Oklahoma execution: 'Chaos' after lethal injection is stopped, inmate dies anyway - CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Witnesses say the inmate moved, seemingly tried to talk well after being given drugs
• The inmate, Clayton Lockett, later suffered what appeared to be a heart attack -- and died
• "The doctor observed the line and determined that the line had blown," an official says

CNN's original series "Death Row Stories" explores America's capital punishment system Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT beginning July 13 on CNN. Join the conversation about the death penalty at facebook.com/cnn or Twitter @CNNorigSeries using #DeathRowStories.

(CNN) -- One execution stopped midcourse, another postponed.

Oklahoma corrections officials looked for answers Tuesday following the death of inmate Clayton Lockett, who convulsed and writhed on the gurney after drugs to carry out his death sentence were administered.

"His body started to twitch, he mumbled something I couldn't understand," said Dean Sanderford, his attorney. "The convulsing got worse, it looked like his whole upper body was trying to lift off the gurney. For a minute, there was chaos."

He said guards ordered him out of the witness area, and he was never told what had happened to his client.

The execution was halted, but the result was still death.

Lockett died 43 minutes after the first injection was administered, according to reporter Courtney Francisco of CNN affiliate KFOR, who witnessed the ordeal.

Heart attack

Later, Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director Robert Patton said Lockett died of an apparent heart attack.

The execution was the first time Oklahoma had used midazolam as the first element in its three-drug cocktail to end a life.

Midazolam is supposed to render a person unconscious. Seven minutes later, Lockett was still conscious. About 16 minutes in, after his mouth and then his head moved, he seemingly tried to get up and tried to talk, saying "man" aloud, according to the KFOR account.

Other reporters -- including Cary Aspinwall of the Tulsa World newspaper -- similarly claimed that Lockett was "still alive," having lifted his head while prison officials lowered the blinds at that time so that onlookers couldn't see what was going on.

Yet the office of Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin issued a statement indicating "execution officials said Lockett remained unconscious after the lethal injection drugs were administered."

After the ordeal, Patton told reporters that Lockett, a convicted murderer, had been sedated and then was given the second and third drugs in protocol.

"There was some concern at that time that the drugs were not having the effect, so the doctor observed the line and determined that the line had blown," he said, before elaborating that Lockett's vein had "exploded."

"I notified the attorney general's office, the governor's office of my intent to stop the execution and requested a stay for 14 days for the second execution scheduled this afternoon," said Patton, referring to the execution of Charles Warner.

Investigation

Dianne Clay, a spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office, said Tuesday night that her office was "gathering information on what happened in order to evaluate."

The state's governor ordered an investigation and issued an executive order granting a 2-week delay in executions.

"I have asked the Department of Corrections to conduct a full review of Oklahoma's execution procedures to determine what happened and why during this evening's execution of Clayton Derrell Lockett," Fallin said in a statement.

The constitutionality of lethal injection drugs and drug cocktails has made headlines since last year, when European manufacturers -- including Denmark-based Lundbeck, which manufactures pentobarbital -- banned U.S. prisons from using their drugs in executions. Thirty-two states were left to find new drug protocols.

Opinion: End secrecy in lethal injections

According to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, its protocol includes midazolam, which causes unconsciousness, vecuronium bromide, which stops respiration, and potassium chloride, which is meant to stop the heart.

Lockett was convicted in 2000 of a bevy of crimes, including first-degree murder, first-degree rape, kidnapping and robbery in a 1999 home invasion and crime spree that left Stephanie Nieman dead and two people injured.

'We will pray for their souls'

His final moments gave new life, at least temporarily, to Charles Warner.

Warner was convicted in 2003 for the first-degree rape and murder six years earlier of his then-girlfriend's 11-month-old daughter, Adrianna Waller.

The state decided to put off his execution set for Tuesday. But it has given no indication this delay will be indefinite despite calls from the likes of Adam Leathers, co-chair of the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, who accused the state of having "tortured a human being in an unconstitutional experimental act of evil."

"Tonight, our state government has acted in sin and violated God's law," Leathers said. "We will pray for their souls."

Notably, Lockett and Warner -- who were both held at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester -- had been at the center of a court fight over the drugs used in their execution.

They'd initially challenged the state Department of Corrections' unwillingness to divulge which drugs would be used, only for the department to budge and disclosed the substances.

But Lockett and Warner didn't stop there, taking issue with the state's so-called secrecy provision forbidding it from disclosing the identities of anyone involved in the execution process or suppliers of any drugs or medical equipment.

Oklahoma's high court initially issued stays on their executions, only to lift those stays last week in ruling the two men had no right to know the source of the drugs intended to kill them.

Warner's attorney, Madeline Cohen, said that further legal action can be expected given how "something went horribly awry" Tuesday.

"Oklahoma cannot carry out further executions until there's transparency in this process," Cohen said. "... I think they should all be looking at themselves hard. Oklahoma needs to take a step back."

Death penalty Fast Facts

Death penalty in the United States gradually declining

The governor's office has ordered an investigation.

CNN's Eliott C. McLaughlin and Ross Levitt contributed to this report.

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Forget Australia, the Missing Jet May Have Crashed Near Bangladesh - TIME

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Americans Want to Pull Back From World Stage, Poll Finds - Wall Street Journal

Americans in large numbers want the U.S. to reduce its role in world affairs even as a showdown with Russia over Ukraine preoccupies Washington, a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.

In a marked change from past decades, nearly half of those surveyed want the U.S. to be less active on the global stage, with fewer than one-fifth calling for more active engagement—an anti-interventionist current that sweeps across party lines.

...

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35 dead after days of tornadoes in South, Midwest - The Seattle Times

Originally published April 29, 2014 at 5:46 AM | Page modified April 30, 2014 at 2:13 AM

LOUISVILLE, Miss. —

Forecasts for a third day of killer tornadoes in the South and Midwest didn't pan out, leaving many in the South and Midwest with new concerns about flooding Wednesday. But despite the loss of at least 35 lives, there was also a sense that things could have been worse.

A vast storm system still packed considerable punch days after the violent outbreak began in Arkansas and Oklahoma. At least four possible tornadoes were reported late Tuesday in North Carolina but there were no immediate reports of injuries. Heavy downpours also flooded low-lying streets along parts of the Gulf Coast as rivers swelled with runoff.

The storms hit especially hard in places such as Arkansas' northern Little Rock suburbs and the Mississippi cities of Louisville and Tupelo. Arkansas, with 15 deaths after a tornado blasted through Sunday, and Mississippi with 12 deaths from Monday's storms, accounted for the brunt of the death toll.

"We will overcome this," Louisville Mayor Will Hill said against a backdrop of hundreds of damaged buildings, including two hilltop churches pounded to rubble. "We're going to work together."

Authorities in Louisville searched until dark Tuesday for an 8-year-old boy missing since Monday's large tornado that killed his parents and destroyed the home where they lived. Though searchers didn't rule out finding the boy alive, officials were describing the process as one of "recovery."

Besides the dead in Mississippi and Arkansas, at least three died in Alabama, two in Iowa and one in Oklahoma.

After two days of destruction opened Sunday in the Midwest and continued Monday into the South, some didn't take any chances late Tuesday with yet more tornado watches.

Simon Turner and her 7-year-old son, Christopher, scrambled to a shelter in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Tuesday afternoon after hearing a tornado watch had been issued around that city.

Frightened by memories of a killer tornado that partly demolished Tuscaloosa three years ago, the Turners had opted for refuge in a school with a reinforced hallway. "We'll be here till they say it's OK to leave," Turner said before the all-clear came.

Sunday was the anniversary of an outbreak of more than 60 tornadoes that killed more than 250 people across Alabama on April 27, 2011.

The dead Monday included University of Alabama swimmer John Servati, who authorities say took shelter in the basement of a home when a retaining wall collapsed. Servati was a business major on the dean's list.

Some survived or died amid split-second decisions.

William Quinn, 25, and others dove under the gap beneath a house in Mars Hill, Miss., seconds before a tornado blew heavily damaged the home and sheared off the roofs of nearby poultry houses. He called his decision "a spur of the moment thing."

But in the southern Tennessee community of Fayetteville, a married couple was killed Monday in a tornado after returning to their mobile home after mistakenly believing the danger had passed, a neighbor said. Authorities identified the victims as John Prince, 60, and his wife Karen, 44.

"We pulled up, and were in shocked seeing our own home. But then we saw Karen's father, and he said 'John and Karen are gone -- They didn't make it,'" recalled neighbor Tiffani Danner. She had left and came back to find her own home destroyed as well.

Darrell Haney, in a home nearby, thought that community was out of the woods when TV switched from tornado warnings back to regular programming -- then suddenly cut back to a possible tornado.

