of Lupe Fiasco on the main stage. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O is immersed in the music at Coachella. Twentysomethings wearing feathers in their hair jumped up and down to Somali emcee K'naan in the Gobi tent. In the portable toilets, an impromptu discussion broke out about the "awesomeness" of Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O. The mercury may have hovered close to 100 degrees, and somewhere outside the desert oasis of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival there was a global recession, but you'd never know it from the carefree crowd on Day 3 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Although exact figures have yet to be released, about 50,000 revelers turned out for the final day of the 2009 festival for an eclectic lineup that included former Jam front man Paul Weller, rap pioneers Public Enemy, a reunion of Irish indie darlings My Bloody Valentine and a nearly three-hour set from The Cure. Promoters say the turnout exceeded expectations, and this year's attendance figure might be the third largest in the festival's 10-year history. The three-day ticket price may have been steep -- roughly $300, including service charges -- but when divided among the 131 acts on the bill, that breaks down to less than $2.50 per act. This was also the first year concert promoter Goldenvoice offered layaway, which is how 18 percent chose to pay. The strong showing is good news for Bonnaroo, All Points West, Lollapalooza and other festivals taking place this spring and summer. Coachella was also moved up one weekend, which allowed for more kids on spring break to attend. Although Coachella is one of several music festivals in the United States, it still carries a certain cachet that's hard to match. Perhaps it's the scenery -- listening to music on a grassy polo field surrounded by swaying palm trees and craggy desert mountains. Or maybe it's the thrill of discovering new artists and rediscovering old ones standing shoulder-to-shoulder with friends, strangers and the random Hollywood celebrity. Or maybe it's the wacky moments that seem to happen only under the blistering desert sun. Where else could you get Morrissey -- a well-known vegetarian -- complaining in the middle of his Friday set that the smell of burning animals was making him sick, and that he only hoped it was human? The Moz was referring to meat grilling in a food booth across the polo field. And when troubled British neo-soul singer Amy Winehouse dropped out of her Saturday performance because she couldn't get a visa, M.I.A. stepped into her slot on the main stage -- but she apparently wasn't happy about the upgrade. Despite a massive, adoring crowd and a highly charged set, the new mom exclaimed, "This is the main stage? Next time, I'm back in a tent! I prefer the sweat!" This was after her tongue-in-cheek nod to Winehouse, where she sang, "They tried to make me do the Oscars, I said, 'No, no, no.' " Then, there were the memorable music moments. Friday headliner Sir Paul McCartney didn't end his playful, hit-filled set until about 54 minutes past the midnight curfew -- for a potential fine of $54,000. (According to Benjamin Guitron, media relations officer for the Indio Police Department, the promoter agrees to pay $1,000 for every minute past 12 a.m.) On Saturday, Seattle, Washington, indie pop band Fleet Foxes drew an overflowing crowd to the Outdoor Theatre, charming the audience with its delicate, baroque harmonies. Sunday headliners The Cure played 31 songs from the group's vast catalog -- concentrating heavily on early material, and for the most part, staying away from the biggest radio hits. They, too, played well past curfew -- continuing with their third encore even after the sound from the main PA system was cut off. My Bloody Valentine -- whose four members reunited last year after a decade apart -- was also a crowd pleaser, although an interlude where they played a single chord at maximum decibels for a mind-numbing 15 minutes left fans scratching their heads. Perry Farrell is the only artist who's performed at all 10 Coachella festivals -- in Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros, Satellite Party, as his alter ego DJ Peretz and in other incarnations. This year, he dueted with Thievery Corporation on the main stage, then headed over to the dance tent, where he joined his wife, Etty, for an electronic set. "I would probably silently be very depressed if they wouldn't invite me, to tell you the truth. My mental health depends on them," he said with a laugh. Despite a time of belt-tightening, festivalgoers are finding a way to let it all hang out. According to The Desert Sun, the local newspaper, even two former first daughters couldn't resist the draw of the desert. It said Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush Hager dropped into Coachella on Saturday -- complete with Secret Service. Guitron couldn't confirm the report, but he did say, "I wouldn't be surprised if they did show up. Dignitaries just kind of show up like everybody else."

Coachella music festival wraps up Sunday . Intriguing moments include vegetarian Morrissey complaining about grilling . Both Paul McCartney and The Cure run past curfew; Cure is cut off .

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(CNN) -- Antiguan and Barbudan regulators Friday took control of U.S.financier Robert Allen Stanford's financial institutions on the twin-island nation, a day after federal agents served the Texas businessman with papers accusing him of running an investment fraud scheme. Customers queue outside the Stanford Group-owned Bank of Antigua in St. John's. The Financial Services Regulatory Commission of Antigua and Barbuda appointed receivers to manage Stanford International Bank Ltd. and Stanford Trust Company Ltd., the commission said in a statement. The receivers, Nigel Hamilton-Smith and Peter Wastell of Britain-based Vantis Business Recovery Services, are in Antigua with other recovery specialists to take control of the entities, the commission said. On Thursday, the FBI announced federal agents found Stanford in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and served him with papers accusing him and three of his companies of orchestrating a $9.2 billion investment fraud scheme. He has no criminal charges against him, and he was not taken into custody, FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said. The FBI won't talk about a criminal investigation of Stanford's activities, but federal law enforcement officials familiar with the case leave no doubt that federal agents are investigating his financial dealings. But multiple officials indicated criminal charges are not imminent and would not discuss potential charges. Stanford has arranged to give his passport to one of his attorneys, who will offer it to federal authorities. CNN's efforts to reach Stanford or company representatives were unsuccessful. Watch more on the case » . In a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Dallas, Texas, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Stanford International Bank of using a network of financial advisers to sell about $8 billion of "certificates of deposit" to investors. The bank boasted it had a unique investment strategy that had allowed it to reap double-digit returns on its investments for the previous 15 years, the SEC said. The civil complaint alleged an additional scheme relating to $1.2 billion in sales. The Antigua-based bank claims its network has $51 billion in deposits and assets under management or advisement, with more than 70,000 clients in 140 countries. The allegations against Stanford and his companies have sparked runs on Stanford banks in Antigua and in Venezuela, where the government took over the local subsidiary after it recorded "extraordinary" withdrawals Tuesday and Wednesday, said Edgar Hernandez Behrens, Venezuela's superintendent of banks. The SEC complaint also named James Davis, SIB's chief financial officer; Laura Pendergest-Holt, chief investment officer of Stanford Financial Group; and investment adviser Stanford Capital Management. Meanwhile, Colombia's stock market and bank watchdog said Friday Colombians who invested in the Bogota stock market through Stanford's Colombian brokerage arm, Stanford Bolsa y Banca SA, run no risk of losing their funds. A Financial Services Superintendency spokeswoman told CNN that Stanford Bolsa y Banca managed three Bogota mutual funds worth a total of about $27 million (70 billion Colombian pesos) at current stock and currency market rates, together with individual client portfolios of around $98 million (250 billion Colombian pesos). She said extraordinary shareholder meetings had been called to decide whether the three mutual funds would be transferred to the management of another brokerage or would be liquidated. Individual clients have begun the process of transferring management of their portfolios to other brokerages, the Financial Services Superintendency spokeswoman said. Colombians were never able to deposit funds directly in Colombia with Stanford's international banking arm. CNN repeatedly tried calling the manager of Stanford Bolsa y Banca, but he declined to answer calls. In London, the England and Wales Cricket Board said it has terminated all contractual links with Stanford.

Antigua and Barbuda regulators seize Stanford Group banks on islands . Financier Allen Stanford accused of $9.2B investment, sales fraud . Venezuela has also seized local bank owned by Stanford Group . No criminal charges are filed against Stanford .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The pirate suspect arrested in the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama was all smiles on arriving in New York City late Monday, escorted by a phalanx of law enforcement officers. The unidentified pirate suspect arrested in the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama arrived in the U.S. late Monday. None of the officers would confirm his identity, but his arrival for trial in the United States had been widely expected. The suspect arrived at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building in Manhattan, which is linked to a federal detention facility where he was expected to be held pending an appearance in federal court. The timing of that appearance was not immediately available. He was walked through the rain, surrounded by media, as well as officers from federal and New York City law enforcement agencies. The suspect wore a dark jumpsuit and handcuffs, and what appeared to be a bandage on his left hand. Members of the media urged him to comment, but it was not clear whether he understood. He smiled broadly and laughed. He had been handed over to federal authorities by the U.S. military in Djibouti, defense officials said. The suspect, known in official documents as "Pirate Defendant," was brought to Djibouti aboard the USNS Walter S. Diehl, a refueling ship that was with the warship USS Bainbridge at the scene of the failed hijacking on April 8 that turned into a hostage ordeal 350 miles off Somalia. Three pirates who were holding the Maersk Alabama's captain in the ship's lifeboat were killed by Navy SEALs four days later. The survivor had surrendered and was aboard the Bainbridge when the captain, Richard Phillips, was rescued, officials have said. From the Bainbridge, he was transferred to the USS Boxer for medical treatment. See an interactive map of 2009 pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa » . The surviving pirate was wounded when crew members of the Maersk Alabama took him hostage in the early hours of the pirate attack on the cargo ship, according to the military. The crew members had hoped to exchange him for their captain, but the pirates did not release Phillips when the crew returned their captive. "I'm mad because, you know, I could have been dead right now," Ken Quinn, the Maersk Alabama's navigation officer, told CNN Radio on Monday. "But at the same time he's just a little skinny guy, you know, from Somalia where they're all starving and stuff." Quinn said he wasn't angry at the single alleged pirate, noting that piracy in the region is fueled by the urge to survive hardship and poverty. He said the suspect told him that he wanted to go the United States, and asked whether Quinn could help him get there. "I said, 'Yeah, you'll probably going to go anyway. I don't think you're going to need my help,'" Quinn said. "If he goes to jail here, it will be a whole lot better than living in Somalia." CNN's Mike Mount, Emily Anderson, Jennifer Rizzo and Steve Kastenbaum contributed to this report.

Alleged pirate known in official documents as "Pirate Defendant" Alleged pirate brought to Djibouti aboard the USNS Walter S. Diehl, a refueling ship . Handed over to federal authorities by the U.S. military in Djibouti, officials said . Diehl was with the warship USS Bainbridge at the scene of a failed hijacking .

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- At Beijing's East Train Station, some travelers are literally carrying their lives on their back. Passengers crowd a railway platform in Beijing as New Year holiday migrations get underway. "I don't know if I'm going to come back," said one migrant worker on his way to his home province. "I might just end up working on the farm." He was weighed down by a giant pack filled with everything he could call his own. Millions of migrant workers are leaving the cities, returning to their homes in the vast Chinese countryside, for the Chinese New Year holidays. But not all will be celebrating. Many do not have jobs to come back to. They flocked to the urban areas during boom times to earn a better living. Some have not seen their families for years -- the trip home is too expensive. But they have sent money home faithfully every month. When they finally can go home, the journey is long. Watch passengers haul huge bags on journey home » . "I will be standing on the train for 24 hours," said one man on his way to Zhejiang province on the country's eastern seaboard. Some will travel much farther. The migrant workers are among 188 million people heading home for the holidays, also known in China as Spring Festival. But the actual numbers might be much higher. Travel is already up significantly compared to last year, when brutal snowstorms stranded passengers for days. Watch this year's snowstorms grip part of China » . This year, more people seem to be going home than usual because of the global economic crisis. There are so many passengers trying to get from one place to another that tickets are hard to come by. Planes, trains and buses are fully loaded to destinations across the country. The train is the most popular option, cheaper than a plane and faster than a bus. But tickets are selling out fast. Some people have waited in line for hours, even days to get a ticket. "I started standing in line three days ago," said one man. "There's no way to buy the ticket." Others stood at the entrance to Beijing's East Station with signs. "Need two tickets to Weihan" or "Want to go to Inner Mongolia." Some blame the ticket shortage on scalpers who are hoarding tickets, then re-selling them for a profit. One man said he wanted 100 yuan or $15 more per fare and indicated he had tickets to multiple destinations. The Chinese government has cracked down on scalpers, arresting more than 4,000. But many Chinese think scalpers are more of a solution, than a problem. One woman told us she bought a ticket from a scalper because there was no other way. All the tickets to her hometown were sold out days in advance. The desperate hunt for tickets is a sign this could be China's most massive mass migration ever. And with the Chinese economy slowing down so much, so fast, this may be the last time some people are making the trip.

Downturn could make this year's Chinese new year migration biggest ever . Many will spend several days traveling to see family and friends . With rail tickets scarce, scalpers are able to charge inflated prices .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Somali suspect in the hijacking of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama has been charged with piracy, a count that carries a minimum life sentence. Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse arrives in the United States on Monday. He was charged with piracy Tuesday. Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse also has been charged with conspiracy to seize a ship by force, conspiracy to commit hostage-taking and two firearm charges, according to a criminal complaint released by the U.S. attorney's office in the southern district of New York. Muse "conducted himself as the leader" of the pirates who allegedly took over the Maersk Alabama, according to the criminal complaint. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Muse could be tried as an adult. U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck had ordered the media and public out of the courtroom earlier while he evaluated Muse's age. Muse's father in Somalia told defense attorneys the young man was born on November 20, 1993 -- making him 15, the defense attorneys said. However, the prosecution argued otherwise, saying Muse made statements that suggest he is older. Before Peck closed the courtroom, Muse wiped his hand over his face at one point, and it appeared he was crying. He had worn a broad smile late Monday when he arrived in New York escorted by a phalanx of law enforcement officers. See timeline of events that led to piracy case » . Muse was arrested in the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama, a cargo ship that pirates attacked on April 8 about 350 miles off the Somali coast. See an interactive map of 2009 pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa » . Peck read the young man his rights and said attorneys had been appointed to represent him because the suspect did not have the resources to hire representation himself. Muse said through an interpreter that he understood and said, "I don't have any money." Pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama, a cargo ship, on April 8 about 350 miles off the Somali coast. According to the criminal complaint, two of the 20 crew members -- all Americans -- saw lights heading toward the Maersk Alabama around 4:30 a.m. on April 8, while the ship was in the Indian Ocean. After a "brief time," the lights disappeared, the complaint said, but about two hours later, the same crew members saw a small boat approaching and later heard "what sounded like" gunshots, the complaint said. Crew Member 1 then heard the ship's captain -- later identified as Capt. Richard Phillips -- on the radio saying that two pirates were on the ship's bridge. A third crew member, Crew Member 3, also heard the radio message and began shutting down the ship's power, the complaint said. The complaint said Muse, who was carrying a gun, was the first alleged pirate on the ship, and said the attackers used a portable ladder to climb on board. According to the complaint, Muse had fired his gun at Phillips, the captain said, and then took $30,000 from the ship's safe after he forced Phillips to open it. Watch Muse being hauled into court » . Muse demanded that the Maersk Alabama be stopped and that the crew give him the number of the ship's owner, the complaint said. The captain then ordered the crew to the bridge after Muse ordered him to do so, the complaint said, citing Crew Member 2. Muse then began canvassing the dark ship with Crew Member 2 as a guide, the complaint said. While they were going through the ship, Crew Member 3, who had not come to the bridge, tackled Muse to the ground, the complaint said. Crew Member 2 helped subdue Muse, and the two tied the young man's hands with wire and took him to the ship's safe room, where several crew members were hiding. After several hours, the remaining pirates said they would leave the ship if Muse was returned to them, and if a lifeboat was given to them. Phillips boarded the lifeboat with them and the ship's crew freed Muse, who then boarded the lifeboat, according to the criminal complaint. The boat floated a short distance from the Maersk, even as the Navy's USS Bainbridge arrived the next day. Over the next three days, officers on the Bainbridge communicated with the pirates by radio. "In those communications, the pirates threatened to kill the captain if they were not provided with safe passage away from the scene," the complaint said. At one point, Phillips tried to escape and the pirates shot at him, the complaint said. On April 12, Muse boarded the USS Bainbridge and demanded safe passage for himself and the other pirates in exchange for Phillips' release. Muse also received medical treatment while he was on the warship, the complaint said. While Muse was away from the lifeboat, Navy SEALs shot and killed the three remaining pirates. The U.S. Navy recovered two loaded AK-47 assault rifles; two gunstraps, each containing three AK-47 magazines; one handgun magazine; and multiple cell phones and handheld radios from the lifeboat, according to the complaint. CNN's Deb Feyerick contributed to this report.

NEW: Criminal complaint says pirate suspect "conducted himself as the leader" Judge rules piracy suspect will be tried as an adult . Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse also faces conspiracy charges . Suspect's father says he's 15; prosecution says boy indicated he's older .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The pirate suspect arrested in the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama was all smiles on arriving in New York City late Monday, escorted by a phalanx of law enforcement officers. The unidentified pirate suspect arrested in the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama arrived in the U.S. late Monday. None of the officers would confirm his identity, but his arrival for trial in the United States had been widely expected. The suspect arrived at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building in Manhattan, which is linked to a federal detention facility where he was expected to be held pending an appearance in federal court. The timing of that appearance was not immediately available. He was walked through the rain, surrounded by media, as well as officers from federal and New York City law enforcement agencies. The suspect wore a dark jumpsuit and handcuffs, and what appeared to be a bandage on his left hand. Members of the media urged him to comment, but it was not clear whether he understood. He smiled broadly and laughed. He had been handed over to federal authorities by the U.S. military in Djibouti, defense officials said. The suspect, known in official documents as "Pirate Defendant," was brought to Djibouti aboard the USNS Walter S. Diehl, a refueling ship that was with the warship USS Bainbridge at the scene of the failed hijacking on April 8 that turned into a hostage ordeal 350 miles off Somalia. Three pirates who were holding the Maersk Alabama's captain in the ship's lifeboat were killed by Navy SEALs four days later. The survivor had surrendered and was aboard the Bainbridge when the captain, Richard Phillips, was rescued, officials have said. From the Bainbridge, he was transferred to the USS Boxer for medical treatment. See an interactive map of 2009 pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa » . The surviving pirate was wounded when crew members of the Maersk Alabama took him hostage in the early hours of the pirate attack on the cargo ship, according to the military. The crew members had hoped to exchange him for their captain, but the pirates did not release Phillips when the crew returned their captive. "I'm mad because, you know, I could have been dead right now," Ken Quinn, the Maersk Alabama's navigation officer, told CNN Radio on Monday. "But at the same time he's just a little skinny guy, you know, from Somalia where they're all starving and stuff." Quinn said he wasn't angry at the single alleged pirate, noting that piracy in the region is fueled by the urge to survive hardship and poverty. He said the suspect told him that he wanted to go the United States, and asked whether Quinn could help him get there. "I said, 'Yeah, you'll probably going to go anyway. I don't think you're going to need my help,'" Quinn said. "If he goes to jail here, it will be a whole lot better than living in Somalia." CNN's Mike Mount, Emily Anderson, Jennifer Rizzo and Steve Kastenbaum contributed to this report.

Alleged pirate known in official documents as "Pirate Defendant" Alleged pirate brought to Djibouti aboard the USNS Walter S. Diehl, a refueling ship . Handed over to federal authorities by the U.S. military in Djibouti, officials said . Diehl was with the warship USS Bainbridge at the scene of a failed hijacking .

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NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- India's child-rights watchdog has sought a report from police investigating allegations by a tabloid that the father of a "Slumdog Millionaire" child star tried to sell her to an undercover reporter, the watchdog's leader told CNN. Rubina Ali has backed her father over newspaper allegations he offered her to an undercover reporter. "We have sought a report from them and will take a decision after seeing it," said Shantha Sinha, who heads the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. Meanwhile, authorities in Mumbai have recorded the statements of Rafiq Qureshi; his "Slumdog" daughter, Rubina Ali; and his former wife, Khurshida Begum, senior police inspector Prakash Salunke told CNN. Qureshi has denied allegations made in Britain's News of the World that he tried to sell 9-year-old Rubina for £200,000 ($290,000), Salunke said. In her statement, the child-actor favored her father, according to the police. Qureshi's former wife, whom he divorced several years ago, endorsed the allegations leveled against him by the British newspaper. Police are investigating, Salunke said. "Slumdog Millionaire" won eight Oscars this year, including best picture. Director Danny Boyle's rags-to-riches movie tells the story of a tea-boy at a Mumbai call center who earns a spot in the Indian version of the quiz show "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" He raises the suspicion of the show's host when, despite the lack of a formal education, he begins to answer the increasingly difficult questions with ease. The movie is set largely among the poverty-stricken districts of Mumbai, which is home to Rubina and other "Slumdog" child stars in real life.

Indian child-rights watchdog requests police report on alleged offer to sell child star . Father of "Slumdog's" Rubina Ali, 9, alleged to have offered her to undercover reporter . Father has denied allegations in UK newspaper; Indian police are investigating . "Slumdog Millionaire" used real children from poor neighborhoods of Mumbai .

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TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- Iran said Saturday that Morocco's decision to cut diplomatic ties between the two countries harms Muslim unity, state media reported. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki says soldiarity in Islamic world needed to support Palestinians. "The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that at the present juncture when the unity and solidarity of Islamic countries is necessary for supporting the Palestinian people, this act of Morocco harms unity of the Muslim world," Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a written statement, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported. Morocco decided to cut diplomatic ties with Iran Friday, blaming Tehran's "inadmissible attitude" against the African country as a reason for the decision for the move, Moroccan Press Agency said. The move ratchets up a feud between Sunni Morocco and Shiite Iran. On February 25, Morocco recalled its interim charge d'affaires from Tehran for a week of consultations, the statement said. Morocco has demanded that Iran explain "unacceptable" language in a statement it issued after Morocco expressed its solidarity with Bahrain, the statement said. Bahrain, a tiny Persian Gulf archipelago, embodies the Sunni-Shiite divide. With a majority Shiite population and a Sunni ruler, Bahrain has become a point of contention between Morocco and Iran, said Sandra Mackey, a Middle East analyst and author of "The Iranians." Mackey said Bahrain's government has not allowed its Shiite majority into the political and economic power structure, "so Iran has an interest in egging on this Shia foment in Bahrain -- in order to raise Iran's stature in the Persian Gulf." Morocco has ambitions to raise its stature among Arab states, and "it would make some sense that they would jump on this," she said. "They're far enough away where it's not going to impact on them directly," Mackey added. Mackey said other emirates would likely be more cautious about confronting Iran, she said, "but the Moroccans can do it without posing any serious threat on their doorstep." There is potential for conflict within Bahrain, she said. "The Shia are really pushing against this Sunni government and the Sunni government, I think, is in a fairly significant amount of trouble," she said. CNN's Tom Watkins contributed to this report.

Morocco cut diplomatic ties with Iran on Friday because of "inadmissible attitude" The move ratchets up feud between Sunni Morocco and Shiite Iran . Rift related to Iran's reaction to Morocco's statement of solidarity with Bahrain . Sunni-ruled Bahrain has become point of contention between Morocco and Iran .

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BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- The United Nations Sunday launched a special tribunal to prosecute the assassins of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A statue of slain former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri stands in Beirut. The tribunal convened at The Hague more than four years after Hariri was killed in a massive car bombing in Beirut on February 14, 2005. The bomb, detonated as Hariri's armored motorcade passed through Beirut's fashionable seaside Corniche district, contained hundreds of pounds of explosives. It left buildings shattered and streets littered with the mangled wreckage of vehicles. The blast also killed 22 other people. The Lebanese army was out in force on the streets of Beirut Sunday as people turned out to pay their respects to Hariri, who is buried downtown in the Lebanese capital. The U.N. tribunal will have 11 judges, whose identities are being kept secret for their safety. Four will be Lebanese. The prosecution could take as long as 10 years, sources close to the tribunal said. Four senior Lebanese generals are being held over the bombing, which also killed 22 other people. But many Lebanese -- as well as the United States and U.N. investigators -- believe Syria ordered the assassination. Syria denies it. The tribunal's prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare, refused to commit when asked at a news conference Sunday if Syrians would be charged. He said the public would have to wait and see. The U.S. State Department pledged its continued support of Lebanese judicial authorities and the tribunal's operations. The United States has promised to contribute $14 million; a request for an additional $6 million is pending approval from Congress. In a statement issued Sunday, acting State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood said Hariri's death "was an unsuccessful attempt to undermine Lebanon's sovereignty." He added: "The Lebanese people answered his assassination with the Cedar Revolution, leading to the withdrawal of Syrian troops and the most democratic Lebanese elections in decades." At the time of Hariri's death, neighboring Syria had immense political influence in the country, and had maintained troops in its smaller neighbor since the 1980s, after the fighting between Israel and the PLO in Lebanon. Hariri was admired for spearheading the rebuilding of Beirut after the country's civil war, from 1975 to 1990, and many Lebanese blamed Syria for the killing, citing Hariri's patriotism and strong sense of Lebanese independence. The killing sparked widespread protests that led to the eventual withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and the election of an anti-Syrian bloc in parliament. The anti-Syrian movement is known as the March 14 Alliance, named after the day millions of supporters of Hariri took to the streets, and its actions have been dubbed the Cedar Revolution, for the nation's iconic cedar trees. Huge counter-protests also were staged by Lebanese supporters of Syria. Along the way, U.N. investigators tasked to probe the attack found links between Syria's government and Hariri's assassination. The Lebanese hope the tribunal will settle the case, but there are also fears it could further divide the nation and open up older wounds in the country. The special tribunal takes over from the Beirut-based International Independent Investigation Commission, which looked into 20 other attacks and found elements linking some of them to a criminal network behind the Hariri killing, the United Nations said. The trial will take place in a converted gymnasium in a suburb of The Hague. The U.N. says the case is expected to be ready for trial by 2010. --CNN's Cal Perry contributed to this report.

U.N. tribunal for killing of former Lebanon prime minister to convenes . Tribunal has 11 judges, whose identities are being kept secret for their safety . Rafik Hariri killed in car bomb in Beirut in February 2005 . Death led to protests and reduction of Syrian influence in Lebanon .

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(CNN) -- Five people were killed in a boating accident near Jacksonville, Florida, on Sunday evening, a rescue official said. CNN affiliate WJXT shows the scene of the deadly boating accident near Jacksonville, Florida, on Sunday. Twelve people were aboard the boat that crashed into 25-foot tugboat and barge at a dock and boat launch under construction on the Intracoastal Waterway in Palm Valley, said Jeremy Robshaw, a spokesman for St. Johns County Fire and Rescue. The remaining seven were hospitalized for serious injuries, he said. The accident happened about 7 p.m. about 20 miles southeast of downtown Jacksonville. Robshaw said rescuers couldn't initially reach the end of the unfinished dock, but laid plywood sheets on the structure to get to crash victims.

Rescue official: 12 people were aboard the boat near Jacksonville, Florida . Boat crashed into tugboat, barge and dock under construction . Five people killed; remaining seven take to hospital with serious injuries . Rescuers had to use plywood panels to reach the passengers .

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(CNN) -- The sagging economy is taking a bite out of federal school-meal subsidies as more students take advantage of free or low-price breakfasts and lunches, nutritionists say in a report released Thursday. About 425,000 more students are participating in the National School Lunch Program, a group reports. The School Nutrition Association surveyed more than 130 school nutrition directors from 38 states to produce its report, "Saved by the Lunch Bell: As Economy Sinks, School Nutrition Program Participation Rises." The nonprofit organization said that about 425,000 more students are participating in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program in 2008-09 than in the previous school year. That represents an average increase of 2.5 percent from 2007-08, the report says. These numbers hold true despite a slight decline in the number of students enrolled in public schools this school year, according to the study. More than three-quarters of the districts surveyed reported a rise in the number of students eating free meals under the U.S. Department of Agriculture program, the report says. Many of the school district employees who monitor the food programs complain that the federal subsidies fall far short of the rising costs. According to the association, the estimated average cost to prepare a school meal is $2.90, but the federal reimbursement is $2.57. School lunch programs are experiencing a potential loss of at least $4.5 million per school day, based on 30 million school lunches provided, the group says. The good news, according to association President Katie Wilson, is that "this year, when hunger is more common, more students are able to eat a balanced, nutritious meal at school." Meals served under the USDA programs must meet nutrition guidelines based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For lunches, that means no more than 30 percent of calories can come from fat and fewer than 10 percent from saturated fat.

