NEWS For You

Five things to watch at the Olympics on Friday

2012-08-10T05:34:00.002-07:00

(CNN) -- The United Stateshas injury worries about the track as the basketball team worries in regards to a familiar foe.
Allow me to share five what to watch at the Olympics on Friday:
1) Men's 4x400 relay: U.S. hopes to carry on streak
The usa is lucky to be in the last, lucky, that is, that Manteo Mitchell found a method to finish his opening leg despite a broken fibula. The United States have to get a replacement for him as they challenge the Bahamas for the gold. Also be mindful of England, which will have almost all of the 80,000 fans at Olympic Stadium cheering for the children.

Final is a 9:20 p.m. London time (4:20 p.m. ET)
2) Basketball: U.S. having dreams about another last
TeamUsfaces veteran Argentina in what is seen as a tough semifinal matchup for that dominant Americans. Sure the us beat them 126-97 inside preliminary round, however it was obviously a one-point game at half and surely the Americans won't score 42 points from the third quarter again. Argentina figures to slow the sport down slightly and they are expected to have point guard Pablo Prigioni back.
London 2012: Live blog
Semifinal game begins at 9 p.m. London time (4 p.m. ET).
3) Cycling: BMX, baby
Eight riders, a great deal of jumps and bumps, some sharp turns, a lot of crashes. Because the New York Times said: "Given the carnage on display Thursday, it truly is safe to assume that whoever designed the BMX racetrack really dislikes BMX racers." Both males and females compete in cases where with semifinals and final on Friday.
Soccer: U.S. women beat Japan
The primary events begins at 3 p.m. London time (10 a.m. ET)
4) Boxing: Superheavyweight super fight
Defending superheavyweight champ Roberto Cammarelle takes on world No. 1 Magomedrasul Medzhidov. Cammarelle, from Italy, is one kind of only eight boxers to win three medals (they are already guaranteed leastways a bronze.) Like his opponent, Medzhidov is for the shorter side to the weight class, but he accocunts for for any usual reach disadvantage with a powerful punch.
Swim coach: Australia getting 'soft'
Boxing begins at 1:30 London time (8:30 a.m. ET). Superheavyweight matches can start 10:30 p.m. London time (5:30 p.m. ET)
5) Women's 4x100 meter relay: Chance at redemption
Running with two backups, the Usacame in just a hair of breaking the Olympic record. On Friday, Carmelita Jeter and Allyson Felix will be during the lineup with the Americans within their matchup against Jamaica. It really is unclear if Jeneba Tarmoh, Tianna Madison or Bianca Knight will run again. Each team is looking to get redemption as both teams botched handoffs at Beijing.
Genocide survivor leads path for Rwandan athletes
Round hands down the relays begins at 8:40 p.m. London time (3:40 p.m. ET)

©CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/10/sport/olympics-five-things-to-watch/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Ferdinand angry after second England Euro 2012 snub

2012-06-04T22:11:00.000-07:00

(CNN) -- England coach Roy Hodgson has overlooked experienced international Rio Ferdinand for a second time after electing to call up Liverpool defender Martin Kelly as a replacement for the injured Gary Cahill.
Chelsea's Cahill suffered a double jaw fracture in England's 1-0 win over Belgium on Saturday, but instead of turning to Ferdinand, who has 81 caps, Hodgson drafted in Kelly -- who only made his international debut last month.
When Hodgson named his 23-man Euro 2012 squad last month he said he omitted the 33-year-old for "footballing reasons," having been asked if it was because of John Terry's impending court case for allegedly abusing Ferdinand's younger brother Anton.
Manchester United's Ferdinand used his official Twitter account on Sunday to say, "What reasons?????!!!"
His agent Jamie Moralee released a statement accusing Hodgson of a "lack of respect" for the center back.
"Rio's very disappointed," said Moralee. "He thought he had done enough. It's very difficult to accept.

"This is a player with 81 caps for his country. I don't know anyone who understands it. It's not been handled in the right way."
England's preparations have been overshadowed by Chelsea captain Terry's trial, which takes place after the June 8-July 1 tournament in Poland and Ukraine. Terry denies the charges.
Terry and Ferdinand have been England's preferred defensive pairing in recent years, but while the former will travel to the team's base in Krakow this week, the latter's international career now appears to be over.
Cahill joined clubmate Frank Lampard in withdrawing from the squad, with the veteran midfielder ruled out last week due to a thigh injury. Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry also misses out with a groin injury.

France coach Laurent Blanc also faces injury worries ahead of the opening Group D match against England in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk on June 11.
Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila is struggling to be fit after picking up an ankle sprain during Thursday's 2-0 win over Serbia, which the French Football Federation described as "moderately serious."
However, Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has recovered from a calf injury and the Bayern Munich star was due to fly out to the 2008 finalists' tournament base in Gdansk on Monday.
Croatia striker Ivica Olic has been ruled out with a hamstring injury, and coach Slaven Bilic has replaced him with Nikola Kalinic of Ukrainian club Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

©CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/sport/football/football-ferdinand-hodgson-england/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2

Eurozone unemployment at record high 11%

2012-06-04T22:09:00.002-07:00

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The 17-nation eurozone's unemployment rate reached the highest level since the creation of the common currency 13 years ago, climbing to 11% in April as employers slashed 110,000 jobs.
The unemployment rate in the broader 27-nation area that makes up the European Union rose to 10.3% in April, as employers trimmed 102,000 jobs from their payrolls. That was highest EU unemployment rate on records that go back to 2000.

There were 24.7 million unemployed in the EU in April, of whom 17.4 million were in the eurozone. Both figures are far above the 12.7 million unemployed in the United States, which has a population about 6% less than the eurozone. (CNN Explains: Unemployment rate)
The U.S. May jobs report, also released Friday, showed that U.S. employers added 69,000 jobs, while unemployment ticked up to 8.2%. While both results were much worse than the forecasts of economists surveyed by CNNMoney, who had been expecting 150,000 new jobs to keep unemployment at 8.1%, it was far better than Europe's job picture.
Spain new epicenter of European worries
While the unemployment rate in the United States has been falling steadily over the last seven months before Friday's report, it's been climbing across Europe. The unemployment rate for March for the 17 nations that use the euro was also raised to 11% in Friday's jobs report from the initial reading of 10.9%, while the March reading for the EU was 10.2%.
The ongoing European sovereign debt crisis is getting most of the blame for the employer job cuts. It has cut into lending by banks, reduced government employment as part of austerity plans to deal with rising debt, and led to private-sector job losses due to decreased customer demand.

Both the EU and eurozone suffered from zero economic growth in the first quarter as both teetered on the brink of a recession. Eleven nations have suffered a decline in their GDP for at least the last two quarters, which is the common definition of a recession.

The worst unemployment problems were in Spain, where the jobless rate hit 24.3%. Greek unemployment hit 21.7% in February, the most recent month for which figures are available.

Greece is at risk defaulting on its sovereign debt, especially if a European bailout deal collapses as a result of elections now set for June 17. Such a move could force it out of the eurozone. Spain is dealing with a crisis in its banking system and could need a European bailout of its own.

The unemployment problem is especially severe for young workers across Europe, as 22.4% of those age 24 or younger were jobless in the EU in April. More than half of the young workers without jobs in Spain and Greece.

©CNN

http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/01/news/economy/europe-unemployment-jobs/?hpt=ieu_c2

Champion Li crashes out of French Open; Sharapova struggles into last eight

2012-06-04T22:07:00.005-07:00

(CNN) -- Li Na's French Open title defense came to a shock end on Monday as the Chinese tennis star followed world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in exiting the clay-court grand slam.
With second-ranked Maria Sharapova struggling into the quarterfinals with a labored victory, the way is open for the lesser lights of the women's game to make a name for themselves.
Li had been hoping to become the first player since Justine Henin in 2007 to successfully defend her title, but the world No. 7 lost 3-6 6-2 6-0 to Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova -- ranked 135 places below her.
"I lost one match so don't try to put me down," she said angrily at the post-match press conference.
"I will try to find the reason why I lost. I will take some days off to totally forget tennis, then try to come back next week. I need some time to recover, I'm not a machine."

Sharapova also battled with the cold, windy conditions at Roland Garros as her serve fell apart and she made a series of unforced errors before finally beating unseeded Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-2.
The Russian is seeking to win the tournament for the first time, having reached the semifinals last year and in 2007, and she will displace Azarenka at the top of the rankings if she makes it to the title match.
She has not won a grand slam since 2008, when she added the Australian Open to her U.S. Open and Wimbledon crowns.
The 25-year-old has resurrected her career after longterm shoulder problems, but major doubts remain about the consistency and strength of her serve -- which let her down in last year's Wimbledon final defeat by Petra Kvitova and again in the title match against Azarenka in Melbourne in January.
The match with Zakopalova featured an incredible 21 breaks of service as Sharapova delivered 12 double-faults to her opponent's seven and 53 unforced errors to the 30-year-old's 48.