Haney quickly plucked up two grandchildren and huddled in a bathroom with his wife, daughter and son-in-law. Almost immediately, he said, a tree crashed into a front room where one of the children had been sleeping. The roof was lifted off of the master bedroom.

"The house is being torn apart around you, and we're just crying out, 'God protect us,'" Haney said. "Because at that point you're totally hopeless and helpless."

Elsewhere, Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe visited several homes Tuesday that were damaged by a deadly twister, stopping at one location where three members of a family were killed. Three of Arkansas' 15 deaths were a father and two daughters and Beebe spoke to survivors, including two of the man's other daughters.

"It was kind of heartbreaking those two little girls that I talked to that lost two of their siblings and their dad," Beebe said afterward. "That's utter destruction up there ... and these people need to know that folks care about them."

___

Associated Press writers Jack Elliott Jr. in Jackson, Miss., Jay Reeves in Kimberly, Ala., Erik Shelzig in Fayetteville, Tenn., and Christina Huynh in Ferndale, Ark., contributed to this story.

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Violence Mars First Iraq National Poll After US Troop Pullout - Businessweek

Iraqis braved surging violence in their oil-rich nation to cast votes in the first parliamentary elections since U.S. troops pulled out more than two years ago.

Baghdad residents walked to polling stations in a city plastered with army troops and declared off-limits to vehicles for the day. Five policemen were wounded in two bomb attacks near polling centers in Mosul city in Nineveh province in the north of the capital, according to an e-mailed police statement.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, 63, is seeking a third term in office in the nation of 33 million people, which he has governed since 2006. The new parliament will choose a president to replace Jalal Talabani, who has been receiving medical treatment in Germany since suffering a stroke in December 2012.

Under Maliki's leadership, Iraq, with the world's fifth-largest oil reserves, overtook Iran as the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, helped by foreign investors including Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and Exxon Mobil Corp. It pumped 3.4 million barrels a day in March, 86 percent more than in December 2006, when he first became prime minister, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Oil wealth has buoyed the economy, which the International Monetary Fund forecasts to expand by 5.9 percent this year. The Maliki government plans a record $145.9 billion budget for 2014, up from $119 billion in 2013.

Even so, Iraqis are still contending with power cuts, poor roads and a housing shortage 11 years after a U.S.-led invasion ended Saddam Hussein's rule. The U.S. withdrew its combat forces from Iraq at the end of 2011.

Surging Violence

They're also dealing with swelling sectarian violence that forced the tight election security and has crimped participation in the balloting.

Troops from the Shiite Muslim-dominated Maliki government are battling fighters from al-Qaeda and allied Sunni Muslim forces to regain control of parts of western Anbar province. Some Sunni militant leaders have called on fellow Sunnis to boycott the elections, while other Sunni mosque preachers have urged their people to vote.

"There will be voting in Anbar province, in all its districts, except Fallujah and other areas that witness security tension," Mohsen Al-Mussawi, a member of the Independent High Electoral Commission, said by telephone today. "We have opened polling centers for families displaced by the events in Anbar close to the areas where they are now residing."

Maliki's relations with the Sunnis and the country's ethnic Kurds in the north have become strained.

Sectarian Strains

Forty-four Sunni lawmakers have boycotted parliament since December, when security forces arrested one of them, killed his brother and broke up an anti-government protest in Anbar. A dispute with the government prompted authorities in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region to suspend oil exports through the national pipeline in December 2012.

Rival Shiite Muslim groups, including the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq of Ammar al-Hakim and the Sadrist Movement of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, also criticize Maliki for what they say is his unwillingness to share power.

Political infighting is likely to continue after the elections and may delay the formation of a new cabinet for months, Robin Mills, the head of consulting at Dubai-based Manaar Energy Consulting and Project Management, said by phone on April 20. Maliki began his second four-year term in December 2010 after a nine-month political deadlock, following inconclusive polls.

Political Clashes

Political disputes are impeding the passage of an energy law, blocking approval of the budget and discouraging non-oil investments. Transparency International, a Berlin-based anti-graft group, ranks Iraq 171st among 175 countries and territories in its 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index. Iraq ranked 137th out of 159 in 2005.

Security issues are another drag on the economy. Armed attacks have prevented workers from repairing the nation's main export pipeline, which halted operation more than 50 days ago.

Acts of violence, aggravated by the civil war in neighboring Syria, have intensified, killing 3,015 civilians in the first three months of this year, according to the unofficial Iraq Body Count website. This year's fatalities are more than triple the number in the same period of 2013.

More than 9,000 candidates are vying for 328 parliament seats in a process to be monitored by more than 1,200 international observers and 30,000 Iraqis. About 21.5 million people are eligible to vote. Iraqis living abroad, as well as members of the army and security forces, medics and prisoners, voted on April 28 in an operation that drew a turnout of 91.46 percent, according to the electoral commission.

Initial, unofficial partial results are expected two hours after polls close at 6 p.m. local time, with official results to be announced in 15 days, according to the electoral commission's Al-Mussawi.

To contact the reporters on this story: Khalid Al-Ansary in Baghdad at kalansary@bloomberg.net; Nayla Razzouk in Dubai at nrazzouk2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaric Nightingale at anightingal1@bloomberg.net Amy Teibel, Andrew Atkinson

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Amid Donald Sterling Scandal, the Clippers Unite - ABC News

ABC US News | ABC Business News Copy

Basketball fans often bring home-made signs to games, showing their support using markers and construction paper. The signs at Staples Center in Los Angeles for Tuesday's Clippers-Warriors playoff game took an urgent, resolute tone.

"Clippers new owner wanted! Racists need not apply!" read one of the signs.

Another: "Hate will never win."

Hate didn't win Tuesday, but the Clippers did, 113-103, taking a 3-2 lead in a series that was, for the first time since Saturday, more about basketball than recordings featuring racist rants by banished Clippers owner Donald Sterling.

Breaking Down the Donald Sterling Scandal: The Audio, The Lawsuits, the Reactions

In the recorded conversations, which appeared online this weekend, Sterling can be heard telling girlfriend V. Stiviano not to post pictures of herself with black people to Instagram or bring black people to Clippers games. A separate recording features Sterling telling Stiviano that he doesn't think he's racist because he gives food, clothes and cars to his black employees.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

PHOTO: Team owner Donald Sterling of the Los Angeles Clippers and V. Stiviano watch the San Antonio Spurs play on May 19, 2013 in San Antonio, Texas.

Adam Silver, facing his first true test since becoming the National Basketball Assocation's commissioner in February, acted swiftly and definitively, banning Sterling for life.

"We stand together in condemning Mr. Sterling's views," Silver said. "They simply have no place in the NBA."

The punishment, which included a $2.5 million fine, is the harshest penalty ever issued by the league.

What We Know About V. Stiviano, Woman Accused of Leaking Racist Rant

Clippers coach Doc Rivers said that the lifetime ban of his former boss "can begin the healing process" for the team, the league and the country.

"These last three or four days have been very difficult for everybody, no matter what your race," Rivers said in a pre-game press conference. "We can move forward. We have to. Yes, I do think [the NBA commissioner] made the right decision."

Had Silver announced a weaker punishment – an indefinite suspension and hefty fine, for example – players were willing to boycott the playoffs, NBA Players Assocation Vice President Roger Mason said.

AP Photo

PHOTO: Fans hold up signs in support of the Los Angeles Clippers before Game 5 of an opening-round NBA basketball playoff series between the Clippers and the Golden State Warriors, April 29, 2014, in Los Angeles.

But with Sterling removed, the focus returned to basketball. Clippers versus Warriors. Two of the Western Conference's most dynamic squads.

NAACP Willing to 'Forgive' Clippers' Donald Sterling After Yanking Award

Clippers center DeAndre Jordan shined early, scoring 10 first quarter points on the strength of two alley-oops and a dunk, showcasing the team's "Lob City"nickname for its high-flying swagger. Blake Griffin contributed a driving dunk through the lane, power and authority personified.

LA guard Jamal Crawford provided late highlights of his own, slipping through the Golden State defense for 19 points off the bench.

Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP Photo

PHOTO: Fans hold up signs in support of the Los Angeles Clippers before Game 5 of an opening-round NBA basketball playoff series between the Clippers and the Golden State Warriors, Tuesday, April 29, 2014, in Los Angeles.

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Players want Donald Sterling ejected from the NBA family - CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Players hope Donald Sterling will have to give up Los Angeles Clippers
• NEW: Opposing NBA coach calls for Clippers fans to boycott playoff game Tuesday
• NBA commissioner will speak about investigation on Tuesday
• State Farm, airline Virgin America cut ties to the L.A. Clippers

(CNN) -- When Commissioner Adam Silver speaks to the media Tuesday about the NBA's findings in the investigation into racist remarks attributed to Clippers owner Donald Sterling, the league's players hope it includes the most severe penalties.

