Sandusky asks judge to let him visit with his grandchildren

Sandusky asks judge to let him visit with his grandchildren

Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach accused of sexually abusing boys, is asking the judge to grant visitation with his grandchildren.

(CNN) -- Despite being accused of child sex abuse, Jerry Sandusky is asking a judge to modify the terms of his bail so he can see his grandchildren, according to court documents.

Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach, was charged in November with sexually abusing young boys over a 14-year period. Prosecutors contend he met many of the boys through his charity, The Second Mile.

Sandusky, who has denied the charges, was released on a $100,000 bail in November and barred by a Pennsylvania judge from having unsupervised visits with his grandchildren. The judge also prohibited the children from staying overnight at Sandusky's home.

This week, Sandusky's lawyer filed a motion urging a judge to allow him to visit with his grandchildren because his "eleven minor grandchildren... have expressed their sadness to their parents about not being able to visit or talk" with him, the court documents said.

Sandusky is asking the judge to grant visitation with his grandchildren at his home and to allow him to communicate with them via phone, email, text and Skype, the documents said.

The motion also requests that Sandusky be allowed to have his friends visit his home, and that he be allowed to travel to meet with his attorney and private investigators work on his case.

A hearing on the issue is scheduled for February 10 at the Centre County Courthouse in Pennsylvania, authorities said.

Longshot presidential candidate to put abortion in your face during Super Bowl

Longshot presidential candidate to put abortion in your face during Super Bowl

Randall Terry will be on the Democratic ticket in several states this year.

(CNN) -- It was tongue in cheek, blogger Sophia Brugato said, because let's be honest: Tim Tebow, for all his athletic attributes, isn't the biggest scorer.

A sports buff who typically writes about basketball and women's issues, Brugato didn't expect her quip to be taken so seriously that death threats would follow, that the national media would look up from elections or that ads featuring aborted fetuses would air during the Super Bowl on February 5.

Brugato sparked the firestorm when she asked her fellow supporters of abortion rights to kick some cash to the cause when the Denver Broncos quarterback scored. The long-shot presidential candidate now funding the Super Bowl ads was incensed she would invoke Tebow, an adoptee of the Christian right, in a pro-choice campaign and considered her column a call to murder.

"She was raising money to kill babies, and we're raising money to save them. Fight fire with fire," said lifelong Republican and anti-abortion activist Randall Terry, who in January 2011 put his name on the Democratic ticket in several states, which would ensure he could air the graphic ads during election season.

Section 315 of the FCC Telecommunications Act says stations must air ads for candidates for federal office and are prohibited from altering the content. That means they can't refuse to run political ads even if the ads contain material the stations would ordinarily reject.

Terry said Friday he had already purchased air time in 13 markets with upcoming primaries: eight during pregame and five that will air in Ada, Oklahoma; Grand Junction, Colorado; Paducah, Kentucky; and Joplin and Springfield, Missouri, during the big game.

The markets were chosen based on where Terry felt the ads would have the most impact.

"(President Barack) Obama is going to carry California if he's found with foreign children in the Lincoln Bedroom, and the GOP will carry Texas if it's found that the nominee owns a brothel," Terry said.

'Enemy outside your gate'

Obama and the evangelicals and Catholics who voted for him in 2008 are the main targets of Terry's ad, but David Lewis, who is vying for Republican House Speaker John Boehner's Ohio seat, and Angela Michael, who is challenging Rep. John Shimkus, R-Illinois, are running similar ads in their districts.

Terry said he considers both GOP incumbents enemies of his cause because of their stands on the abortion issue and "an enemy outside your gate makes you vigilant; an enemy inside your gate can make you dead."

He estimated he has raised about $40,000 so far and, ideally, would like to see the ads air in more than two dozen cities spanning seven states.

Brugato didn't foresee the backlash. The whole mess began because while she enjoyed the underdog quarterback story that consumed the sports world before the Broncos were dispatched from the playoffs on January 14, Tebow's stance on abortion made her uncomfortable.

Particularly unnerving was a Focus on the Family commercial two years ago in which Tebow's mother, Pam, said she had ignored a doctor's recommendation to abort the future Heisman Trophy winner to save her own life. The irony, Brugato said, is that Pam Tebow was given a choice.

Brugato made her inner conflict the theme of a December 13 column on the Abortion Gang website, which calls its writers "unapologetic activists for reproductive justice."

"How can I support a guy that's openly anti-choice?" she wrote. "This is the same man that used the Super Bowl to a) build his reputation and brand as the saintliest saint of an athlete that ever lived, and b) raise money for an anti-choice organization that would deny the right to abortion to millions of women that need it. Yuck."

As part of her missive, she created a #10forTebow hashtag on Twitter and urged her readers to donate $10 to a pro-choice group every time Tebow tossed a touchdown.

"It was more, 'This guy's at the forefront of pop culture and let's remind everyone he's a great football player, but he's anti-choice,' " she said. "(The call for donations) was a random thought that kind of came into my mind, and I just put it out there knowing he wasn't going to do a lot of scoring -- and it just took off from there."

Hate mail rolled in, and not the normal hate mail to which she was accustomed as a commentator on women's issues and her beloved Portland Trail Blazers basketball team. There were calls for her death -- one asserting she should have been aborted herself -- and threats of rape.

It was "disturbing enough to have to forward it to the FBI," Brugato said.

Pregnant teen opts against abortion

The 26-year-old Portland State University student even had a chat with her 7-year-old son, not only about the importance of protecting yourself on the Internet, but also about why mom should "stand up for people without a voice," she said.

Brugato's experience as a mother gives her an interesting perspective on abortion. Pregnant as a senior in high school, she went to Planned Parenthood for testing and counseling.

Just 18, she was "harboring illusions about adulthood" and didn't appreciate the responsibilities or financial obligations that came with being a parent. Having a child seemed romantic, but she said Planned Parenthood helped her understand the seriousness of the situation and laid out her options.

Her parents, who were upset, and the teachers at her Catholic high school, who were pushing for adoption, offered support. Ultimately, she decided on motherhood.

Despite the vicious responses to her Abortion Gang column, Brugato said she has received ample support. Portland is considered fairly liberal, and folks around town and campus have offered encouragement. Many people wrote her to say they had donated to abortion rights groups.

But others co-opted her hashtag, calling on abortion opponents to donate $10 to a pro-life organization each time Tebow put up six.

Then there was Terry, who took Brugato's words personally and lashed out.

Terry, who has been arrested almost 50 times while protesting, is no stranger to political theatrics. In 2009, he donned a doctor's scrubs and lab coat and stood outside then-Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd's Charleston, West Virginia, office with a man dressed as Obama, who handed him plastic babies. Terry stabbed each one with a scalpel and tossed it over his shoulder. He also mimicked stabbing an elderly woman to register his opposition to the administration's health care package, which some critics argue promotes euthanasia.

"We're trying to jolt people back into reality," he said at the time.

After Brugato's column last month, Terry wrote a letter to his "pro-life, Christian friends," that said the blogger's "despicable challenge has the ring of a horror film: 'Every time you do something good, we will kill an innocent person.' "

He further called Brugato a child killer and implored, "Let's make them rue the day they attacked Tim Tebow because of his Christian faith and because of his pro-life ad that he ran in the Super Bowl of 2010 by showing pro-life ads in Super Bowl 2012 that grab the attention of the nation."

Love it or hate it

Brugato was shocked by the letter's tone and was concerned that "some of the language was meant as a dog whistle to the more extreme anti-abortion folks out there."

She was even more disturbed by the ads that Terry's campaign had produced, including one that likened abortion to civil rights atrocities and the Holocaust.

"It's just so offensive. It's going to offend more people than it will bring to his cause," she said.

The planned Super Bowl ad begins with a brief warning imposed over Obama's face before Terry says, "Abortion is murder. The innocent blood of 50 million babies cries out to God from our sewers and landfills. We must make it a crime to murder them, or heaven will judge America."

