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Marseille, France (CNN)The French prosecutor leading an investigation into the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 insisted Wednesday that he was not aware of any video footage from on board the plane. Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin told CNN that "so far no videos were used in the crash investigation." He added, "A person who has such a video needs to immediately give it to the investigators." Robin's comments follow claims by two magazines, German daily Bild and French Paris Match, of a cell phone video showing the harrowing final seconds from on board Germanwings Flight 9525 as it crashed into the French Alps. All 150 on board were killed. Paris Match and Bild reported that the video was recovered from a phone at the wreckage site. The two publications described the supposed video, but did not post it on their websites. The publications said that they watched the video, which was found by a source close to the investigation. "One can hear cries of 'My God' in several languages," Paris Match reported. "Metallic banging can also be heard more than three times, perhaps of the pilot trying to open the cockpit door with a heavy object. Towards the end, after a heavy shake, stronger than the others, the screaming intensifies. Then nothing." "It is a very disturbing scene," said Julian Reichelt, editor-in-chief of Bild online. An official with France's accident investigation agency, the BEA, said the agency is not aware of any such video. Lt. Col. Jean-Marc Menichini, a French Gendarmerie spokesman in charge of communications on rescue efforts around the Germanwings crash site, told CNN that the reports were "completely wrong" and "unwarranted." Cell phones have been collected at the site, he said, but that they "hadn't been exploited yet." Menichini said he believed the cell phones would need to be sent to the Criminal Research Institute in Rosny sous-Bois, near Paris, in order to be analyzed by specialized technicians working hand-in-hand with investigators. But none of the cell phones found so far have been sent to the institute, Menichini said. Asked whether staff involved in the search could have leaked a memory card to the media, Menichini answered with a categorical "no." Reichelt told "Erin Burnett: Outfront" that he had watched the video and stood by the report, saying Bild and Paris Match are "very confident" that the clip is real. He noted that investigators only revealed they'd recovered cell phones from the crash site after Bild and Paris Match published their reports. "That is something we did not know before. ... Overall we can say many things of the investigation weren't revealed by the investigation at the beginning," he said. What was mental state of Germanwings co-pilot? German airline Lufthansa confirmed Tuesday that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had battled depression years before he took the controls of Germanwings Flight 9525, which he's accused of deliberately crashing last week in the French Alps. Lubitz told his Lufthansa flight training school in 2009 that he had a "previous episode of severe depression," the airline said Tuesday. Email correspondence between Lubitz and the school discovered in an internal investigation, Lufthansa said, included medical documents he submitted in connection with resuming his flight training. The announcement indicates that Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, knew of Lubitz's battle with depression, allowed him to continue training and ultimately put him in the cockpit. Lufthansa, whose CEO Carsten Spohr previously said Lubitz was 100% fit to fly, described its statement Tuesday as a "swift and seamless clarification" and said it was sharing the information and documents -- including training and medical records -- with public prosecutors. Spohr traveled to the crash site Wednesday, where recovery teams have been working for the past week to recover human remains and plane debris scattered across a steep mountainside. He saw the crisis center set up in Seyne-les-Alpes, laid a wreath in the village of Le Vernet, closer to the crash site, where grieving families have left flowers at a simple stone memorial. Menichini told CNN late Tuesday that no visible human remains were left at the site but recovery teams would keep searching. French President Francois Hollande, speaking Tuesday, said that it should be possible to identify all the victims using DNA analysis by the end of the week, sooner than authorities had previously suggested. In the meantime, the recovery of the victims' personal belongings will start Wednesday, Menichini said. Among those personal belongings could be more cell phones belonging to the 144 passengers and six crew on board. Check out the latest from our correspondents. The details about Lubitz's correspondence with the flight school during his training were among several developments as investigators continued to delve into what caused the crash and Lubitz's possible motive for downing the jet. A Lufthansa spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday that Lubitz had a valid medical certificate, had passed all his examinations and "held all the licenses required." Earlier, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office in Dusseldorf, Christoph Kumpa, said medical records reveal Lubitz suffered from suicidal tendencies at some point before his aviation career and underwent psychotherapy before he got his pilot's license. Kumpa emphasized there's no evidence suggesting Lubitz was suicidal or acting aggressively before the crash. Investigators are looking into whether Lubitz feared his medical condition would cause him to lose his pilot's license, a European government official briefed on the investigation told CNN on Tuesday. While flying was "a big part of his life," the source said, it's only one theory being considered. Another source, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation, also told CNN that authorities believe the primary motive for Lubitz to bring down the plane was that he feared he would not be allowed to fly because of his medical problems. Lubitz's girlfriend told investigators he had seen an eye doctor and a neuropsychologist, both of whom deemed him unfit to work recently and concluded he had psychological issues, the European government official said. But no matter what details emerge about his previous mental health struggles, there's more to the story, said Brian Russell, a forensic psychologist. "Psychology can explain why somebody would turn rage inward on themselves about the fact that maybe they weren't going to keep doing their job and they're upset about that and so they're suicidal," he said. "But there is no mental illness that explains why somebody then feels entitled to also take that rage and turn it outward on 149 other people who had nothing to do with the person's problems." Germanwings crash compensation: What we know. Who was the captain of Germanwings Flight 9525? CNN's Margot Haddad reported from Marseille and Pamela Brown from Dusseldorf, while Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen, Pamela Boykoff, Antonia Mortensen, Sandrine Amiel and Anna-Maja Rappard contributed to this report.

Marseille prosecutor says "so far no videos were used in the crash investigation" despite media reports. Journalists at Bild and Paris Match are "very confident" the video clip is real, an editor says. Andreas Lubitz had informed his Lufthansa training school of an episode of severe depression, airline says.

He's a blue chip college basketball recruit. She's a high school freshman with Down syndrome. At first glance Trey Moses and Ellie Meredith couldn't be more different. But all that changed Thursday when Trey asked Ellie to be his prom date. Trey -- a star on Eastern High School's basketball team in Louisville, Kentucky, who's headed to play college ball next year at Ball State -- was originally going to take his girlfriend to Eastern's prom. So why is he taking Ellie instead? "She's great... she listens and she's easy to talk to" he said. Trey made the prom-posal (yes, that's what they are calling invites to prom these days) in the gym during Ellie's P.E. class. Trina Helson, a teacher at Eastern, alerted the school's newspaper staff to the prom-posal and posted photos of Trey and Ellie on Twitter that have gone viral. She wasn't surpristed by Trey's actions. "That's the kind of person Trey is," she said. To help make sure she said yes, Trey entered the gym armed with flowers and a poster that read "Let's Party Like it's 1989," a reference to the latest album by Taylor Swift, Ellie's favorite singer. Trey also got the OK from Ellie's parents the night before via text. They were thrilled. "You just feel numb to those moments raising a special needs child," said Darla Meredith, Ellie's mom. "You first feel the need to protect and then to overprotect." Darla Meredith said Ellie has struggled with friendships since elementary school, but a special program at Eastern called Best Buddies had made things easier for her. She said Best Buddies cultivates friendships between students with and without developmental disabilities and prevents students like Ellie from feeling isolated and left out of social functions. "I guess around middle school is when kids started to care about what others thought," she said, but "this school, this year has been a relief." Trey's future coach at Ball State, James Whitford, said he felt great about the prom-posal, noting that Trey, whom he's known for a long time, often works with other kids. Trey's mother, Shelly Moses, was also proud of her son. "It's exciting to bring awareness to a good cause," she said. "Trey has worked pretty hard, and he's a good son." Both Trey and Ellie have a lot of planning to do. Trey is looking to take up special education as a college major, in addition to playing basketball in the fall. As for Ellie, she can't stop thinking about prom. "Ellie can't wait to go dress shopping" her mother said. "Because I've only told about a million people!" Ellie interjected.

College-bound basketball star asks girl with Down syndrome to high school prom. Pictures of the two during the "prom-posal" have gone viral.

The United States and its negotiating partners reached a very strong framework agreement with Iran in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Thursday that limits Iran's nuclear program in such a way as to effectively block it from building a nuclear weapon. Expect pushback anyway, if the recent past is any harbinger. Just last month, in an attempt to head off such an agreement, House Speaker John Boehner invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to preemptively blast it before Congress, and 47 senators sent a letter to the Iranian leadership warning them away from a deal. The debate that has already begun since the announcement of the new framework will likely result in more heat than light. It will not be helped by the gathering swirl of dubious assumptions and doubtful assertions. Let us address some of these:. The most misleading assertion, despite universal rejection by experts, is that the negotiations' objective at the outset was the total elimination of any nuclear program in Iran. That is the position of Netanyahu and his acolytes in the U.S. Congress. But that is not and never was the objective. If it had been, there would have been no Iranian team at the negotiating table. Rather, the objective has always been to structure an agreement or series of agreements so that Iran could not covertly develop a nuclear arsenal before the United States and its allies could respond. The new framework has exceeded expectations in achieving that goal. It would reduce Iran's low-enriched uranium stockpile, cut by two-thirds its number of installed centrifuges and implement a rigorous inspection regime. Another dubious assumption of opponents is that the Iranian nuclear program is a covert weapons program. Despite sharp accusations by some in the United States and its allies, Iran denies having such a program, and U.S. intelligence contends that Iran has not yet made the decision to build a nuclear weapon. Iran's continued cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency inspections is further evidence on this point, and we'll know even more about Iran's program in the coming months and years because of the deal. In fact, the inspections provisions that are part of this agreement are designed to protect against any covert action by the Iranians. What's more, the rhetoric of some members of Congress has implied that the negotiations have been between only the United States and Iran (i.e., the 47 senators' letter warning that a deal might be killed by Congress or a future president). This of course is not the case. The talks were between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (United States, United Kingdom, France, China and Russia) plus Germany, dubbed the P5+1. While the United States has played a leading role in the effort, it negotiated the terms alongside its partners. If the agreement reached by the P5+1 is rejected by Congress, it could result in an unraveling of the sanctions on Iran and threaten NATO cohesion in other areas. Another questionable assertion is that this agreement contains a sunset clause, after which Iran will be free to do as it pleases. Again, this is not the case. Some of the restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities, such as uranium enrichment, will be eased or eliminated over time, as long as 15 years. But most importantly, the framework agreement includes Iran's ratification of the Additional Protocol, which allows IAEA inspectors expanded access to nuclear sites both declared and nondeclared. This provision will be permanent. It does not sunset. Thus, going forward, if Iran decides to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels, monitors will be able to detect such a move in a matter of days and alert the U.N. Security Council. Many in Congress have said that the agreement should be a formal treaty requiring the Senate to "advise and consent." But the issue is not suited for a treaty. Treaties impose equivalent obligations on all signatories. For example, the New START treaty limits Russia and the United States to 1,550 deployed strategic warheads. But any agreement with Iran will not be so balanced. The restrictions and obligations in the final framework agreement will be imposed almost exclusively on Iran. The P5+1 are obligated only to ease and eventually remove most but not all economic sanctions, which were imposed as leverage to gain this final deal. Finally some insist that any agreement must address Iranian missile programs, human rights violations or support for Hamas or Hezbollah. As important as these issues are, and they must indeed be addressed, they are unrelated to the most important aim of a nuclear deal: preventing a nuclear Iran. To include them in the negotiations would be a poison pill. This agreement should be judged on its merits and on how it affects the security of our negotiating partners and allies, including Israel. Those judgments should be fact-based, not based on questionable assertions or dubious assumptions.

Richard Klass: Iran framework agreement on nukes is strong, but opponents will cast doubts on this and try to obscure its facts. He says the deal would cut uranium stockpile, centrifuges, implement rigorous inspections; it should be judged on merits, not disinformation.

Police in the Indian city of Malegaon, in the western state of Maharashtra, are requiring identity cards for an unusual group of residents: Cattle. Following a recent state-wide ban on the sale and consumption of beef, authorities in the city have asked residents to take a 'mugshot' of their cattle and submit it to the police. Along with the photograph, the residents have to give information about their animal's 'unique features,' such as the coloring and age of the cow, along with the length of its tail and other distinctive characteristics. Police officials believe this is the only way to solve cow slaughter cases and enforce the law. Cows are considered holy and revered by that state's majority Hindu population. "We are creating a database. If we get an information of a cow slaughter, we can quickly go to the resident's place and check whether it is there or not", Mahesh Sawai, Deputy Superintendent of Malegaon Police told CNN. "I believe this will be very effective" So far over 100 owners have complied with the police order and more are lining up outside police stations across the city to get their livestock photographed. The ruling came in the wake of a recent case of cow slaughter in Malegaon, where two men have been charged for killing the animal and and selling its meat. The Maharashtra Animal Preservation Bill now includes bans on the killing of bulls and bullocks in its list of non-bailable offenses. Even the consumption or sale of beef could now land you in prison for five years. The slaughter of buffaloes, however, is still permissible. However, beef traders in the country strongly reacted to the decision and called a month-long strike, which ended Wednesday. The traders refused to even slaughter buffaloes and deprive the state of all bovine meat. They have now vowed to file a case in the state's high court. Red meat lovers weren't too delighted either, arguing the government doesn't have a right to interfere in an individual's personal preference. Maharashtra is not the only Indian state to tighten its laws on cow slaughter. Haryana state has implemented a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison, the toughest penalty in the country. Rajnath Singh, India's Home Minister has promised that he would do all to devise a country-wide law against cow slaughter.

Authorities in the Indian city of Malegaon have asked residents to take a 'mugshot' of their cattle. Cows are revered by the majority Hindu population, and many parts of the country have laws banning the slaughter of cattle. Officials in Malegaon believe this is the best way to solve cow slaughter cases and enforce the law.

The terrorist group Al-Shabaab has claimed an attack on Garissa University College in eastern Kenya, in which many people have been killed and still more taken hostage. The attack is another step in the ongoing escalation of the terrorist group's activities, and a clear indicator that the security situation in East Africa is deteriorating fast. Somalia-based Al-Shabaab has been behind a string of recent attacks in Kenya, the most well-known of them being the massacre at the Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi in 2013. Cross-border raids into Kenya by the group, however, date back to 2011. Al-Shabaab incursions triggered a military response by the government in Nairobi, which sent troops to Somalia as part of an African Union mission in support of Somalia's internationally recognized government that had been under pressure from Al-Shabaab and other militants for several years. Al-Shabaab is predominantly driven by the same radical interpretation of the Koran as al-Qaeda and ISIS (also known as Islamic State), but also employs more opportunistic approaches to shoring up local support. Its origins lie in Al-Ittihad al-Islami (Unity of Islam), one of several militant factions that emerged in the wake of the fall of Siad Barre in 1991. These disparate groups fought each other and a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the Somali civil war that led to the complete collapse of the country, from which it has yet to recover almost quarter of a century later. Al-Shabaab (literally "the Youth") split from Unity of Islam in 2003 and merged with another radical Islamist group, the so-called Islamic Courts Union. As their alliance obtained control of Somalia's capital Mogadishu in 2006, Ethiopia, the only majority Christian country in the region, took military action against the group. The offensive weakened Al-Shabaab and pushed it back into the rural areas of central and southern Somalia, but it failed to defeat it. To the contrary, Ethiopia's invasion and occupation of parts of Somalia -- although invited by the Somali government and backed by the African Union -- enabled Al-Shabaab to partially re-invent itself as both an Islamist and nationalist force opposing a foreign "Christian" invasion. Initially, the group primarily attacked Ethiopian forces, but soon began to "expand" its activities against the Somali government as well. The first attack outside Somalia was an attack in the Ugandan capital of Kampala in 2010. Soon after this, cross-border raids in Kenya began, predominantly targeting Christians there. Increasing its links with al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab declared its full allegiance in 2012 -- and it is not clear whether it will switch allegiances to ISIS. Much will depend on how the relationships between al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a long-time ally of Al-Shabaab based in Yemen, and ISIS develop. The key point is that Al-Shabaab's attack in Garissa is part of a broader regional context of instability fueled by a huge number of factors. It must not be interpreted simply as another act of garden-variety fundamentalist terrorism. Clearly, the presence and activities of terrorist groups in the region is a major concern, and it is undoubtedly driven by radical and exclusivist interpretations of Islam. But the entire region also suffers from a range of other problems: from economic development challenges to environmental degradation; from organized crime to inter-tribal and inter-communal violence; from corruption to serious deficits in human rights and good governance. These entrenched inequalities help Al-Shabaab appeal to a wide variety of potential recruits, who may sympathize with and actively support the group for any number of reasons. Attacking a university in northern Kenya and separating Christian from Muslim students epitomizes the way Al-Shabaab advances itself by exploiting religious, tribal and nationalist identities. Ultimately, though, this all comes down to a struggle for control -- over people, over territory, and over resources. As long as the majority of people in the region remain excluded from any meaningful political, economic, and social participation in their societies -- which are dominated by primarily self-interested elites that put their own advance before that of their communities -- human lives matter little in the pursuit of selfish interests. It is important to counter Al-Shabaab directly, including by military means. But there won't be any lasting solution to the wider region's security problems without a more comprehensive and concerted effort to address the deeper problems of exclusion suffered by the citizens of the countries challenged by Al-Shabaab. As Garissa shows, these problems are still providing oxygen for nihilistic ideologies and their deadly fruit. Copyright 2015 The Conversation. Some rights reserved.

Terrorist group Al-Shabaab has attacked a Kenyan college, killing and taking hostages. It is a clear indicator the security situation in East Africa is deteriorating, says Stefan Wolff. More than military action aloe is needed to combat terrorism in the region, he says.

Universal's "Furious 7" continues to build momentum at the Friday box office for a weekend debut in the $135 million-$138 million range, the largest opening in North America since fall 2013. That includes a projected Friday take of $58 million-$60 million. The final film featuring the late Paul Walker, "Furious 7" is opening around the globe this weekend and earned a record-breaking $60 million internationally on Wednesday and Thursday for a possible worldwide debut approaching or crossing $300 million by the end of Easter Sunday. "Furious 7" is getting the widest release in Universal's history. Domestically, it will be playing in 4,003 theaters by Good Friday. Internationally, it has booked more than 10,500 screens in 63 territories, although it won't open in China, Japan and Russia until later. The current record-holder for top April opening domestically is "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," which debuted to $95 million from 3,928 theaters last year. "Furious 7" is likewise poised to nab the biggest opening of 2015 to date. And it will easily beat the $121.9 million launch of "The Hunger Games Mockingjay — Part 1" in November 2104, making it the largest three-day opening since "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" ($158 million) in November 2013. The movie enjoys massive awareness and interest, due to both the popularity of the street-racing series and Walker's death. The last film, "Fast & Furious 6," debuted to a franchise-best $117 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend in 2012, including $97.4 million for the three days, on its way to grossing $788.7 million worldwide. Universal intended to open "Furious 7" on July 11, 2014, but production was halted in November 2013 when Walker died in a car crash during the Thanksgiving hiatus. After director James Wan, writer Chris Morgan and Universal pored over existing footage and tweaked the script, production resumed in April 2014. CGI and voice effects were used in some scenes featuring Walker's detective character, Brian O'Conner, with Walker's brothers, Caleb and Cody, used as stand-ins. "Furious 7" pits Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto and crew (which includes Michelle Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson, among others, as well as Walker) against Jason Statham's Deckard Shaw, out for revenge after the death of his brother. Dwayne Johnson also reprises his role as Hobbs. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved.

The final film featuring the late Paul Walker, "Furious 7" is opening around the globe this weekend. It's worldwide debut may approach or cross $300 million by the end of Easter Sunday.

When I was elected to the Kentucky State Senate in 1967, I became the first woman and the first person of color to serve in the body. Five decades later, I find it almost unfathomable that a politician from my own state is attempting to launch his presidential campaign on a record that includes questioning landmark voting rights and civil rights legislation. But that is what Rand Paul, who today declared he's running for president of the United States, is doing. His campaign team told reporters last week that his campaign announcement message would be about "expanding the Republican Party" -- a message of inclusion. But those of us listening today who he is hoping to include, heard nothing more than hype. I'm not buying it. Since coming to the U.S. Senate, Paul has tried to sell himself as a different type of Republican. He's tried to brand himself as the GOP's minority outreach candidate. The problem for Paul, and the GOP at large, is that they don't back up their words with their policies. Yes, it's about time that Republicans started seriously considering the fact that black voters are an important piece of the electoral puzzle. But they can't actually appeal to the community unless they have a real commitment to the issues facing minority communities. A quick survey of Sen. Paul's positions makes clear that he does not. Paul kicked off his announcement speech in Louisville by declaring "I have a message that is loud and clear: We have come to take our country back." I have no doubt that under Paul's leadership, he would indeed take our country back -- in the wrong direction -- way back to a time when we were debating the Civil Rights Act -- which Paul has done since landing on the national stage; when there was no Department of Education -- a department he thinks "should be done away with;" when women didn't have choices -- choices Paul seeks to limit in Washington; when DREAMers weren't protected from deportation -- protections Paul currently opposes. In his inept speaking engagements at historically black colleges and universities, he has come across as condescending and lacking basic cultural competency. But Paul has also questioned the Civil Rights Act, and even claimed that private business owners have a right to discriminate. When asked about the need for a more robust Voting Rights Act following the Supreme Court's dismantling of the law, Paul dismissively remarked, "We have an African-American President." When President Obama stood with John Lewis and other veterans of the civil rights movement in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge last month to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, he inspired us all by saying: "With effort, we can roll back poverty and the roadblocks to opportunity. ... With effort, we can protect the foundation stone of our democracy for which so many marched across this bridge -- and that is the right to vote." America is better -- and we solve more problems -- with more democracy, not less. Unfortunately Rand Paul has demonstrated that he disagree with that basic principle. Paul tried once again from that stage in Louisville to fashion himself as the one member of his party courageous enough to try to broaden Republican appeal to constituencies they ignore year after year. But his record makes it very clear that his views are outdated, outside of the mainstream, and disqualifying for a man who wants to lead our country. The American people deserve a leader who won't disrespect their intelligence, who won't pander to them when it's convenient, and who won't work to dismantle the progress we have made over the last five decades. What I heard today, didn't change the facts about Rand Paul's record. The American people deserve better than Rand Paul.

Georgia Powers: Rand Paul, running for president, would like minorities to think he's an advocate. His record on rights shows otherwise. On civil rights, women's choice, voting rights, immigrant DREAMers, education, he has shown he'd take country backwards, she says.

For those wondering if we would ever hear from the Bluth family again, the answer would appear to be yes. "Arrested Development" executive producer Brian Grazer said the show will return for a fifth season of 17 episodes. The Hollywood mogul was interviewed on Bill Simmons' podcast recently, and let it drop that fans can expect more of the quirky comedy. Netflix had no comment for CNN when asked to verify his statements. The fourth season was streamed exclusively on Netflix in 2013, after Fox canceled the show several years before. Despite critical acclaim, the series never had big ratings, but has a devoted fan base, who often quote from the show. It was not yet known if the full cast, including Jason Bateman, Michael Cera and Will Arnett, will return for the season.

Fan favorite series "Arrested Development" to return for a fifth season, according to producer. Brian Grazer claimed the show would be back in a podcast. Netflix is not commenting.

A nuclear submarine being repaired at a Russian shipyard has caught on fire, according to a law enforcement source speaking to Russia's state-run news agency ITAR-Tass. "The submarine is in a dry dock," Tass reports, citing the source, and there is no ammunition on board. "The rubber insulation between the submarine's light and pressure hull is on fire," Tass reported. Russia's RIA Novosti news agency says insulation caught on fire as welding work was being done on the submarine. Tass reported that the fire began on a sub in the Zvyozdochka shipyard in northwestern Russia. Zvyozdochka spokesman Yevgeny Gladyshev told the news agency that the sub had been undergoing repairs since November 2013. "Nuclear fuel from the sub's reactor has been unloaded," he reportedly said. "There are no armaments or chemically active, dangerous substances, fissionable materials on it," Gladyshev said to Tass. "The enterprise's personnel left the premises when the submarine caught fire, no one has been injured. The fire presents no threat to people and the shipyard."

Submarine is in Zvyozdochka shipyard, in northwestern Russia. No "dangerous" substances on the submarine, shipyard spokesman told ITAR-Tass.

Police in India are putting aside their batons in favor of an overhead solution to angry and unruly crowds: pepper-spraying drones. Yashasvi Yadav, Senior Superintendent of police in Lucknow, northern India, told CNN the city's force has bought four drones and is in the process of purchasing one more. "The drones have been tested in controlled conditions," he said. "They have been very successful and will be used by the Lucknow police whenever there are violent protests or mob attacks." The miniature aircraft will be fitted with a camera and pepper spray; each drone costs between $9,560 and $19,300, Yadav added. Views on the new measure are mixed, with some concerned about the suppression of freedom of speech -- an already contentious issue in India. Last month, the country failed to enforce a law that would allow authorities to arrest people who post offensive material on social media. Others believe the country could learn from events further afield. Some say this method of crowd control needs regulation too. Questions have also been raised as to why the police are resorting to aggression. "While I think it is bound to fail if not be another scam in the making, it also shows the mindset of the administration to not use dialogue and mediation to solve problems but use authoritarian and forceful methods," photojournalist Chirag Wakaskar in Mumbai told CNN. "What they could do is start by having video surveillance in sensitive areas and have swifter justice." Protests are a common occurrence in India, a country with a population of 1.2 billion; Lucknow, the capital of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, also used drone cameras to monitor crowds at a recent religious festival. As well as being used as a security measure in other cities including Delhi and Mumbai, the unmanned, airborne vehicles have been used in tiger hunts, disaster relief and criminal investigations -- and even pizza deliveries. Reports suggest that the drone surveillance will be officially launched by the Chief Minister of Lucknow, Akhilesh Yadav, later this month. Kunal Sehgal contributed to this report.

Police in Lucknow, northern India, have bought four drones to help control crowds. The unmanned aerial vehicles are being fitted with cameras and pepper spray to subdue angry protesters. Some Indians have questioned why police are resorting to "authoritarian and forceful methods"

That's some rich "American Pie." The lyrics to the famed Don McLean song sold for $1.2 million Tuesday morning at an auction held by Christie's. "Don McLean's manuscript of 'American Pie' achieved the 3rd highest auction price for an American literary manuscript, a fitting tribute to one the foremost singer-songwriters of his generation," Christie's Tom Lecky said in a statement. McLean told Rolling Stone that it was time to part with the manuscript. "I'm going to be 70 this year," the singer and songwriter said in February. "I have two children and a wife, and none of them seem to have the mercantile instinct. I want to get the best deal that I can for them. It's time." Over the years, "American Pie" has become one of the most dissected and argued-about songs in the pop music canon. McLean has said that the opening lines were inspired by the death of Buddy Holly, but after that, it's all been conjecture -- which hasn't stopped a marching band's worth of analysts from trying to parse the symbols in the 8-minute, 33-second opus. Is the jester Bob Dylan? The football game Vietnam? The "girl who sang the blues" Janis Joplin? (One thing's certain: Buddy Holly's plane was NOT named "American Pie.") "Over the years I've dealt with all these stupid questions of 'Who's that?' and 'Who's that?' " McLean said. "These are things I never had in my head for a second when I wrote the song. I was trying to capture something very ephemeral and I did, but it took a long time." The song catapulted the former folk singer to headliner status. The song hit No. 1 in early 1972, despite its length. (The 45-rpm single split the song in half on its A and B sides.) The draft that was auctioned is 16 pages: 237 lines of manuscript and 26 lines of typed text, according to Christie's. It includes lines that didn't make the final version as well as extensive notes -- all of which should be revealing, McLean said. The record for a popular music manuscript is held by Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," which sold for $2 million in June. Opinion: What's so great about 'American Pie'?

Don McLean's "American Pie" lyrics auctioned for $1.2 million. The song is dense with symbolism; McLean says lyrics, notes will reveal meaning. "Pie" is McLean's biggest hit, was No. 1 in 1972.

The outlines of a nuclear deal with Iran are in place. Unfortunately, it seems like too many in President Barack Obama's administration have forgotten that the only reason this terrorist-supporting state came to the negotiating table in the first place was because of tough sanctions imposed by the U.S. Congress. Indeed, the reality is that President Obama is giving up enormous leverage in his nuclear deal with Iran -- and I worry we will lose it for good. Bleeding money, and faced with falling oil prices, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei gave his government rare permission to bargain with the "Great Satan" -- the United States. But just as U.S. and European sanctions were forcing Iran to the nuclear crossroads, President Obama has given Tehran an easy exit. For Khamenei, the "framework" announced last week looks like a win-win: He gets to keep his nuclear infrastructure, and in return gets billions of dollars in sanctions relief. Congress offered a better strategy when the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, and I introduced a bill to hit Tehran with its toughest sanctions yet. Unfortunately, this bill -- which passed the House in a 400-20 vote -- was blocked in the Senate last year, despite the fact that it would have sharpened the Ayatollah's choice: Dismantle your nuclear weapons program or see your economy collapse. President Obama once had a tougher line, when in 2012 he said: "The deal we'll accept is they end their nuclear program. It's very straightforward." But the framework announced last week does nothing of the sort. Negotiated between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany, the framework concedes that Iran can maintain "a mutually defined enrichment program," operate thousands of centrifuges, and continue its research and development of nuclear technologies. The deal currently on the table would hand Tehran billions of previously sanctioned funds, filling the coffers of the world's biggest state sponsor of terrorism, with strongholds in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. Meanwhile, the strictest restrictions on Iran's enrichment will expire in only 10 years, despite the President receiving a letter from 367 Members of Congress -- both Democrats and Republicans -- in which we insisted that "verifiable constraints on Iran's nuclear program must last for decades." The President admitted as much when he conceded that "in year 13, 14, 15, they have advanced centrifuges that enrich uranium fairly rapidly, and at that point the breakout times would have shrunk almost down to zero." But as bad as these concessions are, the most concerning aspect of the April 2 deal is that it lacks tough safeguards to stop Iran from cheating. The key question is this: Will the inspectors at the International Atomic Energy Agency be allowed to inspect these military sites without warning? Because if the IAEA cannot conduct "anytime, anywhere" inspections, Iran will be able to "sneak out" to a bomb. It has been done before. Remember, in 1994, when President Bill Clinton told us he had struck a deal with North Korea that would "make the United States, the Korean Peninsula, and the world safer"? President Clinton sounded a little too much like the current Secretary of State John Kerry, when he promised that the North Korea agreement "does not rely on trust" and that "compliance will be certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency." Twelve years after these assurances, North Korea detonated its first nuclear bomb. Iran could easily do the same. The best predictor of its future behavior is its past behavior -- between 2004 and 2009, the Iranian government built a huge centrifuge facility named Fordo under a mountain deep in the Iranian desert. Luckily for the world, Western intelligence agencies discovered Tehran's deception. But we cannot rely on such luck in the future, particularly when Iran still hasn't come clean about its history of secret weapons development and is still dodging basic questions from the IAEA. Let's not forget the other things Iran has been doing while its diplomats have been bargaining with the U.S. and its partners. While Iran was showing its friendly new face to the world, it has simultaneously been helping Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad kill his own people, training and funding the terrorist group Hezbollah, which aims to annihilate Israel, and supporting the Houthis, who started a civil war and overthrew the government in Yemen -- one of America's more reliable counterterrorism partners in the region. If President Obama is going to hand over billions of dollars to a regime that behaves like this, run by a man who publicly declares: "Death to America," it has to be a better deal. The framework we have before us keeps Iran's nuclear door well and truly open.

Ed Royce: Best predictor of Iran's future behavior is its past behavior. New framework keeps Iran's nuclear door well and truly open, he says.

Hip-hop star Nelly has been arrested on drug charges in Tennessee after a state trooper pulled over the private bus in which he was traveling, authorities said. The 40-year-old rapper from St. Louis, who shot to fame 15 years ago with the track "Country Grammar," has been charged with felony possession of drugs, simple possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security said. The state trooper stopped the bus carrying Nelly and five other people on Interstate 40 in Putnam County on Saturday because it wasn't displaying U.S. Department of Transportation and International Fuel Tax Association stickers, according to Tennessee authorities. The trooper was about to conduct an inspection of the bus, a Prevost motor coach, when he "noticed an odor of marijuana emitting from the vehicle," authorities said in a statement. Two troopers then searched the bus, finding "five colored crystal-type rocks that tested positive for methamphetamine, as well as a small amount of marijuana and other drug paraphernalia," the statement said. The search also turned up several handguns and 100 small Ziploc bags, which the statement said are commonly used for selling drugs. The guns included a gold-plated .50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol, a .45-caliber Taurus pistol and a .500 Smith & Wesson magnum. Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Haynes, was taken to the Putnam County Jail along with another passenger. He later posted bond and left the jail, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office said. CNN couldn't immediately reach Nelly's representatives for comment Saturday. CNN's Janet DiGiacomo contributed to this report.

State troopers say they found methamphetamine and marijuana on a bus carrying Nelly and five others. Nelly has been charged with felony possession of drugs.

A 32-year-old Massachusetts man is facing murder charges, authorities said Wednesday, four days after another man's remains were found in a duffel bag. The Middlesex District Attorney's Office said that Carlos Colina, 32, will be arraigned the morning of April 14 for murder in connection with the remains discovered Saturday in Cambridge. Earlier this week, Colina was arraigned on charges of assault and battery causing serious bodily injury and improper disposal of a body. A Middlesex County judge then revoked bail for Colina in another case he's involved in, for alleged assault and battery. The victim in that case is different from the one whose remains were found in recent days. Police were notified Saturday morning about a suspicious item along a walkway in Cambridge. Officers arrived at the scene, opened a duffel bag and found human remains. After that discovery, police say, a surveillance video led them to an apartment building, where more body parts were discovered in a common area. That location is near the Cambridge Police Department headquarters. The remains at both locations belonged to the same victim, identified Monday as Jonathan Camilien, 26. Camilien and Colina knew each other, according to authorities. "This was a gruesome discovery," District Attorney Marian Ryan said. CNN's Kevin Conlon contributed to this report.

Prosecutor: Carlos Colina, 32, will be arraigned on the murder charge next week. He's already been arraigned for alleged assault and battery, improper disposal of a body. Body parts were found in a duffel bag and a common area of an apartment building.

There was a larger message in the article about a purported gang rape that Rolling Stone retracted on Sunday night -- a part of the story that was never disputed: The University of Virginia is under continuing investigation over how it handles sexual assault on campus. The school has never expelled a single student for sexual assault -- even when the student admitted to it. The Virginia attorney general asked the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers to take a look at how the university historically handled allegations of sexual assault by its students. That includes how UVA officials handled the allegations in the discredited Rolling Stone article by a student the magazine called "Jackie," especially since the school knew about the allegations for more than a year before the article came out. The alleged gang rape at a fraternity house was in 2012, and Jackie told the university about it the next spring. She started telling her story very publicly, including at a "take back the night" rally. But Charlottesville police didn't hear about it until after a separate incident in the spring of 2014, in which Jackie claimed someone threw a bottle that hit her in the face. When a university dean arranged for her to talk to police about that alleged assault, she also told the story of the alleged 2012 incident. In both cases, police said Jackie refused to cooperate and so they could not pursue the case. But more women came forward to talk about their experiences -- women whose stories were not as dramatic or horrific as Jackie's. Rolling Stone's story opened up a conversation about the topic, and then women began coming forward to talk about a culture on campus that was not sensitive to victims. Many women told CNN about a euphemism for the word rape used by other students on campus. They'd call it a "bad experience." Others told CNN that there were fraternities with reputations for being "rapey" and for using date-rape drugs. That some judged who could come in based on the sluttiness of a woman's outfit. And if a woman did report her rape, some women complained that the internal process didn't seem worth it if their abuser wouldn't be kicked out of school. Rolling Stone had a line in its original story: "UVA's emphasis on honor is so pronounced that since 1998, 183 people have been expelled for honor-code violations such as cheating on exams. And yet paradoxically, not a single student at UVA has ever been expelled for sexual assault." After the article published, UVA admitted this and instituted a zero-tolerance policy on sexual assault going forward -- although that policy was never defined, so it's unclear what it means. When the story was deleted from Rolling Stone's website, that was lost. "You lose a lot of other people's voices who were in that article," said Sarah Roderick, a survivor and UVA student, "and a lot of good things that could have come about. Fixing problems with administration here and on our campus" -- and, she added, across the nationo. Along with the O'Melveny & Myers investigation, there's also an open Title IX investigation into UVA by the U.S. Department of Education as a result of a civil suit. The attorney who filed the suit, James Marsh, told CNN that UVA medical staff lost or destroyed evidence from the alleged sexual assault victim he's representing, making it impossible for her to move forward and get justice. When the Columbia Journalism School's 12,000-plus-word critique is summed up, it really boils down to this: The mistake could have been avoided if the writer, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, had picked up the phone and made just a few more phone calls to the friends of Jackie who she claimed were with her that night. They'd later tell other media outlets, including CNN, that they remembered a very different story. Rolling Stone says their account would have been a red flag. And all three say they would have talked if they'd been called. Ryan Duffin, one of the trio, said he felt deceived by Jackie, but he also pointed out that Erdely's mistake in fact-checking was about one single incident, and the fallout has caused a much bigger issue to be lost. "Had she gotten in direct contact with us, it probably wouldn't have been printed, at least in that way," he said. "A lot of the article was still based in truth, but the focal point would have been different." It might have been less dramatic, but it would have probably focused on some of the other UVA students who shared much more common stories of acquaintance rape on campus. "I think my problem with it was that this reporter wanted to sensationalize an experience that's not very common," Roderick said. "... And I wonder if it would have been different if (it dealt) with someone with a less horrific story -- something that happens to more people. I think this discredits what a lot of survivors go through. Something this physically horrific is not what everyone goes through. Now it's like, 'If I wasn't assaulted by more than one man then my story is not as worthy of attention.' It's frustrating that this is how rape is portrayed on college campuses because this is not the norm." Before the report came out, Abraham Axler, the student body president, said that some good had come from the article because it forced UVA to institute new policies and to open up a conversation on a topic that needed to be discussed nationwide. But some survivors and advocates are afraid the retraction set back their progress. "I do feel like there's a possibility people will be afraid to come forward. If you come forward and share your story, if you don't have the date right, every detail down, you'll think, 'I'm going to be accused of being a liar. It's easier for me to keep it to myself,'" Roderick said. "There are very serious and unresolved questions about the university's performance," said Steve Coll, dean of the Columbia School of Journalism. "Rolling Stone teed that subject up. I wouldn't say that everything about Rolling Stone's treatment of that subject was perfect, but it certainly doesn't fall under the same category as their reporting about Jackie's narrative."