"When a hint of cancer is shown, you have to cut it out immediately, and I feel that's where the players are today," Kevin Johnson, the former all-star who is the chairman of the National Basketball Players Association's executive committee, told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront."

Johnson said the players trust that the new commissioner, on the job for less than three months, will find the right penalties for Sterling, who has owned the Clippers for almost 30 years.

"They don't think he's worthy to be an owner," said Johnson, also the mayor of Sacramento, "so whether there's a sanction that includes a suspension, whether there's a sanction that includes a hefty fine ... the players feel very strongly that he's not fit to be an owner and a part of this NBA family."

The NBA has scheduled a news conference for 2 p.m. ET Tuesday.

Monday brought a slew of sponsors distancing themselves from the team and a host of other owners and team officials condemning the comments attributed to Sterling, who has never been disciplined by the league.

On Saturday, the website TMZ posted a 10-minute recording of a conversation, reportedly between Sterling and his girlfriend, whose legal name is V. Stiviano. According to the website, the conversation occurred on April 9.

On the recording, the man and woman argue about photos posted to Instagram in which she appears with African-Americans. The man says he doesn't want the woman bringing any black people to games with her.

Sterling has not commented publicly on the scandal. Team President Andy Roeser issued a statement this weekend that said "what is reflected on that recording is not consistent with, nor does it reflect (Sterling's) views, beliefs or feelings." He suggested that the recording was an attempt by Stiviano to "get even" with Sterling.

Speculation on possible punitive actions

Silver has promised the league would give Sterling due process but would act quickly.

It is unclear whether Silver could order Sterling to sell the Clippers, a team he bought for $12 million in 1981 and is now worth $575 million, according to Forbes magazine. A lifetime suspension and fine of at least $1 million is more likely, experts say.

The commissioner might announce an indefinite suspension while the investigation continues, CNN's Rachel Nichols reported.

Opinion: Sterling has to go

"He (eventually) could suspend Donald Sterling maybe for a year, maybe even two years or even indefinitely," Nichols said. "And the idea and the hope would be that if he made him so uncomfortable, if he was removed from day-to-day operations, if sponsors are pulling out the way that they are, there would be some way to convince Sterling, it's in your best interest and the interest of everyone else to sell the team."

Nichols likened the situation to the late Marge Schott, who owned the Cincinnati Reds and made racist and other insensitive comments. She was suspended twice, the second time in 1996, and sold the team in 1999.

Other NBA owners have called the remarks attributed to Sterling "abhorrent," "reprehensible," "hurtful," and said they have no place in the league or anywhere in society.

And they all said they have confidence Silver will handle the matter well.

Charlotte Bobcats owner and Hall of Fame Michael Jordan made a rare public statement on a controversial subject.

"As an owner, I'm obviously disgusted that a fellow team owner could hold such sickening and offensive views," he said. "As a former player, I'm completely outraged. There is no room in the NBA -- or anywhere else -- for the kind of racism and hatred that Mr. Sterling allegedly expressed."

Five key players in the Donald Sterling uproar

TMZ posts audio recording

In the recording, the man seems mad about a photo the woman posted to Instagram with Magic Johnson, now a part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"In your lousy f**ing Instagrams, you don't have to have yourself with -- walking with black people," the man says.

"If it's white people, it's OK?" she responds. "If it was Larry Bird, would it make a difference?"

Bird was Johnson's chief rival when Bird's Celtics and Johnson's Lakers ruled the NBA.

"I've known (Magic Johnson) well, and he should be admired. ... I'm just saying that it's too bad you can't admire him privately," the man on the recording says. "Admire him, bring him here, feed him, f**k him, but don't put (Magic) on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me. And don't bring him to my games."

On Sunday, the sports website Deadspin posted five additional minutes it said was part of the same audio recording.

Neither website has said how it obtained the recordings.

Stiviano's lawyer's office said Sunday that she didn't release the recordings to TMZ but that they are legitimate.

"This office understands that the currently released audio tape of approximately 15 minutes is a portion of approximately one (1) hour of overall audio recording of Mr. Donald T. Sterling and Ms. Stiviano, and is in fact legitimate," Mac E. Nehoray said in a news release. "Ms. Stiviano did not release the tape(s) to any news media."

Sterling has history of fighting discrimination claims in court

Clippers considered boycott

Sterling's wife, who is suing the woman, gave CNN affiliate KABC a statement Sunday night.

"Our family is devastated by the racist comments made by my estranged husband," Rochelle Sterling said. "My children and I do not share these despicable views or prejudices. We will not let one man's small-mindedness poison the spirit of the fans and accomplishments of the team in the city we love."

Los Angeles Clippers coach Doc Rivers told reporters Monday that he was offered an opportunity to speak to Sterling after the comments attributed to the team's owner were posted online, but Rivers said he "passed." Rivers added, "I don't think right now is the time or place, for me at least. And so I just took a pass."

The coach, in his first year with the Clippers, said he believes that Sterling did make the comments but said he wanted to find out if the recording was doctored.

Rivers confirmed the team's players had talked about boycotting a playoff game but decided against it. Whether the coach or a player will address the fans before Tuesday's Game 5 against the Golden State Warriors is being discussed internally, Rivers said. The teams each have two wins in the best-of-seven-games series.

Golden State coach Mark Jackson said Monday that fans should make a statement by staying home.

Poll: Do you think Clippers players should boycott?

Sponsors leave in droves

Twelve Clippers sponsors have taken action. State Farm, Virgin America, CarMax, Red Bull were among companies to pull sponsorships, at least temporarily, CNN Money reported.

Sterling was to receive a lifetime achievement award at an event next month to mark the 100th anniversary of the Los Angeles NAACP, but the national organization said Monday that would not happen.

Sterling had been given a lifetime achievement award from the organization in 2009, according to a brochure obtained by CNN.

Roeser, the Clippers' president, suggested Saturday that Stiviano -- whom he didn't mention by name -- was "getting even" with Sterling over a lawsuit.

Rochelle Sterling filed a lawsuit last month against Stiviano, who she said was having an affair with her husband.

In the complaint, Rochelle Sterling accuses Stiviano of targeting extremely wealthy older men. The suit claims that Donald Sterling used the couple's money to buy Stiviano a Ferrari, two Bentleys and a Range Rover and that Stiviano took possession of a $1.8 million duplex through fraud. Sterling also gave her nearly $250,000 in cash, the court document says.

Stiviano countered in another court document that there was nothing wrong with Donald Sterling giving her gifts and that she never took advantage of the Clippers owner, who made much of his fortune in real estate.

Speaking about the recording, Roeser said, "We do not know if it is legitimate or it has been altered. We do know that the woman on the tape -- who we believe released it to TMZ -- is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Sterling family alleging that she embezzled more than $1.8 million, who told Mr. Sterling that she would 'get even.' "

Will the NBA make Sterling the first owner to give up team?

Reaction: 'Disturbing and offensive'

CNN's Paul Vercammen, Ashley Fantz, Stephanie Elam, Ralph Ellis, AnneClaire Stapleton, Joe Sutton, Wayne Sterling and Kevin Dotson contributed to this report.

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White House issues guidelines to colleges to combat rape - CNN

By Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, CNN

updated 3:29 AM EDT, Tue April 29, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• White House task force releases new report related to combating rape on college campuses
• Task force wants to gather more data to learn scope, scale of problem
• Helping campus rape victims framed as an equal education access issue by administration
• Title IX advocacy group: It's a good first step, but more action is needed

(CNN) -- The Obama administration on Monday took another step in its effort to combat rape on college campuses with the release of a new report.

The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault produced the 20-page report. The task force, including Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, spent the last three months talking to "thousands of people" and compiled a number of very specific recommendations:

More data: The task force wants to know more about the scope and scale of the problem. The report cites a statistic from the National Institute of Justice that one in five women experience rape or attempted rape in college but say the group needs to know more.

This year the task force is pushing schools to use its tool kit in 2015 to survey their campuses. By 2016, the task force will be reporting. The report said "we will explore legislative or administrative options to require the schools to conduct a survey."

Survivors need more: In 2011 the administration first alerted schools about their responsibilities to survivors of sexual violence. The administration said that under Title IX schools had to address sexual violence in order to provide equal access to education. But schools have struggled with that. In the past three years many have been publicly cited for failing to live up to these standards.

Most recently, the Department of Education announced that Tufts University "failed to comply with Title IX" in the way it handles sexual assaults. The school wrote it was "surprised and disappointed" with the finding, adding it was "deeply committed to the safety and well-being of our students."