Claiming Christians who vote for Obama "have blood on their hands," the ad features several unsettling images, including two fetuses curled up inside a rosary and a headless fetus next to a crucifix. Another segment of the ad features a fetus' arm lying on a dime.

Similar ads ran during the Iowa and New Hampshire GOP contests, the latter prompting CNN affiliate WCVB-TV in Boston, Massachusetts, to pre-emptively explain to its audience that it cannot edit the ad, "even if it is libelous, inflammatory or otherwise offensive to the community."

As for the response in Iowa, Terry said, "What do you think? People were enraged or they loved it. There's no middle ground."

He makes no apologies for the ads' disturbing content because "using these images is what's required for peaceful political revolution." He points to the results that disturbing images have historically had on wars, child slavery and the civil rights movement.

NARAL Pro-Choice America did not return messages seeking comment on the appropriateness of the images. Nor did Planned Parenthood, though a representative sent an e-mail containing information on two of Terry's many arrests and some past inflammatory remarks.

Super Bowl the right audience?

Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League, endorses the ads, if not the venue. During their Face the Truth Tours, members of his group congregate at major intersections across the country holding aloft similar images of fetuses.

His group places people before the targeted intersection with warning signs so drivers can take alternate routes if they choose, Scheidler said. He knows the images are disturbing, and that's the point: to emboss in someone's mind a gruesome image of abortion in hopes that it affects their philosophy or advice to loved ones later.

"We don't show these pictures to make friends or be popular," he said, adding that while some people are moved by intellectual or religious arguments, "others will be persuaded by seeing for themselves the injustice."

Scheidler said he hopes Terry's Super Bowl tactic is successful, even if it isn't one he'd embrace.

"I like to respect that time for family fun. There's a time for families to have entertainment and not to be dealing with the grave issues of the day," he said. "It's not anything I would do, but I'm not going to say it's wrong for Mr. Terry to do it."

To those who label Terry an extremist, he welcomes the tag, saying "extremism is the essence of Christianity. ... No successful social movements were moderate."

He isn't airing his ads solely to be controversial, he said. He's wanted to be president since he was a boy, and though he doesn't expect to beat Obama in the primary (the president took 98% of the vote in Iowa and out-dueled Terry 82%-1% in New Hampshire), Terry hopes that "by putting babies out front that that will break his back in the 2012 general election."

"I'm looking to create the debate over whether a Christian can ethically vote for Obama," he said. "I know that we will prevail. I know we will make it a crime to kill unborn babies."

U.S. storms kill 2, injure 100

U.S. storms kill 2, injure 100

A tornado ripped through Trussville, Ala., early Monday, destroying many homes.

Severe storms and possible tornadoes pounded the U.S. South on Monday, injuring more than 100 people and killing at least two in Alabama, including a man who lived in an area devastated by a deadly twister outbreak in the spring.

Homes were flattened, windows were blown out of cars and roofs were peeled back in the middle of the night in the community of Oak Grove near Birmingham. As dawn broke, residents surveyed the damage and officials used chainsaws to clear fallen trees.

Oak Grove was hit hard in April when tornadoes ravaged Alabama, killing about 240 people, though officials said none of the same neighbourhoods were struck again. Officials had to reschedule a meeting Monday to receive a study on Alabama's response to the spring tornadoes.

"Some roads are impassable, there are a number of county roads where you have either debris down, trees down, damage from homes," said Yasamie Richardson, a spokeswoman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.

An 82-year-old man died in Oak Grove and a 16-year-old girl was killed in Clay, Jefferson County sheriff's spokesman Randy Christian said.

The storm system stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, producing a possible tornado that moved across northern Jefferson County around 3:30 a.m. ET, causing damage in Oak Grove and other communities, Christian said.

As day broke, searchers went door-to-door calling out to residents, many of whom were trapped by trees that criss-crossed their driveways.

Stevie Sanders woke up around 3:30 a.m. and realized bad weather was on the way. She, her parents and sister hid in the laundry room of their brick home as the wind howled and trees started cracking outside.
Trees fall on homes, storm shelter

"You could feel the walls shaking and you could hear a loud crash. After that it got quiet, and the tree had fallen through my sister's roof," said Sanders.

The family was OK, and her father, Greg Sanders, spent the next hours raking his roof and pulling away pieces of broken lumber.

"It could have been so much worse," he said. "It's like they say, we were just blessed."

In Clanton, about 80 kilometres south of Birmingham, rescuers were responding to reports of a trailer turned over with people trapped, City Clerk Debbie Orange said.

Also south of Birmingham, Maplesville town clerk Sheila Haigler said high winds damaged many buildings and knocked down several trees. One tree fell on a storm shelter, but no one was injured, Haigler said. Police had not been able to search some areas because trees and power lines were blocking roads.

In Arkansas, there were possible tornadoes in several areas Sunday night. The storms also brought hail and strong winds as they moved through parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Illinois and Mississippi.

Tornado warnings were issued for parts of Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama.

Ripken visits Japanese youth in tsunami-hit area

Ripken visits Japanese youth in tsunami-hit area

In this photo taken on Nov. 10, 2011 and released by the U.S. Embassy in Japan, Cal Ripken Jr. shows his batting skills to junior high school boys from various towns of tsunami-hit northeastern Japan during his baseball clinic in Ofunato in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. Ripken Jr. took a message of hope and perseverance to Japanese children effected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

(AP) TOKYO - Cal Ripken Jr. took a message of hope and perseverance to Japanese children affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.


The Hall of Fame infielder, who earned the nickname "Iron Man" for playing in 2,632 consecutive games during his 21-year career with the Baltimore Orioles, put on a baseball clinic in Ofunato, Japan, as part of nine-day mission as a sports diplomat on behalf of the U.S. State Department.


Some 70 junior high school students from schools throughout the disaster area took part in the clinic conducted by Ripken, his former Baltimore teammate Brady Anderson and Japanese baseball's own "Iron Man," Sachio Kinugasa.


"We were able to provide a small distraction," Ripken said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press. "Something that makes you feel good, makes you smile and maybe just for a brief moment helps you get through the day."


Ripken said he was fascinated to hear that some of the students would play baseball deep into the night just to help them deal with their losses.


"It was horrific in many ways," Ripken said. "Some of them lost their entire families, they lost everything they had and in many cases they were the only ones left from their families. You realize a baseball team for most of us is a secondary family but for some of these kids it became a primary family."


While he said there was no comparison between his streak and what the students in the region were going through, the mental approach that allowed him to play in 2,632 consecutive games could provide some valuable lessons.


"I think there is a valuable process that says we played it one game at a time and had to focus on what you could control today to get you to tomorrow," he said.


This was Ripken's third trip as a Public Diplomacy Envoy. He traveled to China in 2007 and to Nicaragua in 2008. A 2008 trip to South Africa, was scrapped because of scheduling issues.


He said touring the disaster zone was a sobering experience.


"Going through the areas and seeing it firsthand started to get me emotional," Ripken said. "There is no way you can fathom the scale of what happened by seeing it on TV. When you are standing there and looking left and looking right and seeing some signs of how high the water came — some people told me it was almost 50 feet in some areas — you can't realize what anyone would do in that situation."


Some of the children that Ripken instructed had met him before. In August, 16 young Japanese baseball and softball players traveled to the United States for a three-week exchange program.


Ripken's consecutive game streak broke the Major League Baseball record held by Lou Gehrig (2,130) and the mark in Japan set by Kinugasa (2,215).

Facebook: Attack identified, most spammed porn removed

Facebook: Attack identified, most spammed porn removed

Facebook has been hit by a widespread attack spamming porn and violent images, security experts say.

(CNN) -- Facebook says a hack that exploited some Web browsers was responsible for a flood of porn, violent images and other graphic content that spread across the site over the past couple of days.