University of Virginia is under continuing investigation over how it handles sexual assault on campus. Some fear retraction of Rolling Stone story about one case takes focus off the broader issue. After the story came out, UVA instituted a zero-tolerance policy on sexual assault going forward.

Fans of the late actor Paul Walker knew that watching him in "Furious 7" would be bittersweet. Even so, many moviegoers said the final scenes of the new film, which earned a record $146 million over the weekend, still packed an emotional wallop. "Not gonna lie, I shed a few tears at the end of Furious 7. The tribute to Paul Walker was very well done," one woman said Monday on Twitter. Hers was just one of a flood of messages on social media from people who said they got choked up during scenes featuring Walker, who died at 40 in a car crash in November 2013, before filming on "Furious 7" was completed. To finish Walker's scenes, the makers of the movie used body doubles, computer-generated images and even the actor's brothers. But it was the ending that really got to moviegoers. In finishing "Furious 7," the film's producers sought to retire Walker's character, Brian, while paying homage to his role in the blockbuster "Furious" action franchise. But they felt that killing him off might appear exploitative. "If they had gone down the other path, I think I would have refused to finish making this movie," director James Wan told BuzzFeed. Instead, the movie's makers chose to "retire Paul's character in the most sincere and elegant way (they) could," Wan said. Their idea was to have Brian retire from his dangerous, high-octane lifestyle out of a sense of responsibility to his growing family with girlfriend Mia, who is pregnant with their second child. A scene late in the movie shows him and Mia playing on a beach with their son while the crew looks on -- essentially saying goodbye. Then his longtime buddy Dom reminisces about their years together, leading to a montage of Walker scenes from the first six movies. The song that plays over the montage is "See You Again," a collaboration between Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth. Co-star Vin Diesel shared the video for the song late Sunday on his Facebook page, where it has more than 1.5 million likes. Fans on Twitter and Facebook mostly praised the movie's ending as a fitting tribute -- and an emotionally wrenching one. "Man I don't care how tough u are or how gangsta u claim to be . ...the last five minutes had me choked up in the movie theater ... I saw it 3 times in one day ... ...the ending is the deepest ending I've ever seen," one man wrote on the movie's Facebook page.

Moviegoers are tearing up during the emotional ending of "Furious 7" The movie's end is a tribute of sorts to actor Paul Walker, who died during filming.

Two Alabama college students are accused of gang raping a woman while on spring break at Florida's Panama City Beach. Ryan Calhoun and Delonte Martistee, students at Troy University, were arrested and charged with sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, according to a statement from the Bay County, Florida, Sheriff's Office. The Troy, Alabama, Police Department found video of what appeared to be a Panama City gang rape during the course of an investigation into an unrelated shooting. The video was turned over to the Bay County Sheriff's Office. The Bay County Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigations Division has identified the victim in the video but said state law prevents the office from releasing any information about her. She was a visitor in Panama City. "We are not releasing her location or any additional information on victim to protect her from further trauma," said sheriff's spokesman Tommy Ford. After interviewing witnesses, Bay County investigators determined the alleged rape took place sometime from March 10, 2015, to March 12, 2015, behind Spinnaker Beach Club, a popular bar and dance club for spring breakers. A statement from Troy University confirmed the two men are current students. "The students have been placed on temporary suspension from school per the university's standards of conduct and disciplinary procedures. Martistee, a member of the track and field team, has also been removed from the team." The investigation continues and more arrests are expected, the Bay County Sheriff's Office said. Calhoun and Martistee will have their first court appearance Saturday morning, a Bay County deputy said. CNN could not determine if the men have attorneys.

Case begins when police find video of what appears to be a gang rape. 2 students from Troy University in Alabama are charged in the case.

What would you do if a complete stranger asked you for $100, or offered you an apple in a parking lot without explanation? These are only two of the 100 challenges Chinese-born, American-based Jia Jiang put himself up to when he decided to blog about "100 Days of Rejection", a project he launched after he quit his comfortable six-figure job to follow his dreams of being an entrepreneur at the age of 30, just weeks before his first child was born. After his tech start-up was declined investment, Jiang decided to confront his fear of rejection head-on. This led to his writing his book called Rejection Proof, part self-help and part motivational/autobiography, which is being released this week. Famously, in 2012 on his third day of the project, Jiang asked Austin, Texas, Krispy Kreme manager (Jackie Braun) to make him five interlinked donuts to mimic the Olympic symbol. To his surprise, she rose to the challenge and his rejection request faltered. He shared his video and it went viral on Reddit. Before long, Jiang (and Braun) were invited on talk shows and Jiang was being asked to speak at events across the US. Jiang was even offered jobs as his project continued and his fame grew. That wasn't the goal of the project though. "I'm really just a person trying to overcome my own fears," explained Jiang. The project started out to help "fix my own problems, and now I'm helping others fix theirs," he said. "The fear of rejection really holds people back. I'm trying to demystify the idea of rejection." Jiang, who as a child dreamed of being Bill Gates and has been viewed 7 million times on YouTube, has found his entrepreneurial dream in a different role for the moment. "My goal is to turn rejection into opportunity. I always thought it was something to run away from, but if we can embrace it, we can turn it into a lot more than an obstacle." 8 top tips in making rejection work for you:. 1 - The fear of rejection holds us back a lot more than actual rejection. By putting ourselves out there, the world will usually open itself up to you. Though the world can seem cruel and cold, actually humans have a hard time saying no. So open yourself up, don't be afraid to ask for something. If you fail, remember it's not about you. 2 - Rejection is more or less a numbers game. Sometimes the most far-fetched idea gets a yes. If you talk to enough people, somebody will say yes to you. J.K. Rowling went through 12 rejections to get her yes for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. 3 - You cannot use rejection to measure the merit of an idea. Sometimes if you really want to change the world, getting rejection is a must. Rejection is a human interaction with two sides. It often says more about the rejector than the rejectee, and should never be used as the universal truth and sole judgment of merit. 4 - Don't run away after a no. The most common thing we do when we're rejected is we want to run because rejection is painful - you're hurt, angry and you lose confidence. But actually if we know how to handle it, we can often minimize the chance of rejection. Be confident, engaging, collaborate. I used all of these traits to maximise getting a yes. 5 - Ask why? When you get rejected you have to find out why. Then spend time to find solutions to solve that why. Sometimes through this process you learn there is something else you can ask for. Ask for an intermediate position rather than the top position. 6 - Set a number of how many no's you can take. In his book, Jiang helps his wife set out to get her dream job at Google. He tells her that instead of thinking about getting a job, she needs to prepare herself for how many no's she can take. In the end, she was offered a job at Google. 7 - Be invincible. By the end of his project, Jiang said he felt he could ask anything from anyone and not have the pain of rejection. It was a gradual process - gradually my comfort zone expanded. It's like a muscle, I could become stronger and stronger. 8 - Stand tall and remember rejection is an opinion. People are who they are. A lot of people will reject you because of their mood, their education, their upbringing, and you can't change who they are. But you can stand confidently. Innate confidence comes across. How missing sleep can damage your IQ. The surprising benefits of doing nothing. 7 habits of highly ineffective people.

One man's entrepreneurial quest turned into unexpected success. "100 Days of Rejection" took Jiang out of his comfort zone. It's the fear of rejection, more than rejection itself, which holds us back.

Irish betting company Paddy Power is backtracking after tweeting that "Newcastle have suffered more Kop beatings over the last 20 years than an unarmed African-American male." The tweet, a pun on the name of the famous home end at Liverpool Football Club, alluded to recent controversial incidents in the United States in which unarmed African-American men have been killed by police. Paddy Power -- well-known for its use of publicity stunts -- used it to link to a piece showing statistics for games between Liverpool and Newcastle United ahead of their English Premier League match on Monday. A Paddy Power spokesman told CNN before Liverpool's 2-0 victory at Anfield: "It was a joke, and no offense was meant." The tweet has since been deleted, but its removal -- along with the statement -- did little to placate social media users who condemned the organization, with some calling for the person who wrote the tweet to be sacked. In January, Paddy Power attracted headlines after backing David Ginola's failed candidacy for the presidency of world football's governing body. The former Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham player could not persuade enough FIFA football associations to back his bid. He needed five to have any chance of unseating Sepp Blatter. Paddy Power started the funding for the candidacy, but its penchant for publicity stunts quickly led many people to dismiss Ginola's bid as another attempt to grab headlines. Paddy Power, the son of one the company's founders and its marketing spokesman, explained: "We've been known for some mischievous activity around the world. This is not that. This is for real." Last year, the company generated anger when it promised "money back if he walks" in relation to the trial of disgraced South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius. Monday's win put Liverpool fifth in the table, four points behind defending champion Manchester City, which holds England's final European Champions League qualification spot with six games left to play this season. Young England forward Raheem Sterling, who has turned down a new contract, scored a fine solo goal in the first half, and midfielder Joe Allen's 70th-minute strike condemned 13th-placed Newcastle to a fifth successive league defeat. Newcastle, which had France international midfielder Moussa Sissoko sent off in the 83rd minute, has not won at Anfield since a 1-0 victory in the League Cup in November 1995.

Company known for use of publicity stunts. Tweet contained pun on name of Liverpool's Kop stand. It was used to link to Liverpool-Newcastle stats. Social media backlash leads to apology.

The new emojis are here! On Thursday, Apple released a new version of its mobile operating system that includes more diversity than ever when it comes to the race, ethnicity and sexual orientation of its emojis -- those cute little images that users can insert into text messages or emails when words alone just won't cut it. The reaction to this new lineup is, as should be expected with almost anything new in today's hypersensitive climate, a range of cheers and jeers. Why is any of this important, you may ask? For many, these images are far more than tiny clip art for texting. Rather they are seen as recognition that their own ethnicity, sexual orientation, race or even hair color is part of mainstream America -- despite what others might say. This matters in a digital age where texting is how most people communicate and represent themselves dozens -- if not hundreds -- of times every day. Think receiving a text of an image of a person smiling. Or more accurately, think of a white face smiling because up until Thursday's update, all the emojis had pale skin. But that has all changed. Now there's a range of emoji skin tones to pick from, including yellow, brown and black. I'm sure few people will be upset with this development. But how about in December? Why? Now that will be able to choose the skin tones for each human emoji, and that will also include ... Santa Claus. That shrieking sound you may have heard was from Fox News' Megyn Kelly, who famously stated in 2013 that Santa Claus is absolutely, definitely and without a doubt a white guy. In fact, thanks to Apple, we may even see Brown Santa emojis this December. (Could that mean he's a Muslim Santa?! Cue even more shrieking from Fox News.) There is more. Apple has now given us gay and lesbian couple emojis, kissing with a heart over their heads. This inclusiveness was cheered by at least one gay news service on Twitter. It's not yet clear if a person who likes to use same-sex kissing emoji couples can be denied service by a person who objects on grounds of "religious liberty." But it would be interesting to hear what any of the 2016 GOP presidential candidates might have to say about "gay emojis." And I would predict some conservative will claim that the kissing gay emojis will turn children gay. The fact is, when you embrace diversity, you will still leave out other minority groups. Redheads, for example, are pretty pissed off because there are no emojis featuring their hair color. In fact, supporters of a redheaded emoji have started a petition that has already garnered several thousand signatures. Even expanding the flags represented by emojis, as Apple has done, comes at some peril. Apparently Canada is overjoyed that finally Apple has included it. But Armenians are not happy they were left out. I must admit that being partially of Palestinian heritage, it's heartening to see that despite the fact that some refuse to recognize a Palestinian state, Apple has chosen to now include a Palestinian flag emoji. Armenia, I feel your pain. Of course the bigger question in the whole diverse-emoji issue is: What took Apple so long? How hard could it have been to add different skin colors to pick from? That the company (finally) did is a step in the right direction: America's demographics are changing, so our representations of who we are -- even representations as tiny as emojis -- should reflect this. Apple has "evolved" in showing diversity -- from brown people to same-sex couples. Maybe "religious liberty" conservatives who discriminate will follow.

Dean Obeidallah: Apple's new emoji lineup is diverse in race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. It's just like America, but what took Apple so long? Obeidallah asks. He says change may rankle (or win over?) conservatives who discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation.

As Americans mark the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's death this week, let us remember that he not only belongs to the ages, but also belongs, in a special way, to Illinois. Lincoln's two greatest legacies -- indivisible union and irreversible emancipation -- grew organically from his Midwestern roots. He knew firsthand that no defensible border shielded the land of corn from the land of cotton. The entire region from the Appalachians to the Rockies drained through the Mississippi River, enabling farmers in this vast basin to float their goods down to market through New Orleans and from there to the world. He thus could never allow a potentially hostile power to control this geostrategic chokepoint in particular, or Dixie more generally. The U.S. landmass, he insisted, "is well adapted to be the home of one national family; and it is not well adapted for two, or more" because "there is no line, straight or crooked, suitable for a national boundary upon which to divide." Lincoln supplemented his Midwestern geography lesson with a distinctly Midwestern claim about constitutional history: "The Union is older than any of the States; and in fact, it created them as States." Lincoln did not need to make this controversial claim to prove his case, and elsewhere he stressed the decisive legal point that the Constitution's text clearly prohibits unilateral secession. The Constitution is always and everywhere the supreme law of the land -- no matter what an individual state says. But Lincoln's additional assertion that the Union created the states, not vice versa, provoked strong disagreement in other parts of the country. Most Virginians, including Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, insisted that of course Virginia had come first! At the outbreak of the American Revolution, the Old Dominion was already a century and a half old. Generations of Lees had helped govern Virginia long before the United States was born. But if Lee was, first and always, a Virginian, Lincoln was an American. His father came from Virginia, his grandfather hailed from Pennsylvania, and before that, the family had probably lived in New England. Abe himself had been born in Kentucky and had moved as a boy to Indiana, and later, as a young man, to Illinois. These latter two Midwestern states had undeniably been formed by the Union itself. These places had begun as federal territory -- the common inheritance of all Americans -- and it was the federal government that had indeed brought these new states to life. When young Abe moved to Indiana, it was just becoming a state, thanks to federal governmental action. It was a wise set of federal policies -- proper land surveys and a commitment to public education -- that had drawn the Lincolns and countless other Kentuckians to leave the Bluegrass State for a brighter future in the Midwest. Retracing Lincoln's assassination 150 years later. That brighter future also involved freedom from slavery. The Old Northwest had always been free soil, as provided for by a Northwest Ordinance that predated the U.S. Constitution. The words of the 13th Amendment -- the only constitutional amendment that Lincoln would live to sign -- promised to end slavery everywhere in America and did so by borrowing verbatim from Article 6 of the Northwest Ordinance. True, geography is not inexorable destiny. Many other Midwesterners in Lincoln's era embraced slavery and secession. Hugo Black, the Supreme Court justice who did the most to make Lincoln's constitutional vision a reality over the next century, was born and raised in Alabama. But geographic variation has always been a large part of America's constitutional saga. In the 1860 election that brought him to power, Lincoln swept almost all the Northern states, but did miserably in the slaveholding south. John Wilkes Booth, the dastard who ended Lincoln's life 150 years ago this week, was an embittered extremist from a slave state. So was Lincoln's nemesis on the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roger Taney. Taney's most infamous ruling, the pro-slavery Dred Scott decision in 1857, had emerged from a court dominated by the South; although slave states accounted for less a third of America's free population, this region held an absolute majority of the seats on the court. Remembering Lincoln's murder. In our era, given the fact that Republican appointees have held a majority of the court for the last 40 years, the court has been rather moderate. Much of this moderation has come courtesy of northern Republicans on the Court -- most notably, Minnesota's Harry Blackmun, Illinois' John Paul Stevens, and New Hampshire's David Souter. All nine of the current justices learned their law in liberal New England, at Harvard or Yale, and the Republican appointee most attentive to gay rights, Anthony Kennedy, grew up in northern California, a corner of the country renowned for its respect for alternative lifestyles. Which takes us back to Lincoln. When Anthony Kennedy was a lad in California's state capital, the governor, a friend of the Kennedy family, was a Lincoln Republican named Earl Warren -- a man who would later author the Court's iconic opinion in Brown v. Board of Education, vindicating the constitutional amendments enshrined by Lincoln and his allies. Today, both parties at their best claim Lincoln. Jeb Bush aims to appeal to the better angels of our nature and Rand Paul is a Kentuckian who professes interest in racial outreach. Hillary Clinton was born an Illinois Republican. And the leader of her adopted political party -- who also happens to be president -- is a lanky and brainy lawyer from Illinois who knows how to give a good speech, and who swept to power in 2008 by recreating Lincoln's geographic coalition, winning every state within a four-hour drive of Chicago. In the largest sense, then, all Americans, of both parties and all regions -- whether or not they have ever set foot in Illinois -- are living in the Land of Lincoln.

Akhil Amar: Lincoln's two biggest legacies, keeping union together and abolishing slavery, had Midwestern roots. Lincoln saw the federal government as pre-eminent and believed there was no logical border for dividing the U.S.

Two years ago, the storied Boston Marathon ended in terror and altered the lives of runners, spectators and those who tried to come to their rescue. Just last week, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted on 30 charges related to the bombings at the race and the dramatic violence that dragged out for days afterward. The jury will begin deliberating his punishment next week. The death penalty is on the table. Dzhokhar and his brother Tamerlan, who was killed in a shootout with police, were intent on terrorizing not just Bostonians, but all Americans, prosecutors said. But the Tsarnaevs were not on the minds of most people in Boston on Wednesday. The injured victims and those who lost their lives were spoken of with reverence in somber ceremonies. Relatives of 8-year-old Martin Richard, the attack's youngest victim, and the family of Krystle Campbell stood with Gov. Charlie Baker and Mayor Martin Walsh. Bagpipes played and banners whipped in the wind on Boylston Street, the Boston Globe reported. Boston University graduate student Lingzi Lu also was killed in one of the two horrific blasts that brought chaos to the competitors and spectators near the race's finish line on April 15, 2013. Who were the victims? Many bombing survivors were in the crowd for Wednesday's events, the newspaper said. They wore white, blue and yellow pins celebrating "One Boston Day," which was created to recognize acts of valor and to encourage kindness among Bostonians. Many there and those who couldn't observe the day in person tweeted their respect and memories using #BostonDay. The marathon historically happens on a Monday. This year, runners will take on the 26.2 mile challenge April 20. "I think today will always be a little emotional for me -- Marathon Monday is my favorite day of the year, and will continue to be, despite these tragedies," Boston resident Lindsey Berkowitz told CNN. "I have so much respect and support for all of the survivors, and hope the city continues to come together on this day to embrace the strength and resilience of Boston, and the love we all have for this great city." Melanie DiVasta was working just a mile from the finish line in 2013 when one of the bombs set by the Tsarnaevs exploded. Several of her friends were waiting at the finish line. They were unharmed. "It was just an overwhelming feeling of shock to start hearing about it and seeing images," DiVasta said. "You couldn't help but cry and just ask why." What's next for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev? CNN's Jareen Imam contributed to this report.

Citizens gather to honor victims on One Boston Day, two years after the marathon bombings. "Today will always be a little emotional for me," one Bostonian tells CNN.

Kano, Nigeria (CNN)An explosion late Thursday outside a bus station in the northeast Nigerian city of Gombe ‎killed at least five people and injured more than a dozen others, witnesses said. The explosion outside the Bauchi Motor Park‎ happened around 8:30 p.m. after a woman left her explosives-laden handbag near a bus filling up with passengers. The bus was heading to the central Nigerian city of Jos, 125 kilometers away. "There has been an explosion just outside the motor park and five people have been killed while more than 12 others have been seriously injured," said Adamu Saidu, an employee at the bus station. "Some of the injured have had their limbs blown off‎ and one of them has had his eye gouged out," said Saidu, who was involved in the evacuation of the victims to a hospital. The woman pretended to be going to Jos and lingered around the bus, which was ‎waiting to fill up with passengers, according to Falalu Tasiu, a grocer near the bus station. "The woman kept talking on the phone and dropped her bag beside the bus, pretending to be waiting for the bus to fill up," Tasiu said. "She moved towards shops overlooking the bus station as if she was going to buy something and disappeared. Moments later the bag exploded and set the bus on fire, killing five people and inujuring around 15 others," Tasiu said. Although no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Boko Haram Islamists have repeatedly carried out suicide and bombing attacks on bus stations and markets in Gombe and other northern cities, making the group the main suspect. Boko Haram has in recent months been under sustained pressure from sweeping offensives from a four-nation regional alliance of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon. The regional offensives have considerably weakened Boko Haram's capabilities, which has prompted the Islamists to resort to attacks on soft targets such as bus stations, markets and schools. The explosion was the first attack since Nigeria held its presidential election at the weekend, which was won by opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari, who vowed to crush Boko Haram when he assumes office in late May.

Woman leaves explosives-laden handbag beside bus during boarding. No group has claimed responsibility, but Boko Haram is suspected.

Lady Antebellum singer Hillary Scott's tour bus caught fire on a Texas freeway Thursday morning, but everyone on board was safely evacuated. Michael Barnett captured dramatic video of the fire, on Interstate 30 just northeast of Dallas, and uploaded it to CNN iReport. Smoke and flames poured from the rear of the bus as traffic slowed to a crawl and Barnett slowly approached in his vehicle. As he drew closer to the bus, Barnett decided to stop filming because he didn't know what to expect. "It was shocking," he said. "I didn't know what I was about to see. I didn't know if anyone was hurt." Barnett said he didn't realize at the time that the bus belonged to the country band. Hillary Scott, co-lead singer for the band, posted a photo of the charred bus on Instagram and noted that she, her husband, the tour manager and the driver were all evacuated safely. "Thanking God for our safety and the safety of all of those who helped put this fire out and keep us safe," she wrote. The tour manager told CNN affiliate KTVT that the bus stopped after a rear tire blew out. It burst into flames after everyone had gotten off. Scott also posted an Instagram photo and message saying that the fire destroyed everything in the bus's back lounge except her Bible. The band's two other members, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood, were not traveling on the bus, KTVT reported. Lady Antebellum is set to perform at the 50th Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday in Arlington, Texas.

Country band Lady Antebellum's bus caught fire Thursday on a Texas freeway. A CNN iReporter captured the dramatic scene on video. Singer Hillary Scott shared a pic of the charred bus on Instagram.

Tulsa, Oklahoma (CNN)Amid growing scrutiny over whether a 73-year-old volunteer deputy who killed a suspect during a sting operation was qualified to be policing the streets, a new report raises a troubling allegation. Some supervisors at the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office were told to forge Reserve Deputy Robert Bates' training records, and three who refused were reassigned to less desirable duties, the Tulsa World newspaper reported. Claims that the volunteer deputy's records had been falsified emerged "almost immediately" from multiple sources after Bates killed Eric Harris on April 2, reporter Dylan Goforth said. Bates claims he meant to use his Taser but accidentally fired his handgun at Harris instead. The newspaper's story does not say who allegedly asked the supervisors to falsify the training records or why. But the orders apparently started years ago, before Harris' death, "back when (Bates) was trying to get on as a deputy," reporter Ziva Branstetter told CNN's "New Day." The Sheriff's Office denied the allegations in the Tulsa World's report. It also declined a CNN interview to respond to the claims. In an email to CNN, the department's Maj. Shannon Clark said the lack of named sources in the newspaper's report leaves him dubious. "Just keep in mind that the Tulsa World reporter cannot validate her sources and claims anonymity, which leaves us skeptical that her claims are unsubstantiated and deceptive," Clark wrote. Clark Brewster, an attorney who represents Bates, said the accusations are based on an affidavit from a former Sheriff's Office employee who's now facing a first-degree murder charge. "I don't put a lot of stock in that report or the credibility of who would further that report," Brewster said. Shooting casts spotlight on volunteer police programs. Sheriff Stanley Glanz and other sheriff's officials have repeatedly insisted Bates was properly trained. The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office has released a summary of Bates' training courses only over the past seven years. The office rejected CNN's request for the full training records because Bates' case is under investigation. Branstetter said she's run into similar obstacles when asking for the names of supervisors who'd signed off on Bates' training records. "You would think the Sheriff's Office, if in fact there has been no pressure applied, no falsification of records, that they would be forthcoming with these documents," she told CNN's "New Day." "We've asked for them. They've said they don't believe they're public records." Bates was classified as an advanced reserve deputy for the Sheriff's Office. That means he would have had to complete 480 hours of the field training officer program to maintain that classification, the paper said. Bates would also have needed firearms certification training. But the sheriff himself has acknowledged there is a problem with Bates' gun certification records -- his office can't find them. "Bob went out and qualified with three different weapons with an instructor," Glanz told KFAQ radio this week. He said Bates "qualified with a young lady that was a firearms instructor." But she is no longer there. "She has left the Sheriff's Office and is now a Secret Service agent," Glanz told KFAQ. "And we're trying to get a hold of her and talk to her about ... we can't find the records that she supposedly turned in. So we're going to talk to her and find out if for sure he did qualify with those." Opinion: Who gave this reserve cop a gun? Even before the Tulsa World story, inconsistencies were apparent in Bates' history with the Sheriff's Office. In his statement to investigators, Bates said he "became an advanced TCSO Reserve Deputy in 2007." But the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office has said Bates had been a reserve deputy since 2008. It also said Bates had undergone 300 hours of training. That would be less than the 480 hours of field training that the Tulsa World said is required to be an "advanced" reserve deputy, which Bates claimed to be. In a statement he made to investigators after the shooting, Bates said the gun he used was his personal weapon, adding that he last qualified at the range in autumn. He also said he'd attended "numerous schools and seminars related to drug investigations and the tactical operations associated with the apprehension of suspects involved in drug trafficking," a five-day homicide investigation school in Dallas and training from Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff's Office on responding to active shooters. But an Arizona official told CNN Bates never trained with the agency. "He didn't come to Arizona," the official from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said, "and he certainly didn't train with us." Brewster said that line in Bates' statement was referring to a lecture given at a seminar in Washington by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The seminar was part of extensive training Bates received at classes across the country and through work in the field, he said. "He met every training regimen," Brewster said. "He met every requirement, and all he did was give of himself." Bates is now charged with second-degree manslaughter for Harris' death. He turned himself in to authorities Tuesday and immediately posted bail of $25,000. His attorney has said he's not guilty, calling the death an "excusable homicide." The lawyer for Harris' family claims Bates wasn't qualified to be on the force, but received preferential treatment because he'd made donations to the agency and was a friend of the sheriff -- an accusation officials deny, saying they stand by his training record. Tulsa Police Sgt. Jim Clark, who has been brought in to review the case, has said Bates fell "victim" to something called "slip and capture," a term to describe a high-stress situation in which a person intends to do one thing and instead does something else. It's a controversial claim that hasn't convinced critics of the department, and calls for an independent investigation into the Sheriff's Office and the case are growing. Earlier this week, the office spokesman rejected any idea of outside investigators into the shooting. "We're not scared to prosecute our own. ... There's nobody in this culture that can be tougher on cops than their own," Clark said. "You know that analogy that you'll eat your young? You know, that's the same thing in law enforcement. If we have a dirty cop in our ranks, we will disclose them much quicker than the media." A spokesman for Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt said his office is concerned about allegations reported in the media about the case "and will continue to monitor and assess what appropriate measures, if any, are warranted." Glanz has stated publicly that he's reached out to the regional office of the FBI to look into the shooting. Special Agent Terry B. Weber told CNN there's no open FBI investigation into the case. How easy is it to confuse a gun for a Taser? CNN's Ed Lavandera reported from Tulsa. CNN's Holly Yan and Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Atlanta. CNN's Dave Alsup and Jason Morris contributed to this report.

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in Arizona says Robert Bates never trained with them. "He met every requirement, and all he did was give of himself," his attorney says. Tulsa World newspaper: Three supervisors who refused to sign forged records on Robert Bates were reassigned.

Los Angeles (CNN)Former rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight was ordered Thursday to stand trial for murder and other charges stemming from a deadly hit-and-run confrontation on the movie set of the biopic "Straight Outta Compton" earlier this year. In addition to that ruling, Judge Ronald Coen also lowered Knight's bail to $10 million from $25 million, a figure that defense lawyers called excessive. The judge also dismissed one of the two counts of hit-and-run against Knight. In all, Knight will stand trial on one count of murder, one count of attempted murder and one count of hit-and-run, the judge ruled after holding a two-day preliminary hearing this week that ended Thursday. Knight, 49, faces up to life in prison if convicted. Knight suffers diabetes and blot clots, and the case has clearly strained him: He collapsed in court last month after learning of the $25 million bail and he was taken to the hospital for treatment. Knight was in court Thursday. At the end of hearing, he turned around and looked at his family in the gallery, and he smiled to his fiancee as deputies led him handcuffed out of the courtroom. In a press conference after the hearing, fiancee Toi Kelly said regarding Knight's health that he is "doing much better." The judge dismissed the other hit-and-run count because California law says no more than one charge of hit-and-run should be brought against a defendant when the same weapon, in this case the vehicle Knight was driving, is used against several people. Knight is accused of running over two men, killing one of them, during an argument. Killed was Terry Carter, 55. The survivor is Cle Sloan, 51, who in testimony this week declined to identify Knight as his attacker because Sloan doesn't want to be a "snitch" who sends Knight to prison, according to CNN affiliates KABC and KTLA. Prosecutors offered Sloan immunity, but he still refused to testify against Knight on Monday, the affiliates reported. The deadly incident happened on January 29, after a flare-up on the set of the biopic "Straight Outta Compton," a film about the highly influential and controversial rap group N.W.A. The alleged argument spilled over to the parking lot of Tam's Burgers in Compton. At the time, Knight was out on bail in a separate robbery case. The hit-and-run was captured on videotape and allegedly shows Knight inside a red truck. In the video, the truck pulls into the entrance of the Compton restaurant, and he is then approached by Sloan, who was working security on the site. The two men appear to talk for a few moments, with Knight still in his vehicle. Suddenly, the vehicle backs up, knocking Sloan to the ground. While still in reverse, the truck moves out of range of the security camera. The vehicle is then seen zooming forward, back into camera range, running over Sloan a second time, and then running over a second man, Carter, a former rap music label owner. Carter later died. In closing arguments prior to the judge's ruling, Knight's attorney Matthew Fletcher argued that Knight was the victim. Knight was only defending himself against Sloan, whom the defense attorney accused of possessing a gun at the time. "Mr. Sloan is the initial and consistent aggressor," Knight's attorney argued. "There's no intent to kill, there's an intent to survive." "Even without a gun, we know Mr. Sloan was brave enough to attack in broad daylight," the defense attorney said. Fletcher added that Knight's defense was to stand his ground. Sloan "needed immunity because he was the actual aggressor," Fletcher said. "He is the person who got Terry (Carter) killed." Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes argued, however, told the judge that Knight was engaged in "mutual combat situation" where he used his car as deadly weapon. If Knight "ever had the right of self-defense, the moment he backed-up and Mr. Sloan was ran-over, he lost the right of self-defense," Barnes said. "There was pre-mediation and intent when he (Knight) ran over him a second time." Knight is scheduled to be arraigned on April 30. The incident is the latest run-in with the law for Knight, who founded the wildly successful Death Row Records in 1991 and signed artists such as Snoop Doggy Dogg (now known as Snoop Lion) and Tupac Shakur. Knight was driving the car in which Shakur was a passenger when the rapper was shot to death in Las Vegas in 1996. Shortly afterward, Knight spent several years in prison for violating parole on assault and weapons convictions. That prison time -- along with Shakur's death, feuds between Knight and a number of rappers, and desertions by Dr. Dre, Snoop and others -- contributed to the label's bankruptcy in 2006. In August, Knight and two other people were shot while inside a celebrity-filled Sunset Strip party hosted by singer Chris Brown on the eve of the MTV Video Music Awards.

Former rap mogul Marion "Suge" Knight will be tried for murder in a videotaped hit-and-run. His bail is reduced to $10 million from $25 million. A judge dismisses one of four charges against Knight.

Deputies rushed Kenneth Morgan Stancil III from court Thursday after the 20-year-old murder suspect swore at a judge and tried to flip over a table. Stancil is accused of killing an employee Monday at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Relatives have said victim Ron Lane was gay, CNN affiliate WNCN reported, and investigators are looking into whether the shooting was a hate crime. Authorities arrested Stancil after he was found sleeping on a Florida beach on Tuesday. Just a few minutes into Thursday's hearing on the first-degree murder charge he faces, Stancil snapped back at the judge after he was offered a court-appointed lawyer. "No, I don't need one," said Stancil, who stood before the judge with his legs shackled and his arms handcuffed in front of him. "You know what I'm saying? I knew I would get life anyway." Superior Court Judge Arnold O. Jones interjected, pointing out that the maximum sentence Stancil faces is the death penalty. "Yes, I know that," Stancil fired back. "But when I knew what I had to do and I knew when I got caught, you know, I knew in my mind that I could get life, I could get the death penalty. You know what I'm saying? Do you follow my topic? I would have killed you, you know what I'm saying, if you're a f---ing child molester." The judge told him not to swear. "I don't give a f--- what you want," Stancil said, lunging forward and lifting up the table in front of him. Deputies quickly corralled him and hustled him from the courtroom. The hearing resumed about 25 minutes later, when Stancil was brought back into the courtroom, this time with his arms handcuffed behind him. When asked again by Jones whether he wanted a lawyer, his response was quick -- and calm. "Yes, sir," he said. In an interview with CNN affiliate WRAL, Stancil described himself as a neo-Nazi and said he hates gay people "with a passion." Stancil had worked for Lane, the school's print shop operator, as part of a work-study program, but was let go from the program in early March because of poor attendance, college officials said. During the interview, and during a court appearance in Florida on Tuesday, Stancil said Lane deserved to die, accusing him of being a child molester who'd made advances in online messages to Stancil's 16-year-old brother. Lane's family has described those accusations as untrue and slanderous. His cousin, Steve Smith, told WRAL that Lane never made sexual advances toward children or anyone with whom he worked. He described him as a loving man who was dedicated to family and friends. "Yes, Ron was gay. But people need to get over it," Smith said. "That's between him and the Lord, him and his savior."

Kenneth Morgan Stancil, charged with first-degree murder, swears at the judge. Deputies escort him from court after he tries to flip over a table. Stancil is accused of killing an employee at Wayne Community College.

Canadian actor Jonathan Crombie, who co-starred in the "Anne of Green Gables" TV movies, died this week at age 48. Crombie died Wednesday from complications of a brain hemorrhage, "Anne of Green Gables" producer Kevin Sullivan said. "It's a real tragedy to see someone at age 48 go like that," he said. "I will remember him as someone who worked extremely hard to make the roles he played onscreen come to life." Based on Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery's children's books, "Anne of Green Gables" debuted in Canada on CBC TV in 1984 and became a cultural touchstone. The plot focused on the adventures of fiery orphan Anne Shirley, played by Megan Follows, who is sent to live on a farm in Prince Edward Island. Crombie played Gilbert Blythe, who evolves over time from Anne's pigtail-tugging tormentor to friend to husband. Follows and Crombie reprised the roles in the sequels "Anne of Avonlea" (1987) and "Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story" (2000). The movies were carried in the United States by the Disney Channel and PBS, drawing a cult following beyond Canada and extending to Japan, which made its own animated series based on the books. Crombie, son of former Toronto Mayor David Crombie, was cast in the role at 17, beating out other aspiring Canadian actors of the era, including Jason Priestly, Sullivan said. Despite his lack of acting experience, Crombie's boy-next-door looks and cool demeanor made him the perfect actor to star opposite Follows, Sullivan said. "It was an amazing chemistry between him and Megan Follows," Sullivan said. "There was a lot of affection, but they kind of grounded each other." The movies spawned various spinoffs, including "Road to Avonlea," starring child actor Sarah Polley, and turned Anne's fictional home on Prince Edward Island into a popular tourist destination. The role made Crombie a heartthrob of his time, a sentiment expressed by many fans in the wake of his death. As one person said on Twitter, "I don't know any female Canadian from my generation that *didn't* have at least a little bit of a crush on Jonathan Crombie as Gilbert." Crombie went on to play roles in other American and Canadian TV shows, including "21 Jump Street" and "The Good Wife," but even his Facebook page acknowledges he is best known for his portrayal of Gilbert Blythe. Crombie's sister told CBC News that her brother happily answered to the name Gil when greeted by fans in public. "I think he was really proud of being Gilbert Blythe," she said. "He really enjoyed that series and was happy, very proud of it -- we all were." People we've lost in 2015.

Jonathan Crombie is best known for playing Gilbert Blythe in "Anne of Green Gables" Book, movies about girl sent to live on Canadian farm.