So now the administration is getting more specific. The importance of having confidential advocates is now emphasized. This point clarifies what had been confusing for many, namely that not everyone on college campuses has a duty to report.

"In recent years, some schools have directed nearly all their employees ... to report all the details of an incident to school officials," the report said, "which can mean a survivor quickly loses control over what happens next." That's a critical issue for many advocates who emphasize the importance of returning control to survivors.

The administration calls for further training for those who deal with sexual violence on college campuses.

"Insensitive or judgmental comments -- or questions that focus on a victim's behavior (e.g., what she was wearing, her prior sexual history) rather than on the alleged perpetrator's -- can compound a victim's distress," the report notes.

On the enforcement side, the report calls for new models for investigating and adjudicating cases on campus and for a pilot program aimed at rehabilitating offenders.

Transparency: One of the biggest problems with sexual violence on college campuses is that no college wants to admit it has a problem. Parents don't want to send their children to a school where data shows more sexual crimes occur, that could ding rankings and potentially cause problems with donors. But paradoxically, advocates say, those schools that have high numbers may actually be taking the problem seriously. That's because they have robust systems in place that allow for students to file complaints. Now the government wants to centralize all that data on NotAlone.gov.

Accountability: It won't just be numbers on NotAlone.gov. The administration will also put forms online making it easier for students to complain if their school fails to live up to the other obligations. Many of the Department of Justice and Department of Education investigations over the years have resulted from student complaints.

So what does this all mean? According to Know Your IX, an organization that seeks to educate college students about Title IX rights, it's a good step, but more is needed.

"These changes will mean little until Title IX enforcement is finally given teeth," the organization said. Know Your IX said the administration is reluctant to use the best leverage it currently has, namely pulling a school's federal funding.

"The agency has never once sanctioned a school for sexual violence-related violations of Title IX," the organization said.

Students accuse Columbia of mishandling sexual assault complaints

Student activists fight to end rape on campus

Teens trained to spot drama before it turns dangerous

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Kerry backs off Israel 'apartheid' remark - MiamiHerald.com

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State John Kerry says he chose the wrong word in describing Israel's potential future after coming under withering criticism for saying the Jewish state could become an "apartheid state" if it doesn't reach a peace deal with the Palestinians.

In a statement released by the State Department Monday, Kerry lashed out against "partisan political" attacks against him, but acknowledged his comments last week to a closed international forum could have been misinterpreted. While he pointedly did not apologize for the remarks, he stressed he was, and is, a strong supporter of Israel, which he called a "vibrant democracy."

He said his remarks were only an expression of his firm belief that a two-state resolution is the only viable way to end the long-running conflict. And, he stressed, he does not believe Israel is, or is definitely track to become, an "apartheid state."

"I will not allow my commitment to Israel to be questioned by anyone, particularly for partisan, political purposes, so I want to be crystal clear about what I believe and what I don't believe," Kerry said after U.S. lawmakers and pro-Israel groups criticized him, with some demanding his resignation or at least an apology.

"First, Israel is a vibrant democracy and I do not believe, nor have I ever stated, publicly or privately, that Israel is an apartheid state or that it intends to become one," he said.

"Second, I have been around long enough to also know the power of words to create a misimpression, even when unintentional, and if I could rewind the tape, I would have chosen a different word to describe my firm belief that the only way in the long term to have a Jewish state and two nations and two peoples living side by side in peace and security is through a two-state solution," Kerry said.

On Sunday, The Daily Beast reported that Kerry had told a closed-door meeting of the Trilateral Commission in Washington on Friday that Israel risked becoming an "apartheid state" with two classes of citizens if negotiations to forge a peace deal fail and a two-state solution is not reached.

In his statement, Kerry defended his general point, noting that numerous Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and predecessors Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert, have offered similar assessments in the past.

But he said while Barak, Olmert and Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni "have all invoked the specter of apartheid to underscore the dangers of a unitary state for the future, it is a word best left out of the debate here at home."

Kerry's "apartheid" comment was immediately assailed by many in the pro-Israel community in the U.S.

House GOP leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said Kerry should apologize, while the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee described his use of the term as "offensive."

Another pro-Israel lobby group demanded that Kerry resign, a call echoed by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in a speech on the Senate floor.

Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California was also critical of Kerry's comment, saying on Twitter, "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and any linkage between Israel and apartheid is nonsensical and ridiculous."

Kerry has invested significant time and energy into bringing Israelis and Palestinians to the negotiating table, with the goal of reaching a deal in nine months. That deadline expires Tuesday with the parties having failed to reach that settlement, a less ambitious framework deal or even an agreement to extend the negotiations. The State Department said Monday that U.S. envoy for Mideast peace Martin Indyk had come home from the region and had no immediate plans to return.

President Barack Obama, along with Kerry and other U.S. officials, has blamed the impasse on negative steps taken by both sides over the course of the last several months.

On the Israeli side, those include a decision not to release a group of Palestinian prisoners it had earlier agreed to free and announcements of new Jewish settlement construction on land claimed by the Palestinians. On the Palestinian side, they include a move to join numerous U.N. conventions they had agreed not to join while the negotiations were underway and, most recently, the announcement of a unity government with the radical Hamas movement, which Israel, the U.S. and Europe regard as a terrorist organization.

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McAllister won't quit, won't run for re-election - Opelousas Daily World

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Wounded Ukraine Mayor Gennady Kernes Airlifted to Israel For Treatment - Wall Street Journal

Updated April 29, 2014 4:27 a.m. ET

Gennady Kernes, mayor of Kharkiv, speaks to journalists on March 15 about unrest in the city amid pro-Russia protests. Kharkiv City Council

MOSCOW—The seriously wounded mayor of Ukraine's second largest city, who was shot in an escalation of violence in the eastern part of the country, has been airlifted to Israel for treatment, city officials said.

Kharkiv Mayor Gennady Kernes was transported to Haifa on Tuesday morning after it was decided his condition was stable enough to allow him to be moved, officials said. He suffered extensive internal damage after being shot in the back by a sniper while exercising along a highway on Monday.

The city of Kharkiv, a major cultural and university center, has so far managed to fend off the separatist unrest that has engulfed the neighboring Donetsk province. Ukraine's Interior Ministry said the shooting may have been "a reaction by separatism-minded individuals to the recent events in Kharkiv."

The city had been an early target of the separatist movement, in which mobs seized government buildings in the east of the country. But officials in Kharkiv were successful in driving protesters out and the movement later shifted to the neighboring Donetsk region where protesters, including heavily armed militants, have made much more headway.

Kiev has accused Moscow of stirring up the separatist unrest and of organizing parts of the rebellion by sending in highly trained Russian military-intelligence officers. Moscow has denied playing any role in the uprising.

A renewed military effort last week by Ukraine to clear militants out of the cities they have seized in the east prompted Russia to launch military maneuvers on its side of the border, where it has recently moved tens of thousands of soldiers. Fears that Russia would invade led Ukraine to curtail its operation to focus on containing the unrest rather than confronting militants directly.

Late Monday, Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that Russian forces that had been conducting drills along the border had gone back to their bases and wouldn't invade Ukraine.

City officials initially said Mr. Kernes had been jogging when he was shot, but later said he was biking. On Tuesday morning, Mr. Kernes press secretary went back to the original version and said he was jogging.

The 54-year-old Mr. Kernes is a controversial figure in Ukraine's muddled politics. He used to support President Viktor Yanukovych, a widely discredited politician who was ousted early this year. During the antigovernment protests that preceded Mr. Yanukovych's fall, Mr. Kernes faced allegations that he had helped recruit gangs of civilians that were sent to Kiev to attack protesters. He denied this.

When Mr. Yanukovych fled to Russia at the end of February, Mr. Kernes briefly left the country before returning and adopting a softer tone toward the interim government that replaced the ousted president. The diminutive politician is known for his colorful lifestyle, as shared on his Instagram account, where he posts photos of himself working out and posing with animals.

Write to Lukas I. Alpert at lukas.alpert@wsj.com

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At least 11 killed as tornadoes and severe weather pound South - Fox News

At least 11 deaths have been reported in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee from a storm system that's spawned tornadoes and damaged homes as it moves across the South, threatening millions in its path, officials said Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of customers were without power in Alabama, Kentucky, and Mississippi, and thousands more hunkered down in basements and shelters as The National Weather Service issued watches and warnings for more tornadoes throughout the night in Alabama. 

Forecasters said the system is the latest onslaught of severe weather that triggered deadly tornadoes in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Iowa on Sunday, killing at least 18 people. 

In north Alabama, Limestone County Emergency Director Rita White told the Associated Press  two deaths had been confirmed in a twister that caused extensive damage west of the city of Athens. Separately, Limestone Commissioner Bill Latimer says he has reports from a worker of at least four deaths in the county, but those had not been confirmed. 