Number of students eating subsidized meals rises 2.5 percent, nonprofit says . Use of USDA programs rises even as enrollment falls, report notes . Schools complain that USDA doesn't cover full cost of meals . School Nutrition Association surveyed 130 school food directors in 38 states .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. Julia Carson, a former secretary who rose to become Indianapolis' first African-American congresswoman, has announced she has terminal lung cancer, a newspaper reports. Health problems have troubled Rep. Julia Carson, D-Indiana, for years. The 69-year-old former City-County Council member and state senator told the Indianapolis Star on Saturday that she had been on a leave of absence since September to seek treatment and rehabilitation for a leg infection. "Then the second shoe fell -- heavily," Carson told the paper in a brief written statement. "My doctor discovered lung cancer. It had gone into remission years before, but it was back with a terminal vengeance." Representing the Hoosier State's 7th District since 1997, Carson opposed the Iraq war resolution in 2002 and worked to honor historic civil rights figure Rosa Parks. Fellow Democrats praised her as a bright personality who successfully fought against abuse of the welfare system. Rozelle Boyd, a longtime Democratic member of Indianapolis' City-County Council told the Star he was surprised by Carson's announcement. "She was able to walk with giants without losing the common touch," he told the paper. "That is what I think was so very important to her and to the people of the district." Before entering the House, Carson served six years as a trustee for the city's Center Township, creating a $6-million surplus from the office's $20-million debt, the Star reported. Her mentor, former Democratic Indiana Rep. Andy Jacobs, has said Carson "not only took cheats off the welfare rolls, she sued them to get the money," according to the Star. Early in her career, Carson worked as a secretary and then aide to Jacobs. After her work on the City-County Council, she won her first of two terms to the Indiana House, according to Congressional Quarterly. Later she won election to the state Senate, where she served until 1991. When Jacobs retired after serving 15 terms in the U.S. House, he endorsed Carson as his successor, and helped her win a difficult election in 1996 against GOP attempts to capture her seat, Congressional Quarterly reported. Carson was the first woman and first African-American Indianapolis had ever sent to Congress, according to her Web site. Among her other achievements, Carson led Congress to pass a House measure awarding Parks the Congressional Gold Medal, Carson's Web site said. The Star named her Woman of the Year in 1991 and 1974. "Julia to me is one of the most beautiful people with a great personality," said State Sen. Glenn Howard, an Indianapolis Democrat. "She cares about everyone, regardless of race or color." Carson has been beset by health problems. In January 1997, she took her House oath of office at Indianapolis' Methodist Hospital as she recovered from double-bypass surgery, according to the Star. She also has suffered from high blood pressure, asthma and diabetes, according to Congressional Quarterly. In 2004, Carson missed almost a third of House roll call votes, Congressional Quarterly reported, prompting tough questions about her health during that year's re-election campaign. Voters returned her to Congress by an 11 percent margin. She's the sponsor of the House National Defense Rail Act, legislation before Congress which would provide more than $40 billion to develop high-speed rail connections and short-distance corridors between larger cities, her Web site said. E-mail to a friend .

NEW: Indianapolis' first black congresswoman reveals lung cancer diagnosis . NEW: Julia Carson worked to honor Rosa Parks; fund national railroad links . Beset by other health troubles, cancer had been in remission, she said . It "was back with a terminal vengeance," she told Indianapolis Star .

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(CNN) -- Arsenal's Andrey Arshavin became the first player to score four goals in a league game at Liverpool for 64 years but it was not enough to stop the Reds returning to the top of the Premier League after another 4-4 draw. Russian Arshavin hit four goals for the first time in his career in a dramatic eight-goal Anfield thriller. A week after crashing out of the Champions League 7-5 on aggregate after sharing eight goals in their quarterfinal second leg at Chelsea, Liverpool took their fans on another rollercoaster ride. A draw was going to be enough to take the Merseysiders above Manchester United -- they have two games in hand -- but it needed 90 minutes of drama before they edged ahead on goal difference. Russian striker Arshavin opened the scoring after 36 minutes and struck again after 67, 70 and 90 as Arsenal bounced back following their weekend FA Cup semifinal defeat. Fernando Torres, with a header after 49 minutes, and Yossi Benayoun (56) hit back after halftime before Arshavin sent Arsenal 3-2 ahead with 20 minutes left. Torres's second of the night after 72 hauled Rafael Benitez's side level two minutes later -- but it took Benayoun to salvage a draw for Liverpool in the third minute of time added on after that man Arshavin had hit number four after 90 minutes. It was the first time in his career that Arshavin had scored four in a match and he told Sky: "I liked the game but of course it's not good for the team...almost basketball." Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said of his Russian star: "His performance was outstanding. He had a quiet first half but when he comes into the game he is always very dangerous. He has personality and is a winner." Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez saw his team concede a quartet of sloppy goals but he could not fault their commitment to the cause. "You never know," he said of the Reds' dwindling hopes of overhauling United. "Today we made too many mistakes, but it's also very positive because the team showed character until the last minute." Benitez added: "They (United) had it (the advantage in the title race) before and they continue in the driving seat. We have to keep pushing and showed today we will fight until the last game."

Andrey Arshavin hits four goals as Arsenal draw 4-4 at Liverpool who go top . Arshavin opened scoring after 36 minutes and added more on 67, 70 and 90 . Fernando Torres and Yossi Benayoun replied with two goals apiece for Reds .

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INDIO, California (CNN) -- Parents danced with their young children to the infectious hip-hop beat of Lupe Fiasco on the main stage. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O is immersed in the music at Coachella. Twentysomethings wearing feathers in their hair jumped up and down to Somali emcee K'naan in the Gobi tent. In the portable toilets, an impromptu discussion broke out about the "awesomeness" of Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O. The mercury may have hovered close to 100 degrees, and somewhere outside the desert oasis of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival there was a global recession, but you'd never know it from the carefree crowd on Day 3 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California. Although exact figures have yet to be released, about 50,000 revelers turned out for the final day of the 2009 festival for an eclectic lineup that included former Jam front man Paul Weller, rap pioneers Public Enemy, a reunion of Irish indie darlings My Bloody Valentine and a nearly three-hour set from The Cure. Promoters say the turnout exceeded expectations, and this year's attendance figure might be the third largest in the festival's 10-year history. The three-day ticket price may have been steep -- roughly $300, including service charges -- but when divided among the 131 acts on the bill, that breaks down to less than $2.50 per act. This was also the first year concert promoter Goldenvoice offered layaway, which is how 18 percent chose to pay. The strong showing is good news for Bonnaroo, All Points West, Lollapalooza and other festivals taking place this spring and summer. Coachella was also moved up one weekend, which allowed for more kids on spring break to attend. Although Coachella is one of several music festivals in the United States, it still carries a certain cachet that's hard to match. Perhaps it's the scenery -- listening to music on a grassy polo field surrounded by swaying palm trees and craggy desert mountains. Or maybe it's the thrill of discovering new artists and rediscovering old ones standing shoulder-to-shoulder with friends, strangers and the random Hollywood celebrity. Or maybe it's the wacky moments that seem to happen only under the blistering desert sun. Where else could you get Morrissey -- a well-known vegetarian -- complaining in the middle of his Friday set that the smell of burning animals was making him sick, and that he only hoped it was human? The Moz was referring to meat grilling in a food booth across the polo field. And when troubled British neo-soul singer Amy Winehouse dropped out of her Saturday performance because she couldn't get a visa, M.I.A. stepped into her slot on the main stage -- but she apparently wasn't happy about the upgrade. Despite a massive, adoring crowd and a highly charged set, the new mom exclaimed, "This is the main stage? Next time, I'm back in a tent! I prefer the sweat!" This was after her tongue-in-cheek nod to Winehouse, where she sang, "They tried to make me do the Oscars, I said, 'No, no, no.' " Then, there were the memorable music moments. Friday headliner Sir Paul McCartney didn't end his playful, hit-filled set until about 54 minutes past the midnight curfew -- for a potential fine of $54,000. (According to Benjamin Guitron, media relations officer for the Indio Police Department, the promoter agrees to pay $1,000 for every minute past 12 a.m.) On Saturday, Seattle, Washington, indie pop band Fleet Foxes drew an overflowing crowd to the Outdoor Theatre, charming the audience with its delicate, baroque harmonies. Sunday headliners The Cure played 31 songs from the group's vast catalog -- concentrating heavily on early material, and for the most part, staying away from the biggest radio hits. They, too, played well past curfew -- continuing with their third encore even after the sound from the main PA system was cut off. My Bloody Valentine -- whose four members reunited last year after a decade apart -- was also a crowd pleaser, although an interlude where they played a single chord at maximum decibels for a mind-numbing 15 minutes left fans scratching their heads. Perry Farrell is the only artist who's performed at all 10 Coachella festivals -- in Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros, Satellite Party, as his alter ego DJ Peretz and in other incarnations. This year, he dueted with Thievery Corporation on the main stage, then headed over to the dance tent, where he joined his wife, Etty, for an electronic set. "I would probably silently be very depressed if they wouldn't invite me, to tell you the truth. My mental health depends on them," he said with a laugh. Despite a time of belt-tightening, festivalgoers are finding a way to let it all hang out. According to The Desert Sun, the local newspaper, even two former first daughters couldn't resist the draw of the desert. It said Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush Hager dropped into Coachella on Saturday -- complete with Secret Service. Guitron couldn't confirm the report, but he did say, "I wouldn't be surprised if they did show up. Dignitaries just kind of show up like everybody else."

Coachella music festival wraps up Sunday . Intriguing moments include vegetarian Morrissey complaining about grilling . Both Paul McCartney and The Cure run past curfew; Cure is cut off .

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MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Police think it started with a dispute over an ex-girlfriend. Threats were made on social networking sites and via text messages. The suspects, clockwise from top left are: Lernio Colin, Angel Cruz, Peter MacDonald and Christopher Harter. A murder plot was hatched and, police say, in the early hours of last Saturday morning, a Florida man was gunned down in his car. But the suspects apparently killed the wrong man. Now four men are in custody, and will face charges of first degree premeditated murder and two counts of attempted murder. The four are Angel Cruz, 23; his brother from Oregon, Christopher Harter, 29; Peter MacDonald, 18; and Lernio Colin, 20. They have all appeared before a judge in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They have not entered pleas and are being held without bond, according to state prosecutors. Detectives are executing search warrants today, and much about the case is still not known. "The victim was with two other males, in the vehicle," said Mike Jachles of the Broward Sheriff's Office. "One of those men was the intended target," Jachles told CNN. Witnesses said multiple shots were fired, according to police. Henry Mancilla, 24 was sitting in the driver's seat of a gold Mitsubishi Galant at an intersection in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, near Fort Lauderdale. "They were exiting the vehicle when shots were fired, striking Mancilla," said Jachles. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Mancilla was with two other men in their early 20s, Tony Santana and Nick Pappas. One of them was the intended victim, but police are not saying who. "The four men acted in unison in planning and executing this murder. Mancilla was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he ended up the victim," said Mike Jachles. The three victims said they had been "jumped" earlier in the evening by the same four men and fled the scene in a red Chevy Impala, according to a sheriff's detective affidavit released Monday afternoon. Later, a blue Chevy Silverado pickup truck belonging to the defendant Cruz drove up to the three men, according to the affidavit. The victims say they armed themselves with a baseball bat and a walking cane, when the truck turned around and drove towards them. That's when the shots were fired. Christopher Harter told police he was in the vehicle at the scene, but said he left the vehicle and then heard four or five gunshots, according to the affidavit. Harter also told police he saw his brother, Angel Cruz, in possession of a semi-automatic pistol three weeks prior to the incident. "It could have been a case of mistaken identity, but our investigation will determine that," Jachles told CNN. Threats were posted on social networking sites and sent via cellular text messages by the suspects to the intended victim, said police. Police said they have not subpoenaed those records and are not releasing the names of those Internet sites. The Broward County State Attorney's office could seek the death penalty.

Henry Mancilla, 24, shot to death as he sat in his car with two others . One of the other men was the target, police say . Threats exchanged over the Internet, and murder plot was hatched, police say . Four men in custody; police executing search warrants .

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ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Protesters clashed with riot police and 10,000 people marched on parliament in Greece as a 15-year-old boy killed by police was buried Tuesday. Tear gas fills the air near where the teen's funeral service was held. Thousands paid their respects to Alexandros Grigoropoulos at his funeral, but a small number of the protesters there grew violent at the end of the ceremony. Riot police lined up as night fell and a reasonably peaceful candlelight vigil was held in central Athens. Some 10,000 people marched on the country's parliament Tuesday to express their anger at the teenager's death, and also other issues like the economy, jobs, and allegations that the government is corrupt. Groups clashed with riot police at the parliament and across central Athens. Street riots started over the weekend after Athens police killed 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos on Saturday. Police said six young protesters pelted a police patrol car with stones, and the teen was shot as he tried to throw a fuel-filled bomb at the officers. The shooting occurred in a neighborhood where there have been regular clashes with police, but it immediately sparked clashes and riots in Athens and Thessaloniki, the country's second-largest city. The violence then spread to other municipalities. Watch iReporter John Kountouris' videos of the violence » . The events have exacerbated the unpopularity of the ruling party and left Greek Prime Minister Konstandinos Karamanlis scrambling to shore up support. Watch crowds gathered for funeral » . On Tuesday, he met with President Karolos Papoulias and cabinet members before briefing political leaders on the country's security situation. Opposition leader George Papandreou of the left-wing PASOK party said: "The country does not have a government that can protect its citizens, their rights, or their safety. "I told Mr. Karamanlis that our society, our citizens are experiencing a multiple crisis: an economic crisis, a social crisis, an institutional crisis, and a crisis of values. And the government is unable to address these crises; they have lost the confidence of the Greek people." See images of anarchy on Greek streets » . Karamanlis ruled out early elections and called for all political parties to stand together against violence. "It's our responsibility to maintain a united stance against illegal acts," he said in statement. "We must condemn in the strongest terms, with pure reason and not minced words - the violence, pillaging, and vandalism, that hampers social peace." The government called on union leaders to cancel a national strike planned for Wednesday, fearing it could lead to further violence. But the labor movement refused, saying the action was planned before the shooting of the boy and was unrelated to it. Cleaning crews worked for hours early Tuesday to clear the mess left by the riots, but evidence of the violence remained. In some places, entire rows of shops still have broken windows. iReport.com: Are you there? Share photos, video of rioting . The mayor of Athens asked residents not to dispose of garbage for a day because many of the city's trash bins were destroyed in the violence. Karamanlis vowed again Tuesday that those responsible for the violence would be punished. "I assured the president that no leniency will be tolerated in holding people accountable," he told reporters. "No one has the right to use this tragic incident as an alibi for actions of raw violence." Athens police said 12 policemen were injured in Monday's violence and 87 people were arrested. There were 10 flashpoints across Athens where police confronted rioters, police said. Watch protesters clash with police » . Many of the young people who rioted holed up at universities, taking advantage of a decades-old rule that bars police from entering university grounds. The rule came into force after tanks crushed a 1973 student uprising protesting the ruling military junta. The dean of Athens University resigned Tuesday as a result of the students' violent behavior. Public and private schools and universities across the country were shut again Tuesday. Watch as iReporter witnesses the clashes . Demonstrators torched government buildings and the offices of the ruling conservative party in central Athens. They also set cars and trash containers ablaze. Monday, young demonstrators barricaded streets in Athens and Thessaloniki and hurled gasoline bombs as they battled police. Clouds of tear gas hung over the capital as police tried to disperse the crowds. The police officer who fired the fatal shot at the teenage boy has been charged with "manslaughter with intent" and suspended from duty, police said, adding that a second police officer was arrested Saturday on criminal accessory charges. Government officials, including the interior minister, have condemned the shooting. Authorities conducted an autopsy on the boy Monday in an effort to clarify the circumstances of the shooting, but the boy's family has called in their own investigators to verify state findings, the Athens coroner told CNN. CNN's Eileen Hsieh and Phil Black, and Journalist Anthee Carassava, contributed to this report .

Funeral held for 15-year-old shot dead by police in Greece . Anti-government violence flares at funeral and outside parliament . Protesters are angry at government policies as well as the teen's death . Alexandros Grigoropoulos' death sparked riots across Greece .

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(CNN) -- Mac computers are known for their near-immunity to malicious computer programs that plague PCs. Some security experts say viruses are moving toward Mac as those computers become more popular. But that may be changing somewhat, according to computer security researchers. It seems that as sleek Mac computers become more popular, they're also more sought-after targets for the authors of harmful programs. "The bad guys generally go toward the biggest target, what will get them the biggest bang for their buck," said Kevin Haley, a director of security response at Symantec. Until recently, the big target always was Microsoft Windows, and Apple computers were protected by "relative obscurity," he said. But blogs are buzzing this week about what two Symantec researchers have called the first harmful computer program to strike specifically at Mac. This Trojan horse program, dubbed the "iBotnet," has infected only a few thousand Mac machines, but it represents a step in the evolution of malicious computer software, Haley said. The iBotnet is a sign that harmful programs are moving toward Mac, said Paul Henry, a forensics and security analyst at Lumension Security in Arizona. "We all knew it was going to happen," he said. "It was just a matter of time, and, personally, I think we're going to see a lot more of it." The malicious software was first reported in January. It didn't gain widespread attention until recently, when Mario Ballano Barcena and Alfredo Pesoli of Symantec, maker of the popular Norton antivirus products, detailed the software in a publication called "Virus Bulletin." Mac users at large, however, should not be alarmed by the incident, experts said. The program infects only computers whose users downloaded pirated versions of the Mac software iWork. The harmful software is a Trojan horse, meaning it tries to sneak into the computer with some sort of permission from the user. Computer worms travel differently. They wiggle their way into computers and replicate without the owner's approval or knowledge. The Mac program is called a botnet because infected computers become part of a network that is controlled by the program's author. The Mac botnet is significantly less threatening than computer worms like the much-publicized Conficker.c, said Jose Nazario, a senior security researcher with Arbor Networks. Conficker was thought to have infected up to 10 million computers, compared with thousands for the iBotnet, researchers said. There's also some question as to whether it is the first botnet to target Mac. Others have targeted both PCs and Apple computers. "This isn't the first botnet that's been built using Mac computers," Nazario said. "This is an interesting one in that it's a little more flexible and includes some new features. ... It's getting a lot of press mostly because it's Mac and people are talking about how Macs are immune to malware -- and, sure enough, they're not." The potential damage that could be caused by the Mac botnet is also less severe than other attacks, said Darrell Etherington, a contributor to theAppleBlog, which is not affiliated with the computer company. "It's a very low-level attack," he said. "Some people won't even notice the effect of it." It is in the interest of software companies like Symantec, who spread the news, and McAfee, which has downplayed the presence of the Trojan, to raise concerns so they can promote their antivirus software packages, he said. "Yes, it is going to become a bigger problem and, yes, people have to become more aware, but I think that what McAfee and Symantec would like is for the panic to start and for people to start rushing to antivirus software," which isn't necessary yet, Etherington said. In a statement, Apple said it is working to prevent security problems. "Apple takes security very seriously and has a great track record of addressing potential vulnerabilities before they can affect users," the statement says. Only about 7.4 percent of computer users work on Macs, according to Gartner, a technology research firm. That user base is proportionally more affluent than PC users, Etherington said, which may make Mac a bigger target. But overall, Macs are still far less vulnerable to attack than PCs, he said. Haley said news of the Apple botnet is significant in part because it's something other authors of malicious code can build from. "I don't think it's a tipping point; I think it's an evolutionary step. We see virus authors often use what somebody else has done," he said. "There's a model. There's something out there to follow."

Researchers find computer malware aimed at Mac computers . The "iBotnet" infects a small number of Mac users through pirated software . Still, researchers say it is a step in the evolution of harmful computer programs . As Macs become more popular, they're more likely to be targets, experts say .

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Editor's note: In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events. Here, CNN's Jaime FlorCruz writes about press freedoms covering the Olympics. Journalists surf the Internet at the main Olympics press center in Beijing. BEIJING, China (CNN) -- For many overseas reporters now in Beijing, covering the Summer Games has turned into an Olympian task. We go through tedious security checkpoints to cover events and conduct interviews even as we deal with bureaucratic and linguistic barriers. But we face one particularly irritating issue: China's limits on Internet access. Despite Beijing's earlier promise to allow open reporting and unfettered access to information, Internet access remains erratic and unpredictable. "It's so counter-intuitive to find the Internet restricted, even if only selectively," one western journalist told me in Beijing. Last week, colleagues working in the Media Press Center faced a blank computer screen whenever they clicked on sites deemed sensitive to the Chinese authorities -- like Amnesty International and Falun Gong. That is attributed to China's sophisticated filter system, also known as the "Great Firewall." Why the paranoia? Pro-democracy activists, as well as advocates for Tibet independence and the spiritual group Falun Gong, have Web sites carrying information and views that the Chinese authorities deem "subversive." These sites reinforce Beijing's worst fears about cyberspace. China has groomed "Internet police" to patrol its networks and is constantly upgrading software to filter sites. Under Chinese law, using the Internet to "harm national interests," "spread rumors" or "leak state secrets" is punishable by stiff prison terms. Journalists and politicians alike cried "foul" but other critics turned their criticism on the International Olympic Committee (IOC.) When Beijing submitted its Olympic bid seven years ago, the Chinese promised: "There will be no restrictions on journalists in reporting on the Olympic Games." The U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which monitors human rights and rule of law issues in China, has compiled documents that show that International Olympic Committee agreements with the Chinese government, from the start, were based on abiding by China's domestic laws. Those laws, the commission says, give authorities a lot of "wiggle room" to define actions that might "endanger state security" or "disrupt social order." Chinese regulations, for example, include a "service guide" for the foreign media. That guide notes the regulations apply to "the coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games and the preparation as well as political, economic, social and cultural matters of China by foreign journalists, in conformity with Chinese laws and regulations." China's "Provisions on the Technical Measures for the Protection of the Security of the Internet," which went into effect in 2006, note the regulations are aimed at "promoting the sound and orderly development of the Internet and safeguarding the state security, social order and public interests." Learn more how China monitors the Internet » . Last week, foreign journalists discovered Internet access to Web sites such as Amnesty International or sites with Tibet in the address were still restricted. After a media uproar, China seems to have relented. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said: "If there are some needs to adjust on the Chinese side, we will do that." Amnesty International's site, for example, has been accessible since August 1. However, the site of Falun Gong remains taboo. Andrew Lih, a new media expert based in Beijing, says that "unblocked sites are still subject to the sophisticated keyword blocking system of the GFW (the Great Firewall of China.)" China has also tightened its grip on other media sources. The English version of Time Out, the monthly listings and entertainment guide, has been told to close. Freelance journalists are finding it hard to renew Chinese visas and accreditation for smaller, niche publications have become virtually impossible. Even a writer from Saveur, a food magazine, was denied a visa. Last Tuesday, relations between journalists and Chinese authorities soured again after police in the frontier region of Xinjiang roughed up and detained two Japanese reporters who were sent to cover a suspected terrorist attack. They suffered minor injuries and their equipment damaged during the scuffle. "This is utterly unacceptable any time," says Jonathan Watts, president of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China. "It's particularly reprehensible just days before the Olympics at a time when China has promised complete media freedom." The incident has prompted a rare apology from the local police, who also offered to pay for the damage and medical bills.

Internet access remains erratic for journalists in Beijing covering the Olympics . Many sites about Tibet and spiritual group Falon Gong are deemed "subversive" China promised no restrictions on journalists when it bid for the Games . Documents show IOC agreements were based on China's domestic laws .

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ASUNCION, Paraguay (CNN) -- A second woman stepped forward Monday to say that Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo fathered a child out of wedlock when he was a Roman Catholic bishop. Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo says Monday he will comply with justice on the latest paternity allegation. Benigna Leguizamon said Lugo fathered her son in 2002 in the city of San Pedro. She served notice that Lugo has 24 hours to acknowledge paternity or she will take legal action. "I am waiting in good will," she said in an interview on CNN affiliate Telefuturo TV. "But if they don't do something, oh, my God." Lugo, 57, acknowledged last week that he is the father of a 2-year-old child conceived in the months before he stepped down as bishop. He said last week he was making the admission "with the most absolute honesty, transparency and feeling of obligation." Without acknowledging paternity, he expressed similar sentiments Monday about the latest allegation. "We're going to act always in pursuit of the truth ... in this private matter," he said in a nationally televised announcement on Telefuturo. Last week's announcement came after a woman filed suit in a southern Paraguay city seeking a paternity test. "It's true that there was a relationship with Viviana Carrillo," Lugo told reporters, naming the mother. "I assume all the responsibilities that could derive from such an act, recognizing the paternity of the child." Leguizamon, 27, said Monday that last week's announcement had encouraged her to come forth. "When I saw the case with Viviana, I was strengthened to make my accusation," Leguizamon said. She said she made the accusation to help her 6-year-old son, who is starting school. She will ask for a DNA test, she said. In last week's case, Judge Evelyn Peralta said she was treating it routinely. "It is a case like any other, which involves the president and nothing more," she said. "It will be processed at it should be." Some Cabinet members interpreted Lugo's acknowledgment of paternity as an indication of the change he has promised to bring about to achieve greater transparency in the public sector. "This is the Paraguay that we want," said Liz Torres, minister of children's issues. "This is the Paraguay of serious change in which there is no double standard or secrets. It seems to be an example, a very big lesson." But some opposition party members said it appeared that Lugo practically had been forced to acknowledge what happened and that he had not done so willingly. Sen. Julio Cesar Velasquez of the opposition Colorado Party called on the Vatican to excommunicate Lugo. Lugo was made a lay Catholic last year, around the time he assumed the presidency.

Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo fathered son, woman says . Lugo admitted to fathering another child out of wedlock last week . On latest allegation, Lugo says he'll "act always in pursuit of the truth" Opposition lawmaker urges Vatican to excommunicate Lugo, an ex-Catholic bishop .

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MARANA, Arizona (CNN) -- I've been privileged in the past to witness Tiger Woods out on a golf course. And I can tell you, it's a painful, frustrating process. Golf fans flocked to Arizona to see Tiger make his long-awaited return to the tee. Not because the golf he produces isn't spectacular and at times utterly dazzling but it's the sheer volume of people he attracts that help convince me each and every time golf has to be one of the worst "out on the course" spectator sports going. That's just my opinion though. Try telling that to the legions who got themselves to Arizona this week once they heard the world's top player was making his return to the game after more than eight months. Woods' first competitive slice of action in the best part of a year wasn't due to get under way until around lunchtime here though judging by the fans already out on the course you'd have thought his tee-time was more like 7am. Even those jostling for position to catch a glimpse of him on the range or putting green were taking no chances and ensuring they arrived in plenty of time. Remember all of this was before he even teed off! The scene on that first hole was as expected bustling to say the least. The small gantries were packed anyway due to the whole array of talent on show through this week, but it got even more frenzied when the Woods-Jones match- up was announced. Mayhem to say the least! Those seated in the stands were the lucky ones, it was the unfortunate spectators trying to stand and strain every sinew to catch a glance of that first shot from the world number one I felt for. Even us media suffered! With seconds to go before the American struck his drive, one television camera crew, which really should have known better, blatantly blocked us from getting that prized shot. Only quick last-gasp thinking from our cameraman John saved the day. In case you were wondering that Woods drive was just majestic and he would go on to win the first two holes in fine style. When he strode off down the first fairway, there was a stampede with those looking to brave the soaring temperatures here in Arizona and follow him every step of the way. The Woods 'wow factor' is still very much alive and kicking. The question is will the so-called bionic knee hold up in the weeks and months to come?

