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(CNN) -- A British football fan has been shot and wounded in Kyrgyzstan after a local became upset with a group of supporters chanting in a bar. England fans celebrate following victory against Ecuador at the 2006 World Cup finals. The incident took place ahead of England's World Cup qualifying match away to neighboring Kazakhstan on Saturday. A British Foreign Office spokeswoman said the attack took place in a bar in Bishek on Tuesday. "The British honorary consul is liaising with those involved and with the local authorities," she said. Britain's Sun newspaper reported on Thursday that the local in the bar told the England fan and his friends to stop chanting, and shot him in the thigh with a pistol when they continued. The wounded man is aged in his 30s and is from Rochdale in the north-western county of Lancashire, the paper said. Kyrgyzstan, with a population of more than five million people, is a landlocked nation bordered to the north by Kazakhstan. England will be seeking to maintain a 100 per cent record in the European Group Six qualifier in Almaty, having won all five games so far to be five points ahead of second-placed Croatia.

England supporter shot in the leg in a bar in Kyrgyzstan by an angry local . The local was upset by the chanting of the man and his fellow supporters . The British Foreign Office says the attack took place in Bishek on Tuesday . England will play neighboring Kazakhstan in World Cup qualifier on Saturday .

(CNN) -- A British man convicted of having sex on a Dubai beach was re-arrested as he prepared to board a flight back to the UK, according to media reports. File image of one of the co-accused -- Vince Acors -- arriving at court in Dubai in September. Vince Acors, 34, from London, was due to fly to Heathrow Monday following his deportation from the Gulf state. But he was detained at Dubai Airport and returned to jail as his flight confirmation was allegedly "not in order," the British Press Association said. Acors and fellow Briton Michelle Palmer, 36, were initially given three-month jail terms for unmarried sex and public indecency, but these were suspended on appeal. Acors had been due to return last Friday but a hold-up in the deportation process meant he was unable to board a UK-bound plane and spent the weekend in jail, PA said. His lawyer Andrew Crossley said: "The return of Vince Acors has been delayed yet again and he will not be returning to the UK. The situation is close to becoming farcical and Vince is severely disappointed. "After having booked and confirmed his return flight on three separate occasions through the course of the day Vince was re-arrested at Dubai Airport, as his flight confirmation was allegedly not in order. He has been returned to jail, his precise return is now unknown." Palmer and Acors were arrested on a public beach shortly after midnight on July 5. Police charged them with illicit relations, public indecency, and public intoxication. A court found them guilty in October and fined them 1,000 dirhams ($367) for the charge of public indecency. Both denied they had intercourse. And during the trial, Mattar argued that the public prosecutor failed to produce corroborative evidence against his clients on the first two charges, though he said both tested positive for liquor. The United Arab Emirates, where Dubai is located, is home to thousands of expatriates and is among the most moderate Gulf states. Still, the oil-rich kingdom adheres to certain Islamic rules.

Michelle Palmer and Vincent Acors, faced three-month sentence . The pair were arrested at a Dubai beach shortly after midnight on July 5 . They were charged with with illicit relations, public indecency, public intoxication . Although a relatively moderate Gulf state, Dubai adheres to certain Islamic rules .

(CNN) -- A British man was jailed Tuesday for raping two of his daughters and fathering nine children over 27 years, a case with echoes of Austria's Josef Fritzl. The two daughters were made pregnant 19 times; there were nine births, five miscarriages and five terminations. Seven of the children are alive but suffer genetic deformities. The father, who cannot be named for legal reasons banning the identification of his victims and the surviving children, pleaded guilty Tuesday at Sheffield Crown Court, northern England, and was sentenced to serve 25 life sentences to run concurrently. The judge said the minimum term the 56-year-old rapist should serve in jail should be 19½ years. South Yorkshire Police Chief Superintendent Simon Torr said, "The victims of these terrible crimes have asked me to state the following: 'His detention in prison brings us only the knowledge that he cannot physically touch us again. The suffering he has caused will continue for many years, and we must now concentrate our thoughts on finding the strength to rebuild our lives.' " Speaking for the police, Torr added, "The main concern ... is for those who have been so badly affected: the victims who have suffered a terrible ordeal. We will continue to offer them our full support to try and help them get on with their lives. "As far as the sentence goes, we are satisfied that this offender has received the strongest possible punishment for his heinous crimes. Now we need to ensure continuing support for those who have suffered as a result of his actions." The daughters first told police about their ordeal in June, but the abuse dated to 1981. It emerged that in 1998 one daughter rang Childline, a charity to help abused kids, and asked for assurances about being able to keep her children if she came forward. When Childline could not make that guarantee, the daughter did nothing more to raise her plight. Watch how the case came to light » The UK's Press Association reported that the rapes began in 1981 with daily attacks and that for long periods, they would be raped up to three times a week, and the assaults would continue through pregnancies. Their only reprieve came after they had just given birth or when they were ill because of the abuse. If either daughter tried to refuse their father's attacks, they would be punched, kicked and or held to the flames of a gas fire, burning their eyes and arms, PA reported. Despite visiting hospitals and meeting with social workers over the 27 years of abuse, no investigation was launched into the family. The case comes in the wake of the death of a baby, known only as Baby P, which has dominated headlines in Britain. The baby endured horrendous torture and died despite being on the local authority's child protection register. In Austria this year, Josef Fritzl was arrested, accused of keeping his daughter in a basement dungeon and fathering seven children through the rapes.

Dad in UK sentenced to life in jail for subjecting daughters to rapes over 27 years . Rapes resulted in 19 pregnancies, nine births, seven children . Surviving children suffer genetic disorders . Judge questions why social workers, professionals did not find out about case .