Six people died in Winston County, Miss., including a woman who died in the day care center she owned in Louisville, county Coroner Scott Gregory told The Associated Press late Monday. Lousville is the county seat and home to about 6,600 people. 

It was unclear if any children were in the day care at the time, said William McCully, acting spokesman for the Winston County Emergency Management Agency.

Earlier Monday, emergency officials attending a news conference with Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant said seven people had been killed statewide. State Director of Health Protection Jim Craig said officials were working with coroners to confirm the total. It was unclear if the deaths in Winston County were included in that tally.

Lee County Coroner Carolyn Gillentine Green said a woman died Monday when her car either hydroplaned or blew off a road during the storm in Verona, south of Tupelo.

The storm was so huge it was visible from space, photographed by weather satellites that showed tumultuous clouds arcing across much of the South.

Injuries were reported in Tupelo, a community of about 35,000 in northeastern Mississippi; and in Louisville, the seat of Winston County about 90 miles northeast of Jackson, Miss., where about 6,600 people live, said Mississippi Health Department spokesman Jim Craig. He said the number and seriousness of the injuries were not known because relief efforts were still underway. Television footage showed trucks being flipped over on state roads.

In southern Tennessee, two people were killed in a home when a suspected tornado hit Monday night, Lincoln County Emergency Management Director Mike Hall said. The winds destroyed several other homes as well as a middle school in the county that borders Alabama, Hall said.

Along Mississippi Highway 397 on the eastern edge of Louisville early Tuesday, firefighters could be seen picking through the remains of an unidentified number of pulverized mobile homes. Lt. Brian Arnett of the Starkville Fire Department said they were searching for three people who remained unaccounted for.

Bruce Ridgeway, vice president of North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, said that hospital received six people with non-life-threatening injuries. Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton said damage was extensive in neighborhoods in the city. Authorities sent teams to the region even before the storm system's arrival.

A tornado damaged the Winston Medical Center in Louisville, Miss., said Jack Mazurak, a spokesman for the Jackson-based University of Mississippi Medical Center, which received a trauma patient from the county and was sending personnel to help triage patients on the ground.

A strong storm barreling through southeastern Kentucky damaged homes and businesses and left more than 6,000 customers without power, said Harlan County Emergency Management Director David McGill. No injuries were reported.

Residents and business owners were not the only ones seriously rattled by the tornadoes.

NBC affiliate WTVA-TV chief meteorologist Matt Laubhan in Tupelo, Miss., was reporting live on the severe weather about 3 p.m. when he realized the twister was coming close enough that maybe he and his staff should abandon the television studio.

"This is a tornado ripping through the city of Tupelo as we speak. And this could be deadly," he said in a video widely tweeted and broadcast on YouTube.

Moments later he adds, "A damaging tornado. On the ground. Right now."

The video then showed Laubhan peeking in from the side to see if he was still live on the air before yelling to staff off-camera to get down in the basement.

"Basement, now!" he yelled, before disappearing off camera himself.

Later, the station tweeted, "We are safe here."

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency Monday in advance of the storms, which sent emergency officials rushing to put plans in place.

More than 50 school systems shut down early in Alabama's northern half as a precaution against having children and workers on the road in buses and cars when the storms arrived. Several cities closed municipal offices early.

MyFoxAL.com reported that a large tornado damaged apartments near the Medical West Hospital in Bessemer. Some people were reportedly trapped at a church in Kimberly, but no injuries were reported. 

George Grabryan, director of emergency management for Florence and Lauderdale County in northwest Alabama, said 16 shelters opened before storms even moved in and people were calling nervously with questions about the weather. 

"There's a lot of sensitivity up here," Grabryan said. "I've got a stack of messages here from people, many of them new to the area, wanting to know where the closest shelters are."

Forecasters said the system moving into Alabama could generate tornadoes with strength ratings of EF-3 or higher and damage tracks 30 miles long or worse.

Elsewhere, forecasters warned Georgia residents of a threat of tornadoes in northern and central counties in coming hours.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

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Watch: Israel comes to a standstill to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day - Jerusalem Post

Video: Lahav Harkov
Israel came to a standstill on Monday morning at 10 a.m. as the national memorial siren sounded, stopping traffic on the country's roads and allowing drivers and pedestrians alike to reflect on the horrors of the Holocaust.

Video: Anya Bonan

Following the siren, the Knesset will hold its 25th annual "Every Man Has a Name" ceremony Monday, together with photo exhibits and documentary screenings in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Video: Lev Selmon

During the ceremony, named after the poem by Zelda, President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and others will read names of those who perished in the Holocaust.

Lahav Harkov and Sam Sokol contributed to this report.

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Obama: US to hit Russia with new sanctions - USA TODAY

AP 4:42 a.m. EDT April 28, 2014

U.S. President Barack Obama reviews the honor guard ahead of his meeting with Philippines President Benigno Aquino III at Malacanang Palace in Manila, the Philippines, Monday(Photo: Charles Dharapak, AP)

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Seeking to ratchet up pressure on Vladimir Putin, President Barack Obama said the United States will levy new sanctions Monday on Russian individuals and companies in retaliation for Moscow's alleged provocations in Ukraine.

Obama said the targets of the sanctions would include high-technology exports to Russia's defense industry. The full list of targets will be announced by officials in Washington later Monday and are also expected to include wealthy individuals close to Putin, the Russian president.

"The goal here is not to go after Mr. Putin personally," Obama said. "The goal is to change his calculus with respect to how the current actions that he's engaging in could have an adverse impact on the Russian economy over the long haul."

Obama announced the sanctions during a news conference in the Philippines, his final stop on a four-country Asia swing.

White House officials say they decided last week to impose the new sanctions after determining that Russia had not lived up to its commitments under a fragile diplomatic accord aimed at easing the crisis in Ukraine. But the U.S. held off on implementing the sanctions in order to coordinate its actions with the European Union, which could also announce new penalties as early as Monday.

The failed diplomatic accord reached in Geneva called on the Kremlin to use its influence to get pro-Russian insurgents to leave the government buildings they have occupied in eastern Ukraine. But those forces have not only balked at leaving those buildings, but have also stepped up their provocations, including capturing European military observers.

Even as he announced the new sanctions package, Obama acknowledged that "we don't yet know whether it's going to work."

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Egypt court sentences hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death - CNN

By Sarah Sirgany and Marie-Louise Gumuchian, CNN

updated 4:39 AM EDT, Mon April 28, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Egypt court recommends death sentence for 683 Brotherhood supporters
• The Islamist movement's leader, Mohammed Badie, among those sentenced
• Charges related to violent riots last year in Minya
• Egypt has suffered internal strife since Brotherhood removed from power

(CNN) -- An Egyptian court has recommended the death sentence for the leader of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood and 682 supporters, state television said on Monday.

The same court also handed down a final capital punishment ruling for 37 others.

Charges in both cases, which were tried by the same judge, are related to violent riots in the central Egyptian city of Minya in August, including the murder of a police officer.

Mohammed Badie, the Bortherhood's general guide, is among 683 supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsy whose death sentences are not final -- as the case has been referred to the nation's Grand Mufti, Egypt's highest religious authority, for review.

In the second case relating to 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters sentenced to death last month, the judge upheld 37 death sentences. The rest saw their sentences commuted to life in prison.

Most of the people sentenced are being tried in absentia. All defendants are still permitted to appeal.

Egypt has faced unending turmoil since the uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Since the army removed the Brotherhood from power last July, the country has suffered the worst internal strife in its modern history. Morsy and other Brotherhood leaders were rounded up soon after his removal from office.

Cairo's military-installed government has branded the Brotherhood a terrorist group, an allegation it denies.

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Australia Says MH370 Search to Move to New Phase - Voice of America

FILE - Co-pilot and Squadron Leader Brett McKenzie looks from the cockpit of a Royal New Zealand Air Force aircraft as they fly over the southern Indian Ocean.

BANGKOK — The air search for debris from a missing airliner in the Indian Ocean is ending Monday, and Australian officials are dampening expectations that a soon-to-be enlarged search of the ocean's floor is likely to quickly spot any wreckage from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet.
 
Australia's prime minister, Tony Abbott, said he is "baffled and disappointed" that searchers have not been able to find MH370.
 
Abbott, speaking to reporters Monday in Canberra, announced that an expanded underwater area will be combed to try to find any remains of the airliner missing since March 8.
 
"It is highly unlikely at this stage that we will find any aircraft debris on the ocean surface. By this stage, 52 days into the search, most material would have become waterlogged and sunk. Therefore, we are moving from the current phase to a phase which is focused on searching the ocean floor over a much larger area," said Abbott.
 