"The conditions were difficult today, but it was a good test," said Sharapova, who lost only five games in her previous three matches.
"I had the chance to finish it in two. I came out strong in the third set and it's nice to be in the quarters again."
Sharapova will next face Estonian 23rd seed Kaia Kanepi, who upset former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in round three and then beat unseeded Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus on Monday.
Kanepi won 6-1 4-6 6-0 against the 21-year-old conqueror of Germany's No. 25 Julia Gorges to match her 2008 effort of reaching the quarters.
Shvedova's reward for toppling Li is a clash with Czech fourth seed Kvitova , who thrashed Uzbekistan-born American Varvara Lepchenko 6-2 6-1 to reach the event's last eight for the first time.
The 24-year-old Shvedova also reached quarterfinals in Paris in 2010, when she won grand slam doubles titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. However, she was a first-round loser here last year and then at Wimbledon and missed the other two majors as she struggled with injuries.
After Sharapova and Kvitova, the highest-ranked player remaining in the last eight is U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur.
The sixth-seeded Australian, who was runner-up in Paris in 2010, will next face Azarenka's conqueror Dominika Cibulkova.
Tuesday's other quarterfinal will be between German 10th seed Angelique Kerber and Italy's No. 21 Sara Errani.

©CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/sport/tennis/tennis-li-na-sharapova-french-open/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2

Red Bull told to modify controversial car

2012-06-04T22:06:00.004-07:00

(CNN) -- Motorsport's governing body the FIA has told Red Bull to modify the floor of its controversial Formula One car ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix.
Australian Mark Webber drove the RB8 to victory at last month's Monaco Grand Prix, but rival teams questioned the legality of a hole in the car's floor located in front of the rear tire.
FIA rules dictate the floor of an F1 car must be "continuous, rigid (no degree of freedom in relation to the body/chassis unit)" and "impervious."
It has now taken the step of issuing a note to teams in order to reinforce the laws of the sport, with two-time constructors' champions Red Bull set to make the appropriate modifications.

"Red Bull are expected to revise the much-talked-about 'holes' in their car's rear floor ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix," read a statement on the sport's official website.
"Other teams had interpreted the rules to mean only floor slots are allowed and the FIA has now made clear that it will consider enclosed holes illegal from the Montreal race onwards."
Webber and two-time world champion teammate Sebastian Vettel are tied for second in the drivers' standings, with Red Bull also leading the constructors' championship after six races.
The hole in the RB8's floor was initially approved by FIA scrutineers, and the Austrian-owned marque have been running with their current setup since April's Bahrain Grand Prix.

©CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/sport/motorsport/motorsport-f1-red-bull/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2

Eyes of world on spectacular Thames royal pageant

2012-06-04T22:05:00.001-07:00

On June 3 - 5, the UK's Queen Elizabeth II marks her Diamond Jubilee year with a series of parties and pageants. CNN's Piers Morgan and Brooke Baldwin will be there to follow the festivities. Join them at the following times: June 3: 1030 (ET), 1530 (CET); June 4: 1730 (ET), 2230 (CET); June 5: 0900 (ET), 1400 (CET).
London (CNN) -- The Thames became a sea of red, white and blue Sunday, as tens of thousands celebrated the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II -- so perhaps it was only fitting that alongside all the flags, another great British tradition was very much in evidence: Gray skies and rain.
Some 20,000 people took to the water aboard 1,000 vessels for a river pageant featuring dragon boats, a floating belfry and the royal barge. The event -- inspired by regal riverside celebrations of the past -- was the largest such celebration on the Thames for hundreds of years.
Around a million people were expected to line the route to cheer on the queen, at the head of a seven-mile long flotilla. But bad weather meant a planned fly-past was canceled.
Follow CNN's live blog
Isabella Hales and her family staked out their claim to a spot near Tower Bridge -- where the festivities reached a climax on Sunday evening.

"It's cold, but I don't mind," the 10 year old, wearing a cardboard Duchess of Cambridge mask that was rapidly dissolving in the drizzle, told CNN. "It was raining for the queen's coronation too. I'm just really excited, I can't wait."
"It's only the second time someone has reigned for 60 years," her aunt Laura Hales added. "It's a big accomplishment, and we wanted to celebrate that.
"There are about 20 of us -- we've come well prepared," she said, pointing out picnic supplies, party masks of the royal family -- including a corgi -- and pink champagne, "And we don't care what the weatherman says.
"Here's to Liz!" she toasted, raising her glass.

Margaretta Soulsby, from Dorset, was the first to arrive at Tower Bridge on Saturday. She had planned to camp out, but when it began raining, stewards persuaded her to spend the night in a tent nearby.
Soulsby told CNN it was "well worth it -- I'm in the perfect position," and said such events made her very proud to be British.
"In 1935, when I was 10, my father took the family to The Mall to watch the silver jubilee celebrations for King George V and Queen Mary, and I've been privileged to be present at all of the major royal events since then."
After gathering upriver in west London, the flotilla made its way from Battersea Bridge to Tower Bridge, passing through the heart of Britain's capital city over the course of several hours.
At the front were 300 man-powered boats, with thousands of volunteers propelling them down river, flags and streamers fluttering around them.
A barge carrying the eight Royal Jubilee Bells -- the largest of which, at nearly half a ton, is named for the monarch -- led the way, with peals of bells ringing out from church towers along the river.

Next came passenger boats, pleasure boats, historic wooden vessels -- the oldest built in 1740 -- and boats carrying members of the armed forces, police and fire services. One of the boats taking part, the Amazon, also took part in the 1897 Diamond Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria, Britain's longest-serving monarch and the only other to reach the landmark 60 years on the throne.
The biggest cheers were reserved for the present queen, who was carried aboard a specially-converted royal barge, opulently draped in red and gold.
Sailing boats that were too tall to pass under the 14 bridges along the river pageant route lined the river from London Bridge to Wapping, in the east, creating an avenue of sails set against the Tower of London and the city's financial center.
The queen disembarked at Tower Bridge and looked on as the remainder of the river pageant passed by in a riot of color and noise. Excitement grew as a gun salute rang out from the Tower of London.
Nearby, those not lucky enough to get a riverside spot before the area was locked down, watched the pageant on a big screen. Cheers, whistles and the odd chorus of "God Save the Queen" rang out, and the crowd stayed jolly despite the rain.
Helen McKee, from Kent, said she bought her family along to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. "We're never going to see this sort of thing again. I've got a little boy and I thought it was important for him to see it. I still remember the Silver Jubilee in 1977. It's a great atmosphere here, everyone is so friendly."
To Jamie Newell, from London, events on the river were just a forerunner of the main attraction of the day - the after party he was planning at home. Newell, decked out from head to toe in Union flags, and sporting red, white and blue contact lenses, said simply: "I love the queen."
Not everyone was of the same opinion. In a street behind the London Assembly building, scores of pro-republican campaigners had gathered, waving placards reading: "Make monarchy history" and "Don't jubilee-ve it" and chanting "Monarchy out, republic in." Today though, they seemed resigned to the fact that they were well and truly in the minority.
As the queen's barge approached and Tower Bridge lifted in salute, red white and blue streamers were tossed from the crowd. And then, as if on cue, the heavens opened, rain lashing those gathered on the riverbanks below.
Hoods and umbrellas went up, coats and ponchos went on, quickly followed by shouts of "brolleys down" from those behind.
Some of those who had gathered fled to shelter, but others remained determined to see out the whole seven-mile flotilla, even in torrential rain.
Patrick Gunning had been waiting for the flotilla since 11 a.m. on Sunday. It was well worth the wait, he said. "I've had my son Saul, who's 8, on my shoulders so we saw the whole thing, and we'll be staying a little longer."
London's Metropolitan Police said as many as 6,000 extra officers were on patrol during jubilee events.
The huge security operation comes as London prepares to host the 2012 Olympic Games, which open in late July.
Outside the capital, Britons gathered for thousands of jubilee-themed street parties and barbecues Sunday. Stores have been filled for weeks with an array of patriotic paraphernalia, from flag-adorned teapots to aprons to picnic sets, to help hosts set the scene for what is billed as a national celebration.
The celebrations continue on Monday and Tuesday, which have been declared public holidays to mark the diamond jubilee.
An afternoon garden party at Buckingham Palace will be followed Monday evening by a televised pop concert outside the palace grounds.
At the end of the concert, the queen will take to the stage to light the "National Beacon," which will be on the Mall. She will use a diamond made from crystal glass, which has been on display at the Tower of London from the beginning of May, to light the flame.
More than 4,000 beacons will then be lit in communities throughout the United Kingdom, along with the Commonwealth and UK Overseas Territories.
Tuesday will be a day of pomp and ceremony, as the queen attends a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Cathedral, followed after lunch in Westminster by a carriage procession back to Buckingham Palace, where she will appear on the balcony, flanked by members of the royal family.

©CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/03/world/europe/diamond-jubilee-river-pageant/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2

Four convicted in Scandinavian 'Mumbai-style' terror plot

2012-06-04T22:03:00.003-07:00

(CNN) -- Four men behind what officials describe as the most serious Islamist terrorist plot ever hatched in Scandinavia were convicted of the plot Monday in a courthouse in Glostrup, just outside of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Three Swedish nationals and a Tunisian resident of Sweden were found guilty of targeting Jyllands Posten, the Copenhagen-based newspaper responsible for publishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
The court ruled there was no doubt about their plan to attack and sentenced each of the men to 12 years in prison.
Counterterrorism officials in the United States and Scandinavia believe the plot was directed by al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan.

Authorities contend the four suspects planned a gun attack on the newspaper, to be followed by "the execution" of hostages.
It is possible a reception due to be attended by Denmark's crown prince in the same building as the newspaper was the intended target, a prosecutor said in court. The reception was to be held hours after the terrorist cell was arrested, but the prosecutor said there was no evidence the men were specifically targeting the crown prince.
The cell's plans were thwarted by a joint operation of Swedish and Danish security services, which tracked the suspects in December 2010 as they drove from Sweden to Denmark with a submachine gun, a silencer, and several dozen 9mm submachine gun cartridges, authorities say.
The four men convicted -- Mounir Dhahri, 46, a Tunisian citizen; Munir Awad, 31, of Lebanese descent; Sahbi Zalouti, 39, of Tunisian descent; and Omar Aboelazm, 32, of Egyptian descent -- are charged with plotting to kill a large number of people at the newspaper. They have denied the charges.
Western security services believe the plot was part of a broader al Qaeda conspiracy, authorized by Osama bin Laden, to strike Europe with operations mirroring the Mumbai, India, attack in November 2008, which killed nearly 200 people.
Dhahri, the suspected ringleader of the cell, Awad, and Zalouti had all traveled to Pakistan in early 2010. Awad and Zalouti, traveling separately, were arrested by Pakistani authorities in August 2010 before they could reach the North Waziristan region and were subsequently deported, according to a Swedish counterterrorism source.
During the trial, prosecutors pointed to a map showing Miramshah in North Waziristan and told the jury the plot had links to Pakistan, according to Elisabeth Haslund, a reporter for Berlingske newspaper, who attended the proceedings. But while the court ruled that Dhahri spent time in Waziristan, few details emerged in court on his movements there.
The court heard that Zalouti admitted to Swedish police he wired money from Sweden via Western Union to Dhahri in Bannu, a town bordering North Waziristan, according to Haslund.
Dhahri evaded capture in Pakistan, and he is believed to have received training there prior to returning to Europe shortly before the group began to plot their attack, according to the source.
At trial, it was revealed that Dhahri traveled back from Pakistan through Athens and Brussels, where Zalouti picked him up in a car. According to prosecutors, they then traveled to Copenhagen to case targets including the Jyllands Posten before traveling on to Stockholm.
Awad, the Lebanese-born suspect, had long been on the radar screen of Swedish counterterrorism services. He was suspected of having joined up with jihadist militants in Somalia in 2006 before fleeing the country when Ethiopian troops launched a military operation against Islamist militants there, according to a Danish security source.
By October 2010, Swedish security services had begun tracking the cell, placing listening devices in the men's apartments. A Swedish counterterrorism source told CNN the group did not settle on attacking the newspaper until shortly before the planned attack, and often squabbled.
Prosecutors stated that in the weeks before the plot was thwarted, there were 75 calls from a SIM card used by Dhahri to a number in Pakistan linked to "Masror," an individual suspected of involvement in terrorist activity. In court Monday, state prosecutor Gyrithe Ulrich argued the men deserved a significant prison sentence because they were "fulfilling a task ordered from Pakistan" and came close to carrying out their operation, according to Haslund.
On the evening of December 28, 2010, three of the cell members set off from Stockholm in a rental car with Dhahri at the wheel, authorities said. Security services continuously monitored their progress, including from the air. Zalouti bailed from the journey at the last minute, and was later arrested in Stockholm, according to court documents.
The court heard that after his arrest, he claimed to Swedish police he was aware that Dhahri -- his best friend -- and the others were planning an attack on the Jyllands Posten newspaper, but wanted out, according to Haslund.
Taking the stand in court, Zalouti said that at the time he only suspected a possible plot and had thought about calling police to alert them of his concerns after getting out of the car in Sweden, Haslund said.
It was just after 2 a.m. when the vehicle carrying the other cell members crossed the iconic Oresund Bridge connecting the two countries, authorities say. When they reached Copenhagen, they were initially unable to find the address where they planned to sleep. Just after 10 a.m. on December 29, Danish police, concerned the men might be about to try launch their operation, moved in to make the arrests.
Authorities say officials had already taken precautions. When they learned the group was planning to travel to Denmark, they secretly disabled their weapons, according to a Swedish counterterrorism source.
Plastic wrist strips were also found in their car, according to court documents, and security services said they believed the materials were going to be used to handcuff hostages. Security services believe the plan was to try to take up to 200 journalists hostage at the newspaper and execute many of them, a Swedish counterterrorism source told CNN.
The equivalent of $20,000 in cash was also recovered from the suspects, and a pistol and ammunition were found in one of their apartments, according to court documents.
A Swedish counterterrorism source has told CNN that investigations have revealed a complex set of connections between the plotters and a network linked to Ilyas Kashmiri, a senior Pakistani al Qaeda operative who Western intelligence believe orchestrated al Qaeda's plans to hit Europe with Mumbai-style attacks.
Dhahri and Awad had a connection to "Farid," a Stockholm-based militant of Moroccan descent who is suspected of acting as facilitator for Kashmiri's terrorist network, according to a Swedish counterterrorism source.
At trial, the prosecutor stated that in the days before the cell set off for Sweden, Dhahri was in touch by phone five times with Farid, using Zalouti's phone.
Also involved with Kashmiri's network was David Headley, an American of Pakistani descent who pleaded guilty two years ago to helping plot the Mumbai attacks.
According to an interview of Headley by India's National Investigation Agency that was obtained by CNN, Headley met with Farid in 2009 in relation to a plot Headley himself was planning against the Jyllands Posten newspaper.
The newspaper and its cartoonists have been targeted by several plots in recent years, including one by a Norwegian al Qaeda cell that was broken up in July 2010.
Kashmiri was reported killed in a drone strike in June 2011.
An attack strategy document seized on an alleged al Qaeda recruit in Berlin last spring indicates the terrorist group still hopes to launch a gun and hostage execution attack in Europe because of the publicity and fear such attacks would create.

©CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/world/europe/denmark-terror-case/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2

Buckingham Palace rocks in queen's honor

2012-06-04T22:03:00.000-07:00

London, England (CNN) -- With a military band, a string orchestra and electric guitars on full blast, London's Buckingham Palace was transformed into a rock venue on Monday as some of the biggest names in music celebrated Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee.
Former Beatle Paul McCartney headlined a colorful evening of flag-waving entertainment that also saw Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Tom Jones take the stage alongside younger acts.
The event was one of the highlights of four days of festivities that have united millions to honor the long-serving British monarch.
As psychedelic illuminations and the reds, whites and blues of the Union Jack lit up the facade of the palace, McCartney played some of his greatest hits to an audience that included Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne.

The queen was also there having joined her family at the concert's midway point. Her husband, 90-year-old Prince Philip, did not attend the show as he had been hospitalized earlier in the day with a bladder infection.

At the concert's climax the monarch, dressed in a gold gown, joined the cast of performers on stage to ignite the last in a sequence of beacons burning around the world -- a fiery salute to her 60 years on the throne.
She used a symbolic crystal "diamond" to trigger a laser that ignited a "national beacon" as 4,200 celebration fires blazed in communities across the UK and Commonwealth nations as far away as New Zealand and Tonga.
"We are now celebrating the life and service of a very special person over the past 60 years," her son, Prince Charles told 18,000 ticket-holding guests, millions more watching on television and crowds packed into the nearby Mall thoroughfare.
"As a nation this is our opportunity to thank you and my father for always being there for us, for inspiring us with your selfless devotion to duty and for making us proud to be British."
Three rousing cheers and a deafening chorus of the British national anthem, "God Save the Queen," then rang out as fireworks filled the air.
Eyes of the world on spectacular Thames pageant
Artists representing pop, rock, classical and musical theater from every decade of her reign made appearances at Monday's concert.
A few tailored their hits for the occasion. Elton John kicked off his set with "I'm Still Standing," while Stevie Wonder's rendition of "Isn't She Lovely" featured lyrics paying tribute to the "young 86-year-old" queen.
There were plenty of surprises as artists were given rare access to the royal residence and its surroundings. At one point, pop group Madness performed their hit "Our House" from the roof of Buckingham Palace. Earlier, operatic tenor Alfie Boe sang a duet with American soprano Renee Fleming from a palace balcony.
In one of the show's more bizarre moments, Grace Jones sang her 1980s hit "Slave to Rhythm" while swinging a hula hoop on her hips.
Another highlight included the performance of a song specially written by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and concert organizer Gary Barlow performed by 200 people from around the Commonwealth.
Other acts playing at the concert included Annie Lennox, American rapper Will.i.am, and Australian singer Kylie Minogue.
While she is no stranger to pop concerts thanks to her regular attendance at "royal variety" performances, it wasn't clear from her set expression whether the queen was enjoying the lineup.
Some have suggested the sovereign's music tastes lean towards songs from musicals such as "Oklahoma!." According to British media reports, she wore earplugs at a similar event in 2002 to mark 50 years of her reign.
iReporters celebrate Queen Elizabeth II
There were plenty of jokes on stage, but the queen reserved saved her smiles for the crowd and for quips made by Prince Charles about the weather which, after a weekend of rain, was dry for the duration of the concert.
On Monday she endured heavy downpours to join a flotilla of more than 1,000 vessels parading down London's River Thames as hundreds of thousands of people lined its banks.
On Tuesday, the final day of jubilee festivities, the queen and other members of the royal family are to attend a service at London's St. Paul's Cathedral. After a lunch at the Palace of Westminster she will join a carriage procession traveling back to Buckingham Palace.