When Etan Patz went missing in New York City at age 6, hardly anyone in America could help but see his face at their breakfast table. His photo's appearance on milk cartons after his May 1979 disappearance marked an era of heightened awareness of crimes against children. On Friday, more than 35 years after frenzied media coverage of his case horrified parents everywhere, a New York jury will again deliberate over a possible verdict against the man charged in his killing, Pedro Hernandez. He confessed to police three years ago. Etan Patz's parents have waited that long for justice, but some have questioned whether that is at all possible in Hernandez's case. His lawyer has said that he is mentally challenged, severely mentally ill and unable to discern whether he committed the crime or not. Hernandez told police in a taped statement that he lured Patz into a basement as the boy was on his way to a bus stop in Lower Manhattan. He said he killed the boy and threw his body away in a plastic bag. Neither the child nor his remains have ever been recovered. But Hernandez has been repeatedly diagnosed with schizophrenia and has an "IQ in the borderline-to-mild mental retardation range," his attorney Harvey Fishbein has said. Police interrogated Hernandez for 7½ hours before he confessed. "I think anyone who sees these confessions will understand that when the police were finished, Mr. Hernandez believed he had killed Etan Patz. But that doesn't mean he actually did, and that's the whole point of this case," Fishbein has said. But in November, a New York judge ruled that Hernandez's confession and his waiving of his Miranda rights were legal, making the confession admissible in court. Another man's name has also hung over the Patz case for years -- Jose Antonio Ramos, a convicted child molester acquainted with Etan's babysitter. Etan's parents, Stan and Julia Patz, sued Ramos in 2001. The boy was officially declared dead as part of that lawsuit. A judge found Ramos responsible for the boy's death and ordered him to pay the family $2 million -- money the Patz family has never received. Though Ramos was at the center of investigations for years, he has never been charged. He served a 20-year prison sentence in Pennsylvania for molesting another boy and was set to be released in 2012. He was reportedly immediately rearrested upon exiting jail in 2012 on failure to register as a sex offender. Since their young son's disappearance, the Patzes have worked to keep the case alive and to create awareness of missing children in the United States. In the early 1980s, Etan's photo appeared on milk cartons across the country, and news media focused in on the search for him and other missing children. "It awakened America," said Ernie Allen, president and chief executive officer of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "It was the beginning of a missing children's movement." The actual number of children who were kidnapped and killed did not change -- it's always been a relatively small number -- but awareness of the cases skyrocketed, experts said. But the news industry was expanding to cable television, and sweet images of children appeared along with destroyed parents begging for their safe return. The fear rising across the nation sparked awareness and prompted change from politicians and police. In 1984, Congress passed the Missing Children's Assistance Act, which led to the creation of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Former President Ronald Reagan opened the center in a White House ceremony in 1984. It soon began operating a 24-hour toll-free hot line on which callers could report information about missing boys and girls. Joe Sterling and CNN's Lorenzo Ferrigno contributed to this report.

The young boy's face appeared on milk cartons all across the United States. Patz's case marked a time of heightened awareness of crimes against children. Pedro Hernandez confessed three years ago to the 1979 killing in.

Editor's Note: Ines Dumig was recently announced as a CENTER Grant Recipient. Sahra, a Somali refugee, left her home at 14 years old. Throughout her journey in search of asylum, she managed to overcome dangers and discomforts. But she never gave up, and she continuously reminded herself to keep going. She's the focus of Ines Dumig's photo series "Apart Together." Dumig met Sahra through a photo workshop at Refugio, a shelter in Munich, Germany, for refugees and torture victims. What drew Dumig to Sahra specifically was her strength and her ability to effectively reflect on all of her experiences. "It really impressed me how she deals with everything," Dumig said. "She's strong in her way of connecting with the culture here and also reflecting on what happened, the culture where she comes from." The number of refugees seeking asylum in the European Union increased by 25% last year, with Germany receiving the most applications. One of the reasons Dumig decided to photograph Sahra is because growing up in Germany made Dumig realize that she lived a fortunate lifestyle. Another reason has to do with Dumig's interest in people's emotions and finding one's identity. "I realized so many people want to come to Europe, and I always had the feeling to disappear or to go away," Dumig said. "Seeing how people live in other parts of the world made me realize how privileged I am." "Apart Together" serves not only as a documentation of Sahra, but as a far-reaching story about people from all backgrounds. The title of Dumig's work refers to the fact that although people may be physically apart from one another, the comparable feelings they experience are what link all people together. "Sometimes we feel strong, sometimes we feel lost -- that's kind of universal, I think," Dumig said. "That's why I want to universalize (Sahra's) story as well, not only make it about her." The underlying themes of "Apart Together" include the feelings of isolation and "otherness" and the search for a valuable human dignity. Social media. Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. "Every one of these (refugees) have strong stories, and in the bureaucratic system, they are just a number or a document," Dumig said. "But they are a person, they are people with emotions and lives." Sahra is currently under the status of "suspension of deportation," meaning German immigration officials may grant her discretionary relief from deportation. Dumig describes Sahra as someone living through an unresolved situation. Regardless of the challenges Sahra faces as a refugee in Germany, she is a survivor and the embodiment of resilience, determined to establish a new life for herself. She has learned to speak German fluently, and she has started working in the nation as well. Like an unsolved photographic puzzle, each photo within "Apart Together" provides a piece of insight into Sahra's experiences. There is no certain and clear way in which to arrange the pieces, because they are a representation of the fragmented nature of Sahra's life. Many of Dumig's photos are not of Sahra herself, but instead show her surroundings. This makes "Apart Together" rich in symbolism and challenges viewers to develop their own perceptions. The photos are powerful because of this symbolic nature, as there are infinite interpretations attached to each one. "I think everyone interprets by themselves, by however way they perceive it through their own experience. That's up to the viewer," Dumig said. "It depends on who looks at the pictures. ... Everyone will see something different." "Apart Together" allowed Dumig to share various special moments with Sahra, and they were both able to learn from each other. "It was just something we both got something out of," Dumig said. Ines Dumig is a photographer based in Germany.

Ines Dumig's photo series "Apart Together" follows a Somali refugee living in Germany. The underlying themes include isolation and "otherness" and the search for human dignity.

More than 300 suspects have been arrested in South Africa in connection with deadly attacks on foreigners that have forced thousands to flee, the government said Sunday. "We once again unequivocally condemn the maiming and killing of our brothers and sisters from other parts of the continent," the government said. "No amount of frustration or anger can justify these attacks and looting of shops." Thousands sought refuge in temporary shelters after mobs with machetes attacked immigrants in Durban. The attacks in Durban killed two immigrants and three South Africans, including a 14-year-old boy, authorities said. Heavily armed police have scrambled to stop clashes after local residents accused immigrants from other African nations of taking their jobs. The government praised law enforcement agencies for stopping further bloodshed in Durban. "We believe that their commitment to duty has prevented injuries and even deaths that could have happened if they security forces had not acted," it said. The xenophobic sentiment is certainly not representative of all South Africans. "There has been an outpouring of support from ordinary South Africans who are disgusted with the attacks not only because they are foreign, or African, but because they are fellow human beings," said Gift of the Givers charity, which is helping those seeking refuge. The charity said last week that about 8,500 people had fled to refugee centers or police stations because of the violence. South Africa's government implored citizens to remember the country's history of overcoming challenges with the support of African neighbors. "During the Apartheid many South Africans fled persecution and death at the hands of the Apartheid government," it said in its statement. "Africa opened its doors and became a home away from home for many South Africans." President Jacob Zuma has canceled a trip to Indonesia and visited displaced foreign nationals in Chatsworth to express his support, the government said. The Gift of the Givers charity assured immigrants that it has a facility in Johannesburg to help those who might need shelter there. "We have tents and all essential supplies on standby but pray that sanity prevails and this does not become necessary," it said. In the past, Johannesburg has been the epicenter of anti-immigrant tensions. In 2008, scores were killed in attacks in the poorest areas of Johannesburg. Most of the victims were Zimbabweans who had fled repression and dire economic circumstances. In that attack, police arrested more than 200 people for various crimes including rape, murder, robbery and theft. CNN's Larry Register contributed to this report.

South Africa is battling xenophobic violence after some said foreigners are taking jobs away. A 14-year-old boy is among those killed after a mob with machetes targeted foreigners.

The bored teenager who gunned down a college baseball player in Oklahoma simply because he and his two friends "had nothing to do," is now a convicted murderer. Chancey Allen Luna was found guilty of first-degree murder Friday for his role in the August 2013 drive-by shooting of Christopher Lane, a 23-year-old college student in Duncan, about 80 miles south of Oklahoma City. Luna was 16 at the time of the shooting. Lane, an Australian attending East Central University, was jogging when he was shot in the back by a gun fired by Luna. A jury recommended Friday that Luna spend life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to court records. Because he was under 18 when the crime was committed, he is not eligible for the death penalty. He'll be formally sentenced in June. The vehicle's driver, Michael Jones, pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Jones, who was 17 at the time of the murder, will be eligible for parole starting in 2051, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. Prosecutors dropped first-degree murder charges filed against the third suspect, then only 15, after he agreed to testify against Luna and Jones, according to CNN affiliate KSWO. He will now be tried as a juvenile with accessory to murder after the fact. Duncan police Chief Danny Ford told Australian radio station 3AW that when police arrested the teens, Jones offered a motive that made clear that Lane, a baseball player on scholarship, was chosen at random. "We were bored and didn't have anything to do, so we decided to kill somebody." After the verdict, Luna appeared to be crying as deputies led him out of the courtroom in handcuffs, whimpering "I'm sorry" to a reporter. CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

Chancey Luna convicted of murder for gunning down Oklahoma college student as he jogged. Police: Luna and his friends "were bored" so they decided to kill somebody.

Recently, Robert Kennedy Jr. was in Sacramento, California, to campaign against Senate Bill 227, which makes it harder for parents to opt out of vaccinations. In his remarks at an anti-vaccination movie screening, he decided to compare "vaccine-induced" autism to the Holocaust. He said, "They get the shot, that night they have a fever of a hundred and three, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone," Kennedy said. "This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country." A few days later, he apologized to people who were outraged on behalf of the memory of the Holocaust. To many, it's sacrilege to compare any lesser issue to the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis. In a statement, Kennedy said, "I want to apologize to all whom I offended by my use of the word to describe the autism epidemic. I employed the term during an impromptu speech as I struggled to find an expression to convey the catastrophic tragedy of autism, which has now destroyed the lives of over 20 million children and shattered their families." Robert Kennedy Jr. has apologized for the wrong things. First and foremost, vaccines do not cause autism. The two have nothing to do with each other. Second, he seems to think people with autism are "gone," their lives "destroyed" and their families "shattered." Autism is not a death sentence. People with autism are not missing or destroyed. They are everywhere, trying to live their lives in a society that too often demeans them as subhuman, missing or worthless. Kennedy's rhetoric is a problem, even beyond the fraudulent basis for his claims about vaccines. People who believe autism is an environmental disease try to cure kids with quack treatments like giving them bleach-based enemas. Others, believing autism functions as a death sentence, even kill their children. I am worried about the effect of having such a powerful, high-profile member of our political class endorse this demeaning depiction of life with autism. I reached out to a number of autistic activists for comment. Ari Ne'eman, president of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, wrote, "Robert Kennedy Jr, who has engaged with autism only to spread lies, misinformation and dehumanizing rhetoric, has never meaningfully engaged in efforts to improve the lives of autistic Americans. While his father, uncle and many others in the Kennedy-Shriver family championed the rights of people with disabilities, he has instead cast his lot with those who use pseudo-science to question our humanity." These are harsh words, but try to see the situation through Ne'eman's eyes. Not only is Kennedy perpetuating a discredited theory, but he's also suggesting that it's better to let your children get preventable and sometimes fatal diseases than risk becoming autistic. The usual response to people like Ne'eman is that he is "high functioning," but what of the burden to families who are struggling to care for less able individuals? Henry Frost, an autistic teenager and writer, is devastated by this focus on burden. Last year, he wrote a post to other autistic children: "Know you are not a burden or trouble for being. You are a person who has every right to be. A family that is saying love but saying you are so hard so wrong for not being as they wanted. The family is wrong. Not You." Meanwhile, Amy Sequenzia, an autistic activist and blogger, wrote, "I am very disabled, have most of the usual not autism but co-occurring conditions, seizures almost every day, but am happy, proud and accomplished, with the human supports I have. That's what is missing. Acceptance." As children, Sequenzia and Frost might well have been just the kinds of people labeled as "gone," by Kennedy. Clearly, both are very much present. The solution lies in understanding autism and related conditions as part of human diversity. Michael S. Monje Jr., an autistic writer and editor with Autonomous Press, wrote, "The neurodiversity movement is a direct counter to this kind of attitude. It is a way for autistic people, as well as anyone else who experiences the world differently due to their neurology, to assert that these natural divergences in human development are just that -- natural. The fact that they are largely unsupported by our society as it is currently configured does not make them in any way less natural, less worthy, or less beautiful than other ways of being in the world." I wish Kennedy realized how much his apology demeaned people with intellectual disabilities, even as he defended the sacred status of the Holocaust. There is, though, one story from the Holocaust that he might do well to consider. The first group the Nazis systematically exterminated, in the infamous Action T4, were people with intellectual and other kinds of disabilities. Thousands of children, adolescents and adults were sent to gas chambers, laying the groundwork for the later, larger scale acts of genocide. Underlying Action T4 was the belief that people with disabilities were devoid of value. We fight those beliefs by celebrating neurodiversity, not by fearmongering. Kennedy owes a lot of people another apology.

David Perry: Robert Kennedy Jr. compared autism to the Holocaust, wrongly tied it to vaccines. He says it's sad such a prominent Kennedy demeans people with autism.

Five years after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and unleashed the largest marine oil spill in the nation's history, we are still experiencing -- yet only beginning to truly understand -- its profound environmental and economic repercussions. The immediate aftermath of the oil spill has been well documented, with declines in tourism and the seafood industry, as well as the significant destruction of wildlife in the region. Since then, the amount of oil in the area has dissipated and communities have started to show signs of recovery. In fact, reports indicate that the Gulf of Mexico's seafood industry, which supplies the United States with roughly 40% of its seafood, is finally starting to rebound. However, profound challenges remain, in part because so many questions about the long-term consequences remain unanswered. To this day, it's still unclear where all of the oil went, exactly how much remains or whether the reappearance of wildlife is a result of adaptation or a signal that the crisis is truly abating. One of the populations that can provide insight into these questions is the Gulf crab. Crabs play an important role in the region: Roughly 60 million pounds were fished in the Gulf in 2012, earning tens of millions in revenue. Yet in the aftermath of the spill, changes to crustacean communities in the area were quite apparent to the naked eye. Researchers documented substantial differences in appearance, and deformities in crabs that were affected by the spill including lesions so numerous they ate through the joints, forcing limbs to fall off. These traits have affected not only the crabs' market value but also likely their ability to survive. While these changes in outward appearance have dissipated in the short-term, the health of these crabs could still be precarious. I have been working with colleagues at Florida International University and University of Louisiana at Lafayette to better understand what might be happening biologically inside the crab when it is exposed to oil and the dispersant used to respond to the spill. Using the power of genomics and computational biology, we analyzed the genes of flat back mud crabs that were exposed to oil from the Macondo Prospect where the Deepwater Horizon rig was drilling when it exploded or to a combination of oil and dispersant in the lab. By studying gene expression, the process that turns information from a gene into a product that functions within a cell, we searched for indicators that might signal exposure to oil and, based on the types of changes we might see, clues as to how the crabs respond. Although we are still in the early stages of our research, we are seeing significant differences in gene expression connected to exposure -- meaning the crabs are turning some genes on or off in response to oil and dispersant. We are still working to determine whether these changes impact their ability to survive and reproduce. It's not just Gulf crabs that are experiencing changes. Research on different species and other aspects of the regional environment is starting to show that there could be long-term effects resulting from the oil spill and the response to the spill. This not only has consequences for the Gulf area, where oil drilling continues, but also for communities along the Atlantic Coast, where the Obama administration has recently announced a plan to open unprecedented oil and natural gas exploration. (BP's vice president of communications, Geoff Morrell, told CNN that wildlife species in the Gulf have "bounced back and "there is no data that suggests there are any long-term population-level impacts to any species.") With the virtual certainty of more spills, we need a lot more information on the consequences of these disasters and how we can combat them effectively and efficiently. The U.S. Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency are making some progress. In coming months, they are releasing changes to regulations and response plans based on the early lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon spill. But government agencies cannot just rely on the short-term data to determine the best response for the next oil spill crisis. Instead, the government and oil companies should work together to support ongoing, long-term ecological research so that we have a better grasp of what "normal" looks like and what factors are important in maintaining those conditions even after a disastrous oil spill. Only then will we truly understand the impact of offshore drilling and the best ways to respond to crises to protect our most important natural resources.

Keith Crandall: Five years after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, we are only beginning to understand its effects on the Gulf. A crab species may be a key indicator of the impact, he says.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert Finn, who remained on the job for years after becoming the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic official convicted in connection with the church's long-running sex abuse scandal, the Vatican announced Tuesday. Finn, who led the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, was found guilty in 2012 of failure to report suspected child abuse. The case was tried by a judge instead of by jury because prosecutors wanted to protect the young victims' anonymity. Finn was convicted of one count but not a misdemeanor charge he'd also faced. He was put on two years' probation but was not forced to spend time in jail or pay a fine, according to the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Two charges against his diocese were dropped. At the time of his conviction, Finn said, according to CNN affiliate KCTV: "I truly regret and am sorry for the hurt these events have caused." Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said the conviction and penalty, which included starting a $10,000 fund for sexual abuse counseling and mandatory training for church officials on how to report abuse, would have positive ramifications. "We can be assured now that if an allegation of child abuse comes to the attention of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, there will be no hesitation to report it immediately to the proper authorities," Baker said. The case against Finn revolved around his diocese's dealings with Shawn Ratigan, an Independence, Missouri, priest who pleaded guilty in August 2012 to five child pornography charges. Church officials found disturbing images on Ratigan's computer but didn't notify police until nearly five months later, prosecutors said. In those interceding months, the priest kept on working. And Finn kept his job as bishop, even after his 2012 conviction. The official website of the Catholic diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph still listed him as its bishop Tuesday morning. Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who took over the abuse-shaken Boston archdiocese and has become one of the Pope's point men in the United States, has acknowledged the inconsistency that someone who wouldn't be allowed to teach Sunday school was still running an American diocese. "It's a question that the Holy See needs to address urgently," O'Malley said in a "60 Minutes" interview in November. "There's a recognition of that ... from Pope Francis." Candida Moss -- a professor at Notre Dame, a Catholic university in Indiana -- said it "doesn't look very urgent" that a decision came down only now, nearly three years after the conviction and five months after O'Malley's comments. Several factors may have played a role in the delay, including views from lawyers or power players at the Vatican, who may be reluctant to cast blame at high-level officials who don't report allegations quickly enough to government authorities. But the timing of the announcement may make sense given that it comes weeks after Francis came under fire for the installation of a new bishop in Chile, Juan Barros, despite protesters' claims he was complicit in sexual abuse cases there. "It kind of shook Francis' reputation," said Moss. "Having this resignation and putting right one of the more visible injustices on this, especially in the U.S., I think this is a typical Francis way to reinstall confidence." Now that the case has been addressed, the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese has a new leader: Kansas Archbishop Joseph Naumann. Under the Pope's directive, Naumann will be the Kansas City diocese's apostolic administrator, in addition to his regular responsibilities in Kansas, until a permanent bishop is appointed, according to an announcement on the diocese's website. "I pray that the coming weeks and months will be a time of grace and healing for the Diocese," Naumann said in an open letter to parishioners. "All of us, who are privileged to serve in leadership for the Church, do so for only a season. It is not our Church, but Christ's Church." Moss, the Notre Dame professor, predicted that the shuffling at the western Missouri diocese will be "very well received," though some may question why it took so long. "It's not just that it's late," Moss said, "but it's that Francis could have been more explicit." To that point, the co-director of BishopAccountability.org asked for more elaboration than the Vatican's one-line announcement that Francis accepted the resignation "in accordance with ... Canon Law." Anne Doyle, from the watchdog group that documents the Catholic church's abuse crisis, called Finn's removal "a good step but just the beginning." "The pope must show that this decision represents a meaningful shift in papal practice -- that it signals a new era in bishop accountability," Doyle said. "... What no pope has done to date is publicly confirm that he removed a culpable bishop because of his failure to make children's safety his first priority. We urge Pope Francis to issue such a statement immediately." CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report.

Expert: Decision "doesn't look very urgent," but it appears "well-timed" for Pope Francis. Robert Finn remained a bishop after a 2012 conviction for failure to report abuse. Leader of watchdog group calls the Pope's decision "a good step but just the beginning"

Washington. New York. Philadelphia. Havana? The Vatican says Pope Francis may add another leg to his trip to the United States this September, visiting Cuba just months after he helped negotiate a diplomatic thaw between the two nations. The possibility, which would add a dimension of international intrigue to an already highly anticipated trip, was first reported Thursday by The Wall Street Journal. In response to reporters' questions, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said in a statement, "The Holy Father has taken into consideration the idea of making a stop in Cuba" on his way to or from the United States this September. "However, contacts with the Cuban authorities are still in too early a phase for it to be possible to regard this as a firm decision or an operative plan," Lombardi continued. Francis, the first pontiff to hail from Latin America, played a key role in the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, earning praise from both President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro. The Pope made personal pleas to Obama and Cuban leaders in private letters, writing that the two nations should try to reset their relations after decades of friction. The Vatican also hosted talks between U.S. and Cuban delegations in October, where they hashed out aspects of a new trade policy and discussed the release of jailed American contractor Alan Gross, who was freed as part of the detente between the two countries. "I want to thank His Holiness, Pope Francis, whose moral example shows us the importance of pursuing the world as it should be, rather than simply settling for the world as it is," Obama said in December as he announced the U.S. policy shift. Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has displayed a deep interest in international affairs. He repeatedly urged Western leaders not to bomb Syria, hosted a prayer service between Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the Vatican and waded into diplomatic controversy on Sunday by referring to the killing of 1.5 million Armenians a century ago as a "genocide," a move that deeply upset Turkish leaders, who recalled their Vatican ambassador. The Pope is expected to continue his international activism this July with a trip to South America, where he will visit Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. Just a few months later, in late September, Francis will visit Washington, where he will address Congress; New York, where he will address the U.N. General Assembly; and Philadelphia, where he will celebrate a public Mass that's expected to draw more than 1 million people. In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on Friday, Archbishop Charles Chaput, the Pope's host in Philadelphia, said he'd hadn't heard about the potential for a papal visit to Cuba until he turned on the morning news. Two previous Popes have visited the Caribbean nation: St. John Paul II in 1998 and former Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.

Pope Francis played key role in re-establishing diplomatic ties between Cuba and U.S. "Contacts with the Cuban authorities are still in too early a phase," Vatican spokesman says.

It seems iPads hold their value pretty well, especially if they have papal connections. One that Pope Francis once owned just sold for $30,500, according to Castells, an auction house in Uruguay. The Apple tablet had all the personal touches. "His Holiness Francisco" and "Vatican Internet Service, March 2013" were engraved on the back in Spanish and Italian. It also came with a keyboard and a certificate signed by the Pope's personal secretary. The proceeds will go to a school in Montevideo, Uruguay. It's not the first time a papal hand-me-down has gone for big bucks. Last year, the Pope donated a Harley-Davidson that he was given to charity. The motorcycle sold for $284,000 at auction, more than 10 times its normal sales price. A Harley motorcycle jacket signed by Francis sold for nearly $68,000. CNN's Marilia Brocchetto contributed to this report.

The iPad was engraved with "His Holiness Francisco" and "Vatican Internet Service, March 2013" A Harley-Davidson the Pope donated to charity sold for $284,000 last year.

The parents of the youngest victim of the Boston Marathon bombings are making an emotional, passionate plea to take the death penalty off the table for the man convicted in the case. Last week, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was found guilty on all 30 charges he faced related to the bombings at the 2013 race and the dramatic violence that dragged out for days afterward. A look at all of the charges. The sentencing phase begins Tuesday, a day after this year's edition of the landmark race. It is expected to last four weeks. The 13th Juror: Now it gets real. In a front-page opinion piece in The Boston Globe, Bill and Denise Richard wrote about the toll taken on their family after the death of their 8-year-old son, Martin. Their daughter, Jane, also was severely injured. "Our family has grieved, buried our young son, battled injuries, and endured numerous surgeries -- all while trying to rebuild lives that will never be the same," they said in the Globe column titled "To end the anguish, drop the death penalty." "We sat in the courtroom, day after day, bearing witness to overwhelming evidence that included graphic video and photographs, replicated bombs, and even the clothes our son wore his last day alive." They said they understood the "heinousness and brutality of the crimes committed." "We were there. We lived it. The defendant murdered our 8-year-old son, maimed our 7-year-old daughter, and stole part of our soul." But now the Richards are urging the Justice Department to bring the case to a close. "We are in favor of and would support the Department of Justice in taking the death penalty off the table in exchange for the defendant spending the rest of his life in prison without any possibility of release and waiving all of his rights to appeal," they wrote. They go on to say: "We know that the government has its reasons for seeking the death penalty, but the continued pursuit of that punishment could bring years of appeals and prolong reliving the most painful day of our lives. We hope our two remaining children do not have to grow up with the lingering, painful reminder of what the defendant took from them, which years of appeals would undoubtedly bring." Martin Richard and two others were killed and more 200 people wounded when a pair of bombs went off within 12 seconds of each other at the finish line on April 15, 2013. Tsarnaev was convicted last week, while his brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a shootout with police two years ago. The Richards never mention Tsarnaev by name. They stress that they were only speaking for themselves when they argue against the death penalty. "We believe that now is the time to turn the page, end the anguish, and look toward a better future -- for us, for Boston, and for the country," they wrote.

Parents of Martin Richard argue against death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The 8-year-old boy was youngest of victims in the Boston Marathon bombings. Sentencing phase for Tsarnaev begins next week.

Too little, too late. That's the mayor's response to an artist's apology and offer to cover the cost of fixing the "Scary Lucy" statue that has put the New York town of Celoron in the spotlight this week. The bronze figure of comedian and area native Lucille Ball has elicited comparisons to a "Walking Dead" zombie and inspired the Facebook campaign "We Love Lucy! Get Rid of this Statue." The sculpture, a gift to the town from its original owners, has been on display since 2009. Artist Dave Poulin has "had plenty of opportunity to step forward, and our last conversation he wanted $8,000 to $10,000," Celoron Mayor Scott Schrecengost said. "And then he stated that if we didn't have the funds and we didn't like the statue, we should take it down and put it in storage." After the story of the statue caught fire online this weekend, Poulin publicly apologized Monday for his "most unsettling sculpture" in a letter to The Hollywood Reporter. "I take full responsibility for 'Scary Lucy,' though by no means was that my intent or did I wish to disparage in any way the memories of the iconic Lucy image," Poulin wrote in the letter (PDF). "From the day of its installation, I have shared my disappointment in the final outcome and have always believed it to be by far my most unsettling sculpture, not befitting of Lucy's beauty or my ability as a sculptor." Poulin said he has been talking to Celoron officials for several years about removing and redoing the sculpture. It seems that cost has been the chief barrier. "It puzzles me when an art work is donated to a community, they accept it, and then get angry and insist you redo the art work at your own expense." Poulin wrote in the letter. But the recent media attention to the sculpture seems to have changed his mind. "I am willing to put my time and money into redoing the Lucy sculpture and feel confident after ten years I can do a much better job," Poulin wrote. No thanks, Schrecengost said. He said the town is looking for a new sculptor to fix the statue. "It would be reworked from the shoulders up -- the entire head, neck and shoulders, not just the face," Schrecengost said in a news release Tuesday. The town has set up a post office box for donations, which can also be made through Kickstarter. But the controversy may not be over. It seems that nearby Jamestown, New York, also has ties to Lucille Ball's early years and might be interested in its own tribute to the comedic legend. Schrecengost's Tuesday statement referred to an anonymous Facebook campaign that he claims is aimed at raising Jamestown's Lucille Ball profile at the expense of the Celoron statue. "The best place for a life size statue of Lucy is right where it is now -- in Lucille Ball Memorial Park in her hometown, in the Village of Celoron, NY," he said. CNN's Emanuella Grinberg contributed to this story.

An artist apologizes for his Lucille Ball statue. In a public letter, the sculptor offers to pay for fixes to the statue. The mayor says he's not interested in having the original artist work on the statue.

"Success Kid" is likely the Internet's most famous baby. You've seen him in dozens of memes, fist clenched in a determined look of persevering despite the odds. Success Kid -- now an 8-year-old named Sammy Griner -- needs a little bit of that mojo to rub off on his family. His dad, Justin, needs a kidney transplant. About a week ago, Laney Griner, Justin's wife and Sammy's mother, created a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $75,000 to help cover the medical expenses that go along with a kidney transplant. The campaign is already a success. By Wednesday it had topped its goal. Griner told The Daily Dot that her husband was diagnosed with kidney disease in 2006 and suffered complete kidney failure three years later. "One can only survive with no natural kidney function ... for so long," Laney Griner said. "His energy and mood are affected; he can no longer work, and he spends 12 hours a week in dialysis clinic. "Having been on dialysis for this long greatly increases his risks of developing further complications. The only way to save his life is to get a transplant. There's no other way around that," she said. The family doesn't know when a kidney might become available. Their GoFundMe page has a link for potential donors. Sammy's Internet fame began in 2007 when his mom posted a picture of him on a beach with a fist full of sand and a satisfied look on his face. Myspace picked it up, so did Reddit. The rest is Internet history. Success just seems to run in some families.

The GoFundMe campaign has already topped its $75,000 goal. Justin Griner, the dad of "Success Kid," needs a kidney transplant.

New York (CNN)Wall Street is more than ready for Hillary Clinton. The former secretary of state confirmed on Sunday what the political world has expected for months -- eight years after her first failed White House bid, Clinton will once again seek the Democratic Party's nomination for president. "I'm hitting the road to earn your vote, because it's your time," Clinton said in a video released Sunday afternoon officially kicking off her campaign. "And I hope you'll join me on this journey." As Clinton sets off onto the campaign trail to reintroduce herself to voters and court donors across the country, Wall Street elites are ready to roll out the red carpet. But while the enthusiastic support from the industry will be a financial boon for Clinton's newly launched campaign, it will also pose a delicate balancing act when it comes to appeasing a vocal wing of her party that is antagonistic toward the banking sector. Clinton, 67, has long enjoyed a close relationship with the financial industry. As a New York senator for almost a decade, she represented Wall Street and courted the industry aggressively during her last presidential campaign. And there is a certain degree of nostalgia within the industry for her husband's two-term presidency, marked by the 1990s bull market and broad financial deregulation, including the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which separated commercial banking from riskier investing activities. Now Clinton's allies in the finance world are eager to galvanize a broad network of potential donors in New York and beyond. Many on Wall Street and in the broader business community view her as a dependable, business-friendly force within a Democratic Party that has grown increasingly populist during President Barack Obama's time in office. Robert Wolf, the former CEO of UBS Americas and a close Obama associate who will back Clinton in 2016, said there's an "incredible amount of enthusiasm" for her campaign to get off the ground. "We know the secretary from the years of being first lady to the senator to the secretary, so we have decades of working relationship with her," Wolf, who now runs a boutique consulting firm headquartered in Manhattan, told CNN. "I don't think it's surprising that the former senator of New York is close to the finance community." Longtime Clinton friend and prominent Democratic fundraiser Alan Patricof, who founded the venture capital firm Greycroft Partners, said Clinton has "an enormous following" both inside and outside of the finance world. "There are a lot of people who perhaps didn't know her as well before who are all set to jump on the bandwagon," Patricof said. As compared with 2008, he added: "There is no diminishment, just the opposite -- an acceleration of interest in her running for the presidency." But the fanfare won't sit well with everyone. The former first lady's perceived coziness with Wall Street is a source of irritation for liberal activists, who hope to push the eventual Democratic nominee to embrace progressive ideals during the 2016 primaries. Clinton, who lost her first presidential campaign to a challenger from the left, seems to recognize that the liberal wing of the party has grown even more vocal and influential since then, especially on economic matters. Her video message on Sunday centered on the theme of upward mobility and an economic recovery that has left some behind. "Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times, but the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top," Clinton said, vowing to be a "champion" of "everyday Americans." That statement tracks closely with her tone in recent public appearances, where the former secretary has been hitting on populist economic themes. She has taken on a range of issues that most appeal to liberals, such as the wealth gap, minimum wage and equal pay, in the months leading up to her announcement. In January, she took to social media to defend the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law, which contains provisions that the industry has tried to roll back. "Attacking financial reform is risky and wrong," she wrote on Twitter. Bill Daley, a longtime Clinton ally and former Obama chief of staff, said Clinton has to reintroduce herself to the party. If she defends policies viewed as having contributed to the financial crisis, Daley said, "that's a problem." He continued: "My guess is she'll have enough policy positions that says she's not in the tank with them." Clinton's early gestures have not satisfied some activists, who point to Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren as their candidate of choice. Several liberal groups have even launched a formal draft campaign to elevate the senator and highlight her progressive views. Former Republican New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg, who served as head of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, said part of Clinton's challenge stems from the fact that "the center of the Democratic Party has moved very much to the left." "Hillary has always been much more rational on these issues and much more mainstream," Gregg said. "I presume she's going to get the nomination, but she may be contested from the left." While Warren has shown no interest in running for president this cycle, other Democrats have been taking aim at big banks as they tour the early presidential states. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, are all testing the waters. They have made economic populism central to their potential campaigns, proposing to crack down on the banking sector, reform the culture on Wall Street and toughen financial regulations. None of these potential candidates will be able to compete with Clinton's extensive fundraising apparatus. But their presence in the race could exert pressure on Clinton to embrace progressive policies. After Clinton's announcement Sunday, a collection of liberal activists declared that the former secretary of state must prove her progressive bona fides. "We look forward to Hillary Clinton and other candidates laying out their platforms and hearing whether they embrace the fights that Sen. Warren has spent her life leading," said Ready for Warren campaign manager Erica Sagrans. "In the coming days, Ready for Warren will be stepping up our efforts to convince Warren to run for president." Now that she is a formally declared candidate, political strategists expect Clinton to be more outspoken, laying out her economic priorities quickly and in her own terms. Democratic strategist Chris Lehane downplayed the notion of Clinton-Warren tension in the Democratic Party, predicting that with Clinton as an announced candidate, "she'll offer a pretty compelling rationale" for her campaign. Lehane, who worked in Bill Clinton's administration, said he envisioned an economic message for Clinton anchored in her biography: "I grew up in the Midwest in a middle class family, I understand the challenges that they face, we need to make sure that America gives people a fair shot." Despite Clinton's embrace of more populist rhetoric, finance and business leaders aren't too concerned that she will back policies that are anathema to them. They expect that she will be able to articulate a broad economic goals aimed at the middle class rather than one that rails against bailouts and financial excess, particularly as the country gets more distance from the last financial crisis. Kathy Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a prominent business coalition, predicted that Clinton would be able to maintain her relationship with Wall Street without alienating the liberal base. The fact that Clinton "is knowledgeable and maintains good, open relationships with the business and financial world does not suggest that she's in anybody's pocket," Wylde said. "She's demonstrated that she's an independent force."

Hillary Clinton developed a close relationship with the financial world as a New York senator. Clinton's allies there are eager to galvanize a broad network of potential donors. Her coziness with Wall Street irritates liberal activists, who are a growing influence in the Democratic Party.

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)On March 20, 2013, a cyberattack brought chaos to several banks and media outlets in South Korea. Then more ominously on December 23 last year, computers at the country's nuclear operator were breached. Again cybercrime was suspected. The source of these attacks? North Korea. And South Korean investigators say they have proof -- the actual malicious codes used in the attacks. They shared this data with CNN. The 2013 attack, known as "Dark Seoul," paralyzed an estimated 48,000 computers at a number of major banks and broadcasters, disrupting network systems and wiping their hard disks clean. "It would try to delete essentially all your files... then restart the system. You would come back up and nothing would be there," Joshua James, a digital forensic expert, told CNN. "If it infected more financial systems, it could have deleted all financial data in Korea. I mean, it is dangerous," the visiting professor at Chuncheon's Hallym University added. Live footage of the breaches showed computer screens at the media companies completely down, while bank customers were unable to make withdrawals, or transfer money online. "Dark Seoul" happened shortly after the North Korean government announced it would end the armistice agreement that brought the three-year Korean War to an end in July 1953 amid growing tensions with its neighbor. The latest high-profile digital incursion, in December, attempted to steal data from South Korea's nuclear operator, including plant blueprints and personnel information. Though investigators said no critical data was stolen, the attack raised serious concerns about the safety and security of the 23 nuclear power plants it runs. The attack itself was described by James as a "spear-fishing" exercise where unsuspecting victims -- retired and current employees of the nuclear operator -- were prompted to open up a disguised document in their email. "As soon as you double click on it, it starts running in the background of your computer where you can't see ... it's also trying to open up your computer -- what we call a back door -- to give access to the infected system by the attacker," he told CNN. The attack, which James said was simpler than "Dark Seoul," came just a few days after Sony Pictures said their systems has been "hacked," another attack the South Korean authorities blamed on North Korea. "From a law enforcement or investigation side, we're trying to actually trace back to who did it," said James. Seoul announced in mid-March that some of the IP addresses used in December incursion could be traced back to Shenyang, China, which can be easily accessed from the North Korean border. Codes used in the attack were said to be similar in pattern to those used by the North Koreans, South Korean authorities said. "The malicious codes used in the attack were same in composition and working methods as "Kimsuky" codes known to be used by North Korea," the prosecutor's office that leads 17 other government agencies and Internet companies in the investigation said in the statement in March. Pyongyang has dismissed the claims it launched these attacks, calling them a "plot and fabrication that can never win over the truth." But many experts say North Korea appears to be investing more in cyberwarfare because it is cheaper than spending on conventional weapons and can cause significant economic damage to its southern rival. Indeed South Korea's Defense Ministry estimates that North Korea is operating a "cyberarmy" of 6,000 workers as it focuses on strengthening its asymmetrical warfare capability. "Hacks are going on all the time, constantly -- though how many actually make the news is a very small amount," said James. "How many are detected in general? I think the average person would have no clue they've been hacked. "Organizations need to invest the same amount that hackers are investing to protect themselves and right now they're not," he added. Many in South Korea believe not enough effort is being put into defending against cyberattacks. A report by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, a government-funded think tank, estimates that "Dark Seoul" caused about $820 million worth of damage. Its report, published in 2014, predicted that by 2020, South Korea could be exposed to hacking attacks causing up to $25 billion in economic damage.

South Korean investigators say they have proof that North Korea is launching cyberattacks. Reports say the North is investing heavily in digital warfare. December attack on banks in South Korea caused about $820 million worth of damage, a report says.