(CNN) -- A Buffalo, New York, man is due in court Thursday to face charges that he raped a 13-year-old runaway police say he held prisoner in his home for six months. Michael J. Abdallah, 26, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree rape, unlawful imprisonment and custodial interference. Thursday's hearing will determine if the case should be referred to a grand jury. Buffalo police said that Abdallah kept the girl in his home from July through December 2009, behind dead-bolt locks and doors with no doorknobs. A criminal complaint alleges that Abdallah had sex with her more than 100 times. Police spokesman Michael DeGeorge said Abdallah also forced the girl to baby-sit his year-old son. Abdallah is unmarried, and the identity of the child's mother is not known. Police would not say how the girl left Adbdallah's home, why there was a delay from December to February for his arrest or where the teenager is now. Abdallah was arrested Friday when police raided his home on a child-abuse allegation, Buffalo media reported. The next day, Buffalo City Court Judge James A.W. McLeod set bond at $250,000 in an arraignment at which Abdallah represented himself. He has since been provided with a court-appointed attorney, according to media reports. But friends of the defendant told the Buffalo News that he was nothing more than a Good Samaritan trying to help a runaway girl he met in a Buffalo park. "Everybody has had their moments, but Mike is not a monster. As long as I've known Mike, he's always been kindhearted to me. If he could help you, he will help you," Alicia Bellaus, 20, who grew up next door to Abdallah's relatives, told the paper. "Mike always had her calling to someone, supposedly her aunt, to say she was doing OK. From what I knew, her aunt or her mom knew where she was staying," said Bellaus, who previously had a romantic relationship with Abdallah. "To look at her, she is very developed physically, and you would think that she is older than 13." Bellaus said the girl told her she was 17 or 18 and denied having sex with Abdallah, and that she also said she did not want to go home to her mother, the News said. Police told the News that the family filed several missing person reports after the girl disappeared in July. And an unnamed law enforcement official told the paper that Abdallah was a manipulative drug dealer who "lured her in" and kept her trapped physically and psychologically. CNN, however, could not confirm that official's view. George Kimble, who lives four doors from Abdallah, said he was surprised when he learned about the accusations. "This is a street where everyone knows everyone," said Kimble, who remembered Abdallah moving in about a year-and-a-half ago. "I never recall him with a 13-year-old girl." Kimble said Abdallah was seldom home, and their brief conversations were limited to Abdallah's two dogs. Other neighbors told Kimble the house had a steady stream of visitors on any given day.

Buffalo, New York, man has pleaded not guilty to second-degree rape . Michael J. Abdallah, 26, was arrested Friday . Other charges: Unlawful imprisonment and custodial interference . Bond set at $250,000; Abdallah represented himself at arraignment .

(CNN) -- A Buffalo, New York-area man accused of beheading his estranged wife made his first appearance in court Wednesday to face murder charges, according to the district attorney. Muzzammil Hassan has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan. Muzzammil Hassan, 44, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 37-year-old wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan, days after she filed for divorce and was granted a restraining order against him. In court Wednesday, Hassan waived his right to a felony hearing, according to Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita III. The case will go before a grand jury in the next 45 days. In the meantime, Hassan will be jailed without bond. If convicted, he faces a sentence of 15 years to life, WKBW reported, citing prosecutors. Muzzammil Hassan went to the police station in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park on Thursday and told officers that his wife was dead, authorities have said. He also led them to her body at the offices of Bridges TV. The couple began the network in 2004 to counter negative Muslim stereotypes; Muzzammil Hassan is its chief executive officer, and Aasiya Hassan was general manager. Aasiya Hassan filed for divorce February 6, police said, and Muzzammil Hassan was served with divorce papers at the station. That night, he showed up at the couple's home, she notified authorities, and he was served with a restraining order. Police had responded to several domestic violence calls at the couple's address, but no one was arrested, Orchard Park Police Chief Andrew Benz said Tuesday. However, two women claiming to be Aasiya Hassan's sisters -- one in Pakistan and one in South Africa -- told reporters and posted in a blog that she lived in fear of him. Bridges TV released a statement Monday saying its staff members were "deeply shocked and saddened by the murder of Aasiya Hassan and the subsequent arrest of Muzzammil Hassan. Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the families of the victim."

Muzzammil Hassan, accused of beheading wife, waived right to felony hearing . Hassan, founder of Bridges TV, charged with second-degree murder . Hassan will be jailed without bail while case goes to grand jury . If convicted, he faces a sentence of 15 years to life .

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

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

(CNN) -- A California judge ruled Wednesday to allow cameras in a federal courtroom to document a challenge to Proposition 8, a measure banning same-sex marriage. The courtroom footage will not be streamed live, but will be uploaded on the Web site YouTube daily, CNN affiliate KGO reported. Proposition 8 passed with about 52.5 percent of the vote in November 2008. A lesbian couple and a gay couple who were banned from marrying filed a suit challenging the constitutionality of the new measure, the affiliate reported. The nonjury trial is to begin on January 11 in federal court in San Francisco. The rare decision to allow cameras in a federal courtroom was influenced by intense media attention, court officials said. The legal battle over Proposition 8 has prompted passionate debate and in the past has spurred protests outside courtrooms. Opponents of the ban say it improperly altered the state's Constitution to restrict a fundamental right guaranteed in the state charter. Ban supporters say Californians long have had the right to change their state Constitution through ballot initiatives.