Spokesman Frederic Wolens said Facebook's security team had been working to identify the cause of the spam and that, by Tuesday afternoon, "we have eliminated most of the spam caused by this attack."

"We are now working to improve our systems to better defend against similar attacks in the future," Wolens said in an e-mail.

Earlier Tuesday, Graham Cluley, a consultant with Web security firm Sophos, said that "explicit and violent" images had been flooding the News Feeds of Facebook users for the past 24 hours or so.

Cluley wrote on the Sophos blog that the images included hardcore porn; photoshopped images of celebrities, including teen pop star Justin Bieber, in sexual positions; "extreme violence;" and at least one image of an abused dog.

"What's clear," Cluley wrote, "is that mischief-makers are upsetting many Facebook users and making the social networking site far from a family-friendly place."

Several CNN.com staffers reported seeing some of the images by Tuesday morning.

Facebook's Wolens said that users were tricked into pasting malicious script into their browser URL bars, causing them to unknowingly share the offensive content.

He said no data or account information was compromised during the attack.

The blog AllFacebook reported that the social-media giant had been quietly taking down the images for most of the day Tuesday.

Writer Jackie Cohen said a request for comment on the images merely got a reply thanking her for "flagging" the images.

"The fact that these photos spread for as long as 48 hours unchecked [shows] how much Facebook relies on individual users to flag inappropriate content: people were commenting on the images more than flagging them," she wrote.

Users were, understandably, distraught.

"Seeing a dead dog on my Facebook news feed ........ Officially deactivating it," said one Twitter user in a post collected by Sophos.

"I saw a dead dog, Justin Bieber [performing a sex act] and a naked grandma," said another. "Time to delete facebook."

The Facebook statement said the site has built a mechanism to shut down pages sharing the links and contacted people affected by the attack with information about how to protect themselves.

The site advised users never to copy and paste unknown code into their browser bars, always use up-to-date browsers and use the "Report" links on Facebook to report suspicious activity when they see it.

Facebook did not say anything about who may have been behind the attacks.

With questions still abounding, speculation on the Web turned -- as it often does in online hacking cases -- the controversial "hacktivist" collective Anonymous.

A group claiming allegiance to Anonymous announced it was going to make November 5 "Kill Facebook Day." That day came and went with little noticeable activity.

But last week, an Anonymous-affiliated group announced in a YouTube video that it had created the "Fawkes virus," a sophisticated tool that would attack Facebook.

A handful of Twitter feeds widely acknowledged as being run by Anonymous members had made no mention of the Facebook posts Tuesday morning.

At least two members had previously distanced themselves from Operation Facebook, saying it was doomed to fail and that Anonymous is not a cohesive group with unanimously approved goals.

"Using a simple Facebook account, the worm can be carried into other accounts with little or no interaction," an automated voice says in the video posted on the account "AnonSecurity157." "We did not expect the intensity with which this would spread."

The video claims the worm can be controlled remotely and that once it's fully understood it "will use this to its advantage against corruption."

As prices soar, a new gold rush emerges in the West

As prices soar, a new gold rush emerges in the West

Liberty, Washington (CNN) -- Pirates, Spanish conquistadors and James Bond movie supervillains have all searched, schemed and even killed for it.

Gold.

And along a gurgling stream in Washington state, Bob Gustafson, a retired grandfather of three, squeezes into his wetsuit to join the long history of people hunting for the precious metal.

For Gustafson, prospecting falls somewhere between a hobby and a pipe dream. It's an activity he enjoys but one that also could someday bring riches. Meet the new face of gold prospecting.

"You got people who are retired who are out here, that's what they do for a living now, they go around and dig for gold," Gustafson explained as he fired up his dredge, a noisy, generator-powered pump he used to suck up sediment from the river bed.

He later dried the soil and painstakingly sifted the material for small flakes of gold.

Gustafson dreams of finding "nuggets," the chunks of gold that other prospectors still sometimes discover in this mountain-ringed valley, a century after the first prospectors arrived here.

A few minutes into the dredging, Gustafson points out what he calls "the color" or small gold flakes glinting back at him from the sediment.

"If you get in a good area and find some pieces you can find an ounce fairly fast," he said.

That ounce can bring gold hunters as much as $1,800. Pumped up gold prices and the popularity of reality TV shows on prospecting fuel what Chris Brawn calls "the new Gold Rush."

A fifth-generation miner, Brawn said he would prospect regardless of the price of gold. Already Brawn is busy instructing the next generation, his son, in the family trade.

"He started at 3 years old and learned to stand looking in the dredge, getting gold," Brawn said, ever the proud father.

Brawn teaches amateur prospectors how to find gold and sells them the gear and rents them access to the "claims," the land where they can try their hand at mining.

He said he has seen a sharp increase in clients as the price of gold skyrocketed.

"The most common question I get is, 'What's the biggest piece of gold you have ever found?" Brawn said with a wide grin. "The next one is, 'Where is the gold?' "

Even if they don't know immediately how to find or excavate the gold, Brawn said his students are serious about prospecting.

"They are trying to make a living at this," he said. "Some people do, some people don't but there's a lot of color left out there."

Like many prospectors, Brawn rejects charges made by some environmentalists that prospectors damage the natural surroundings where they hunt for gold.

Brawn said miners often pull trash from rivers and leave areas cleaner than they found them.

Prospectors, he said, worry they are getting a bad rap and are concerned about movements in several states to ban some of the techniques small miners use.

According to Brawn, prospecting is no longer just for "old, gnarly miners," the hardscrabble frontiersmen who settled the lawless wilderness during the 1800s.

Gold mining, Brawn said, has become a family outing in the tough economy, a way to get kids outdoors and generate a little extra income.

"People have lost their second homes or can't afford to fly to their time shares. They're looking at this as their next vacation," Brawn said. "It's a great way to get out of the office, get your phones turned off and get in the creek with your family."

Asked about the pistol he carried in his shoulder holster, Brawn gives "a no big deal" shrug.

"That's just for the bears and cougars," he explained.

On a recent weekend, novice and expert prospectors gathered in a field near one of Brawn's claims for a "Miners Rally" held by the Washington Prospectors Mining Association.

Under the pine trees, metal detector experts conducted workshops, teenagers raced each other in sediment-sifting competitions and prospectors swapped the latest intelligence on where to find the gold.

Soaking up the atmosphere were Sandy and Jeff Smith, a retired couple just starting to prospect.

Sandy's reasons for wanting to prospect included a love for the outdoors and not wanting to "sit around the campsite knitting."

Her husband Jeff's answer was more complicated and involved the London Stock Exchange, Chinese government and various international conspiracies.

"There's a huge demand for gold at this point because it's stable," Smith said "Paper money looks like its on the way out. People just don't have confidence in it anymore."

The couple's hadn't found much gold so far but, they said, were still enthusiastic prospectors.

"I'd rather spend time doing this kind of hard work than other kind of hard work," Sandy said. "Even if it just pays for the gas."

Veteran miner Andy Herndon also took in the rally, his left hand tightly clutching two gold nuggets he estimated were worth thousands of dollars.

He and his mining partner found them, he said, after breaking and sifting tunnel walls of a century old mine. The gold pieces are smooth and cool to the touch with a nice weight to them.

Herndon said to take advantage of the record high gold prices and sell the nuggets now would be a sweet reward.

But nothing, he said, compared to the moment a prospector feels when he first spots "the color."

"Find a $5,000 nugget and that's quite a thrill," Herndon said. "Time to go to town and have a drink."

Woman charged with attempted murder of baby boy

Woman charged with attempted murder of baby boy

woman with one count of attempted murder for allegedly throwing a seven-month-old baby boy from a children's hospital parking garage Monday night, according to a statement from local authorities.

The infant, who was rushed to a trauma center, remains in critical condition, police said.

Sonia Hermosillo, 31, was detained shortly after the incident and remains in custody, Orange police said in a statement Tuesday. No bail has been set, authorities said.