A SkyWest Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Buffalo, New York, on Wednesday after a passenger lost consciousness, officials said. The passenger received medical attention before being released, according to Marissa Snow, spokeswoman for SkyWest. She said the airliner expects to accommodate the 75 passengers on another aircraft to their original destination -- Hartford, Connecticut -- later Wednesday afternoon. The Federal Aviation Administration initially reported a pressurization problem and said it would investigate. Snow said there was no indication of any pressurization issues, and the FAA later issued a statement that did not reference a pressurization problem. SkyWest also said there was no problem with the plane's door, which some media initially reported. Flight 5622 was originally scheduled to fly from Chicago to Hartford. The plane descended 28,000 feet in three minutes. "It would feel like a roller coaster -- when you're coming over the top and you're going down," CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said, describing how such a descent would feel. "You know that these pilots knew they were in a very grave and very serious situation."

FAA backtracks on saying crew reported a pressurization problem. One passenger lost consciousness. The plane descended 28,000 feet in three minutes.

Soon, America will be too fat to fight. Forget about rampant diabetes, heart attacks and joint problems -- the scariest consequence arising out of our losing battle with the bulge is the safety of our country. In about five years, so many young Americans will be grossly overweight that the military will be unable to recruit enough qualified soldiers. That alarming forecast comes from Maj, Gen. Allen Batschelet, who is in charge of U.S. Army Recruiting Command. Obesity, he told me, "is becoming a national security issue." I was so taken aback by Batschelet's statement that I felt the need to press him. Come on! Obesity? A national security crisis? The General didn't blink. "In my view, yes." Of the 195,000 young men and women who signed up to fight for our country, only 72,000 qualified. Some didn't make the cut because they had a criminal background, or a lack of education, or too many tattoos. But a full 10% didn't qualify because they were overweight. Before you accuse me of sensationalizing, it's that 10% figure that worries General Batschelet the most. "The obesity issue is the most troubling because the trend is going in the wrong direction," he said. "We think by 2020 it could be as high as 50%, which mean only 2 in 10 would qualify to join the Army." He paused. "It's a sad testament to who we are as a society right now." The problem is so worrisome for the Army that recruiters have become fitness coaches, like the trainers on the NBC show, "The Biggest Loser." Yes, your tax dollars pay for Army recruiters to play Dolvett Quince or Jillian Michaels to whip could-be recruits into shape with the hope they can diet and exercise their way to become real recruits. If they lose enough weight, they're sent to boot camp. Some make it; many don't. But, General Batschelet told me the Army must try. "We are the premier leader on personal development in the world," he told me. "We want to see you grow and become a leader. That is a great strength in our Army." Except the Army never considered the type of growth it's now contending with. Nowadays "personal development" means working on both character and ... girth. The general, along with so many others in this country, is struggling with why so many Americans, despite all the warnings, continue to eat too much and exercise too little. I have a theory. It ain't pretty. But it's got to be true: We just don't care. "The acceptance of obesity is prevalent," according to Claire Putnam, an obstetrician and gynecologist who believes obesity is a national crisis right now. "When you look around you, 70% of adults are overweight or obese. It's seems normal," she said. Just look at the numbers: More than one-third of U.S. adults are obese. Seventeen percent of all children and adolescents in the U.S. are obese. That's triple the rate from just a generation ago. So, maybe we should face the fact that we've grown comfortable with our girth. It is crystal clear we haven't the foggiest idea of who needs to lose weight and who doesn't. Just the other day, Twitter trolls scolded the singer, Pink, for gaining weight. Pink is not remotely fat. Neither is Selena Gomez, haters. Or Britney Spears, hecklers. If 70% of us are overweight in this country, why are there so many willing to fat-shame people who are not remotely obese? Maybe it's easier to criticize others for carrying extra weight than to admit we have a weight problem ourselves. Because it is abundantly clear we are wallowing in denial. Dr. Putnam points to one of Kaiser Permanante's medical questionnaires. You know, the paperwork patients are asked to fill out before they see the doctor. There is actually a box on the form that allows the patient to "opt out of talking about obesity." Some patients refuse to step on the scale. "You want to be sensitive to that patient," Putnam told me. "You don't want to nag. But, doctors need to step in and say we need to fix this." CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, agrees with Putnam. "Perceptions of weight are a big part of the problem," he said to me. "If a person is overweight -- as difficult as it is -- they ought to be told. You know, this issue reminds me of the issue with concussions. We should call them what they really are: a brain injury, not 'getting your bell rung.' In the same vein, we should tell people who are overweight or obese that, clinically, they're 'overweight' or 'obese' and at risk for just about every chronic disease in the book." In other words, chubby is not the proper way to describe a person who is obese. Just like "fat" is not the proper term for Pink or Selena Gomez. And, yes, semantics matter. According to the CDC, 81% of overweight boys and 71% of overweight girls believe they are just the right weight. We've clearly lost our perspective on what's normal when it comes to a healthy weight. So much so it's becoming a national security problem. So what will it take? The answer cannot be the U.S Army.

In a few years, the military will be unable to recruit enough qualified soldiers because of America's obesity problem. Carol Costello: We have a serious national security issue at hand, but it's within our control if we could own up to it.

The NFL draft begins on April 30, and while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the clock with the No. 1 overall pick, the clock is still ticking for another team -- the New England Patriots -- as they await the results of the "Deflategate" investigation, which has already lasted more than three months. In January, the NFL launched an investigation into the Patriots to determine why 11 of the 12 game balls they provided for the AFC Championship game were underinflated. The league hired attorney Ted Wells -- who also investigated the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal -- to run the investigation. Jeff Pash, the NFL's executive vice president and chief counsel, is assisting Wells in the effort. The league has also retained Renaissance Associates, an investigatory firm with sophisticated forensic expertise, to assist in reviewing electronic and video information. But three months later, it's still not clear when the investigation will be completed and when the findings will be announced. "We have not put a time frame on Ted Wells," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said March 25. "We asked him to be thorough, complete and when he is finished with that -- he'll give that to us and to the public in general." On Monday, CNN reached out to Wells and the NFL for an update on the investigation but has not heard back. On January 18, the Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 to advance to the Super Bowl. They scored 28 of their points in the second half -- after game officials had pumped the balls back up to their regulation pressure -- so it's unlikely that the ball pressure made much difference in the outcome of the game. In February, Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson said at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis that prior to the AFC Championship game, his team notified the league of its concerns about the footballs. "We went into the game, we had some issues, but we are going to do what we can and that's to participate with the league and the investigation and wait until the Wells report comes out," Grigson said February 19. "We really have no other recourse than to wait until that investigation comes out." Each team provides a dozen footballs to the referee for testing two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff. The home team also supplies 12 backup balls, and for outdoor games, the visiting team has the option of bringing another 12 balls. NFL rules state the referee "shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications. A pump is to be furnished by the home club, and the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game." The ball attendant brings the footballs to the field, and ball boys keep them on the sideline. It's been speculated that deflated footballs are easier to grip for the quarterback and receivers. However, there isn't a consensus by players on that view. The day after the AFC Championship game, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady called the accusation of using deflated footballs "ridiculous." A few days later, he told reporters he has always played by the rules. Following a practice on January 24, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said that the Patriots try to do everything right. "At no time was there any intent whatsoever to try to compromise the integrity of the game or to gain an advantage," Belichick said at the time. "Quite the opposite, we feel like we follow the rules of the game to the letter in our preparations, in our procedures." After arriving in Arizona for Super Bowl XLIX, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said he expects the NFL to apologize if the investigation does not uncover any wrongdoing. "Many jump to conclusions and made strong accusations against our coach, quarterback, and staff questioning the integrity of all involved," Kraft said then. "If the Wells investigation is not able to definitely determine that our organization tampered with the air pressure in the footballs, I would expect and hope the league would apologize to our entire team and in particular coach Belichick and Tom Brady for what they have had to endure this past week." In terms of punishment, the Patriots could be fined and/or docked a draft pick. After Spygate in 2007 -- where the Patriots illegally videotaped the New York Jets defensive coaches' signals -- the league took away a Patriots first-round draft pick, fined the team $250,000 and fined Belichick $500,000. However, it's not expected that the punishment would be that serious for Deflategate. In March, two other teams were punished by the NFL for different rules violations. Cleveland Browns General Manager Ryan Farmer admitted to using his phone to text the Browns staffers during games during the 2014 season. It's against the rules to use certain electronic devices during games. Farmer will be suspended without pay for the first four regular-season games of the 2015 season, and the Browns were fined $250,000. During the suspension, Farmer cannot be involved in any team matters and is prohibited from being at the Browns' offices, practice facility or at Browns games. According to the league, there was no evidence in the NFL's review that Browns ownership or any other team executives had knowledge of the prohibited conduct. The Atlanta Falcons acknowledged the use of prerecorded crowd noise, which is also a violation of NFL rules, during home games in the 2013 and into the 2014 season. The rule states that "at no point during the game can artificial crowd noise or amplified crowd noise be played in the stadium." The Falcons were fined $350,000 and lose their fifth-round draft pick in the 2016 NFL draft. The league's investigation found that the Falcons' former director of event marketing was directly responsible, but that senior executives, including team president Rich McKay, were unaware of the use of the piped-in crowd noise. Still, McKay was suspended from the NFL Competition Committee starting April 1. Starting June 30, he can petition Goodell for reinstatement to the committee. As to what happens to the Patriots, and when, it's still anyone's guess. But Goodell has previously stated that a violation of rules will be taken seriously. "Whenever there is a charge potentially of the violations of our rules, we take it very seriously and that's our obligation," Goodell said in March. "That's our obligation to the other 31 clubs. Ted Wells will be going through the report. If there is anything that we as a league did incorrectly we will know about it in that report." What the heck is Deflategate?

NFL investigating why game balls provided by New England Patriots for championship game were underinflated. It's not clear when investigation by attorney Ted Wells will be complete. Patriots say they follow the rules and expect to be vindicated and get an apology.

Sao Paulo, Brazil (CNN)Brazilian police have arrested the treasurer of the ruling Workers' Party, bringing the bribery investigation at the state-run oil company Petrobras a step closer to President Dilma Rousseff. Federal police arrested Joao Vaccari Neto at his home in Sao Paulo on Wednesday morning. Vaccari faces charges of corruption and money laundering as part of the broader probe into corruption at Petrobras. Former executives who have turned state's evidence claim that construction companies paid large sums under the table to Petrobras officials and politicians in order to secure lucrative contracts with the oil giant. Vaccari has denied any wrongdoing and recently told a congressional commission that all donations to his party were legal and were reviewed by electoral authorities. Vaccari is the closest political figure to Rousseff so far implicated in the investigation. Rousseff herself has not been implicated, although she was the chairwoman of Petrobras when much of the alleged corruption took place. Rousseff has insisted she supports the probe and has not in any way interfered with the investigation. Sources quoted in Brazilian media have said investigators are looking at whether some of the bribes went toward Rousseff's election campaigns. Anger over what has ballooned into a multi-million dollar corruption scandal has eroded Rousseff's approval rating and prompted hundreds of thousands of Brazilians to take to the streets in protest. On Sunday, about half a million people participated in demonstrations across the country. But turnout was smaller than a month earlier, when roughly one million people marched in protest, raising questions about how long the demonstrations can last.

A top official with President Dilma Rousseff's ruling party is arrested in bribery probe. Joao Vaccari Neto denies wrongdoing, says all donations were legal. Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians have protested against Rousseff in the last few months.

The United States is urging China to release five young feminists who face years in prison over their campaign for gender equality. Authorities detained the women in three cities -- Beijing, Guangzhou and Hangzhou -- a few days ahead of events planned for International Women's Day on March 8. "Each and every one of us has the right to speak out against sexual harassment and the many other injustices that millions of women and girls suffer around the world," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement Friday. "We strongly support the efforts of these activists to make progress on these challenging issues, and we believe that Chinese authorities should also support them, not silence them." The detention of Wei Tingting, along with Wu Rongrong, Li Tingting, Wang Man and Zheng Churan has drawn harsh criticism from the international community. Protesters in several cities have called for their release and taken to social media with the phrase "free the five" as a hashtag. Wang Qiushi, the lawyer for Wei, said police recommended Monday that prosecutors press charges of "assembling a crowd to disturb public order." Prosecutors have seven days -- until Monday -- to decide whether to pursue the charges, according to the lawyer. "We can do nothing but wait," Wang said. The five were initially held on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." Wang said he didn't know why the charge against the women changed. "Neither should constitute a crime," he said. Campaign group Amnesty International said the new charge was less serious but still carried a maximum prison term of five years. "The women were doing nothing wrong, nothing illegal. They were simply calling for an end to sexual harassment," said William Nee, China researcher at Amnesty International. Wang said that Wei was subjected to lengthy cross examinations during her detention. Two of the women are said to be in poor health. He added that the charges relate both to the activities the women planned for International Women's Day and earlier campaigns against domestic violence. The five are members of China's Women's Rights Action Group. They had planned to hand out stickers with slogans saying "stop sexual harassment, let us stay safe" and "go police, go arrest those who committed sexual harassment!" on International Women's Day. This week, Kerry's predecessor, Hillary Clinton, tweeted that the activists' detention was "inexcusable." Chinese authorities rebuked her comment, saying public figures should respect the nation's sovereignty and independence. CNN's Katie Hunt and Shen Lu contributed to this report.

The international community is calling for the release of the five women. Chinese authorities detained them last month over their campaign for gender equality.

Georgia Southern University was in mourning Thursday after five nursing students were killed the day before in a multivehicle wreck near Savannah. Caitlyn Baggett, Morgan Bass, Emily Clark, Abbie Deloach and Catherine (McKay) Pittman -- all juniors -- were killed in the Wednesday morning crash as they were traveling to a hospital in Savannah, according to the school website. Fellow nursing students Brittney McDaniel and Megan Richards were injured as was another person, who was not identified by the Georgia State Patrol. The young women were on their way to finish their first set of clinical rotations. "Today should have been a day of celebration for this bright group of students," at St. Joseph's/Candler hospital said in a Facebook posting. "It was their last day of clinical rotations ... in their first year of nursing school." Clinicals include hands-on instruction at a health care facility. A post commander for the Georgia State Patrol said a tractor-trailer smashed into an eastbound line of cars that had slowed for a prior accident on Interstate 16. "He came along from behind them and he just did not stop for those cars," Sgt. Chris Nease said. There were four passenger vehicles and three tractor-trailers involved in the 5:45 a.m. accident. The women who were killed were in two cars, a Toyota Corolla and a Ford Escape. One of their vehicles caught on fire, Nease said, but it will take an investigation to determine whether the women died on impact. CNN Savannah affiliate WTOC reported one witness tried to help. "Right about the time I got here, the car was just about catching on fire," Cayne Monroe told the station. "The car just burned up really quickly. And I run up there, but there was nothing anyone could do. I've never witnessed something like that in my life. It was pretty tragic." The state patrol said the truck driver is from Louisiana. The 55-year-old man had not been charged as of Thursday evening, Nease told CNN. "Every one of our students contributes in no small measure to the Eagle Nation," university President Brooks A. Keel said in a statement. "The loss of any student, especially in a tragic way, is particularly painful. Losing five students is almost incomprehensible." Georgia Southern flew flags at half-staff and counseling was offered to students. A campuswide vigil was held Thursday night. On the university's Twitter page, a tear was added to the profile logo of the eagle mascot. The school has a student body of about 20,000 and is in Statesboro, about 60 miles from Savannah. "You could tell that they really loved what they did," Sherry Danello, vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer at St. Joseph's/Candler, said on the hospital's Facebook posting. "They didn't just go through the task, they really connected to the patients." Luke Bryan, a country music star and school alumnus, tweeted his condolences: "Praying for everyone at Georgia Southern and the families who lost loved ones." CNN's Matthew Stucker contributed to this report.

Georgia State Patrol provides more details of crash. Georgia Southern University mourns five nursing students killed in auto accident. Five cars and two tractor-trailers were involved in crash on Interstate 16.

A sweat-smothered man in a wide-brimmed hat, knee-high leather boots and a khaki uniform machetes his way through lush jungle foliage. As thick tangles of vine fall beneath his blade, he pushes into a clearing, then suddenly staggers back. The fanged mouth of a primordial stone beast gapes toward him. Before him rise the crumbled ruins of an enormous portal of rock, black with age but with a colossal grandeur not yet lost -- a fine example of what archaeologists call a "zoomorphic portal" or, more popularly, a "monster mouth gate." What was once the gateway to an ancient Mayan city, built circa 700 AD and mysteriously abandoned four centuries later, stands before him. He has found the lost city of Lagunita. Now that the planet has been mapped, circumnavigated, measured and tagged in every way imaginable, the age of explorers discovering new worlds seems a quaint memory. But there are still adventurers exploring forgotten corners of the globe, and some find astonishing things. One such explorer, part Indiana Jones, part Magellan, is Slovenian archaeologist Ivan Šprajc. The sprightly Šprajc wears the weathered face of a man who has spent much of his 60 years beneath a hot sun at excavations, or hacking his way through dense jungle. He has been the first to see ancient pyramids, 30 meters high, that he spotted in aerial photographs from his office among the Baroque Mitteleuropean cobbled streets of Ljubljana, Slovenia, some 10,000 kilometers away. But in terms of the thrill of discovery, it doesn't get any better than his encounter with Lagunita's monster portal. What does it feel like to find a lost city? "It's a victory," says Šprajc, "especially when the efforts are long. On several occasions we've had two, three weeks of just cutting through the bush to get to some location, without knowing what we would find. When we get to the site it feels like a big victory, like we've done it. If it had been easy, then other people would have done it already." Since 1996, he and his team have discovered more than 80 ancient Mayan cities in the jungles of Mexico, few of which the modern world had known before. But how can an entire city, which once may have been home to tens of thousands, simply vanish? Šprajc explains that the region in which he has found such riches had gone unexplored because it's so inaccessible: "It's so hard to get there. It's a biosphere, a protected natural area that has never been densely populated since the collapse of the Classical Mayans, for the past thousand years or so." When a primal jungle is allowed to grow rampant for centuries, it can indeed swallow entire cities. But just why so many settlements were simply abandoned, long before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, remains a mystery to which these long lost sites may provide an answer. "Ninety-nine percent of settlements in the central and southern lowlands of the Yucatan peninsula were abandoned in a matter of 200 years. By 1000 AD, practically everything was abandoned. That was the situation when the Spaniards came. But not so in the northern section of the peninsula and the Guatemala highlands, where there was no rupture until the arrival of the Spaniards." So what happened in that enormous area that led to this mass evacuation? "Nobody knows the exact sequence of events, but it was definitely a combination of droughts, climate change, (and) overpopulation, but other things must have come as consequences: devastating raids and wars among the Mayan states, which resembled the constantly battling ancient Greek city-states. "In this Late Classical period, wars intensified with devastating consequences, for if one city-state was destroyed or overcome, it had a ripple effect on trade networks. It was a sort of globalized Mayan world." To learn more would require extensive, time-consuming surveys of each site, which is a different sort of fieldwork than Šprajc likes to practice. His team will map what appears to be the core of a settlement, but there simply isn't time or manpower to map it all, so hundreds of structures are left for others to survey and excavate. The adrenaline of the treasure hunt is what drives Šprajc, the "Eureka" moment when he finds the buried treasure. He is not in the least proprietary about what he discovers, preferring to let other research teams dive in to the sites he has found to slowly excavate, catalogue and analyze what he finds. "[This extensive mapping] is not our job. We are taking the first step into an unknown area." Šprajc is a throwback to the great 19th century explorers -- a dying breed as the world becomes smaller and science bleaches out its mysteries. But in the heat of the jungle, science can only get you so far. Intrepid spirit, calloused palms, sweat, blood and patience are more important than gadgetry. As Šprajc likes to say, "We can survive without computers, but not without machetes." Noah Charney is a professor of art history and best-selling author. He teaches a Guardian Masterclass called "How to write about art."

Slovenian archaeologist Ivan Šprajc discovers ancient Mayan cities in the jungles of Mexico. His discoveries could help explain why so many Mayan cities were abandoned before the arrival of the Spaniards.

We want our killers to be kind. To walk into court and show remorse, tell us that they are really nice people who only did it because they feared for their lives, or they were temporarily insane. Even though those things may not be true, too often they are accepted as legitimate excuses for murder. Well, Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriots tight end and now convicted murderer, made none of those excuses. He walked into court with an air of bravado, his head held high like the $40 million, NFL superstar he was just a couple of years ago. Several times he was even caught winking at his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, during the trial. And we didn't like his swagger. Hernandez didn't offer a plausible alibi. He didn't look ashamed or remorseful. He never wept. His own attorney, James Sultan, admitted that Hernandez "witnessed" the killing of Odin Lloyd, "committed by somebody he knew," but said his client did not commit the crime. Even before the guilty verdict came down Wednesday, for many -- at least those covering the trial -- audacity seemed to be the defendant's biggest crime. "The Arrogance of Aaron Hernandez," a New Yorker headline accused. I don't get it. What does it matter that Hernandez was arrogant in court, or walked with too much swagger, or even smiled at his girl? Like it or not, that is who he is. The evidence is what matters. And for once, this time it appears the jury carefully considered the damning mountain of circumstantial evidence against this defendant and came to the right decision: guilty of first-degree murder in the 2013 slaying of Odin Lloyd. Hernandez, 25, was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. He was also found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition. It was the right decision. Still, it's hard not to feel sadness over such a senseless waste of life for both Lloyd and now Hernandez, who were once friends. Football was the best thing Hernandez ever had, especially after he father died suddenly after a routine hernia surgery in 2006. Hernandez was 16. After that his life got complicated. At 17, Hernandez went off to the University of Florida and seemed headed for greatness. There he won the John Mackey Award as the nation's best tight end and led the team in receiving during its 2009 Bowl Championship Series win. But off the field, his life was to beginning to unravel. Trouble started: bar fights, reports of marijuana use and failed drug tests. He was even questioned in relation to a shooting after a fight at a Gainesville, Florida, nightclub. By the time he was drafted in 2010 by the New England Patriots, Hernandez had already been labeled a "troubled player." But neither the Patriots nor the NFL has anything to be ashamed of in how they handled the Hernandez case. They did everything right this time. Hours after Hernandez was charged with murder, he was let go from the team. And his coaches didn't spend any time trying to convince the public that their star tight end was a decent, family-loving guy, as the league has done too many times in the past when its players got in trouble. This time justice worked. There's no reason to second-guess what went wrong, to ask "How could a star NFLer be a murderer?" The NFL for the most part does a great job vetting its players, and certainly Hernandez is an anomaly in the league, where despite the ugly headlines, the overwhelming majority of players are upstanding, law-abiding citizens. And Patriots bashers (me included) would be mistaken to try to find fault with the team for drafting Hernandez despite his troubled past. No one really knows what evil lurks in the hearts of others, even those closest to us. Not the mothers whose sons go off and commit schoolyard killing sprees, or wives whose husbands gun down innocent people, and certainly not employers who are mostly concerned about performance on the job. There was no way to predict Hernandez would end up a murderer. He was a guy who had all the talent and opportunity in the world, but he still went wrong. Hernandez himself may have explained it best as he was being taken out of the courtroom:. According to a law enforcement source close to the case, Hernandez told officers escorting him, "'Hey man, I'm going to miss you guys. ... I don't need any luck any more.' He gave you the impression, 'It's kinda like no big deal. ... It is what it is.' "

Roxanne Jones: Jury right to find Hernandez guilty, but the waste of life for player and his victim is tragic. She says NFL, Patriots knew his troubled past, but could not have predicted his actions, and both handled case well.

One of the youngest suspects yet has been arrested on terror-related charges in England. A 14-year-old boy was taken into custody after encouraging an attack on an Australian parade honoring the war dead and urging the beheading of "someone in Australia," Deborah Walsh, deputy head of counter terrorism at the Crown Prosecution Service, said in a statement Thursday. The teenager was taken into custody April 2 after UK's Greater Manchester police examined electronic devices and discovered communications between the teen and a man in Australia, police said in a statement. The teenager, arrested in Blackburn, Lancashire, was not named "because of legal reasons," the statement said. He was charged with two counts of inciting another person to commit an act of terrorism overseas and will appear in Westminster Magistrate's Court on Friday. He was communicating with suspects in Operation Rising, an Australian law enforcement operation that apprehended several men suspected of planning terrorist actions, police in Victoria, Australia, said on the department website. Australia: Charges in foiled 'ISIS-inspired' plot. Those acts of terror were planned for Anzac Day (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps Day) on Friday, the centennial of the Gallipoli Campaign in World War I, police said. "The first allegation is that, between 15 and 26 March 2015, the defendant incited another person to commit an act of terrorism, namely to carry out an attack at an ANZAC parade in Australia with the aim of killing and/or causing serious injury to people," Walsh said. "The second allegation is that on 18 March 2015, the defendant incited another person to behead someone in Australia." Australian law enforcement officers arrested several people last weekend in Operation Rising. Tuesday, Victoria Police and the Australian Federal Police charged Sevdet Ramdan Besim with conspiracy to commit acts done in preparation for, or planning, terrorist acts. Authorities have not named the person with whom the 14-year-old in Britain was communicating. British teens face terror charges after being detained en route to Syria. CNN's Alexander Felton contributed to this report.

The 14-year-old had communicated with terror suspects in Australia, authorities said. Police: The teenager encouraged others to attack a parade and behead someone in Australia.

(The Hollywood Reporter)Geoffrey Lewis, a prolific character actor who appeared opposite frequent collaborator Clint Eastwood as his pal Orville Boggs in "Every Which Way But Loose" and its sequel, has died. He was 79. Lewis, the father of Oscar-nominated actress Juliette Lewis, died Tuesday, family friend Michael Henderson said. No other details were immediately available. Lewis began his long association with Eastwood in "High Plains Drifter" (1973). He also appeared with the actor in "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" (1974), "Bronco Billy" (1980), "Pink Cadillac" (1989) and "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" (1997). Lewis scored a Golden Globe nomination for playing bartender Earl Tucker on the 1980s CBS sitcom "Flo," the spinoff of "Alice" that starred Polly Holliday, and he had recurring roles on such series as "Falcon Crest" and the syndicated "Land's End." Hollywood Reporter: "Fast 8" nowhere near starting line. Lewis portrayed real-life Prohibition-era gangster Harry Pierpont in "Dillinger" (1973), and his résumé also includes such notable films as "The Great Waldo Pepper" (1975), "The Wind and the Lion" (1975), "Lucky Lady" (1975), "The Return of a Man Called Horse" (1976), "Heaven's Gate" (1980), "Catch Me If You Can" (1989), "The Lawnmower Man" (1992), "The Man Without a Face" (1993), "Maverick" (1994) and "The Devil's Rejects" (2005). Hollywood Reporter: Acclaimed satirist Stan Freberg dies. The actor also stood out as a gravedigger turned vampire in the 1979 Tobe Hooper CBS miniseries "Salem's Lot," an adaptation of the Stephen King novel. Lewis had appeared on such 1970s TV shows as "Then Came Bronson," "Bonanza" and "The Name of the Game" before scoring a minor role as a cowhand in "The Culpepper Cattle Co." (1972). Later, he showed up on such series as "Mod Squad," "The Waltons," "Police Woman," "Mork & Mindy," "Lou Grant," "Gun Shy," "Magnum, P.I." and "The X-Files." Lewis was a co-founder of the spoken-word performance group Celestial Navigations, working with musician and songwriter Geoff Levin. People we've lost in 2015. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved.

Geoffrey Lewis appeared in many movies, TV shows. Actor was frequently collaborator with Clint Eastwood. Actress Juliette Lewis, his daughter, called him "my hero"

Panic. Tears. Fear. All those feelings and more permeated cities, villages and camps around Nepal on Saturday, after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck around midday. Hours later, after a wave of relentless aftershocks, many people still were too scared to go back inside any buildings. Others crowded around rubble, including men and women racing to rescue those trapped. And then there are the hundreds already confirmed dead, not to mention the hundreds more who suffered injuries. Below are some accounts from witnesses in the mountainous Asian nation, in their own words. Fast Facts: Earthquakes. Anderson, an American who was in Nepal for trekking and meditation, was in his hotel room when the quake struck. "I went outside five minutes after the major tremors stopped. I went to a parking lot nearby for one hour or so, then walked down the main road," he said. He took a series of photos on the main road between Thamal and Durbar Squares, that he shared via CNN iReport. Kumar posted a photo of people in his neighborhood sheltering in a makeshift tent after the quake. He sent updates via Twitter about what he was seeing in the Lalitpur District of Kathmandu. "It's getting dark, no power and no water supply in Lalitpur area, but people are helping each other with food and other items. "Almost everyone staying outside home...Hard time for small kids & older people. "People are very worried & are planning to stay out on the street overnight, but they lack sufficient food & water." Joshi is a UNICEF communication officer who was on the ground at the time of the quake. "The shake was like nothing I have experienced in my 57 years. It was strong and it shook for a long time." Old monuments and temples fell, Joshi wrote of his experience. There were fears that other buildings would collapse. "When I went out in the evening, I saw many people preparing to camp out in the main open parade ground in the middle of the street. Relatives were crying in the main government hospital where the dead were being lined up in front of the hospital building. "My family is traumatised. We are 5 generations living under one roof -- from a 100 year old grandmother to my 16 month old granddaughter. Strong aftershocks are keeping most of us up!" "Some of the historical sites are completely devastated. "Most of the people -- a lot of the people -- are walking through the city. They're confused and scared. A lot of people are crying. "They're out with their pets and their families and a lot of locals are volunteering in rescue operations. "In several parts of Kathmandu, a lot of people seem trapped under the rubble. Locals are trying to rescue these people because they can still hear them." Are you in Nepal or have loved ones affected? Please share with us if you are in a safe place. "We are scared and waiting for the tremors to end. We are all sitting outside because there is more news of another quake. "There is no power and families are listening to the FM radio inside their cars. News of multiple building collapses. "I've seen many cracked walls and roads and buildings. "The Dharahara was packed with people a while ago. There are police everywhere trying to move rubble to make space on the roads for ambulances. Everyone is very scared. " "I see many cracked buildings and people are panicked and all running down to the streets. "The main landmark in Kathmandu is a spire, Dharahara, and it has fallen down, it is about 140 feet high in the center city. "Another aftershock is hitting now, it is really strong. "Airplanes are circling now overhead and helicopters are flying and not clear if the airport is open. We hear it is damaged." How are earthquakes measured? "Many historic buildings have collapsed in the city. "In all my years I have never seen such a big earthquake here. "There are sometimes small shaking, sometimes bigger but this is the worst and my home has been cracked and it is a relatively strong house." "Around where I am, people are in open spaces. There have been several aftershocks, I think they're all waiting, hoping they know what to do. "You can see glass walls, portions of buildings and cracks in the building. People are confused. they're staying out in the open." Can wild animals help us predict earthquakes? CNN's Mariano Castillo, Henry Hanks and Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

Massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake has struck Nepal near its capital, Kathmandu. As the death toll rises, witnesses describe devastation and panic.

Fast-food outlet Burger King will sponsor the wedding of an Illinois couple. Not just any couple -- these are the nuptials of Joel Burger and Ashley King. They accepted the restaurant chain's offer to pay for their July affair on Monday. "We are very appreciative of Burger King and can't thank them enough for their generosity!" said King. It all started after their engagement in October. The couple had a little fun with the name coincidence and posed by a Burger King restaurant sign for a photo. They were interviewed by reporter Dave Bakke of the State Journal-Register in Springfield, the state capital. Burger King got wind of the article and was immediately interested in the happy couple, tweeting for help to locate them. They were invited on Skype on Monday to learn of a surprise: Burger King will pay for their whole wedding. "We were shocked (and still are)," said King. The fast food romance was many years in the making. Burger, now 24, and King, 23, met in kindergarten and grew up together in New Berlin. In fifth grade, classmates Joel Burger and Ashley King were asked to stand as student council representatives during an assembly with a motivational speaker. "He said our names to the school," King told CNN, "and then laughed and pronounced that together we were Burger King." The motivational speaker wasn't too far off -- a merger was in the works. The two became friends by high school, then dated in college. When the time came to propose, "Joel took me out on his boat to go fishing, and he popped the question while we were on the water." Burger King's message for the happy couple: "Congratulations, Joel and Ashley on falling in love your way."

Joel Burger and Ashley King have been engaged since October. Their engagement photo with a Burger King sign attracted, and the company offered to pay for their wedding.

Hey, look what I did. That small boast on social media can trigger a whirlwind that spins into real-life grief, as a Texas veterinarian found out after shooting a cat. Dr. Kristen Lindsey allegedly shot an arrow into the back of an orange tabby's head and posted a proud photo this week on Facebook of herself smiling, as she dangled its limp body by the arrow's shaft. Lindsey added a comment, CNN affiliate KBTX reported. "My first bow kill, lol. The only good feral tomcat is one with an arrow through it's head! Vet of the year award ... Gladly accepted." Callers rang the phones hot at Washington County's Animal Clinic, where Lindsey worked, to vent their outrage. Web traffic crashed its website. High price of public shaming on the Internet. Then an animal rescuer said that Lindsey's prey was probably not a feral cat but the pet of an elderly couple, who called him "Tiger." He had gone missing on Wednesday, the same day that Lindsey posted the photo of the slain cat. CNN has not been able to confirm the claim. As the firestorm grew, Lindsey wrote in the comments underneath her post: "no I did not lose my job. Lol. Psshh. Like someone would get rid of me. I'm awesome!" That prediction was wrong. The clinic fired Lindsey, covered her name on its marquee with duct tape, and publicly distanced itself from her actions. "Our goal now is to go on and try to fix our black eye and hope that people are reasonable and understand that those actions don't anyway portray what we're for here at Washington Animal Clinic," said Dr. Bruce Buenger. "We put our heart and soul into this place." The clinic told WBTX that Lindsey was not available for comment. CNN is reaching out to her. She removed her controversial post then eventually shut down her Facebook page. Callers also complained to the Brenham Police Department and Washington County Animal Control, as her Facebook post went viral. The sheriff's office in Austin County, where the cat was apparently shot, is investigating, and Lindsey could face charges. Its dispatchers were overloaded with calls, the sheriff posted on Facebook. "We are asking you to please take it easy on our dispatchers. As soon as the investigation is complete, we will post the relevant information here on this page," the post read. Animal rights activists are pushing for charges. "Animal cruelty must be taken seriously, and the guilty parties should be punished to the fullest extent of the law," said cat advocacy activist Becky Robinson. Her organization, Alley Cat Allies, is offering a $7,500 reward for evidence leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who shot the cat. But others stood up for Lindsey. "She's amazing. She's caring," said customer Shannon Stoddard. "She's a good vet, so maybe her bad choice of posting something on Facebook was not good. But I don't think she should be judged for it." She dropped off balloons at the animal clinic for Lindsey with a thank you note. CNN's Jeremy Grisham contributed to this report.

Dr. Kristen Lindsey has since removed the post of her holding the dead cat by an arrow. Her employer fired her; the sheriff's office is investigating. Activist offers $7,500 reward.

For years, Warren Weinstein's family frantically searched for details about his whereabouts and pushed for his release. His wife said she was still searching for answers Thursday after U.S. officials revealed the 73-year-old American aid worker had been accidentally killed in a U.S. drone strike targeting al Qaeda. "We were so hopeful that those in the U.S. and Pakistani governments with the power to take action and secure his release would have done everything possible to do so, and there are no words to do justice to the disappointment and heartbreak we are going through," Elaine Weinstein said in a statement. "We do not yet fully understand all of the facts surrounding Warren's death, but we do understand that the U.S. government will be conducting an independent investigation of the circumstances." Gunmen abducted Weinstein in 2011 from his home in Lahore, Parkistan. They posed as neighbors, offered food and then pistol-whipped the American aid worker and tied up his guards, his family said. Just a few months after Weinstein's capture, al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri released a recording claiming the terror group was holding Weinstein -- and demanding, among other things, that the United States end airstrikes in Pakistan. U.S. officials called for his release but repeatedly said Washington wouldn't bargain with al Qaeda. Weinstein -- a husband, father and grandfather from Rockville, Maryland -- was 73 years old when he was killed, according to a family website detailing information about his case. He worked in Pakistan as a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development from 2004 to 2011, the website says. His employer, Virginia-based consulting firm J.E. Austin Associates Inc., described him as a world-renowned development expert. "Warren spent his entire life working to benefit people across the globe and loved the work that he did to make people's lives better," his wife said Thursday. He loved the Pakistani people and their culture, she said, learning to speak Urdu and doing "everything he could to show his utmost and profound respect for the region." As he announced Weinstein's death Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama praised what he said was Weinstein's lifelong dedication to service, first as a Peace Corps volunteer and later as a USAID contractor. Weinstein, Obama said, was someone who "willingly left the comforts of home to help the people of Pakistan," focusing his work on helping families escape poverty to give their children a better life. "This was a man who basically dedicated his life to service, to people in general, but especially to people in a country where the standard of living was low and difficult. ... It's tragic that he was killed the way he was," former U.S. Ambassador Dan Simpson said. Simpson met Weinstein in 1968 when they were both working in Burundi -- Simpson as a diplomat and Weinstein as a scholar researching several books. Weinstein "was a very kind person," Simpson said, "and someone who was very sensitive to the needs of the people who he worked with." Another hostage was also killed in the January operation, Italian aid worker Giovanni Lo Porto. U.S. officials knew they were targeting an al Qaeda compound in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region in the January counterterrorism operation, Obama said, but they didn't know that the hostages were also there. Both Lo Porto and Weinstein were people who "believed passionately" that they could make a difference, Obama said. "There could be no starker contrast between these two selfless men and their al Qaeda captors," Obama said Thursday. "Warren's work benefited people across faiths. Meanwhile, al Qaeda boasted to the world that it held Warren citing his Jewish faith." Weinstein's health had been deteriorating, Obama said. Last year daughter Alisa Weinstein told CNN her father suffered from a heart condition and severe asthma. But it was still an optimistic time for the family. That month captors released U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, and that buoyed hopes from Weinstein's family that he could also be freed. "They have shown with this exchange that they can get this done. If they want to, they can do this," Alisa Weinstein said at the time. "So I know that they can do it for us and they can do it for others." But a prisoner swap never happened for Weinstein, even though his family pushed for one. Al Qaeda released a video of Weinstein on Christmas 2013. He appeared gaunt and said he was suffering. "Needless to say, I've been suffering deep anxiety every part of every day, not knowing what is happening to my family and not knowing how they are and because I am not with them," Weinstein said in the video. At the time, a former colleague and friend said his appearance in the video was jarring. "Quite honestly, I didn't recognize him in the picture," Laurie Wiseberg told CNN. "He has changed so dramatically from the person he used to be in terms of appearance and I would hope something could be done so he has a chance to be reunited with his family, his wife, his children and grandchildren, and not have to die in a foreign country far away from those he loves." At the time, The Washington Post also reported that it had received a letter from Weinstein. The letter, which was also posted on the website of the SITE Intelligence group, described his background doing human rights work. The letter said that before becoming a consultant in 2003, Weinstein had worked as a college professor at the State University of New York - Oswego, as a Peace Corps country director in Togo and Ivory Coast and for USAID and the World Bank. "I hope that the media can mount a campaign to get the American government to actively pursue my release and to make sure that I am not forgotten and just become another statistic," the letter said. "Given my age and my health I don't have time on my side." Weinstein's wife's statement on Thursday thanked some but also blasted the governments of the United States and Pakistan for not doing more to help her husband. While Maryland members of Congress -- Rep. John Delaney, Sen. Barbara Mikulski and Sen. Ben Cardin -- and members of the FBI were "relentless" in efforts to free her husband, she said others in the U.S. government were "inconsistent and disappointing over the course of 3½ years." "We hope that my husband's death and the others who have faced similar tragedies in recent months will finally prompt the U.S. government to take its responsibilities seriously and establish a coordinated and consistent approach to supporting hostages and their families," she said. Pakistani government and military officials also should have done more, she said. "Warren's safe return should have been a priority for them based on his contributions to their country, but they failed to take action earlier in his captivity when opportunity presented itself, instead treating Warren's captivity as more of an annoyance than a priority," she said. "I hope the nature of our future relationship with Pakistan is reflective of how they prioritize situations such as these." But ultimately, she said her husband's captors are the ones responsible for his death. "I can assure you that he would still be alive and well if they had allowed him to return home after his time abroad working to help the people of Pakistan," she said. "The cowardly actions of those who took Warren captive and ultimately to the place and time of his death are not in keeping with Islam and they will have to face their God to answer for their actions." Opinion: Could Weinstein have been saved? CNN's Elise Labott, Jim Sciutto and Pamela Brown contributed to this report.