©CNN's Stephanie Busari and Lauren Said-Moorhouse
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/showbiz/jubilee-concert-gallery/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2

Britain's Prince Philip hospitalized with bladder infection

2012-06-04T22:02:00.000-07:00

London (CNN) -- Prince Philip was hospitalized in Britain on Monday with a bladder infection, forcing him to miss part of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee celebration, Buckingham Palace said.
The Duke of Edinburgh, who will be 91 on Sunday, was taken to King Edward VII Hospital in London from Windsor Castle "as a precautionary measure after developing a bladder infection, which is being assessed and treated," the palace said in a statement.
The queen's husband will remain hospitalized and under observation "for a few days," the statement said.
Prince Charles noted his father's illness while addressing thousands who packed the Buckingham Palace grounds for a concert Monday night featuring music legends including Elton John and Stevie Wonder.
"The only sad thing about this evening is that my father couldn't be here with us," the prince said. "Because unfortunately, he has taken unwell."
Charles then asked the concertgoers to send his father a message, saying, "If we shout loud enough, he might just hear us in (the) hospital."
The crowd responded with a roar, which segued into chants of "Philip! Philip!"

In addition to the concert, Philip will miss Tuesday's service of thanksgiving, luncheon and carriage procession marking the 60th anniversary of Elizabeth's coronation. "He is, understandably, disappointed," the palace said.
Paul McCartney, one of the performers Monday night, addressed fans outside Buckingham Palace after news of Philip's hospitalization broke, wishing the prince a speedy recovery.
In December, Philip spent four nights, including Christmas Eve and Christmas, in Papworth Hospital being treated for a blocked coronary artery.
When Philip turned 90 last year, he said he would gradually "wind down" his workload.
"I reckon I've done my bit. I want to enjoy myself now ... have less responsibility, less frantic rushing about, less preparation, less trying to think of something to say," he told the BBC in an interview.
The longest-serving consort in British history, Philip married then-Princess Elizabeth in November 1947 in Westminster Abbey. They had two children, Prince Charles and Princess Anne, before she acceded to the throne, and two afterward -- Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. They have eight grandchildren.
Born the prince of Greece and Denmark on the Greek island of Corfu in 1921, Philip left Greece with his family when he was 18 months old after King Constantine was forced to abdicate the throne following a revolution. The family moved to Paris and then England in 1928, and Philip also went to school in Germany.
Philip renounced his Greek title when he became a naturalized British subject in 1947.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1939, and met Elizabeth in July that year when she visited the Royal Navy College in Dartmouth with her father, King George VI.
After Princess Elizabeth became queen, Philip gave up his naval career to support her and embarked on a long career of charity work, notable for its initiatives for young people.
Both he and the queen are great-great-grandchildren of Queen Victoria, and are also related through his father's side -- his paternal grandfather, King George I of Greece, was Queen Alexandra's brother.
Philip has made more than 5,000 public speeches during his working life, according to Buckingham Palace.

©CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/world/europe/uk-prince-philip/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2

Tributes paid to 'born writer' Paul Sussman

2012-06-04T22:01:00.001-07:00

London (CNN) -- Family, friends, colleagues and fans have been paying tribute to the author, archaeologist and former CNN journalist Paul Sussman, who has died suddenly.
Sussman, who lived in London with his wife Alicky and their two children, Jude and Ezra, had just completed the fourth in a series of novels, based around the exploits of a gritty detective from Cairo, that had been translated into 33 languages and sold two million copies.
On his Facebook page he described his feelings over its forthcoming publication: "First proof copy of 'Labyrinth of Osiris' arrived with the postman this morning. Curiously I am more excited about this one than any of my previous novels!"
His wife, a documentary maker, on Sunday announced Sussman's death from a ruptured aneurysm, adding: "He was a truly unique person - a brilliant Dad and adored husband. We will all miss him so, so much xxx."

Sussman, who was born in 1968, lived an extraordinary life, as he was the first to admit. "With a father who sold ladies'underwear for a living, and an actress-turned-psychoanalyst for a mother, I suspect my life was never destined to follow a wholly conventional path."
On his website he described how after graduating with a history degree from Cambridge University which he represented in boxing, he almost entered Britain's MI6 spy service, then worked as a gravedigger in France, sold cigars in Harrod's and toured Europe acting as Aunt Sponge in a "ground-breakingly execrable production of James and the Giant Peach."
On his return to London, Sussman worked in the advertising department of the Big Issue, a magazine and charity founded to help homeless people. Soon he was lobbying the magazine's founder and editor-in-chief John Bird to work as a writer.
"Paul wrote some stuff for us, and it was spell-binding," Bird told CNN. "I don't remember anyone doing it like he did. He was just a born writer.

"The Big Issue was floundering during its first year, and it was only when people like Paul came along in 1992 that we got a reputation for good journalism. He could just do anything."
Bird recalled how Sussman's quick wit and warmth relieved the serious atmosphere at the magazine. "My world was full of earnest people so to meet Paul was so refreshing," he said. "He had an electric sense of humor and seemed to be here to tell funny stories. He also had a surprising calm: he seemed supremely confident of his abilities, but never bragged or boasted."
Sussman was always up for a challenge. When Big Issue colleagues pointed out his remarkable physical resemblance to Princess Diana's boyfriend Dodi Fayed, he was photographed for a feature in which he posed in character around London. Unfortunately the magazine appeared on the streets the day after the death of Diana and Dodi in a car crash. Colleagues Simon Rogers and Xan Brooks remembered fondly that "the Monday was taken up with staff frantically sticking apologies into every single copy of the magazine."
Sussman later worked for other publications including CNN.com, for whom he wrote features but also vivid reportage. In 2001 he covered the chaotic funeral of Palestinian leader Faisal Husseini in Jerusalem's Old City when Israeli troops fired tear gas at a group of Palestinian youths. "At one point I tried to take a picture of a young boy attacking a camera," Sussman wrote. "Immediately I was surrounded by a crowd of teenagers shouting "No Photo!" One raised his fist at me and shouted 'I Hamas! You understand!'
"As soon as I explained I was English, however, and not an Israeli, their anger dissipated. The one who had raised his fist at me apologised meekly."
CNN.com International's vice president, Nick Wrenn, described how Sussman's enthusiasm inspired his colleagues. "Paul was a terrific person to work with. As well as being an outstanding journalist, he was always cheerful, always helpful.
"His natural enthusiasm lifted our spirits. He made us laugh, he made us think and he cared about people. Paul was also the master of playing down his own achievements, be it his boxing exploits, his archaeological knowledge or the fact that he became a very successful author. If you congratulated him he'd say thanks, smile, shrug and ask about you instead."
Alongside his journalism, Sussman also worked extensively as a field archaeologist, particularly in Egypt where he took part in the first expedition to dig new ground in the Valley of the Kings since the discovery of Tutankhamun in 1922.
Sussman described how he had "the dubious honor of having discovered the only items of pharaonic jewellery to have been found in the Valley since Tut."
His archaeological knowledge, along with his unique way with words inevitably led to him writing his best-selling novels, and he was proud to be described by the Independent newspaper as "the intelligent reader's answer to the Da Vinci Code." Despite his success he remained down-to-earth and accessible.
Franki Popescu was one of many fans who posted tributes on his Facebook page: "Paul was an amazing author as everyone has already said. he always took time to respond to his fans often with a wicked sense of humour! he will be sorely missed both my husband and i thoroughly enjoyed his books and send our deepest condolences."

©CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/world/europe/britain-sussman/index.html?hpt=ieu_t5

Pakistan acquits 4 men in Times Square bomb plot

2012-06-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A Pakistani court has acquitted four men accused of taking part in a botched 2010 plot to detonate a bomb in New York's Times Square.
Attorney Muhammad Imran Safdar said his client, Humbal Akhtar, and three others were acquitted Saturday: Muhammad Shouaib Mughal, Shahid Hussain and Faisal Abbasi.
The latter remains in custody to face charges on a separate case, the lawyer said. He did not provide additional information about the other case.
The four were accused of assisting Faisal Shahzad, who tried to explode a car bomb in Times Square on May 1, 2010. The bomb failed to detonate.
Prosecutors said Shahzad carefully selected a highly populated target and intended to strike again if he wasn't caught the first time.
He was arrested two days later in New York while trying to leave the country on a flight bound for Pakistan.
Shahzad pleaded guilty and admitted to getting training from the Taliban, and was sentenced to life in prison in October 2010.
Akhtar welcomed the acquittal, his lawyer said.
"He hugged me and thanked me for my efforts," Safdar said. "He was so happy and relieved. It's been a tough time for them but this was a day of liberty for them."
His wife said he was resting at home and enjoying his time back with his three children.
"We said in the beginning, all these allegations were fabricated. Now it's been proven in court," said Rahila Humbal, the wife. "Thank God ... justice prevailed."
Authorities had accused the four of providing financial and logistical support to Shahzad, which they denied.
The lawyer said the case against the men was weak and blamed what he described as a deficient Pakistani court system for dragging out the hearing for nearly two years.
"These men are law abiding citizens. They would never imagine doing what they were accused of," he said.
Pakistan's anti-terrorism courts are closed off to the public. Despite the charges, the government never made public any evidence that linked the four men to the plot.

©CNN
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/03/world/asia/pakistan-times-square-plot/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

Pakistani doctor who helped US appeals verdict

2012-06-04T21:58:00.002-07:00

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The Pakistani doctor who helped the United States locate Osama bin Laden's compound is appealing a treason conviction that landed him a 33-year jail sentence.
The sentence against Shakeel Afridi has further strained U.S.-Pakistani relations, but court documents say the doctor wasn't convicted for helping the CIA. He was punished for having ties to extremists, the documents show.
The court found Afridi guilty of providing financial and medical assistance to the now defunct militant group Lashkar-e-Islam.
Afridi's lawyer, Samiullah Afridi, told CNN Saturday that he filed an appeal against the verdict.
The Khyber Agency court said Shakeel Afridi had "close links" with Lashkar-e-Islam, which operated in the Khyber tribal areas, and its leader Mangal Bagh.
Afridi's brother, Jamil Afridi, said last week that the allegations are false and the family is worried. Shakeel Afridi has been in custody for more than a year.
Jamil Afridi said the court accused his brother of helping Mangal Bagh but that it was the militant leader who kidnapped the doctor for ransom money.

©CNN's Nasir Habib
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/02/world/asia/pakistan-bin-laden-doctor/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

Official: 15 militants killed in suspected U.S. drone strike in Pakistan

2012-06-04T21:57:00.005-07:00

(CNN) -- A suspected U.S. drone strike in northwestern Pakistan on Monday morning killed 15 militants and wounded three others, a local government official said, the third such deadly attack in as many days.
The drone fired at least six missiles at a militant compound near the town of Mir Ali in the North Waziristan region near the Afghanistan border, government official Muhammad Amir told CNN.
North Waziristan is one of seven districts in Pakistan's tribal region. The area is widely believed to be the operating base for the Haqqani network and other militant groups that have attacked international troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
Monday's attack is the 21st suspected drone strike in Pakistan this year. U.S. officials rarely discuss the CIA's drone program in Pakistan, though privately they have said the covert strikes are legal and an effective tactic in the fight against extremists.

A day earlier, a drone is thought to have fired four missiles that killed nine militants at a militant compound in Wacha Dana, a village in South Waziristan, local government official Javed Marwat told CNN.
This followed a suspected strike Saturday near the town of Wana in the same province that killed two militants riding on a motorcycle, according to Marwat.
U.S. President Barack Obama's administration justified its use of unmanned drones to target suspected terrorists overseas in a rare public statement recently, with John Brennan, the president's top counter-terrorism adviser, saying the strikes are conducted "in full accordance with the law."
The program utilizes unmanned aerial vehicles, often equipped with Hellfire missiles, to target suspected terrorist operatives in remote locations overseas -- with many such strikes occurring in Yemen and Pakistan, despite some internal opposition within that latter South Asian country.
Brennan said the United States "respects national sovereignty and international law" and is guided by the laws of war in ordering those attacks.

©CNN's Reza Sayah and journalist Aamir Iqbal
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/03/world/asia/pakistan-drone-attack/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

Discount airlines Scoot into Asia

2012-06-04T21:55:00.000-07:00

Asia’s latest discount airliner takes to the skies Monday, with its inaugural flight from Singapore to Sydney.

Launched by Singapore Airlines, no-frills Scoot has already sold more than 100,000 tickets, according to The Straits Times. In its first year, it will offer flights on four Boeing 777 aircraft, linking Singapore with nearby countries, including Australia and China. Currently, tickets are available to the Australian cities of Sydney and Goldcoast, as well as Bangkok and Tianjin, China.

Scoot is expected to eventually offer medium and long-haul flights to destinations in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Europe.

Its launch is a bold move, especially at a time when legacy Asian airlines are struggling to turn a profit amid cut-throat competition and soaring fuel prices.

Its parent company, Singapore Airlines, reported a SG$38.2 million (US $29.6 million) loss for its January-March quarter.

Last month, Hong-Kong based Cathay Pacific halved its earnings estimate for 2012 to HK $2.03 billion (US $261 million) and reduced it by 30% for the following two years.

Australia’s Qantas announced two weeks ago that it will cut 500 maintenance and engineering jobs, following an 83% drop in its H2 2011 earnings. Its domestic and international operations will also be split into individual business units as part of a five-year turnaround plan.

Scoot’s take-off will also heighten competition between emerging low-cost carriers in the region, often launched by legacy airlines themselves.

Ticket sales opened on May 30 for AirAsia Japan, a partnership between Malaysia’s AirAsia and Japan’s All Nippon Airway, which is offering budget airfares for domestic Japanese flights from Tokyo. AirAsia Japan plans to add international flights by the end of the year.

Jetstar Japan, partially owned by Qantas and Japan Airlines, will launch new month with discount domestic flights.

They will complete with Japan’s first domestic low-cost carrier, Peach Aviation, launched last year by All Nippon Airways. Peach began a route from Osaka to Seoul last month and will add routes to Hong Kong next month and Taipei later this year.

©Alexis Lai, CNN

http://business.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/04/discount-airliners-scoot-into-asia/?hpt=ias_c2

Web of doubt surrounds India spider attack

2012-06-04T21:54:00.003-07:00

(CNN) -- A swarm of poisonous spiders has wreaked havoc in a remote town in northeast India, scaring its inhabitants and possibly killing two people.
According to a report Sunday in The Times of India, a large number of spiders descended on the town of Sadiya in Assam as a local festival came to end on May 8 and sparked panic as residents tried to avoid the swarm.

The report said that scores of people later visited the town's hospital with spider bites and a middle-aged man and a teenage boy died after being bitten by the spiders.
The incident alarmed local officials who told residents to stay indoors and considered spraying the town with insecticide, the report said.
Jintu Gogoi told The Times he felt excruciating pain and nausea after being bitten by one of the spiders and his finger was black and swollen.
However, the attack has puzzled spider experts.
Last month, LR Saikia and a team of researchers from Dibrugarh University visited the town to investigate what had happened.
Saikia told CNN that he believed the man may have died from a snake bite, while the boy may not have suffered any bite at all.
"The evidence that we gathered does not support the claim that they died after being bitten by spiders," Saikia said.
Saikia added that the man's relatives appeared to have taken him to traditional spiritual healers instead of qualified doctors when symptoms appeared.
He confirmed that about 12 people have visited hospitals in the area recently, complaining of spider bites.
"Only two of them were confirmed bitten by spiders. But they were ordinary spiders," Saikia said.
Investigators drew their conclusions from questioning relatives of the two dead people about the type of bite marks and symptoms, Saikia said.
Some 20 spiders resembling tarantulas from the incident were handed over to investigators during their week-long stay.
Tarantulas indigenous to the region are not known to be fatally venomous, but about five of the recovered spiders are currently undergoing tests.
When asked if spiders were likely to have swarmed the town of just under 1,000 people, Saikia said, "This is just a story ... based on rumors."

©CNN's Harmeet Singh in Delhi
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/world/asia/india-spiders-swarm/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

Panetta visits former U.S. base in Vietnam

2012-06-04T21:53:00.003-07:00

(CNN) -- Leon Panetta visited a former U.S. Navy base in Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam, on Sunday, marking the first trip to the base by an American defense secretary since the war ended.
The Cam Ranh Bay naval base was an important deep water port and logistics hub for the U.S., and is considered a "jewel" of deep-water ports.
Standing on the USNS Richard E. Byrd, a ship anchored at the base, Panetta thanked assembled civilian and military personnel for "your service, your sacrifice."
"The Vietnam generation is my generation," Panetta said, noting there was "a tremendous amount of blood spilled on both sides" during the war.