California judge rules to allow cameras in a federal courtroom . Courtroom footage will not be streamed live, but will be uploaded on YouTube daily . Lesbian couple and gay couple banned from marrying filed lawsuit . Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, was passed by voters 2008 .

(CNN) -- A California jury Wednesday recommended the death penalty after convicting a man on murder and arson charges in the deaths of five U.S. Forest Service firefighters who died in a 2006 blaze outside Los Angeles. Smoke rises over a flag flying at half-staff for fallen firefighters October 27, 2006, in Banning, California. Raymond Lee Oyler of Beaumont, California, was convicted on five counts of first-degree murder, including two special circumstances -- that the murders were committed during an arson and that multiple murders were committed -- making him eligible for the death penalty. Oyler was also convicted of 11 counts of arson and 10 counts of use of an incendiary device in those arsons. Sentencing is set for June 5. Firefighters Mark Loutzenhiser, 44; Jess McLean, 27; Jason McKay, 27; and Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20, died October 26, 2006, during a blaze called the Esperanza fire when the wildfire, fueled by Santa Ana winds, enveloped their engine. The fifth firefighter, Pablo Cerda, 23, died October 31, 2006, at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, where he had been taken after sustaining burns over 90 percent of his body. Days before being charged in Esperanza Fire, Oyler had been arrested and charged with two counts of arson in a June 2006 fire in the Banning Pass area. The 41,173-acre Esperanza fire outside Los Angeles destroyed 34 homes and 20 outbuildings, mainly in the Twin Pines and Poppet Flats areas, which had been under mandatory evacuations. The firefighters died trying to protect a partially built house in Twin Pines, a rural mountain community.

Jury convicts man on five counts of first-degree murder, 11 counts of arson . 2006 fire outside Los Angeles, California, killed five firefighters . Jury recommends death; sentencing set for June 5 .

(CNN) -- A California lettuce grower has recalled 2,498 cartons of chopped or shredded romaine lettuce shipped to wholesale food service distributors in 19 states and Canada over concerns the produce may be contaminated with the same bacteria that caused 13 deaths in an outbreak traced to tainted cantaloupes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and True Leaf Farms initially reported the recall of 90 cartons of chopped and shredded romaine lettuce on Thursday, saying a random sample detected listeria monocytogenes in one bag pulled from a lot shopped on September 12 and September 13. Later Thursday, True Leaf issued a statement saying the FDA asked the company to expand the recall. No illnesses have been reported, the FDA said. The affected lettuce was available for direct purchase at Cash & Carry Smart Foodservice warehouses in Oregon, Washington and Idaho, It also shipped to food service distributors in Alaska, Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Vermont. It also was sent to a distributor in Alberta and British Columbia. The recalled lettuce carries a use by date of "9/29/11" and the bag and box code B256-46438-8. The FDA said anyone who has the lettuce should destroy it or contact the company to come pick it up. Listeria can cause fever, muscle aches and gastrointestinal problems. It usually causes only mild illness for healthy people, but it can be extremely dangerous for older adults, people with weakened immune systems, newborns and pregnant women, in whom listeriosis can cause miscarriages and stillbirths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The listeria bacteria recently was blamed in a multi-state outbreak associated with tainted cantaloupes. At last count, 13 people had died and 72 had been made ill in 18 states after consuming cantaloupes grown by a Colorado farm.

Chopped and shredded romaine lettuce is recalled over contamination concerns, the FDA says . The recall involves the same bacteria that caused 13 deaths from tainted cantaloupes . No illnesses have been reported from the lettuce, the FDA says .

(CNN) -- A California man convicted of the 2006 arson murders of five U.S. Forest Service firefighters was sentenced to death Friday. Raymond Lee Oyler was sentenced Friday to die for the arson murders of five firefighters. Raymond Lee Oyler, 38, of Beaumont was convicted in March of five counts of first-degree murder. The convictions included two special circumstances: that the murders were committed during an arson and that multiple murders were committed. Oyler also was convicted of 11 counts of arson and 10 counts of use of an incendiary device in those arsons. The imposition of the death penalty by a judge was a formality. A jury earlier recommended capital punishment for Oyler. Watch as Oyler's sentence is read » Firefighters Mark Loutzenhiser, 44; Jess McLean, 27; Jason McKay, 27; and Daniel Hoover-Najera, 20, died October 26, 2006, during the Esperanza fire outside Los Angeles. Fueled by Santa Ana winds, the wildfire enveloped their engine. The fifth firefighter, Pablo Cerda, 23, died October 31, 2006, at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, where he had been taken after suffering burns over 90 percent of his body. Days before being charged in Esperanza fire, Oyler had been arrested and charged with two counts of arson in a June 2006 fire in the Banning Pass area. The 41,173-acre Esperanza fire destroyed 34 homes and 20 outbuildings, mainly in the Twin Pines and Poppet Flats areas, which had been under mandatory evacuations. The firefighters died trying to protect a partially built house in Twin Pines, a rural mountain community. CNN's Lynn Lamanivong contributed to this report.

Raymond Oyler formally handed death sentence for five firefighter deaths . Jury convicted Oyler of five counts of first-degree murder, 11 counts of arson . 2006 fire outside Los Angeles, California, killed the five firefighters . Esperanza fire destroyed 34 homes in Twin Pines area outside Los Angeles .