Warren Weinstein's wife says the family is still searching for answers. Officials say Weinstein and another al Qaeda hostage were accidentally killed in a U.S. drone strike. Gunmen abducted the USAID contractor from his home in Pakistan in 2011.

Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN)More than 4,600 people dead. More than 9,000 injured. Eight million affected across Nepal. One million children urgently in need of help. Those are the startling numbers that indicate the scale of the devastation from the huge earthquake that struck the Himalayan nation on Saturday. And some of the grim figures are likely to get even worse as hopes of rescuing any more survivors diminish every hour. Heartbreaking scenes of suffering and loss are playing out across this shell-shocked nation as it reels from its deadliest natural disaster in more than 80 years. As the country coped with the fallout of the quake, another natural disaster struck Tuesday afternoon in a popular trekking area north of Kathmandu, and up to 200 people were feared missing as a result of a landslide, a trekking association official said. It happened around 4 p.m. in Langtang National Park, said Ramesh Dhamala, president of the Trekking Agents of Nepal. Laxmi Dhakal, spokesman for Nepal's Home Ministry, said he was aware of reports about the landslide but wasn't immediately able to confirm details. Quake relief efforts continued Tuesday, but officials warned that they were hampered by problems of getting aid into the country and then delivering it to some of the remote communities in desperate need. In Kathmandu, a capital city of shattered temples and toppled houses, some people paid their last respects to loved ones taken by the quake. By the Bagmati River, which winds through the city, more than a dozen funeral pyres burned Monday. As workers stoked the flames for the Hindu cremation ceremonies, some mourners shaved their heads in a traditional show of mourning from children who lose their parents. Alongside their father, two teenage brothers from the Gurung family, Ishan and Iman, said goodbye to their mother, Ishara. "We never imagined this would happen to us. This much pain," said Ishan, the elder of the two. Elsewhere in the city, many shaken residents are sleeping in the open. Some have lost their homes, others are afraid to stay in buildings that may be vulnerable to aftershocks. Large encampments of tents have sprung up in open areas, including a wide space belonging to the military in the center of the city that is typically used for parades. One of the grand gates to the field is now just a pile of rubble. Kisnor Raj Giri, a 22-year-old man from Kathmandu who lost members of his extended family in the quake, said he was too scared to return home. He is camping out at the military grounds with thousands of others even though frequent rain has made the nights an ordeal. "Many people are crying, sharing their hardships," he told CNN on Monday evening. The elements showed no mercy to the homeless masses on Tuesday as thunderstorms rumbled over Kathmandu. More bad weather is forecast for the region in the coming days. But in one piece of good news, Turkish and Chinese rescue crews helped pull free a 21-year-old man trapped under rubble near a city bus park in a 13-hour rescue operation. Houses and families ripped apart by earthquake. The death toll has now climbed above 4,600 in Nepal, officials said Tuesday evening, as rescue and relief efforts continue. Nepal army Lt. Col. A. J. Thapa told CNN's Sumnima Udas that the first 72 hours after the earthquake is the time when the most lives can be saved. "This is not the time to rest and lament," he said. "This is the time to go out and save lives." Thapa said an entire military post was lost during an avalanche. "Remember we are not an outside force that has been parachuted into an area to help," he said. "We are victim ourselves. ... Despite the fact that soldiers have their families and houses are down, we are trying to build morale, maintain morale and help themselves." Thapa said it was fortunate that the quake struck during daylight on a weekend. "Children were not trapped in big schools somewhere and lot of people were outside because it was daytime," he said. Dhakal, the Home Ministry spokesman, put the death toll at 4,620, while Nepal's National Emergency Coordination Center said the number of dead was 4,727. Both sources gave the number of people injured as 9,239. Another 72 people died in India, while China reported 25 deaths. Most of the casualty numbers in Nepal are believed to have come mainly from Kathmandu and the surrounding area. They are expected to climb as information emerges from remote areas. "We have incomplete information, but we apprehend the death toll will go up," Nepalese Information Minister Minendra Rijal told CNN earlier on Tuesday. "We cannot say by how much exactly." The news agency Reuters cited Prime Minister Sushil Koirala as saying that the toll could reach 10,000 and that the country was "on a war footing" in its rescue and relief work. In a live, televised address to the nation, the Prime Minister said the country had been stunned by the disaster and announced three days of national mourning, starting Tuesday. The government's first priority is to continue search and rescue operations and relief efforts, he said, as he thanked all those involved. Historic and religious monuments destroyed by the earthquake will be reconstructed in time, he added. At least 90% of 96,000 Nepali army troops have been deployed in relief and rescue operations, according to Nepal army spokesman Jagadish Chandra Pokharel. More than 15 countries and agencies have already promised help, Koirala said, as he appealed for other nations also to come to Nepal's aid. Even as international aid pours into the country, overwhelmed hospitals are lacking vital medical supplies, people remain buried in the wreckage of buildings and rescuers are struggling to reach hard-hit rural areas near the quake's epicenter. "The biggest problem is reaching these villages," Matt Darvas, an emergency communications officer for the humanitarian group World Vision, told CNN from Gorkha district, northwest of Kathmandu. Nepal struggles to cope with international aid. Nepali Home Ministry Joint Secretary Sagar Mani Parajuli, who is coordinating relief efforts, said government efforts to get aid to remote areas had been hampered by rugged terrain and poor weather, which limits the use of helicopters. "The helicopters are small. They don't fly in windy and cloudy conditions. Given Nepal's geographical terrain, we cannot use surface transport much but are using it," he said. "We need 150,000 tents and tarpaulins, but we don't have enough of them." Jamie McGoldrick, the U.N. resident coordinator for Nepal, told a news conference Tuesday that bringing in relief materials has been difficult because Kathmandu's international airport, which has just one runway and space for only a limited number of aircraft to park, is log jammed. The United Nations is aware of the request for tents, he said, but is working to procure high quality ones to withstand the expected monsoon rains. Of the 8 million people affected by the quake across 39 districts of Nepal, some 1.4 million need food aid, McGoldrick added. Nepal's population is about 31 million. At an event in Paris, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his condolences to the people of Nepal and called the humanitarian needs "huge and urgent." "The United Nations is supporting international operations for search and rescue and strengthening relief efforts," he said. "I count on the generosity of the international community in Nepal's hour of need and the longer term rebuilding efforts that will be needed." A CNN team that joined a Nepalese military helicopter flight to Dhulikhel, a rural area east of Kathmandu, saw extensive damage in the Kathmandu Valley from the air, including many landslides. On landing, the team went to a hospital where all the injured from six surrounding districts are being brought. More than 1,000 people are currently in the hospital -- three times its usual capacity -- so some of the injured are being left out in the streets. Social media posts from Nepal. Darvas of World Vision said he had been told of frightening levels of damage in villages in the region surrounding Gorkha district, which is near the earthquake's epicenter. They included one where 35 out of 45 homes were destroyed and another where 70% of the houses had collapsed, trapping and crushing the people inside, most of them children and the elderly. Even though aid groups and Nepalese officials are aware of critical situations in areas spread across Nepal's mountainous terrain, they face daunting challenges getting help to them. "Some of those villages -- several years ago, before there was vehicle transport -- used to take seven days to reach. Roads are shut now to some of those villages, so we can only imagine how long it will take to get there," Darvas said Monday. He said injured people who had been airlifted from some remote areas were often suffering from crush injuries, lacerations and dislocations. Looking for missing loved ones in Nepal? CNN iReport wants to help. UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency, said Sunday that nearly 1 million Nepalese children urgently need assistance. Aid groups and at least 16 nations rushed aid and workers to Nepal, with more on the way. High-altitude rescue efforts have also been undertaken on the difficult terrain of Mount Everest, where the earthquake released deadly avalanches. Four U.S. citizens are among those who died on Everest, according to officials and relatives. Damage to climbing infrastructure on the mountain, not to mention the overall situation in Nepal, means the climbing season is over for the year, climber Jim Davidson told CNN from the Everest base camp, where he was evacuated after spending two days on the mountain. China has canceled all climbs on its side of the mountain, the official news agency Xinhua reported. Are you in Nepal or do you have loved ones affected? Please share with us if you are in a safe place. How to help the earthquake victims. Fast facts on earthquakes. CNN's Ivan Watson and Tim Hume reported from Kathmandu; CNN's Jethro Mullen wrote and reported from Hong Kong, and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London. CNN's Elizabeth Joseph, Pamela Boykoff, Manesh Shrestha, Sumnima Udas, Kristie Lu Stout, Anjali Tsui, Kunal Sehgal and Ingrid Formanek also contributed to this report.

Death toll in Nepal climbs above 4,600, officials say, with more than 9,000 injured. Shattered villages near epicenter are hard to reach, says aid worker in the area. More bad weather is forecast for the region in the coming days.

Thousands remain missing in Nepal after a devastating earthquake struck the region on Saturday. A majority of them are Nepalese, Indian and Chinese residents, but a handful are adventurers, trekkers and vacationers who have not been heard from since the catastrophe. Technology has played a huge role in helping families share their worries, ask for help and search for their missing loved ones. Several organizations, such as Google and the Red Cross, have published features about the missing on their websites. And on CNN iReport, dozens of people have filed reports pleading for information that might help them locate their missing friends and relatives. The death toll in Nepal is rising; it has now surpassed more than 5,000. Though the news is mostly heartbreaking and worrisome, there have been stories of survival, of families reconnecting with loved ones days after the disaster. The walk of survival. After hearing about devastation in Nepal, Ahmed Shadmann of Bangladesh reached out to his nation's embassy in Nepal, made calls to old college contacts in South Asia and posted pleas on social media to help find his younger sister Raisaa Tashnova. Tashnova, 25, was with a group of friends at The Last Resort, a spa-like resort near the border with China. When the earthquake struck, she was getting ready for a group excursion, a canyon swing. She could see the ground splitting apart beneath her feet. What scared her most was seeing large boulders crashing down from the mountains above. She prayed she wouldn't be crushed. She ran from the toppling boulders and shielded herself. When the tremors subsided, Tashnova and her friends huddled together and camped on higher ground overnight, expecting to be rescued. When three days passed and no one came to their aid, the group decided to take their chances and leave the confines of the resort. The walk toward Kathmandu was treacherous. The roads near the resort were mostly blocked or in bad shape because of a landslide. But the worst part was the smell of rotting flesh, which permeated the air as she passed countless villages flattened by the quake. "It was a walk of survival," she said. "My brain refused to feel anything apart from putting one leg before the other until the mountains were left behind." Tashnova hiked six hours through mountainous terrain toward Nepal's capital. After navigating down tricky mountain slopes, she and her friends came across a village and hitched a ride on a local bus. She was able to connect with her family, nearly four days after the quake, from the airport in Kathmandu while waiting for the next flight to Bangladesh. She was exhausted. She hadn't showered or slept since before the quake. When Shadmann got the call from his sister, he said it felt fantastic. "What was surprising is that her voice sounded very strong. It didn't seem like she had gone through a terrible episode in her life," he said. There was little information. Dr. Carol Pineda and her husband, Michael MacDonald, of Massachusetts, were vacationing in Nepal when the quake struck. Her brother, James Pineda, got news of the disaster from a friend. It wasn't until he heard the high casualty figures and reports about the avalanches that he started to get scared. He was prepared for the worst, knowing they were traveling to a Himalayan base camp in Nepal. But that was basically all he knew. James combed through what little information his sister left for him before the trip, but it didn't include the name of the tour group or the hotel where they were staying. He took to social media and started emailing and calling hiking groups that operated in Nepal, but no one was getting back to him. On Sunday, he managed to get inside his sister's apartment in Boston and find documents with information on the trekking company the pair were using. It wasn't until that evening, after emailing the company, that he got a short reply saying that his sister and her husband were safe. But that was all the information he had, and he wanted to hear directly from his sister, so he took to Twitter to see what other people were doing to track down loved ones. Several strangers who were in the same location as the couple responded to his inquiries on social media, saying they were fine. "It was incredible to see people that were stranded themselves over there wanting to help me. At least now we knew they were safe," he said. On Monday, the couple left a voicemail for MacDonald's parents saying they were making their way to the Kathmandu in hopes of catching a flight out. Only one phone call left. Janaki Parajuli, a Nepalese tour guide, was busy Saturday morning, leading a tour group of 17 senior citizens -- nine Americans, five Canadians and three Nepalese -- from Kathmandu to Tibet. They had stopped for lunch at Liping village, just near the border, when the magnitude 7.8 quake struck. Once the tremors eased, Parajuli noticed that his cell phone had died. His connection with the outside world had vanished. Worse, he had a group of older travelers and a short supply of food and water. One American in the group had an international cell phone, but its battery was quickly dying. Unable to contact anyone in the area, Parajuli made one last attempt, calling his daughter. Thousands of miles away, in Louisiana, Jyotsna Parajuli picked up that call. Her father explained the situation: The roads were blocked and there was no way to get back to Kathmandu or enter into Tibet. The only way to escape was by helicopter. Jyotsna learned from the U.S. Embassy that a family had hired a private rescue team, working with the Nepalese army, to rescue the stranded tourists by helicopter, but the team was unable to land because of bad weather. Other rescue and relief operations in the region have faced similar weather issues. Crews planning to help those desperately in need are having to wait for storms to subside. Parajuli was told later that 23 people were rescued from the area and left on a bus headed for Kathmandu, but she wasn't sure if her father or his tour group were among them. "All the people in the group are 60 years old or older. My dad said two Americans in the group were sick because of the weather and altitude, and since the people were older, they couldn't walk to help," she said. Now she is anxiously waiting for the weather to clear, and hoping to hear her father's voice again. If you are looking for someone, we invite you to share your story on CNN iReport. See scenes from Nepal after the earthquake. CNN's Sarah Brown and Anne Claire Stapleton contributed to this report.

Thousands remain missing in Nepal after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck. Social media has helped people overseas tracked down their loved ones in Nepal. Technology has helped those stranded after the quake reach out for help.

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)The flag is crude, handmade, but the message is clear -- allegiance to ISIS in Afghanistan. And the timing -- with America withdrawing, the Taliban fractured, young men disillusioned and angry -- could not be worse. A group of fighters in Afghanistan agreed to be filmed by a CNN cameraman parading their ISIS flags in a valley not far to the south of Kabul, the Afghan capital. They are the first images of their kind shot by western media inside Afghanistan. The rise of ISIS is an issue that the Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani, has termed a "terrible threat." U.S. officials CNN has spoken to have voiced their concern about the potential for an ISIS presence. One U.S. military officer said the militants currently have limited capability but are trying to recruit disillusioned Taliban in several areas around the country's east and south. "There has been some very small numbers of recruitment that has happened," Colonel J B Vowell, told CNN. "You have disaffected Taliban who are losing politically and some of the younger, newer fighters are moving to that camp. It doesn't mean it's operationally better. We are concerned about it -- resources, weapons, capabilities. (But) I don't see an operational effect." In the valley, the men display their weapons, and practice high kicks. They are a little breathless at altitude, a little clumsy. They are all masked, all in military-style uniforms. Our cameraman described how locals seemed to keep their distance from them. It is often said that rivalry between the nascent ISIS presence and the Taliban, who remain the big guns in Afghanistan, is fierce enough to mean the ISIS fighters could be killed for brandishing the flag. But it is fatigue with the Taliban that appears to have provided fertile ground for their rise. One of them told CNN: "We established contacts with IS (another acronym for the group) through a friend who is in Helmand (in southern Afghanistan). "He called us, saying: 'the IS people have come to Afghanistan -- let's join them.' Then we joined them and pledged allegiance to them." Our cameraman wasn't allowed to film the satellite phones they say they use to talk to Iraq and Syria. They said they were religious students and deny any former association with the Taliban. They said that at night they go into nearby villages to try and find yet more recruits. They watch a mixture of online propaganda, old and new, on their smartphones. The fighter went on to explain that they were currently talking to the Taliban to determine whether they would work with or rival them. He added they are currently designating a new leader, after the supposed head of ISIS in Afghanistan, Abdul Rauf Khadim, was reportedly killed in a drone strike earlier in the year. For months, the Afghan government played down the threat of a looming ISIS presence in Afghanistan, yet during his recent trip to Washington, Ghani struck a different tone. "We are the front line. The terrorists neither recognize boundaries nor require passports to spread their message of hate and discord. From the west, Daesh is already sending advance guards to southern and western Afghanistan to push our vulnerabilities," he told U.S. Congress in late March, using the pejorative name used to describe the militants by many ISIS opponents in the region. There is some evidence to suggest that ISIS may already be operating in the country. A series of brutal attacks on civilian buses have baffled investigators in the past month. The first was in February, when 30 people from the Hazara ethnic group -- Shia Muslims -- were abducted from a bus near Zabul province in the south of the country. They have yet to return. Another hit three buses traveling in Wardak, central Afghanistan, killing 13 civilians including women and children. Suspicions have fallen on possible nascent ISIS cells as the Taliban have vehemently denied responsibility for the attacks. Khalil Andrabi, the police chief of Wardak told CNN of the bus attack: "I can't hundred percent say that they were IS, but their act was completely similar to what IS is doing in Syria (and) Iraq." Solid info on ISIS' whereabouts in the country is hard to come by. CNN spoke to local officials from five regions -- some emphasized the growing threat of the terror group, while others played it down. Zabul: MP Abdul Qader Qalatwal says: "People have seen foreigners from central Asian countries and Arab countries wearing black clothes and masks and having black flags in the districts of Khak Afghan and in parts of Arghandab." "Those foreigners are rich, even carrying U.S. dollars. They have weapons and vehicles. Some of them have even brought their families." Nangarhar: MP Esmatullah Shinwari says: "According to some reports, black flags have been seen in Nangarhar's Haska Mina district -- and a former Taliban local commander, Abdul Khaleq, is now claiming to be ISIS' representative in that district." Farah: Senator Haji Gul Ahmad Azimi says: "According to the reports I have received from local officials in Farah, a number of foreign fighters -- including women -- have been seen in the district of Khak Safid, wearing mostly black clothes, and some [with] the Arabic headscarf. They have good vehicles and they are rich [enough] to buy food or goods at local shops for twice the normal value." "They are said to live in the mountainous areas of the Khak Safid district in abandoned mud houses, and a month ago were rumored to be training in the area. I cannot 100% confirm they are ISIS, however." Wardak: MP Shir Wali Wardak says: "I don't think ISIS fighters from Syria and Iraq have come here to Afghanistan -- but hardcore Taliban members who have understood that the Taliban name is dying have changed the color of their flags from white to black in order to stay alive. I know that some black flags have been seen in Wardak province, raised by ex-Taliban fighters." Ghazni: Deputy Governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi says: "There are ex-Taliban fighters operating under the name of ISIS in Ghazni province at the moment who have changed their flag from white to black. There have been armed clashes between newly-converted ISIS (members) and Taliban fighters ... who should be in control of certain places." CNN's Masoud Popalzai contributed to this report.

A group of fighters in Afghanistan is filmed by a CNN cameraman parading ISIS flags. U.S. official: ISIS militants have "no military capability" at present, but are trying to recruit disillusioned Taliban in several areas. Rivalry between ISIS and the Taliban in Afghanistan is fierce enough to mean the ISIS fighters could be killed for brandishing the flag.

It's a hard-knock life, Jay Z, especially on Twitter. The uber private rapper/entrepreneur broke out of his usually reserved social media shell over the weekend to defend the performance of his new music streaming service, Tidal. Using the hashtag #TidalFacts, he attempted to refute talk that the company has been doing a less than stellar job in taking on competitor Spotify. He launched the subscription-based music service last month with a star-studded news conference in which artists such as Madonna, Kanye West, Daft Punk and Jay Z's wife, Beyonce, came together in support of what singer Alicia Keys told the crowd was "The first ever artist-owned global music and entertainment platform." CNN Money: Jay Z's TIDAL music service to be owned by artists. But less than a month after its debut, there's been chatter that the service is underwhelming, and Jay Z's "stream of consciousness" tweets denying that were met with some derision. And, of course, a Tidal Facts parody Twitter account was quickly created to offer some "facts" of its own.

The rapper/entrepreneur went "stream of consciousness" on Twitter. He asked users to be patient with Tidal, his new music streaming service. A parody account was set up to mock his hashtag.

I will always remember when things turned. I was 12 years old, and my younger sister and I were with our parents attending a peaceful demonstration in downtown Miami near the courthouse. We were there to protest the acquittal of four police officers in the beating death of unarmed motorcyclist Arthur McDuffie. I had learned the word "acquittal" just that day. It meant they wouldn't be held responsible. Community leaders were gathered at the front, speaking to a crowd that was in shock and full of anger and despair. The trial had been covered extensively, and nobody could believe that the fatal beating -- with the extent of the physical wounds to McDuffie's head and body -- could be justified or excused. I started to hear rumblings coming from around the perimeter of the immediate crowd. There was shouting and cursing. Bottle throwing. Then a car was turned over and set on fire. That was Miami 35 years ago, but it could just as easily have been Baltimore this week. The Miami riots of 1980 were the first major "race riots" since the wave of riots spread across the nation in the 1960s. Harlem 1964: Police shooting of 15-year-old James Powell. Watts 1965: Arrest of 21-year-old Marquette Frye for drunken driving. Newark 1967: Police beating of John Smith while under arrest. Detroit 1967: Police raid on a "blind pig" after-hours bar. Then the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and Baltimore and 125 other cities erupted in flames. The immediate catalysts for the waves of riots in the 1960s before the death of Dr. King were police action, or, more specifically, perceived unjust police action. That was true in Miami in 1980 after the acquittal of the police officers. And the same in Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of police officers for the beating of motorist Rodney King. Wednesday marks the 23rd anniversary of the start of the Los Angeles riots. And now we have Baltimore 2015, with the death of suspect Freddie Gray in police custody. My parents were leaders and participants in the nonviolent civil rights movement, and they raised me to understand that youths were the key to the movement. It was the images of young people all over the country -- often facing physical danger, discipline from their parents and suspension from school -- that propelled the civil rights movement into the national spotlight. Juxtapose decades-old images of youths being hosed down by police during nonviolent demonstrations in Birmingham and Selma with Tuesday's images of Baltimore youths throwing rocks at police, and you wonder what has happened. As a 12-year-old girl in Miami, I didn't understand how people could injure and even kill others and destroy their neighborhoods, and risk going to jail, by rioting. I was afraid because I didn't see my father for days as he and other community leaders walked the streets to try to restore calm. I was also afraid that such senseless violence could only derail the legitimate causes of the African-American community, causes historically advanced by nonviolent civil disobedience and through legislative channels. But two months ago, I agreed to moderate a panel at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights called "Riot -- The Voice of the Unheard?" The occasion was to mark the Atlanta premiere of "Detroit '67," a play written by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Kamilah Forbes that chronicled the journey of a family as they lived through the turmoil of the Detroit '67 riot, including the joy and love they found with one another. The play and the panel were programmed by Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company, a nonprofit devoted to presenting artistic interpretations with diverse voices so that individuals and institutions can have a shared platform in their quest for understanding in American society. Inspired by the mission, I had recently joined the board. Although pegged to the past, the purpose of the panel was to examine how current events relating to police actions against African-American men could potentially lead to rioting and what could be done to prevent it. I learned that some questioned whether riots are actually purposeless and uncontrolled violence, or whether they are purposeful uprisings against individuals and institutions. I learned that those who participate in riots often feel hopeless and dehumanized, both as the victims of police action against them that triggered the riots and as perpetrators of violence during riots. I learned that riots in the 1960s played a role in advancing the civil rights agenda, often by galvanizing local and national government officials to work with peaceful community, church and civil rights leaders to address the root causes of riots. This is a controversial part of our civil rights history that has been sanitized. At the conclusion of the 1967 Detroit riot, President Lyndon Johnson condemned the violence but said in his address to the nation that: "This is not a time for angry reaction. It is a time for action, starting with legislative action to improve the life in our cities. The strength and promise of the law are the surest remedies for tragedy in the street. ..." His administration convened the Kerner Commission to examine the 1965-68 riots, and its findings were that racism had led to joblessness, poverty, a lack of political power, unfair housing, police brutality and inferior schools. After the beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles, the Christopher Commission was established and concluded that racial profiling and excessive force, unjust treatment in the criminal justice system, poor housing, and the lack of jobs and education were triggers for the riots. After all of these riots, the affected city, state and national governments enacted plans and programs to address some of these underlying conditions. Maybe the Baltimore youths involved in the riots felt the way one youth did in Watts in 1965. As recounted in "The Great Rebellion" by Kenneth Stahl, Dr. King went to Watts to try to calm tensions, and a hostile youth said to him: "We won." King challenged him: "How have you won? Homes are destroyed, blacks are dead in the streets, stores you shop from for food and clothes are destroyed." The young man replied, "We won because we made the whole world pay attention ... the police chief and mayor had never been here. We made them come." Dr. King would say near the end of his life: "It is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard." When I learned that Baltimore high school students planned a purge based on the movie "The Purge," in which people were legally absolved for their anarchistic crimes, it suddenly made sense. They thought they wouldn't be held responsible for their crimes. They thought they would be absolved -- a word not much different from the word "acquitted" I learned the day of the Miami riots. But they got it wrong. They will forever live the repercussions of their actions, regardless of the impetus. But the Rev. Jamal Bryant got it right when he said he would open his Empowerment Temple AME Church in Baltimore to youths who would not be in school so he could teach them the power of nonviolence to change society. That power was evident after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the decision not to indict the officer who killed him. Those protests were mostly peaceful. And the government responded -- not out of fear of violence, but because of a desire to change the conditions that led to the protests. After several months of investigation, the far-reaching Justice Department report on Ferguson issued in March concluded that the use of policing to raise revenue, combined with a systemic racial bias, had led to a pattern and practice of discrimination and Fourth, 14th, Sixth and First Amendment rights violations against African-Americans in Ferguson. The report made recommendations that the Ferguson Police Department, as well as other departments across the country, should enact to improve police relations in communities of color. The riots in Baltimore have rightfully been quashed, but the voices of nonviolent protesters continue to be heard.

Johnita Due: The anger and frustration I saw in 1980 Miami is repeated in 2015 Baltimore. She says teaching the power of nonviolent protest is essential.

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, was once known as the murder capital of the world. Back in 2010, at the height of cartel violence, the city averaged 8.5 killings per day. But five years later, local officials say the city is much safer, and plans are underway to lure foreign tourists and investors back to Juarez. This month the city launched the tourism campaign "Juarez is Waiting for You." The rebranding effort started quietly a year ago, and on April 10, it was on full display. Mayor Enrique Serrano officially kicked off the campaign, giving what he called an "unprecedented" high-profile tour to regional leaders from the United States and Mexico. U.S. Rep. Robert "Beto" O'Rourke of Texas was one of those on a leg of the Juarez tour. His congressional district includes El Paso, Texas, which sits directly across the Rio Grande. O'Rourke says there's good reason for locals to be hopeful. "As a region, El Paso and Juarez represent 20% of all U.S-Mexico trade. The binational ties are strong and have remained strong," O'Rourke says. "Yes, we had a really difficult time for a ... period. Juarez was at one time the deadliest city in the world." O'Rourke speaks of a time between 2009 and 2012 when men, women and children were killed indiscriminately. Many were helplessly caught in the cartel violence. Others were victims of the drug turf war. It wasn't that long ago, O'Rourke says, that he thought twice about crossing the bridge into Juarez. "(Now) I travel to Juarez regularly to have lunch or meet people or just to go. I always feel safe and secure." A spokesman for the Chihuahua state attorney general's office told CNN that at one point, there were days when Juarez had more than 20 killings. "That was normal," spokesman Julio Castaneda told CNN. "It's safer now." The numbers from the attorney general's office seem to bear that out. More than 3,000 people were killed in the city just four years ago, but so far this year there have been 89 killings, according to Castaneda -- a dramatic decrease in the violence. "Undoubtedly, the work we did here in the past year with the police institutions, and specifically the local police, helped. There was a coordinated effort between agencies," Castaneda said. "Without a doubt this work played a part in breaking apart the gangs that were plaguing the city." The government cleaned up corruption within the local police force, and fired or arrested a lot of bad cops who were helping the cartels. Another factor that may have helped: The turf war between the Juarez and Sinaloa cartels essentially ended, with the Sinaloa cartel claiming victory in the battle for the trafficking route in Juarez. O'Rourke argues that the El Paso-Juarez border is "safer than it's ever been." He cites the "30 million lawful crosses from El Paso into Juarez" last year as a symbolic step. Yet there are those who don't want to celebrate too soon. "For Juarez to be considered a safe city, there's a long way to go," says Sergio Meza, executive director for Plan Estrategico de Juarez, an independent organization that works to improve the city's quality of life. "Just this past year (in 2014) there were 424 homicides. In 2007, there were 272. Yes, we're not as bad. But we're still very sick," Meza told CNN from his office in Juarez. "In reality, we're progressing from the conditions that were generated by the insecurity. We're still working out the corruption in the city. It's still an issue here." With more than 40% of Juarez living below the poverty line, according to Plan Estrategico de Juarez, the future of the city will depend on "the people's participation in public matters." In fact, the organization's slogan is "Nothing is fixed alone. Participate." "We are looking at a compromised future," Meza said. "We don't talk about that. We don't have the money to generate work here." One bright spot: U.S. investment is making a comeback. American companies Delphi, Honeywell, Flextronics and Lear are among those that ramped up hiring and investment in Juarez over the last year. That hiring would have been hard to imagine four years ago. But with the average salary at $20 per week for local workers in the maquiladores, or factories, along the U.S.-Mexico border in Juarez, Meza says more needs to be done. The scars from the recent past remain. Several buildings downtown are shuttered and marred by graffiti. Americans who, before the violence, came to Juarez for bargain shopping have not returned in the numbers seen before the spike in violence. But in a sign of progress, the U.S. State Department amended its travel warning for the city. While it still urges visitors to exercise appropriate caution, it's no longer telling people not to come. Longtime residents of Juarez and neighboring El Paso may be reluctant to say the wounds of the violent past have altogether healed. In the last year, however, they have definitely noticed that "life is back." "I measure it by the everyday coming and going of people," Gustavo Reveles, 39, told CNN. "For someone who grew up on the border and for someone who spent half of his life crossing the border on a weekly basis, it's encouraging to be crossing back to Juarez without that sort of hesitation or worry that something might happen." Reveles lived in Juarez until he was 15 and now lives in El Paso. He says the threat of violence is "still a little bit concerning," though that hasn't stopped him in recent weeks from going to Juarez to meet friends for dinner and drinks. "Things have changed," he said. "To go through what Juarez went through, you see life there again. You see a semblance of what was there before. To really recover and heal wounds, there's a long way to go, but the process has started and that's a step in the right direction." CNNMoney's Octavio Blanco contributed to this report.

Cartel violence helped make Juarez the murder capital of the world five years ago. But the murder rate in the city has declined rapidly since 2010. Now city leaders are working to bring visitors and foreign investment back to Juarez.

The night before her daughter's first triathlon, Kate Parker could tell the child was nervous. Ella and her younger sister, Alice, are athletic, loud, curious, wild-haired kids. They grew up watching their mother compete in races and Ella had asked to sign up for her own. Still, as they laid out everything she'd need the next day, Parker, a photographer, could tell she was afraid. "Why don't we get a picture?" Parker asked Ella, now 9. "Show me your strongest face, show me your bravest face, even if you don't feel that way right now." As she pulled the image up on her screen, she got chills from her daughter's direct stare. She looked, Parker said, like "a little badass." "You're going to be totally fine," Parker showed her. "Look at how tough you are." The next day, Ella participated in her race, and loved it. Looking back, "I wanted her to remember that she was scared and she went through with it, sort of as a memento of her conquering a fear, " said Parker, who lives near Atlanta. "As a mom, I really wanted to get a good picture of it, too." The photo is one of Parker's favorites from her series, "Strong is the New Pretty." It covers the last two years, but evolved from Parker's early days behind a camera, when she shot daily images of her girls to expand her knowledge of lighting and composition. It seemed that most images of little girls showcased perfectly placed hair bows, forced smiles and Photoshop-smooth skin. Hers didn't. "I didn't want to shoot pictures like that. I didn't want girls to think they had to look like that," said Parker, whose daughters are now 6 and 9. "Whoever they were, however they were, was worthy of an image. Whatever they were was good enough." So, she shot her girls and their friends as they were -- freckled, muddy, screaming, laughing, jumping in the pool, collecting worms in the creek, barreling into the wilderness of early adolescence on skateboards and bicycles. "I want to capture them before they lose that sense of 'I'm so awesome.' I wanted them to keep that as long as they could," Parker said. "I started to shoot with that in mind, but it was already there." The girls pose for an occasional portrait, but most are kid-inspired moments, shaped by childish wonderment and energy. As parents, Parker and her husband encourage their girls to play outside, make new friends and try new things without worrying about grass-stained knees and knots in their hair, Parker said. Now, the girls have the confidence and curiosity to do it on their own. "They're just being themselves, and I'm just recording it," Parker said. Responses to the images are mostly positive, Parker said, but there's the occasional complaint that she's showing just one type of girl. It's true, Parker said: They're the ones she's raising, the only ones whose adventures she can document 24/7. She hopes the project inspires parents to find their own creative ways to capture their children's lives. More important, she wants kids to see they can be strong in whatever they are and whatever they hope to be. Parker's own kids still surprise her. "Alice is a beautiful singer. When I hear her sing, it makes me cry," Parker said. "Ella has this amazing, kind heart that cares more about the experience than the win. It's something that I did not teach her. "Whatever it is, it's OK."

Kate Parker is the photographer and mother behind "Strong is the New Pretty" The photo series shows her messy, wild daughters as they are, Parker said.

Roseanne Barr revealed earlier this week that she is going blind. In an interview with The Daily Beast, the 62-year-old comic talked about her struggle with macular degeneration and glaucoma — two eye diseases that get progressively worse over time and can steal vision. Barr's doctors haven't provided a timeline, but her symptoms are worsening: "My vision is closing in now," she said. "I just try and enjoy vision as much as possible. Y'know, living it up." Related: 9 worst eye care mistakes you're making. Macular degeneration is a breakdown of the part of the retina that allows us to see fine details in the center of vision; while glaucoma damages the nerve that connects the retina to the brain, and is often caused by fluid build-up and pressure in the eyes. (Barr said in the interview that she helps relieve the pressure by using marijuana, which is known to temporarily lower pressure inside the eye.) "It's somewhat unusual that Roseanne Bar has both, but not unheard of," explains ophthalmologist Steven A. Shanbom, MD, of Shanbom Eye Specialists in Berkley, Mich. Though there are some controllable risk factors, certain people are genetically predisposed to these diseases, so Barr may simply be prone to both. "Certainly it's sad. The combination of the two is terrible. Macular degeneration takes away her central vision, and glaucoma is taking away her peripheral vision," Dr. Shanbom adds. (He is not treating Roseanne Barr, and does not know the specifics of her case.) The risk for both diseases goes up for everyone after age 60, with some people, especially African Americans, at higher risk in their 40s. That's why the American Academy of Opthalmology recommends getting a baseline eye exam when you turn the big 4-0, even if you have perfect vision. In the early stages, you can have either condition, but have no symptoms at all. Things like a family history or high blood pressure, or issues within the eye (like having a thinner cornea, for example) might lead your MD to prescribe drops that can reduce your chances of developing glaucoma by about half. Related: 10 natural ways to lower blood pressure. There is no cure for either disease. But like those eyedrops, there are treatments that may delay the progression of early-stage glaucoma (from other drugs to surgery), and therapies that might halt further vision loss in advanced cases of macular degeneration (including an implantable telescope). The future looks brighter however: An animal study published this month suggests that an injection of stem cells into the eye might slow or even reverse the effects of early-stage macular degeneration. There are also simple things you can start doing right now to ward off these diseases. Here, five ways to protect your peepers. Slip on your shades—even when it's cloudy. Sun exposure can up the risk for glaucoma and macular degeneration, as well as cataracts (clouding of the lenses). Make sure your sunglasses offer 99% to 100% UV protection. Sporting a pair that doesn't filter UV light is more dangerous than wearing no shades at all, because the dark lenses cause your pupils to dilate and allow in more harmful rays. Schedule in a regular walk. Studies indicate that aerobic exercise can reduce the eye pressure that leads to glaucoma, and may improve blood flow to the retina and optic nerve. According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation, all you need to do is raise your pulse 20% to 25% (which could mean a brisk walk) for 20 minutes, a minimum of four times a week. Related: 9 tweaks that make walking workouts more effective. Eat your greens. Spinach, kale, and other leafy greens are packed with lutein and zeaxanthin—antioxidants that lower your risk of developing macular degeneration (and cataracts too), research shows. Another good source: egg yolks. Snack on almonds, citrus, and berries. Almonds are loaded with vitamin E (a handful provides about half your daily dose), which slows macular degeneration; while citrus fruit and berries are filled with vitamin C, which cuts your odds of developing the disease. Avoid cigarette smoke. While smoking is bad news for many parts of your body, you may not have considered eyes to be one of them. However, smoking doubles your risk of macular degeneration. Avoiding cigs can not only protect your lungs and heart, it can protect your peepers too.