Fans jostle for a view of their hero on Tiger's return to competitive golf . Woods has been out of the game for eight months after a knee injury . Snell: "The Woods 'wow factor' is still very much alive and kicking"

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Somali suspect in the hijacking of the U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama has been charged with piracy, a count that carries a minimum life sentence. Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse arrives in the United States on Monday. He was charged with piracy Tuesday. Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse also has been charged with conspiracy to seize a ship by force, conspiracy to commit hostage-taking and two firearm charges, according to a criminal complaint released by the U.S. attorney's office in the southern district of New York. Muse "conducted himself as the leader" of the pirates who allegedly took over the Maersk Alabama, according to the criminal complaint. A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Muse could be tried as an adult. U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck had ordered the media and public out of the courtroom earlier while he evaluated Muse's age. Muse's father in Somalia told defense attorneys the young man was born on November 20, 1993 -- making him 15, the defense attorneys said. However, the prosecution argued otherwise, saying Muse made statements that suggest he is older. Before Peck closed the courtroom, Muse wiped his hand over his face at one point, and it appeared he was crying. He had worn a broad smile late Monday when he arrived in New York escorted by a phalanx of law enforcement officers. See timeline of events that led to piracy case » . Muse was arrested in the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama, a cargo ship that pirates attacked on April 8 about 350 miles off the Somali coast. See an interactive map of 2009 pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa » . Peck read the young man his rights and said attorneys had been appointed to represent him because the suspect did not have the resources to hire representation himself. Muse said through an interpreter that he understood and said, "I don't have any money." Pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama, a cargo ship, on April 8 about 350 miles off the Somali coast. According to the criminal complaint, two of the 20 crew members -- all Americans -- saw lights heading toward the Maersk Alabama around 4:30 a.m. on April 8, while the ship was in the Indian Ocean. After a "brief time," the lights disappeared, the complaint said, but about two hours later, the same crew members saw a small boat approaching and later heard "what sounded like" gunshots, the complaint said. Crew Member 1 then heard the ship's captain -- later identified as Capt. Richard Phillips -- on the radio saying that two pirates were on the ship's bridge. A third crew member, Crew Member 3, also heard the radio message and began shutting down the ship's power, the complaint said. The complaint said Muse, who was carrying a gun, was the first alleged pirate on the ship, and said the attackers used a portable ladder to climb on board. According to the complaint, Muse had fired his gun at Phillips, the captain said, and then took $30,000 from the ship's safe after he forced Phillips to open it. Watch Muse being hauled into court » . Muse demanded that the Maersk Alabama be stopped and that the crew give him the number of the ship's owner, the complaint said. The captain then ordered the crew to the bridge after Muse ordered him to do so, the complaint said, citing Crew Member 2. Muse then began canvassing the dark ship with Crew Member 2 as a guide, the complaint said. While they were going through the ship, Crew Member 3, who had not come to the bridge, tackled Muse to the ground, the complaint said. Crew Member 2 helped subdue Muse, and the two tied the young man's hands with wire and took him to the ship's safe room, where several crew members were hiding. After several hours, the remaining pirates said they would leave the ship if Muse was returned to them, and if a lifeboat was given to them. Phillips boarded the lifeboat with them and the ship's crew freed Muse, who then boarded the lifeboat, according to the criminal complaint. The boat floated a short distance from the Maersk, even as the Navy's USS Bainbridge arrived the next day. Over the next three days, officers on the Bainbridge communicated with the pirates by radio. "In those communications, the pirates threatened to kill the captain if they were not provided with safe passage away from the scene," the complaint said. At one point, Phillips tried to escape and the pirates shot at him, the complaint said. On April 12, Muse boarded the USS Bainbridge and demanded safe passage for himself and the other pirates in exchange for Phillips' release. Muse also received medical treatment while he was on the warship, the complaint said. While Muse was away from the lifeboat, Navy SEALs shot and killed the three remaining pirates. The U.S. Navy recovered two loaded AK-47 assault rifles; two gunstraps, each containing three AK-47 magazines; one handgun magazine; and multiple cell phones and handheld radios from the lifeboat, according to the complaint. CNN's Deb Feyerick contributed to this report.

NEW: Criminal complaint says pirate suspect "conducted himself as the leader" Judge rules piracy suspect will be tried as an adult . Abduwali Abdukhadir Muse also faces conspiracy charges . Suspect's father says he's 15; prosecution says boy indicated he's older .

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(CNN) -- It's Sunday night during TNT's coverage of the NBA playoffs, and announcer Kenny Smith, aka "The Jet," is doing push-ups. TNT's Kenny Smith tries to connect personally with NBA fans through his Twitter feed. Not on camera, but on Twitter. "Hawks look hot! CWebb, my boy Fabian and I doing 30- pushups P90X style every commercial.. getting summeer [sic] ready," writes Smith to his followers on Twitter, the microblogging site where you can "tweet" brief messages of up to 140 characters. Five hours later, Smith (@TheJetOnTNT) tweets a follow-up: "Man, i think im gonna be sore." By Monday morning, though, he seems raring to go again: "Im not sore today! the workout didnt kill me... Im back!!" Welcome to today's intersection of sports and social networking, where college athletes, professional players and even broadcasters use tools like Facebook and Twitter to share their thoughts and experiences with fans. "Sports personalities are tweeting now. They are giving fans a reason to tune in to see their comments," says Adam Ostrow, managing editor of Mashable, a blog devoted to online social media. Ostrow believes social networking sites like Twitter allow athletes to connect directly with fans without the filter of the traditional media. And while many athletes and teams have blogs and Facebook profiles, Twitter allows for a more personal connection between fan and sports, he says. NBA All-Star Shaquille O'Neal (@THE_REAL_SHAQ) is both a prolific scorer and a prolific twitterer. His more than 700,000 followers get his tweets about everything from his diet to his recent trip to Graceland. Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) has more than 650,000 Twitter followers for such updates as "Eating pizza at home w/ the family. Good test today, kids go home tomorrow (sad), and a hellacious week of training coming up." Hockey players also are getting into the act. Washington Capitals ace Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) was on Twitter during the NHL All-Star game in January, tweeting about the festivities and responding to fan questions and comments. One athlete, Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva (@CV31), even got into hot water after tweeting during halftime of a game last month. Villanueva's entry read: "In da locker room, snuck to post my twitt. We're playing the Celtics, tie ball game at da half. Coach wants more toughness. I gotta step up." He did. Villanueva finished with a team-high 19 points, and the Bucks won. Now sports announcers are using Twitter to talk to fans about everything from game action to what they do when the cameras are off. Fox Sports (@MLBonFox) baseball commentators and reporters are using Twitter to share tidbits from players and behind-the-scenes moments that the normal fan may not even think about. Fox play-by-play announcer Joe Buck, one of the network's wittier twitterers, shared this recent tender moment from the broadcast booth: "Joe Buck: Cold in the booth in STL. Tim [McCarver] and I are bundled up. And snuggling. Hard to type. I think hypothermia is starting to set in!" TNT is using the same approach to connect with basketball fans during the current NBA playoffs. Eleven members of the network's broadcast team have joined Twitter to provide insight into games, offer nuggets from players and solicit fan opinions. "TNT is an interesting experiment if they add analysis they don't give on TV," said Ostrow of Mashable. "More interesting if they give more non-basketball info." And they are. When Kenny Smith started on Twitter, he wasn't really sure what it was or how it would work. So he just answered the default question on his page: What are you doing? "I want to have some fun with it," Smith told CNN. "I love scavenger hunts. I might leave tickets to the conference finals somewhere and leave clues on my Twitter." Twitter gives announcers another way to connect with sports fans, Smith said. "You can give an attitude [on Twitter]," he said. "They can hear you on the air, but [on Twitter, they] get to hear your voice." Smith hopes to continue revealing "behind-the-scenes" details in his tweets, because he wants his more than 1,000 followers to feel like they are there. And he plans to continue twittering beyond the NBA playoffs. Increasingly, sports fans use social networking to talk back. For the Stanley Cup playoffs, the NHL recently organized "tweetups" where Twitter users met face-to-face to talk about whatever brought them together. Events were organized in 21 cities in the United States and Canada. Laura Astorian, a self-described hockey blogger who follows the St. Louis Blues and Atlanta Thrashers, helped organize an NHL tweetup in Atlanta, Georgia. She said even though the city's hockey-fan base is relatively small, the fans rely on each other and use social networking sites like Twitter to communicate. "The people who did come enjoyed the chance to sit down and talk hockey with like-minded people," Astorian said. "We did have fun, and there was mention of using the tweetup strategy for our draft party in July."

More pro athletes are using Twitter to share their thoughts and experiences with fans . Popular and prolific twitterers include Shaquille O'Neal and Lance Armstrong . Sports announcers use Twitter to share behind-the-scenes details with fans . TNT has 11 broadcasters tweeting during the current NBA playoffs .

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(CNN) -- Debbie Phelps, the mother of swimming star Michael Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals in Beijing, is the author of a new memoir, "A Mother For All Seasons." Debbie Phelps, mother of Olympian Michael Phelps, tells Larry King her son has strong values. Phelps spoke with CNN's Larry King about her new book, a recent tabloid report detailing her son's partying ways and the infamous bong photo. The following is an edited version of the transcript. Larry King: You have this terrific new book coming. If I do say so myself, it's inspiring. Yet (Thursday's) lead story in the "New York Daily News" gate crasher column -- I don't know who writes that -- "tsk, tsk," it says, "Michael Phelps, partying your face off in public is not the way to reclaim your good guy image. The Olympian was been laying relatively low since his bong smoking scandal in January was out in full force Tuesday night at New York City hot spot Marquis" -- I think is the name -- "Michael was definitely having a good time, an eyewitness tells us, drinking straight from a bottle of Grey Goose. When the DJ started playing MIA's 'Paper Planes,' he got up started dancing like a loon and kept on yelling 'shots.' Phelps definitely had enough alcohol on hand for several four round. He ordered four bottles of Vodka." Is this tough for a mother? How do you react? Debbie Phelps: It's one thing that I learn at a very early age is I don't get caught up in gossip columns. I know my son. He has great values, lots of integrity. That's what I think about that. King: Did you talk to him about this? Phelps: I always talk to Michael. I talk to Michael every day. We talked about training today and things of that nature. King: But it would be normal to say, what happened, wouldn't it? I would say that to my son. Phelps: We give support. We give guidance. We give an ear to listen. And, again, I don't get caught up in gossip. King: Therefore, you don't believe it? I just want to establish what your feelings are. Phelps: I don't get caught up in gossip, Mr. King. King: What about something that wasn't gossip, the picture with the bong thing. It was a picture. Phelps: It's a picture, that's true. But, you know, a picture can say many things. It has many words. It has many meanings. It has many visualizations that you want to think. It depends on the person who is looking at that picture. You know, as a mom, I support all three of my children. I believe that no matter who you are in this country, in this world, there are obstacles that get into your life. I call them speed bumps in school sometimes. I heard someone say lightning bolts. That's another term for that. But, you know, how do we grow? How do we learn? You raise a child through 18. You send them off to college. You give them the roots. You give them the foundation to be a strong, young man, a strong lady. Life throws curve balls to you sometimes. How do you handle that curve ball? King: Michael is 23. That's an adult. He's an adult. Phelps: A young adult. King: Young adult. So one could say it's his life. He chooses to lead it. As our parent, we do our best to guide them, but 23 is 23. Do you view him still as a kid? Phelps: I view my 31-year-old daughter as a kid sometimes. You know, I look at each of my children independently and individually of themselves. They have many strong values, strong points, professionalism. I'm just very proud of all three of them and everything they've done. King: Do you think these kind of stories -- and you don't pay attention to them -- hurt your book? Phelps: I was asked many times and told many times, "Debbie, you need to write a book some day." As an educator, I'm thinking, I would really like to do that. It became a personal goal of mine to be able to publish a book, not knowing exactly what it was going to be. Was it going to be my life? Was it going to be parenting? Was it going to be swimming? Was it just going to be motivational and inspirational? When I take a look at the book I was able to write, I have great pride in that book because it shows other people, every woman, but not even women -- men can read this book also -- the inspiration and motivation of life. King: The question is, "Do you think these kind of stories might hurt the chance of people buying the book, which is what you want?" Phelps: People are going to have to make that decision. King: Do you think it might? Phelps: Life is life. I do want to say, though, in reference to the Beijing Olympics, we, as a family, I think, made a great impression on the world, on the United States. My son has great love for me. It's a great bonding relationship. Families are very important. King: Is he still a role model, do you think? Phelps: You know, when I think of the word role model, I'll go back to me being a little girl. It was my mom and my dad. They were my role models when I was growing up. When I hear that role model in a sentence with my son, what I think about with Michael is what he does with and for children. It might be things people don't even know of -- his association with the Boys and Girls Club. For years, he has done that (and) his association with Make A Wish. He touches kids' lives. So if an individual, wherever they may be, may select my son as a role model, I say that my son has strong values. I say he's a human being. And I say that from obstacles that get in people's ways -- we all have them, Mr. King, and you know that -- what do you learn from them and how do you rise above the occasion?

Debbie Phelps says she doesn't get caught up in gossip involving son, Michael . Michael Phelps reportedly seen partying at NY bar . Phelps apologized in January after photo shows him smoking from bong .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Justice John Paul Stevens is approaching his 40th year on the federal bench -- the last 34 on the Supreme Court, deciding thousands of cases. But he said his love of the law was nurtured decades earlier by a professor's dedication and the enduring power of a political dispute that blossomed into a landmark decision known as Marbury v. Madison. Justice John Paul Stevens swears in Vice President Joe Biden. Stevens has been on the court for 34 years. "It was the beginning, well, of my whole legal career," Stevens told CNN in a recent exclusive interview. "You read it today and you will find some current value in it. For me, that case inspired a lasting appreciation and respect for the rule of law." The 88-year-old justice, who sources said has no plans to step down anytime soon, is not alone in citing the 1803 high court ruling as a cornerstone of federal court authority. The landmark decision for the first time established the power of the Supreme Court to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional. It also helped codify the idea of separation of powers as a lasting hallmark of the American system of government. The case is the subject of a new book, "The Great Decision: Jefferson, Adams, Marshall and the Battle for the Supreme Court" (PublicAffairs Books), which includes Stevens' analysis of the opinion's impact over the years. Written by Clifford Sloan -- a former Stevens law clerk -- and David McKean, it offers an inside look at how the federal judiciary, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, muscled itself into equal footing with the other two branches of government. It is a struggle, Sloan noted, that continues to affect issues today, such as the president's authority in the war on terror, federal bans on late-term abortion and church-state disputes. "There is a view of an enduring role for our courts that rises above the political pressures and cross-currents of the moment," said Sloan. "There are imperfections, there are problems, but it's been the most protective regime for rights and liberties of any country in the world. And it's really attributable to the special role of the [Supreme] Court in safeguarding our rights and liberties that Marbury established." Immersed from the start in Marbury v. Madison . Stevens still has his law school notes from Northwestern University, which he entered in 1945. It was just months after leaving the Navy, where he served as an intelligence officer during World War II. At the time, he was thinking of becoming an English teacher, but Stevens said his brother Richard asked him to think about a law career. "At the time I was trying to decide what to do, and it seemed like a sensible move," Stevens said, with his characteristic Midwestern modesty. It was as a freshman that he met his early mentor, Nathaniel Nathanson, who immersed his students in Marbury v. Madison from the start. "I knew nothing about it before I went to law school, but it was a major part of our constitutional law course," Stevens recalled. "We began with the case and we were still on it six or eight weeks later. We spent most of the first semester studying that one case, and the different issues that come out of it." Something must have stuck, because when he graduated two years later, Stevens had the highest GPA in the history of the law school. The justice gives credit for much of his budding success to Nathanson, a former Northwestern dean and faculty member for 47 years. "He was very brilliant, he could ask good questions and get people to think about issues," said Stevens. "He was a very decent and inspiring teacher." From political pot-boiler to legal treatise . One thing Stevens admires about Marbury v. Madison is "there are a whole bunch of issues that are discussed in it. When is executive privilege something that the president can rely on; when should there be a remedy for a wrong?" It was a big case that had humble beginnings. The behind-the-scenes intrigue reads more like a political pot-boiler than a legal treatise. The fight began in early 1801, in the closing days of the Federalist administration of President John Adams -- who had just lost the election to Thomas Jefferson, who was poised to take over the White House. Sloan noted, "Adams was packing the federal government, the District of Columbia government, and the federal courts with midnight appointees. One of these was William Marbury." The Maryland financier was set to be justice of the peace of Washington, but somehow his commission was not delivered in time, in person by the State Department, as the law required. So when Jefferson -- a Democratic-Republican -- took over, he canceled all pending appointments, leaving Marbury and other Federalists in the outs, and enraged. Marbury sued the Jeffersonians to get his job back. The "Madison" in this case was none other than James Madison -- principal author of the U.S. Constitution, and then Jefferson's secretary of state. Marshall played two roles . As a backdrop, "The Great Decision" details fascinating tales of the capital at the turn of the 19th century, including "the dust and grime of Washington" -- not much different from our own, except perhaps for the grime. Among the tales: A senator's "romantic interest" -- as Stevens put it -- in Dolley Madison, wife of the future president; and Marshall's own physical prowess -- he reportedly could jump 6 feet and had a taste for fine whiskey. It was that man's failure as a bureaucrat and genius as a judge that led to the 4-0 decision. In February 1801, native Virginian Marshall -- an Adams ally -- was serving as both secretary of state and the newly named chief justice of the United States. "He was the one who bungled the delivery of the commissions," said Sloan, "so he was deeply involved in the underlying facts of the case. The genius of Marshall was that he got out of a very difficult jam by finding Marbury's appeal to have merit, but his direct appeal to the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional." Such direct appeals were allowed under federal law, but the high court ruled the law went too far by attempting to give one branch of government a power specifically denied it by the Constitution. The decision thus set precedents for both separation of powers and constitutional interpretation -- the court's right to declare a law unconstitutional. In Marshall's famous words, "It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department" -- the courts, he means -- "to say what the law is." It put the case on sacred constitutional ground in the eyes of many subsequent justices. It was cited in Brown v. Board of Education, and the 1974 order for President Nixon to turn over secret White House tapes during the Watergate scandal. Stevens emphasizes separation of power . Sloan said his old boss in particular has a fondness for the stirring words of Marbury. "It's not surprising that when justices like Justice Stevens are grappling with the very difficult questions that come before them and the deeply contested constitutional issues that they turn to that guiding star of the first principle of Marbury v. Madison, and get inspiration and strength from it." It was separation of powers Stevens chose to emphasize as a principal hallmark of Marbury. During a panel discussion a few weeks ago, he noted the wall between the courts and the executive can be breached. As an example, he cited public swear-ins of justices that have lately been held at the White House. Stevens said it is far preferable they be conducted at the Supreme Court itself -- such as his 1975 ceremony -- to underscore the "very separate status" of the justices. He later said the power he and his fellow benchmates enjoy today is embedded in that principle: . "Marbury v. Madison established that idea of separation, something no other branch of government -- no political majority -- can take away from the judiciary."

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens says case inspired his career . 88-year-old justice's analysis of case is part of a new book . Marbury v. Madison is 1803 high court case dealing with separation of powers .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A group of student protesters were arrested Sunday after they called on President Bush to end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan, and refused to leave the front gates of the White House. The protesters shouted, "Hey Bush, you can't hide! Help us end this genocide!" and "President Bush! No more excuses!" Federal police arrested 18 of them after they marched to the White House. Sunday's protest was one of many scheduled around the world for "Global Day for Darfur" to mark five years of ethnic cleansing in Sudan. The conflict has killed more than 200,000 people, and it has made refugees of more than 2 million others. In London 3,000 protesters gathered at the Sudanese Embassy. Also, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called for Darfur peace talks. Watch a report from the protest in London » . In the U.S., Scott Warren, national student director of the Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, said the students were bringing specific demands to the president, including bolstering the United Nations peacekeeping force in Sudan and stepping up pressure on China, Sudan's trading partner. "In your last seven months, you can make peace in Sudan, and this is how you can do it," he said. Warren said the students knew the president wasn't home, but still hoped their message was heard. Bush was on his way back to Washington from his ranch in Crawford, Texas. "It's not something we take lightly, and we do understand the implications of it. But we also understand that genocide is not just a casual issue," said student activist Ashley Kroetsch, who was among the 18 arrested. "It is one of the worst crimes against humanity, and it requires a very severe response to end it." The Bush administration supports economic sanctions and implementation of existing agreements for peace and security in Darfur. Bush traveled recently to Africa, and spoke about genocide on several stops. "We're trying to help them, but the truth of the matter is there are obstacles to peace in Darfur," he said at a stop in Tanzania. "And that is one of the reasons we've imposed tough sanctions -- real, meaningful sanctions against those who are stopping progress toward alleviating the human suffering in Darfur." E-mail to a friend .

Protesters shouted, "Hey Bush, you can't hide! Help us end this genocide!" Saturday was "Global Day for Darfur" marking five years of ethnic cleansing in Sudan . Conflict has killed more than 200,000 people, and created two million refugees . In London 3,000 protesters gathered at the Sudanese Embassy .

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ST. GEORGE, Utah (CNN) -- A young man whose arranged marriage to a young cousin led to the conviction of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was charged Wednesday with her rape. Prosecutors filed the rape charge against Allen Steed, 26, a day after a jury found Jeffs guilty of two rape-accomplice counts in connection with Steed's ill-fated 2001 marriage to Elissa Wall. Jurors found that Jeffs used his authority as leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, to push the girl into a marriage she did not want. Steed was 19 and his bride, who also was his first cousin, was 14 when Jeffs "sealed" them in spiritual marriage at a motel in Caliente, Nevada, where many FLDS weddings were performed. Three other couples also were married that day in separate ceremonies, according to testimony. Steed is accused of having sex with the girl against her will several weeks into the marriage. Steed testified for the defense at Jeffs' trial. He said his new wife was affectionate to him in private, but cold in public. He denied that he or Jeffs had forced sex on her. Wall agreed to be identified publicly as the trial ended in hopes of encouraging other women who feel trapped by polygamy to come forward. Watch Wall urge other girls to be brave » . She testified that she told Steed she was not ready and that her first sexual encounter made her feel dirty, used and trapped. Her pleas to church leaders to end the marriage were ignored, and Jeffs told her to submit "mind, body and soul" to her new husband, Wall told the jury. Her sisters testified that most of the women in the family also opposed the marriage but were powerless to stop it. According to the criminal complaint, the trial established that the pair had sex and that the young woman had convinced jurors she did not consent. Wall left the marriage and the FLDS in 2004. She is now remarried. An attorney for Steed could not be reached. Jeffs, 51, leads the 10,000-member FLDS, which is based in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona. Followers believe him to be God's prophet, who can lead them to eternal salvation. Listen to an example of Jeffs' preaching » . Jeffs could be sent to prison for the rest of his life when he is sentenced November 20. E-mail to a friend .

NEW: Man whose arranged marriage led to conviction charged with rape . Allen Steed is accused of having sex with the girl, 14, against her will . Steed testified at sect leader's trial that he didn't force sex on new wife . FLDS leader Warren Jeffs convicted Tuesday of rape by accomplice .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- The 2002 World Cup tournament was the first one held in Asia and was instrumental in bringing the world's attention to the continent's footballing talents. Michael Chopra was the first player of Indian parentage to play and score in the English Premier League. It was seen as Asia's chance to show the rest of the world what it had to offer on the pitch and with South Korea reaching the last four of the tournament, the rest of the world was impressed. However, since then few footballers of Asian origin have made an impact outside of the Asian Federation Cup (AFC) -- the largest league in terms of area and population. A new initiative, spearheaded by Chelsea FC, has been launched in the UK to search for talented youngsters from backgrounds not commonly found among today's top footballers such as India and Pakistan. See a gallery of the best Asian players . Chelsea have teamed up with the Football Association (FA), anti-racism campaigners Kick It Out and the Asian Media Group for the The Search for an Asian Star event to be held in May at Chelsea's training ground in Stamford Bridge, London. The search is aimed at players in the under 12, 13 and 14 age groups and is open to players based in London and the south-east of England who hail from Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi backgrounds. "We realize there is a lack of representation of players from Asian backgrounds within the game and we hope that the competition will help inspire Asian youngsters," former Chelsea and England full-back Graeme Le Saux told thefa.com. "We want to show that race is no barrier to joining our club and that opportunities for Asian players do exist. It is important all clubs share our ambition that players should only be judged on their talent and their potential."

A new initiative is launched to find the Asian football stars of the future . Players aged 12 to 14 will be put through their paces by Chelsea FC staff . English football currently boasts very few players of Asian descent .

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(CNN) -- Sri Lankan cricketers have described for the first time how they feared some of their teammates had been killed during a deadly attack on the team bus by gunmen in Pakistan -- and paid tribute to the driver of the bus for saving their lives. Thilan Samaraweera is due to undergo surgery to have a bullet removed from his leg. Six police officers and a driver were killed in the ambush by around a dozen attackers armed with automatic weapons as the players made their way to Lahore's cricket stadium early Tuesday. Two players, Tharanga Paranavitana and Thilan Samaraweera, suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and leg respectively while six others suffered shrapnel wounds. But vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara told CNN he believed Paranavitana had been killed when he collapsed after being shot. "I was lying on the ground. I heard Thilan (Samaraweera) groan and I heard Tharanga Paranavitana say something. I turned around and a bullet whizzed past my head and hit the seat in front of me. And then I got hit in the shoulder by shrapnel," Sangakkara said. "Then I saw Tharanga Paranavitana get up and say 'I've been shot' and then he collapsed on the seat. I really thought he was seriously hurt or even dead." Read profiles of the wounded players » . Describing the initial moments of the ambush, Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss said there had been an explosion "which someone said later was a rocket launcher that missed the bus and went over the top and hit somewhere in front of us." Watch footage of the gunmen staging their attack » . He said two cars then pulled up in front of the convoy, blocking its path. Gunmen jumped out of the cars and started firing, sending bullets ripping through the bus. "By that stage everyone was on the ground," Baylis told CNN. "Surprisingly it was very calm. There was not a lot we could do except keep low as possible and hope for the best. Every now and then someone would just yell out and say 'I'm hit.'" Watch Bayliss talk about his experience » . Sangakkara said someone at the front of the bus had shouted to the players to take cover. "Some of the guys looked up to see what was going on because the bus just swerved a bit and almost came to a stop," he said. "Suddenly we heard a couple of explosions getting closer. And then someone from the front of the bus shouted 'They're shooting at the bus -- get down!' That's when we just hit the deck and suddenly we heard bullets thudding into the bus. It kept going for about a minute." Watch Sangakkara describe how players ducked for cover » . A Pakistani security official on the bus then shouted to the driver in Urdu to "go, go go!" Sangakkara said. "I think we owe our lives to him -- he just put the bus in gear and drove straight through the carnage straight to the ground," he said. "They tried to shoot the bus driver first and missed and the guy had the presence of mind to do what was needed to save all our lives." Baylis also praised the driver of the bus for his bravery. "He jumped back in his seat with all the bullets coming through the bus and he got us into the stadium. It wasn't until we got into the stadium that we could see how hurt some of the players were," Baylis said. Once inside the stadium the players received medical attention. "Everyone still seemed confused and shocked but the mood was quite upbeat," said Sangakkara. "A few jokes were being cracked, people were talking to each other, making sure everyone was ok, everyone made a great effort to keep the mood lighter than it could have been in that situation and that's helped a lot of the guys to get through it." Sangakkara said he'd had some of the shrapnel removed from his shoulder inside the stadium. He also underwent surgery to remove some more after arriving home in Colombo earlier Wednesday. Paranavitana and Samaraweera are also expected to undergo surgery. Samaraweera still had a bullet in his leg, Sangakkara said. Meanwhile match referee Chris Broad criticized Pakistan's security forces for their conduct during the attack, claiming they had abandoned match officials traveling in the convoys as "sitting ducks." The Englishman and other officials had been traveling in a minibus behind the Sri Lankan team bus when bullets ripped through the vehicle, killing the driver and critically wounding fourth umpire Ahsan Reza. Broad has been hailed as a hero for reportedly shielded Reza but he played down his bravery. "I'm not a hero. Ahsan Raza took a bullet to the stomach or chest -- somewhere in the spleen and lung region. I was lying behind him on the floor of the van and there were bullets flying all around us," Broad said. "I only noticed he was injured when I saw a large pool of blood had spilled on to the floor and out of the partially opened van door." Broad said police vans detailed to protect the vehicles in the convoy had apparently disappeared during the attack. "I am extremely angry that we were promised high-level security and in our hour of need that security vanished and they left us to be sitting ducks. I am extremely fortunate to be here today."