That, according to the prime minister, is an area 700 kilometers long and 80 kilometers wide.
 
Abbott said Australia will seek contributions from other countries to help share the cost of using new equipment for the search in an area where the ocean's depth reaches seven kilometers.
 
The search - the most expensive in aviation industry - besides Australia, has also involved equipment and personnel from Britain, China, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea and the United States.
 
Weeks of scouring the bottom of the ocean in a 400-square kilometer area, where acoustic signals from the plane's black boxes were said to have been detected utilizing a U.S. Navy robotic submarine has turned up no trace of the Boeing 777 jetliner.
 
Using equipment in the deep sea to survey the larger area is a daunting task.
 
Angus Houston, the head of the search effort, said "if everything goes perfectly" the extended underwater search will take eight months to complete.
 
For unknown reasons, the Malaysian airliner veered far off course on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane was carrying 239 passengers and crew.
 
No trace of the aircraft has been found despite an extensive search with aircraft and boats, in addition to the Bluefin-21 submersible.
 
Analysis of routine data sent to satellites by the plane's engines determined that the jet likely ran out of fuel off the western coast of Australia in one of the most remote places in the world.
 
The Australian prime minister, directing comments at the anguished, mostly Chinese families of the missing, said everything humanly possible will be done to solve the mystery.
 
"We will not let people down. And while the search will be moving to a new phase in coming weeks, it certainly is not ending," said Abbott.
 
However, Abbott also acknowledges it is possible nothing will ever be found of the missing airliner.

---

Steve Herman

A veteran journalist, Steven L Herman is the Voice of America Asia correspondent.

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Tornadoes kill at least 17 in Arkansas, Oklahoma as storms pummel Plains ... - Fox News

• 

  April 27, 2014: An official says two people are dead after a tornado hit Quapaw, Okla.Courtesy Justin Clarke

• 

  April 27, 2014: Emergency responders are seen surveying damage after a tornado hit Quapaw, Okla.Courtesy Justin Clarke

• 

  April 27, 2014: A vehicle tops a hill along U.S. Route 56 as a severe thunderstorm moves through the area near Baldwin City, Kan.AP

At least 17 people were killed Sunday by two separate tornadoes spawned by a powerful storm system that moved through the central and southern United States. 

The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management confirmed early Monday that at least sixteen people had died after a tornado tore through central Arkansas, while an Oklahoma county sheriff's dispatcher reported that one person had died in the town of Quapaw, near the state's borders with Kansas and Missouri.

The Arkansas tornado touched down about 10 miles west of Little Rock at around 7 p.m. local time and moved northeastward for at least 30 miles, the National Weather Service reported. It missed the state capital but passed through or near several of its suburbs, causing widespread damage in the communities of Mayflower and Vilonia.

According to the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, ten of the deaths occurred in Faulkner County, where Mayflower and Vilonia are located. Five more occurred in Pulaski County, and one occurred in White County.

The tornado, which grew to be a half-mile wide, turned buildings into rubble and stripped the leaves and smaller branches off of trees.

"There's just really nothing there anymore. We're probably going to have to start all over again," Vilonia Schools Superintendent Frank Mitchell said early Monday after surveying what had been a $14 million intermediate school set to open this fall. Because the tornado struck after nightfall, the full extent of the damage would be impossible to asses until after sunrise Monday.

The twister shredded cars, trucks and 18-wheelers stuck along Interstate 40 north of Little Rock. After the storm passed, tractor-trailer rigs tried to navigate through the damage to continue their journeys, while gawkers held smartphones to their windows to offer a grim glimpse of the destruction.

State troopers went vehicle-to-vehicle to check on motorists and said with genuine surprise that no one was killed.

"About 30 vehicles -- large trucks, sedans, pickup trucks -- were going through there when the funnel cloud passed over," said Bill Sadler, a spokesman for the Arkansas State Police.

Karla Ault, a Vilonia High School volleyball coach, said she sheltered in the school gymnasium as the storm approached. After it passed, her husband told her their home was gone -- reduced to the slab on which it had sat.

"I'm just kind of numb. It's just shock that you lost everything. You don't understand everything you have until you realize that all I've got now is just what I have on," Ault said.

 The National Weather Service in North Little Rock said it was virtually certain that the Mayflower and Vilonia storm would be rated as the nation's strongest twister to date this year.

"It has the potential to be EF3 or greater," said meteorologist Jeff Hood. EF3 storms have winds greater than 136 mph. "Based on some of the footage we've seen from Mayflower and where it crossed Interstate 40, things were wrecked in a very significant way."

From communities west of Little Rock to others well north of the capital, emergency workers and volunteers were going door-to-door checking for victims.

"It turned pitch black," said Mark Ausbrooks, who was at his parents' home in Mayflower when the storm arrived. "I ran and got pillows to put over our heads and ... all hell broke loose."

"My parents' home, it's gone completely," he said.

Becky Naylor, of Mayflower, said she and her family went to their storm cellar after hearing that tornado debris was falling in nearby Morgan. Naylor, 57, said there were between 20 and 22 people in the cellar and they were "packed like sardines."

"Everyone is welcome to come into it," she said. "In fact, people were pulling off the highways and were just running in."

She said the men held the cellar doors shut while the tornado's winds tried to rip them open.

"It sounded like a constant rolling, roaring sound," she said. "Trees were really bending and the light poles were actually shaking and moving. That's before we shut the door and we've only shut the door to the storm cellar two times."

The White House issued a statement in which President Barack Obama promised that the federal government would help in the recovery and praised the heroic efforts of first-responders and neighbors.

"Your country will be there to help you recover and rebuild as long as it takes," Obama said.

The Arkansas tornado was one of several that touched down Sunday as a large storm system moved through parts of the Plains, Midwest and South.

Less than two hours before the Arkansas tornado struck, a twister hit the small northeastern Oklahoma community of Quapaw, killing at least one person and injuring six others, Ottawa County sheriff's dispatcher Kelli Soechs said. Earlier Sunday, another Ottawa County sheriff's dispatcher reported that two people were killed. Soechs declined to explain the discrepancy.

Five of the six injured in Quapaw were treated and released from Baptist Regional Health Center in Miami, Okla., said hospital spokeswoman Kristie Wallace. The sixth, who was in fair condition with a broken bone, was kept overnight, she said.

Ottawa County Emergency Management director Joe Dan Morgan said Quapaw, which has about 900 residents, was heavily damaged by the tornado.

"Looks like about half of town got extensive damage as well as the fire department," Morgan said.

After hitting Quapaw, the tornado moved northward into Kansas and struck Baxter Springs, a city of about 4,200 residents about 5 miles away. Cherokee County, Kan., sheriff's dispatcher Josh Harvey said the tornado that hit Baxter Springs injured several people and caused extensive damage, but that no deaths had been reported. He said first responders were going from house to house checking on residents' wellbeing.

Tornadoes also touched down Sunday in Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri. Tornado warnings, which indicate the greatest threat of a strike, were also in effect for parts of southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas as of 9 p.m. CDT.

One of Sunday's twisters touched down northwest of Joplin, Mo., where a massive tornado in May 2011 killed 161 people, injured many others and leveled a large swath of the city. Sunday's twister didn't hit Joplin.

The first reported tornado Sunday touched down in a rural area in central in Nebraska. The weather service said it remained on the ground for only a short time, and there were no immediate reports of damage.

Forecasters warned that areas that weren't hit by tornadoes were still at risk of damage from hail and powerful straight-line winds. Forecasters warned of hail stones as big as baseballs and wind gusts that could reach hurricane-force -- 75 mph or higher.

Gusts of up to 60 mph were registered during a storm that hit southeastern Iowa on Sunday that damaged several buildings, including a barn that injured someone when it was blown over.

Earlier Sunday afternoon, a strong line of storms moved through west-central Missouri, bringing winds that reached 70 mph hour near Chillicothe, Mo., that toppled some trees.

The Missouri Highway Patrol also reported a tractor-trailer was blown onto its side on Interstate 70 about 30 miles east of Kansas City about 1 p.m. No one was injured. The weather service received a report from Plattsburg, Mo., where an anemometer measured 58 mph before it blew away. Golf ball-sized hail was reported at Overland Park, Kan., and Trimble, Mo.

Severe thunderstorm watches covered portions of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri through Sunday night. The primary threats were damaging wind gusts and large hail.

To the southeast, northern Louisiana and Mississippi were bracing for severe storms along with the possibility of flash flooding. The predictions prompted Barksdale Air Force Base near Bossier City, La., to cancel its air show on Sunday. The National Weather Service said northern Alabama could see rain and flash flooding, while central and northern Georgia could see storms and heavy rain.