A woman walking near the Orange County Children's Hospital saw the infant fall from the second level of the garage and called police, Sgt. Dan Adams said.

Investigators later interviewed several witnesses and reviewed a surveillance video from the garage. The image of a license plate on a 2000 Chevy Blazer seen leaving the garage shortly after the incident led police to Hermosillo.

Authorities found an empty child seat in Hermosillo's vehicle, according to the statement. Hermosillo's husband reported earlier that both his wife and their seven-month-old son were missing, the statement said.

After tornado, Alabama students finally get graduation day

After tornado, Alabama students finally get graduation day

Alabama students finally graduate

(CNN) -- There might not have been a truer definition of bittersweet than the events that unfolded this weekend in an Alabama college town recovering from an April day when the winds screamed and the houses blew away like feathers.

In the Coleman Coliseum, named after a long-time Crimson Tide historian, 4,770 young men and women, draped in black gowns emblazoned with red A's, marched down the aisles normally reserved for basketball audiences. Sports are big at the University of Alabama; the spirit of legendary football coach Bear Bryant looms large in these parts.

It was appropriate then that Fan Day, heralding the start of a new football season, falls Sunday, just a day after momentous ceremonies and remembrances that, this year, came with an uneasy blend of joy and sorrow, hope and despair.

A killer tornado twisted and turned through Tuscaloosa April 27, reshaping the lives of the latest batch of graduates at the university that dominates this otherwise sleepy town. Six of their own were among the 47 dead.

After the storm, the university ended the semester. School finished abruptly. Many students joined the community's relief efforts or went home.

This weekend's graduation helped bring closure, students said, and will help them start anew.

Friday night, the names of the six students who were killed were said aloud at a candlelight vigil on campus.

Scott Atterton, Danielle Downs, Ashley Harrison, Melanie Nicole Mixon, Morgan Sigler and Marcus Smith.

Their families watched as former student government President James Fowler laid down a red rose for each of their loved ones.

"Tonight we honor them," Fowler said. "Tonight we heal."

At the first of two undergraduate commencement ceremonies Saturday, University President Robert Witt called the names of their parents. They stood to applause and then accepted their children's diplomas awarded posthumously.

David and Darlene Harrison pinned photos of Ashley on themselves. It was hard to keep eyes dry.

"It was huge for those families to see the university body to recognize what they are going through," said Shannon Lindamood, who earned her degree in dance.

She could not imagine her own family -- her parents or her brother -- having to accept on her behalf.

"I know it will never be the same for them," Lindamood said. "But I hope this helped them."

The six were not there, among their classmates, for the all-important day that marks the end of student life and the start of the real world. Their absence bore down inside the Coliseum like a dark cloud hanging low, puncturing pomp and circumstance with the grief of what was lost.

'Walking for a city'

That April morning, journalism student Candace Murphy was out reporting on another storm north of Tuscaloosa. She was struck by the damage to people's homes, by the stealth destruction wrought so randomly.

She returned to the television station where she was working only to realize that what had been a news story for her could quickly become very personal.

The weatherman announced the tornado was heading straight toward Tuscaloosa. She could see the violent vortex speeding straight toward downtown and campus. When the power went out, Murphy knew it was serious.

"It's OK," said one of the anchors to her husband. "We'll make it." Murphy started crying. She huddled with others under the anchor desk and began praying. "Our father who art in heaven ..."

She pleaded with God: "Please let this be over."

Minutes passed. They felt like unending hours. When it was finally over, Murphy walked outside on campus and was, at first, heartened by the lack of devastation. The university campus was largely spared destruction. Everything was all right, she thought.

It was only later when her station sent her out to cover the tornado that she realized the scope of the suffering.

Forty-seven dead. Five have not been found to this day. Nearly 7,275 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed -- 12% of Tuscaloosa.

Murphy was heartbroken. This was the city that had shaped her. She had even learned to love football.

She felt lucky to be alive. But she also felt short-changed when she opened the university e-mail announcing the end of classes and the cancellation of graduation on May 7.

There would be no Senior Week. No last few nights of revelry with her Alpha Omnicron Pi sorority sisters.

"I couldn't experience any of that," she said. "I felt stripped of all my privileges."

Murphy remained in Tuscaloosa, continuing her job at the local television station. On the three-month anniversary of the tornado, she broke down. That's when it hit her hard, she said.

The images in her head were vivid -- of trees stripped of their bark, squished cars, missing walls and debris everywhere. She reported standing in front of a building once. She couldn't tell what it used to be until a man walked up to her and said: "That was my home."

Murphy thought she had healed. She hadn't.

But this week brought relief. Thursday night, she and 10 of her sorority sisters hit the town for one last hurrah.

Saturday, she will collect her degree in the afternoon ceremony with her parents, brother, grandparents and godparents looking on. "This will be a day I will never forget," she said. "I am walking not only for myself but for everyone in the tornado. I am walking for a city."

Closure and a new start

Desiree Mahr drove west on Interstate 20 from Atlanta Friday afternoon, back to the place she had called home for four years.

She thought of another drive she made more than three months ago.

After the tornado, Mahr left Tuscaloosa for home in Illinois. When she crossed the Alabama state line, she fought back tears. She had not wanted her college days to end like that.

"I never even got to say a proper goodbye," she said.

That haunted her as she began a new life on her own in Atlanta, working at a public relations firm. It felt strange in some ways to go back now as a graduating student. But she looked forward to finally draping a commencement gown about her, feel the mortarboard snug on her head.

Bethany Travis felt the same way. She, too, was returning to Tuscaloosa from Atlanta.

"We're going to start remembering our friends who aren't here to walk, and who can never even walk again," she said. "I think it's probably going to be more sad than happy."

In Tuscaloosa, Jessica Winters readied her dress -- a black, after-5 that she bought at J.C. Penney.

She had survived the storm huddled in the hallway of her apartment with her roommate. She put pillows on top of her head and prayed as windows busted and wood shards sliced through the rooms. An entire side of her apartment building was gone.

They are memories that Winters will live with for the rest of her life. Saturday, she will add to those memories in a good way.

"I am excited," she said.

The Rev. Kelvin Croom, whose church was destroyed in the storm, said it was time for the university, for the entire community, to move on.

"It was admirable of the university to postpone the graduation," said Croom, whose congregation includes five graduating students. "It's closure but also an opening. It's the beginning of another school year. What an awesome way to start it."

In another part of Alabama, Scott Atterton's mother stayed at home Saturday. The tribute to her son was too painful to bear.

But she plans to hang Atterton's degree in her house, a mark of his accomplishment given to him on a day when the University of Alabama reached an emotional milestone.

China: Obama visit with Dalai Lama has 'harmed Sino-U.S. relations'

China: Obama visit with Dalai Lama has 'harmed Sino-U.S. relations'

President Barack Obama meets with the Dalai Lama at the White House on Saturday.

(CNN) -- China spoke out strongly Sunday against a meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama, saying it "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and harmed Sino-U.S. relations."

"This action seriously interfered with China's internal affairs," said Ma Zhaoxu, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a statement, adding that officials have lodged formal complaints with their U.S. counterparts in Beijing and Washington.

Obama met with the Dalai Lama on Saturday in Washington, commending the Tibetan spiritual leader on his commitment to nonviolence and pursuit of the "Middle Way" approach with China, the White House said in a statement.

During the closed-door visit at the White House, Obama stressed the U.S. policy that "Tibet is a part of the People's Republic of China and the United States does not support independence for Tibet," the White House said.

In the nearly 45-minute meeting, the president voiced support for "direct dialogue" between China and Tibet as a way to peace, the statement said.

"The Dalai Lama stated that he is not seeking independence for Tibet and hopes that dialogue between his representatives and the Chinese government can soon resume," the White House said.

American support of the Dalai Lama has long been a subject of contention in U.S.-China relations. Chinese officials view the religious leader as a separatist.