Sri Lankan vice-captain feared teammate had been fatally wounded . Driver praised for getting bus to stadium as bullets ripped through vehicle . Attack in Lahore killed driver, 6 Pakistani police, injured 8 Sri Lankan cricket players . Match referee: Security forces left players, match officials to be "sitting ducks"

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

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

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(CNN) -- Piracy off the coast of Somalia has more than doubled this year, threatening to make international trade more expensive and offering terrorists a new source of income, says a report released Wednesday. A photo from the destroyer USS Howard shows Somali pirates in small boats hijacking the MV Faina last week. As of late September, 60 ships had been attacked in 2008, said the report by Chatham House, a London-based institute that analyzes international issues. The report comes amid a standoff between officials and pirates demanding a $20 million ransom for the release of a Ukrainian ship captured off the coast of Somalia last week. Money from the $18 million to $30 million in ransoms paid this year is helping finance the war in Somalia, the report says. One of the groups reportedly receiving ransom money is Al-Shabaab, which the United States listed as a terrorist organization this year. Asked to rank the problem on a scale of one to 10, report author Roger Middleton said it's middle range but could quickly deteriorate. "At the moment, it's a five-six problem with the potential to be seven or eight," Middleton said. "You're looking at a nine, 10 if it starts to be co-opted by international terror organizations." About 16,000 ships a year navigate the Gulf of Aden, which, as the southern gateway to the Suez Canal, is one of the most important trade routes in the world. The ships mostly transport oil from the Middle East and goods from Asia to Europe and North America. Having to change routes would add weeks of travel time and increase fuel consumption, driving up the cost of shipping. Insurance premiums for the Gulf of Aden have already increased tenfold, says the report, "Piracy in Somalia: Threatening global trade, feeding local wars." Additionally, pirates are hampering relief efforts in Somalia. "As a result of piracy," the report says, "the World Food Programme has been forced to temporarily suspend food deliveries to drought-stricken Somalia. Canada is now escorting WFP deliveries but there are no plans in place to replace their escort when it ends later this year." Somalia's ambassador to Russia made the same point Wednesday. "This has been a great problem for the Somalian government," Ambassador Mohamed Handule said. "This hinders humanitarian aid a lot. The Somalian people are not getting it." Middleton noted that French officials are talking about offering a U.N. Security Council resolution to increase international presence in the area. "This new move by the European Union to put more ships into the Gulf of Aden could be quite positive," he said. "Some form of U.N.-sponsored coast guard might start to chip away at this. ... If America, Europe and Russia cooperate, it can be made much safer." He noted that France, Denmark, Netherlands and Canada offered escorts for World Food Programme ships that had been unable to enter Somali ports this year. "A more general approach has focused on Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150), a coalition naval task force covering the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Red Sea and the Indian Ocean," the report states. "CTF 150's primary responsibility is to assist in the 'war on terror,' so piracy is lower on its list of priorities. However, some of the roughly 15 ships making up CTF150 have been involved in deterring pirate attacks." In addition, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 1816 on June 2, giving foreign warships the right to enter Somali waters "for the purposes of repressing acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea" by "all necessary means." But none of these measures has stemmed the problem. "Piracy has been a problem in Somali waters for at least 10 years. However, the number of attempted and successful attacks has risen over the last three years," Middleton's report says. "With little functioning government, long, isolated, sandy beaches and a population that is both desperate and used to war, Somalia is a perfect environment for piracy to thrive." Handule stressed that the problem has gotten worse since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami killed 225,000 people in more than 10 nations, including Somalia. The problem is compounded, he said, because Somalia does not have a coast guard. "Pirates are mostly young unemployed men, many of them fishermen who lost their boats, tackle and their jobs following the tsunami," Handule said. "They started hunting on boats, and this process went our of control. They operate in groups of up to 12-15 people, however they all have associates ashore seeking information, negotiating about ransom, etc." Handule said officials estimate that there 25 groups with no central command. "We believe their total number stands at about 1,000 people, counting those who help them on the ground," he said. Middleton's report also notes that Somalia's fishing industry has collapsed in the past 15 years, particularly as European, Asian and African ships increase their fishing in the area. Middleton offers five possible solutions to the piracy plague, including organizing shipping into a safe lane, providing a coast guard for Somalia, having a large international naval presence and refusing to pay ransoms. But he noted that none of these solutions can be easily implemented. "It's not going to stop until Somalia has a stable government," he said. The CIA World Factbook notes that Somalia, a country about the size of Texas, does not have a permanent national government. "Although an interim government was created in 2004, other regional and local governing bodies continue to exist and control various regions of the country, including the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in northwestern Somalia and the semi-autonomous State of Puntland in northeastern Somalia," the Factbook says.

Sixty ships had been attacked by pirates in 2008, according to institute report . Pirates want $20 million to release Ukrainian ship captured off Somalia . Institute says piracy has halted flow of much-needed food into Somalia .

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LAGOS, Nigeria (CNN) -- Nneka and Chimezie Ononaku unwittingly poisoned their own four-month-old son Chinonso. A television image of Chinonso Ononaku, who died after being given the medicine "My Pikin." Giving him what they thought was a baby teething medicine, they were in fact dosing him with anti-freeze. The bottle had been contaminated with a toxic chemical called diethylene glycol. More than 30 Nigerian children are thought to have died recently after taking the medicine. Nneka is angry. "It's not easy carrying a pregnancy for nine months, [and] after that getting a drug from a pharmacy to kill your own child," she says. When Nigeria's Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) tested the medicine, "My Pikin," the results were terrifying. It found the medicine contained almost 90ml of diethylene glycol per 100ml. "It's a bottle of poison," the NAFDAC laboratory said. The "My Pikin" factory's managing director and eight others have been charged with negligence. The company could not be reached for comment. Nigeria is on the frontline in the global fight against counterfeit drugs. Undercover NAFDAC officers have taken to the streets in order to combat unregistered and often harmful drugs. Hawkers are charged with selling counterfeit drugs and forced to pay a fine. Watch more on the poisonings » . NAFDAC claims most of the counterfeit drugs come from India and China. And it's big business -- America's Centre for Medicines in the Public Interest predicts counterfeit drug sales will reach $75 billion in 2010. NAFDAC's director-general Dora Akunyili warns counterfeiting is not just a Nigerian problem. "These criminals are cooperating, so we too need to cooperate if we can face them. Not only in Nigeria but internationally, because drug counterfeiting involves a trans-national criminal network and can only be dismantled through international co-operation."

More than 30 Nigerian children have died after being given poisoned medicine . Nigeria is on the frontline in the global fight against counterfeit drugs . Counterfeit drug sales predicted to reach $75 billion in 2010 .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- "Hey, Hey It's Esther Blueburger" is the latest comic creation to emerge from the Australian film market. Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving and Terence Stamp star in the camp classic "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert." An unabashed celebration of girlishness, the coming-of-age movie tells the story of Esther, a bespectacled and awkward teen. Looked down on as nerd at her posh private school, Esther (played by newcomer Danielle Catanzariti) reinvents herself after befriending Sunni, an older girl who goes to the local public school. Bearing a passing resemblance to the runaway U.S. indie hit "Juno", "Esther Blueburger" could well go on to imitate some of the worldwide success of its hipper American cousin. If the film is to do well, its kitschness can surely only work to its advantage. After all, many of the Australian comedies that have found success with an international audience have relied on more than just a smattering of camp. Oddly, from a country that brought the world "Mad Max" and Russell Crowe, many of the biggest comic hits fly in the face of the conventional stereotypes of Australian culture as straight-talking and macho. For every "Crocodile Dundee", in other words, there is a "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", riding triumphantly over the horizon ready to unsettle the manhood and steal the laughs into the bargain. It was Paul Hogan's comic creation Mick "Crocodile" Dundee, the laidback survivalist from the outback that first put Australian comic films on the map over 20 years ago. The first "Crocodile Dundee" film was released in 1986 to huge commercial success worldwide -- it was the highest grossing film internationally that year -- spawned two sequels and was credited with boosting the Australian tourist industry. A lot of the laughs in the film come from the depiction of Mick Dundee (played by Hogan) as an unreconstructed, Aussie bloke struggling to come to terms with modern metropolitan life when he leaves small town Australia to visit New York. In one scene, for example, Dundee's reaction to meeting a cross-dresser on the streets of the Big Apple is to grab the man's crotch to verify his gender. Crocodile Dundee's comic book version of Australian identity may have worked well in the movie theaters, but it was viewed by many critics as hackneyed and out of touch with the reality of modern Australia. The arrival of the writer and director Baz Luhrmann in the early '90s seemed to breath fresh life into Australian film. The stunning critical and financial success of his debut feature, "Strictly Ballroom" in 1992 heralded a string of breakout hits that weren't afraid to show their feminine side. The story of a young ballroom dancer who flouts convention and risks the ire of the judges by dancing his own moves, "Strictly Ballroom" provoked a bidding war at the Cannes Film Festival after it won the Prix de Jeunesse award. Alongside a realistic portrayal of Australian small town life, there is a warm-hearted send up of the peculiar world of ballroom dancing. From the sequined costumes to the Cyndi Lauper soundtrack, the movie is also saturated in campness and kitsch. The benchmark set by Luhrmann, whose 2001 stellar musical feature "Moulin Rouge!" was also defiantly camp, was matched by "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" in 1994 and by "Muriel's Wedding" to a lesser extent the same year. "Priscilla" in particular created a huge stir when it was first released. Starring the venerable British actor Terence Stamp, Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving, it is the story of three drag queens driving across the outback from Sydney to Alice Springs in a large bus they have named Priscilla. It has gone on to be regarded as a camp classic -- though perhaps not in South Korea, where it was reportedly banned for fear it might encourage homosexuality. Less overtly camp than "Priscilla", "Muriel's Wedding" celebrates the lighter side of femininity. The story of a socially awkward 'ugly duckling' whose daydreams of a glamorous white wedding are soundtracked by Abba music, the film was a surprise hit globally and launched the Hollywood career of Toni Collette -- who has a role in "Esther Blueburger". Muriel (played by Collette) tramps around in leopard skin inviting bitchy comments from her crass friends until she eventually plucks up the courage to head to the city. Like "Strictly Ballroom", it exposes the mean-spiritedness that can blight small town life -- in this case the small town in question is the kitschy fictional coastal setting of Porpoise Spit. As well as their camp credentials, one thing these films share in common is a reluctance to slip into stereotyped depictions of Australians. Questions of national identity are explored with more subtlety through a range of characters, and the image of the Aussie bloke immortalised in the character of Mick Dundee is made to look a dated simplification. Still, this onslaught of camp sometimes proves too much, even for some of the films' characters. As Bernadette (played by Stamp) tells her fellow drag queens at one point in "Priscilla": "I'll join this conversation on the proviso that we stop bitching about people, talking about wigs, dresses, bust sizes, penises, drugs, night clubs, and bloody Abba!" To which Weaving's character Tick snaps back: "Doesn't give us much to talk about then, does it?"

"Hey, Hey It's Esther Blueburger" is the latest comedy film to come out of Australia . Like many successful Australian comedies it relies on a high dose of kitsch . Films like "Strictly Ballroom" have subverted the macho Aussie stereotype . "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" caused a storm on its release .

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LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Fifteen first ladies from African nations will attend a two-day summit in Los Angeles on health, women's issues and HIV/AIDS, organizers said Friday. Actors Billy Zane and Sharon Stone, with Ted Alemayhu and Jean Stephane Biatcha, help announce the summit. The conference, which begins Monday, is organized by U.S. Doctors for Africa (USDFA) and African Synergy Against AIDS and Suffering, a nonprofit organization formed by 22 first ladies from Africa. Sponsors include the RAND Corporation, General Electric, the World Health Organization and others. "Empowering Africa's first ladies is an innovative approach to bettering the lives of millions of Africans," USDFA Chairman Ted Alemayhu said in a written statement. "The summit will pair these leaders with U.S. experts, key political figures and important organizations to create ongoing partnerships." The event will include a summit, a gala and a private party. Expected attendees include the first ladies of Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Swaziland and Zambia. Maria Shriver, the wife of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, will give opening remarks, according to a USDFA statement. Other celebrities expected to attend include Maria Bello, Diane Lane, Jessica Alba, Sharon Stone, Blair Underwood, Joely Fisher, Kristin Davis and Camryn Manheim, USDFA told CNN. Grammy award-winning singer Natalie Cole will perform at the gala, the organization said.

Two-day meeting begins Monday in Los Angeles; will include gala, private party . U.S. Doctors for Africa, African Synergy Against AIDS and Suffering set up event . USDFA chairman: Summit will pair first ladies with experts, key groups, politicians . Maria Shriver, Jessica Alba, Blair Underwood, Natalie Cole, other celebrities to attend .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Editor's note: Watch Tarantino talking about the making of "Pulp Fiction" on The Screening Room podcast. To receive regular movie podcasts subscribe here. Quentin Tarantino's first trip to Sundance wasn't exactly a success. Tarantino's hyper-violent, super cool debut feature "Reservoir Dogs" scorched audiences and critics alike when it came out in 1992. "If you do this in real life, they're going to fire your ass," scolded cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt, veteran of films like "Lethal Weapon" and "Charlie Wilson's War." The novice filmmaker was participating in a directors' workshop at the Sundance Institute -- the film trust founded by Robert Redford which also runs the Sundance Film Festival. Unfortunately, Tarantino's mentors were just not feeling his experimental approach. The following week, a new group of mentors arrived, including ex-Monty Python member and filmmaker Terry Gilliam. Tarantino and his editor steeled themselves for the inevitable disapproval: "Then Terry Gilliam comes in and goes 'Oh, your scene. Just great!'" recalls the director. He is talking at the Cannes Film Festival Cinema Masterclass, following in the illustrious footsteps of directors like Wong Kar Wai, Sydney Pollack and Martin Scorsese. "It was just like, you know what, that's gonna be my career. People are gonna either really like me or they're really not and just get f***ing used to it 'cause this is the deal," Tarantino says. A second visit to Sundance in 1992 proved more fruitful. His debut feature, "Reservoir Dogs," a sassy, hyper-violent gangster movie, was the hit of the year. French film critic and regular on the European film festival circuit, Michel Ciment still remembers the effect it had on him when it showed at Cannes later that year: "It was a big shock. I remember it was the most striking new American film since 'Mean Streets' 30 years before." Despite the impact of his droll, assured debut, Tarantino recalls being convinced he was going to get fired in the first two weeks of production. "I just thought it was too good to be true. I couldn't help but think something like 'they don't let people like me make movies,'" he says, laughing. Follow-up movie "Pulp Fiction" was awarded the coveted Palm D'Or at Cannes two years later, cementing his reputation as a movie-maker to be reckoned with. It was filled with the dark humor and bloody violence that would become known as Tarantino trademarks. The B-movie-obsessed director admits to getting a kick out of creating humor in inappropriate situations. "I'm trying to get you to laugh at things you've never laughed at before," he explains. He cites his "bigtime" influences as movie brats like Martin Scorsese and Brian De Palma, as well as Sergio Leone and Howard Hawks. In person, he is a great raconteur and his expletive-littered speech is not a million miles away from the dialogue that's so central to his movies. "I tend to think of myself as more of a novelist who makes movies than a director per se," he declares. But he dismisses his apparent love of language as a product of writing for acting classes: "I started writing as an actor and it was all about dialogue and writing scenes to do." Before moving into directing, Tarantino studied acting for six years and says learning to act for the camera gave him an insight into how directors put a movie together -- frame by frame. That was what really taught him how to write for the movies. "All of a sudden I started seeing [film] in a whole different way. When you start doing that, then it's only a few short steps until you start composing shots of your own," he explains. Tarantino has shown himself to be one of the most music-savvy directors of this generation with his use of songs like "Little Green Bag" by the George Baker Selection in the opening sequence of "Reservoir Dogs" and Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" in "Kill Bill Vol. 1." He, not immodestly, puts that skill down to his great music collection. "The thing is, I have one of the best soundtrack collections in America," he boasts. That probably accounts for his scathing determination never to use film composers: "I don't trust any composers to do it. I would just never give anybody that kind of responsibility," he says, "Who the f*** is this guy coming in here, throwing their s*** all over my movie?" And he admits that his inner film buff enjoys the cornerstones of action cinema that some of his later movies have explored. "I love action scenes, but they are hard, and in a way that's what's fun about them. These cool little puzzles. To me, action scenes are some of the most cinematic moments that you can do in film," he says. "Kill Bill Vol. One" and "Kill Bill Vol. Two," starring Tarantino muse and Hollywood A-lister Uma Thurman, are his movie-geek nod to the kung fu genre. When he started filming "Vol. One," Tarantino hadn't made a film for six years and with typical chutzpah challenged himself to choreograph astonishingly intricate fight scenes. "If I throw my hat in the ring with the greatest action directors who ever lived ... I wanna be as good as them," he asserts. He continues to work his way through his action movie checklist. In his latest movie, "Death Proof," a homage to sleazy 70s B-movies that stars Kurt Russell as a murderous stuntman, he puts his own spin on another of action film's fundamentals -- the car chase. Tarantino is critical of CGI being used so much in film today. All the seat-grippingly tense stunts in "Death Proof" are real and he specifically cast a stuntwoman, Zoe Bell, in one of the leading roles to achieve this. It may have been ambitious, but "Death Proof," which is one half of "Grindhouse," a B-movie-referencing double bill he made with fellow director Robert Rodriguez, got a critical mauling and didn't fare much better at the box office. But then Tarantino has long been resigned to people either loving or hating his movies.

"Reservoir Dogs" and "Kill Bill" director Quentin Tarantino talks about his films . Tarantino realised early in his career audiences would either love or hate his films . The movie geek's second film "Pulp Fiction" won the Palm D'Or at Cannes . On his style: "I'm trying to get you to laugh at things you've never laughed at before"

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Scientist and author Stephen Hawking is "very ill" and has been hospitalized, according to Cambridge University, where he is a professor. Stephen Hawking in Pasadena, California, in March. Cambridge University said the 67-year-old is "comfortable" and will stay overnight at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge. Hawking, one of the world's most famous physicists, is also a cosmologist, astronomer, and mathematician. Wheelchair-bound Hawking is perhaps most famous for "A Brief History of Time," which explored the origins of the universe in layman's terms. The book is considered a modern classic. Hawking has Lou Gehrig's Disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS), which is usually fatal after three years. Hawking has survived for more than 40 years since his diagnosis. On his Web site, Hawking has written about living with ALS. "I try to lead as normal a life as possible, and not think about my condition, or regret the things it prevents me from doing, which are not that many," he wrote. He added: "I have been lucky, that my condition has progressed more slowly than is often the case. But it shows that one need not lose hope." The disease has left him paralyzed -- he is able to move only a few fingers on one hand. Hawking is completely dependent on others or technology for virtually everything -- bathing, dressing, eating, even speech. He uses a speech synthesizer with an American accent. Hawking has been married and divorced twice. In 2004, police completed an investigation into accusations by Hawking's daughter that his second wife was abusing him. Authorities said they found no proof. His Web site says he has three children and one grandchild. Hawking was born in Oxford, England, on what turned out to be an auspicious date: January 8, 1942 -- the 300th anniversary of the death of astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei. A Cambridge University spokesman told CNN: "Professor Hawking is very ill and has been taken by ambulance to Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge." Professor Peter Haynes, head of the university's department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, said: "Professor Hawking is a remarkable colleague, we all hope he will be amongst us again soon." At Cambridge, he holds the position of Lucasian Professor Mathematics -- the prestigious post held from 1669 to 1702 by Sir Isaac Newton. Hawking has guest-starred, as himself, on Star Trek: The Next Generation and The Simpsons. He also said if he had the choice of meeting Newton or Marilyn Monroe, his choice would be Marilyn. In October, CNN's Becky Anderson interviewed Hawking. The following are some quotes from that interview: . "Over the last twenty years, observations have to a large extent confirmed the picture I painted in 'A Brief History of Time.' The one major development that was not anticipated was the discovery that the expansion of the universe is accelerating now, rather than slowing down... We live in the most probable of all possible worlds." CNN's Jennifer Pifer contributed to this report .

Physicist Stephen Hawking hospitalized Monday in "very ill" condition . 67-year-old suffers from degenerative condition known as Lou Gehrig's Disease . Hawking is considered by many to be world's greatest living scientist .

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BEIJING, China (CNN) -- One of the most destructive moments in Chinese history is bringing together -- at least temporarily -- this vast nation of more than a billion people, made up of disparate ethnic groups stretching across five time zones. Thousands chant "China, keep moving" during a rally in Chengdu's Tianfu Square. When millions of Chinese paused for three minutes of silence Monday, they personified the surge in patriotism and charity that has swept this country since a massive 7.9 magnitude earthquake leveled large sections of Sichuan province in southwestern China. Moments after the observance ended, chants of "Go, China, Go!" broke out in Tiananmen Square, where a Chinese military crackdown in 1989 left hundreds dead. Sentiments have changed since the days of the anti-government protests. "As Chinese we must be united," said a student. "We Chinese can do it!" Some of Monday's demonstrators waved Chinese flags while others hoisted banners with slogans like "Rebuild Sichuan!" iReport.com: Thousands rally in Chengdu . Horrific scenes of death and devastation -- covered heavily by the local media -- have triggered a surge of patriotism and charity. "When one is in trouble," the Chinese say, "help comes from all directions." In Beijing, Chinese officials, entertainers, athletes and artists attended a marathon concert, giving donations and calling on the public to give more. The benefit concert raised more than 1.51 billion yuan, or $216 million. More donations are pouring in through other channels. Watch report on how quake has united Chinese » . As of Sunday, Chinese nationals had donated more than 4.9 billion yuan ($700 million) in cash and goods for earthquake relief, according to China's Ministry of Civil Affairs. Live on Chinese TV, local businesses pledged to give money and build free housing for victims -- an unusual display of civic charity. As of last Saturday, Chinese enterprises had donated more than 3.5 billion yuan ($501 million) in cash and relief goods. "Traditionally the Chinese people don't share as much with strangers. They share a great deal among friends and family, but not with strangers," according to China analyst Zhang Daxing. At The Bookworm, a Beijing bookstore, residents drop off relief goods that are promptly shipped to disaster areas. "My guess would be about 350 boxes, which include kid's clothes, adult clothes, a lot of sleeping bags, tents, dried food, shoes, that type of stuff," said store owner Alex Pearson. Students in the Chinese capital have even taken to the street to collect donations. "Although we cannot go to Sichuan to save them, we can still help them with donated money," one student said. Analysts say this unprecedented display of charity is partly in response to the quick action already taken by Chinese officials to the emergency. The Chinese media have repeatedly shown Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao comforting survivors. Many believe this has inspired Chinese residents to do what they can to help. Meantime, a new image of China is emerging around the world. "The earthquake changed China's international image from an oppressor or an authoritarian government to a victim of natural disaster and human tragedy," said Wenfang Tang, professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh. The Chinese, at least for now, are more united as a people and more charitable, as citizens pull together in the wake of a massive earthquake. CNN's Sherisse Pham contributed to this report .

Destructive moment in Chinese history has helped bring people together . Chants of "Go, China, Go!" broke out after silence tribute to dead on Monday Sentiments have changed since the days of the anti-government protests .

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(CNN) -- The Pulitzer Prize winners for 2009 were announced Monday, with The New York Times capturing five of the awards. Writer Jon Meacham won a Pulitzer Prize in biography for "American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House." The Times garnered wins in the categories of breaking news reporting, investigative reporting, international reporting, criticism and feature photography. In the international reporting category, The Times won for its reporting on the battles in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the arts, "Olive Kitteridge" by Elizabeth Strout won for fiction, "Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II" by Douglas A. Blackmon won in the general nonfiction category, and "American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House" by Jon Meacham won for the category of biography. Among the winners in journalism categories were the Las Vegas (Nevada) Sun for public service, the San Diego (California) Union-Tribune's Steve Breen for editorial cartooning and columnist Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post for commentary. For the first time, all 14 Pulitzer journalism categories were open for competition from news organizations that publish only on the Internet. Entirely online entries were previously permitted in only two categories: breaking news coverage and breaking news photography . Since 2006, online content from newspaper Web sites had been permitted in all Pulitzer journalism categories, but online-only newspapers were not allowed to submit entries. Despite the opportunity, there were no winners from online only news sites. Web sites for print magazines and broadcast outlets are not eligible to enter, said Sig Gissler, administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes. Amy Mitchell, deputy director for the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, said that allowing online-only publications to apply for the prestigious award is recognition of the growing importance of online media. "Much of [media] comes from traditional press, but a lot is coming from non-traditional press as well, and that needs to be recognized along with what's being produced in traditional media," she said. "We've clearly hit a point now where we've seen the audience migration to the Web accelerate." Mitchell said a survey of online journalists conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism found some concerns about the possibility of online reporting changing the fundamental values of journalism. Those surveyed cited issues like a focus on speed and loss of accuracy as possible issues that could arise with journalism on the Web. But with those concerns, Mitchell said, comes the opportunity to tell stories in a multidimensional way. "We see some tremendous reporting that could not exist in former modes of communication," she said, observing that media platforms such as text, photo galleries and video can not only be connected but be used to connect journalists to Internet users and Internet users to each other. "Those are tremendous changes," she said. Robert M. Steele, the Eugene S. Pulliam Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism at DePauw University in Indiana, said the core values of accuracy and fairness have to be honored, no matter the method of reporting. Still, Steele said, further opening the Pulitzer Prizes to online publications "gives further weight to the role that digital journalism plays in this era." "In some ways, it's increased legitimacy for new forms of delivering journalism," Steele said. "It also heightens the discussion about the distinction between basic information and substantive journalism. Just because somebody throws something online doesn't mean it is journalism." David Plotz, editor of Slate, said his site did not apply for the Pulitzers despite what he believes was his publication's exceptional political, technology and business coverage. "We are not a hard-news site, and we don't do the kinds of stories and projects that have traditionally been awarded," Plotz said. Plotz said the recognition for online journalism is more than warranted. "It's an overdue acknowledgement that some of the best journalism in the world and in America is being created not for print publication but for places that live entirely on the Web," he said. "There's so much of it that doesn't ever get into a print publication and yet is as important to shaping the debate and to changing how people think about things as to anything you might read in one of our great newspapers or magazines." Pulitzer Prizes for journalism were also awarded to the following: Bettina Boxall and Julie Cart of the Los Angeles (California) Times for explanatory reporting; the Detroit (Michigan) Free Press Staff, and notably Jim Schaefer and M.L. Elrick and Ryan Gabrielson and Paul Giblin of the East Valley (Arizona) Tribune for local reporting; and the staff of the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times for national reporting. Also receiving awards were Lane DeGregory of the St. Petersburg Times for feature writing; Mark Mahoney of The Glens Falls (New York) Post-Star for editorial writing; and Patrick Farrell of The Miami (Florida) Herald for breaking news photography. In the arts, "Ruined" by Lynn Nottage won for drama; "The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family" by Annette Gordon-Reed won for history; "The Shadow of Sirius" by W.S. Merwin won the poetry category; "Double Sextet" by Steve Reich won for music.

Prizes were awarded Monday for excellence in journalism and the arts . For first time, online-only news sites could compete . Slate editor: overdue acknowledgement of quality Web-based journalism .

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Editor's note: Dan Buettner is the best-selling author of "The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who've Lived the Longest." Watch Buettner's reports from Greece all week on "AC360°" Greek-American Yiannis Karimalis, 73, lives in Ikaria nearly 40 years after a diagnosis of stomach cancer. Ikaria, GREECE (CNN) -- In 1970, when doctors diagnosed Greek-American Yiannis Karimalis with stomach cancer and only gave him a few months to live, he decided to move back to Ikaria, his birth island. There, he reasoned, he could be buried more inexpensively among his fellow Greeks. But when he moved back to the island he didn't die. He has lived nearly 40 years more. And when he returned to America on a recent visit, he discovered that his doctors were all dead. The people on this 99-square-mile Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea smugly tell this story as yet another example of what they've always known and scientists are now discovering: People in Ikaria live longer than in just about any other place in the world. A recent study of 90-year-old siblings, conducted by the National Hellenic Research Foundation, discovered 10 times more 90-year-old brothers and sisters here than the European average. Why is this important? Most scientists agree that the average human should live to age 90. (You have to have won the genetic lottery to live to 100.) But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says life expectancy in America is 78. Somewhere along the line, we're losing about a dozen years -- most of them to costly and potentially preventable chronic diseases such as heart attacks, diabetes and cancer. These diseases are dragging down our health care system and account for much of the reason why the National Institute on Aging says the average American suffers about three disabled end-of-life years during which they incur 90 percent of our lifelong health care costs. Ikarians are avoiding these diseases and reaching age 90 at a rate of about four times the rate that Americans do. They are getting the good years we're missing, dying quickly and less expensively. For the next two weeks, I'm leading "The Blue Zones" expedition, an AARP and National Geographic sponsored team of the world's best demographers, physicians, medical researchers and media specialists, to explore Ikarian longevity. We already have a few clues. Since at least the sixth century B.C., Icaria was known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as a health destination -- largely for its hot springs believed to relieve pain, joint problems and skin ailments. Our team has reviewed reports of high levels of radon in these baths and will be exploring a theory that chronic exposure to low-level radiation may help protect DNA against the ravages of aging. For much of the ensuing two millenniums, people here lived in relative isolation. The people here evolved a unique diet that we believe is a more heart-protective version of the Mediterranean diet. We're doing pharmacological analyses of dozens of herbal teas and unique honey produced by bees that draw pollen of thyme, fir and erica. We think we'll find anti-cancer, anti-oxidant and probiotic properties in these locally produced products. We also know that people here have a vastly different character than the rest of the Mediterranean. They have volcanic tempers that quickly subside. Despite living on harsh, steep terrain, they're known for relentless optimism and three-day parties. They don't get stressed by deadlines. They go to bed well after midnight, sleep late and take naps. Anecdotally, we know that most people over 90 are sexually active. Do these people possess the true secret to longevity? We're not sure yet, but we'll certainly distill a few clues about living longer, better. Ikarian wisdom may not help you live to 100. But at least they may help you outlive your doctor. Follow and vote to direct Dan's expedition at aarp.org/bluezones . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dan Buettner.

Yiannis Karimalis moved back to Greece in 1970 after learning he had months to live . Karimalis returned recently to the U.S. to find all his doctors had died . Karimalis' home -- Greek island Ikaria -- boasts among longest life expectancies . Team of experts are exploring Ikarian longevity .