He called on those present to "heal the wounds of the past," saying it makes the sacrifices of those who died worthwhile and will help build a better future.
Panetta, who headed to Hanoi after the base stop, is on a tour of Asia that includes Singapore and India. His trip aims to boost military ties in the region.
"We still face a lot of threats ... still face a lot of challenges in today's world, and a lot of it is in this part of the world," Panetta said. In Singapore, he said, he outlined a new defense strategy.
As part of a "rebalancing" with Asia, the United States will enhance its military cooperation with China and boost its allies' capabilities in the region, Panetta said Saturday.
The defense secretary detailed the new strategy to a gathering of Asia's military leaders, saying the majority of U.S. warships would move to the region.
"By 2020, the Navy will reposture its forces from today's roughly 50-50 split from the Pacific and Atlantic to a 60-40 split in those oceans," Panetta said.
"We will also invest -- invest in cyber, invest in space, invest in unmanned systems, invest in special forces operations," he said. "We will invest in the newest technologies. And we will invest in new technology to mobilize quickly, if necessary," Panetta said.
Along with enhanced military cooperation, Panetta emphasized diplomacy that includes "open and free commerce, and open access by all to their shared domains of sea and air" -- a current point of friction in the South China Sea between China and regional nations.
The increased regional involvement by the United States has raised concerns about tensions with China.
"I reject that view entirely," Panetta said, calling the U.S. shift "fully compatible with the development and growth of China. Indeed, increased U.S. involvement in this region will benefit China."
Panetta said the United States will work to improve communication with China to build trust between the two nations.

©CNN Wire Staff
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/03/us/panetta-vietnam-visit/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

Decades after war, U.S. and Vietnam swap slain troops' papers

2012-06-04T21:52:00.003-07:00

(CNN) -- U.S. Army Sgt. Steve Flaherty was in a tough spot and he knew it.
"If Dad calls, tell him I got close to being dead but I'm O.K.," he wrote to his mother. "I was real lucky. I'll write again soon."
Not long after that, Flaherty's luck ran out in the jungles of Vietnam. He never wrote to his mother again.
His letter to his mother, along with at least three other letters, fell into the hands of North Vietnamese soldiers when he was killed in March 1969.
Now those handwritten letters are on their way home.

Nearly four decades after the end of the Vietnam War, the United States and Vietnam have exchanged personal papers taken from the dead bodies of each others' troops for the first time, the Pentagon announced Monday.
While the letters themselves are still in Asia, their emotional impact has already hit home for members of the Flaherty family.
Martha Gibbons said Monday that recognizing her late brother-in-law's handwriting immediately and reading of the carnage he witnessed tore at her heart and reinvigorated the positive feelings she has for him.
"I've always loved Steve and admired his courage and character," she said. "And this just made me admire and respect and love him even more."
Vietnamese Defense Minister Phuong Quang Thanh gave U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who was on a historic visit to Hanoi, the letters taken from Flaherty's body and later used in Vietnamese propaganda broadcasts.
A top Vietnamese colonel, Nguyen Phu Dat, kept the letters since the war, and mentioned them last summer in an online publication about documents from the war years.
A retired Pentagon prisoner-of-war and missing-in-action expert ran across the reference a few months later, the Department of Defense said.
The Pentagon and State Department worked with counterparts in Vietnam to arrange the handover of the Flaherty letters to Panetta, who will have them returned to Flaherty's family.
In exchange, Panetta handed over a diary taken by U.S. Marine Robert Frazure from the body of Vietnamese soldier Vu Dinh Doan in 1966.
Frazure had brought them home to Walla Walla, Washington, and kept them after his discharge from the military.
He later gave them to the sister of one of his buddies killed in the war as she researched the conflict. She passed them to the PBS program "The History Detectives," who tracked down Vu Dihn Doan's family and gave the diary to American officials to hand back.
As to Steve Flaherty, he was the biological son of a Japanese mother and American father who was adopted as an adolescent from an orphanage in Japan. He soon became a proud son of the Flaherty family in South Carolina, where he was a star student, athlete and "caring, loving young man," according to the now 73-year-old Gibbons.
"Everybody who met him loved him," she recalled. "He was very smart, very athletic, very proud of his country -- just a wonderful young man."
A college student with pro baseball prospects, Flaherty joined the Army willingly "because he felt it was his obligation," his sister-in-law said.
He was eventually dispatched to Vietnam, informing his family of the perils there by mail, even as he likely shielded the worst of it from his adopted mother. Gibbons, though, said the excerpts she's read from his recovered letters gave her new appreciation for his courage, as well as sadness that he had to deal with such terror.
"I was in tears (reading the letters) thinking of how he must have felt, how afraid he must have been yet determined to do his duty, as he stood there with bullets flying around him," she said.
"I knew he was in danger, but I never knew he was in that kind of danger. I just wept for him, and I wish I could have been there to help him."
Gibbons said the family had no idea such letters existed until about six weeks ago, when she was contacted by former Defense Department official Robert Destatte, who'd translated parts of the online Vietnamese publication.
It wasn't until Sunday that she read a new message from Destatte, telling her the letters may be exchanged the following day. On Monday, Gibbons said a top aide to Panetta called her from Vietnam, setting off a whole new wave of memories and emotions.
"It is like going through the funeral all over again, with a different feeling," she said.
Himself seeing the Flaherty letters for the first time on Monday, Panetta said "a lot of blood was spilled" on both sides but he "hopes it helped in healing relations" between the two countries.
JoAnne Shirley, whose brother Maj. Bobby Jones is the only flight surgeon still missing from Vietnam, praised Panetta's efforts.
"It shows the concern that our own government has for our guys that are missing in action or killed in action," she said.
"There are certain areas of Vietnam that we have never had access to," she said. Panetta's involvement "sends a message to the Vietnamese that we do care and are interested."
Panetta announced Monday that Vietnam is opening up three new areas of the country for remains recovery operations.
Shirley, a former chairman of the board of the National League of POW/MIA Families, said it also sends an important signal to troops fighting abroad now.
"It should send a message to those who are serving today, as well, that we are not going to to leave them on foreign soil. That we do care about them," she said.
And she said the government has a responsibility to its troops.
"Thousands of Americans are still missing from World War II to the present. We have an obligation to these guys that we send into harm's way," she said.
Panetta is on a tour of Asia that includes Singapore and India. His trip aims to boost military ties in the region.
On Sunday, he visited a former U.S. Navy base in Cam Ranh Bay, marking the first trip to the base by an American defense secretary since U.S. forces pulled out of Vietnam nearly 40 years ago.
Standing on the USNS Richard E. Byrd, Panetta said the Vietnam generation "is my generation."
He called on those present to "heal the wounds of the past," saying it makes the sacrifices of those who died worthwhile and will help build a better future.

©CNN's Greg Botelho
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/us/us-vietnam-war-letters/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

Tokyo gas attack suspect arrested after 17 years on run

2012-06-04T21:51:00.001-07:00

Hong Kong (CNN) -- A member of the Japanese doomsday cult responsible for the 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway has been arrested after 17 years on the run, Tokyo police say.
Naoko Kikuchi, 40, a follower of the Aum Supreme Truth Cult, was apprehended in the town of Sagamihara, a quiet residential area approximately 40 km west of the Japanese capital after a local resident tipped off police.

During a rush-hour attack on the morning of March, 20 1995, cult members released sarin gas that led to the death of 13 people and sickened more than 5,500 commuters.
Kikuchi has admitted to helping make the gas, which attacks the central nervous system, but was not aware how it would be used, Tokyo Metropolitan Police said. She was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
Before her arrest, she was living in a small, shabby house made out of rusted metal panels, local TV footage showed. Another resident, a 41-year-old man, was arrested for allegedly hiding the suspect.
Police were tipped off early Sunday morning and made their arrest when Kikuchi returned home in the evening. They had recently doubled the reward available for information related to the suspects' whereabouts to 10 million yen ($125,000).
Kikuchi was one of two remaining cult members wanted for their involvement in one of the most shocking acts of terrorism in Japan's history. Katsuya Takahashi. 54, is the only Aum follower involved in the attack still at large.
Doomsday cult member surrenders to police in Japan
Another cult member Makoto Hirata, wanted for the murder of a notary official, unexpectedly turned himself in on New Year's Eve, stunning many in Japan.
More than 200 members of the cult were convicted in the wake of the gas attack and 13, including Shoko Asahara, the cult's blind guru, were sentenced to death. However, no one has been executed.
The cult now claims to be a benign religious group but at the height of its activities in the 1990s, it preached the world was coming to an end and that it must arm itself to prepare for various calamities.
It had stockpiled weapons and the gas attack was part of what the group thought was an apocalyptic showdown with the government.

©CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki in Tokyo
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/world/asia/japan-cult-arrest/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

China 'wary' of U.S. focus on Pacific military power

2012-06-04T21:50:00.002-07:00

(CNN) -- The United States is "not in step with the times" in seeking to bolster its military presence in the Pacific region, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry said Monday.
Spokesman Liu Weimin's statement comes on the heels of the weekend announcement by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that 60% of the U.S. naval fleet will sail the Pacific by 2020.
The change is part of President Barack Obama's decision to reorient the United States' strategic attention to the economically vital Pacific after a decade of war in the Middle East.
The fleet is currently divided evenly between the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, Panetta said.
Liu welcomed a U.S. role in the region, so long as the country respects the interests of China and other countries there. But he said the trend in Asia today is peace and cooperation, not military buildup.