The issue of Tibet is one that "involves China's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement released before the meeting. "We oppose foreign leaders meeting with the Dalai Lama in any format."

The strong objection to the meeting continued after it was over.

"By allowing the Dalai Lama to visit the U.S. and arranging the top leader to meet him, the United States has seriously violated basic principles of international relations and its own repeated solemn pledges, and harmed Sino-U.S. relations," Ma's statement said. "China therefore expresses its strong indignation and firm opposition."

The statement concluded by calling on the U.S. "to take China's solemn and just stance seriously, and adopt immediate measures to eliminate adverse consequences."

The president last met with his fellow Nobel Peace laureate in February 2010.

The Dalai Lama expressed hopes that his relationship with China can improve, with U.S. help.

The current Dalai Lama is also known by the name Tenzin Gyatso. He was born in 1935 in modern-day Qinghai, China.

The term "Dalai Lama" is a Buddhist religious title. In traditional Tibetan belief, the title is given to those who are the reincarnations of a line of revered religious teachers. The current Dalai Lama is considered the 14th in this line.

The Dalai Lama has been in Washington on an 11-day visit. He has conducted a mass ritual for Buddhists and met with several lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Rare fungal infection strikes Joplin tornado victims

Rare fungal infection strikes Joplin tornado victims

Deep skin infections can occur when material kicked up by tornadic winds becomes lodged under the skin.

(CNN) -- Eight people injured by the devastating Joplin, Missouri, tornado have contracted a rare fungal infection, and three have died, officials said Friday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is assisting state and local health officials, who are investigating the cases.

All three individuals who died had serious injuries, as well as fungus, Jasper County Coroner Rob Chappel said. One of the deaths was caused by the infection, called mucormycosis, but the cause of death for the other two victims has not been determined, he said.

All eight patients sustained multiple injuries and secondary wound infections, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The infection can occur when dirt, vegetation or other material becomes lodged under the skin.

The death toll from the May tornado stood at 151 on Friday.

CDC researcher Dr. Benjamin Park told CNN that in most cases, people with weakened immune systems inhale spores and develop sinus or nasal infections that spread.

The Joplin cases apparently are a form of the severe infection that appears with soft-tissue injuries.

A spore on the tip of a tree, for example, can pierce the skin, Park said. The infection can progress a few weeks later and cause significant damage to tissue, which can require hospitalization, antibiotics and even removal of the tissue.

Although this is a rare infection, it can have extremely serious consequences, requiring prompt medical attention, Park said.

Anyone in the tornado area that is suffering wounds that are not healing should seek prompt medical attention, he added.

Deep skin fungal infection does not spread from human to human, Missouri officials said. No cases were attributed to air, food or water.

Arrested for Feeding the Homeless in Violation of New Orlando Law

Arrested for Feeding the Homeless in Violation of New Orlando Law

On April 4, 2007 Food Not Bombs volunteer Eric Montanez was arrested by police. 

Members of the organization Food Not Bombs were in good spirits as they passed out corn on the cob, rice, beans and other vegetarian dishes to the homeless and hungry in an Orlando park. This cheer was interrupted when police officers on bicycles arrived and arrested five of the volunteers.

This is not the first time this scene has played out for members of Food Not Bombs.

Since June 1, a dozen members of the group have been arrested for violating a new Orlando city ordinance that prohibits sharing food with large groups in downtown parks more than twice a year.

The mayor of Orlando even branded them "food terrorists."

Food Not Bombs is an international political organization that protests war, poverty and the destruction of the environment, according to their website. The group meets to distribute food twice a week in downtown Orlando's Lake Eola Park.

They won a district court case to prevent the enforcement of the new ordinance , but the decision was overturned in the appellate court.

A spokesperson for the city of Orlando said that the ordinance had its origins in complaints from residents and business owners about trash left after the food distribution, public urination and concerns about crime.

Breaking the Law By Feeding the Homeless

Lake Eola Park is the city's "crown jewel and a signature part of the city right in the middle of Orlando," according to the spokesperson. The city says the ordinance is a permit system that allows them to be aware of what is happening and where so that they can provide necessary services such as clean-up.

In regards to Food Not Bombs, the spokesperson says, "We would really like to find a solution and a compromise."

The court decision says, "The City of Orlando enacted the ordinance to spread the burden that feedings of large groups have on parks and their surrounding neighborhoods."

The document also says that Food Not Bombs could obtain two permits a year for each of the 42 parks in downtown Orlando, for a total of 84 large group feedings a year. The ordinance does not put restrictions on group feedings outside of the downtown area.

"The idea that every week we have to move to a different part of the city and that people have to find us just doesn't make any sense," said Keith McHenry, one of the founders of Food Not Bombs and the first to be arrested in Orlando.

"It's a really wonderful experience to save food, cook it with your friends, and hand it out," McHenry said. "You can't imagine the government saying this beautiful thing can't happen."

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer has been quoted calling the group "food terrorists." He told ABC's Orlando affiliate WTFV, "I think they are using food or the feeding of the homeless for different purposes."


Arrested for Feeding the Homeless in Orlando

Cathy Jackson, the executive director of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, agrees that motives may be more about self-promotion.

"The meal service that's being provided by Food Not Bombs is an unnecessary service," Jackson said. She says there are at least seven shelter operations within less than a mile and a half of Lake Eola Park that provide daily meal services for the hungry.

"What the general public needs to understand is that it's a wonderfully motivated act of generosity when a group wants to feed the hungry, but this is only helpful when skilled counselors are participating and connecting with those they are serving to channel them back into a direction of housing and self-sufficiency," Jackson said.

 Food Not Bombs has no intentions of stopping their distribution of food in Lake Eola Park. They are planning on collecting enough signatures on a petition to challenge the ordinance again.

Hurricane Adrian expected to remain offshore

Hurricane Adrian expected to remain offshore

Hurricane Adrian is not expected to make landfall

(CNN) -- Hurricane Adrian churned across the Pacific early Thursday as forecasters warned of dangerous surf and rip currents on the southwestern coast of Mexico.

Adrian -- a Category 1 hurricane -- could intensify into a major hurricane in the next day or two, the National Weather Service said.

The first hurricane of the season is expected to stay offshore, sparing Mexico.

But "any deviation to the right of the forecast track could bring tropical storm conditions" to parts of Mexico on Thursday and into Friday, according to the hurricane center.

Adrian's maximum sustained winds increased to nearly 80 mph (130 kph) late Wednesday.

"Additional strength is likely," the weather service said.

The storm was about 275 miles (440 kilometers) south of the town of Zihuatanejo late Wednesday.

Swells caused by the storm were expected to affect the southwestern coast of Mexico.

Same man, different strategy, for Romney's second White House bid

Same man, different strategy, for Romney's second White House bid

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will start his second campaign for the White House in New Hampshire on Thursday

(CNN) -- As Mitt Romney makes it official, it appears to be all about the economy and about New Hampshire. But the man who many considered the early front-runner in the race for the GOP presidential nomination will have to share the spotlight on the day he officially jumps in the race.

The former Massachusetts governor and 2008 Republican presidential candidate will formally announce his second bid for the White House, declaring his candidacy at an event Thursday in New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary in the presidential caucus and primary calendar.

Romney will sharply criticize President Barack Obama over the state of the economy, saying "Barack Obama has failed America."

According to excerpts of his speech released in advance by his campaign, Romney will attack Obama for expanding the role of the federal government, adding, "we are only inches away from ceasing to be a free market economy. I will cap federal spending at 20 percent or less of the GDP and finally, finally balance the budget."

It's no surprise that Romney will focus on the economy. He was criticized during his first bid for the White House for trying to be everything to everyone, weighing in often on domestic, international and social issues. This time around it appears to be different.

"Mitt Romney will talk about the number one issue facing the nation, and the reason he is compelled to get into this race - jobs and the economy. We are in the third year of Obama's presidency, and he has failed to lift the nation out of its economic downturn," a senior Romney adviser tells CNN.