Sunday was the third anniversary of a 122-tornado day, which struck parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia and killed 316 people.

Meanwhile, runners in Oklahoma City took shelter early Sunday as hail and high winds delayed the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon by 105 minutes to let a severe thunderstorm pass through.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Ukraine crisis: US pressures Russia on captive observers - Irish Times

US secretary of state John Kerry has urged Russia to support efforts to free military observers held by pro-Moscow forces in Ukraine.

Mr Kerry also told Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in a phone call that the United States was concerned that Moscow's actions were "undermining stability, security and unity" in Ukraine.

The US State Department said Mr Kerry cited Russia's "provocative" troop movements along the border, Moscow's support for separatists and its "inflammatory rhetoric".

Mr Kerry also wants Russia to support - and not "denigrate" - Ukraine's effort to stabilise the country.

Pro-Russian rebels accuse the German-led team of military observers of being Nato spies.

The US and the world's other leading industrial powers say they are planning more economic penalties against Russia because of Moscow's actions in Ukraine.

The observers were travelling under the auspices of the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe when they were detained in the city of Slovyansk on Friday.

Vyacheslav Ponomarev, the self-proclaimed "people's mayor" of Slovyansk, described them as "captives" and said that they were officers from Nato member states.

"As we found maps on them containing information about the location of our checkpoints, we get the impression that they are officers carrying out a certain spying mission," he said, adding they could be released in exchange for jailed pro-Russian activists.

Tim Guldimann, the OSCE's special envoy for Ukraine, told German public radio WDR "efforts are being made to solve this issue". He declined to elaborate.

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier also called Mr Lavrov to press for the release of the observers.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said it was taking "all measures to resolve the situation", but blamed the authorities in Kiev for failing to secure the safety of the team.

Outside Slovyansk, 150km west of Russia, Ukraine government forces has continued operations to form a security cordon as it attempts to quell unrest threatening to derail the planned May 25th presidential election.

The US and other nations in the Group of Seven have said they plan to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia in response to its actions in Ukraine. The West has accused Russia of using covert forces to encourage unrest in Ukraine and says Moscow has done nothing to pressure pro-Russian militias to free police stations and government buildings in at least 10 cities across the region.

Condemning Russia's earlier annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula, the G7 said: "We will now follow through on the full legal and practical consequences of this illegal annexation, including but not limited to the economic, trade and financial areas."

US vice president Joe Biden tried to keep building support for sanctions during phone calls to the prime ministers of Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The European Union is also planning more sanctions and ambassadors from the union's 28 member states will meet in Brussels tomorrow to add to the list of Russian officials and pro-Russian leaders in Ukraine that have been hit with asset freezes and a travel ban.

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Abbas: Holocaust 'Most Heinous' Crime of Modern Era - Voice of America

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called the mass killing of Jews in the Holocaust "the most heinous crime" against humanity in the modern era.

Mr. Abbas' statement was published Sunday by the Palestinian official news agency WAFA, just hours before Israel began marking Holocaust remembrance day, and several days after the suspension of peace negotiations with Israel.

His statement is a rare acknowledgement by an Arab leader of Jewish suffering during the Nazi genocide. Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

Mr. Abbas' acknowledgement of Jewish suffering is believed to have grown out of his recent meeting with an American rabbi who promotes Jewish-Muslim understanding.

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Obama voices solidarity over missing plane on Malaysia visit - The News International

Sunday, April 27, 2014
From Print Edition

KUALA LUMPUR: Barack Obama on Saturday became the first sitting US president in nearly 50 years to visit moderate-Muslim Malaysia, where he quickly expressed solidarity with his hosts over the mystery of missing flight MH370.

 

Obama touched down on the third leg of a four nation Asia tour designed to showcase his "rebalance" of US resources to the dynamic region, but which has been repeatedly interrupted by foreign policy crises from Ukraine to the Middle East.

 

Obama arrived on what is his first-ever visit to Malaysia with the country under uncomfortable scrutiny over its handling of tragedy over the airliner which vanished on March 8 with 239 people aboard. Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Obama told him he knows "it is a tough, long, road ahead".

 

"We'll work together. There is always support," Hishammuddin said the US leader told him at a humid arrival ceremony under grey skies punctuated with a crashing formal field gun salute. "I'm very happy to hear (this) because it is a long journey." Obama's tour reaffirms his view that the United States is a key Pacific power in a region where US allies are discomforted by the rise of China and where maritime tensions have disrupted years of relative calm between nations.

 

But he has one eye elsewhere, notably on the deepening standoff with Russia over Ukraine. Late on Friday, Obama convened a conference call with EU leaders which resulted in a G7 statement that new sanctions against Moscow could be unveiled as early as Monday.

 

Obama has also been forced to address the potential threat of a new nuclear weapons test by North Korea and his administration's crumbling effort to forge Middle East peace.

 

He also had tough words for Pyongyang on Saturday, telling cheering US troops in Seoul that the North's iron rule and belligerent threats were signs of weakness. He bemoaned a "pariah state that would rather starve its people than feed their hopes and dreams". US ties with economically successful, Malaysia have vastly improved after years of anti-US antagonism under former leader Mahathir Mohamad.

 

Washington sees Malaysia as a pivotal player in Southeast Asia, and talks with Prime Minister Najib Razak will concentrate on increasing convergence in trade, security cooperation and intelligence-sharing.

 

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Watch live: The canonization of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II - Los Angeles Times

Pope Francis presides over the Mass for the canonization of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Sunday.

By Alexandra Zavis

April 26, 2014, 11:00 p.m.

As many as 1 million pilgrims and other visitors are expected at the Vatican on Sunday for the canonization of two of the most influential popes of the 20th Century, John Paul II and John XXIII.

Pope Francis will be assisted during the sainthood ceremony by retired Pope Benedict XVI, the first time two living pontiffs will help canonize a pair of their predecessors.

Giant screens have been erected in piazzas throughout the city for those unable to get into St. Peter's Square for the Mass, which is expected to begin at 10 a.m. local time (1 a.m. PST) and last about two hours.

John XXIII, who is said to be a favorite of Francis, was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli to a poor rural family in Italy. Although he served as pontiff less than five years, from 1958 until his death in 1963, he is credited with modernizing the Roman Catholic Church.

He convened the historic Second Vatican Council, which instituted such reforms as Masses in the vernacular instead of Latin.

Born Karol Wojtya in Wadowice, Poland, John Paul II would become the first non-Italian pope in more than 400 years when he was elected in 1978. He was beloved by Catholics around the world for his warm, personal style and fierce opposition to Soviet communism.

John Paul II served as pontiff for almost 27 years, surviving an assassination attempt in St. Peter's Square in 1981. He later forgave his attacker. 

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alexandra.zavis@latimes.com

Twitter: @alexzavis

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In Malaysia, Obama decries alleged Sterling remarks - Los Angeles Times

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- President Obama on Saturday condemned the "incredibly offensive racist statements" attributed to Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, calling them a sign of how the U.S. continues to wrestle with its legacy of "slavery and segregation."

But Obama also said he thinks such remarks from "ignorant folks" draw outrage because they're so out of sync with the American self-concept.

"We've made enormous strides, but you're going to continue to see this percolate up every so often," Obama said. Americans have to be "clear and steady in denouncing" such comments, he said, but should also "remain hopeful that part of why some statements like this stand out so much is because there has been this shift in how we view ourselves."

Sterling has stirred anger after allegedly making derogatory remarks about black people in an audio recording released by celebrity gossip site TMZ. In it, a man identified as Sterling criticizes his girlfriend for posting on Instagram a picture of herself with Lakers legend Magic Johnson.

"It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associating with black people," the man says in the recording. He later adds, "I'm just saying, in your … Instagrams, you don't have to have yourself … walking with black people.

Obama commented on the statements when asked about them during a press conference in Malaysia, a country of multiple ethnic groups that wrestles with its own issues of diversity.

"Like Malaysia, we constantly have to be on guard against racial attitudes that divide us rather than embracing our diversity as a strength," Obama said. "We have to make sure that we stay on top of it."

Obama said he is confident that the NBA commissioner will address the situations on behalf of a league that he said is "beloved by fans all across the country."

ALSO:

Crowds flood Vatican City for dual papal canonization

U.S., allies to add sanctions against Russia over Ukraine

South Korean prime minister offers to resign over ferry sinking

christi.parsons@latimes.com

@cparsons

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Teen girl killed in Connecticut high school; male classmate arrested - CNN

By Lena Jakobsson and Greg Botelho, CNN

updated 2:30 AM EDT, Sat April 26, 2014

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Police: A 16-year-old girl was cut in the neck, chest and face; a knife is found
• NEW: The suspect, 16, faces murder charges; he could later be charged as an adult
• NEW: The family of Maren Sanchez says more should be done to prevent school violence
• The assault happened at Jonathan Law High School in Milford, Connecticut

(CNN) -- A 16-year-old girl, described by her family as "a bright light full of hopes and dreams," died inside her Connecticut high school on Friday after being slashed in her neck, chest and face, authorities said.