"Deliberate emphasis on military and security agendas, and strengthening military deployment and alliances are not in step with the times," he said.
Obama announced the shift to a Pacific focus during a tour of Asian countries in November.
The announcement came against a backdrop of reduced defense spending as the United States was dealing with economic issues at home, preparing to pull out of Iraq and contemplating the end of warfare in Afghanistan.

"As we end today's wars, I have directed my national security team to make our presence and missions in the Asia Pacific a top priority," Obama said in a November 17 speech in Australia. "As a result, reductions in U.S. defense spending will not -- I repeat, will not -- come at the expense of the Asia Pacific."
At the time, Obama announced plans for the United States to station up to 2,500 Marines in Australia in the coming years.
Panetta is on an eight-day trip through the region explaining the U.S. policy, and seeking to increase military ties with regional allies. He said the shift is not a threat to China and its growing military power.
"I reject that view entirely," Panetta said. "Indeed, increased U.S. involvement in this region will benefit China."
He also rejected arguments that helping U.S. allies in the region militarily is an invitation to greater tensions.
"I don't think we should take the attitude that just because we improve their capabilities that we are asking for more trouble," he said.
Panetta said the United States will work to improve communication with China with an aim to "build trust" between the two nations, and he emphasized diplomatic approaches to promoting open commerce and freedom of the seas.
A key issue in the region is the conflict between China and various regional nations -- such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan -- over the South China Sea.
The area, nicknamed "the second Persian Gulf" because of its potential for massive oil and gas reserves, is also a key passageway for the world's oil and is home to enormously valuable fisheries.
A crisis in the area has the potential for major economic damage to the United States as well. As one of the busiest sea lanes in the world, disputes in the South China Sea could have a major impact on shipping by forcing costly rerouting.
According to estimates by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, $5.3 trillion worth of trade goods pass through the South China Sea each year; U.S. trade goods account for $1.2 trillion.

©CNN's Liz Neisloss
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/world/asia/china-us/index.html?hpt=ias_c2

China slams U.S. over Tiananmen statement

2012-06-04T21:49:00.001-07:00

Hong Kong (CNN) -- China has expressed "strong dissatisfaction" with a U.S. statement urging the government to free protesters imprisoned after the 1989 crackdown near Tiananmen Square.
At a daily Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefing, spokesman Liu Weimin accused the U.S. government of making baseless allegations and interfering with China's internal affairs.
"The U.S. side has been ignoring the facts and issuing such statements year after year, making baseless accusations against the Chinese government and arbitrarily interfering with China's internal affairs. The Chinese side expresses strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to such acts," he said.
The U.S. statement came as pro-democracy activists marked 23 years since Chinese soldiers followed orders to open fire on unnarmed civilians near Tiananmen Square.

Official Chinese government figures put the number of dead at 241, including soldiers, with 7,000 injured. Rights group say the number of dead was likely to be in the thousands.
The U.S. State Department issued its remarks on the eve of the anniversary, saying the United Statements "joins the international community in remembering the tragic loss of innocent lives."
"We encourage the Chinese government to release all those still serving sentences for their participation in the demonstrations; to provide a full public accounting of those killed, detained or missing; and to end the continued harassment of demonstration participants and their families," the statement said.
Human Rights Watch estimates about a dozen Chinese citizens are still imprisoned over the June 1989 protests.
The U.S. statement added: "We renew our call for China to protect the universal human rights of all its citizens; release those who have been wrongfully detained, prosecuted, incarcerated, forcibly disappeared, or placed under house arrest; and end the ongoing harassment of human rights activists and their families."
The statement came just weeks after relations between the United States and China were strained over Chen Guangcheng, the blind human rights activist who escaped house arrest and sought refuge in the U.S.
Now studying law at a university in New York, Chen claims he and his family suffered "beyond imagination" at the hands of local officials during 18 months of house arrest in his village of Dongshigu in Shandong. Before that, he was imprisoned for four years for "damaging property and organizing a mob to disturb traffic" after campaigning to win more rights for village residents.
Chen weighed in on the June 4 anniversary by writing a message to be read to the tens of thousands of people expected to gather Monday in Victoria Park in Hong Kong.

"This Democracy Movement deserves universal approval," he said in the statement. "We ask that its requests be treated appropriately. We do not desire revenge but we want to completely reveal the truth. We are in favor of tolerance, but against forgetfulness. People who are forgetful have no future," he said.
Chen is one of a number of activists who have been imprisoned or are currently detained for campaigning for human rights or religious freedom in Communist-led China.
In the days leading up to June 4, many known pro-democracy activists were said to have been detained as a pre-emptive measure to prevent dissent.
"Many of my friends and fellow freedom fighters have been under house arrest. Especially in the last week or so, many were confined under soft detention without any freedom of movement," said Bob Fu, the founder of Christian human rights group ChinaAid who was student protest leader back in 1989.
"It was a tragic massacre for simply the students exercising the peaceful protest for demanding reform and anti-corruption and freedom in China," he said.
While Tiananmen Square has become the focal point for the events of June 4, 1989, most of the casualties occurred outside the square. In the lead up to that fatal day, protests had spread beyond Beijing to cities including Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou. And while students initiated the push for greater freedom, their cause was taken up by a broader section of society.
In China, there was no mention of the June 4 anniversary in local newspapers on Monday. No comments on China's version of Twitter, Weibo, referred outright to the anniversary. Some users were said to be trying to evade government censors by referring to "May 35th."
Others posted photos rather than messages, which were re-posted with the term "RIP." One user posted a photo of a candle with the words: "At this moment, on the other end of the dark night, a country is celebrating their queen's 60 anniversaries as Monarch. We, on the other side of the earth however, are not allowed to light the candles."
This year, for the first time, the Hong Kong commemorations will include Chinese activist Fang Zheng, a former student activist who lost both legs when he was run over by a tank in the streets off Tiananmen Square.
He spoke about his experiences while visiting a temporary museum dedicated to the crackdown in Hong Kong, a special admininstrative region of China.
"A row of tanks, three in a row, came towards us. ... I don't know whether other students encountered the tanks before me, I could have been the first one," he said.

"There were students in front of me as well and the tanks rushed towards us."
On the anniversary, Amnesty International also issued a statement again calling for the government to hold an "open and independent inquiry into the events of 1989."
The rights group paid tribute to Ya Weilin, the 73-year-old father of student who was shot and killed in the 1989 crackdown.
Amnesty said Ya and his wife Zhang Zhenxia spent 20 years campaigning for the government to make amends for those killed in the 1989 demonstration.
In a note written just before his death, Ya complained of the government's refusal to hear his grievances about his son's death, and therefore said he would "fight with his death."
Ya was later found hanged in a garage below his home.

©CNN Hilary Whiteman
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/world/asia/china-tiananmen-statement/index.html?hpt=ias_c1

Finding Amelia Earhart: New clues revealed

2012-06-04T21:45:00.005-07:00

A mystery that has enthralled Americans for nearly a century may be on its way to being solved.

New evidence released Friday revealed clues that may solve the mystery of what happened to aviator Amelia Earhart, Discovery News reports.

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery announced that a new study suggests that dozens of radio signals once dismissed were actually transmissions from Earhart’s plane after she vanished during her attempted around-the-world flight in 1937.

The announcement was made at the start of a three-day conference in Washington dedicated to Earhart and the group’s search for the famous aviator’s remains and the wreckage of her plane.

On the conference website, the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery called Earhart’s unanswered distress calls “The smoking gun that was swept under the rug.”

Discovery News reported that the group has determined 57 “credible” radio transmissions from Earhart after her plane went down.

It has been researching the disappearance of Earhart, her navigator, Fred Noonan, and her Lockheed Electra aircraft for 24 years. Its members have developed a theory that Earhart’s remains lie on Nikumaroro Island in the Western Pacific.

Nikumoro Island, then called Gardner’s Island, had been uninhabited since 1892, the group said. In its version of Earhart’s final days, she and Noonan landed there after failing to find another island. They landed safely and radioed for help, the hypothesis goes. Eventually, the Electra was swept away by the tide, and Earhart and Noonan could no longer use its radio to call for help. U.S. Navy search planes flew over the island, but not seeing the Electra, they passed on and continued the search elsewhere.

The discovery of what is believed to be an old jar of anti-freckle cream may also provide clues to this decades-old mystery. It is suspected that the cosmetic bottle found on Nikumaroro Island once belonged to Earhart.

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery will launch an expedition to Nikumaroro Island on July 2, the 75th anniversary of Earhart’s disappearance. This is their ninth expedition.

©CNN's Sari Zeidler
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/03/finding-amelia-earhart-new-clues-revealed/?hpt=us_r1

Jim Duquette, former Mets GM, donates kidney to young daughter

2012-06-04T21:44:00.004-07:00

Baseball fans who tuned into Sirius XM’s "Power Alley" on Monday didn’t hear the familiar voice of analyst Jim Duquette.

Instead, the former general manager of the New York Mets and one-time vice president of the Baltimore Orioles had more important business: trying to save his daughter’s life.

Ten-year-old Lindsey Duquette has a rare kidney disease called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, the New York Daily News reports.