Barr has macular degeneration and glaucoma, eye diseases that get progressively worse and can steal vision. The risk for both diseases goes up for everyone after age 60. Sun exposure can up the risk for glaucoma and macular degeneration.

Pushed to his limits, a college professor took the extreme measure of threatening to fail his entire class. In an email to his students, Irwin Horwitz accused them of "backstabbing, game playing, cheating, lying, fighting." The professor at the Texas A&M University Galveston Campus expected his missive would create some conflict, but that it could then be resolved quickly -- and quietly. Those hopes were dashed when one report by local media mushroomed into a tornado of nationwide coverage. The story went viral. Suddenly, his name was spreading on Twitter, Facebook and Reddit, accompanied by the kind of strong, unvarnished opinions that you can make about people you've never met. He was a hero who taught today's entitled youth a much-needed lesson, or an egotistical nightmare of a teacher who threw a fit. One thing was certain: He, and his employer, were now thrust into a spotlight that neither had asked for. "I did what I did without any intention of seeing this in the news or seeing this on the Internet," Horwitz said. "I will stand by what I did, but I'm not career suicidal." Texas A&M says Horwitz remains an employee and that no one has asked him to stop teaching. But Horwitz, a nontenure-track professor in the maritime administration program, is afraid the notoriety will cost him this job and future jobs. Horwitz said his intent was not to be controversial, and the sharply worded email to students was not his first about the class. The day before writing to his students, Horwitz wrote a similar email to the CEO of the Texas A&M Galveston Campus and to the school's chief academic officer. "I have never in my capacity as an academic ever encountered a class as completely disgraceful, dishonest and disrespectful" as his current strategic management class, he wrote to the administrators. He accused the students of shirking responsibility, making excuses and complaining their way to better grades. He would no longer teach the course and would fail the entire class, Horwitz wrote. "The class of graduating seniors is nothing more than a circus that is anything but academic," he wrote. "But they are your problem now." It was the next day that Horwitz wrote to the students, calling the class "an embarrassment in general," and said that "I am frankly and completely disgusted." Once his words echoed in traditional and social media, the narrative -- angry prof flunks entire class -- might as well have been set in stone. The story was such a talker that even The Onion offered a parody. "I'm not looking to fail students," Horwitz said. "I don't get a bonus for failing students." "The letter sounded a little bit more definite than I wanted it to," he added. He never actually changed anyone's grade. There were some students he wasn't going to fail, he said, and some who were on the border who could have pulled themselves out. But Horwitz stands by his tough stance; there was an issue of competency and of professionalism that had to be addressed, he said. The course in question is a capstone course for a maritime administration degree and is supposed to merge what the students learned in their other business courses. "I had a large majority of people taking the capstone course who could not do a break-even analysis," the professor said. "If you cannot do a break-even analysis, then you don't deserve a bachelor's degree in business." His other complaint was about professionalism. Horwitz said students would swear at him, cheat and spread rumors about him online. This is related to their grades, he said, because dealing with people you don't like is a business skill. On online message boards, users claiming to be students in the class accused the professor of exaggerating the situation or fabricating parts of his story. One purported student called Horwitz "a little obnoxious," but said he is a good teacher and fair if you follow his rules. Should the professor have been surprised that his email went viral? The fiery language and strong allegations were likely to be news if the email went public, but maybe there is more to it. The situation hits on a popular argument on the media and Internet: What do we think of millennials? Reflecting on his most recent class, Horwitz said there is some truth to stereotypes of millennials as entitled and pampered. He mentioned the overdependence of students on cell phones and other electronics, and the power those devices have to interrupt concentration. The other factor is a failure of K-12 education, said Horwitz, who has met college students who don't know how to convert fractions to decimals. "What I'm trying to do is to give an honest assessment of their performance," he said. In a statement, Patrick Louchouarn, the vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer at Texas A&M Galveston Campus, said the entire class will not be failed. "Each student will receive an individual grade based upon work completed during the semester," Louchouarn said. "The university is listening to concerns about this issue from students and faculty and will address them according to our policies." The flurry of attention is unwelcome and Horwitz fears it will affect his career in academia. But it's likely his story will have a short shelf life. People probably will forget about it and turn their attention to the next grabby headline. But he said he thinks this episode will follow him everywhere. He said he feels a public shaming of sorts. Online public shaming has become a research topic of its own. People who have been pilloried online for comments they made wonder if they will get a second chance. "This is really destroying my life," Horwitz said.

Irwin Horwitz threatens to fail his entire class. His fiery email goes viral; he now wonders if the unwanted attention will affect his career.

Sunday's announcement that Corinthian Colleges Inc. would shut down all of its remaining 28 campuses is a positive development in a long struggle to hold for-profit colleges accountable. Corinthian, which once enrolled more than 70,000 students, is one of the worst of the "predator colleges" -- schools that offer dubious degrees, saddle students with high amounts of debt and gobble up tens of billions of dollars in federal money every year. Many of these schools are for-profit career colleges that operate mostly online. It's no wonder that Corinthian is doing this after the U.S. Department of Education curtailed its access to federal student aid last summer. There are about 1.3 million students enrolled in for-profit colleges, many of which have questionable track records, and their students need help transitioning into legitimate postsecondary schools. With Uncle Sam's student loan debt sheet topping $1 trillion, we literally can't afford to continue funding for-profit colleges -- which reportedly get 86% of their funding from federal student loan money. For those not familiar with the for-profit college fiasco, here's the whole story in one telling statistic: While for-profit colleges enroll only 13% of the nation's college students, such colleges account for nearly half of all student loan defaults, according to Department of Education statistics. For comparison's sake, the default rate of for-profit college students is worse than the default rate of the worst subprime borrowers during the financial crisis. How do these colleges operate? It's deviously simple: Convince low-income students into borrowing tens of thousands of dollars through easy federal student loans, keep costs low through online classes and part-time professors, and watch the money roll in. The aggressive tactics of these colleges boggle the mind. Recruiters are told to make 100 phone calls and leave 100 messages a day, according to a ProPublica investigation. I can personally attest to the aggressive tactics. My phone number was accidentally placed on a call list for a for-profit college recently, and I received so many calls per day that I had to ask my wireless carrier to block the phone number. Stopping the exploitation of students isn't easy. The for-profit college business is a multibillion-dollar industry. The CEOs of these companies make millions of dollars a year, employ an army of lobbyists and donate money to both political parties. But the past two months brought a new twist to the crisis. Hundreds of graduates of the now-defunct Corinthian joined a "debt strike," publicly declaring their refusal to pay back their loans. In response, Education Department Secretary Arne Duncan signaled a willingness to forgive loans of Corinthian graduates who have crushing debt and no job prospects. Now that Corinthian is finally shutting down, we must finish the job. The remaining for-profit colleges should be closed. Any student not gainfully employed or transferred to a reputable college within three years should be considered a victim, and their debts should be forgiven. Yes, "victim" is the right word. If these degrees actually helped people get jobs, we should be celebrating them. But according to a jaw-dropping report by the Education Department, the average graduate of an online for-profit college makes less than a high school dropout. Not the equivalent of a high school dropout. Less than a high school dropout. The real-life misery caused by predatory colleges is painful to hear about. One Corinthian graduate has $37,000 in debt for his computer science degree, but he can't even get a job at Best Buy, according to Slate. Another graduate, $33,000 in debt, has a medical assisting degree, but she gave up on finding employment in her field. She waits tables now, The Chronicle of Higher Education says. I can already hear your next question. If for-profit colleges are this terrible, are they at least cheaper? No. In fact, their cost is reportedly around 60% higher than a comparable degree from a public college. What's even more frustrating is that we've known about the shenanigans of these predator colleges for years. A 2011 report by the Government Accountability Office found widespread rule breaking by the largest for-profit colleges -- everything from accepting fictitious high-school diplomas to encouraging plagiarism and cheating. In one example, an undercover federal investigator posing as a student was told by a professor, "It's not hard to get a 100% on the second try; just jot down the correct answers and take the quiz again," according to The New York Times. In 2013, Career Education Corp. paid $10 million to settle charges by the state of New York regarding phony job-placement claims. All told, no fewer than 36 state attorneys general were investigating for-profit colleges in 2014. After selling off 95 of its campuses last year, Corinthian said on Sunday that it tried unsuccessfully to sell the remaining 28 campuses, blaming the failure on "federal and state regulators seeking to impose financial penalties and conditions" on potential buyers. You can't hide your bad behavior forever, and the questionable practices of many for-profit colleges are starting to catch up with them. Enrollment at the University of Phoenix -- the largest for-profit college in the United States -- has fallen by half, to about 213,000. We laid the smackdown on predatory lenders during the financial crisis, and it's time to do the same thing with for-profit colleges. To keep predator colleges from wrecking our faith in the college degree -- still the best pathway to a middle-class life -- we need to act now. For-profit colleges have flunked their final exam. Now it's up to their rich benefactor, Uncle Sam, to make sure they don't go back to school in the fall. Editor's Note: An earlier version of this article said the San Diego campus of the University of Phoenix had been banned from enrolling military veterans last year; that issue has been resolved.

David Wheeler: Corinthian, considered a "predator" school, will shut down campuses. Wheeler: Students of for-profit colleges are hapless victims; their debts should be forgiven.

For the fifth year in a row in 2014, ambush attacks on police officers were the No. 1 cause of felonious deaths of law enforcement officers in the line of duty. Nevertheless, Google continues to market a smartphone application that lets lawbreakers pinpoint the location of police officers in the field. Google's executives won't even discuss the subject with organizations representing law enforcement. Google's popular real-time traffic app, Waze, uses GPS navigation and crowdsourcing to alert users to traffic jams, automobile accidents, stalled cars, and through its "traffic cop" feature, the presence of law enforcement. Most people undoubtedly use Waze's police-finding feature to avoid traffic tickets, but the app poses an enormous risk to deputies and police officers. In the days before he assassinated New York police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu at point blank range while they sat in their patrol car last December, Ismaaiyl Brinsley is known to have used the Waze application to monitor the movements of police officers. The killer identified the location of police on his own Waze account and even posted screen captures to Instagram. While Google (which acquired Waze in 2013 for a reported $1.1 billion) claims the app "is all about contributing to the 'common good' out there on the road," the risks far outweigh the potential benefits. Every day, thousands of police officers and deputies enforce traffic laws, execute arrest and search warrants, investigate domestic violence complaints and perform countless tasks that are needed to keep our neighborhoods safe and remove criminals from the streets. It takes just a couple of clicks on Waze's "traffic cop" icon to identify their locations and indicate whether -- in the opinion of the anonymous user -- the officer is "visible" or "invisible." At that moment, the officer or deputy becomes an identifiable target whose whereabouts are available to any one of Waze's 50 million users worldwide. Social media has made enormous contributions to law enforcement as a "force multiplier" that lets citizens help police protect our communities. As we have seen with the emergence of crimes like identity theft, however, technology has the potential for evil as well as good. In the case of Waze, we are confronted with a tool that can be lethal to police officers and deputies, whose roles in society are to protect our citizens and enforce the laws that keep our communities safe. Google, whose stated mission is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," is now marketing an app with the potential to obstruct law enforcement and put the lives of police officers and deputies at risk. Even the more benign uses of Waze's "traffic cop" feature are concerning. In 2013, 10,076 people were killed in alcohol-related automobile accidents. And in 2011, 9,944 people lost their lives in speed-related fatal crashes. Is the highest, best use of Google's geo-mapping and crowdsourcing capabilities to help drunk drivers avoid checkpoints and give speeders assistance in evading speed limits? It's not just the speeders and drunk drivers who have access to the locations of police officers through Google's technology. Perpetrators of domestic violence can use it to find out about the presence of law enforcement in a spouse's neighborhood; gang members, narcotics dealers, even those intent on perpetrating an act of terror, all have access to Waze's "traffic cop" feature. Google has built a solid reputation as a good corporate neighbor, tying for first place in a 2013 study by the Reputation Institute measuring companies' reputations for corporate social responsibility. The company makes much of its compliance with legal, moral and ethical obligations as a good corporate neighbor. But when it comes to Waze, Google has gone into a defensive crouch. The company's executives flat out refused to discuss the subject with representatives of the National Sheriffs' Association, an organization representing more than 3,000 sheriff's offices across the United States. The refusal of Google's executives to even dignify our concerns by meeting with us offends our conscience. If Google's real objective is the "common good out there on the road," it will work with us to ensure the safety of both motorists and police officers. The goals are not mutually exclusive: we can have both.

David A. Clarke Jr. and Jonathan Thompson: Why does Google have an app that ambushes police? With Waze, we are confronted with a tool that can be lethal to police officers and deputies.

A former U.S. Navy aircraft carrier that survived a Japanese torpedo strike and was a massive guinea pig for two atomic bomb blasts looks remarkably intact at the bottom of the Pacific, according to federal researchers who surveyed the wreck last month with an underwater drone. The USS Independence was scuttled in January 1951 during weapons testing near California's Farallon Islands. Although its location was confirmed by a survey in 2009, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration went looking for it again in March as part of a project to map about 300 wrecks that lie in and around the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. "After 64 years on the seafloor, Independence sits on the bottom as if ready to launch its planes," mission leader James Delgado, the maritime heritage director for NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, said in a statement. Indeed, sonar images show what looks to be an airplane on one of the elevators that took planes from the Independence's hangar deck to its flight deck. The ship sits upright with a slight list to starboard, according to NOAA. NOAA's survey of the 623-foot-long, 11,000-ton carrier was conducted by the Echo Ranger, an 18.5-foot-long autonomous underwater vehicle provided by the Boeing Co. The Echo Ranger traveled 30 miles from its base in Half Moon Bay, California, and hovered 150 above the carrier, which lies 2,600 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. The drone used a three-dimensional sonar system provided by Coda Octopus to get images that showed how well the warship has weathered 64 years in the deep. "This ship fought a long, hard war in the Pacific and after the war was subjected to two atomic blasts that ripped through the ship. It is a reminder of the industrial might and skill of the 'greatest generation' that sent not only this ship, but their loved ones to war," Delgado said in the statement. In its 20 years in the Navy, the ship played a role in some of the most important events of World War II, earning eight battle stars in the process, and the dawn of the nuclear age. Independence was seriously damaged by Japanese torpedo planes during the Battle of Tarawa in late 1943. The ship returned to California for repairs and made it back across the Pacific by July 1944 to participate in the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea and the sinking of one of the Japanese Imperial Navy's biggest warships, the battleship Musashi. Later, in the Battle of Cape Engano, planes from the Independence were involved in the sinking of four Japanese aircraft carriers. After the war, Independence became part of a fleet used to measure the effects of atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific on July 1, 1946. It sat just 560 yards from ground zero in the first test, a 23-kiloton air blast of a fission bomb similar to the one used over Nagasaki, Japan, a year earlier, according to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Twenty-four days later, Independence was 1,390 yards from the center of a second atomic blast -- also a 23-kiloton device but an underwater detonation. The ship was later brought back to California for nuclear decontamination before being sunk during the weapons training in 1951. NOAA said no signs of radioactive contamination were noted during the survey of the sunken carrier last month. The agency has no plans for further missions to the ship, according to the NOAA statement.

USS Independence was sunk in 1951 after weapons tests. Carrier was close-in guinea pig to two atomic bomb tests. Agency: Ship looks remarkably intact 2,600 feet below surface of the Pacific Ocean.

Every day, images of war and conflict are splashed across our desktops, plastered on our TV screens and scattered through our mobile news feeds. Because of that, one's response to such imagery often becomes calloused or desensitized. This concept of "how we digest images of war through mainstream media outlets," was what drove photographer Simon Brann Thorpe to begin his project "Toy Soldiers." This idea to create a fresh perspective drove him into the desert of Western Sahara, a long-disputed region of northwestern Africa. Thorpe uses the area's harsh landscape as a powerful backdrop for soldiers posed as green plastic figurines -- similar to the popular toys that many children play with. The soldiers are with the Polisario Front, an independence movement that has been clashing with Morocco over the region since the mid-1970s. Thorpe said his project enables "the creation of a visual metaphor from which a viewer develops their own emotional, physical and political response to war and conflict, when faced with the realization that the images do not contain toy soldiers but real soldiers." Thorpe's background was not in photojournalism, but in landscape photography, which lends to his powerful placement of the soldiers in the desert -- not to mention that all the locations chosen are historic locations of battles between Morocco and the Polisario Front. "The conflict in Western Sahara receives virtually zero coverage despite 2015 being the 40th anniversary of the outbreak of war there," Thorpe said. After a ceasefire in 1991, the people of Western Sahara have been living in a state of non-resolution. The people are split into two camps -- those living in Moroccan-occupied territory, and those in refugee camps in Algeria. Social media. Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Thorpe had to get clearance to work with the Polisario Front military and also had to be cautious of how many troops he moved about at one time -- otherwise he would have needed permission from the United Nations. He usually worked with about 50 or 60 soldiers at a time. The autumn months did not offer much reprieve from the long hours in the sweltering desert sun. Thorpe would work with the troops' commander to position the men, then climb atop sandy mountains with his wide-angle lens and capture these striking images. They would work till dusk and then spend the night under the stars. Not only were the soldiers willing participants for this project, but they also helped construct the platforms they stood on. Thorpe said they were made out of old oil drums. After the elaborate five-week production, Thorpe hopes his images will raise questions on "how images of war (will) be consumed in the future with ever-diminishing attention spans and competition for them." Simon Brann Thorpe's "Toy Soldiers" book is available for pre-order through Dewi Lewis Publishing. You can follow Thorpe on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Simon Brann Thorpe's project makes real-life soldiers resemble toy soldiers. He shot the images in Western Sahara, a disputed region of northwestern Africa.

President Barack Obama took part in a roundtable discussion this week on climate change, refocusing on the issue from a public health vantage point. After the event at Washington's Howard University on Tuesday, Obama sat down with me for a one-on-one interview. I asked him about the science behind climate change and public health and the message he wants the average American to take away, as well as how enforceable his action plan is. Here are five things I learned:. The President enrolled at Occidental College in Los Angeles in 1979 (he transferred to Columbia University his junior year). While in L.A., he said, the air was so bad that it prevented him from running outside. He remembers the air quality alerts and how people with respiratory problems had to stay inside. He credits the Clean Air Act with making Americans "a lot" healthier, in addition to being able to "see the mountains in the background because they aren't covered in smog." Obama also said the instances of asthma and other respiratory diseases went down after these measures were taken. Peer-reviewed Environmental Protection Agency studies say that the Clean Air Act and subsequent amendments have reduced early deaths associated with exposure to ambient fine particle pollution and ozone, and reduced illnesses such as chronic bronchitis and acute myocardial infarction. The EPA estimates that, between 1970 and 2010, the act and its amendments prevented 365,000 early deaths from particulate matter alone. "No challenge poses more of a public threat than climate change," the President told me. When I asked about the strength of the science supporting the direct relationship between climate change and public health, he said, "We know as temperatures rise, insect-borne diseases potentially start shifting up. We know, in a very straight-forward fashion, that heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses and deaths potentially increase, and so what we're doing here is to make sure that in addition to public awareness around the potential for big storms like Hurricane Sandy or big wildfires or droughts, that people recognize there's a very personal, potential impact in climate change, and the good news is we can do something about it." In many ways, Obama is attempting to reframe the discussion around climate change as a public health issue that affects all of us, while conceding that we don't fully understand the magnitude of the correlation between rising temperatures and impact on human health. When asked what the average American can do about all this, the President encouraged ordinary citizens, doctors and nurses to start putting some pressure on elected officials "to try and make something happen to reduce the impacts of climate change." He also issued a presidential proclamation declaring April 6-12 as National Public Health Week "to better understand, communicate and reduce the health impacts of climate change on our communities." The average American can also do their part to reduce their own carbon footprint, including:. • Change your incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent lights. One CFL can reduce up to 1,300 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution during its lifetime. If every house in the U.S. switched its bulbs, we could reduce the electricity spent on lighting by half. • Unplug your gadgets and chargers when not in use. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, this practice can save $100 a year on your energy bill. • Use a laptop instead of a desktop. Laptops are designed to be energy-efficient, because battery life is a major factor in their design. According to Energy Star, a laptop can be up to 80% more energy-efficient than a desktop. • Filter your own water. Beyond the environmental toll of plastic waste, consider just how far your water was transported before you bought it at the grocery store. • Adjust your curtains and thermostats. If you keep your house 2 degrees warmer in the summer and 2 degrees colder in the winter, you can save big bucks on your energy bill. The Department of Energy estimates you can save up to 15% on your bill by turning off your thermostat when you're not at home. Obama did not appear particularly concerned about the current Supreme Court challenge to the Affordable Care Act. He said he believes the statute is "clear and straightforward." He said, "I am not anticipating the Supreme Court would make such a bad decision." At issue is the 32 states that did not set up their own health care exchanges and left it to the federal government to do so. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit contend that the language of the Affordable Care Act does not allow for tax subsidies in those states (without state-based exchanges), possibly creating a situation, for example, in which people in Massachusetts would receive a tax credit, but people living in Texas would not. Obama did tell me that if the Supreme Court challenge is upheld, however, there is no Plan B. "Millions of people would lose their health insurance. They would no longer be able to afford the health insurance that's being provided out there." Obama went on to say, "I think this is the last gasp of folks who have been fighting against [the Affordable Care Act] for ideological reasons." He told me that he "gets letters every day from people who say, 'you know what, the Affordable Care Act saved my life or saved my kid's life because I got insurance.' 'I thought I was healthy; turns out I had a tumor, but because I went and got a checkup, it was removed in time, and I'm now cancer-free.' " He added, "I think stories like that will be factored in when the Supreme Court takes a look at this case." CNN's Ben Tinker contributed to this report.

"No challenge poses more of a public threat than climate change," the President says. He credits the Clean Air Act with making Americans "a lot" healthier.

Given that most people couldn't tell the difference between a copyright and a trademark, it usually takes something controversial, such as the Washington Redskins' refusal to change their name, to get people interested in trademark law. This week, a higher court scrutinized a lesser-known trademark -- when the band The Slants sought to protect its name. The Slants are five Asian-American musicians from Portland, Oregon, who pay homage to the '80s on stage -- and homage to their heritage in an ironic way. "We want to take on stereotypes that people have about us, like the slanted eyes, and own them," Simon Shiao Tam, the band's front-man, said. In other words, the group adopted the Lenny Bruce philosophy of repeating an insulting term until it doesn't mean anything anymore. To The Slants, "slant" isn't an insult, it is empowering. And more power to them. Unfortunately, a bureaucrat at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office decided that "Slant" was disparaging to Asians, and denied them a trademark registration under the despised (by me, anyhow) Section 2(a) of the trademark act. This is the section that lets the government deny trademark protection to a mark that is "immoral," "scandalous" or "disparaging." In this case, the latter. But wait a minute. This isn't billionaire Dan Snyder referring to other people as "Redskins." In L'affair Redskins, it is the disparaged group, Native Americans, who are complaining -- not the government deciding on its own that it knows best. In the Slants' case, these are Asian guys who say "it doesn't bother us, so why should it bother you?" And it isn't as if any Asian American groups got involved. This is not the first time that someone has "taken back" a marginalizing term in a trademark fight. About 10 years ago, the motorcycle club "Dykes on Bikes" was similarly rebuffed, and they fought back and won the right to protect their mark. They made similar arguments that resonated: If they wanted to call themselves "Dykes on Bikes," then what place does the government have in judging that decision? In another decision, the trademark office initially denied a registration for Buddha Beachwear on the grounds that Buddhists would find it disparaging. But on reconsideration, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board held that it should go forward stating it is "imperative that the board be careful to avoid interposing its own judgment for that of Buddhists." So why aren't the Slants given the same privileges as Dykes on Bikes or Buddha Beachwear? It is largely a sign of the times. We find ourselves mired deeper and deeper in a society where people actually get excited to take offense at virtually anything. Given the lingering controversy over the Redskins' trademark, our five friends from Oregon didn't stand a chance. This decision offends me. For starters, by trying to protect Asians from racism, the court issued a disturbingly racist decision based on the fact that these were, in fact, Asians who intended their band name to invoke their ethnicity. But, if a Sicilian (like me) were to seek to register the same exact name, with no such intent, I would enjoy that privilege. This isn't quite Korematsu v. United States (the decision that authorized putting Asians in internment camps), but the decision is quite unprincipled. Even worse, this decision gets the First Amendment wrong. The majority opinion almost flippantly discards the Constitutional issues as much ado about nothing. Essentially it says, "we did it this way before, so we are going to keep doing it this way." Your Constitution got stepped on before, and who are we to take our feet off of it? If you're not upset by now, you should be. Well, the court does give us a sort-of dissent styled as "additional views." While not binding, some of our most cherished First Amendment rights grew from the tiny seeds planted by the dissents of Oliver Wendell Holmes. The dissent in this case recognizes the fact that trademarks are commercial speech, which is protected by the First Amendment. It also notes that the government should not be in the business of giving out or withholding benefits on the basis of the content of the recipient's speech. This is known as the doctrine of "unconstitutional conditions." Since Section 2(a) discriminates against First Amendment protected expression on the basis of its content, the court has called for 2(a) to be, finally, deemed unconstitutional. But, for some reason, it declined to actually go that far. It merely suggested it, without so ruling. And people wonder why my hair is falling out. I guess I will start a protest band and call them "The Guinea Pigs." But, I won't be allowed to register that trademark -- although the five Asian guys from The Slants could. Maybe we should just each register the other band's marks, and trade them after we get past the bureaucrats at the trademark office.

Marc Randazza: Court upholds a trademark denial for Asian-American band The Slants on the grounds that name was disparaging. He says court is wrong: Trademarks are commercial speech, protected by First Amendment. Ruling a sign or our easily offended times.

As Saudi forces pounded southern Yemen with a fresh series of airstrikes Wednesday, Houthi rebels called for peace talks. The U.N.-sponsored talks should resume "but only after a complete halt of attacks," Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam said in a Facebook post. The previous round of talks between Houthi rebels and the government of Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi failed in January after rebels attacked the President's personal residence and presidential palace in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced the end of its Operation Decisive Storm, a nearly monthlong air campaign against Houthi positions. The Saudi-led coalition said a new initiative was underway, Operation Renewal of Hope, focused on the political process. But less than 24 hours later, after rebel forces attacked a Yemeni government military brigade, the airstrikes resumed, according to security sources in Taiz. Five airstrikes targeted a weapons depot in the province late Wednesday, two Taiz security officials said. Explosions lasted for about 40 minutes, they said. It was unclear whether it was a resumption of the operation or a short-term series of strikes. Meanwhile, Houthis released Yemeni Defense Minister Mahmoud al-Subaihi in Sanaa on Wednesday, according to a senior Saudi source speaking on condition of anonymity. The Houthis had said they detained the defense minister at an air base near the Yemeni port city of Aden on March 26, shortly before the Saudis began their airstrike campaign. The rebels captured the base that day as part of an advance on the Aden area. The United Nations demanded al-Subaihi's release earlier this month. Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners launched airstrikes on Houthi positions across Yemen starting on March 26, hoping to wipe out the Iranian-allied rebel group that overthrew the government and seized power. The Saudis say they want to restore the Yemeni government -- a key U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda -- which was kicked out of the capital by the rebels earlier this year. This month, Saudi officials said airstrikes have degraded Houthi-controlled military infrastructure, including key buildings in Sanaa. The campaign achieved its objectives "by a very good planning, very precise execution, by the courage of our pilots, our sailors, our soldiers," said Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, a Saudi military spokesman. A senior Saudi official told CNN that the Houthis agreed to "nearly all demands" of the U.N. Security Council. Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and his family will leave Yemen and never return for a position in politics, the source said. A statement from the Saudi Embassy in Washington outlined objectives of the next phase of operations, including protecting civilians, enhancing humanitarian and medical assistance, confronting terrorism and creating an international coalition to provide maritime security. Ground troops will continue to protect the border and confront any attempts to destabilize the situation, Asiri said. Military action will be taken if needed. Houthi leader: 'Anyone who thinks we will surrender is dreaming' But beyond the military campaign, the Saudis and their allies have said they want to find a political solution for the violence-plagued nation. The aim is to bring back "security and stability through establishing a political process," said a statement from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. Hadi, who claims he's Yemen's legitimate leader, thanked the Saudi-led coalition. He is working with the Saudis and other allies to return to his country. "We promise to restructure the Yemen military to ensure that it serves the people of Yemen," Hadi said, calling on the Houthis to withdraw, and saying that he would return to Yemen at "the right time" to rebuild the country. "You will witness many changes in the days to come in our mission to build an institutional government and military, far from rebel militancy," said Hadi. In the country's south, security officials on Wednesday reported two U.S. drone strikes against al Qaeda militants in Mukalla. Six suspected militants died in the attack. This is the second drone strike in three days. On Monday, six militants were killed when drone strikes targeted two vehicles in Shabwah, west of Mukalla. A U.S. military official told CNN on Tuesday that the United States is conducting "manned reconnaissance" off Yemen. The official stressed that the repositioning of U.S. ships over the last few days was not done to interdict Iranian ships, but to ensure freedom of navigation and maritime security. Why is Saudi Arabia bombing Yemen? CNN's Nic Robertson, Salim Essaid, Jethro Mullen, Tim Lister, Anas Hamdan, Jamie Crawford and journalist Hakim Almasmari contributed to this report.

Houthis call for halt to fighting and resumption of peace talks. The cessation of airstrikes lasted less than 24 hours. Next phase, called "Operation Renewal of Hope," will focus on political process.

Suzanne Crough, the child actress who portrayed youngest daughter Tracy on the '70s musical sitcom "The Partridge Family," has died. She was 52. Crough passed away Monday at home in Laughlin, Nevada, the Clark County Coroner's Office said. Tracy played tambourine and percussion in the traveling "Partridge Family" band. The group consisted of a widowed mom, played by Shirley Jones, and her five children, played by David Cassidy, Susan Dey, Danny Bonaduce, Brian Forster and Crough. Band manager Reuben Kincaid, played by Dave Madden, rounded out the cast. The band had real hit songs with "Come On Get Happy" and "I Think I Love You," though not all the members really sang or played instruments. The show aired from 1970-74. People we've lost in 2015. Redheaded Crough was raised in Los Angeles, the youngest of eight children, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Crough also starred in the TV series "Mulligan's Stew" and had spots on other series in the '70s. She appeared in a "Partridge Family" reunion on the "Today" show in 2010. "I'm an office manager for Office Max," she told host Matt Lauer. "I have two daughters, I'm married, I have a normal job." CNN's Henry Hanks contributed to this report.

Suzanne Crough was the youngest member of TV's "Partridge Family" Crough died Monday at 52 in Nevada.

It was a masterful performance. I watched in awe on Thursday as cardiothoracic surgeon and celebrity talk show host Mehmet Oz surfed a gargantuan wave of criticism to shore. I should have expected that Dr. Oz would keep standing in the face of charges from a group of colleagues that he pushed "quack treatments ... for personal financial gain." And thanks to the ineptitude of his critics this round, he may have actually boosted his media empire. But he's increasingly serving himself at a cost to Columbia University and New York Presbyterian Hospital. If Dr. Oz was ever going to go down, surely his ship would've sunk last summer in the wake of his disastrous testimony before a Senate subcommittee. He was ostensibly invited to speak as an expert witness about bogus weight loss products,. But Sen. Claire McCaskill, chairwoman of the Senate's Consumer Protection Panel, instead made him her chief example of the kind of snake oil salesmen that keep hoodwinking consumers into thinking there's a quick fix for their expanding waistlines. John Oliver subsequently eviscerated Oz on his hit HBO show "Last Week Tonight." In a segment that's now garnered over 6 million YouTube views, Oliver makes quick work of Oz's claims about "magic" green coffee beans, a product that's now earned a $9 million FTC fine for its false marketing claims. Despite his utter humiliation, Dr. Oz soldiered on, with his university and hospital continuing to stand by him, and with Harpo Productions and Sony, who co-produce "The Dr. Oz Show," fully behind his program. If the U.S. Senate couldn't bring him down, what made this particular collection of 10 doctors think they could do it with their recent letter to Columbia University, where Dr. Oz holds a tenured professorship and administrative position in the Department of Surgery and performs his duties at Columbia-affiliated New York Presbyterian Hospital? The doctors insisted that the university must disassociate itself from Dr. Oz for his now well-established tendency to promote cure-alls more befitting 1915 than 2015. Turnabout is fair play. And Oz and his producers responded with alacrity, slicing and dicing his ill-prepared challengers with an investigative segment that would've made "Dateline" proud. He and his team score points with me for pointing out the media's own failings in delightedly circulating the letter without looking into the backgrounds of anyone involved. It's a simple matter to question ulterior motives when the letter itself takes pains to highlight Oz's critical attitude toward GMO foods, not one of his greatest indiscretions by a long shot. Dr. Oz after all has conducted experiments on his TV audience, apparently in violation of the rules of his own academic medical center. He has a propensity to spout laughably definitive statements with little to no scientific support, such as his advice that "every kid in America ought to be on Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin D from either the sun or a pill" because this regimen will help them withstand concussions. Instead of mounting a defense of the indefensible claims he delivers so easily and often, Dr. Oz routed his critics by quickly pivoting to the undercurrents of their letter. He correctly pointed out that several of the letter's signatories are GMO industry shills. One of the writers campaigned against a California proposition requiring GMO labeling, and one of the bunch even served time for felony Medicaid fraud. These characters never stood a chance in tipping the scales against Dr. Oz, but they got their headlines nonetheless. Dr. Oz was able to transition their critique of his apparent disregard for science on his program into an easily vanquished attack on his straightforward stand for consumers' right to accurate product labeling. When my wife first brought the letter to my attention, I immediately wanted to know whether these were Columbia physicians. This whole affair would've played out quite differently if a slate of credible colleagues based at his own institution were coming out against Dr. Oz. So far they've made no demand for his resignation, though some colleagues made their discomfort public in an op-ed for USAToday last week. Dr. Oz is well-aware that some colleagues question him, discussing that tension in his Time magazine op-ed. He says he doesn't expect all physicians to understand his approach to health promotion, where he's willing to entertain just about everything, even seances. The closed, physician-only social network Sermo issued Dr. Oz numerous questions from its membership, none of which Dr. Oz answered. They are revelatory of physician attitudes toward him nonetheless. One doc asked Dr. Oz how he could keep up with the fast-changing world of cardiothoracic surgery and carry on with his show every weekday. Another asked him how he knows so much about so many areas of medicine -- "Ru board certified n all these areas?". Both types of questions show the profound disconnect between most physicians, who tend not to speak unless they are certain in their expertise on a topic, and the way the media industry works. Dr. Oz's show doesn't require he stay up late at night prepping for the next day -- he has an office full of production staff behind him. Let's take it as a given that not every physician across America, or at Columbia, has to agree with what Dr. Oz says on his program. I certainly don't. Does he have the right to say it? Yes, but not without challenge. A real case can be made that Dr. Oz has used his media megaphone to do harm as well as good. He is now a polarizing figure, and while Columbia University should be lauded for protecting the free speech of its academic staff, the equation with Dr. Oz is becoming increasingly complex. He's no longer simply good PR for the University and New York Presbyterian Hospital, which is often featured in his show. The letter writers were correct about one thing: Columbia's reputation is now linked with the Big Kahuna standing right out in front.

Ford Vox: When celeb doc Mehmet Oz slammed by doctors for 'quack' medicine, he hit back, but their complaint has some basis. He says Oz scorned by some in medical community, at Senate hearing; comics joke about him. He serves himself at cost to his hospital.

The cast of "The Breakfast Crew" escaped from Principal Richard Vernon 30 years ago, but a draft script of the 1985 teen classic has just been found in a filing cabinet in the school district where it was filmed, the Chicago Tribune reported. "One day a few weeks ago, one of the assistants was going through a filing cabinet and found a file that had a manuscript from 'The Breakfast Club' dated Sept. 21, 1983," Ken Wallace, superintendent of Maine Township High School District 207 in suburban Chicago, told the newspaper. "It's a first draft of the screenplay by John Hughes," Wallace said. The manuscript sports the approval signature of the district's then-superintendent and reveals that Molly Ringwald's character, Claire Standish, was originally to be named Cathy Douglas, according to the Tribune. The movie was filmed at the Maine North High School building, which was auctioned off by the district years ago and is now occupied by the Illinois State Police, according to the Tribune. The file was discovered at Maine South High School as district officials prepared to move to a newly acquired building next door. Wallace told the Tribune that he would like to find a way to display the script as a piece of film -- and district -- history. "The odds of having such an iconic movie filmed and associated with your district are astronomical," he told the newspaper. "The Breakfast Club" returns to theaters 30 years later.