The alleged assailant, a 16-year-old male classmate, was removed by staff members at Jonathan Law High School in Milford, Connecticut, that town's police said.

He's being held at a local medical facility and a murder charge is pending, officials said. He'll be arraigned on this charge next Monday in a juvenile court in New Haven, though police note that courts will decide later if he will be tried as an adult.

The incident began around 7 a.m. in a stairwell at the school, and was witnessed in part by at least one school staff member.

Maren Sanchez, shown here in her Facebook profile, was attacked Friday morning in a hallway at school.

The victim -- Maren Sanchez, a junior -- suffered "multiple lacerations" and investigators "recovered a knife at the crime scene," police said. The Connecticut Chief Medical Examiner's Office has yet to officially determine a cause of death.

School staff members and emergency technicians attempted "life-saving measures," according to Milford Police Chief Keith Mello, but Sanchez was pronounced dead at Bridgeport Hospital at 7:43 a.m.

Addressing reporters on Friday, the police chief didn't provide a motive but said investigators are looking into rumors a boy was angry because Sanchez had declined to go to the prom with him.

The prom, scheduled for Friday night, has been postponed. All students were sent home, and Milford Public Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Feser said counseling services will be available to them throughout the weekend.

The slain girl's cousin, Edward Kovac, read a statement from her family lamenting what they called an "unprovoked attack" that ended the life of a young woman who had "her future at her fingertips."

"Maren should be celebrating at her prom this evening, with her friends and classmates," the family said, via Kovac. "Instead, we are mourning her death, and we are trying as a community to understand this senseless loss of life."

The family statement recalled other cases of school violence, saying "we can never forget the lessons ... from this" and other incidents. One of those incidents happened about 22 miles away, in December 2012 in Newtown, when a lone gunman shot his mother to death, then went to Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 26 people, including 20 children, before taking his own life.

"We need to ensure that more young children are protected from violent attacks at school," the family said.

READ MORE: Teaching teens to be active bystanders

CNN's Ralph Ellis contributed to this report.

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Virgin Australia passenger sparks Bali hijacking scare - Sydney Morning Herald

Video will begin in 5 seconds.

Aussie arrested on Bali flight

A Queensland plumber who was either drunk or under the influence of drugs, was put in hand-cuffs in a plane en route to Bali, after he attempted to get into the cockpit. Nine News.

PT0M48S http://www.smh.com.au/action/externalEmbeddedPlayer?id=d-37akz 620 349 April 26, 2014 - 1:23PM

Update: A drunk passenger caused the closure of Bali's airport and sparked a full-scale security alert when he attempted to enter the cockpit of a Virgin Australia flight from Brisbane to Denpasar, prompting the pilot to report a hijacking attempt.

Virgin Australia airport manager at Ngurah Rai, Heru Sudjatmiko said a drunk passenger on board flight VA41 had tried to enter the cockpit of the plane but had been stopped by the crew.

The man was handcuffed and put into a rear seat of the Boeing 737-800, which landed safely.

This Instagram image reportedly shows the Virgin Blue passenger jet after it was forced to land in Bali.

"The Department can confirm the arrest of a Queensland man following an incident on board a Virgin Airline flight to Denpasar. The Australian Consulate will provide consular assistance as required," a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. 

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Fairfax Media has learned the drunk or drug-affected man banged on the cockpit door, trying to gain access and alarming the pilots.

Ngurah Rai airport was closed temporarily after Indonesian authorities interpreted the incident on flight VA41 as a hijacking. 

Indonesian air force soldiers hold their weapons as they guard near a Virgin Australia airplane at Denpasar airport in the resort island of Bali. Photo: Reuters

But Virgin quickly scotched that speculation. 

Transport ministry spokesman Herry Bakti said nine aircraft had been diverted to other airports in Indonesia during the shutdown.

"It was a hundred per cent not a hijacking," a spokesman for the airline said.

Australian Matt Christopher Lockley, a passenger of the Virgin flight, who is believed to have tried to enter the cockpit, is arrested by Indonesian military officers. Photo: Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

Bali Air Force Commander Colonel Sugiharto, said the perpetrator was an Australian passenger named Matt Christopher Lockley, 28. 

Police chief Suhardi Alius said the man was in custody and being interrogated.

Earlier, the Indonesian military confirmed it was responding to reports of a hijacking. 

A photo of Matt Christopher Lockley taken by an Indonesian official, after he allegedly caused a hijacking scare on a flight bound for Bali. Photo: Amilia Rosa

Mr Heru said this was "clearly a miscommunication". The pilot himself had told air traffic control that the plane was hijacked, and sent a distress call.

"I don't know why that happened," Mr Heru said.

Perth man Chris Corless was at Denpasar's airport when the incident occurred.

A Virgin Australia plane sits on the runway in Bali after a drunk passenger tried to break into the cockpit. Photo: Chris Corless

"My wife and I were waiting for our flight and just noticed planes weren't departing," Mr Corless said. 

"Then the Virgin flight landed and was escorted immediately to the tarmac opposite the terminal.

"Security surrounded the plane and then there was some movement then security left and the plane taxied to a normal gate. All said and done in 30 minutes.

Australian Matt Christopher Lockley being taken off the flight by Indonesian officers.

"Sounds like it wasn't serious, security didn't take long to clear the situation."

- Michael Bachelard, Saffron Howden, Matt O'Sullivan and Chris Hingston

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Why buy the cow when you can get the racist for free?: Phillip Morris - The Plain Dealer

Cliven Bundy's cows got what they well deserved.

I'm not talking about the four-legged bovines that have illegally mooched for years off of public land. Those creatures have no sense of discretion. They eat where directed.

I'm talking about the two-legged political cows. I'm talking about the cows that celebrated Bundy, a Nevada rancher, until they heard his racist utterance and then quickly abandoned him. I'm talking about human cows like Sens. Rand Paul, from Kentucky, Dean Heller of Nevada and others who heralded Bundy's alleged principled stand against an oppressive federal government until his shocking ignorance revealed him to be toxic.

The Republican Party can't have it both ways. It can't reflexively race to celebrate every domestic boob who considers the federal government an enemy then backtrack in angst when that boob is also exposed as a seething racist.

The GOP can't claim that it wants to open its doors to African Americans and other minorities, while it continues to provide safe haven for the Cliven Bundys of the world until they are publicly uncovered as retrogrades or disciples of the Turner Diaries.

The GOP can't claim that it wants to reverse its apathetic outreach to black voters, while its top leaders celebrate – unvetted - those who harbor racist and dangerous views on race and America.

"They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I've often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn't get no more freedom. They got less freedom," Bundy told the New York Times.

Bundy, of course, is entitled to his counter-intuitive opinions. He's a blithering fool. America is full of them on both sides of the political spectrum.

What is offensive is that high-ranking members of our federal government would celebrate him as a cause ce'le'bre on grazing rights, without taking the time to think and ask whether his anti-government views also extended to matters of race and freedom.

No, the GOP can't have it both ways.

Last June, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and other Republican leaders met in Cleveland with a group of clergy and community activists at an Eastside Church. The meeting was billed as a "listening session with African-American community leaders."

The point of the gathering was to start what GOP leaders said they hoped would be the beginning of an unprecedented statewide dialogue to recast the way blacks view Republican office seekers (with heavy distrust) and the way Republicans have often viewed black voters (with astonishing indifference).

Ten months later, this ambitious effort appears to be little more than token outreach. While Ohio Gov. John Kasich has won muted praise for his work on Cleveland public school reform and criminal justice issues, the GOP presence in Ohio's African-American communities remains stealth at best.

"We're going into uncharted territory here and it'll involve some heavy lifting, but we have to do a much better job of understanding and engaging the African-American community," Matt Borges, chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, told me at the time.

"We're going to have to do a much better job of tailoring a message around job creation, as well as fostering better access to capital and those who invest in urban communities," he said.

I believe Borges and Priebus are sincere. Priebus condemned Bundy's comments on race as being "highly offensive and 100 percent wrong."

That's good as far as it goes.

But the problem is this:

Most African-Americans are convinced that the GOP is disinterested in their issues and their votes. It's not a terribly difficult case to make.

Now, Cliven Bundy and his human cows have just made the Republican Party's challenge that much more difficult.

Republicans really need to stop making it so easy for African-Americans to remain the most loyal Democrats. It's grown tiresome.

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