Duquette was scheduled to go under the knife at Johns Hopkins Hospital, not far from the family's Maryland home, where he was donating his right kidney, the Daily News reported.

In many ways Lindsey Duquette is like any other fourth grader: concerned with life's pressing issues, like convincing her parents to give her an e-mail account, the Baltimore Sun reported.

"Can I pleeeaaase have an email account?" she is quoted as saying in the the paper quoted her as asking.

But life is different and at times uncertain for Lindsey. She has suffered nearly her whole life, first showing symptoms at the end of 2004, the same year her father was Mets GM. She had both of her kidneys removed after going into end-stage renal failure last year.

The Baltimore Sun article described Lindsey's scarred kidneys leaking protein into her blood and draining her of the vibrant personality, though it seems to have returned since she began daily dialysis treatments.

Now, with the help of her father's kidney, Lindsey has a shot at going into remission from the disease, for which there is no known cure.

Lindsey's outlook is positive. She is looking forward to beginning a new phase of her life with "Raven," the name she gave the kidney, in honor of the local NFL team.

©CNN's Sari Zeidler
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/04/jim-duquette-former-mets-gm-donates-kidney-to-young-daughter/?hpt=us_r1

U.S. pilots find high demand, high pay overseas

2012-06-04T21:43:00.004-07:00

The pilot of the Nigerian jetliner that crashed in Lagos, the country's largest city, on Sunday was an American, said Oscar Wason, Dana Air's director of operations, on Monday.

Wason did not identify the pilot by name or hometown, but he is among a legion of U.S. pilots now captaining jets for foreign airlines, said Kit Darby, an aviation consultant in Peachtree City, Georgia.

"A lot of U.S. pilots are working overseas, more than ever before," Darby said. "It's pretty common."

Darby said that as airlines have consolidated in the U.S., the job market for experienced airline captains has become "stagnant." Experienced captains are losing seniority, and it may take them 10 to 20 years to get a captain's position back, he said.

So they turn overseas, where aviation is expanding and there is a clear need for the experience the Americans bring. They typically end up captaining jetliners with co-pilots and crew who are from their host countries or from other countries where aviation professionals are less experienced.

The co-pilot of the Dana Air MD-83 that crashed Sunday was from India and the flight engineer from Indonesia, Wason said.

"It's a challenging position, half trainer and half pilot," Darby said of captaining a foreign-flagged airliner. But the rewards can be substantial.

Americans signing on to pilot jetliners in the Middle East, China and India can make well over $100,000 a year, plus add-ons like housing, according to Darby.

He said a pilot working in Africa would probably make a bit less than those working in Asia or the Mideast but would still do well.

"The big deals come with the captain's seat," he said.

The Dana Air MD-83 that crashed Sunday is a fairly new plane by African standards and would probably provide a well-paying post to a captain, Darby said.

American pilots looking to work overseas may negotiate their own deals or be matched up with a foreign carrier through a recruitment service, he said.

Wasinc International is one of those services. The company's website currently lists 34 pilot positions with carriers in China.

For instance, Air China is hiring captains for Airbus A330 aircraft, and it will train. Pay is $4,000 a month during training and then $11,000 a month plus a $4,000 monthly living allowance once training is completed, according to the Wasinc ad.

The website BestAviation.net lists 101 pilot or first officer jobs in locations including China, Lithuania, Indonesia, Mauritania and South Korea.

In a report from February, Bloomberg said airlines in China will be hiring 16,000 pilots in the next three years, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Shen Wei, a recruiter for China's Spring Air, told Bloomberg that China was a strong market for U.S. pilots.

“Everyone is facing a pilot shortage,” he's quoted as saying. “Foreign pilots are the quickest option.”

©CNN's Brad Lendon
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/04/u-s-pilots-find-high-demand-high-pay-overseas/?hpt=us_r1

Space shuttle sails through New York Harbor

2012-06-04T21:42:00.003-07:00

The space shuttle Enterprise took a journey more akin to those of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise than its orbital sister ships on Sunday.

The prototype shuttle floated on a barge through New York Harbor, from John F. Kennedy Airport en route to Bayonne, New Jersey.

There, it will be transferred to another barge, this one with a crane. On Tuesday, the second barge will carry it back up the Hudson and lift the shuttle onto the deck of the USS Intrepid Museum, a former aircraft carrier and Enterprise's final destination.

The Enterprise was flown into JFK on the back of a 747 on April 27.

©CNN
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/04/space-shuttle-sails-through-new-york-harbor/?hpt=us_r1

Wisconsin recall campaign winds up

2012-06-04T21:41:00.004-07:00

(CNN) -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican hero for pushing austerity measures that stripped collective bargaining rights from most public unions, rallied supporters Monday night, one last push before a recall that's drawn lots of outside interest and money.
"We can't spike the ball on the 10-yard line. We've got to take it all the way into the end zone," Walker said in a Green Bay restaurant, within walking distance of the Packers' famed Lambeau Field. "Because when we do it's a win not just for us. It's a win for our kids and grandkids to make sure they have a better future than the one we inherited."
Walker faces Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on Tuesday in a rematch of the 2010 governor's race that he won by getting more than 52% of the vote.
This time, the stakes are higher after a vitriolic campaign that epitomized the political divide across the country.

The three most recent polls had Walker ahead of Barrett, though the Milwaukee mayor's final tracking poll indicated the tightest of races -- 47.8% to 47.7% -- according to his Facebook page. Campaign finance filings definitely put Walker far ahead, as he's garnered the lion's share of the tens of millions of dollars that have come into the campaigns.
Barrett told supporters Monday that Wisconsin voters are tired of Walker, whom he described as "a governor who's more interested in being the rock star of the far right."
At a rally outside the State Capitol building, which demonstrators occupied last year to try to block Walker's policies, Barrett supporters sang union songs and waved signs opposing the governor.
A victory by the first-term governor could give Republicans a major boost in efforts to make Wisconsin a battleground state in the November presidential election.

President Barack Obama easily won the state in 2008, but Walker's unyielding commitment to fiscal austerity in the face of chaotic protests last year made him the poster child for tea party conservatism.
Along with the gubernatorial recall, voters also will decide whether Walker's lieutenant governor and four Republican state senators keep their jobs.

The recall effort was spurred by a Walker-backed law, signed in March 2011, to limit the collective bargaining rights of state worker unions.
During a bitter fight over the law last year, Democratic legislators left the capital to prevent a quorum, and tens of thousands of protesters converged on the State Capitol building in what became an occupation.
After the law was signed, Democrats immediately began a recall effort that eventually led to Tuesday's vote.
The campaign has been fierce, with campaigners complaining of keyed cars, verbal harassment and a general lack of tolerance for differing opinions.
The Justice Department on Monday dispatched federal observers to monitor Milwaukee polling places Tuesday to ensure no voter discrimination takes place.
A litany of Republican stars have campaigned for Walker, including fellow governors Chris Christie of New Jersey, Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Bob McDonnell of Virginia, as well as U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio from Florida.
Americans for Prosperity, a conservative advocacy group built around many of the same principles as the tea party, has pumped more than $10 million into Wisconsin backing Walker's policies.
"It's big for the people of Wisconsin and their economic future, but I think it's even bigger nationally as well," said Tim Phillips, the group's president. "I think every governor, every state legislator around the country is looking at Wisconsin, and they're going, OK, if I got the courage to stand up and do what I think is right to get my state moving again ... will someone have my back? And hopefully the answer is going to be, you bet."
Barrett, meanwhile, got his own high-powered support from former President Bill Clinton, as well as Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley.
However, his campaign fundraising has badly trailed the support Walker received. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee announced Saturday it is spending $100,000 in the last five days before the Wisconsin recall vote, bringing its investment to $300,000.
In addition, Obama never hit the trail for Barrett, which Republicans surmised was because the president believes Barrett will lose.
On Sunday, Barrett told CNN's "State of the Union" that his campaign never asked Obama to campaign on his behalf, adding that "we understand he's got a lot going on."
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney acknowledged the uniqueness of the contest, while also stressing there's no doubt where the president stands.
"The president's made clear all along his opposition to those who would take away workers rights -- to actions that would take away or diminish worker's rights," Carney said. "And he's also made clear his support for Tom Barrett."
While Tuesday's vote will culminate a two-year fight over collective bargaining rights for public employee unions, both parties are casting the debate as a larger referendum on the role of government and policies supported by both parties.
Barrett, however, has continually framed the race as a state contest instead of a national affair.
"I want to make sure that everybody understands this is about Wisconsin values. It's not about Washington, D.C. It's about right here, who is going to control the future of this state," Barrett said Sunday. "Will it be tea party, the national right wing, or is it going to be the people of the state of Wisconsin? And I'm putting my money on the people of the state of Wisconsin."
Walker has defended his budget actions as necessary for the fiscal health of his state and described his campaign as one of a strong leader who is making the necessary "tough decisions."

©CNN's Gabriella Schwarz and Chris Welch

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/06/04/politics/wisconsin-recall/index.html?hpt=us_c1