"The Breakfast Club" script was found in a high school filing cabinet 30 years later. School officials hope to display the draft script.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to be interviewed by Swedish prosecutors in London, his lawyer in Sweden told CNN. Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors want to question him about 2010 allegations that he raped one woman and sexually molested another. According to the lawyer, Thomas Olsson, Swedish prosecutors will now have to reach out to British and Ecuadorian authorities to request permission to conduct the interview at the embassy. The prosecutors previously balked at coming to Britain to question Assange. However, some of the alleged crimes will be subject to a statute of limitations in August 2015, according to a statement from Marianne Ny, the director of public prosecutions. Ny explained the logic behind the Swedish authorities' change of approach in her statement. "My view has always been that to perform an interview with him at the Ecuadorian embassy in London would lower the quality of the interview, and that he would need to be present in Sweden in any case should there be a trial in the future," Ny said. "This assessment remains unchanged. Now that time is of the essence, I have viewed it therefore necessary to accept such deficiencies to the investigation and likewise take the risk that the interview does not move the case forward, particularly as there are no other measures on offer without Assange being present in Sweden." The Australian national has not been charged and denies the claims. Assange has said he fears Sweden would extradite him to the United States, where he could face the death penalty if he is charged and convicted of publishing government secrets through WikiLeaks. Ecuador granted Assange political asylum in 2012. CNN's Per Nyberg contributed to this report.

The WikiLeaks founder is wanted for questioning over sexual abuse claims; he denies the allegations. Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since June 2012.

Oprah's in there. So's Bill Murray, George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Jerry Seinfeld, Howard Stern, Tina Fey, Michael Keaton and Ray Romano. On Tuesday, "The Late Show with David Letterman" announced some of the guests for the talk show host's final month of broadcasts. The last "Late Show" will air Wednesday, May 20. Among the notables are Oprah Winfrey, with whom Letterman has had an on-and-off faux feud for years; Clooney, who's starring in "Tomorrowland," which will be released on May 22; and Stern, who's always an engaging Letterman guest. But longtime fans may be even more intrigued by the appearances of Keaton, an old acquaintance who once shared a stage with Letterman as players on Mary Tyler Moore's short-lived 1978 variety show, and Murray, who was the very first guest on Letterman's old NBC show, "Late Night with David Letterman." Steve Martin, who's taken part in some of the "Late Show's" best bits, will also be dropping by. Letterman has been a late-night host for 33 years, close to 22 of them on CBS' "Late Show." Stephen Colbert will take over the "Late Show" on September 8.

"The Late Show with David Letterman" concludes May 20. Letterman's guests will include Oprah Winfrey and Bill Murray. Stephen Colbert takes over the slot September 8.

Washington (CNN)It's the mistake that Hillary Clinton won't make again: ignoring her gender. The low-key video she released on Sunday announcing her run for the White House is filled with women -- young, old, black, white, Asian and Latina -- working in their gardens, taking care of their kids and getting ready for life in the working world. Clinton, who made herself the center of her campaign announcement in 2007, is barely in the video at all, appearing at the end as a kind of everywoman whose story and fight could be folded in with all the others. "I'm getting ready to do something, too. I'm running for president," Clinton said in the video. "Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion -- so you can do more than just get by -- you can get ahead." Clinton often says there's no better time in history to be born female than the present. She's now betting that there is no better time for her to make history as the nation's first woman president. The challenge for Clinton in breaking the "highest, hardest glass ceiling" that she described in 2008 is laying out a precise campaign vision that connects with all voters, while generating excitement and anticipation over the possibility of making history. Clinton could be helped by an improving climate for women in politics. There are historic numbers of women in Congress, and the idea of "leaning in" is a catch phrase among professional women. Meanwhile, the feminism label doesn't seem as charged as it once was -- people from Beyonce to actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt are identifying as feminist. "As far as the political culture and culture in general, this is as good a time as any for a women to run for the highest office. There is a willingness now to promote pro-women messages," said Jennifer Lawless, who runs the Women & Politics Institute at American University. "People are ready for a woman president. The question is this: Are they ready for Hillary as that woman?" According to a recent Pew poll, nearly three quarters of Americans expect to see a woman president in their lifetime. But that hope splits along partisan -- not gender -- lines. Only 20% of Republican women hope to see a woman president and nearly 70% of Democratic women do. INTERACTIVE: Hillary Clinton tries again. In the run-up to her announcement and at women-centered events, Clinton sometimes strode on stage to the song "I'm Every Woman," and recalled how she juggled work and motherhood as a young lawyer. She has acknowledged a double standard for women and advised women to be tough. She has also frequently mentioned her granddaughter, Charlotte, as the reason she wants to remain in public life, a theme that will no doubt be heard on the campaign trail as she kicks off a tour in Iowa this week with small events. She made pushing for the expansion of the rights of women and girls part of her diplomatic work as secretary of state, as detailed in her book "Hard Choices." Her new campaign website is plastered with pictures of women, with Clinton, in a blue cloth coat, holding a cup of coffee listening intently to another woman as a man looks on. The emphasis on women -- and the progress of women -- as a possible underlying campaign theme is a reversal of her 2008 strategy, which stressed experience and competence over history. But the problem with that approach was that avoiding the obvious wasn't possible and didn't make for good politics. "She is the gender card. She doesn't need to play it because she embodies it. She is the woman candidate. She has shared women's experiences. Being a mom and a grandmother," said Democratic pollster Celinda Lake. "She will just naturally bring it in. If she overplayed it, which she won't, it could backfire." Republicans certainly hope the gender play backfires and that voters are fatigued by the kind of identity politics that have defined the Obama years. The Wayne LaPierre, the National Rifle Association's president, put it this way at the group's recent annual meeting: "Eight years of one demographically symbolic president is enough." Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn acknowledged that many women would like to see a female president in their lifetime but said she didn't think it would be Clinton. "There's a couple of things there. Trust, honesty -- those get in her way," Blackburn said. "As we talk about the polling that is out there, that gets in Hillary's way and she's not authentic." In 2014, Democratic candidates such as former Colorado Sen. Mark Udall proved that the "war on women" style of campaigning that worked so well in 2012 had reached its limits. Udall lost that race and picked up the nickname "Mark Uterus" along the way for his incessant focus on women's issues. And Democrats found that in states such as Texas, Kentucky and Georgia, white married women and white working class women tended to prefer Republicans. Katie Packer Gage, who has been talking to women in focus groups about Clinton's run, said that to many women, the "idea of Hillary is more popular than the reality." "She starts out having some benefits of gender because she is something different, but then starts to feel like a typical politician and gets back down to earth," said Packer Gage, who runs Burning Glass Consulting, a firm that coaches Republicans on appealing to women voters. "You do see her starting to frame her campaign as a campaign for women, but that's a narrow campaign, not a winning campaign. You aren't going to win 100% of women." Among Republicans, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina might mount a challenge to Clinton and try to neutralize some of the former first lady's strengths as the lone woman in a field dominated by men. Fiorina released a Facebook video Sunday in which she said Clinton was a "highly intelligent woman" but doesn't have a track record of accomplishment or trustworthiness. "She's not the woman for the White House," Fiorina said. And among Democrats, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb could jump in and be the champion for the white working man, a demographic that he has said is left out of the Democrat's increasingly diverse tent. Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul, who launched his presidential campaign last week, has noted that the Clinton Foundation took money from foreign countries who oppress women, suggesting that the pro-woman framing won't be an easy sell. But Clinton will have some high-profile champions. Moments after her announcement, top Democrats rolled out endorsements, including Barbara Mikulski, the first Democratic woman elected to the Senate in her own right. "Whoopee, Hillary is off and running," she wrote in a statement. "I'm ready for Hillary. And America is ready for Hillary. She is going to break that glass ceiling once and for all." At a recent EMILY's List event before announcing her run, Clinton asked her supporters: "Don't you someday want to see a woman president?" In that particular crowd the answering was a resounding yes. But it's unlikely that the same question will make it in her campaign speeches. After all, the answer across the country is much more complicated.

Hillary Clinton could be helped by an improving climate for women in politics. Republicans hope the gender play backfires and that voters are fatigued by identity politics. The emphasis on women as a possible campaign theme is a reversal of her 2008 strategy.

It's easy to be anxious about the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. After all, this is a brutal organization that not only kills but seems to revel in doing so in ways designed to shock the world -- from the beheadings of journalists to burning a Jordanian pilot alive. Such moves are part of this murky group's propaganda and its deliberate efforts to manipulate information. So what can and should we make of the organization? I explore the issue in depth in a special airing Sunday night. And although it's important to start with the caveat that ISIS is indeed trying to scare and confuse us, I took away some tentative lessons from speaking with the people who have traveled inside the minds of ISIS. First, ISIS is clearly about religion -- its version of radical Islam -- but it is also about power. There is increasing evidence that the military backbone of ISIS is made up not by a group of Islamic zealots, but rather high-ranking officers from Saddam Hussein's army -- Baathists who were at least ostensibly secular. An internal ISIS report detailing its organizational structure was reported on last week in the German weekly Der Spiegel. That report describes a group that uses its religious ideology as a recruiting and governing philosophy, much like communism. But underneath it, much like communism, is simply a drive for control, a lust for power. Next, ISIS presents itself as a global organization, but it has thrived because of a local cause. The group has gained territory, cash and recruits primarily because of the rage and rebellion of the Sunnis of Iraq and Syria, who believe they must fight the Shiites to secure their own survival and strength. The reality is that that Sunni cause is going to endure for some time. The United States has been successful in its tactical battles against ISIS and has managed to push the group back from many of its gains in Iraq. But the Sunnis of the region will remain in rebellion and the Sunni-dominated areas will remain in turmoil -- chaos that ISIS will be able to capitalize on this chaos. In the long run, ISIS might very well find that its greatest foes lie within its so-called Caliphate. The few reports that are emerging from areas controlled by ISIS suggest that, unsurprisingly, people do not like living under a brutal, theocratic dictatorship. They live in fear, and even those who chose it as an alternative to Shiite rule are growing disenchanted. In this respect, ISIS is like other radical Islamic groups, such as the Taliban -- they have an allure in the abstract, but once they are actually governing in their medieval, barbarous manner, the allure fades and the disenchantment builds. The result is ever-increasing repression. Remember, no one has ever voted ISIS into power anywhere. The group simply slaughters its way to control. Of course, one of the big questions has been: Is ISIS a threat to the West? The group's leaders declare that it is. But their ambitions appear to be mostly centered on their Arab enemies, on building a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. They understand, of course, that to be Terror Group No. 1, they must battle the country that is the world's No. 1 power -- the United States. With that in mind, they seek such a confrontation and hope that the United States will come to the Middle East and fight them on their terms, on their terrain. Still, while they are opportunists, and they ask and hope that their followers act in America, their main focus is not to come here -- they want Americans to go there. Yet no matter how one rates the level of the threat ISIS poses, the group has changed the nature of terror. The leaders of ISIS have recognized that above all, they are a messaging machine, which in turn becomes a recruitment machine. This means that the key is not what happens on the ground, but on the airwaves and in the bits and bytes of the Internet. And ISIS does this better than anyone before them because while their gruesome videos would seem a repulsive turn-off -- and are to most -- they still work on the web. The shock and awe they produce makes them go viral, and thus are seen by tens of millions. That ensures that these videos attract those utterly alienated young men -- a few thousand among the world's 1.6 billion Muslims -- who seek revenge, glory and gore. Unfortunately, as long as those young Muslim men, scattered across the globe, are attracted to ISIS and stream to its cause, the group presents the world with a danger that is impossible to fully assess but is one that grows by the month.

Fareed Zakaria: ISIS has thrived because of a local Sunni cause in Syria and Iraq. Leaders of ISIS have recognized they are a messaging machine, he says.

A top al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula leader -- who a few years ago was in a U.S. detention facility -- was among five killed in an airstrike in Yemen, the terror group said, showing the organization is vulnerable even as Yemen appears close to civil war. Ibrahim al-Rubaish died Monday night in what AQAP's media wing, Al-Malahem Media, called a "crusader airstrike." The Al-Malahem Media obituary characterized al-Rubaish as a religious scholar and combat commander. A Yemeni Defense Ministry official and two Yemeni national security officials not authorized to speak on record confirmed that al-Rubaish had been killed, but could not specify how he died. Al-Rubaish was once held by the U.S. government at its detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In fact, he was among a number of detainees who sued the administration of then-President George W. Bush to challenge the legality of their confinement in Gitmo. He was eventually released as part of Saudi Arabia's program for rehabilitating jihadist terrorists, a program that U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, characterized as "a failure." In December 2009, Sessions listed al-Rubaish among those on the virtual " 'Who's Who' of al Qaeda terrorists on the Arabian peninsula ... who have either graduated or escaped from the program en route to terrorist acts." The United States has been active in Yemen, working closely with governments there to go after AQAP leaders like al-Rubaish. While it was not immediately clear how he died, drone strikes have killed many other members of the terrorist group. Yemen, however, has been in disarray since Houthi rebels began asserting themselves last year. The Shiite minority group even managed to take over the capital of Sanaa and, in January, force out Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi -- who had been a close U.S. ally in its anti-terror fight. Hadi still claims he is Yemen's legitimate leader, and he is working with a Saudi-led military coalition to target Houthis and supporters of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Meanwhile, Yemen has been awash in violence and chaos -- which in some ways has been good for groups such as AQAP. A prison break earlier this month freed 270 prisoners, including some senior AQAP figures, according to a senior Defense Ministry official, and the United States pulled the last of its special operations forces out of Yemen last month, which some say makes things easier for AQAP. CNN's Anas Hamdan and Merieme Arif contributed to this report.

AQAP says a "crusader airstrike" killed Ibrahim al-Rubaish. Al-Rubaish was once detained by the United States in Guantanamo.

Eighteen-month-old twins drowned after their mother tried to fend off a bee and let go of their stroller, which rolled into a canal, Arizona police said. Alexis Keslar was walking with her twin sons, Silas and Eli Keslar, along a canal Friday when she tried to repel a bee, police in Yuma said. "The stroller rolled away from her into the canal, with the boys belted in the seat," police said Monday. Keslar went into the canal and tried to rescue her sons, authorities said, but was hampered by the steep sides of the canal, the depth of the water and the force of the current. The current washed the stroller away. After Keslar got out of the canal, she called for help, police said. The irrigation district that manages the canal slowed the flow of water and reduced the water level to help emergency workers find the boys, authorities said. After more than an hour of searching, the toddlers were found and flown to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead. "No parent should ever have to lose a child, you know, let alone both of them at the same time," family friend Marlene Gleim told CNN affiliate KYMA. "That's what really, really is heartbreaking to me, because those little boys were, you know, meant so much to so many people." Authorities say the paths along Yuma canals are popular for joggers and bicyclists, but can be dangerous. "Many people typically do not comprehend how swift the current in these canals are and how deep the water can be," Yuma police said. "They also do not realize how difficult it is to climb back up many of the canal embankments."

Silas and Eli Keslar, both 18 months old, drowned in an Arizona canal. Their mother was trying to fend of a bee when the stroller rolled away, police say.

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)Lee Min-bok didn't laugh once when he watched "The Interview." The North Korean defector calls the Hollywood comedy "vulgar," admitting he couldn't even watch the whole film. Yet he is still sending thousands of copies across the border from South to North Korea in balloons, determined his people will see the movie in which the leader Kim Jong Un is assassinated on screen. "The regime hates this film because it shows Kim Jong Un as a man, not a God," says Lee. "He cries and is afraid like us and then he's assassinated." Kim is portrayed in the movie as a Katy Perry-loving, sensitive soul with daddy issues, clashing with the all-powerful image beamed out by Pyongyang's tightly controlled state media and propaganda machine. At 1 a.m., Lee makes a final check of the wind speed and direction, then heads towards the border with North Korea. He has company. The South Korean police and military drive closely behind. After Pyongyang fired on similar propaganda balloons recently, they are monitoring launches very closely. This irritates Lee. "We can help towards reunification with these balloons," says Lee. "It costs millions of dollars to buy a F-22 fighter jet which the South Korean government insist they need and that's not for peaceful purposes. So why do civilians like me have to do this under cover of darkness?" At 3 a.m., Lee fills the balloons with helium and ties the bundles of DVDs, dollar bills and political leaflets to the bottom. A timer is attached which will release the bundle once safely in North Korean territory. He has no way of knowing what will happen to the goods after that. He doesn't know if ordinary North Koreans will watch the movie and read the leaflets. The fact that Pyongyang acts with fury against these so-called propaganda balloons suggests some information is seeping through to the hermit kingdom. "If you tell the truth in North Korea, you die. But by using these balloons from here, I can tell the truth in safety," Lee adds. The decision to launch the balloons in the dead of night is not just to avoid confrontation with North Korea, but also with South Korea's local residents. After Pyongyang fired on balloons last October and South Korea returned fire, those living close to the border have been trying to physically stop the launches, arguing they are being put in the line of fire. The chances of at least some North Koreans having watched the film that North Korea sees as "an act of terrorism" is certainly possible.

Defector deploys balloons with "The Interview" to North Korea. Lee Min-bok says he finds the movie vulgar, but sends it anyway.

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)A suicide bomber detonated his explosives near a group of protesters in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing 17 people and wounding dozens more, police said. An Afghan lawmaker taking part in the protests in the city of Khost was among the 64 people wounded, said Faizullah Ghairat, the provincial police chief. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid denied his group was responsible for the attack. No other organization has so far claimed responsibility. Humayoon Humayoon, an Afghan member of parliament for Khost province, and the other protesters were on their way to join a larger rally against the provincial governor, according to Zahir Jan, an eyewitness. The suicide attack hit the group around 10 a.m. local time, police said. CNN's Masoud Popalzai reported from Kabul, and Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Elizabeth Joseph contributed to this report.

An Afghan lawmaker is among 64 people wounded in the attack, police say. Taliban spokesman denies his group was responsible for the attack.

Tulsa, Oklahoma (CNN)The Tulsa County deputy who shot and killed a man instead of using his Taser now faces a manslaughter charge. Video shows Reserve Deputy Robert Bates announcing he is going to deploy his Taser after an undercover weapons sting on April 2, but then shooting Eric Courtney Harris in the back with a handgun. In a written statement, Tulsa County District Attorney Stephen A. Kunzweiler said Bates is charged with second-degree manslaughter involving culpable negligence. It's a felony charge that could land the volunteer deputy in prison for up to four years if he's found guilty. Scott Wood, an attorney who represents Bates, said the shooting was an "excusable homicide." "We believe the video itself proves that it was an accident of misfortune that occurred while Deputy Bates was fulfilling his duties as a reserve deputy," Wood said. "He is not guilty of second-degree manslaughter." Investigators' efforts to defend Bates and the other deputies involved in the arrest have sparked a mounting chorus of criticism online. Harris' family is demanding an independent investigation of what they call unjustified brutality. They're also questioning why the 73-year-old Bates -- the CEO of an insurance company who volunteers as a certified reserve deputy -- was on the scene in such a sensitive and high-risk sting operation. Daniel Smolen, an attorney representing the Harris family, said Bates paid big money to play a cop in his spare time. "It's absolutely mind boggling that you have a wealthy businessman who's been essentially deputized to go play like he's some outlaw, like he's just cleaning up the streets," he said. Wood said his client -- who had donated cars and video equipment to the Sheriff's Office -- had undergone all the required training and had participated in more than 100 operations with the task force he was working with the day he shot Harris. But he'd never been the main deputy in charge of arresting a suspect, Wood said, but was thrust into the situation because Harris ran from officers during the arrest. "Probably in the past four of five years since he has been working in conjunction with the task force he has been on, (there were) in excess of 100 operations or search warrants where he was placed on the outer perimeter," Wood said. "He has never been on an arrest team or been the one who is primarily responsible for the capture or the arrest of a suspect. He is there more in a support mechanism." Bates, who worked as a police officer for a year in the 1960s, had been a reserve deputy since 2008, with 300 hours of training and 1,100 hours of community policing experience, according to the Sheriff's Office. He was also a frequent contributor to the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office, including $2,500 to the reelection of Sheriff Stanley Glanz. Tulsa County Sheriff's Maj. Shannon Clark denied accusations that Bates had paid to play a cop, describing him as one of many volunteers in the community who have contributed to the agency. "No matter how you cut it up, Deputy Bates met all the criteria on the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training to be in the role that he was in," Clark said. After the shooting, Bates told investigators that he was "in a state of shock and disbelief" after realizing he'd fired his gun. He also said he believed there was a "strong possibility" that Harris had a gun. Wood said Monday that Bates is upset over the shooting. "Obviously he is very upset about what happened. He feels badly," he said. "The incident completely took him by surprise. He has all the requisite training. He is TASER-certified, and if you watch the video you know he was quite shocked when his gun went off." Authorities say Bates thought he pulled out his Taser but "inadvertently" fired his gun. They've painted Harris as a dangerous, possibly PCP-addled illegal gun dealer who had recently sold methamphetamine to undercover police and who fled police that day in such a way as to give the impression that he had a gun in his waistband. Though Harris was later determined to be unarmed, Sgt. Jim Clark of the Tulsa Police Department, who has been brought in to review the case, excused the behavior of Bates and an officer who is heard cursing at Harris in the video. Clark said Bates was the "victim" of something called "slip and capture," where in a high-stress situation, a person intends to do one thing and instead does something else. It's a controversial argument that drew sharp criticism online as soon as police started making it. One expert told CNN the claim amounts to "junk science." "It's not something that's supported by a testable theory. There's no peer-reviewed articles that would support this. ... It's not generally accepted by the scientific community," said Phil Stinson, an assistant professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University. "So it's something that in most courts would not be admissible as evidence." Andre Harris told reporters Monday that claims his brother was violent and on PCP are false. "He was nonviolent, he was peaceful, he was loving, he was caring, and he was my brother that I'll never see again 'til I see him in heaven," Harris told reporters, accusing the sheriff's office of trying to persuade him not to hire an attorney and quickly make the case "go away." He added that the shooting of his brother, who was African-American, wasn't a racial matter. "I don't think this is a racial thing. I don't think this has anything to do with race. It might have a hint there somewhere. ... This is simply evil," Andre Harris told reporters Monday. "This is a group of people that's spent a lot of time together, spent money together. ... They've gotten real comfortable with how they do things, which when you're the law, I guess you feel like you can do things and get away with it and not get exposed. "Well, we've come to expose it. We've come to pull a mask off the evil. We've come to shine a light on the darkness." CNN's Ed Lavandera and Jason Morris reported from Tulsa. CNN's Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Atlanta. CNN's Atika Shubert, Chandler Friedman and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.

Harris family attorney says volunteer deputy was a donor who paid to play a cop. An attorney representing Reserve Deputy Robert Bates says it was an "excusable homicide" Eric Harris' brother says the shooting was "simply evil," accuses investigators of trying to cover it up.

Atlanta (CNN)A fake name on a Facebook post can still get you in real trouble, especially when you're threatening to shoot every white cop you see. Ebony Dickens of East Point, Georgia, posted her Facebook rant under the name Tiffany Milan, police said. "All Black ppl should rise up and shoot at every white cop in the nation starting NOW," said the post made on Monday. "I condone black on white killings. Hell they condone crimes against us." The post was removed a day later, just before Dickens was arrested, CNN affiliate WSB reported. "I thought about shooting every white cop I see in the head until I'm either caught by the police or killed by them. Ha!!!! I think I can pull it off. Might kill at least 15 tomorrow, I'm plotting now." Needless to say, it got law enforcement's attention. Not only the East Point police, but Atlanta police -- whose homeland security unit "worked diligently ... to identify the true identity of the poster and her whereabouts," said Atlanta police spokeswoman Elizabeth Espy -- as well as the FBI and federal Homeland Security Department. "That's 15 people that she's talking about killing within a day or so, so whether she is serious or not that's something that we have to take seriously," East Point police Lt. Cliff Chandler told WSB. Police in East Point -- a city of about 34,000 people just south of Atlanta -- said in a statement that, in addition to detailing how many police might die and threatening white officers specifically, the posts "indicated that the acts were being plotted and were in motion." After connecting Dickens to the Facebook post, authorities obtained a search warrant for her residence. They took her into custody while executing that warrant. "A firearm along with three computers was located during the search," East Point police said. Dickens, 33, appeared in court Wednesday on a charge of disseminating information related to terrorist acts. A judge set a $10,000 bond for her and banned her from social media. She was then transferred to Fulton County Jail, where she remained until bonding out at 6:19 a.m. Thursday, according to county sheriff's office spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan.

Sheriff's spokeswoman: Ebony Dickens is out of jail after posting $10,000 bond. Police: Authorities found a firearm, three computers in her East Point residence. Dickens is accused of posting her Facebook rant under the name Tiffany Milan.

Tokyo (CNN)It's a bird -- It's a plane -- It's an insanely fast Japanese bullet train. A Japan Railway maglev train hit 603 kilometers per hour (374 miles per hour) on an experimental track in Yamanashi Tuesday, setting a decisive new world record. A spokesperson said the train spent 10.8 seconds traveling above 600 kilometers per hour, during which it covered 1.8 kilometers (1.1 miles). That's nearly 20 football fields in the time it took you to read the last two sentences. Takeo Ookanda, who runs an exhibition center next to the test track, said witnesses erupted with excitement and applause when the new record was set. "I was moved just like many other visitors here today," he told CNN. "This maglev project... (increases) the hope that Japan can have a good growth again in the future." The train broke its own record from last Thursday, when it ran at 590 kilometers per hour (366 miles per hour) on a test track. That beat the old record of 581 kilometers per hour (361 miles per hour), which was set in 2003 during another Japanese maglev test. Right now, China operates the world's fastest commercial maglev, which has hit 431 kilometers per hour (268 miles per hour) on a route through Shanghai. By contrast, the fastest train in the United States, Amtrak's Acela Express, is only capable of 241 kilometers per hour (150 miles per hour), though it usually plods along at half that speed. Unlike traditional trains, maglev trains work by using magnets to push the train away from the tracks and drive the train forward. Japan's maglevs don't use metal tracks — instead, they float nearly 10 cm (4 inches) above special guideways, allowing for frictionless movement. Japan Railways has been testing their train to figure out the best operational speed for a planned route between Tokyo and Nagoya, scheduled to begin service in 2027. That trip can take nearly 5 hours by car. But in the future, a maglev train could finish the journey in 40 minutes. READ MORE: The future of transportation will blow your hair back. CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki contributed reporting.

Japanese maglev train sets new speed record: 603 kilometers per hour. The train is planned to begin service in 2027.

In 1944, 16-year-old Yong Soo Lee of Taegu, Korea, was lured by a friend of hers to meet with an older Japanese man. The man took the two of them, and three other teenage girls, by train, then ship, to Taiwan. There, the girls were forced into sexual slavery, serving four to five Japanese soldiers every day for a year. Lee suffered beatings and torture, was infected with a venereal disease, was fed paltry amounts of food, faced temperatures so cold that ice formed on her body, and was never allowed outside. Only the end of World War II brought her relief. Lee is just one example of the over 200,000 women from Korea, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, and other Asian nations, who were kidnapped and sexually enslaved by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. These so-called "comfort women" suffered unimaginable physical, emotional, and psychological trauma. When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addresses a Joint Meeting of Congress on Wednesday, he has an opportunity to do right by these women, and issue an unequivocal and irrefutable apology -- something that carries the weight of his government. In 2007, in the very same chamber the prime minister will be issuing his address, the House of Representatives sent a profound message to the Japanese government by unanimously passing House Resolution 121, which I authored. The resolution called on the Japanese government to formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Forces' coercion of young women into sexual slavery; publicly refute any claims that the sexual enslavement and trafficking of the "comfort women" never occurred; and educate current and future generations about this horrible crime. We are still waiting for their government to comply. In 2006, during his first term, Prime Minister Abe unleashed an international firestorm of criticism when he stated that there was no evidence of Japanese coercion and complicity in setting up and running the "comfort women" system. And during his second term, Abe and his right-wing allies have continued to question history -- even trying to dilute and rewrite it. Last year, I, along with 17 of my House colleagues, wrote to the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, calling the timing and contents of the Japanese government report on the 1993 Kono statement: regrettable, unfortunate, unacceptable, and destabilizing. Last year, meanwhile, the Abe administration tried (and failed) to get the United Nations to partially retract their authoritative 1996 report, which called on Japan to apologize to the victims and pay reparations to survivors who had been forced into sex slavery. Most notably, earlier this year, the Japanese government tried unsuccessfully to change passages in U.S. history textbooks about the "comfort women." Some say that Japan has already apologized enough and it's time to move on. To those people I say, in light of these continued attempts to rewrite history, for every step forward the Japanese government takes toward peace and reconciliation, it takes two steps back. As someone who was put into an internment camp as an infant, I know firsthand that governments must not be ignorant of their pasts. In 1942, during World War II, my government put aside the constitutional rights of Japanese Americans and systematically incarcerated 120,000 of us. We were U.S. citizens, but merely because of our ancestry, the government treated us like the enemy. Decades later, we, the Japanese American community, fought for an apology from our government. In 1988, Congress passed, and President Ronald Reagan signed into law, the Civil Liberties Act, which was a formal apology to United States citizens of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly put into internment camps during World War II. Our government made a mistake, but they apologized for it, and healed many wounds as a result. Japan must now do the same. It must show the maturity of a democratic country, apologize for its mistake, and thereby gain the trust of her sister Asian nations. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Prime Minister Abe to face Japan's history. Germany knows something about this. After World War II, Germany engaged in a painful national "coming to terms with the past" that ripped open old wounds so that they could properly heal. Time is of the essence. Today, there are fewer than 100 surviving "comfort women" across the Asia-Pacific. Each year, this number declines. Ms. Lee is one of 53 remaining Korean survivors. The survivors are dying by the day. They deserve the justice and apology that has been due to them for the past 70 years. The opportunity to speak to a joint meeting of Congress is an honor that is reserved for heads of state of our closest allies. I will be in the House chamber when Prime Minister Abe delivers his address. Ms. Lee will attend as my guest. Both of us hope the Prime Minister will take the privilege of this opportunity and finally, and firmly, apologize, and commit to educating the future generation honestly and humbly. Ms. Lee and her sisters deserve no less.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will address Congress on Wednesday. Mike Honda: Abe must commit to educating future generation honestly, humbly.

Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN)Rescue crews and residents in Nepal early Sunday began the desperate search for survivors after a magnitude-7.8 quake near the capital of Kathmandu a day earlier flattened homes, buildings and temples, causing widespread damage across the region and killing more than 1,800 people. Follow the latest coverage of Nepal earthquake. Whole streets and squares in the capital of more than 1 million people were covered in rubble. Stunned residents stared at temples that were once part of their daily lives and now were reduced to nothing. Locals and tourists ferreted through mounds of debris in search of survivors. Cheers rose from the piles when people were found alive -- but mostly bodies turned up. The injured ended up being treated outside overflowing hospitals, where crowds of people gathered looking for relatives. Dozens of bodies were pulled from the historic nine-story Dharahara tower that came crashing down during the quake. At least 17 people were reported killed on Mount Everest, where the quake caused multiple avalanches. A seemingly endless series of aftershocks continued to roil the area, further traumatizing survivors. Residents huddled in the cold rain overnight for safety. The death toll of 1,832 is expected to rise as the full extent of the damage is assessed. The loss of life reported so far "is really based on the information we have from the main cities," Lex Kassenberg, Nepal country director for CARE International, told CNN. "But if you look at the spread of the earthquake a lot of the rural areas have been hit as well. The information we received from the field is that 80% of the houses in these rural areas have been destroyed." The quake was the strongest in the region in more than 80 years. Residents are used to earthquakes in Nepal, and many thought the start of Saturday's quake was a tremor, until the earth kept shaking and buildings crashed down. "The reports of the devastation are still coming in and the numbers of people killed, injured and affected by this earthquake continue to rise," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement. "It is clear that very many lives have been lost." An estimated 4.6 million people in the region were exposed to tremors from the Nepal earthquake, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said via Twitter. Thirty out of 75 Nepal districts were affected by the quake. In neighboring Tibet, roads buckled, buildings collapsed and at least 13 people were killed, China's state media reported, citing local authorities. Separately, at least four Chinese citizens in Nepal -- two workers with a Chinese company, a tourist and a mountaineer -- have been killed, state media reported, citing the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu. Officials in India confirmed at least 34 deaths in three states from the Nepal quake. The quake struck at 11:56 a.m. local time (2:11 a.m. ET) and was centered less than 50 miles northwest of Kathmandu. It occurred at a depth of 9.3 miles, which is considered shallow and more damaging than a deeper quake. It was reported by people in the area as having lasted a long time. One person said he felt as if he were on a ship in rough seas. Kathmandu sits in a valley surrounded by the Himalayas. Siobhan Heanue, a reporter with ABC News Australia, told CNN she was wandering at an ancient temple complex at the moment of the earthquake. Several temples collapsed around her, she said. "It's not too often you find yourself in a situation where you have to run for your life," Heanue said, adding that she sought shelter under the table of a cafe. "It was utterly terrifying." Heanue watched as residents picked through the rubble of a destroyed temple. They found 12 bodies. "Unfortunately, that search was not fruitful," Heanue said. "There were 12 bodies at least pulled from the rubble in the square. This was just one of several historical temple complexes severely affected by the earthquake." The Dharahara tower, the landmark nine-story structure, was packed with people when it collapsed. Heanue said at least 50 bodies were pulled from the ruins of Dharahara. The tower, built in 1832, provided visitors with a panoramic view of the Kathmandu Valley. Are you in Nepal or have loved ones affected? Please share with us if you are in a safe place. Kanak Masni, a journalist in Kathmandu, told CNN by telephone that this appeared to be "the most massive earthquake to hit central Nepal since 1934." In that quake, which was 8.1 magnitude and centered near Mount Everest, more than 10,000 people were killed. Thomas Nybo, a freelance photographer, was sitting in a coffee shop in Kathmandu's Thamel district. It appeared to be a minor tremor at first but gradually gained intensity, he told CNN. Thousands poured onto the streets of the densely populated tourist hub. "This region is no stranger to earthquakes," he said. "A lot of people had the same feeling: This is a tremor, it passed. When that wasn't the case, they were in uncharted territory... It's basically an unwritten book." Outside the coffee shop, Nybo said he saw a group of women gather near what had been a six-story building. One woman said children were trapped beneath rubble. "We ran over and ran around the rubble and couldn't hear anything," he said. "There was no chance that they survived." Nearby, another building had come down on an area where locals went to do laundry and collect water, Nybo said. A voice was heard coming from the rubble. "A group of mainly tourists started gathering rocks, hammers and pickaxes and breaking through a re-enforced concrete wall to reach this guy... It took about two hours of smashing through wall and cutting rebar with a hacksaw to pull him out alive." Two bodies were found near the spot where the man was rescued, Nybo said. Not far away, lay the bodies of three or four women. "Who knows how many other bodies lie beneath the rubble?" he said. The streets of Kathmandu were packed with thousands of locals and tourists who didn't want to go back to their homes or hotels because of recurring aftershocks. Rob Stiles and his wife had just checked into a hotel in Kathmandu when the earthquake struck. "It felt like it went on forever," the California resident said. Witnesses: "People are panicked, running down to street" Outside, people ran onto the street, with the temblor knocking some off their feet. A huge section of a brick wall crushed motorcycles and a car. Later, as they walked around the city, an aftershock hit. "People were screaming and looking around," he said. "There were people clearly shaken, upset, crying." Denis McClean, spokesman for the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, told CNN that weak building codes in Nepal contributed to the amount of structural damage. "Building codes in Kathmandu itself have not been well upheld in recent years," he said. "Efforts have been made over the last few years to strengthen these building codes but, unfortunately, this comes too late for the many thousands of buildings that have gone up across the Kathmandu Valley over the last 20 years that did not adhere to the building codes." Chitra Thapa, 48, a CNN security guard in Atlanta, said he spoke by telephone with relatives in Kathmandu and Pokhara, a city about 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of the capital. They were fine and were staying on streets. "Everybody's in shock," he said. "They never felt an earthquake that big." Aid agencies expressed concern for the welfare of survivors in the coming days, as overnight temperatures were expected to drop and people were forced to make do without electricity, running water and shelter. The international community must react quickly to save lives -- particularly those of children -- said Devendra Tak, of the aid agency Save the Children. "With every minute the situation becomes worse," he said. Food, clothing and medicine will be urgently required, Tak said. The U.S. government is providing $1 million in immediate assistance to Nepal, the U.S. Embassy in Nepal said. American disaster response teams are also on their way to Nepal, the Embassy said via Twitter. "To the people in Nepal and the region affected by this tragedy we send our heartfelt sympathies," Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement. "The United States stands with you during this difficult time. How to help the earthquake victims. At a hospital in the Nepalese capital, people with broken bones and head injuries were lying outside, with doctors administering CPR to at least one of them. Residents with scrapes and lacerations were turned away for those in need of more urgent care. Fast Facts on earthquakes. The U.S. Geological Survey had at first measured the strength at magnitude 7.5 but later upgraded it. A strong aftershock of magnitude 6.6 was recorded a little more than a half-hour afterward, along with nearly three dozen other aftershocks, the USGS reported. The force of the quake was said by people who contacted the USGS to be from "severe" to "violent," nearly the highest rating on the intensity scale. Tremors were felt as far as New Delhi, more than 200 miles away in neighboring India. An official said they were felt there at magnitude 5.0. The shaking was rated as "strong" to "severe" on the USGS ShakeMap. CNN sister network CNN-IBN reported that roads in the area were out. IBN reporter K. Dhiksit looked out his window in Kathmandu and saw the collapsed walls of many buildings. As he watched, an aftershock rattled the street. He heard "big booming sounds," he said, and saw people fleeing into the streets. How are earthquakes measured? Photos of caved-in and toppled buildings appeared on social media. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet, "We are in the process of finding more information and are working to reach out to those affected, both at home & in Nepal." Manesh Shrestha reported from Kathmandu. Ray Sanchez wrote and reported from New York. Don Melvin wrote and reported from London. Ben Brumfield wrote and reported from Atlanta. CNN's Ralph Ellis, Harmeet Singh, Sumnima Udas and Brian Walker also contributed to this report.