(CNN) -- A California man pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter with the use of a gun Tuesday in the shooting death of a man who he claimed sexually abused him as a teen, a prosecutor said. The plea comes less than a week before Aaron Vargas' first-degree murder trial was supposed to start for the slaying of Darrell McNeill, a neighbor from his childhood and a family friend whom Vargas claims began molesting him when he was 11 years old. Under the terms of a plea deal, Vargas, now 32, faces anywhere from probation to 10 years in prison for shooting the former Boy Scout leader and local businessman last year in his home in the Northern California community of Fort Bragg. Lawyers will return to court April 20 to place a statement of facts on the record before Judge Ronald Brown decides on the final sentence. "There's some relief that we know we won't lose him for the rest of his life, but there's also a lot of anxiety about what the judge is going to do," said Vargas' sister, Mindy Galliani. "I won't have closure until he's home," she added. "But even when he's home, it's still not going to be closure. We need to get him into treatment so he can get help. I feel like this is only the beginning." Since his arrest, Vargas' family has waged a tireless campaign to reduce the charges and raise awareness over child sex abuse, earning support from members of the community and giving rise to more sex abuse allegations against McNeill. McNeill used his position as a Boy Scout troop leader and as active neighborhood father to win the trust of Vargas and other young boys, Galliani said. He took the boys on camping trips or hikes, gave them alcohol or drugs and molested them, Galliani alleged. The alleged sexual abuse waned as Vargas grew into adulthood, but McNeill continued to call him and visit the home where Vargas lived with his wife and infant daughter. The continued contact drove Vargas to the breaking point, his sister said. Vargas was under the influence of alcohol the night of February 8, 2009, when he drove to McNeill's mobile home with a loaded gun and shot him in front of his wife, Mendocino County Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Norman said. The prosecutor said she consulted with the victim's family and reached what they thought a jury may have found -- that his level of intoxication placed the crime more along the lines of an "emotional decision rather than an intentional first-degree murder." Norman said she has received four reports of sexual abuse involving McNeill, which factored into the decision to strike a plea deal even though she could not prove they were true. "When you have other victims coming forward, that does lend credibility to that scenario," she said. "These people have written me letters and said this has happened, and I have no way of showing this has happened, but it has been put out there." The slaying victim's wife, who lived next door to Vargas' family and has known the defendant since he was a child, said she had no reason to doubt his claims of abuse. "I love this young man and feel he needs counseling more than anything," McNeill's wife said in an e-mail. She requested that her name not be published. "I cannot condone what Aaron has done, but I do understand it. I believe he took the wrong avenue by taking the law into his own hands. Like most of this community, I do not feel he deserves 50 years in prison. Unlike most of this community, I feel he should serve some time, but not much." The case, with its suggestions of long-buried secrets, has rocked Fort Bragg, a former logging community that has become a coastal tourist destination. Another longtime Fort Bragg resident has come out publicly with allegations of abuse against McNeill. "I was a reserved kid, some considered me a loner; I just kind of

Aaron Vargas was set to stand trial for first-degree murder next week in Darrell McNeill's death . Vargas says McNeill molested him as a teen, emotionally tormented him as an adult . Many in community support Vargas; other adult men say McNeill abused them as children . Mendocino County District Attorney says there is no way to substantiate abuse claims .

(CNN) -- A California man sold his 14-year-old daughter to an 18-year-old man for cash, beer and meat -- then called police when the prospective bridegroom didn't live up to his end of the deal, authorities said Tuesday. Marcelino de Jesus Martinez faces felony charges, according to police in Greenfield, California. Marcelino de Jesus Martinez, 36, of Greenfield, California, was arrested Monday and booked into the Monterey County Jail, Greenfield police said in a statement. He faces felony charges of receiving money for causing a person to cohabitate, police said. Martinez had arranged through a third party to have his daughter marry the older teenager, identified by authorities as Margarito de Jesus Galindo, of Gonzales, California. In exchange, Galindo was to pay Martinez $16,000 and provide him with 160 cases of beer, 100 cases of soda, 50 cases of Gatorade, two cases of wine, and six cases of meat, Greenfield Police Chief Joe Grebmeier told CNN. All those involved in the case are from the western Mexican state of Oaxaca, the police chief said. In the Oaxacan community, such an agreement is "normal and honorable," he said. "In California, it's against the law." Watch for a list of the groceries dad reportedly wanted » In Oaxacan culture, the food and beverages are provided by a prospective bridegroom for the wedding, Grebmeier said. Authorities believe the young girl went with Galindo willingly, and no coercion was involved, he said. However, the girl is four years younger than California's age of consent, although the law does allow 16-year-olds to marry with parental consent. "The 14-year-old juvenile moved in with Galindo and when payments were not received, the father, Martinez, called Greenfield PD to bring back the daughter," according to a written police statement. The girl was reported as a runaway juvenile on December 18, Grebmeier said, and police took a missing-persons report and put out a flier. But "as we investigated, it started to develop into something that may not have been a runaway," he said, and police began to believe Martinez wanted them to bring back his daughter, since he had received no payment. On January 2, Galindo and the girl returned from a trip to Soledad, a town a few miles north of Greenfield, and were interviewed. Police learned the couple had never married, but had engaged in sexual relations, Grebmeier said. Galindo and Martinez were neighbors at an apartment complex and were apparently from the same area in Mexico, the police chief said. A third party was brokering the marriage deal, he said, and is cooperating with authorities. But the young couple apparently left for Soledad before the negotiations were complete. Martinez was arrested Sunday after undergoing additional questioning by police, Grebmeier said. He remained jailed Tuesday. Galindo was cited for statutory rape and released, Grebmeier said. The girl was returned to her family, he said, as authorities believe she is in no danger. However, police reported the case to child protection officials. The Greenfield area has had a large influx of Oaxacans. A presentation on understanding Oaxacan culture is posted on the Greenfield police Web site. "Arranged marriages are common in several cultures, and this is not an issue among consenting adults over the age of 18," police said in the statement. "But California has several laws regarding minors, the age of consent and human trafficking." Police are trying to be culturally sensitive, Grebmeier told CNN, but "when I'm in Mexico, I have to respect Mexican laws. When you're in the United States, you have to respect United States laws. That's the bottom line." He said he wanted to send a message to immigrant communities that such behavior is unacceptable. He said his department has long heard rumors of children as young as 12 being sold or offered for sale. The Greenfield police statement said arranged marriages between young girls and older men "have become a local problem." Greenfield is

Third party set up marriage between 14-year-old girl and 18-year-old man, police say . Groom was supposed to give the girl's father cash and cases of beer, soda, meat . When groom didn't pay up, father called the cops, say police in Greenfield, California . Such arrangements are normal in Mexican state where family is from, police say .