"Mitt Romney, from a lifetime spent in the private sector, has the skills and the ability to lead an economic turnaround."

National polls indicate that the economy remains the top issue on the mind of Americans.

"The issue that most Americans are concerned about happens to be in my wheelhouse," Romney boasted last week at a campaign event in Iowa.

Romney has repeatedly criticized the president's handling of the economic recovery, blaming Obama for creating a climate of uncertainty for small business owners. He highlights his private sector experience, saying it gives him a better understanding of how to create jobs.

"From my first day in office my number one job will be to see that America once again is number one in job creation," Romney will say as he announces his candidacy.

Romney makes it official at a noontime barbecue at Stratham farm, a must-stop location for GOP contenders. But he isn't the only big name Republican in New Hampshire Thursday. Two people flirting with bids for the Republican presidential nomination, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, also hold events in the Granite State. Palin has grabbed the spotlight this week as she's made her way from the nation's capital to New England during a well-publicized tour that could be the first step toward a possible run for the White House.

This will be the second time this spring Romney is using New Hampshire as a backdrop to make news, which tells us a lot about his strategy for his second bid for the GOP presidential nomination. On April 11, Romney announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee with a video he taped that day at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

Romney is well known in New Hampshire. He was governor of neighboring Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, is seen often on TV in New Hampshire (much of the more populated southern part of the state is in the Boston media market), he has a vacation home in the state's "lakes region" and he spent lots of time in the state in 2007 and 2008 in his first bid for the White House and last year as well, when he lent a helping hand to New Hampshire Republicans in the midterm election campaign.

"Republicans in the Granite State have been closely watching Gov. Romney for 10 years since he was elected in Massachusetts in 2002. He needs to win in a state where voters know him best," says Rich Galen, a Republican strategist who advised Fred Thompson during his 2008 GOP presidential bid, and who is the author of Mullings.com, an on-line column.

The strong name recognition and his past efforts in the state are most likely one reason why Romney's far ahead of the rest of the field in a CNN/WMUR poll. The survey, conducted by the University of New Hampshire and released late last month indicates that 33 percent of probable GOP primary voters in New Hampshire back Romney, with Rep. Ron Paul of Texas a distant second at nine percent.

"The shifting nature of the Republican field and a perception that the 'perfect candidate' candidate has not appeared, has led many New Hampshire Republicans to support the best known candidate, Mitt Romney," says Andrew Smith, Director of the UNH Survey Center. "Romney has been the clear favorite among New Hampshire Republicans for more than two years and no other candidate has persuaded voters to move away from Romney."

The poll also indicates that a desire by New Hampshire Republicans to pick someone who can beat President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election may be behind his poll numbers.

"Republicans are looking for someone who can take on President Obama, and right now, Romney is seen as the only Republican who can do that," adds Smith.

Last week Romney made his first visit this cycle to Iowa, with three stops across the state that kicks off the presidential primary and caucus calendar. Romney also recently made his first stop in South Carolina, the first southern state to vote in the road to the White House.

"You will see me more than you like, I'm afraid, in Iowa," Romney said during a forum at the State Historical Building in Des Moines. "I will be here plenty and you will get to know what I stand for. Iowa plays a critical role in the process of selecting our nominee and selecting our president."

But Romney told reporters during his visit to the Hawkeye state that he'll run a "lean" campaign in 2012 and said his strategy would not hinge on any single state. He deflected questions about the Ames Straw Poll, a crucial test of each campaign's Iowa organization that will take place in August. Romney spent heavily to win the straw poll vote in the summer of 2007. But he ended up losing the caucuses to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. He also had a large campaign in New Hampshire, but came in second to Sen. John McCain of Arizona. This time around it seems Romney will be concentrating his firepower in the Granite State rather than Iowa or South Carolina.

"Whoever wins New Hampshire and the money and momentum that comes with it, has the nomination in his hands," says Alex Castellanos, a Republican strategist and CNN contributor.

Castellanos was a top media adviser to the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign and to Romney's 2008 bid for the GOP presidential nomination, but has not taken sides in this cycle.

Romney is at or near the top of the most recent national polls of the Republican nomination horserace. He also appears to be the leading Republican presidential candidate when it comes to the battle for campaign cash. Romney aides say the campaign brought in more than $10 million from donors across the country during an all day phone bank held last month in Las Vegas.

Romney also spent much of April touring the country meeting with donors and fundraisers. He hopes to bring in an impressive haul for the crucial second quarter to show his strength as a candidate.

Romney raised $65.1 million in contributions for his 2008 bid for the GOP nomination. In addition he loaned his campaign $42.3 million from his personal funds.

Thanks to his standing in the polls, his fundraising strength, and his formidable campaign operation, Romney is considered by many to be the front-runner at this stage of the election cycle. And that's one reason why Democrats have increasingly attacked Romney.

"Since Mitt Romney bowed out of the Republican Primary in 2008, he and his handlers have been meticulously planning today's announcement - banking on a 2012 New Hampshire primary victory to slingshot him to the nomination," says Ray Buckley, chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic party. "However, the problem for Mitt Romney is that the reason Granite Staters rejected him three years ago remains the same today: they believe he is a wishy-washy, flip-flopping politician who will say anything or take any position to suit his own immediate political needs."

National Democrats are also characterizing Romney as a "flip-flopper." The Democratic National Committee is out Thursday with a web video titled "Romney: Same candidate, different positions."

Democrats, as well as rival Republicans, have also fired away at Romney over a universal health care measure the then Massachusetts governor signed into law five years ago.

Democrats, including the president, have recently praised Romney's 2006 law for setting the stage for health care reform on the national stage.

"In fact, I agree with Mitt Romney, who recently said he's proud of what he accomplished on health care in Massachusetts and supports giving states the power to determine their own health care solutions," Obama said earlier this year.

The law insured almost every resident of Massachusetts. At the time, it was praised by supporters of health care reform as a landmark achievement for Romney. The lynchpin of the law was an insurance mandate that required the people of Massachusetts to get health insurance.

The insurance mandate in "Romneycare" wasn't a major liability in his first presidential run in 2008 because Obama's health care law wasn't born yet.

But it's a major issue now. Rival campaigns have attacked him and the issue could hurt him with tea party activists and other grassroots conservatives, who will be very influential in picking the next Republican presidential nominee.

Romney addressed his record in a March speech, explaining the law was a "state plan intended to address problems that were in many ways unique to Massachusetts."

"Our experiment wasn't perfect. Some things worked. Some didn't. And some things I'd change," Romney said. "One thing I would never do is to usurp the constitutional power of states with a one-size-fits-all federal takeover."

Last month Romney traveled to Michigan to give a major speech on health care, in which he issued a defense of the health care "experiment" he implemented while governor, saying "I, in fact, did what I thought was right for the people of our state."

But he also attempted to put distance between the president and himself, while moving closer to the Republican base, by calling the health care reform law passed last year a federal "power grab," describing it as "an economic nightmare" and the reason "why this recession has taken so long to move on from."

In the speech and in an op-ed the same day in the USA Today, Romney said he would "issue waivers for all 50 states" to opt-out of health care reform on his first day in office should he be "lucky" enough to become president.

The spotlights on health care and the economy aren't the only differences between the Romney of 2008 and 2012. Another is his appearance. Mostly gone are the suits and ties that the candidate wore in his first bid for the White House. The new Romney is a more casual candidate who didn't even wear a tie in his April video to announce the formation of his presidential exploratory committee. On Memorial Day, he even sent a tweet to his followers off a Romney family photo, in which he was wearing a polo shirt with slightly disheveled hair.

American convicted in Hong Kong 'milkshake murder'

American convicted in Hong Kong 'milkshake murder'

Nancy Kissel, an American woman accused of killing her husband, leaves the High Court …

An American who drugged her investment banker-husband with a milkshake and bludgeoned him to death more than seven years ago was convicted of murder at her second trial in a case that grabbed world attention with lurid details on the breakdown of a wealthy expatriate marriage in Hong Kong.