NGO official says people will urgently need food, water, medicine and shelter. More than 1,800 people across Nepal confirmed dead, official says. People treated outside hospitals; avalanches reported on Everest.

You know the phrase "dodging a bullet"? Forget about it. Probably not going to happen anymore. The U.S. military said this week it has made great progress in its effort to develop a self-steering bullet. In February, the "smart bullets" -- .50-caliber projectiles equipped with optical sensors -- passed their most successful round of live-fire tests to date, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA. In the tests, an experienced marksman "repeatedly hit moving and evading targets," a DARPA statement said. "Additionally," the statement said, "a novice shooter using the system for the first time hit a moving target." In other words, now you don't even have to be a good shot to hit the mark. The system has been developed by DARPA's Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance program, known as EXACTO. "True to DARPA's mission, EXACTO has demonstrated what was once thought impossible: the continuous guidance of a small-caliber bullet to target," said Jerome Dunn, DARPA program manager. "This live-fire demonstration from a standard rifle showed that EXACTO is able to hit moving and evading targets with extreme accuracy at sniper ranges unachievable with traditional rounds. Fitting EXACTO's guidance capabilities into a small .50-caliber size is a major breakthrough and opens the door to what could be possible in future guided projectiles across all calibers," Dunn said. Videos supplied by DARPA show the bullets making sharp turns in midair as they pursue their targets. It all conjures up images of a cartoon character frantically fleeing a bullet that follows him wherever he goes. Only, these bullets are traveling at hundreds of miles per hour. And even the Road Runner can't run that fast. DARPA says the smart bullets will also help shooters who are trying, for example, to hit targets in high winds. The goals of the EXACTO program are giving shooters accuracy at greater distances, engaging targets sooner and enhancing the safety of American troops, DARPA said.

.50-caliber bullets equipped with optical sensors can follow moving targets. The "smart bullets" can help shooters compensate for high winds. The goal of the program is to give shooters greater range and make American troops safer.

The people of Nepal are still trying to recover from two major earthquakes and a mudslide. Each day is a struggle in many parts of of the country, but there is something you can do to make an impact. We have vetted a list of organizations working in Nepal that have created specific funds for relief efforts, including:. -- Nepal Red Cross Society. -- ActionAid USA. -- Action Against Hunger. -- Adventist Development and Relief Agency International. -- American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. -- The American Jewish World Service. -- AmeriCares. -- CARE. -- Catholic Relief Services. -- ChildFund International. -- Concern Worldwide. -- Convoy of Hope. -- Direct Relief. -- dZi Foundation. -- Empower Generation. -- Global Giving. -- Habitat for Humanity. -- Handicap International. -- Himalayan HealthCare. -- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. -- International Medical Corps. -- International Relief Teams. -- Islamic Relief USA. -- Jewish Federations of North America. -- Lutheran World Relief. -- MAP International. -- Medical Teams International. -- MercyCorps. -- NFCC International. -- Operation Blessing International. -- Operation USA. -- Oxfam International. -- Plan International. -- Real Medicine Foundation. -- Save the Children. -- The Salvation Army. -- Samaritan's Purse. -- Seva Foundation. -- Shelterbox. -- Team Rubicon. -- UNICEF. -- WaterAid. -- The World Food Programme. -- World Vision.

Aid organizations are still working to help the people of Nepal in the wake of two major earthquakes. Thousands were killed in a magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Nepal on April 25. A second quake rocked the country less than three weeks later.

Jon Reiter is no stranger to Mount Everest -- its world-record height, its prestige, its challenges. And its dangers. He learned that again shortly before noon Saturday, after a monster magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal. It not only rattled cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara, but caused avalanches at Everest and nearby peaks. Reiter was safe but shaken by the devastation. He told his wife, Susan, about his putting one dead person in a sleeping bag and zipping it up, seeing others killed by the falling ice and collapsing snow, and doing all he could to help others fighting for their lives. "It's been a really rough day," Susan Reiter told CNN. "Jon's been comforting injured people that he doesn't think will survive." Jon Reiter told CNN on Sunday morning that 17 people had been killed on the mountain. The Indian Army's Everest Expedition evacuated the bodies of 13 mountaineers from a base camp who had been preparing to scale the mountain, spokesman Col. Rohan Anand said Saturday. Separately, Dr. Nima Namgyal told CNN he has seen 14 bodies so far. Many of those killed came from other countries, according to Namagyal, something that's not surprising given Everest's lure for many hikers around the world. What may be as remarkable is all those who survived, a number that's likely in the hundreds. They are women and men like Alex Gavan, who tweeted about running for his life from his tent. "Huge disaster," the mountaineer said hours later, warning that the death toll could skyrocket if helicopters didn't come quickly to evacuate those hurt. "Helped searched and rescued victims through huge debris area. Many dead. Much more badly injured. More to die if not heli asap." Another hiker, Carsten Lillelund Pedersen, wrote on Facebook that "a huge avalanche swept over basecamp" that had almost 500 tents, saying he survived by hiding behind a stone structure. Afterward, the camp's dining tent was transformed into a makeshift hospital headed by the camp manager, who happens to be a doctor. And even hours after the biggest quake struck, the threat of more casualties -- and the challenge of finding out how high the toll actually is -- remained very real. "On top of the whiteout after the avalanche it has been snowing since last night so it is difficult to see the following avalanches, and there are so many - maybe one every 5 min - that I have stopped counting," Pedersen wrote on Facebook. "This also makes it more difficult to search for people." Several companies specialize in bringing hikers to Everest. One of the biggest is Alpine Ascents International, based in Washington state. "The Alpine Ascents International Mt. Everest climbing team was in the icefall and is now safe at Camp 1, avoiding the avalanche that hit Base Camp," the Seattle-based company reported on Facebook. "Please keep those affected in your thoughts as we continue to receive updated reports on the damage and losses in Nepal." But not every foreign company that brings climbers to Nepal was so lucky. Two reported the deaths of Americans on the mountain. That includes British-based Jagged Globe, which has offered mountaineering expeditions, courses, adventure skiing and other experiences for the past 20 years. The company reported Saturday that American Dan Fredinburg died in the Everest base camp avalanche, while two others suffered non-life-threatening injuries. A Google executive who made headlines for dating actress Sophia Bush, Fredinburg had been posting photos and updates of his adventures in Nepal on Instragram and Twitter, where he referred to himself as an "adventurer, inventor, and energetic engineer." His sister updated the account with a message, saying he suffered a major head injury. "We appreciate all of the love that has been sent our way thus far and know his soul and his spirit will live on in so many of us. All our love and thanks to those who shared this life with our favorite hilarious strong willed man. He was and is everything to us," his sister, Megan, wrote. The expedition company sent its condolences. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dan's family and friends," read a statement on Jagged Globe's website, "whilst we pray too for all those who have lost their lives in one of the greatest tragedies ever to hit this Himalayan nation." Eve Girawong, a base camp medic from New Jersey who worked on the mountain, also was killed, according to her family and employer. "On behalf of my family, it is with deep sadness that I write that our beloved daughter, younger sister and best friend has been taken from us today. Nong Eve Girawong was doing the thing she loved doing most -- helping others. Words cannot describe the heartbreak and pain that we are currently suffering," a family member wrote on Facebook. She was working for Madison Mountaineering, a boutique mountain guide service based in Seattle. Kurt Hunter, one of the company's co-founders, confirmed her death. Jim Whittaker, the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest back in 1963, is still a mentor to experienced climbers trying to follow in his footsteps. The 86-year-old confirmed that climbers he knows to currently be on Everest are safe. But some are trapped above the icefall, "which is very dangerous anyway," Whittaker told CNN. Since the avalanches, "the whole route would be different now than before the quake. They'll have to put a new route in from base camp up through that icefall ... They (the climbers) will have to cool it for a couple days, way until the route is reestablished ... they've got enough food and fuel for the stoves." His son, Leif Whittaker, told CNN that he hasn't heard from everyone he knows to be on Everest. "It's really tragic and I'm really saddened by the news," he said. "I have a lot friends in the area and friends on Everest right now. It's hard to get news from base camp and the mountains because communication is difficult as it is. Many of my friends are safe, but I'm not sure if all of them are. "It's been a bad few years on Everest," he said. "My heart goes out to them, and I'm sending them my love and strength." This tragedy struck just over a year after another deadly avalanche on the 29,035-foot peak that likewise sent everyone -- from seasoned Sherpas to foreign tourists -- running for their lives. At least 13 Nepalese locals and Sherpas were killed in that incident, which at the time was the deadliest incident ever around Everest. The highest single-day death toll before then came in May 1996, when eight climbers disappeared during a big storm -- an episode chronicled in Jon Krakauer's bestselling book, "Into Thin Air." Given the scale of the avalanches and fact they occurred near the start of the busy spring climbing season, it's possible this day could turn out to be the most deadly. Climbers traditionally arrive in April to get acclimated to the high altitude before trying to scale the summit. There's no guarantee they'll get the chance to go up this season. After last year's avalanches, the mountain was shut down. But whether it's their livelihood or their obsession, the people who tackle Everest will be back. "This is our job," said Pasang Sherpa, who lost "friends in brothers" in the 2014 avalanche. "So there is always a risk of death." For many mountaineers, the draw of Everest has long been hard to resist. One of them is Reiter, who has scaled all of "The Seven Summits" -- the highest mountain on each of the seven continents -- except this one. This would be his third straight year trying. He turned back in 2013 "because it didn't feel right" and survived last year's avalanche, according to his wife Susan. Her husband phoned her multiple times since the latest avalanches, reassuring her that he's OK physically even as he struggles emotionally with the tragedy. But does that mean he won't go back to try to scale Everest again? "You would think that he wouldn't because of this and because of last year," Susan Reiter said from her Northern California home. "But knowing my husband I think he will. I hope not, but I don't want to hold him back." Nepal rescue efforts come down to neighbors. CNN's Katia Hetter, Jessica King and Carma Hassan contributed to this report.

Family of American medic killed posts message on Facebook says she died while at base camp. At least 13 die after avalanches at Mount Everest base camp, authorities say; Climber says 17 dead. Dining tent at one base camp has been transformed into a hospital, another hiker says.

Working as a warden in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, home to the endangered mountain gorilla, Edwin Sabuhoro was determined to do whatever was necessary to protect the animals he was committed to defend -- including putting himself in harm's way. Following a series of incidents in 2004 where wildlife had been lost, Sabuhoro volunteered to infiltrate poachers on their own turf by disguising as a potential buyer for a baby gorilla. The mission was successful and the culprits were put to prison. "I felt so bad that I had put these people in jail -- but I felt so good that I saved a baby gorilla," recalls Sabuhoro, whose next move was to visit the jailed poachers, as well as their families, to apologize for tricking them and find the reasons behind their actions. What he heard was stories of starvation and desperation. Poaching, he found, was the only way for these people to survive. "That's when I decided that what I was doing was not part of giving a solution to what is wanted outside the park," says Sabuhoro. He quickly decided to quit the job and come up with an idea to help poachers make a living -- a plan that didn't include killing wildlife. "I thought of an idea of turning poachers to farmers," says Sabuhoro, who took all of his savings -- $2,000 -- and divided it to poachers to rent land, buy seeds and start farming. "I left them with that and they started farming, and when I came back six months after I found they had harvested enough -- they had enough food at home, but they were [also] selling more in the markets." But Sabuhoro wasn't finished. While talking to tourists who came to visit the volcanoes, Sabuhoro came up with an idea to capitalize on their interest in the area, and provide work for former poachers. "I started a tour company called Rwanda Eco Tours, and I said for tourism to thrive in the country we need eco-tourism where tourists can give back to the community and then the communities will have an incentive to conserve the park. So we built a cultural village in 2006 -- before we finished, we had tourists visiting us." he says. "In 2010, we got $30,000 net income from the cultural village and put this back to different activities in the village level." Sabuhoro, whose work with the cultural village has received international recognition, including a chance to briefly meet U.S. president Barack Obama as a Young African Leader, is now trying to take his idea further to other national parks across Africa where poaching is causing similar problems. "If we can work together, on a regional level, continent level, we can save these species," he says. "Because these are the last species that we have. And as human beings we can't afford to fail the wildlife." Watch this: Meeting the men who poach Rwanda's gorillas. Watch this: Flourishing community protects gorillas. More from African Voices.

Conservationist Edwin Sabuhoro founded a cultural village in Rwanda. The village provides work for poachers and unemployed youth.

Is there anything laser can't do? From cutting diamonds to preserving endangered sites, all the way to building terrifying weapons and turning your eyes from brown to blue, there is apparently no end to the list of applications for laser. Swiss physicist Jean-Pierre Wolf is working on yet another impressive addition to that list: using focused laser beams to affect the weather. It sounds like black magic, but it's actually a cleaner version of cloud seeding, a form of weather modification that has been used for several years -- most famously by China in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, when they launched rockets to seed the clouds and prevent rainfall during the opening ceremony. But it's hard to tell how effective cloud seeding actually is, and it involves the spraying of chemicals into the atmosphere, something which it surely doesn't need. Laser is therefore a completely clean alternative to traditional cloud seeding: it's light, and nothing but light. How does laser actually affect the weather? Just like cloud seeding, it can create new clouds where there are none, by inducing condensation: naturally occurring water vapor is condensed into droplets, and ice crystals form, mimicking the natural process that creates clouds. That way, rainfall can be triggered to "empty" the atmosphere and increase the potential of dry weather later on: "We did it on a laboratory scale, we can already create clouds, but not on a macroscopic scale, so you don't see a big cloud coming out because the laser is not powerful enough and because of a lot of technical parameters that we can't yet control," Professor Wolf told CNN's Nick Glass. That is not to say that the laser he's tested isn't powerful: at one terawatt, it has the same energy produced by all the nuclear power plants on Earth: "Of course, it doesn't last very long," Wolf said. The technology is still in its infancy then, but once it's perfected, it could help us modulate the weather in areas of high contrast, such as California or Chile, where flooding and droughts occur in extreme vicinity. Through lasers, those effects could be smoothed to have less rain in flooding-prone areas and more rain in drought-prone areas: "You can transport the water to a different location," Wolf said. Laser seeding can make more than clouds: it can also trigger lightning. "We also showed that it's possible to trigger lightning in clouds, within clouds, but not to the ground, yet." Recent tests have shown promise: " A few years ago, in New Mexico, we moved our big mobile terawatt laser to the top of a mountain and we shot it up into the atmosphere, trying to trigger lightning. We didn't, but we could see some small discharge, lightning, within the cloud. You know, 90 per cent of the lightning discharge are intra-cloud, not against the Earth. So, we are still working on that, but there is hope." Controlling lightning, or facilitating its discharge in a desired location, would help reduce the costs associated with lightning damage -- they run into the billions of dollars each year, adding to thousands of people injured or killed by lightning strikes. Affecting the weather could also turn out to be one of our best bets at limiting the impact of climate change. Professor Wolf reckons lasers could be used to "repair" the weather, reducing the occurrence of hurricanes, thunderstorms, flooding, and drought. But his laser technology can look way beyond the clouds: "There are potential applications in the biomedical field: by changing the color of the laser, we could identify and selectively kill cancer cells, with little or no collateral damage." Yet another potential application to add to that list: "Every time you think you have done everything you can with lasers, something new comes up: it's quite amazing."

Swiss Professor Jean-Pierre Wolf is pioneering the use of lasers to affect the weather. He suggests lasers could also be used to limit the impact of climate change.

Baltimore (CNN)The streets of Baltimore are calm once again. For the second night in a row, protesters peacefully dispersed Wednesday night after a 10 p.m. curfew meant to prevent riots that tore up the city two days earlier. Many wore T-shirts that said "Black Lives Matter," demanding accountability for the death of Freddie Gray. While the Baltimore protesters remained calm, some of their counterparts across the country were not. More than 100 people were arrested in New York during a "NYC Rise Up & Shut It Down With Baltimore" rally Wednesday night, New York police said. And Denver police arrested 11 people for charges such as assaulting a police officer, robbery, resisting police, disobedience to lawful orders and obstructing roadways. All this comes as protesters demand to know what happened to Gray, who was arrested April 12 and suffered a severe spinal cord injury. He died one week later. Demonstrations are planned for Thursday in Cincinnati, CNN affiliate WXIX said. And a "Philly is Baltimore" protest will take place at Philadelphia City Hall, Philly.com said. Seattle, Portland, Oregon, and Oakland, California, are on tap for Friday, which is also May Day or International Workers Day -- often used to call attention to issues affecting the working class and minorities. More than 100 people arrested during the fracas in Baltimore this week were released Wednesday without charges, the state public defender's office said. Authorities either had to charge or release them within 48 hours of their arrests. "We've come up on a time line," said Police Commissioner Anthony Batts. But, he added: "We're not giving up on them. We're just going to follow up." Enya Baez-Ferreras, a student at Johns Hopkins University, joined in the protests Wednesday. She said the violence that marred Baltimore this week is not reflective of the city. "Baltimore is not violent. We have been under a lot of duress, and the violence that erupted the other day is only in reaction to the years and decades of oppression, of police brutality, of harassment that many of the Baltimore residents have been under," she said. President Barack Obama denounced the "violence, looting, destruction that we saw from a handful of individuals in Baltimore." "There's no excuse for that," he said in an interview that aired Wednesday on "The Steve Harvey Morning Show." Obama said his "heart goes out" to injured officers, and he praised police who he said "showed appropriate restraint." But he also talked about the state of urban communities. "If you send police officers into those situations where the drug trade is the primary economy and you say to them basically your job is to contain that and arrest kids and put them in jail, when those police officers know (it's not going to fix things), then it's not surprising you end up with a situation of enormous tension between those communities and those police officers," he said. Obama: Baltimore rioting 'hurts communities that are already suffering' The relative calm that took over Baltimore can be credited in part to peaceful protesters who formed human barricades between hot-tempered demonstrators and police, day and night. "We show that we can police ourselves," said a man who stood for hours in what protesters called a "unity line." "We're about positivity here in Baltimore. It starts with us. This long line of people came out here because what we seen on TV (Monday night), we didn't like it." The city implemented a 10 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew for a one-week period that started Tuesday. Asked if she was considering lifting the curfew early, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told CNN's Chris Cuomo she had not made a decision yet. "We re-evaluate it on a daily basis," the mayor said Thursday morning. Many residents credited police for not overreacting after the curfew went into effect Tuesday night, setting the tone for peaceful dispersal. "The police did a fantastic job tonight," one person commented on Twitter. "Technically they could of arrested everyone at 10:01." Some 2,000 National Guardsmen and more than 1,000 police officers from across Maryland and neighboring states were assigned to the streets of Baltimore on Tuesday night, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said. Opinion: In Baltimore riots, 'our hearts were broken' While there was no major damage Wednesday, the recovery from Monday's destruction is far from over. Many saw their homes and vehicles damaged, their livelihoods in shambles. So residents like Cindy Oxendine took to the streets to sweep up rocks, glass and more, despite her aching back. The governor's office has started a website for those wanting to help Baltimore recover from this week's riots. "We have received an outpouring of support from Marylanders and people all around the country who want to help get our beloved Baltimore back on its feet in the wake of the violence and destruction," Hogan said in a statement. The website, governor.maryland.gov/mdunites/, allows visitors to volunteer for cleanup efforts, donate to charities helping affected residents and report new incidents to police. Some leaders slam 'thug' as the new n-word. CNN's Brian Todd reported from Baltimore; Holly Yan reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Evan Perez, Greg Botelho, Dana Ford and Diane Ruggiero contributed to this report.

Protests spread to New York and Denver, with more scheduled for other cities. More than 100 people arrested in Baltimore this week are released.

Ferguson, Missouri (CNN)Change has come to Ferguson. After months of turmoil and upheaval, months of frustration and anger, the beleaguered city has a new governing board. And it looks very different than the old one. Buoyed by a higher-than-normal 30% turnout, two African-American candidates won their wards Tuesday night to make the six-member City Council 50% black. Ferguson's population of about 21,000 is 70% black, but the City Council was predominantly white, as is the police force. Supporters of both candidates said that from the tragedy of a young black man's death, a new day dawned in Ferguson. Ella Jones screamed when her victory became official late Tuesday night. She won 49.76% of the vote. "Thank you, Ward 1. I love you," an emotional Jones said at a party held at Drake's restaurant. She will become the first black woman ever to sit on the Ferguson council. But both Jones and Wesley Bell, who won the Ward 3 seat with nearly 67% of the vote, said they did not see their victories from a racial perspective. Jones, who resigned her job as a Mary Kay cosmetics sales director to run for office, said in her ward, she heard the same complaints from a 65-year-old black man as she did from his white peers. "My job is to be that catalyst so we can put a new face on Ferguson," she said. Bell, a lawyer and criminal justice professor, said, "I'm more interested in having quality on the council," when asked about the change in its racial makeup. He had made community policing his No. 1 priority and said he intends to be deeply involved with the hiring of a new police chief in this St. Louis suburb. The former chief, Tommy Jackson, resigned after a scathing U.S. Department of Justice report found systemic discrimination against African-Americans in law enforcement and the municipal court. Bell said he wants Ferguson's police officers to be judged by the number of people they know in the community, not by the number of tickets they issue. One other seat was up for grabs in Ferguson. That was won by Brian Fletcher, a former mayor who launched the "I Love Ferguson" campaign to raise money for mom-and-pop businesses that were hurt by the violence and vandalism during the protests last fall. Fletcher beat his opponent, Bob Hudgins, with 56.7% of the vote. Fletcher told voters he was best suited for a City Council job despite his critics' claims that he was too entrenched in the old guard. "I understand that feeling, but those individuals don't know me," he said. Fletcher said he had contacts with elected officials from his almost three decades in politics. That would be an invaluable asset in getting Ferguson back on its feet, he said. The city is required to approve a new budget by the end of June, and the new council will have to look for alternative sources of revenue to replace the $3 million or so lost from money generated by traffic tickets and fines. "That amount will drop significantly," Fletcher said. Earlier in the day, the skies grew dark and the radio crackled with warnings of flash floods. Amid the rain, Ferguson opened its polls at 6 in the morning with concern that few would come out to vote in such a pivotal election. But Tuesday was different. It was the first city election since white police Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August. There was dread, especially in the African-American community, that if the turnout was low, then all the protests, investigations and calls for change would have been in vain. The candidates who had run campaigns calling for change hoped a decent turnout would weigh in their favor. "That is what our democracy about," Bell said. Bell ran against Lee Smith, a retired electrical plant employee, in Ward 3, which includes Canfield Drive, where Brown was killed, and the West Florissant Avenue business corridor that felt the brunt of the protests and the vandalism. Charred, heavily damaged buildings still stand as scars of Ferguson's despair and anger. "You got your vote on?" yelled Tommy Chatman Bey, a Bell supporter who was distributing campaign literature at Koch Elementary School, the precinct closest to where Brown lived. Some residents did have their vote on. They felt a duty to vote this year. One of them was Yvette Bailey, 41, who works as a planner for Coca-Cola. Yes, she voted in presidential elections, but she never paid much mind to local races. Until now. Even though she was aware of the problems around her, Brown's killing, she said, woke her up. "It made me think of all the males in my family," said Bailey, who lives right off Canfield Drive. She was undecided about who to vote for until the last minute when she walked into the polling station with another voter and they discussed the race. Bailey decided to cast her vote for Bell simply because he was a young man. She thought he had energy and was more in sync with Ferguson's youth. "I think he will be more open-minded," she said after voting. Changing the way Ferguson polices its people was No. 1 on many a voter's agenda. Even the candidates who take issue with the Department of Justice report on Ferguson agreed that the city needed change when it came to policing. "We have to get out of this law enforcement for business," said candidate Doyle McClellan, coordinator of the computer network security program at Lewis and Clark Community College. McClellan referred to the DOJ's finding that Ferguson issued fines and traffic tickets to generate revenue for the city. "That's not a good thing," McClellan said as he stood in the drizzle at a polling station, hoping to persuade voters who were still undecided. Ted Heidemann, a 67-year-old retired airline pilot, said he voted for Fletcher. If some residents saw Fletcher as part of the problem, Heidemann asked why no one complained when Fletcher was mayor. He said Brown's shooting brought a lot of bad things to light. "We didn't realize the effect some of the institutional problems had on poor people," he said. "Some things need to be changed, and we are aware of that." By midafternoon, Fletcher said the numbers were looking good. At a church where voters from all three wards were casting ballots, Fletcher predicted a 40%-50% turnout. When the rain let up for a few minutes, a stream of voters trickled into the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Ferguson to cast their votes. Ellory and Kathy Glenn both voted for Fletcher's opponent, Hudgins, a political novice who attracted attention as a white man who routinely stood with protesters on the front lines. Hudgins likes to talk about how he married a black woman and has a biracial teenage son. "I wanted change," said Ellory Glenn, 60, who is black. His wife is white. He said the couple moved to Ferguson after he retired from the Marine Corps in 1995 because they felt it was a racially welcoming place. But now, after all the problems rose to the surface, it's time for fresh blood on the council, Glenn said. "Quit using law enforcement as a revenue stream," Glenn said. "That's like using the military to go into places and looting them. The police are supposed to keep order." Angela Jackson came to vote with her husband and two little girls in tow. She voted for Jones, the former Mary Kay cosmetics sales director. Jackson echoed the thoughts of other Ferguson residents who experienced something new in this election: candidates coming to their door. Past elections have not seen the kind of canvassing activity that took place in the last few weeks. Nor have past municipal elections drawn so much media attention. "One thing we really liked is (Jones) came to our door and talked to us about her desire to make change in our neighborhood," Jackson said. "She's going to be hands on. She lives in the neighborhood as well and has for the past 36 years. We were kind of taken by that." The rain began to fall again as the Glenns got in their car. It was expected to continue off and on through the day and night. But at about 5, just when many voters were leaving work, the sun shone brilliantly. Overheard at one precinct: Good weather brought out the worst in Ferguson last August. Maybe today, it would bring out the best.

For the first time ever, Ferguson's City Council will be half black. The two winning black candidates vowed to bring reform. The election was a critical test in this beleaguered city.

The world learned his name after he was killed by a South Carolina police officer. But in his life, 50-year-old Walter Scott was also the father of four children and served in the Coast Guard before being honorably discharged. "He was outgoing -- loved everybody, (was) very known in the community and got along with everybody," his brother Anthony Scott told CNN's Don Lemon. "All the family loves him, and his kids loved him." Until it all came crashing down Saturday morning, when North Charleston police Officer Michael Slager pulled Scott over, reportedly for a faulty brake light. Dash cam video released Thursday shows the two talking, then shows Scott get out of his car and run. Why did he run? Justin Bamberg, a lawyer for Scott's family, speculated Thursday it could have been related to "child support and a fear of maybe going back to (jail)." At the time of his death, Scott owed over $18,000 in back payments for two children and hadn't made a payment since July 2012, according to Charleston County family court documents. Another family lawyer, Chris Stewart, acknowledged that Scott had been arrested previously for outstanding warrants for not paying child support, but Stewart said that had been Scott's lone issue with the law for the past 20 years. "I know that it had nothing to do with anything violent," Bamberg said of Scott's legal history. "He was not a dangerous person." According to a police report, Scott did not comply with an officer's demands and tried to grab Slager's stun gun. Slager fired eight shots, five of which struck Scott. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Regardless of why Walter Scott ran, "running from an officer doesn't result in the death penalty," Stewart said. Slager has been charged with murder, a charge that might not have come about if not for a bystander's video of the shooting. Anthony Scott said he watched the video that showed his brother getting shot dead, footage that has traumatized the family. "When I saw that video for the first time, my family was deeply hurt that someone would gun down a human being in that way," the brother said. "We just couldn't believe it." The last time the family got together with Walter Scott was when the siblings threw a surprise wedding anniversary party for their parents. "It was a great celebration," Anthony Scott said. "My dad and brothers planned it, and (my mother) was totally surprised. "Now this happens," Scott said, referring to his brother's shooting. "It's so tragic." CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

Walter Scott owed over $18,000 in back child support payments, documents show. Walter Scott had four children and served in the Coast Guard, his brother says. He was shot in the back and killed by a North Charleston police officer.

A grand jury in Dallas County, Texas, has decided not to indict two officers in the fatal shooting of Jason Harrison, a schizophrenic man whose mother had called police for help getting him to the hospital. "This particular case was reported out as a 'no bill,' from the grand jury," said Cristal Retana, a spokeswoman for the Dallas County District Attorney's Office. The grand jury's decision not to indict means Officers John Rogers and Andrew Hutchins won't face criminal prosecution in the case. But the officers are still facing a wrongful death lawsuit from Harrison's family. The incident occurred in June, and Harrison's family filed a lawsuit in November. The release of video from one of the officer's body cameras put the shooting back in the headlines last month. In it, Harrison's mother answers the door for police and nonchalantly walks outside. "Oh, he's just off the chain," she says. "You can hear him, talking about chopping up people." It was a fairly routine occurrence for her to call the police for assistance with her son. An officer asks who she's talking about, and she replies, "My son, bipolar, schizo," as Jason Harrison appears in the doorway behind her. He is twiddling a screwdriver between his fingers. One of the two officers called to the scene tells Harrison to drop the tool, a command the officers repeat at least four times as Harrison's mom screams, "Jay! Jay! Jay!" Within five seconds of that first command, the 39-year-old schizophrenic man is shot five times -- including twice in the back as he crashes headlong into the home's garage door, just a few feet from his mother. Video from one officer's body camera fades to black as Harrison's mother wails, "Oh, they killed my son! Oh, they killed my son!" The officers continue to tell Harrison to drop the weapon. The Harrison family's lawsuit against Rogers and Hutchins says they should have used nonlethal means of defusing the situation instead of choosing to engage "in unlawful vicious attacks" when they and the department were aware of Harrison's condition. The suit also claims the officers violated Harrison's civil rights. The officers, however, said in affidavits that they were forced to shoot an armed man who they deemed dangerous after he failed to comply with repeated orders to drop a screwdriver. CNN's Matthew Stucker and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to this report.

Police in Dallas shot and killed Jason Harrison last year. A grand jury has decided not to indict the officers. The officers are still facing a civil lawsuit filed by Harrison's family.

Sao Paulo, Brazil (CNN)Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians are taking to the streets in protests across the country, lashing out against President Dilma Rousseff as she struggles with an economic downturn and a massive bribery scandal. The demonstrators have called for the President to be impeached. On the other side Rousseff's base is holding rallies in her support. There are a number of issues at play. One of the biggest: an investigation into a multimillion-dollar kickback scheme at the state-run oil company Petrobras. Petrobras was long considered the corporate jewel in Brazil's crown, one of the biggest companies in the world by market capitalization. But last year, investigators launched a sweeping investigation. According to suspects-turned-witnesses, construction companies paid bribes to executives at Petrobras as well as politicians to secure lucrative contracts. Most of the politicians accused in the investigation belong to the President's Workers Party and its allies. During many of the years that the alleged corruption took place, Rousseff was the chairwoman of Petrobras. There hasn't been any evidence she was involved with the scheme, and her supporters say the position is merely a figurehead. Rousseff has defended Brazilians' right to protest and acknowledged the need to clean up corruption at Petrobras -- but denied any prior knowledge of it. But Brazilians are still outraged. Rousseff won re-election with just over 50% of valid votes in October, but her approval rating plummeted to 13% after the protests last month. Compounding the frustration is the economy, which is expected to contract this year. Inflation is stubbornly high, and the currency has lost more than 20% of its value against the dollar this year alone. Both sides are. The country was already sharply divided during presidential elections in October. Roughly half of the voting population didn't vote for Rousseff, and many of those same people joined protests immediately after elections. Rousseff's supporters like to characterize the protesters as Brazilian elite and right-wingers, and some small groups do carry signs calling for a military intervention to oust the President. But with the Petrobras scandal growing and the economy sinking, the protests have gotten bigger and broader, with many demonstrators saying they initially voted for Rousseff. Protesters say Rousseff should be impeached for failing to halt the corruption at Petrobras. On the other hand, labor unions, social activists and groups such as the Landless Workers Movement who support the government have organized their own marches. The demonstrations are meant as a show of force for democracy, with participants saying the President was democratically elected and cannot be impeached. But participation has not been consistently strong. The President has said Petrobras should be cleaned up. Has she done anything about it? She says she's given prosecutors and the Federal Police free rein to investigate the Petrobas scandal. Some of her allies who have been implicated in the investigation think Rousseff should do more to protect them. This scandal has been known publicly for at least a year, and during Rousseff's election campaign, she said she would root out corruption. The Brazilian economy was booming for the good part of a decade, bolstered by voracious demand for its commodities from China. But with China's economy cooling, Brazil has failed to find a successful alternative to promote growth and shore up investor confidence. Now, with the President's approval rating abysmally low, it will be difficult to implement the savings needed to get the economy back on track. Rousseff has appointed a market-friendly economy minister, Joaquim Levy, to try and fix the country's fiscal problems. But in the current political crisis, he hasn't been able to make much progress.

Protesters angry over bribery scandal involving state-run oil company Petrobras. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff also is struggling with an economic downturn.

(The Hollywood Reporter)Stan Freberg, whose freewheeling comic career in advertising garnered him worldwide acclaim and whose satirical entertainments abounded on TV, the radio and on records, has died. He was 88. Freberg died of natural causes at a Santa Monica hospital, his son and daughter, Donavan and Donna Freberg, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. "He was and will always be my hero, and I will carry his brilliant legacy forward as best I am able," his son wrote on Facebook. The godfather of humorous and irreverent commercials, Freberg lampooned cultural institutions and described himself as a "guerilla satirist." The New York Times dubbed him the "Che Guevara of advertising," and years later, "Weird Al" Yankovic called him a major influence on his career. "Very sad to say that one of my absolute all-time heroes has just passed away," Yankovic wrote on Twitter. "RIP Stan Freberg. A legend, an inspiration, and a friend." Freberg also was known for his musical parodies. "Wun'erful Wun'erful," his 1957 spoof of "champagne music" — on which he collaborated with orchestra leader Billy May — lampooned "The Lawrence Welk Show." He also parodied Johnnie Ray's hit "Cry," which Freberg rendered as "Try." (Ray was quite angry until he realized Freberg was fueling sales of his record.) The Los Angeles native had hit records of his own, including "St. George and the Dragonet," a 1953 send-up of the series "Dragnet." His recordings were so popular that he landed his own radio program in 1954, "That's Rich." Three years later, he presented "The Stan Freberg Show" on CBS Radio, where he regularly mocked commercials by advertising bogus products. Hollywood Reporter: "Mad Men's" return. He won a Grammy Award in 1959 for best performance, documentary or spoken word for "The Best of the Stan Freberg Shows." Earlier in the 1950s, Freberg helped create and write the Emmy Award-winning comedy "Time for Beany," also working with puppets and performing on the show. Its droll, off-the-wall humor appealed to fans including Albert Einstein. During Beany's early gestation, he and the other writers had no office, so they wrote in coffee shops at night as well as in an "office" in a condemned building. Not surprisingly, Freberg ruffled institutional feathers. Capitol Records balked at releasing his satires of radio-TV personality Arthur Godfrey and Ed Sullivan's variety show "Toast of the Town." Hollywood Reporter: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" -- the untold story. Freberg disdained the hard sell. He created such classic comic ad capers as "Nine out of 10 doctors recommend Chun King Chow Mein," and his Jeno's Frozen Pizza campaign featured the Lone Ranger and Tonto. He skewered the greed of the ad business in "Green Chri$tma$, which criticized the over-commercialization of the holiday. In 1958, Freberg opened his own ad agency, Freberg Ltd. His slogan was "More Honesty Than the Client Had in Mind," and he even had a corporate motto: "Ars Gratia Pecuniae" (Art of the Sake of Money). Freberg, whose inspirations were Jack Benny, Fred Allen and Norman Corwin, worked in cartoons for decades, starting in the 1940s. He provided the voice for Junyer Bear in the 1948 Chuck Jones Looney Tunes cartoon "What's Brewin', Bruin," and he famously played the three pigs, the wolf and the singing narrator in another Looney Tunes classic, 1957's "Three Little Bops." He teamed often at Warner Bros. with the great Mel Blanc. Freberg also was the voice of Beaver in Disney's "Lady and the Tramp" (1955). For the feature Looney Tunes, "Back in Action" (2003), he was heard as a baby bear. Survivors also include his wife, Hunter, and a granddaughter. ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved.

Stan Freberg was famed comedian, song parodist. He later became adman, did a number of outrageous commercials. "Weird Al" Yankovic: " A legend, an inspiration, and a friend"

Call it a little piece of heaven for a family torn apart by tragedy. Back in July, Sierra Sharry and Lane Smith were just about to become parents. Sharry was eight months pregnant. But then Smith fell and hit his head. He was taken to the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City. Smith never recovered. "July 13th 2014 was the absolute worst day of my life," Sharry posted on Facebook. "I lost my best friend. The father of my unborn child." Their son Taos arrived a few weeks later. When it was time for his 6-month pictures, Sharry had a special request. Maybe the photographer could make their family complete, just for one picture. "They asked me if I would be willing to 'play around' with capturing their first family photo by editing Taos' daddy in one of their pictures," Kayli Rene' Photography posted on Facebook. "I just got to thinking, we don't have a picture with Lane in it," the new mom told CNN affilaite KOCO. The photographer wasn't sure it would work, but they found just the right picture of Smith -- one that has him looking over his family's shoulder. "Lane's not physically here with us, of course, but that picture represents to us that he is always watching over us and he will always be there for us no matter what," Sharry said. The family photo has become a social media sensation after appearing on the photographer's Facebook page this week. It has some 193,000 likes and more than 24,000 shares. "I can't believe she actually did this," Sharry said. "It's like amazing and apparently everyone else thinks it is too."

Sierra Sharry was eight months pregnant when her son's father died. A photographer was able to add Lane Smith to the family photo.