(CNN) -- A California movement protesting $1 billion in budget cuts to the state's university system appeared to have burgeoned into a nationwide demonstration on Thursday. Students and professors in dozens of states were challenging administrators and state lawmakers over budget cuts and tuition increases that they say are reducing students' class options and increasing their expenses. Some of the demonstrations turned chaotic. In Oakland, California, police arrested 160 protesters who shut down a major freeway, according to city police spokeswoman April McFarland. The Oakland protesters had left a march from the University of California, Berkeley to Oakland City Hall and wound up on the Interstate 980/880 interchange, CNN San Francisco affiliate KGO reported. KCRA: Protesters threaten to block interstate McFarland said the protesters brought Thursday evening rush hour traffic to a halt for an hour and 45 minutes. One man is in critical condition after he tried to elude arrest by jumping off the freeway onto a tree, KGO reported. He fell from the tree onto the street below, a roughly 22 foot drop from the interchange, according to KGO. At the University of California Davis, police held back student protesters who had threatened to shut down nearby Interstate 80, CNN affiliate KCRA in Sacramento reported. Police fired rubber bullets into the ground in an effort to deter students, who made it as far as an I-80 exit ramp just south of campus. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, at least 15 people were arrested in demonstrations Thursday, according to CNN affiliate WTMJ. A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee vice chancellor allowed a protester to drop off pamphlets in the chancellor's office, then called campus police when dozens of protesters tried to enter the building, according to WTMJ. University police called the Milwaukee Police Department for backup, and officers spent an hour rounding up protesters. Students yelled "Let her go!" and "What did he do?" as Milwaukee police led students into their black and white vans. Across the country, students told of having to work second jobs and make lifestyle adjustments in the face of dramatic tuition hikes. "I work at two jobs, go to school full time to make ends meet," said Tyler, a fifth-year senior at San Francisco State University, where students and faculty protested Thursday. She did not give her last name. "I have been here a really long time. I struggle to keep [taking] classes to be able to keep my financial aid every semester, and I really don't know when I'm going to be able to get out of here. Every semester, something is cut, and I can't get the class I need. Who knows when I will be out of here," she said. Many of Thursday's demonstrations focused on cuts to state-funded colleges and universities, which supporters say drive up tuition, limit classes and make higher education unobtainable to many. A blog called Student Activism, which was compiling a list of the protests, said that 122 events were scheduled in 33 states -- most on campuses, and some at state capitols. Are you taking part in protests? Send photos, videos Professors and students say dissatisfaction, anger and an uncertain future had led to call for a "Day of Action" to defend education. At the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, dozens of protesters gathered Thursday and chanted, "Hey hey, ho ho, these student fees have got to go." Video submitted from the demonstration by a CNN iReporter calling himself Bowtieguy showed students carrying handmade signs with messages like "Where's Holub's pay cut?" -- a reference to university chancellor Robert C. Holub. Another homemade sign read "Chop from the top." At California State University-Fullerton, dozens of students marched outdoors, chanting, "Students united will never be divided." A video submitted by a CNN iReporter who calls herself MelissaF showed handmade signs saying "Protect humanities" and "What happened to our future?" State funding for the California State University system was reduced by nearly $1 billion for the academic

NEW: In Oakland, California, police reportedly arrest 160 protesters who shut down freeway . At least 15 reportedly arrested in University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee demonstrations . Critics say cutbacks will raise tuition, make higher education unobtainable to many . Budget cuts have resulted in canceled classes, longer class waiting lists in California .