The unanimous jury verdict Friday and automatic life sentence match the outcome of the first trial against Nancy Kissel, whose lawyers argued she was a battered, clinically depressed wife acting under diminished responsibility when her husband provoked her attack.

Prosecutors argued Robert Kissel's death in November 2003 was a carefully planned murder Nancy Kissel tried to conceal.

In opening statements in January, prosecutor David Perry said Kissel struck at least five blows to her husband's head with a metal ornament while Robert Kissel lay face down in the bedroom, subdued by six drugs mixed in a milkshake. She then covered the body with a plastic bag and towels, wrapped it in a carpet and had it moved to storage, Perry said.

Kissel testified last month her husband physically and sexually abused her as their marriage deteriorated. She denied being guilty of murder but was willing to admit to manslaughter, a lesser charge that was never filed and the jury did not consider.

The 46-year-old native of Adrian, Michigan did not appear to react as the verdict was announced in court.

"We're not even going to tackle that now," said Kissel's mother, Jean McGlothlin, when asked whether an appeal would be filed. She said the family's first priority was to make sure Nancy Kissel gets "medical, physical and psychological help from professionals, because she won't survive if she doesn't."

Kissel has appeared frail and withdrawn throughout the trial. When she took the stand last month, she told court she weighed just 38 kilograms (84 pounds), 16 kilograms lighter than when she entered prison more than five years ago. Her lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, said there was clear evidence of his client's mental state deteriorating from 2000 to 2003.

Her stepfather, Michael McGlothlin said he was "shocked at the outcome" but both said they thought the trial was fair. Kissel's 2005 conviction was overturned last year because prosecutors improperly cross-examined her and the original judge allowed hearsay evidence.

Nancy Kissel testified Robert Kissel's behavior changed after she had the first of the couple's three children in 1994, and he started forcing her to have oral and anal sex while becoming more emotionally distant and absorbed in his work.

"The more involved he got with the investment banking, the more forceful he was with me sexually," a frail and tearful Kissel testified.

Her lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald, asked the judge Friday to recommend compassion for her when a review board evaluates the life sentence. He cited Kissel's good character and the context of the crime, which the defense alleges came from an abusive relationship.

The case of Robert Kissel's murder has been documented in a book — which also examines the 2006 murder of his brother, Andrew Kissel, in Greenwich, Connecticut — and a special on CBS' "48 Hours Mystery." Robert worked for Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong, and his estate was worth $18 million in life insurance, stocks and properties, according to prosecutors.

Also Friday, a chauffeur was sentenced to six years in prison on a charge related to the killing of millionaire real estate developer Andrew Kissel in 2006.

Carlos Trujillo entered an Alford plea to attempted murder in court in Stamford, Connecticut. The plea does not admit guilt but acknowledges enough evidence for conviction.

A cousin he allegedly hired to kill Kissel for money pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy.

Add this to Utah's list of state symbols: an official firearm

Add this to Utah's list of state symbols: an official firearm

The U.S. military chose the M1911 to be its standard-issue sidearm for all branches of service in 1911. It remained so until about 15 years ago.

(CNN) -- Until this week, Utah had 24 state symbols, from tree (the blue spruce) to insect (the honeybee) to even cooking pot (the Dutch oven).

Now it's added an official state firearm -- the John M. Browning-designed M1911 pistol, becoming the first state in the nation to have one, according to the state legislator who sponsored the law.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed the new symbol into law this week.

State Rep. Carl Wimmer, a Republican who was a police officer and SWAT team commander, came up with the idea for a state firearm last year after hearing about how Pennsylvania lawmakers wanted to make the Pennsylvania long rifle its official state firearm, Wimmer told CNN on Friday.

That measure eventually failed, he said.

Wimmer selected the semi-automatic M1911 because gun maker Browning was born and raised in Ogden, Utah, and was the son of Utah pioneers who crossed the plains in the 1800s, Wimmer said.

This year is also the 100th anniversary of when the U.S. military chose the M1911 to be its standard-issue sidearm for all branches of service, Wimmer said. That's how the pistol got its name: "M" for military and 1911 for the year that the military began issuing the gun to all its servicemen and women, Wimmer said.

In a state more known for its strong Mormon traditions and breathtaking national parks, the creation of an official state firearm raised controversy, especially when the measure was pursued even after January's mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that killed six persons and wounded 13 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The bill was introduced just before the horrific shootings, Wimmer said.

"People say the timing is terrible, and I admit the timing is terrible," Wimmer said. "We have a part-time legislature in Utah, and we are only in session for 45 days. Certainly meaning no disrespect to the tragedy in Arizona, we moved forward in doing this because it's the only opportunity that we had."

Other critics have said the new state symbol implicitly condones gun violence.

"There was more controversy than I anticipated, but it really passed with bipartisan support," Wimmer said. "One of the biggest comments from the critics was that we should not honor an implement of death. And my response to that has always been that this firearm does not represent an implement of death. It represents an implement of freedom -- just the mere fact that our soldiers have used this firearm to defend liberty and freedom around the world for the last 100 years."

The governor's office played down the lethality of the new symbol and focused more on its creator.

"This bill isn't so much about a weapon as it is about honoring John Moses Browning, who was a Utah inventor and entrepreneur, and he repeatedly gave back to the state," said the governor's spokeswoman, Ally Isom.

The governor's office and both chambers of the legislature are controlled by Republicans.

The M1911 had been the standard issue in the military until about 15 years ago, when the Beretta 9mm became its common sidearm because it holds 15 rounds and the M1911 only eight, Wimmer said. However, the M1911 is still used by elite units like Delta Force, Wimmer said.

"I thought how appropriate that we honor John Moses Browning on the 100th anniversary of the U.S. military's adoption of the M1911 as their official pistol," Wimmer said.

"The list of firearms that he invented is too exhaustive for me to go into," Wimmer added about Browning. Wimmer owns a Browning-designed M1911, he said.

"Almost every military weapon that is currently in use today has one point or another been modeled after a Browning firearm," Wimmer said.

Wimmer, 35, is now considering running for Utah's fourth congressional seat, newly created after the latest census, he said. He was a SWAT commander, canine patrol officer and sex crimes detective in South Jordan, Utah, for seven years and then a patrol officer in West Valley City, Utah, for four years, he said.

He left the police force to serve in the state legislature and is now a partner in the security consulting firm Corporate Task Force in Riverton City, Utah, where he lives.

Addressing other critics who say he's merely seeking publicity for his possible congressional run, Wimmer responded: "People will second-guess everything I do and say everything I do is because of the congressional race, and it's simply not true."

PJ Crowley: Bradley Manning's treatment by US 'stupid'

PJ Crowley: Bradley Manning's treatment by US 'stupid'

The US treatment of the man accused of leaking secret cables to Wikileaks is "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid", US state department spokesman PJ Crowley has said.

Private First Class Manning is being held in solitary confinement in a military brig

 

Mr Crowley made the remarks about Bradley Manning to an audience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"Nonetheless Bradley Manning is in the right place," Mr Crowley said.

Private Manning is being held in solitary confinement at a maximum security US military jail.

He is shackled at all times and has been on suicide watch at the Quantico marine base in Virginia.

Mr Crowley was asked whether his comments were on the record and replied: "Sure."

He could not immediately be reached by the BBC, but he told Foreign Policy website that his remarks were his own.

"What I said was my personal opinion. It does not reflect an official USG policy position. I defer to the Department of Defense regarding the treatment of Bradley Manning."

President Barack Obama was questioned about whether he agreed with Mr Crowley's comments at a news conference on Friday.

He responded by saying he had asked the Pentagon directly if the terms of Pte Manning's confinement were "appropriate" and received assurances that they were.