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday amid tensions between the two countries about U.S. military incursions into Pakistan's tribal areas. Adm. Michael Mullen will meet with Pakistan's new prime minister and its military chief. Adm. Michael Mullen will meet with Pakistan's newly elected prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, and Pakistan's military chief, Gen. Parvez Kayani, Mullen's office said. Relations between the United States and Pakistan have been tense since the U.S. military sent ground forces into Pakistan's tribal regions earlier this month without Islamabad's permission. The incident prompted the Pakistani government to summon the U.S. ambassador to voice its disapproval, as well as deliver a "demarche" (a diplomatic petition or protest) through its ambassador in Washington. Last week, Kayani announced no foreign forces will be allowed to conduct operations inside Pakistan in light of the "reckless" U.S. military ground operation. Kayani said Pakistan's "territorial integrity ... will be defended at all cost and no external force is allowed to conduct operations ... inside Pakistan." His announcement came amid media reports that several months ago, President Bush authorized U.S. special forces to carry out ground assaults inside Pakistan without first seeking Islamabad's permission. Meanwhile, a suicide attack late Tuesday evening in the restive area of Swat killed three soldiers and wounded six others, the Pakistani military told CNN. Pakistan army spokesman Major Murad Khan said the driver of the suicide car bomb tried to ram the gate of a military checkpoint at a school in the Swat District. Troops shot from the check-post before the attacker reached his target, Khan said. The car exploded, and militants shot back as they ran away. The incident happened at a time when Muslims break their fasts in the month of Ramadhan. Swat militants loyal to banned religious leader Maulana Fazlullah have claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the military. The suicide attacker in the car was killed. A few others were also believed to have been killed or injured, but Khan said there were no confirmed numbers because it was dark and the militants removed the bodies of their dead and wounded. The explosion occurred at the Tutano Bandai school of Tehsil Kabal in Swat District in the North West Frontier Province. A military spokesman offer no additional details. CNN's Jamie McIntyre and Zein Basravi contributed to this report.

Adm. Michael Mullen to meet with Pakistan's new prime minister and military chief . Relations between U.S. and Pakistan tense since U.S. raid in Pakistani tribal region . Suicide attack kills 3 soldiers, wounds 6 others in Pakistan region of Swat .

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(CNN) -- A federal immigration board rejected an emergency appeal Friday for a stay of deportation filed by the lawyer for Nazi war crimes suspect John Demjanjuk. John Demjanjuk, shown at his 1993 Israel acquittal, is sought by Germany for alleged killings at a Nazi camp. The decision by the Department of Justice's Board of Immigration Appeals in Falls Church, Virginia, clears the way for Demjanjuk's deportation to Germany, where he is being sought for his alleged involvement during World War II in killings at Sobibor, a Nazi death camp in Poland. The deportation of Demjanjuk would close a chapter in one of the longest-running pursuits of an alleged Holocaust perpetrator in history, while also paving the way for an extraordinary German war crimes trial. Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement are now free to pick up Demjanjuk at any point and take him into custody for transport to Germany, a board official said. The appeals board rejected Demjanjuk's emergency stay request because it concluded "there is little likelihood of success that his pending motion to re-open the case will be granted," according to board officials. The pending motion argues that a deportation of Demjanjuk, 89, to Germany would constitute torture. "In the four years since his deportation was [initially] ordered, his health has seriously deteriorated," Demjanjuk's attorney, John Broadley, told CNN in a recent telephone interview. Broadley said Demjanjuk suffers from pre-leukemia, kidney problems, spinal problems and "a couple of types of gout." The board, however, has already signaled that argument will be rejected. Demjanjuk may make an additional expedited appeal for an emergency stay to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, though his chances of getting the board's ruling overturned are believed to be slim, according to Justice Department officials. Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center found irony in Broadley's argument for his client. "He wants to plead the sense of fairness that he regularly denied all of the victims at Sobibor," Hier said. Hier called Demjanjuk's comparison of his planned deportation to torture "preposterous coming from a person that served the [Nazi organization] S.S. in a death camp. It is a preposterous argument and insulting to the survivors of the Holocaust." Hier said that 250,000 Jews were killed at the camp, and that none of the guards who worked there was blameless. "You were there for one job: kill the Jews," he said. "And that's what they did full-time." He called the evidence against Demjanjuk "overwhelming." German authorities issued an arrest warrant for Demjanjuk on March 10, accusing him of being an accessory to 29,000 counts of murder as a guard at the death camp from March to September 1943. They studied an identification card provided by the U.S. Office of Special Investigations, and concluded it was genuine, before issuing the warrant. Demjanjuk, a retired autoworker living in Cleveland, Ohio, has been fighting charges of Nazi war crimes for more than two decades. He was previously extradited from the United States to Israel, where he was convicted in 1986 of being "Ivan the Terrible," a guard at the notorious Treblinka extermination camp. The conviction was overturned by Israeli courts on appeal, and he returned to the United States. The United States filed new charges against him in 1999, again alleging that he had been a concentration camp guard. He was stripped of U.S. citizenship and has been awaiting deportation since 2005, despite fighting his case all the way to the Supreme Court. Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian, says he fought in the Soviet army and later was a prisoner of war held by the Germans. CNN's Terry Frieden contributed to this report.

Ukrainian-born John Demjanjuk loses an appeal to avoid deportation . German authorities seek him for alleged involvement in Nazi camp killings . The retired autoworker denies all allegations . Demjanjuk, 89, lives with his wife in Cleveland, Ohio .

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(CNN) -- The Sri Lankan army launched an operation against Tamil rebels in the country's north early Monday, the military said, claiming to have rescued thousands of civilians trapped in a government safe zone. The Sri Lankan army has relaunched its attacks on Tamil rebels in the country's north. A rebel Web site, TamilNet, said government forces were engaged in a fresh ground offensive. A TamilNet correspondent in Vanni reported heavy shelling, rocket fire and gunfire. Thirty civilians died in shelling Sunday, rebels said. The government of Sri Lanka has been battling the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) rebels in a civil conflict that has lasted nearly 25 years. "Thousands of civilians who had been forcibly held by the LTTE terrorists in the government declared No Fire Zone (NFZ) were rescued early hours this morning, 20 April, as the troops engaged in a massive scale rescue mission, were able to open a safe passage for the civilians," the Ministry of Defense Web site said. More than 10,000 civilians are trying to seek refuge with soldiers, the military said. The upsurge in hostilities follows a two-day cessation last week for the Sinhala and Hindu New Year. The U.S. State Department on Thursday called for a cease-fire between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tigers to allow civilians to escape the fighting. "We call upon the government and military of Sri Lanka, and the Tamil Tigers, to immediately stop hostilities until the more than 140,000 civilians in the conflict area are safely out," acting spokesman Robert Wood said in a statement. "Both sides must immediately return to a humanitarian pause and both must respect the right of free movement of those civilian men, women and children trapped by the fighting." Watch the heavy toll of fighting on civilians » . A brief cessation of hostilities announced by the Sri Lankan government on April 12 allowed the United Nations and its partners to bring in aid, but a renewed government offensive has left civilians trapped in a war zone. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his humanitarian chief John Holmes called the brief halt in fighting inadequate and have pushed for a longer humanitarian pause in fighting. The most pressing concern now, according to Holmes, is the fact that more than 100,000 people are crowded in a "very small pocket of land" that is about five square miles, or about twice the size of New York's Central Park. "It is a very small area indeed for what we believe is a very large number of people," Holmes told reporters Wednesday. Overcrowding is also a problem in camps housing displaced people, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). As of Monday, some 65,000 displaced people were crammed into camps in Vavuniya, Jaffna and Mannar, with 35,000 more expected to arrive within 48 hours, the organization said in a statement. ' UNICEF said it feared for children trapped in the escalating fighting and is worried that the worst is yet to come. The group appealed for donations to help cover "the most immediate needs of the affected population in health and nutrition, water and sanitation, protection and education." The crowded population, primarily comprised of Tamil civilians, is subject to the continuing Sri Lankan government assaults. The British and French foreign ministers released a joint statement as well on Wednesday, saying that the Tamil Tigers are using Tamil civilians as human shields. The Tigers have been declared a terrorist organization by 32 countries, including the United States and the European Union. As many as 70,000 people have been killed since the conflict officially began in 1983. The International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday that it has helped evacuate more than 10,000 sick and injured patients, and their caregivers, from Putumattalan in rebel-held territory since February. "These evacuations have saved many lives," said Morven Murchinson, the Red Cross medical coordinator in Sri Lanka. "It is vital that they continue, because more sick and wounded people are arriving every day at the makeshift medical facilities in Putumattalan." The Red Cross says there's an acute shortage of medical supplies in the region, which it is trying to rectify.

NEW: Fears voiced by UNICEF for children trapped in the escalating fighting . Upsurge in hostilities follows cessation for New Year . U.N. humanitarian chief: Large number of people crowded in very small area . Tamil Tigers, Sri Lanka government locked in conflict lasting nearly 25 years .

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(CNN) -- The women hockey players gathered at the center of the rink and prayed. Tears wet their cheeks and most held hands. Then they lit 10 candles, the number on the jersey of the missing teammate, the one with the huge smile and even bigger heart, who died in last week's plane crash. Madeline Loftus, 24, was killed aboard Flight 3407. She was returning to Buffalo for a reunion hockey game. Madeline Loftus, known as Maddy, was one of 49 people to die aboard Continental Connection Flight 3407 last Thursday. She was returning to Buffalo State College to play in a reunion hockey game on Saturday, to meet up with her old classmates to play the game she loved so dearly. "She popped into my head every time I got back to the bench," said former teammate Emma Wadsworth. Breaking down in tears, she said the game was filled with sadness because "Maddy wasn't here." She described Loftus as an "awesome teammate, a beautiful person always smiling, and always upbeat, and ready to cheer you up if you were having a bad day." Watch a promising life cut short » . "She was just amazing," Wadsworth said. Her teammates said they decided to play the game out, because Loftus would've wanted them to play on. Loftus' No. 10 jersey hung from the bench near her friends and former players. "It's a really hard time for her teammates, for her friends, for her family," said teammate Janelle Junior. Loftus, 24, of Parsippany, New Jersey, played two seasons at Buffalo State from 2002 to 2004 before transferring to St. Mary's University in Minnesota after her sophomore year. At St. Mary's, she was a marketing major who starred on the hockey team from 2004 to 2006. While there, Loftus helped form the Cardinal Athletic Council, a student-athlete outreach program to help with community service projects. "Madeline was an important part of the university and athletic communities. Our thoughts and prayers now turn to Madeline's family, friends and teammates as they cope with this sudden loss," St. Mary's athletic director Nikki Fennern said in a statement. "Maddy was the first senior to graduate from my program. She will always hold a special place in my heart," said Terry Mannor, St. Mary's women's hockey coach. "Everyone who knew her will remember someone full of life and compassion. She was loved by everyone and will be greatly missed." Officials in Buffalo have said that it may take several days before all the bodies are recovered from the crash site, as investigators work through freezing temperatures and piles of wreckage. See photos of the crash site » . About 1,000 people gathered at a church in western New York Monday to remember the crash victims. The community memorialized the 50 victims, with religious leaders from Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Hindu communities offering words of sympathy to the community. "We've gathered today because western New York has entered a season of grieving," said Pastor Karl Eastlack of the Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church. Each speaker emphasized that everyone in the community is connected by the tragedy. One leader said we "gather in our common desire to console one another." All 49 passengers and crew members aboard the 74-seat turboprop were killed when the plane crashed into a home in Clarence Center, New York, on Thursday night. A 61-year-old man in the house was also killed. While investigators try to piece together the cause of the crash, portraits of those who died aboard the flight have emerged: . • Alison Des Forges spent four years in Rwanda documenting the 1994 genocide and had testified about that atrocity and the current situation in central Africa before U.N. and congressional panels. • Beverly Eckert was the widow of Sean Rooney, who died in the World Trade Center in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. After Sean's death, Eckert co-founded Voices of September 11, an advocacy group for survivors of the attacks and families of those killed. • Gerry Niewood was traveling with jazz guitarist Coleman Mellett for a show with musician Chuck Mangione and the Buffalo Philharmonic at Kleinhans Music Hall. • Co-pilot Rebecca Shaw's father said she loved to fly and "couldn't believe she'd get paid" when she took the job. Learn more about the victims . On the ice rink in Buffalo Saturday, Loftus' friends played with a heavy heart. This would have been her first time on the ice with her former Buffalo State teammates since her playing days. Jessica Aykroyd said she had spoken with Loftus right before she left for the airport. "The last thing I have is: Can't wait to see you," Aykroyd said. Lindsay Welch said simply, "Her friends and hockey is what she was all about." So passionate about hockey, Loftus was the first female to play on the boys' team in high school. In college, when she wasn't playing, she worked as a student assistant for the ice rink. "She was a great student, she was a great hockey player and just a great person. Everybody loved being around her," said rink manager Jim Fowler. Those who knew her in Minnesota agreed. "Her classmates were always eager to work with her on projects," said Thomas Marpe, dean of St. Mary's School of Business. "Maddy was enthusiastic about life and especially about women's hockey." CNN's Ines Ferre contributed to this report.

Madeline Loftus was a beloved student, hockey player who died aboard Flight 3407 . The 24-year-old was returning to Buffalo to play in a collegiate reunion game . Her former teammates played the game Saturday with a heavy heart . "She popped into my head every time I got back to the bench," former teammate says .

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(CNN) -- Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen has claimed responsibility for Friday's suicide bombing attack on a building housing Yemeni security forces. Al Qaeda in Yemen have claimed that Ahmed bin Said bin Omar al-Mashjari, right, carried out Friday's attack. "This attack was carried out in revenge for our brothers whose blood is on the hands of the infidel Yemeni forces," according to an e-mailed statement that included a photo of the alleged suicide attacker. The photo identifies the attacker as Ahmed bin Said bin Omar al-Mashjari -- also known as Abu Dajjana al-Hadarmi -- from Yemen's Hadramout governate where the attack took place. He is standing next to another man whose face is covered in front of a black-and-white banner. Both men have weapons slung across their shoulders; guns and ammunition belts are also pictured beneath the banner in the background. Al-Mashjari is wearing a black and white head covering, but his face is visible. The e-mailed statement was dated July 25, the day of the attack, but it was distributed and posted online on Sunday. According to Yemen's state-run news agency SABA, a suicide car bomber crashed the white 2003 KIA into the gates of the security camp in the southern city of Sayoun on Friday, prompting guards to open fire on the attacker. The SABA report gave no details on casualties. Yemen's Interior Ministry said four people were killed and 12 were injured, but the Yemen Post, an English-language newspaper that covers events in Yemen, put the number at 10 dead and about a dozen wounded. Hadramout's governor Saleh al-Khanbashi described the bombing as a criminal terrorist act, and threatened to track down and bring to justice those responsible, SABA reported. CNN Senior Arab Affairs Editor Octavia Nasr contributed to this report .

NEW: Web site shows photo of alleged suicide attacker along with statement . Al Qaeda's Yemen branch claims responsibility for suicide bombing attack . Car bomb exploded at a building housing security forces Friday in southern city . Sources in the country put the death toll from blast between 4 and 10 .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- North Korea is to blow up a key part of its controversial Yongbyon nuclear reactor on Friday. Hyun Hak-Bong (right), North Korea's deputy negotiator to six-party talks, crosses the border into South Korea on June 5. The destruction of the plant's cooling tower is part of an agreement with the United States aimed at denuclearizing the Korean peninsula in exchange for loosening some restrictions on the highly secretive Communist country. The North Korean government has invited news organizations, including CNN, to witness the event. Earlier this year, Pyongyang agreed to disable its nuclear reactor and provide a full accounting of its plutonium stockpile, "acknowledge" concerns about its proliferation activities and its uranium enrichment activity, and agree to continue cooperation with a verification process to ensure no further activities are taking place. North Korea has been taking Yongbyon's main reactor apart, but imploding the cooling tower is an exceptionally important psychological step given that the highly recognizable shape of the structure is synonymous with nuclear power plants. The United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, says it would take a year to rebuild if North Korea decided to go back on its agreement, and that the construction could not be done in secret. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended U.S. diplomacy toward North Korea last week, saying the deal with Pyongyang made Asia and the U.S. safer. Speaking at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, Rice said that "North Korea will soon give its declaration of nuclear programs to China." China is the host of the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program, along with Russia, South Korea, Japan and the United States. Rice spoke in advance of her upcoming trip to Asia where she will be attending a meeting of G8 foreign ministers and meeting with her Asian counterparts. Rice said once North Korea submits its declaration, President Bush will notify Congress he intends to remove North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism and scrap some sanctions levied against North Korea because of nuclear concerns. But she noted that there would be no practical effect to loosening the restrictions because North Korea still was under the same sanctions because of other areas of U.S. law. Rice said a 45-day review would then begin to see if North Korea is telling the truth and living up to its end of the deal struck in the six-party talks. "Before those actions go into effect, we would continue to assess the level of North Korean cooperation in helping to verify the accuracy and completeness of its declaration," she said. "And if that cooperation is insufficient, we will respond accordingly." The United States softened its demand that North Korea publicly admit to having a highly enriched uranium program and to providing Syria with nuclear technology, key unanswered questions that have left negotiations stalled for months. North Korea has already handed over about 18,000 documents on its nuclear past to the U.S., which the U.S. says are critical to verify North Korea's claims. Rice said that the deal with North Korea wasn't perfect but offered the U.S. the best chance to learn about North Korea's nuclear history. "We must keep the broader goal in mind: the elimination of North Korea's nuclear weapons and programs, all of them," she said. "North Korea has said that it is committed to this goal. We'll see." Rice said that "no final agreement can be concluded" unless the U.S. verifies North Korea's claims. CNN State Department Correspondent Elise Labott contributed to this report .

North Korea plans to destroy nuclear plant's cooling tower . Implosion is part of an agreement with the United States . U.N. says the cooling tower would take a year to rebuild . Long-term aim is to rid the Korean peninsula of nuclear weapons .

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Police officers responsible for protecting the British royal family handled firearms when drunk, traded pornography and steroids and sat on Queen Elizabeth II's throne in comical poses, it has been alleged in a London court. The former royal protection officer was responsible for security at Buckingham Palace. The allegations were made Tuesday by John Cooper, the lawyer for former royal protection officer Paul Page, who is accused of defrauding colleagues and friends to fund a life of luxury, The British Press Association reported. According to PA, the claims were made during a lengthy cross-examination of Adam McGregor, a colleague of Page who left service at London's Buckingham Palace in 2005, who has accused the former officer of "conning" him out of thousands of dollars. At one point Cooper "suggested" there had been a procedure among armed officers at the palace whereby one officer on duty would sleep while the others kept watch for their superior. McGregor denied any knowledge of this and all other allegations of wrongdoing among his colleagues at the iconic Royal residence. However, when pressed further he did admit to sitting on one of the thrones, but did not recall doing any "comical poses." The court also heard that officers protecting the royals lost more than £250,000 ($365,800) to a spread betting venture called "The Currency Club," one of a number of apparently successful sidelines Page allegedly set up to clear spiraling debts, PA said. According to the BBC, Page extracted around £3 million ($4.4 million) from some 57 lenders or investors. Cooper suggested that McGregor had been "one of those police officers" using mobile patrols to deliver cash to other police officers based in Royal Protection who were involved in financial matters. The accusation was again denied by McGregor. He instead claimed he had been "totally sucked in" by Page. "I was totally sucked in by Paul he is a very charismatic person," he said, before adding that he had acted "very naively and very stupidly" in some of his dealings with his former colleague. The prosecution claimed much of the money was promptly laundered by Page's wife before being gambled away, as Page himself hid his dishonesty behind a " veneer of credibility" fueled by a fleet of expensive cars and claims he was a highly "adept" property developer and market speculator, PA said. Father of five Page, 37, from Essex in south-east England, has denied five charges -- two of fraudulent trading, one of intimidation, threatening to take revenge and making a threat to kill between January 1, 2003 and March 30, 2007. His wife Laura, 42, denied "being concerned in an arrangement facilitating dealings with criminal property," intimidation and threatening to kill.

Paul and Laura Page accused of defrauding colleagues to fund a life of luxury . Page's lawyer suggested other royal officers were involved in wrongdoing . Prosecution: Page's colleagues lost $365,800 to a spread betting scam . Royal Protection service responsible for security of Britain's Royal family .

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(CNN) -- Former Italian international star Filippo Inzaghi scored a hat-trick as AC Milan went second in Serie A with a 5-1 win over Torino in the San Siro on Sunday. Beckham and Mathieu Flamini take part in an unusual goal celebration in the San Siro. The legendary goalscorer has now put away nine in the last six matches but it was his combination with England international David Beckham which electrified the Milan fans. Beckham, who had sat out the last two games because of a shoulder injury, set up Inzaghi for his opening two goals in the 13th and 37th minutes from a corner and a clever chip, both headed home. After the interval, Inzaghi completed his hat-trick on the hour mark before Kaka added a penalty for the fourth. Ivan Franceschini pulled one back for Torino in the 80th minute, but Massimo Ambrosini rounded off the Milan scoring in the final minute. The win sees Milan level on points with Juventus but with a better goal difference. They trail leaders Inter by 10 points. In the battle for the fourth and final Champions League qualifying spot, AS Roma beat Lecce 3-2 with captain Francesco Totti scoring twice. Fifth-placed Fiorentina hardly helped their cause with a 3-1 defeat to Udinese, missing the chance to move a place higher after Genoa lost 1-0 at home to Lazio on Saturday. Improving Roma are now three points behind Fiorentina and five adrift of fourth-placed Genoa. Kwadwo Asamoah put Udinese ahead in the 10th minute lead and Gaetano D'Agostino doubled the lead from the penalty spot early in the second half. Dario Dainelli pulled one back for La Viola after 67 minutes but D'Agostino's second sealed three points.

Inzaghi continues impressive scoring streak with another hat-trick . Returning Beckham supplies assists for opening two goals in San Siro . Francesco Totti scores twice as AS Roma beat Lecce 3-2 .

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(Entertainment Weekly) -- Spike Lee's last film, the gratifyingly tense and tricky "Inside Man," was celebrated -- rightly -- for the way that Lee finally jumped, feet first, into the studio-genre-movie game. Director Spike Lee poses for a shot during the filming of "Miracle at St. Anna" in Rome, Italy. He cooked up a gourmet-popcorn heist thriller and stamped every moment with his personality. Lee, until now, has never made a movie -- good or bad -- that wasn't unmistakably his. His latest, "Miracle at St. Anna," is the first Hollywood feature to tell the story of the African-American soldiers who fought in the U.S. armed forces during World War II , and as such it's a movie with a monumental mission. Unfortunately, that's more or less the only monumental thing about it. "Miracle" isn't powerful, it's muddled and diffuse, and the disappointment of the film begins with what a hard time I had finding Spike Lee in it. Based on a 2002 novel by James McBride, who also wrote the screenplay, the movie has a drifting, scattershot structure and no real organizing tone or style (if you wondered what Lee's frozen-figure-on-receding-background shots might look like in a wartime setting, then keep wondering). The bizarrely contrived framing device is set in the 1980s, when a postal worker named Hector Negron (Laz Alonso) mutters in anger at an old John Wayne war flick on TV, then shoots and kills a man who shows up to buy stamps. (He surely has his reasons, but does he really get away with stashing a loaded Luger under his post-office window each day?) Watch Spike Lee talk about the film » . After his arrest, Hector won't talk, but a reporter finds a clue in the form of a priceless artifact hidden in his apartment: the head of a statue that once adorned a bridge in Florence that was wrecked by bombs during World War II. From this labored and gimmicky setup, the film flashes back to the itch and fear of battle, as Hector, along with other members of the all-black 92nd Infantry Division and its ''Buffalo Soldiers,'' stalks the Tuscan countryside. It's September 1944, and as they try to cross the Serchio River, the men are ambushed. The sequence has thunderous explosions, jittery editing, blown-up bodies -- everything but the virtuosity of staging that might have made the chaos and carnage revelatory instead of just a Saving Private Ryan rehash. Four members of the division end up stranded behind enemy lines, all but abandoned by a racist commander. In addition to Negron, there's Staff Sgt. Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke), a college-educated stoic devoted to his service; Sgt. Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy), furious at the world and a loose cannon, with no loyalty to the country he's fighting for; and Pvt. Sam Train (Omar Benson Miller), a starry-eyed oversize simpleton who rescues, and befriends, an Italian urchin (Matteo Sciabordi). The dramatic focal point, if you can call it that, is the war of wills between Stamps and Cummings. These two play out a version of the assimilate-versus-agitate debate that has echoed through many decades of African- American life, though this one would be more convincing if Ealy, a dynamic actor, had been asked to project his anger more in period, with a little less proto-gangsta recklessness. The men arrive at a picturesque village, where they mingle with the locals and Stamps and Cummings stoke their rivalry over Renata (Valentina Cervi), a married woman who is lovely in a saintly way. The film then veers into an endless, murky subplot about the Italian resistance from which it never recovers. "Miracle at St. Anna" wants to do too many things at once to do any of them with much verve. It aspires to be a war epic, but it's dominated less by combat than by flat, meandering talk. It wants to salute the flesh-and-blood valor of the Buffalo Soldiers, but these unsung heroes are treated as such impersonally symbolic and stiff-jointed types that their heroism shines only faintly. The movie tries to be raw and real, yet it isn't above trotting out a tyke who might have stepped out of Cinema Paradiso II to tag along with the soldiers as a mascot of sentiment. There are vile Nazis on hand -- and also a nice Nazi who does a really good deed. "Miracle at St. Anna" winds up as a pastiche of racial-historical correction, showboat atrocity, murder mystery, love story, and windy meditation. Is it any wonder that it's less than the sum of its ambitious parts? As odd as it may sound to say about a war film, though, the real trouble with "Miracle" is that Lee's filmmaking is joyless. EW Grade: C- . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . Copyright 2009 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.

Spike Lee's film tells story of African-American soldiers during World War II . "Miracle" isn't powerful but muddled and diffuse, reviewer writes . Movie based on a 2002 novel by James McBride who also wrote screenplay . Reviewer: "Real trouble with 'Miracle' is that Lee's filmmaking is joyless"

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(CNN) -- A California Sunday-school teacher accused of killing a young girl may have abducted another child, police said. Melissa Huckaby is charged with killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, who was a friend of her own daughter. Melissa Huckaby, 28, was arrested earlier this month and charged with killing and raping 8-year-old Sandra Cantu, who was taken from a mobile home park in Tracy, California. Police said Huckaby was named in a January police report about the four-hour disappearance of a 7-year-old girl from the same mobile home park, CNN affiliate KOVR reported. After Huckaby returned the girl, the girl had to be taken to a hospital because she was under the influence of a strong muscle relaxant. Watch Nancy Grace for details » . Police were called to the mobile home park after the girl's mother reported her missing, according to KOVR. Police discovered that the girl was at a park with Huckaby. Huckaby said she had permission to take the girl, but the girl's family disputed that claim. About five hours after the girl was returned to her family, they discovered that she was under the influence of the drug. "Her speech was slurred. She could barely walk. She could barely stand," the girl's older sister told KOVR. Police could not prove that Huckaby had drugged the girl and no arrest was made then. On April 11, Huckaby was arrested and charged with killing and raping Sandra Cantu. Huckaby -- a Sunday-school teacher who lives in the same mobile home park as Sandra's family -- has been charged with murder, kidnapping, the performance of a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 14, and rape by instrument. If convicted, she would face the death penalty or life in prison without parole, authorities said.

NEW: Melissa Huckaby named in police report on January missing girl case . Huckaby charged in slaying of 8-year-old neighbor . She faces special circumstances including kidnap, rape by instrument . Decision on whether to seek the death penalty will come later .

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(CNN) -- The sagging economy is taking a bite out of federal school-meal subsidies as more students take advantage of free or low-price breakfasts and lunches, nutritionists say in a report released Thursday. About 425,000 more students are participating in the National School Lunch Program, a group reports. The School Nutrition Association surveyed more than 130 school nutrition directors from 38 states to produce its report, "Saved by the Lunch Bell: As Economy Sinks, School Nutrition Program Participation Rises." The nonprofit organization said that about 425,000 more students are participating in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program in 2008-09 than in the previous school year. That represents an average increase of 2.5 percent from 2007-08, the report says. These numbers hold true despite a slight decline in the number of students enrolled in public schools this school year, according to the study. More than three-quarters of the districts surveyed reported a rise in the number of students eating free meals under the U.S. Department of Agriculture program, the report says. Many of the school district employees who monitor the food programs complain that the federal subsidies fall far short of the rising costs. According to the association, the estimated average cost to prepare a school meal is $2.90, but the federal reimbursement is $2.57. School lunch programs are experiencing a potential loss of at least $4.5 million per school day, based on 30 million school lunches provided, the group says. The good news, according to association President Katie Wilson, is that "this year, when hunger is more common, more students are able to eat a balanced, nutritious meal at school." Meals served under the USDA programs must meet nutrition guidelines based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For lunches, that means no more than 30 percent of calories can come from fat and fewer than 10 percent from saturated fat.