(CNN) -- A California sex offender suspected of abducting a girl in 1991 and keeping her captive for 18 years is suffering from "serious mental illness," defense attorneys say in court papers. "It appears that Phillip Garrido has been hearing [the] voices of angels for years," said documents filed Wednesday in El Dorado County Superior Court. The court papers dispute prosecutors' asserting that Garrido is a "master manipulator" who is still trying to influence his victim. Garrido, 58, and his wife, Nancy, are charged with 29 felony counts in the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard, who was 11 when she was snatched from the street in front of her house in South Lake Tahoe, California. She was 29 when found in August at the Garridos' home in Antioch, about 120 miles from her home. Prosecutors allege that Garrido fathered two daughters with Dugard during her captivity. Both Phillip Garrido, who was a registered sex offender on parole at the time of his arrest in August, and Nancy Garrido have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. In a filing earlier this month, prosecutors called Garrido a "master manipulator," citing journal entries made by Dugard. They also said Garrido's attorneys were attempting to contact Dugard, whose location they are trying to keep secret, and asked the court to impose a protective order barring such contact. A judge refused to immediately grant the request, setting a hearing for Friday. Garrido's public defenders, Rick Meyer and Susan Gellman, said Dugard, who is identified in court papers as Jane Doe, told investigators following Garrido's arrest that he had a "self-described ability to understand the voices of angels. ... One of the children disclosed this as well, describing how the voices would keep him up at night, and how the angels lived underground and spoke to him from this location." The filing points to Garrido's "manifesto," entitled "Origin of Schizophrenia Revealed," which he prepared in the days and weeks before his arrest and addressed to the FBI. He took it "from law enforcement agency to law enforcement agency, calling attention to himself in a way that could [and ultimately did] lead to his arrest," the attorneys said. Garrido went to the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, accompanied by his two daughters with Dugard, to get a permit to stage a demonstration of his ability, the documents said. University employees brought about his arrest after contacting his parole officer, saying they thought Garrido's behavior was odd. "Mr. Garrido's illness was not subtle at all," the documents said. "Obviously the campus police at the University of California, Berkeley were able to perceive the clear signs of mental illness and took some action instead of ignoring them." Prosecutors, the defense said, have discussed the "cover stories" told by Dugard and the children when Garrido was summoned to the parole office the following day and questioned. Authorities maintain such lies were evidence of Garrido's manipulation, according to the documents. "In reality, it appears that everyone was very frightened by what could happen. They were afraid they would be separated and lose each other," the defense said. "Even the children made up stories; there was a sense of panic. They were trying to protect each other. One of the children was so nervous she got sick." Asked several times who was the father of the children, Garrido told several different stories, his attorneys said. "The agent's report is helpful in showing how manipulative Mr. Garrido is not." Further evidence of Garrido's mental illness is his repeated contact with the news media, according to his attorneys. "Contacting the media against the advice of counsel when one is facing criminal charges as serious as these shows an inability to cooperate with counsel and an inability to appreciate the function of the criminal justice system," the attorneys said. "In short, Mr. Garrido's contacts with the media, when his attorney tells him not to have them, are not manipulations at all

Defense says Phillip Garrido is mentally ill, hears angels' voices . Court papers filed in response to allegation that he still is trying to manipulate victim . Garrido is accused of abducting Jaycee Dugard, holding her for 18 years . Dugard, abducted at age 11, was freed last summer .

(CNN) -- A Canadian firetruck responding with lights and sirens to a weekend fire in Rouses Point, New York, was stopped at the U.S. border for about eight minutes, U.S. border officials said Tuesday. The U.S.-Canadian border is more than 5,000 miles long. Fire officials battling the blaze called for help from fire departments in nearby Quebec, using a longstanding and often-used mutual aid agreement. But the first truck that arrived at the small Rouses Point border crossing was delayed as officials checked documentation of the firefighters and their truck, officials confirmed. Two other trucks that arrived at the crossing next were cleared in less than two minutes each, a time that one fire official said was still too long considering the situation. "It's embarrassing," said Chris Trombley, chief of the Champlain [New York] Volunteer Fire Department and deputy fire coordinator for Clinton County Emergency Services. "We're calling for help from another country and the first roadblock they hit is at our border." The Canadian firefighters "were asked for IDs," Trombley said. "I believe they even ran the license plate on the truck to make sure it was legal." In the past, firetrucks on emergency calls cleared border checkpoints in 30 seconds or less, Trombley said, although he said identification is sometimes checked upon their return. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said the eight-minute delay at the Rouses Point crossing was caused "when one of the firefighters' admissibility was brought into question." He declined to elaborate, citing immigration and privacy laws. A government source familiar with the case said one firefighter had a criminal record, raising questions about whether he could enter the United States. Kevin Corsaro of the border protection's Buffalo field office said the agency's primary responsibility is to protect the homeland. He called the event an "isolated incident" and said agency officials were meeting with local fire officials to "develop a plan to prevent the possibility of any delays." No one was seriously injured in the fire, but The Anchorage Inn restaurant -- a landmark in the village of Rouses Point -- was destroyed. A firefighter who suffered minor smoke inhalation was treated at the scene, said Michael LeBlanc, chief of the Rouses Point Volunteer Fire Department. The cause of the blaze has not been determined, he said. Ten fire departments, including the Canadian departments, responded to the fire. "Would it [quicker passage at the border] have changed the outcome of the fire?" Trombley asked. "Would the building have been burned? Of course it would." But he said firefighters were getting fatigued fighting the fire and relief was delayed. "Just the fact that it could happen and it could happen again is what has us worried," he said. Clinton County has mutual aid agreements with fire departments in Vermont and Quebec, Trombley said, and the county requests help from Quebec fire departments about 30 times a year. It sends help to Canada a similar number of times, he said. Trombley and LeBlanc said they planned to meet with authorities on Wednesday to discuss the incident. LeBlanc declined to comment. "I don't have all the facts and I don't want to mistake what happened," he said. "We've had a mutual aid system in place since the '50s and I can't remember anything like this happening," said Trombley. E-mail to a friend

Upstate New York firefighters asked nearby Canadian units for help with blaze . Firetruck that responded held up at U.S. border for eight minutes . Government source says one firefighter's criminal record caused the delay . U.S. firefighter calls it embarrassing, says it delayed relief for tired firefighters .