Mr Obama added that some aspects of Pte Manning's treatment "has to do with his safety as well".
'Elephant in room'

Philippa Thomas, an experienced BBC correspondent on a journalism fellowship at Harvard University, was among about two dozen people gathered to hear Mr Crowley talk about "the benefits of new media as it relates to foreign policy", at an event organised by the Center for Future Civic Media.

After a wide-ranging discussion, one young man said he wanted to address "the elephant in the room" and asked Mr Crowley what he thought about Wikileaks and, in his words, "torturing a prisoner in a military brig"?

Mr Crowley did not address the issue of torture, but replied that what was being done to Pte Manning by colleagues at the Department of Defence was "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid".

"None the less Bradley Manning is in the right place," he added, going on to say that in Washington's view "there is sometimes a need for secrets… for diplomatic progress to be made".
Stripped

Amnesty International has described the treatment of Pte Manning, whose mother is Welsh, as "unnecessarily harsh and punitive" and has called on the British government to intervene.

In a letter released by his lawyers, Pte Manning claims he is routinely stripped each night and his prescription glasses are confiscated, leaving him with limited vision.

Military officials have said this is standard procedure for people deemed a suicide risk.

David House, a spokesman with the Bradley Manning Advocacy Fund, said it was clear there was "no justification for Bradley's inhumane treatment".

He went on: "I agree with Mr Crowley that it's just stupid and unproductive."

Pte Manning has been charged on 34 counts, including illegally obtaining 250,000 secret US government cables and 380,000 records related to the Iraq war from a military database.

He has also been charged with aiding the enemy, a capital offence, but prosecutors have said they will not seek the death penalty.

Detroit district proposes offering 41 schools to charter operators

Detroit district proposes offering 41 schools to charter operators

(CNN) -- Detroit Public Schools has proposed a plan to offer charter school operators the reins to 41 schools -- including some of the lowest-performing schools academically -- in lieu of forcing school closings.

The Renaissance Plan 2012 would select operators based on a "competitive and rigorous" process to operate the schools as public academies with DPS as their authorizer, Detroit Public Schools announced in a press release Saturday.

"Rather than simply closing schools, this plan seeks to transform DPS ... by recruiting some of the best, proven school operators," Robert C. Bobb, Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager, said in the statement.

Bobb said the plan would keep students at their current schools while possibly generating $21.85 million in lease revenue.

In the event a school does not receive a qualified proposal, the school will close, and its students will be transferred to nearby DPS schools.

The district's 142 schools are facing a reduced number of principals, shared services and increased class sizes fromthe district's Deficit Elimination Plan. The plan was enacted to combat the school system's debt crisis, which totaled $327 million in February. Under the DEP's standards, Bobb says a viable education system will not be met.

Bobb, who was named emergency financial manager of DPS in 2009, is not allowed to declare bankruptcy for the school system before his tenure ends on June 30, Bobb spokesman Steve Wasko said. Bobb has said the system will not file for bankruptcy.

The list of 41 schools is expected to be released later this week.

American Apparel founder hit with $250 million sexual assault claim

American Apparel founder hit with $250 million sexual assault claim

The founder of American Apparel has been accused of making a staff member his sex slave.

The founder of struggling clothing chain American Apparel, Dov Charney, has been accused of holding a young staff member captive and forcing her to perform sex acts.

A law suit for a reported US$250 million has been filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court and alleges that Charney turned a teenage employee into his sex slave and forced her to send him nude pictures and text messages.

The law suit claims that the girl was 17 when she was hired as a sales assistant at American Apparel in August 2007.

It is alleged that Charney visited the retail store where she worked, obtained her contact information and started repeatedly calling her.

It describes how on the day she turned 18, Charney demanded the woman visit him at his Manhattan apartment, answered the door in his underpants, dragged her inside and forced her to her knees so she could pleasure him.

According to the lawsuit, she was then allegedly forced to stay in the apartment for several hours while he forced her to perform additional sexual acts.

American Apparel deny all claims and say the former staffer's lawyers are trying to 'extort' money from the company.

American Apparel said in a statement: "Upon her resignation, [the employee] acknowledged in writing that she had no pending claims against the company and signed a severance agreement which included a full release of claims and an agreement to submit any future claims to confidential binding arbitration."

"The company intends to file a formal complaint with the NY state bar seeking disciplinary action against [the employee's] lawyers who we believe are engaged in an illegal conspiracy to extort money from American Apparel."
It's not the first time controversy has surrounded Charney. Ex-employees have previously accused him of conducting business meetings in the nude.

NATO starts 24/7 surveillance of Libya

NATO starts 24/7 surveillance of Libya

"The violence that's been taking place ... in Libya is unacceptable," President Obama said at the White House.

(CNN) -- NATO has launched around-the-clock surveillance flights of Libya as it considers various options for dealing with escalating violence in the war-torn country, America's ambassador to the organization told reporters Monday.

Representatives of key Western powers also highlighted the possibility of establishing a no-fly zone in Libya -- part of growing campaign to break strongman Moammar Gadhafi's grip on power.

British, French and U.S. officials were working on a draft text that includes language on a no-fly zone, diplomatic sources at the United Nations told CNN.

The language in the text will deal with triggers rather than timelines for taking such a step, one diplomat noted. If gross violations of human rights are committed, the diplomat added, the elements of the text could be quickly turned into a resolution.

Any resolution on military intervention in Libya, however, would be subject to a vote by the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council. Such intervention could face sharp criticism from Russia and China, who rarely approve of such measures.

"The violence that's been taking place and perpetrated by the government in Libya is unacceptable," U.S. President Barack Obama said at the White House. Moammar Gadhafi's government "will be held accountable for whatever violence continues to take place there."

Obama stressed that NATO is considering a wide range of responses -- including military options -- for dealing with the crisis.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney later cited three potential responses under active consideration: establishing the no-fly zone, military-backed humanitarian aid, and stronger enforcement of the U.N. arms embargo.

Carney downplayed speculation about the possibility of providing arms to the Libyan rebels, telling reporters that "it would be premature to send a bunch of weapons to a post office box in eastern Libya."

"We need to not get ahead of ourselves in terms of the options we're pursuing," he warned.

A senior U.S. official familiar with the administration's deliberations on Libya denied a report in the British press that the administration had asked Saudi Arabia to arm the rebels.

U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague told members of the British parliament, however, that "we are making contingency plans for all eventualities in Libya."

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters in Belgium that the organization has no immediate intention to intervene in the Libyan civil war. But "as a defense alliance and a security organization, it is our job to conduct prudent planning for any eventuality," he said.

Rasmussen stressed that it is important to "remain vigilant" in light of "systemic attacks" by Gadhafi's regime against the Libyan population. "The violation of human rights and international humanitarian law is outrageous," he said.

Rasmussen also noted that the defense ministers from member states will meet Friday and Saturday to discuss how the organization can help partner countries in North Africa and the broader Middle East.

"We can see a strong wind of change blowing across the region -- and it is blowing in the direction of freedom and democracy," he asserted.

Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kasa lashed out the Western leaders, calling their response part of "a conspiracy to divide (and) partition the country."

"The English are yearning for the colonial era" while Obama is acting "like a child," he said. "Territorial integrity is sacrosanct and we will die for it."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, appointed a new special envoy to Libya to discuss the crisis with officials in Tripoli, the United Nations said in a statement Monday.

Abdelilah Al-Khatib, a former foreign minister of Jordan, will "undertake urgent consultations with the authorities in Tripoli and in the region on the immediate humanitarian situation as well as the wider dimensions of the crisis," according to the statement.

As diplomats debated various options, the violence in Libya continued to intensify. Forces loyal to Gadhafi took aim at the rebel-controlled town of Ras Lanuf, launching aerial strikes meant to help crush the uprising against him.

Death toll estimates from the conflict have reached as high as 2,000 people. Roughly 200,000 people have fled Libya, with nearly equal numbers going to Tunisia and Egypt, according to the United Nations.