Number of students eating subsidized meals rises 2.5 percent, nonprofit says . Use of USDA programs rises even as enrollment falls, report notes . Schools complain that USDA doesn't cover full cost of meals . School Nutrition Association surveyed 130 school food directors in 38 states .

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(CNN) -- Take a handful of screen goddesses and a clutch of matinee idols, put them together and one thing's sure to happen. Nobody does love like they do in the movies: this month on the Screening Room, we've picked our favorite silver-screen romantic moments. No contest: Bogie and Bergman in undoubtedly the silver screen's top romantic movie moment . From rom-coms to heartbreak, these are the scenes that skip the schmaltz to make us believe that sometimes, Cupid really does get it right. And, just for balance, we've also picked those moments that made us cringe -- or long for a sick-bucket ... Don't agree? Think we've missed one? Post your comments to the Screening Room blog and we'll publish the best. Read other CNN viewers' favorite romantic movie moments, and tell us yours >> . 1. Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) Yep, it's a no-brainer. In a world full of slushy, happily-ever-after rom-coms, Bogie and Bergman find true romance in heartache, sacrificing their romance for the greater good. Bogie's "hill of beans" speech still gets us every time. Oh, the tragedy! Still, they'll always have Paris ... 2. City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931) Truly, madly sweetly: Blind flower-girl Virginia Cherrill recognizes Chaplin's tramp when she presses a coin into his hand. Deeply moved, as the scale of his sacrifice dawns on her, she wells up -- as did we; his expression shifts from shame to tentative delight. The most touching film moment of all time? 3. Roman Holiday (William Wyler, 1953) Audrey Hepburn's princess falls for Gregory Peck's noble hack (surely that's an oxymoron!) -- but while the ending is bittersweet, it's the playful scene at the Mouth of Truth, with its pitch-perfect comic timing, that captured our hearts. 4. From Here to Eternity (Fred Zinnemann, 1953) "Nobody ever kissed me the way you do." Army sergeant Burt Lancaster and troubled wife Deborah Kerr find refuge in their torrid, adulterous affair; the heat between them is tangible. With the tumultuous waves crashing over the embracing couple, Zinnemann creates one of old Hollywood's most iconic images. 5. Amélie (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2001) A sheer moment of joy, as Amélie (Audrey Tautou) zooms through Paris on the back of Nino's (Mathieu Kassovitz) bicycle. The laughing couple freewheel down the cobbled streets past Sacré Coeur, filled with the delirious exuberance of new love. Ah, c'est l'amour. 6. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977) The highlight of Woody Allen's confessional masterpiece is Annie's (Diane Keaton) first meeting with Alvy (Allen) at the tennis club where we're blown away by her vitality, ebullient charm and fresh contrast with Allen's wound-up, navel-gazing New Yorker. La-di-da, la-di-da, la la! 7. La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960) Fellini's beautifully choreographed tableau in the Trevi Fountain sees young journalist Marcello (Marcello Mastroianni) rendered helpless as buxom screen goddess Sylvia (Anita Eckberg) draws him into her spell. A paean to those fleeting moments between sunset and dawn when reality slips away to reveal something altogether more magical. Talking of which ... 8. Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, 1995) They've no time for mix-tapes, so Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) head to a record store's music booth to acid-test their compatibility. In its confined space, they nervously avoid each other's eyes, so painfully aware of each other's physical presence. A moment that evokes strong memories of those sweet first-love connections. 9. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003) Bob (Bill Murray), a movie star well past his sell-by date, and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a neglected newlywed, are two lost souls who are cast adrift, and come together, in Tokyo. Their parting moment, when Bob whispers his secret farewell to Charlotte, is all the more romantic for its mystery. 10. When Harry Met Sally (Rob Reiner, 1989) Forget the orgasm scene in Katz's Deli. Forget the strolls in scenic Central Park. After ninety minutes of vacillating, Harry and Sally have one final bout of verbal sparring before they finally get it together for good. Now that's what we call New Year fireworks. ....................... And our most cringe-worthy moments... Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994) Out of the frying pan, into the fire: Hugh Grant escapes Bridezilla to pour his heart out to Andie MacDowell, who utters her painfully corn-dog response: "Is it still raining? I hadn't noticed." You could have had Kristin Scott Thomas, you dolt! Howard the Duck (Willard Huyck, 1986) Please, no! Down in B-movie hell, we hid our eyes and winced as lovely Lea Thompson attempted to seduce a rather startled duck-shaped alien. There should be laws against that sort of thing. Wait a minute, there ARE laws against that sort of thing! The English Patient (Anthony Mingella, 1996) "I've watched you - on verandahs, at garden parties, at the races ... " Ralph Fiennes turns stalker in Mingella's improbable mush-fest. And don't even start us on the bit where he runs across the desert. As Seinfeld's Elaine says, "Quit telling your stupid story about the stupid desert and just die already! Die!" Titanic (James Cameron, 1997) Timeless romance? We think not. As Leo slips away, Kate Winslet's star-crossed lover cries, "I'll never let go, Jack. I promise." And then does -- scurrying as quickly as her hands will paddle her to the safety of a lifeboat, a warm blanket and a nice cup of tea. Ah, the relief. Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones (George Lucas, 2002) "I've been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life." Any scene featuring Hayden Christensen's moody teen has us wincing, but he's most awkwardly shown up against Natalie Portman, who struggles nobly through Lucas' plodding love-lines. Georgie, please, leave out the romance. We're begging you. Don't agree? Think we've missed one? Sound off and read others' thoughts in the Screening Room blog. E-mail to a friend .

Films full of romance include "Roman Holiday," "City Lights," "Amélie" Bogart and Bergman's "Casablanca" farewell tops the list . List by no means complete; send us yours .

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BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Friends and acquaintances of Philip Markoff, a medical student accused of killing a woman he may have met through a Craigslist online ad, described the 23-year-old as a model student. Medical student Philip Markoff, 23, appears in court Tuesday in Boston, Massachusetts. "My girlfriend actually rode the elevator with him a lot alone; it's kind of freaking her out now," said Patrick Sullivan, who lived in the same apartment building as Markoff in Quincy, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb. "She thought he was kind of the all-American, good-looking guy," Sullivan said. "When she saw him on TV yesterday, she even remarked, 'I can't believe it's him. I always thought he had such a great smile, and he was so nice to me.'" James Kehoe, a friend of Markoff's from the State University of New York at Albany, where both attended college, said Markoff was "one of the best students I've probably ever encountered." "He would never put anything in front of his work," he said. "He had great aspirations to be a doctor." Markoff, a second-year student at Boston University's School of Medicine, is charged with killing 26-year-old Julissa Brisman of New York on April 14 at Boston's Copley Marriott Hotel. Watch acquaintances describe a smart, good-looking guy » . Markoff was arraigned Tuesday and is being held without bail. His attorney, John Salsberg, told reporters after the hearing that Markoff is "not guilty of the charges. He has his family's support. I have not received any document or report or piece of evidence other than what I heard in the courtroom. All I have at the moment are words -- no proof of anything." A Boston University spokeswoman said the school suspended Markoff, who has no criminal record, when it learned of the charges on Monday. "This was a brutal, vicious crime. Savage," Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley told reporters. "And it shows that Philip Markoff is a man who's willing to take advantage of women -- to hurt them, to beat them, to rob them." A procedural not-guilty plea was entered on Markoff's behalf, Conley said. Evidence from the scene suggests that Brisman "put up a fight," prosecutor Jennifer Hickman said during the hearing Tuesday. Police have said that Brisman, a model, advertised as a masseuse on Craigslist, a popular online classifieds service. She suffered blunt head trauma, Hickman said, and was shot three times at close range. One of the bullets passed through her heart, killing her, she said. Markoff is also charged in connection with the April 10 robbery of a woman at a Westin Hotel in Boston. In that case, the woman made arrangements to meet a man through Craigslist for a massage at the hotel, but was held at gunpoint and bound, Hickman said. She was robbed of $800 and personal items and left tied to a door handle with duct tape over her mouth, the prosecutor said in court Tuesday. The victim was not identified. Megan McAllister, who identified herself as Markoff's fiancee, maintained his innocence in an e-mail sent to ABC News. McAllister said Markoff "is the wrong man" and "was set up." "Unfortunately, you were given wrong information as was the public," she wrote. "All I have to say to you is Philip is a beautiful person inside and out and could not hurt a fly!" She accused Boston police of "trying to make big bucks by selling this false story to the TV stations. What else is new??" Authorities believe the motive in Brisman's death was robbery, Conley told reporters. In executing a search warrant at Markoff's home, police found a firearm, along with restraints and duct tape, he said. Surveillance videos from the hotel where Brisman was killed showed a tall, clean-cut young blond man in a black windbreaker leaving the property, according to Boston police, who had sought public assistance in identifying the man. Police traced the Internet communications with Brisman to an e-mail account that had been opened the day before her death, Conley said. Using Internet provider information, they found the computer was at Markoff's residence in Quincy. Authorities put the home under surveillance, Conley said, and "the case just begins to build from there." Markoff, meanwhile, is "bearing up," Salsberg said. "It's obviously a difficult time for anybody in these circumstances with the charges that have been brought against him. ... He's pleaded not guilty. He is not guilty." Authorities in Boston are working with police in Warwick, Rhode Island, on what could be a related case. On April 16 at a Holiday Inn Express in Warwick, a man tied up and demanded money from a 26-year-old dancer who had posted a Craigslist advertisement, Warwick Police Chief Col. Stephen McCartney said. The robbery was interrupted when the woman's husband entered the room. After pointing his gun at the husband, the suspect fled, McCartney said. He said the incident "may be related to similar crimes occurring in the Boston area," but that had not been determined. Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster told CNN the company is "horrified and deeply saddened that our community services have been associated in any way whatsoever with a crime of violence." He promised that Craigslist will evaluate the incident to see whether additional measures could be introduced to protect users. CNN's Mary Snow and Randi Kaye contributed to this report.

Procedural not-guilty plea entered in Craigslist slaying case . Suspect Philip Markoff has been suspended from Boston University med school . Evidence suggests that victim Julissa Brisman "put up a fight," prosecutor says . Markoff also charged in connection with an April 10 robbery .

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(CNN) -- The mysterious deaths of 21 prized polo horses Sunday at a club in Florida provides a peek inside the private world of a sport that generally is off limits to all but the very wealthy. The Lechuza Caracas polo team may not recover from the loss of 21 ponies for years, a polo executive says. The University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville and the state-run Kissimmee Diagnostic Laboratories near Orlando are conducting necropsies on the animals. Initial tests failed to reveal a cause, said Liz Compton, a representative of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Tissues, organ samples and blood are now being screened for toxic agents, she said. Scientists have ruled out any contagious disease because the animals died so quickly, said state Agriculture Department spokesman Mark Fagan. Authorities initially requested necropsies for only the eight horses that were insured, according to Sarah Carey, a representative of the veterinary school, which got the bodies of 15 horses. Later, the order was expanded to all 15 horses, she said. The U.S. Polo Association is among the parties cooperating in the investigation. "In the meantime, we all mourn the loss of these horses," U.S. Polo Association Executive Director Peter Rizzo said in a news release. "There are no words to describe the grief and sadness shared by everyone -- particularly the devastated owners of those magnificent horses." Watch what investigators are studying » . Players form strong emotional bonds with the horses they ride, said John Wash, operations president of the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida, where the horses fell ill. "I've heard a couple of polo players who were affected with this loss the other day, a couple of them I don't think have left their house since Sunday night," Wash said. "There were a lot of tears there -- these big, tough guys just on their hands and knees, crying over what happened." The U.S. Open Polo Championship that was interrupted by the tragedy will resume Wednesday with semifinal matches, Wash said. Lechuza Caracas, the team whose horses died, was offered spare mounts from other competitors so they could remain in the competition, but the devastated team chose to withdraw, Wash said. The Wellington tournament is one of the sport's three major championships, on a par with the U.S. Open in tennis or golf. Authorities say they believe that the competition facility is safe for the other horses and that whatever killed the 21 horses entered their bodies away from the site. Fifteen of the animals fell ill shortly before they were to compete Sunday; some died immediately and others lingered for almost an hour. Six others died overnight Sunday to Monday as they were kept in the same trailer in Wellington. Animals are not kept overnight at the competition site, so no special precautions are in place regarding food, water or bedding, Wash said. Organizers are planning a short memorial and laying of wreaths in honor of the horses, he said. Grief counselors are on hand at the facility to help employees deal with the trauma, Wash said. "The scene can be described as almost like an airplane crash that involved not human life, but horses," he said. "It was horrific." Polo ponies in the United States are not drug-tested, but the U.S. Polo Association has been considering taking up the practice for several years, Wash said. "People are calling for reform, and maybe that needs to happen, but until toxicology reports come back, and autopsy reports, we don't even know if [Sunday's incident is] anything related to that." The Humane Society of the United States has no record of abuse of polo ponies, but that may be a function of the sport's exclusive nature, society spokeswoman Holly Hazard said. "We are learning about this, as is everyone else," she said. "It may be that perhaps because it's not televised or not as popular as other sports, it's not something that either our constituents or our program is particularly focused on. "But if there are either performance-enhancing drugs or some problem that is associated with this, we will investigate and we will offer a reward to bring whoever is responsible to justice." Keith Dane, director of the Humane Society's equine protection program, was en route to Florida on Tuesday to interview people involved in the incident and keep an eye on the investigation, Hazard said. No evidence has been brought forth suggesting someone deliberately poisoned the animals. "I guess everything's possible," Wash said. "I've heard all different rumors. I don't know if I even want to go there and think about that." Compton, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services representative, said authorities have seen no evidence of criminal activity in the case. "Clearly, law enforcement has gotten involved, given the complexity and the scope of the deaths, and they are fact-finding and gathering information, and once we have a specific cause of death, then they can determine where their investigation will go," she said. The devastated team, Lechuza Caracas, is one of the top teams in the world. The loss could set it back for years, Wash said. "It's just like baseball or basketball or football," he said. "You're taking years of grooming, training, nurturing to create, really, a first string of horses. And for four polo players, it takes anywhere from six to eight horses per polo player to play a game of polo. So if you're taking 21 horses, they're probably 21 of your first-string horses ... and you've just lost every one of your best players. "It's not like you could just go out and buy 21 new horses and start at that point." Polo ponies are thoroughbreds, many of them former racehorses retrained for the game, but they cover a wide range of ages, Wash said. When they get too old to play, they are retired to pasture or stud, he said. "A polo horse is treated quite well," Wash said. "In fact, when you're a polo horse, you might play three months here in Palm Beach, you might take three months off, you might play another three months, say, in Argentina or England, you take three months off. They're not pushed 12 months out of the year." CNN's Kim Segal and John Couwels contributed to this report.

Investigators try to determine what killed 21 polo ponies in Florida . Contagious disease ruled out; tissue samples sent for further study . Players form close bonds with horses, club executive says . Humane Society of the United States sends official to watch investigation .

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MARATHON, Florida (CNN) -- Juan Lopez reads meters with one eye and looks for snakes with the other. Lopez is a member of the "Python Patrol," a team of utility workers, wildlife officials, park rangers and police trying to keep Burmese pythons from gaining a foothold in the Florida Keys. Members of the Python Patrol show off a giant snake that stretched more than 20 feet. Officials say the pythons -- which can grow to 20 feet long and eat large animals whole -- are being ditched by pet owners in the Florida Everglades, threatening the region's endangered species and its ecosystem. "Right now, we have our fingers crossed that they haven't come this far yet, but if they do, we are prepared," Lopez said. Burmese Pythons are rarely seen in the middle Florida Keys, where Lopez works. The Nature Conservancy wants to keep it that way. Watch huge python wrap around a CNN reporter » . The Python Patrol program was started by Alison Higgins, the Nature Conservancy's Florida Keys conservation manager. She describes it as an "early detection, rapid response" program made up of professionals who work outside. Eight Burmese pythons have been found in the Keys. "If we can keep them from spreading and breeding, then we're that much more ahead of the problem," Higgins said. Utility workers, wildlife officials and police officers recently attended a three-hour class about capturing the enormously large snakes. Lt. Jeffrey L. Fobb of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Venom Response Unit taught the participants how to capture pythons. "There's no immutable laws of snake catching. It's what works," Fobb said as he demonstrated catching a snake with hooks, bags, blankets and his hands. "We're doing it in the Florida Keys because we have a lot to protect," Higgins said. "The Burmese pythons that are coming out of the Everglades are eating a lot of our endangered species and other creatures, and we want to make sure they don't breed here." Where the snakes are breeding is just north of the Keys in Everglades National Park. An estimated 30,000 Burmese pythons live in the park. The Everglades, known as the "River of Grass," is a vast area with a climate perfect for these pythons to hide and breed. And breed they do: The largest clutches of eggs found in the Everglades have numbered up to 83. The snakes grow like they're on steroids. With a life span of 30 years, these pythons can weigh as much as 200 pounds. And the larger the snake, the bigger the prey. Biologists have found endangered wood rats, birds, bobcats and other animals in their stomachs. Two 5-foot-long alligators were found in the stomachs of Burmese pythons that were caught and necropsied, officials say. Officials also say Burmese pythons can travel 1.6 miles a day by land, and they can swim to reach areas outside the Everglades. This nonvenomous species was brought into the United States from Southeast Asia. Everglades National Park spokeswoman Linda Friar says biologists believe that well-intended pet owners are to blame for their introduction into the Everglades. "These pets were released by owners that do not understand the threat to the ecosystem," she said. Higgins says 99,000 of the popular pets were brought into the United States from 1996 to 2006, the most recent data available. She says they are an easy species to breed, and you can buy a hatchling for as little as $20. The problem with these pets, Friar says, is that they get too big for their owners to handle. Making the owner aware of what to expect when the animal becomes full-grown is a priority. "The pet trade is pretty supportive in educating people," Friar said. She hopes a "Don't let it loose" message campaign makes an impact on pet owners. Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, a supporter of restoring the Everglades, has introduced a bill that would ban importing the python species into the United States. The senator saw the need after learning about the effect these snakes were having on the park. "Finding out many endangered species are being found in the stomach of the python," Nelson spokeswoman Susie Quinn said, "we need to do a better job at protecting the resources." In the meantime, Lopez and the Python Patrol will continue to protect the Florida Keys by capturing the snakes and turning them over to biologists to perform necropsies. The Nature Conservancy plans to expand the program to all the areas that surround the Everglades, making these predators their prey. "I would like to find them and get rid of them," Lopez said.

"Python Patrol" aims to keep giant Burmese pythons from reaching Florida Keys . Pet owners have been dumping the snakes in the Everglades . Burmese pythons can grow more than 20 feet long and eat animals whole . The snakes "are eating a lot of our endangered species," conservationist says .

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ROOSEVELT, New York (CNN) -- Lisa Brown was caught off-guard by the offers of help that came from strangers. Lisa Brown has to move out of her rental house because it fell into foreclosure and was sold at auction. "I'm overwhelmed," she said. "People helping people in these tough times. I never meant to solicit any help. This is incredible, really." Brown and her three daughters can't escape eviction. The family is being kicked out of a rental house because her landlord defaulted on the mortgage and the home fell into foreclosure. The house was sold at auction, and they have to move out by May 1. She didn't seek financial help, but it came anyway. An executive from Texas named Kelvin who saw Brown's story on CNN.com was moved by her "unfortunate situation" and wanted to help. He sent a check for $400. A New York man named Dave offered financial help as well as aid planning for the future. When Brown moved into the Long Island, New York, home last summer, she loved the spaciousness she never had in an apartment. "It was bigger than what I had lived in," she said. Brown was also won over by the neighborhood, with its tidy homes and good schools. "I wanted to come here, and I wanted to see my kids graduate from this school district." The bad news came just seven months after she moved in. A real estate broker came to the door and handed her an eviction notice, telling her she had to vacate. "I was hysterical. I was like, 'What do you mean?' " Watch Lisa Brown talk about why she has to move » . The broker explained that the landlord no longer owned the property and the lease was no longer valid. Brown had no idea the house was in foreclosure. As a tenant, she always paid her rent on time, and she assumed the mortgage was being paid. "I didn't see there was a problem," she said. "You know, I'm paying rent, and she's putting it toward her mortgage." Brown was astonished to learn that her landlord, who lives upstairs, rented the house when she knew that she was losing it. "She knew that this house was foreclosing on her. She did nothing about it," Brown said. "Nothing except take my money." Brown had been paying $1,900 a month in rent. She had also paid $5,700 for a security deposit and broker fees to secure the house. That money, she said, is gone. "She will not give me my deposit back. Nothing." CNN tried to reach the owner for comment about the security fee, but no one answered the door, and the phone is disconnected. The broker who rented Brown the house and who was paid $1,900 said he didn't know that the house was in foreclosure. He also said the brokerage fee will not be returned. Dave, who lives on Long Island and who also read Brown's story on CNN.com, was perplexed that none of the fees were being refunded. To help recoup her losses, Dave offered help and sent a check for $5,000. Helping with Brown's immediate needs was not enough for Dave, a financial adviser who wanted to do something for her future. "He offered me a retirement plan," Brown said. "He came to my job, gave me his business card and said, 'I want you to get into this plan; I will help you with this.' " Dave met Brown over coffee and set her up with a retirement account, something the 42-year-old said she has never had. He will make monthly contributions of $500 for 10 consecutive months to get her started. But Brown still has one problem: She has to move out. She has no legal right to stay. The bank that foreclosed on the house and owns it has offered her $1,000 to vacate. Brown's problem is not unique. Nearly 20 percent of all foreclosures are on rental properties, and tenants' rights in such situations are minimal, according to the Center for Housing Policy, a nonprofit organization that researches housing issues. In most states, when a bank forecloses on a landlord, the tenant has no guarantee of being allowed to stay in the property, and neither the bank nor the landlord has a legal obligation to tell the tenant about the foreclosure. So while the owners know what is going on, renters are usually kept in the dark. New York state Sen. Jeff Klein is aware that renters can run into problems. "In many instances, they're actually paying their rent on time, and the owner of the property who is in foreclosure is pocketing the money," he said. Klein said that 50 percent of all foreclosures in New York involve rental properties, and he is working on a law to warn tenants of foreclosure proceedings ahead of time, to keep them from losing their security deposits and being evicted with nowhere to go. Similar laws are in place in California, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Rhode Island. "What we're facing here," Klein said, "it's sort of the new homeless population unless we do something about it." His legislation is scheduled for a vote next week. Responding to the outpouring of help Brown has received, Klein said, "It's great support for the Brown family, but that's why we need legislation for innocent, hardworking people like Lisa to protect them from reaching the point of desperation. People who play by the rules should not be penalized for the misdeeds and malice of others." Brown hopes to relocate in the same area so her daughters can stay in the schools they love and be near their friends. A caseworker for the Children's Aid Society, which administers the New York Times Neediest Cases Fund for the victims of the subprime mortgage crisis, saw Brown's story on CNN's "American Morning." They are now in contact so the fund can help cover moving and transitional expenses. Brown may have to adjust some of her dreams, but she is optimistic. She said the one thing she has seen through this experience is "the goodness of the human spirit is alive, and that's encouraging."

Lisa Brown is being evicted because landlord defaulted on mortgage . A CNN viewer from Texas sent Brown $400 . Another man gave her $5,000 and set up her retirement account . The Children's Aid Society offered to cover Brown's moving expenses .

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(CNN) -- A 47-year-old woman who became paralyzed after breaking her neck and back on a turbulent flight is developing some motion in her toes and regaining some sensation after two operations, her doctor said Wednesday. Dr. Trey Fulp, an orthopedic spine surgeon who performed the surgeries at McAllen Medical Center in McAllen, Texas, told CNN that the woman initially was paralyzed from the chest down. She underwent six hours of surgery Saturday and a more than five-hour operation late Tuesday, the surgeon said. "She is very brave and is talking," Fulp said. "If she walks again, I get the first dance." The woman was on Continental Flight 511 en route from Houston, Texas, to McAllen early Saturday, a one-hour trip that had been delayed more than three hours because of severe storms that barreled through the Houston area on Friday night. The woman's attorney, Ramon Garcia, said Tuesday that his client struck her head on the bathroom ceiling when the plane suddenly dropped during turbulence. "We have a lady who got out of her seat and went to the bathroom," Garcia said. "And while either in the bathroom or coming out of the bathroom is when this situation occurred." The woman was stretched out on the plane's floor for the remainder of the flight until paramedics could start treating her, the attorney said. Fulp said another physician was on the flight. When that doctor realized the woman couldn't get up, he held her until the flight landed 20 minutes later. Garcia said his client, a mother of three, did not want to be identified. Continental spokeswoman Mary Clark on Tuesday confirmed that the flight -- carrying 104 passengers and five crew members -- experienced turbulence and that two passengers and a crew member were transported to a hospital in McAllen. Clark said one passenger and the crew member were released, but the other passenger remains hospitalized. "Our focus is assisting the customer who is still in hospital and her family," Clark said. Seat belt lights were illuminated during the turbulence, the spokeswoman said. However, it's not clear whether the passenger was already out of her seat when the light came on or whether she ignored the light and got up to go to the bathroom. Federal aviation authorities are investigating. The Federal Aviation Administration said it's providing crucial flight information to the National Transportation Safety Board. CNN's Melanie Whitley and Ekin Middleton contributed to this report.

NEW: Woman has two operations after injuries led to paralysis, surgeon says . NEW: "She is very brave and is talking," surgeon says . Woman struck head on bathroom ceiling during turbulence on plane, lawyer says . Federal aviation authorities investigating flight from Houston to McAllen, Texas .

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ROME, Italy (CNN) -- A U.N. report says hunger is on the rise globally and blames higher food prices. Populations within conflict zones such as the Democratic Republic of Congo are particularly vulnerable. The Food and Agriculture Organization has issued preliminary estimates classifying 963 million people as undernourished -- an increase of 40 million people over the past year. "One out of seven people -- about 15 percent -- suffer chronically of not having enough to eat," said Mark Smulders, an FAO economist. The hunger report -- titled "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008" -- said the world's financial and economic problems could throw more people into poverty. The number of hungry had been increasing over the years before the rise in food prices, with warfare and political instability continuing to be among the factors causing poverty. The preliminary estimates lack a firm country breakdown, but last year's figures are an accurate measure of where the problems are. About 907 out of 923 million undernourished people in 2007, or 65 percent of the hungry, live in India, China, the war-wracked Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia. Smulders said about 27 percent of the world's hungry live in India and 15 percent in China. The other countries each represent 4 to 5 percent of the world's total. There has been progress in fighting hunger in the Asian nations of Thailand and Vietnam, and in the sub-Saharan African nations of Ghana, Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Mozambique and Malawi, the report said. Food prices have declined from their peak earlier in the year, but they are staying high compared to other years, the agency said. The Food and Agriculture Organization's food price index was 28 percent higher in October than it was two years before. "Prices of major cereals have fallen by over 50 percent from their peaks earlier in 2008 but they remain high compared to previous years," the FAO said. The agency said the "rural and urban poor, landless farmers and female-headed households are the worst hit by high food prices." -- CNN's Joe Sterling contributed to this report.

U.N. agency says food prices are to blame for an increase in hunger . Food and Agriculture Organization issues estimates 963 million undernourished . It is an increase of 40 million people over the past year .