(CNN) -- A Chicago, Illinois, nightclub accused of barring six African-American students last week will participate in a rally against discrimination late next month, the senior class president of Missouri's Washington University said Wednesday. Fernando Cutz, 21, said the group and Original Mother's in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood had reached an agreement that would also see the nightclub sponsoring four fundraisers and its managers attend diversity training classes. "What we are looking to do is to turn this negative into a positive," the text of Cutz's remarks said. "To make sure that all of us learn from what happened to these six students in Chicago 10 days ago and that we move forward, together, in a productive manner. ... "We would also like to show that the best way of fighting discrimination can be by reaching out and extending a helpful hand to those who need it," Cutz said at a news conference. The club has also agreed to a private apology to the six students and a public apology to the senior class, which was in Chicago for a two-day class trip. The students complained to state and federal agencies after six African-American members from their senior class trip celebration were denied admission to the club on October 17. Bar personnel cited dress code violations -- specifically baggy jeans -- in barring the African-American students, Cutz said. At one point, a white student and a black student exchanged jeans to see what would happen. The white student was admitted while his classmate still was kept outside, Cutz said. After the students' news conference, an attorney representing the club said the bar would be working with the students to fight discrimination and will issue an apology because they had a bad experience at Mother's. But Brad Grayson said the club does not believe it discriminated against the group. "There was no intention to admit white kids with baggy jeans and exclude black kids with baggy jeans," he told the Chicago Tribune newspaper. In his remarks Wednesday, Cutz said the students wanted to avoid being "caught up in the hype" of the situation and "forget the values that we are truly fighting for." Mother's representatives will speak at the rally, which will be held in in Chicago in late November, he said. The celebration at Original Mother's had been arranged with the bar in advance by the student class board, which includes two of the African-American students who later were denied entry, Cutz said. He said he was already inside the bar with some 200 other students, none of whom are African-American, when the first group of African-American classmates arrived. Cutz said he quickly learned that the manager of the bar had denied the six students entry, and he said the manager told the students their baggy pants violated the bar's dress code. Cutz, who is white, said he confronted the manager. "These six [students] were better-dressed than I was," Cutz told CNN. He told the students to "go back to the hotel and change." But the manager of the bar stepped in to say that he had made his decision and that the six men could not return to the bar even if they changed clothes, Cutz said. The students became "more agitated" and "set up an experiment," Cutz said. Class Treasurer Regis Murayi, who is black, exchanged jeans with a white student, Jordan Roberts, who -- being 3 inches shorter than Murayi -- looked "substantially baggy." Roberts approached the same manager who had turned away the African-American students, paid the entry fee and was allowed in, Cutz said. CNN's Susan Candiotti and Ross Leavitt contributed to this report.

Club accused of barring black Washington University students from entering . Senior class president says bar will participate in rally . Managers will be sent to diversity training . Students want to "turn this negative into a positive," president says .

(CNN) -- A Chinese official accused "Tibetan independence forces" Tuesday of planning suicide attacks, an allegation that the Tibetan government-in-exile immediately denied. "To our knowledge the next plan of the Tibet Independence forces is to organize suicide squads to launch violent attacks," Wu Heping, spokesman for China's Ministry of Public Security, said at a news conference, according to a translation of his remarks by The Associated Press. "They claim they fear neither bloodshed nor sacrifice," he said. He did not provide details or evidence, and Samdhong Rinpoche, prime minister of Tibet's exiled government, dismissed the accusation. "We never heard (of) Tibetan independence force, such a group or people. Now, our suspicion is that the PRC (People's Republic of China) might be staging such a violent act in the name of Tibetan people to mislead the world community," he said in Dharamsala, India. Dharamsala is the center of the Tibetan community in India, where many Tibetans fled after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 and where the government-in-exile led by the Dalai Lama is based. "It is our ... suspicion, otherwise there is no ground to claim that some Tibetan people or group is planning to (use) suicide bombers or something like that," the Tibetan prime minister said. There was no immediate response from the Chinese government to Rinpoche's suspicion. In the U.S. State Department briefing on Tuesday, department spokesman Tom Casey said the United States did not share China's concern that supporters of the Dalai Lama were plotting suicide attacks. The Dalai Lama is a "man of peace, there is absolutely no indication that he wants to do anything other than have a dialogue with China to discuss how to deal with some of the serious issues there," Casey said. Beijing blames the Dalai Lama and his followers for violence that erupted amid protests for Tibetan independence last month. China has drawn international criticism for its crackdown on the demonstrations, which began peacefully on the 49th anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising. The protests have threatened to throw a shadow on the Summer Olympic Games, being staged in Beijing in August. Tibet's government-in-exile puts the death toll from the protests at about 140, but the Chinese government restrictions make it difficult to confirm that number. Chinese authorities have reported a death toll of 19, and say most of those killed were "innocent victims" -- Han Chinese targeted by Tibetans. Protests have spread across the globe with regular demonstrations in Nepal. A ceremonial lighting of the Olympic flame in Greece was also targeted by pro-Tibet activists. Watch protests in Nepal » Also on Tuesday, China's official Xinhua news agency reported that the country's foreign ministry urged the Dalai Lama to "stop all separatist and sabotage activities if he really wants to contact and consult with the central government." Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu spoke in response to a March 28 statement from Dalai Lama. In that statement, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists said he does not seek the separation of Tibet and has no desire to "sabotage" the Olympic Games. "Chinese brothers and sisters, I assure you I have no desire to seek Tibet's separation. Nor do I have any wish to drive a wedge between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples," he wrote. Instead, he said, the protesters seek "meaningful self-rule" while remaining a part of China. "Despite my repeated support for the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese authorities, with the intention of creating a rift between the Chinese people and myself, the Chinese authorities assert that I am trying to sabotage the games." He called on China to called "to exercise wisdom and to initiate a meaningful dialogue with the Tibetan people." China offered some media organizations -- not including CNN -- a carefully managed tour of Tibet's capital, but ran into a public-relations roadblock when a group of Buddhist monks began screaming protests at a holy shrine. E-mail to a friend

Suicide attacks are being planned by Tibetan militants, Chinese official says . Tibet's prime minister-in-exile denies allegation . Tibet is center of a struggle for power between China and exiled Tibet leaders . Pro-Tibet demonstrations threaten to overshadow Beijing's Summer Olympics .