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NEW YORK (CNN) -- The home life Diana Krall shares with husband (and fellow musical brain) Elvis Costello and their 2-year-old twin boys is a little nutty. Diana Krall's new album, "Quiet Nights," was inspired by a trip she made to Brazil. "It's zany in the most wonderful way," says the 44-year-old jazz singer-pianist. "You have two little boys leaping off the furniture who think they're Buzz Lightyear while we're practicing and playing. It's just a happy house." Krall's domestic bliss -- "domestic" being a new concept for the ever-touring artist -- is suggested in the warm, intimate vibe of her latest album "Quiet Nights." "It's a very natural process for me, making a record. It ends up being a reflection of where I am at that time. My life is just tremendous right now. It couldn't be better," she says. No kidding. "Quiet Nights" debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 album charts last week, a career high for Krall. A memorable trip to Brazil in 2007 inspired the Canadian chanteuse to take her 12th album in a bossa nova direction: The title track is the English version of the bossa nova classic "Corcovado." She also covers "The Girl from Ipanema" -- though naturally in her whispery rendition she flips "girl" to "boy" -- and gives a fresh spin on Frank Sinatra's "Where or When." Watch Krall find bliss in Brazil » . "There was something about turning 'Where or When' into a bossa nova that changes the feeling for me of the song," Krall said. "It's much more emotional than if I sang it in a swing feeling. I've always experimented with that." Krall brought arranger and conductor Claus Ogerman on board. He was a natural, having worked with Sinatra and Brazilian singer-songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim who wrote both "Ipanema" and "Corcovado." And Krall co-produced the album with frequent collaborator Tommy LiPuma. "One of the best parts of making a record is the dinner after where you all you go to the restaurant, you decompress, have some great wine and just tell stories and listen to Claus and Tommy and [engineer] Al Schmidt and all these people telling amazing stories," says Krall. Diana Krall recently sat down with CNN to share some stories of her own about a teenaged letter to Oscar Peterson, idolizing Harry Connick Jr. and Mickey Mouse pancakes. The following is an edited version of the interview. CNN: This is the first album you've made since becoming a mother. Does it feel different somehow? Diana Krall: I think [this album reflects my present] state of mind. It's not about loss, it's not preparing for loss. I'm not peeling grapes. Life has changed a lot and it's not just about performing and touring. It's motherhood and having a home for the first time, because I've always been on the road. So it's an incredible thing to be making Mickey Mouse pancakes in the morning while you're doing your interviews. CNN: You've been producing Barbara Streisand's new album. What has that been like? Krall: Incredible. I just am so thrilled with her performance on this album. [She gives] one of the most incredible performances I think of her career on a song called "You Must Believe in Spring" with a great pianist from New York named Phil Charlap. It's just piano and voice and it's so incredibly stunning. She said to me, "Maybe it needs some strings or something." I said "Don't touch it! Just leave it! It's gorgeous!" It's been great working artist to artist and we had a lot of fun. We played cards. So when there were moments in the studio where there was something technical that had to be fixed, we'd deal the cards and we'd play gin rummy, which I'm lousy at. Thank goodness. CNN: This is the first album you've produced for another artist. Way to choose somebody really small to start off with. Krall: She chose me! I had a few phone calls and it was a little daunting, but it was a great experience and really, really intense, as you would expect it to be. CNN: Some people were a little put out by your record "The Girl in the Other Room" because you strayed from jazz. How did you process that reaction? Krall: Somebody's always put out with anything I do (laughs). "Why'd you do 'The Look of Love?' " "Why don't you do 'The Look of Love' again?" I don't know! I'm too busy trying to put the Lego back in the box, and making sure nobody's eating all the Play-Doh. That record did very well and a lot of people say to me, "That's my favorite record." And I wrote [it] with my husband, so I don't really look back. I look forward. And I've got a pretty loyal audience. CNN: What would you say to your sons if they tell you they want to be musicians when they grow up? Krall: They should do whatever makes them happy. This is what they know so if that's what they choose to do -- who knows. They could be like my mom and my dad and be a teacher-librarian and a chartered accountant. That's fine too. A month ago I found this letter I wrote to Oscar Peterson when I was 16 years old and my mom had saved it for me and put it in a box in the attic. It was a five-page letter I wrote to Oscar Peterson saying, "Dear Oscar, I'm 16 years old and I hear a professional musician's life is a very difficult one but I know this is the only life I want to have." And it was really enlightening for me to see the focus of a 16-year-old. It reminded me of how much I love the music and always wanted to do what I'm doing, so how lucky am I? CNN: But it's not all luck. Krall: I think it's a lot of luck. I think I started in a very good time. When I went to see that film "When Harry Met Sally," and I heard Harry Connick playing the piano, I though there's somebody who's my age and he's playing the music that I love. And I felt like there was a kindred spirit and it inspired me to go, "I want to do exactly what he's doing." And I still owe a lot of thanks to Harry. I've only met him like a couple of times, but he's still a favorite artist of mine.

Diana Krall's new album, "Quiet Nights," features bossa nova interpretations . Singer-pianist is producing Barbara Streisand's new album . She's doing what she loves; "How lucky am I?" she says .

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UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- More than one million people in Darfur are at risk of losing food, water and shelter in coming months, following the expulsion of international aid groups by Sudan's government, the United Nations' chief humanitarian coordinator said Tuesday. A Doctors without Borders medic helps a sick child in a Darfur refugee camp. The statement by coordinator John Holmes comes after a joint U.N.-Sudanese assessment of the situation. The information was gathered from March 11-18 in hopes of stemming further troubles in Darfur after Sudan's government expelled 13 international relief organizations from the wartorn region. The announcement came on the same day that President Omar al-Bashir, now an indicted war criminal, ignored the threat of arrest by traveling abroad to Eritrea. Also Tuesday, a Sudanese staffer working for a Canadian relief group was shot dead in Darfur. A full report of the assessment will be released soon, according to the U.N., but an executive summary and recommendations were made available on Tuesday. "While a significant effort is being made by the government, by the U.N., by the NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] which are left, to plug some of the immediate gaps in these areas, these are at the same time, 'Band-Aid' solutions, not long term solutions," Holmes said. The U.N. estimates that 1.5 million people in Darfur are dependent on healthcare support, 1.1 million need regular food aid, and another 1 million are in need of clean drinking water. The summary released Tuesday said the World Food Programme, which is still allowed to operate in Sudan, is carrying out a one-time-only distribution program in March and April, but that new partners will be needed to continue delivering food after April. After the International Criminal Court charged Bashir with war crimes and crimes against humanity on March 4, Khartoum expelled 13 international aid agencies and revoked the permits of three organizations in the country. Bashir -- the first sitting head of state to be charged with war crimes by the court -- has continued to say that humanitarian efforts in the country should be "Sudanized." "Within a year, we don't want to see any foreign aid group dealing with a Sudanese citizen," he said at a rally a week after his arrest warrant was issued. Holmes said that 13,000 to 14,000 aid workers in the region already were Sudanese nationals. Holmes said the cooperation and technical help from the Sudanese government on the assessment was a good step forward. But he called it "only the first of many steps if the people in Darfur are not going to suffer major consequences from these expulsions." Sudan's U.N. Ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, has repeatedly said he has information implicating the ousted organizations in activities contrary to their humanitarian missions. He has yet to make any of that information public. One claim is that some organizations acted as spies for the International Criminal Court. Holmes denied those allegations, saying they remain unfounded. "Despite claims that there are dossiers of evidence, we have not been given any of that evidence," he said. "In the absence of that, no meaningful investigation can be done." The British aid organization, Oxfam, one of the agencies expelled from Sudan, released a statement in response to Tuesday's findings. "Current stop-gap measures will only be effective for a short time," the statement said. "As the rainy season arrives within the next two months, people living in weak temporary shelters, in flood-prone locations where latrines can fill and overflow, will become at extreme risk of disease and death. "With the humanitarian capacity reduced by nearly 50 percent, responding to such emergency scenarios will be an enormous challenge for others to tackle," Oxfam said.

Assessment of humanitarian needs in Darfur conducted by UN and Sudan . Info collected in bid to stem further troubles after Sudan expelled 13 aid groups . Aid groups kicked out after President Omar al-Bashir indicted on war crimes by ICC . The U.N. estimates 1.1 million need regular food aid; 1 million need drinking water .

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(CNN) -- The cause of a South Carolina wildfire that has charred about 19,600 acres appears to be a yard debris fire, the head of the state's Forestry Commission said Friday. Derek Boos sifts through the wreckage of his in-laws' house Friday after a fire in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The blaze seems to have been caused by a yard debris fire in the Woodlawn subdivision, an unincorporated part of Horry County, halfway between Conway and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Forestry Commission Forest Protection Chief Darryl Jones said. The fire began Saturday and rekindled itself Wednesday evening, according to the Forestry Commission. Officials said about 70 homes had been destroyed in the county, which contains a stretch of popular tourist spots, including Myrtle Beach. About 100 other homes were damaged, Horry County officials said. The blaze left only charred rubble and the smoldering, skeletal remains of some houses, even as adjacent homes went untouched. The fire swallowed up pines and dry brush, sending a smoky gray smudge into the sky that could be seen for hours from miles away Thursday. "It's better now, but the smoke was pretty much everywhere," said Chavdar Pavlov, a CNN iReport contributor who lives 20 miles from where the fires raged. "At nighttime, it was like snow in the air, but it wasn't snow; it was ashes." The Horry County Council's Brent Schultz said, "The only way to describe this is tragic." At a Friday morning news conference, frustrated residents who had evacuated demanded to know when they could return home, yelling at Bob Grabowski of the Horry County Council. "I just want to go home," one man cried out, prompting Grabowski to pause. "Come on," others said. "That will be addressed," he said. "We'll get with you on that." About 2,500 people were evacuated Thursday, authorities said, and more than 400 people were in shelters. No fatalities or injuries have been reported from the blaze. Horry County said the fire was about 40 percent contained by early Friday. Watch as residents face uncertainty about their houses » . "It's on everybody's mind and in everyone's conversation," said the Rev. Marion Brazell, whose Conway church was serving as a shelter. "It's pretty flat area, so you can see the smoke from a distance." Brazell had not yet arrived at the church Friday, but he said he believed only Red Cross and other emergency workers were staying there. The evacuations occurred north of Conway, he said. He added good-naturedly, "Shelters are often the last place people will go. They'll go to hotels and motels" that may offer rooms for free. "I'd rather go to a motel than sleep in my church. ... It's much more comfortable than sleeping in a cot," he said. The fire has mostly kept its distance from tourist areas, and as the South Carolina officials provided updates and warnings to residents, they urged visitors to stay. "For tourists coming here for vacation, we should have no problems taking care of our guests and visitors that are going to come to Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach," Grabowski said. And North Myrtle Beach Mayor Marilyn Hatley, answering a question about tourism, said Thursday: "People who have reservations can certainly come onto the Grand Strand area and enjoy themselves. It is not affecting the majority of golf courses; there should be no reason that anyone is canceling their vacation." Hatley said she could not say if any golf courses had been damaged. "The golf course property itself was not our first priority," she said. CNN's Mike Phelan, Lisa France and Taylor Gandossy contributed to this report.

NEW: Yard debris fire may be cause of blaze in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, area . Fire about 40 percent contained early Friday in Horry County . "I just want to go home," one resident yells; nearly 2,500 evacuated . Fire has consumed about 20,000 acres, destroyed about 70 homes .

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BOGOTA, Colombia (CNN) -- Colombian emergency officials have begun evacuating 800 families from an area at high risk from the expected eruption of a volcano that killed at least six people in November. Colombians make their way across a landslide in November after the Nevado del Huila volcano erupted. The Nevado del Huila volcano is on orange alert, meaning an eruption is probable within days or weeks, the Colombian Institute of Geology and Mining said last week. An eruption would cause an avalanche down the Paez and Simbola rivers, officials said. The town under evacuation, Belalcazar, sits on the bank of the Paez River about a half-mile (less than a kilometer) from the junction with the Simbola River. It was the worst-hit area in November's eruption. The volcano's crater holds 52 million cubic meters (1.8 billion cubic feet) of lava, said Colombia's Caracol Radio. That's the equivalent of 13.8 billion gallons. The Colombian national emergency agency said Monday it is ready to evacuate thousands of residents if the volcano's condition turns to red, which means an eruption is imminent or ongoing. The snow-capped Huila, the highest active volcano in Colombia, last erupted on November 20. At least six people, including four children, died then. Gas and hot ash caused snow on the mountain peak to melt, sending mud, rocks and floodwater rushing down the Paez and destroying at least 20 homes and washing out five bridges, the presidential office said at the time. Much of the sparsely populated region about 155 miles (250 kilometers) southwest of Bogota is a reservation for Nasa indigenous communities. All six fatalities were native Indians, the government said. The youngest victim was a year old. The Huila volcano, which has a summit of 17,598 feet (5,364 meters), has erupted four times. The first documented eruption occurred in the 1500s, then it stood silent for more than 400 years, according to the Web site volcanolive.com. Colombian emergency officials said Monday they are asking the 800 families where they want to be moved to, Caracol Radio said. Scientists with the Colombian Institute of Geology and Mining, commonly known as Ingeominas, said they did not detect any major action inside the volcano Monday, Caracol reported. Ingeominas and the National System for Emergencies are monitoring the volcano around the clock and have acquired new equipment, including additional telecommunication gear and an infrared camera to monitor Huila's temperature. Officials also plan to install a microphone on Huila to detect any new rumblings from inside the volcano, Caracol said. Officials already are monitoring the volcano with four stations that detect seismological activity, a video camera, a communications network and a system that measures mudflow, Caracol said.

Eruption likely within days or weeks at Nevado del Huila volcano, agency warns . Colombian volcano's eruption killed at least six people in November . Some 800 families under evacuation from high-risk area . Eruption would cause avalanche down Paez and Simbola rivers, officials say .

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(CNN) -- Security forces aboard a U.S. naval vessel fired warning shots toward two approaching small boats off the Somali coast Tuesday, the U.S. military said Wednesday. The USNS John Lenthall is one of 14 fleet refueling ships operated by Military Sealift Command. The rounds landed in the water, prompting the boats to turn around, and no casualties were reported, the military news release said. It is unclear whether the boats were trying to attack the 41,000-ton USNS John Lenthall, the military said. "It is clear they were not following the international rules of the road observed by mariners around the globe," it said. The release noted that the location of the incident, the types of boats involved and the maneuvering were all "consistent with reports from previous attacks on merchant vessels in the region." The USNS John Lenthall is one of 14 "fleet replenishment oilers" in the Military Sealift Fleet Support Command, according to a U.S. Navy Web site. Oilers refuel Navy ships at sea and any aircraft they may be carrying. Attacks by pirates have increased dramatically off the northern coast of Somalia in the past year, prompting the United States and other nations to step up patrols in the region. In May, the U.S. Navy warned merchant ships to stay at least 200 miles off the Somali coast. But the U.S. Maritime Administration warns that pirates sometimes issue false distress calls to lure ships closer to shore. The pirates are often armed with automatic rifles and shoulder-fired rockets, according to warnings from the agency.

Warning shots fired after two boats raise suspicions of piracy . Boats were approaching a U.S. Navy refueling ship . Warning shots land in water and boats turn away, military says . Pirates known to prowl waters off African nation of Somalia .

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(CNN) -- Somalia is facing life-threatening food and water shortages leaving millions at risk for starvation, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Wednesday. A growing percentage of Somalia's population has become dependent on humanitarian aid. "The Somali people are going through unbearable hardship," said Pascal Hundt, head of the ICRC's delegation for Somalia, in a written statement. "We are witnessing the worst tragedy of the past decade in Somalia." Somalia's last severe famine, from 1991 to 1993, devastated crops, killed between 240,000 and 280,000 people and displaced up to 2 million, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Humanitarian workers view Somalia's food crisis as one of the worst in the world. With winds ripping though the country, hundreds of thousands of Somalis are finding their crops as dry as the surrounding landscape, preventing harvests, killing livestock and leading to a mass risk of starvation. The continual armed conflicts in central and south Somalia have aggravated the situation, hindering people from accessing shelter and medical attention. A growing percentage of the population has become dependent on humanitarian aid. The ICRC, World Food Program and CARE plan to deliver four months worth of food to 435,000 Somalis within the next few weeks. International donors are being asked by the ICRC to provide some of the emergency money. Aid includes giving blankets, kitchen sets and other shelter supplies to 150,000 people. The WFP will be increasing the amount it spends in Somalia to $163 million in food assistance, the group said at a U.N. conference in Rome Wednesday. In addition to drought and armed conflict, high inflation on food and fuel have also exacerbated the situation. Similar factors have affected other developing nations in Africa and other parts of the world. Ethiopia's food crisis has affected 4.5 million people, said the United Nations Children's Fund. As a result of widespread food shortages and little rainfall, an estimated 126,000 children are in need of medical assistance to combat severe malnutrition, while the WFP projects $193 million will be needed for urgent food distributions.

ICRC: Somalia facing life-threatening food, water shortages leaving millions at risk . Winds are leaving crops as dry as the landscape, preventing harvests . Continual armed conflicts in central and south Somalia have aggravated the situation . High inflation on food and fuel have also exacerbated the situation .

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(CNN) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged businessman Robert Allen Stanford with orchestrating an $8 billion fraudulent investment program. Stanford presents a trophy to the winners of his Twenty20 cricket tournament in November 2008. Stanford is the tycoon who bankrolled the Twenty20 Super Series cricket competition in the West Indies last year. The Texan has also contributed millions of dollars to the West Indies Cricket Board in an attempt to boost their flagging fortunes. Rose Romero, Regional Director of the SEC's Fort Worth Regional Office in Texas, said, "We are alleging a fraud of shocking magnitude that has spread its tentacles throughout the world." Stanford allegedly fabricated historical return data to prey on investors. The SEC says the investigation is on-going. Reuters.com reports three of Stanford's companies are involved in the SEC probe including Texas-based Stanford Group Co, Antigua-based Stanford International Bank and investment adviser Stanford Capital Management. The SEC Web site said Stanford International Bank CFO James Davis and Stanford Financial Group chief investment officer Laura Pendergest-Holt also face charges. It added that U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor granted a temporary restraining order freezing the defendants' assets and appointed a receiver to marshal those assets, as part of a request for emergency relief for the benefit of defrauded investors. The SEC's complaint alleges that the fraud centered on a program in which Stanford International Bank promised "improbable and unsubstantiated high interest rates." SIB allegedly acted through a network of Stanford Group Company financial advisers to sell approximately $8 billion of "certificates of deposit" to investors. The bank boasted a unique investment strategy that it said allowed it to receive double-digit returns on its investments for the past 15 years, the SEC said. Early Tuesday, CNBC reported federal marshals were seen entering the offices of Stanford Financial Group in Houston. Reuters reported an eyewitness saw a sign taped to the window stating the company is now "under the management of a receiver." Stanford Financial Group could not immediately be reached for comment. According to the SEC's complaint, a close circle of Stanford's family and friends operates SIB. Its investment committee, responsible for managing the bank's multi-billion dollar portfolio of assets, includes Stanford; Stanford's father, who lives in Mexia, Texas; another Mexia resident with business experience in cattle ranching and car sales; Pendergest-Holt, who had no financial or securities experience prior to joining SFG; and Davis, Stanford's college roommate. The SEC alleges an additional scheme relating to $1.2 billion in sales. Stanford Group Company advisers are accused of using materially false historical performance data to create a mutual fund program called Stanford Allocation Strategy, the release said. According to the complaint, the false data helped grow the program from less than $10 million in 2004 to more than $1 billion, generating SGC - and ultimately, Stanford - about $25 million in 2007 and 2008. In the UK, the Press Association news agency reported that the England and Wales Cricket Board has ceased negotiations with Stanford, who was expected to become a major backer of a proposed tournament in England from 2010.

Robert Allen Stanford charged in alleged multi-billion dollar fraud . Securities and Exchange commission says probe is continuing . SEC alleges fraud of 'shocking magnitude that spread tentacles throughout world' Stanford is the tycoon who bankrolled the cricket Twenty20 Super Series .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Cell phone images are providing evidence that a large number of civilians may have been mistakenly killed by U.S. troops operating in Afghanistan last month, two NATO officials said Sunday. The grainy cell phone video shows blankets and quilts covering bodies inside a building. The Afghan government, a United Nations review and other reports from the region state that as many as 90 civilians were killed in an August 22 airstrike, but the Pentagon has adamantly disputed the death toll. Another U.S. military official, who has seen the cell phone imagery but asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said Monday there were about 30 bodies, some covered and some in blankets. There were "several children who appear to be pulled from the rubble," he said. The grainy cell phone video, viewed by CNN, shows rows of blankets and quilts inside a building. In the video, someone lifts the blankets to show the heads of those slain. People who appear to be mourners sit by their loved ones and wail. Watch: Video prompts Pentagon probe » . Though CNN has confirmed the military is reviewing the video, CNN has not independently verified the authenticity of the imagery. The U.S. military source, who has direct knowledge of the investigation, said the initial U.S. assessment was based largely on comparisons of satellite imagery of a 10-square-kilometer area from before the attack, taken August 14, and imagery captured after the attack, on August 24. Officials viewing the satellite imagery looked for fresh graves after the attack and found only 18 new plots, just in the village area, he said. A U.S. patrol then went to the area August 26. The patrol confirmed those graves but found no others, the source said. The cell phone images were recently shown to Gen. David McKiernan, the top NATO commander, who over the weekend asked for a high-level review of the previous military investigation. That probe concluded the United States was only responsible for a handful of civilian deaths. One of the NATO officials said it appears there were a number of villagers buried in the rubble that the U.S. troops did not see when they were searching the compound targeted in the airstrike. It is believed that after the U.S. troops left the compound, villagers pulled the bodies from the rubble and buried them. Locals apparently took cell phone images and showed them to U.N. investigators, who recently showed them to McKiernan, leading him to request a review. McKiernan learned of the cell phone imagery only after it was shown to him at the U.N. headquarters in Kabul a few days ago. "In light of emerging evidence pertaining to civilian casualties in the August 22 counter-insurgency operation in the Shindand District, Herat province, I feel it is prudent to request that U.S. Central Command send a general officer to review the U.S. investigation and its findings with respect to this new evidence," McKiernan said Sunday in statement. "The people of Afghanistan have our commitment to get to the truth," he said. Afghanistan's government and the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan concluded that 90 civilians were killed in the August 22 airstrike in the western Afghan province of Herat. UNAMA said it found "convincing" evidence that 60 children, 15 women and 15 men were killed in the strike. But the initial investigation by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan found that 30 to 35 Taliban militants and five to seven civilians were killed. The findings have been handed over to McKiernan. After the Afghan government concluded its investigation, ministers demanded a review of international troops within its borders. On August 25, Afghanistan's Council of Ministers called on the Defense and Foreign Affairs ministries to start negotiating a "status of forces" agreement with international forces -- which include U.S. and NATO troops. The council also asked that the ministries demand the international forces halt airstrikes on civilian targets, as well as house searches not coordinated with Afghan authorities and the illegal detention of civilians. That same day, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced that he had fired two military commanders, including Gen. Jalandar Shah, the Afghan army corps' commander for western Afghanistan. The humanitarian watchdog group Human Rights Watch released a report Monday saying that U.S. and NATO airstrikes in Afghanistan almost tripled from 2006 to 2007, "fueling a public backlash." The report added that this year, there has been a "massive and unprecedented surge in the use of airpower" there. Karzai has blamed U.S.-led coalition forces for failing to coordinate their attack with the Afghan army. However, coalition officials said Afghan and coalition troops called in the airstrike as they embarked on a raid to arrest a Taliban commander in Shindand. The coalition investigation found that U.S. and Afghan forces began taking fire from Taliban militants as the forces approached the target in the early hours of August 22. "The intensity of the enemy fire justified use of well-aimed small-arms fire and close-air support to defend the combined force," the coalition said in a statement released shortly after the strike. "The type and application of fires were used in accordance with existing rules of engagement." Mullah Sadiq, a known Taliban commander, was among the militants killed, the coalition said. A U.S. military official, who declined to be named because the investigation is ongoing, cast doubt on reports that the strike killed civilians gathered in a room, reciting Quranic verses at 1 a.m. Regarding reports that most of the 90 deaths were children, the official said there were not 50 children in the entire village. The airstrike was on a legitimate target, he said, noting that coalition forces found a weapons cache -- including AK-47s, 4,000 rounds of ammunition and bomb-making materials -- as well as thousands of dollars in U.S. currency. Investigators also discovered "firm evidence" that militants had planned to attack a nearby coalition base, the coalition statement said. The airstrike disrupted the militants' plan, the statement said. The investigating officer interviewed more than 30 people, both Afghan and American, the statement said. He also viewed video taken during the engagement, topographic photos of the area before and after, reports from ground and air personnel involved, reports from local medical clinics and hospitals, intelligence reports, and physical data and photographs collected on the site. Last week, Karzai spoke to President Bush "in general terms" about the incident, the White House said in a statement. It gave no further details.

NEW: Video shows rows of blankets, apparent mourners wailing by loved ones . Locals apparently pulled bodies from rubble after U.S. troops left compound . Reports say as many as 90 civilians killed in strike; Pentagon disputes death toll . U.S. says it killed at least 30 militants, uncovered cache of weapons in strike .

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(CNN) -- A blast of Arctic air Tuesday morning has much of the nation -- from the Great Lakes to Oregon and down to Texas -- in its cold, icy grip. Snow covers a golf course in Summerlin, Nevada, near Las Vegas, on Monday. The temperature at International Falls, Minnesota, was 26 below zero at 8 a.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service said. To the south in Minneapolis, below-zero temperatures were leaving roadways covered in black ice, sending drivers spinning into numerous accidents, CNN affiliate KARE-TV reported Tuesday. Black ice, nearly invisible on roads, can form when car exhaust freezes on snow-covered pavement in sub-zero conditions, KARE said. Twin Cities drivers could find a little hope in the day's forecast high -- 4 degrees above zero by the afternoon. Temperatures hovering as low as 23 below zero have parts of Montana frozen in their tracks, according to CNN affiliate KFBB-TV. The forecast high Tuesday for Great Falls: 5 degrees. But regions of the nation far from Montana, and not as well equipped to deal with wintry weather, are also caught in the cold blast. Watch the mess in Portland, Oregon » . WFAA-TV in Dallas, Texas, predicts the temperature will barely get above freezing, to 36 degrees, on Tuesday. A winter weather advisory is in effect for northern Texas. In Las Vegas, Nevada, residents saw a rare snow accumulation. Snow-covered grounds were a treat for iReporter Rena Moretti, who's lived in Las Vegas on and off for about 10 years. "It's unbelievable. If it snows it never sticks. I've never seen it like that," she said. Watch snow delight skiers but frustrate motorists in Nevada » In Denver, Colorado, where the temperature was minus 4, KMGH warned residents to expect more snow, with 2 to 3 feet expected in some parts of the Rocky Mountains. Watch ice cause havoc on Colorado roads » . While the snow is forecast to end Tuesday, the cold air mass should stick around all week. The station also warned commuters that driving would be a mess Tuesday morning. In Omaha, Nebraska, the frigid weather had shelters sending out crews looking for the homeless, according to KMTV. Watch blizzards shut down North Dakota » . "We've had people that have been trying to make it here ... either have been too intoxicated or just too cold and just fallen down and haven't been able to make it," says Siena Francis House worker and guest Jerry Rayburn. According to the National Weather Service, the entire state of Iowa could be in for heavy snowfall Tuesday. Chicago, Illinois, no stranger to cold weather, is expecting a high of 22 degrees with snow, according to WGN. Meanwhile, on a frontal boundary, West Virginia and western Tennessee are on the alert for possible freezing rain, the weather service reports. And KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas, said freezing rain and sleet were moving across the state. In New England, socked by a powerful ice storm last week, temperatures were warming back up into in the 40s and 50s, WCVB in Boston, Massachusetts, reported. But electricity may not be restored to some customers until the weekend, the station reported. One town, Lunenberg, Massachusetts, said school students would be getting an extended Christmas break, with classes not resuming until the new year, WCVB reported. Debris-clogged roads were blamed. "They're passable for vehicles and emergency vehicles, but they're not passable for buses. That represents a danger, so, we can't get the kids safely to school, even if we were able to open school," School Superintendent Loxi Joe Calmes said, accoding to WCVB. Meanwhile, a cold, wet storm blew into Southern California. Twenty-four-hour rainfall totals were 1.44 inches at Los Angeles International Airport, almost 1 inch in Palm Springs, and an inch in San Diego, the weather service reported Tuesday morning. iReporters share their weather observations . Where is it not so cold? It was 69 degrees in Miami, Florida, early Tuesday morning, according to WFOR. The price for the warm weather -- possible thunderstorms, says the National Weather Service.

NEW: Black ice plagues Minneapolis in sub-zero temperatures . NEW: Storm-struck Massachusetts city closes schools until new year . Large swath of the United States beset by very low temperatures . Even places such as Las Vegas, Nevada, and Dallas, Texas, in wintry grip .

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(CNN) -- Explorer Dennis Schmitt found an island nearly two years ago near Greenland. Fishermen pass by Greenland's Ilulissat fjord in this September 2004 picture. Such a discovery would usually elicit curiosity, even wonder perhaps, but it evoked mixed feelings for the explorer. The island was once thought to be a peninsula attached to Greenland by an ice shelf or a glacier. But such a large amount of ice melted, it revealed the distinct island. "I very quickly realized two things," he told CNN's Anderson Cooper during a visit to the island earlier this year. "One [was] that this was going to be significant because it was going to be an example of climate change." "The other thing was that it meant it was really happening. It wasn't a joke. It wasn't just statistics. It was really happening." He calls his discovery Warming Island. Many climatologists and scientists say arctic ice melt and other changes in the Earth's climate are the result of an increase in the world's temperature, a trend widely called global warming. Many global warming experts say the phenomenon, if unchecked, is capable of altering the world's climate and geography. In the worst-case scenario, experts say oceans could rise to overwhelming and catastrophic levels, flooding cities and altering seashores. Other scientists and observers, a minority compared to those who believe the warming trend is something ominous, say it is simply the latest shift in the cyclical patterns of a planet's life. Most of the scientific community believes that some warming is occurring across the globe and through some layers of the atmosphere. But why it is occurring and what that means for the future is scientifically and politically contentious. The Earth's temperature averages about 60 degrees Fahrenheit (about 16 degrees Celsius). The average surface temperature has warmed one degree Fahrenheit (0.6 degrees Celsius) during the last century, according to the National Research Council. The temperatures were relatively unchanged from 1880 to 1910, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They rose till about 1945, cooled until about 1975 and have risen steadily to present day. There are several possible reasons for the warming, scientists say. A change in the Earth's orbit or the intensity of the sun's radiation could change, triggering warming or cooling. The reason most cited -- by scientists and scientific organizations -- for the current warming trend is an increase in the concentrations of greenhouse gases, which are in the atmosphere naturally and help keep the planet's temperature at a comfortable level. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, for instance, has increased by 35 percent since the dawn of the industrial age, according to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, commonly referred to as the IPCC. The presence of methane is now 151 percent above pre-industrial levels, but the rate of increase has slowed in recent decades, according to the EPA. Meanwhile, nitrous oxide increased by about 18 percent during the past 200 years. Many scientists and experts who have studied global warming believe the increase is primarily the result of human activities, like the burning of fossil fuels, emissions from vehicles and the clearing of forests. "For the last 30 years, there's no way there's anything natural that can explain it," Stephen Schneider, a professor of environmental studies at Stanford University in California, said. "A vast bulk of the knowledgeable and honest community ... will say the science is settled and humans are at least a majority of the reason behind the warming," he added. Many scientific organizations share Schneider's view, ranging from the national academies of the countries that comprise the G8 to the National Research Council, the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union. But there are those who do not share his view, and among the skeptics is Richard Lindzen, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "We've suddenly taken to reading tea leaves," he said. "When we saw cooling from 1940 to 1970, we were proclaiming global cooling. Since then, there's been a few tenths of global warming, so we're proclaiming global warming." He believes the current warming trend is the result of natural variability, where a planet goes through phases of warming and cooling and the human contribution to it is minimal. "The Earth is always getting colder and warmer," he said. "It's always changing. In fact, this is true of any fluid-covered planet." Asked about glacial melt, which many observers point to as evidence of global warming, Lindzen said the way glaciers change and move are phenomena largely unexplained. "We don't know why, but it's perfectly clear that glaciers change even though the temperature is cooling at the place that they've occurred," he said. "What we're doing is cherry picking any event that occurs and then saying that's occurring due to global warming." Yet, for Schneider, it is a cause for concern and alarm. "We're already in serious melt, nobody can explain it. The models don't predict it," he said. "We don't know what's going on up there. All we know is that we could be triggering something really nasty." The greatest point of contention is the possible implications for future political and economic policies for the world's nations. The IPCC in February 2007 projected that if carbon dioxide levels doubled relative to pre-industrial levels, temperatures could rise between 3.6 to 8.1 degrees Fahrenheit (2 to 4.5 degrees Celsius) by 2100. The lower end of the range could cause more intense hurricanes, droughts, wildfires and flooding, Schneider said. The higher end could lead to the catastrophes commonly associated with the visions of Hollywood filmmakers. Uncertainties, however, plague such forecasts, which are based on computer simulations and models. The models contemplate factors associated with how the atmosphere, oceans and continents interact, all natural elements that have unpredictability intrinsic to them. "Exactly how much it's going to warm up, we don't know," Schneider said. "That it's going to warm up? I'd bet anything on that." E-mail to a friend .

Earth has warmed one degree in past 100 years . Majority of scientists say greenhouse gases are causing temperatures to rise . Some critics say planets often in periods of warming or cooling .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- To this day, Linda Haywood recalls the shame she once felt for her great-uncle. Jack Johnson was convicted of transporting a white woman across state lines for "immoral purposes." "I could see from the expression on my mother's face that it pained her to tell me about him," she recalled, "but it wasn't just her. The shame was there for all the members of my family." Haywood's great-uncle, Jack Johnson, shocked the nation in 1908 by becoming the first African-American world heavyweight champion. Yet the boxer was arrested not long afterward for taking a white woman across state lines for "immoral" purposes. That case fell apart and the woman later became his wife, but then investigators charged him with a similar offense involving a woman he had dated years earlier. An all-white jury's decision to convict him in that case has come to be widely viewed as a symbol of racial injustice. Now Haywood is working with Sen. John McCain and others to try to clear her great-uncle's name. McCain wants the Senate to pass a resolution urging President Obama to grant Johnson a presidential pardon. It would represent a final vindication for Haywood, a 53-year-old seamstress in Chicago who now views her great-uncle with pride. Her parents didn't tell her until she was 12 that she was related to Johnson, even though she saw his photo at school during lessons on black history. "I remember seeing his picture on the wall of my sixth-grade classroom in Chicago in 1966," Haywood said in a voice tinged with sadness. "It was up there next to pictures of Sojourner Truth and George Washington Carver as part of a black history week my teacher put together. I didn't have the first clue who the man was. My parents didn't want me to know." Her parents, she said, were trying to protect her from a legacy of racial injustice at a time when the country had yet to emerge from the long shadow of segregation. Haywood was stunned when she learned her great-uncle's story. Less than five years after winning the heavyweight title, Johnson was convicted for violating the Mann Act, which outlawed the transportation of women across state lines for "immoral" purposes. Johnson was black and the woman was white -- enough to get even a champion imprisoned in early 20th century America. Justice Department lawyers decried it as a "crime against nature" for him to have a sexual relationship with a white woman. Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, later to become the first commissioner of Major League Baseball, set Johnson's bail at $30,000 -- the equivalent of more than $660,000 today. When a bail bondsman showed up, Landis jailed him, too, according to an account that filmmaker Ken Burns relays in his documentary, "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson." An all-white jury convicted Johnson in less than two hours. "Mr. Johnson was perhaps persecuted as an individual, but ... it was his misfortune to be the foremost example of the evil in permitting the intermarriage of whites and blacks," one of the prosecutors later said. Johnson's real crime, in the eyes of many, was committed three years earlier, when he successfully defended his boxing title against Jim Jeffries, a white boxer who came to be called the "Great White Hope" because many white fans saw him as the best chance to wrest back a boxing title from the African-American champ. Jeffries, a former heavyweight champion, had come out of retirement intending to reclaim a title that many Americans believed Johnson had no right to in the first place. Johnson beat Jeffries on July 4, 1910, before a stunned, almost entirely white crowd in Reno, Nevada. Race riots followed. More than 20 people were killed and hundreds were injured. Most victims were black. So when they "couldn't beat him in the ring, the white power establishment decided to beat him in the courts," Burns said in his documentary. Johnson fled to Europe in 1913 while free on appeal. But after years of fights overseas -- including the eventual loss of his title in Havana, Cuba, in 1915 -- Johnson came home. He turned himself over to U.S. authorities at the Mexican border in 1920 and served ten months in prison. He died in a car wreck in 1946. "Back then, if you were black and you were told that you did something wrong, you really had no recourse," said Haywood. "You just accepted what was done because black people were basically powerless and voiceless. Jack may have been a rich boxer, but he couldn't fight the system." Today, in a very different America, Haywood's family is seeking justice. They've teamed up with Burns, McCain and Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican, to urge the nation's first African-American president to grant Johnson a rare posthumous pardon. McCain and King introduced resolutions calling for a presidential pardon in 2005 and last year. The House passed it, but the Senate did not. The White House declined to comment when asked Obama's views on a possible pardon for Johnson. McCain, who says he made a mistake by once voting against a federal holiday for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., sees the pardon as a way to right an old wrong. "The Jack Johnson case is an ignominious stain on our nation's history," he said on the Senate floor this month, while introducing a new version of the resolution. "Rectifying this injustice is long overdue. [The resolution recognizes] the unjustness of what transpired, and sheds light on the achievements of an athlete who was forced into the shadows of bigotry and prejudice. Johnson ... deserved much better than a racially motivated conviction." King, himself a former boxer, said in a written statement that Johnson was a trailblazer who became "a victim of the times." For Haywood, the proposed pardon is also personal. It's about wiping the slate clean for future generations of her family. "My mother used to say Jack was defiant," she remembered. "No disrespect, momma, but he was being his own man. And I'm so proud of him. To think -- of all the families in the world, God gave him to us." Haywood has made sure her four children know the story of the country's first black heavyweight champion. "They love him," she said. "Especially my oldest son. He was a bit of a pugilist in high school. He got into his fair share of scraps. I think we know where he got that trait." Haywood says she'll go to Washington if Obama issues a pardon. With a bit of laughter, she promises to give a gracious, eloquent speech thanking him. With or without a pardon, she emphasizes, the stigma and the shame are gone. Today, Johnson's family feels only pride.

Heavyweight champ Jack Johnson was arrested around 1908 . His offense: Transporting a white woman across state lines for "immoral purposes" Relatives working with Washington powers to get Johnson a posthumous pardon .

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(CNN) -- Workers at a Texas state school for mentally handicapped adults are believed to have been staging a "fight club" among residents, encouraging them to physically battle one another, police told CNN Tuesday. A cell phone containing videos of the alleged abuse at the Corpus Christi State School in Corpus Christi, Texas, was turned over to police last week, and authorities are expecting to file arrest warrants this week, Corpus Christi police Capt. Tim Wilson told CNN. The incidents are believed to have taken place in a school dormitory, Wilson said. "This has been going on for some time," Wilson said. "That is what makes this an exceptional case. It is not the workers abusing the clients, so to speak. The workers are not hitting them, but they are allowing these clients to fight with each other, thereby endangering their well-being." "These people are charged with the care and custody of these clients, and they are exploiting (them)," he said. Those involved will likely face charges of injury of a disabled person, Wilson said. The charge's severity can range up to a third-class felony, depending on the extent of a person's involvement, he said. The actual charges, however are left up to the Nueces County District Attorney, which is participating in the investigation along with the Texas Inspector General's Office, he said. Seven school employees have been placed on paid emergency leave by the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, according to spokeswoman Cecilia Fedorov. Some former workers also will be interviewed, authorities said. Fedorov said the agency received a phone call Friday from the state Department of Family and Protective Services, saying they had been alerted to the situation by police and were opening an investigation into possible abuse or neglect. The employees on leave cannot come on to campus, but must sign in at the gate every day they are on leave, Fedorov said. State officials are awaiting the outcome of the investigation to determine whether they should take further action, she said. Wilson said Corpus Christi police received the cell phone a week ago, when a citizen found it and gave it to an officer working security at a hospital. The officer looked at several of the videos, then gave the phone to the police's forensic unit for analysis. More videos were found in the phone's memory. "It appears it was some sort of a fight club," Wilson said. Twenty videos were found on the phone, with dates going back about a year. All the videos featured the school's "clients," who are severely mentally handicapped, he said. On the videos, "they (the clients) are not upset like they are being forced," Wilson said. "They are being more goaded into it. There's a lot of voices on there from workers ... saying, 'Look at that, ha ha' ... laughing, stuff like that." No clients are seen crying, upset or injured on the videos, he said, but no workers are seen stopping the fighting. "The fighting entails pushing, wrestling and some shoving," Wilson said. Police do not believe anyone was seriously injured, he said, but the investigation is ongoing. "Four or five clients have been identified and at least five workers, possibly as many as 10," he said. "Some are more active in staging the fights, and some others passively stand around not doing anything." The clients are all adult males, ranging in age from their late teens into their 30s, he said. As part of the investigation, the Inspector General's office has interviewed some of the clients, Wilson said. Asked whether the school had previously been investigated for abuse, he said, "This is the exception. Over the years, we have had isolated instances of abuse we have investigated. Every once in a while, the school itself would report a case, but this appears to be organized." Police believe, based on the videos, the "fight club" was confined to one dormitory, he said. CNN's John Murgatroyd contributed to this report.

Cell phone videos of alleged abuse at Corpus Christi State School given to police . The Texas school serves adults who are severely mentally handicapped . Seven school employees placed on leave; arrest warrants are pending . No clients are seen crying, upset or injured on the videos, police say .

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This story is part of an ongoing series of profiles by CNN about economic survival in this time of financial crisis. Jean Lindsay records a video telling people to get out of their nightgowns and look for work. (CNN) -- Jean Lindsay, a spunky 67-year-old with two masters' degrees, panicked after she failed to land a job in the garden center of a Lowe's home-improvement store. She started to wonder whether a woman of her age ever would be able to find work. She worried about her debt, and weeks of unemployment were turning into months. After the job interview, she stayed up most of the night in the fits of an anxiety attack -- vomiting and huddling under the bedcovers with her two dogs. "God, I felt like I was falling off the ends of the earth," she said. A few days later, though, she tossed on a red sweater, plopped down in front of her computer, flipped on her Web camera -- and, suddenly, while streaming her story onto the Internet, things seemed OK. "I know I can count on you to send me great letters of support and cheer," Lindsay told viewers on CNN's iReport.com. "And remember, if you're going through this, I'm going through it too. There are lots of us going through this." Watch Lindsay's post . For Lindsay, like many people these days, the Internet has become both a tool for economic recovery and a cure for isolation. iReport.com: Share your survivor story . At a time when the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that 1.07 million people 55 and older are unemployed and looking for work, the Internet is an increasingly useful tool for older people looking for jobs and a sense of community, said Deborah Russell the AARP's director of workforce issues. "It's a great way of being able to network with people who are either in a similar situation or who may have some resources to help you," she said. The number of people who need this help is on the rise. Some older people are delaying retirement because of the economic recession; and, according to an analysis by the AARP Public Policy Institute, those who are looking for work typically search for about a third longer than people younger than 55. Watch how one senior goes back to school for a living » . Lindsay had been out of work for about three months before her brother gave her a Web camera for Christmas last year. Almost immediately, she was hooked. Her brother intended her to use the Web cam mostly to communicate with family members who are spread out across the country, she said. But Lindsay didn't stop there. She got a creative jolt from filming quirky videos of her own. So, she started posting video monologues for the Internet world to see. In the past three weeks, she's posted nearly 40 videos on iReport. Her most popular video -- in which she talks about depression while wearing a plaid nightgown -- has been viewed by more than 140,000 people. "I was in my nightgown at noon, and I wasn't getting at the job search very fast, and I thought, 'this is instructive,' " she said, laughing. She signs off from the video simply: "Get up, and get out!" Watch Lindsay's tips for getting out of the house . Her own advice compelled her to do the same. Lindsay says sharing her failures as well as successes online is cathartic, but she also hopes it's helpful for people in similar circumstances. She's not shy about saying that she suffers from mild bipolar disorder. This economy can push people into depression and mental illness, she said, and she wants people to know they're not alone. The same goes for her job search. "This has really invigorated me," she said of her forays with a virtual persona. "It's something where I've had success. And the job search is not always successful -- it's dealing with a lot of rejection, especially when you're older." On iReport, Lindsay posts under the name "infoaddict," which seems fitting for a former librarian and information technology expert with masters' degrees in literature and library information sciences. Like a good book, Lindsay says the Internet also opens new worlds for her. While she's not sure exactly how, she has a sense that all of her online storytelling will help her in the job search. If nothing else, the online videos market her computer skills, she said. Dan Beach, Lindsay's second cousin, who lives in Florida, said Skype, social media sites and online video have been "a salvation" for Lindsay. "Frankly, I think she was very, very depressed. And I think this has brought her out enormously," he said. The 72-year-old added: "It helps an older person feel younger because there is so much youth [online]. I've done the Facebook thing in the past couple of months myself." At first, Lindsay's online presence surprised him. "She's gotten so much response to it, and I'm wondering whether she might try to make something out of that," he said. "She's just the dotty aunt enough to be able to do that kind of thing. She's a charming person." iReport.com: Send us your job hunt stories . Lindsay, who said she needs a job because she has home-improvement debt and can't sell her house in this slumped market, said she is able to keep hunting for jobs partly because of her creative outlet online. She grew up loving to help her grandfather on his farm. Together, they would build manure loaders and chicken pluckers -- machines Lindsay found fascinating. Those experiences translated into her love for hardware stores, gardening and gadgetry. "I love hardware stores, so Lowe's would have been perfect. I'm just a crazy old lady, I've just got catholic taste," she said. But she believes that something better than Lowe's is out there. She plans to apply to an office-supply store, an electronics store and for a telecommunications job she could do from her home in western New York. "There is a real Catch-22 for people my age who are still hale and hearty and still have some talent left. We're probably fooling ourselves that we can go on and do anything," she said, "but we can't live that way." Her online life helps ensure she won't have to.

Jean Lindsay, 67, uploads videos about her struggles finding a job . Lindsay says support from her online viewers keeps her moving . Her advice to depressed older people who are out of work: "Get up, and get out!" Web skills are increasingly important in today's job market, AARP says .

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- For the fifth time this year, a U.S. Air Force nuclear weapons unit failed an inspection, this time because of failure to document its handling of nuclear missiles and other critical issues, Air Force officials said. In an Air Force file photo, an airman inspects a missile part at a training site. A "nuclear surety inspection" and "unit compliance inspection" was conducted this month on the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming by an Air Force inspector general. There was no risk to the unit's Minuteman III nuclear missiles, Air Force officials said. The unit has 90 days to correct the problems and pass another inspection. In the wake of recent problems, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and top Air Force officials have indicated a zero tolerance for failing inspections, but no punishments are expected in this case, officials said. The inspection report found the maintenance unit failed to document tests conducted on missiles correctly, including tests on safety devices. The inspector general told the unit the failures indicated either a "lack of competence" or "disregard for procedures," according to a source who has seen the report. Additionally, failures included having some personnel on duty without proper medical clearance and failure to inspect radiation detectors. Other units that failed inspections this year included two bomb wings and two missile units.

Unit at Wyoming base fails to document missile handling, Air Force officials say . The 90th Missile Wing has 90 days to make corrections . No risk to Minuteman III nuclear missiles, officials say .

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(CNN) -- Pulitzer Prize-winning author, radio host and activist Studs Terkel died in his Chicago, Illinois, home Friday at the age of 96. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel died at his home Friday at the age of 96. Terkel had grown frail since the publication last year of his memoir, "Touch and Go," said Gordon Mayer, vice president of the Community Media Workshop, which Terkel had supported. "I'm still in touch, but I'm ready to go," he said last year at his last public appearance with the workshop, a nonprofit that recognizes Chicago reporters who take risks in covering the city. "My dad led a long, full, eventful -- sometimes tempestuous -- satisfying life," his son Dan said in a statement. "The last time I saw him, he was up, about, and mad as hell about the Cubs," workshop President Thom Clark said in the statement. Terkel, known for his portrayal of ordinary people young and old, rich and poor, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for his remembrances of World War II, "The Good War." iReport.com: Remebering the legacy of Studs Terkel . Terkel was born in New York but moved to Chicago, where his parents ran a small hotel. Terkel would sit in the hotel lobby watching droves of people arguing, fighting, ranting and telling stories. "That hotel was far more of an education to me than the University of Chicago was," Studs told CNN in 2000. It seems that beginning would pave the way for Terkel's love of passing on people's oral histories. He could often be found behind a tape recorder talking to the people who would eventually become the basis for his books. Terkel became famous, if not synonymous with oral histories, for his ability to cast a light on the working class. "Oral history preceded the written word," Terkel told CNN in 2000. "Oral history is having people tell their own stories and bringing it forth. "That's what history's about: the oral history of the unknowns that make the wheel go 'round. And that's what I'm interested in." In an interview with Lou Waters on CNN in 1995, Terkel spoke about his book "Coming of Age," which explored the lives of people who have been "scrappers" all of their lives. Inside the book are the stories of people between the ages of 70 and 95, a group he called "the truth tellers." "Who are the best historians? Who are the storytellers?" Terkel asked. "Who lived through the Great Depression of the '30s, World War II that changed the whole psyche and map of the world, a Cold War, Joe McCarthy, Vietnam, the '60s, that's so often put down today and I think was an exhilarating and hopeful period, and, of course, the computer and technology. Who are the best ones to tell the story? Those who've borne witness to it. And they're our storytellers." After Terkel's wife died in 1999, he began working on a book about death, eventually called "Will the Circle Be Unbroken? Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith." "It's about life," Terkel said in 2000 when asked about the project. "How can one talk about life without saying sometime it's going to end? It makes the value of life all the more precious."

Terkel won Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for book about World War II, "The Good War" Son: "My dad led a long, full, eventful -- sometimes tempestuous -- satisfying life" Terkel once said death "makes the value of life all the more precious" Author believed elderly, those "who've borne witness" to life are best storytellers .

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Editor's note: CNN affiliates report on where job seekers are finding work across the country and how those looking for employment are coping with the situation. Job fairs are becoming more popular and are seeing record attendance. (CNN) -- A record number of senior citizens attended a job fair this week in Loveland, Colorado. The fair, which targeted people 50 and older, drew the biggest crowd -- about 900 people -- for the annual event. Nan Cooper, a job seeker, said applicants have to do more these days than just walk into a prospective employer's office with a resume. "[Times] have changed radically," she told KMGH in Denver. "I've spent countless, countless hours on the Internet and filling out applications." iReport.com: Share your job hunt story . She said she had even applied for jobs through the online auction site eBay. Read the full report on KMGH . Northeast: Job week seeks to solve 'disconnect' between employers, job hunters . Employers in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, area say they are having a difficult time filling 22,000 available positions. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said this week the city would increase its participation in a job placement program, both monetarily and through city organizations. The mayor made his remarks as part of a kickoff event for Imagine Career Week, which links high school students and employers. A spokesman for one of the groups sponsoring the week's events said there shouldn't be so many employers with open spots. "At the same time, we have young people walking around famously saying that they can't find a job. There's a big disconnect there someplace," Paul Leger of the Allegheny Conference told WTAE. During the career week, students will visit businesses and prospective employers will visit classrooms. Read the full report on WTAE . Southeast: Wal-Mart to increase its N.C. workforce by nearly 6 percent . Wal-Mart said Wednesday it plans to add 3,000 jobs in North Carolina. The retail chain currently employs 51,000 people at 155 locations in the state. "In a time when many are suffering, we want North Carolinians to know that we are here to stay," David Cameron, general manager for the Carolinas, told WRAL of Raleigh. He did not say where the jobs would be located. North Carolina is one of eight states with unemployment above 10 percent. Read the report on WRAL . Southeast: Military recruiter sees more potential airmen . Technical Sgt. Greg O'Conner is staying very busy these days. He is an Air Force recruiter in Bradenton, Florida. "With the way the economy is, recruitment is up," he told Bay News 9. "I get dozens of calls every day and walk-ins from young men and women interested in joining the Air Force." One of his recruits was 20-year-old Dakota Slentz, who cannot afford to go to law enforcement training school. He said the Air Force offers a chance for great experiences as well as a great salary. In statistics provided by the Department of Defense, the Air Force has reported meeting its recruiting goals each month of the fiscal year, which began in October. Read the full report on Bay News 9 . West: Sacramento project to bring thousands of jobs . A building developer in Sacramento, California, says plans to turn rail yards into a residential and commercial district will require thousands of workers over the next 20 years. Suheil Totah of Thomas Enterprises told KCRA that initial projects like building roads will mean jobs for 3,000 people. The company said more than 56,000 people will be needed for the project in the next two decades. The 244 acres will be converted into a mix of homes, businesses, entertainment venues and government offices. Read the report on KCRA . Around the nation . Tennessee will use federal stimulus money to hire 12,000 people ages 24 and younger, WSMV reports. A food company is converting a North Carolina textile plant and bringing 172 jobs, WXII reports.

Job fair aimed at people 50 and older draws big crowd . Pittsburgh area business executives meeting with high school students . Wal-Mart adding 3,000 jobs in North Carolina . Air Force recruiter in Florida has seen increase in interest .

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- A bat that apparently had trouble flying instead tried to hitch a ride on the space shuttle Discovery, NASA officials said. The free tail bat was last seen clinging to the space shuttle Discovery's external fuel tank just before launch. The animal was last seen clinging on the foam of the external tank of the space shuttle moments before the Discovery launched, officials said. NASA officials had hoped the bat would fly away on its own, but admitted the bat probably died quickly during Discovery's climb into orbit. Discovery's seven-member crew, which lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, is on a 14-day mission to deliver supplies needed to expand the International Space Station. NASA officials noticed the bat before shuttle's liftoff and brought in a wildlife expert to look at video images of it. The expert said it appeared to be a free-tailed bat that probably had a broken left wing and an injured right shoulder or wrist. The launch pads at the space center are near the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, so NASA has sirens to scare away animals that get near the shuttles. The bat isn't the first to try hitching a ride into space. NASA officials said they noticed one of the creatures on a tank of a shuttle in 1998. That bat flew away as the shuttle's massive engines ignited. The crew of the Discovery safely docked at the International Space Station on Tuesday. It was unclear whether its stowaway was still clinging to the shuttle.

NASA: Bat was last seen clinging on space shuttle Discovery before launch . Wildlife expert says bat appeared to have broken wing or injured shoulder . Discovery is on 14-day mission to deliver supplies to International Space Station .

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Editor's note: Randall Balmer, an Episcopal priest, is professor of American religious history at Barnard College, Columbia University, and a visiting professor at Emory University. His most recent book is "God in the White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush." Randall Balmer supports Obama's unusual broadening of a president's words to include nonbelievers. NEW YORK (CNN) -- President Obama's mention of "nonbelievers" in his inaugural address represents an important broadening of the circle of acceptability in American life, an acknowledgement of our growing diversity and a fuller embrace of the principles articulated in our nation's charter documents. One of the hallmarks of American life, dating to the 17th century, is its religious pluralism. The Atlantic seaboard during the colonial period was home to everyone from Puritans, Roman Catholics and Dutch Reformed to Quakers, Baptists, Presbyterians, Swedish Lutherans, Anglicans, Huguenots, Mennonites and Schwenckfelders. Jews arrived in New Amsterdam in 1654, refugees from South America after the Portuguese takeover of Recifé. Somehow it all worked, especially in the crucible of religious pluralism in the Middle Colonies: New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where William Penn launched his "Holy Experiment" of religious toleration. In the context of the New World, these religious groups learned to coexist with remarkably little conflict, and when it came time to configure the new nation, the founders in their wisdom elected not to designate any group as the state religion. "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," the First Amendment to the United States Constitution reads. This provision set up a kind of free market for religion in America, allowing religious groups to compete in a marketplace unfettered by government interference. Indeed, American history is littered with religious entrepreneurs (to extend the economic metaphor) who have peddled their wares in this marketplace and thereby contributed to the vigor and vitality of American religious life. The story of religion in America life has been one of expansion and ever-increasing diversity. Although Roman Catholics were present in the colonial period -- Maryland, named for the wife of Charles I, was founded by Catholics from England -- Catholics arrived in great numbers from Ireland, Germany and Italy over the course of the 19th century. Many Protestants, their hegemony threatened, resisted, sometimes with violence. Jews from Germany and Eastern Europe came as well. Most of the resistance was episodic. With notable -- albeit unfortunate -- exceptions, we Americans eventually rise to our better selves and embrace the principles of equality and toleration enshrined in our charter documents. And we can trace these changes in our rhetoric. The term "Judeo-Christian," although coined late in the 19th century, became popular in the 1930s as the clouds of war were gathering in Europe. In 1955, after World War II, when so many sons of Jewish and Catholic immigrants fought the Axis powers, sociologist Will Herberg published a book entitled "Protestant-Catholic-Jew," arguing that any of these religious expressions was legitimately "American." The following decade saw still more changes. The civil rights struggle brought the vibrancy of African-American religious life to national attention, and Lyndon Johnson's signature on the Hart-Cellar Immigration Act in 1965 removed immigration quotas. In the decades since, the arrival of people from around the world, especially from South Asia and Southeast Asia, has literally recast the religious landscape of the United States. Muslim mosques, Hindu temples, Sikh Gurdwäräs and Buddhist stupas have sprouted across the nation, from cities to the countryside. And our rhetoric has evolved as well. Whereas America might once have been described as a "Protestant" nation and then a "Christian" nation (to reflect the inclusion of Roman Catholics), we moved to "Judeo-Christian" and then "Protestant-Catholic-Jew." More recently, we have talked about the "Abrahamic Traditions," Jews, Christians and Muslims, thereby broadening the circle to include Islam, one of the three major monotheistic religions. Even with this broadening landscape, however, presidents have generally acknowledged only believers and failed to mention atheists or agnostics. Our rhetoric, in fact, has always lagged behind our reality. When President Obama declared, "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers," he sent a signal that it's time, once again, to enlarge the circle of inclusiveness, consistent with the great American tradition of equality and toleration. Although I'm sure that Buddhists and Jains and Sikhs and countless other religious adherents would like to have been included in the president's roll call, the message was clear: We are a diverse nation, and the "free exercise" of religion guaranteed in the First Amendment also protects the exercise of no religion at all. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Randall Balmer.

Randall Balmer: It's unusual for a president to include nonbelievers in his words . He says America has widened its circle of religion for hundreds of years . Balmer says rhetoric has grown to include Jews, Muslims, Hindus . The First Amendment makes it appropriate to recognize nonbelievers, he says .

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