(CNN) -- A Colombian man, possibly linked with paramilitaries there, may be the mastermind behind the kidnapping in Venezuela of major league catcher Wilson Ramos, Venezuelan Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said Saturday. Authorities have identified him and an arrest warrant is being issued, he said. Six Venezuelans have been arrested in the case, and more arrests are possible as the investigation continues, El Aissami said. Ramos was rescued Friday night after a shootout between his suspected captors and rescuers in the mountainous region of Montalban, about 60 miles from the north central Venezuelan city where he was last seen. He is healthy and unharmed, authorities said. After the suspected captors opened fire on authorities, "we responded in a proportional way, but not in a way that would put at risk (Ramos') rescue," El Aissami said at a news conference. The minister praised the bravery of the national guard troops who participated in the operation, singling out one guardsman who was under fire for several minutes "but did not retreat." The day after Ramos went missing, investigators found the SUV used in the kidnapping, but had few clues to lead them to the perpetrators, he said. So investigators focused on intelligence work -- matching the description of the snatching to the modus operandi of known criminal groups -- and eventually located a home where they believed Ramos was held. Venezuelan President Chavez himself authorized the operation on the house, which included using helicopters to deliver the rescue team near its target, El Aissami said. This house was, the team learned, a logistical base used by the kidnappers. According to the minister, it was the place where food and other logistics were prepared and then transferred to another location, where Ramos was actually being held. The owners of the home, Lesbia Quesada, 60, and Aristides Sanchez, 64, were accused of being accomplices to the crime and were arrested, he said. The rescue team then learned of a second home in an isolated area where Ramos was believed to be hiding. The trek there took three hours for the rescue team, as there were parts they could traverse only on foor, El Aissami said. When they neared the second target, they were met with gunfire, and, according to the minister, that's how they knew Ramos was inside. Authorities arrested Alexander Sanchez, 27; Francisco Finamor Penna, 20; Yosnar Cubillan, 21; and Anyuli Tarazona, 22. But it was a Colombian man, possibly linked to paramilitaries, who gave the orders, El Aissami said. This man identified Ramos, got the information on his home, located his relatives and gave the orders to carry out the kidnapping, El Aissami said. Ramos was full of thanks to his rescuers and his supporters upon his arrival at his family home in Venezuela early Saturday. "I am very happy for the rescue operation they carried out. Very thankful to the government and the national army," Ramos told reporters. "I didn't expect them. Where they were holding me captive was a very remote place, basically a jungle, and see, I was praying to God to bring me home safely to my family and look at these guys, they risked their lives to save mine and I am very thankful." Ramos, a rising star for the Washington Nationals as a rookie this past year, was in his native country to play in Venezuela's winter league. Washington Nationals officials applauded the news of his rescue. "I am happy to announce that I have spoken directly with Wilson and he assures me he is unharmed," said Mike Rizzo, the team's general manager. "He asked me to thank all who played a role in his rescue, and all those who kept him and his family in their thoughts and prayers." Ramos, 24, emerged as the team's top catcher this past season. He had a .267 batting average with 15 home runs and 52 runs batted in. Though soccer reigns in most Latin American countries, baseball rules in Venezuela, which routinely

NEW: Six people have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping . NEW: Police are looking for a Colombian man who allegedly gave orders . Ramos is healthy and unharmed, state media reports .

(CNN) -- A Colorado company's recall last week of beef products possibly contaminated with E. coli has been expanded, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said this week. The recall came as a result of "an ongoing investigation into 24 illnesses in multiple states," the USDA said. The initial recall of 41,280 pounds announced last Wednesday was voluntarily expanded Sunday to include an additional 380,000 pounds of products made by the JBS Swift Beef Company, of Greeley, Colorado, the USDA said. The recall came as a result of "an ongoing investigation into 24 illnesses in multiple states, of which at least 18 appear to be associated," the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a written statement. USDA spokesman Brian Mabry said no fatalities had been reported. On its Web site, the company said the suspect beef was produced at its Greeley plant on April 21 and distributed nationally and internationally. "Each of our customers will be personally informed of this recall by phone," the wholesaler said. A spokesman would not identify those customers to CNN. "That's ridiculous!" said Sarah Klein, a staff attorney for the Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest. "JBS should be able to say who they sold meat to, and those companies should be able to say, 'These are the products we created from them.' " She expressed concern that nearly seven months into the Obama administration, a key undersecretary position at the USDA has not been filled, which may be slowing the government's ability to respond to such health threats. "That person in that position would have significant public health experience and understand how these processes work, how meat enters the chain of commerce," Klein said. The recall underscores the need for "a comprehensive animal identification system" that would allow meat suppliers to trace their products to an individual ranch, she said. Klein urged supermarkets that use customer loyalty cards to track shoppers' purchases to determine those who have bought the recalled meat. Boxes of the recalled product bear the establishment number "EST. 969" inside the USDA mark of inspection, the identifying package date of "042109" and a time stamp ranging from "0618" to "1130," the statement said. It added that some of the beef products might have undergone further processing and might not have the "EST. 969" marking on products for sale directly to consumers. The USDA urged any customers with concerns to contact the store where they bought the meat. JBS spokesman Chandler Keys said his company's products may have had nothing to do with the outbreak. "It is important for consumers to note that the recalled product from the date in question was sold by JBS as whole muscle cuts, not as ground beef," Keys said on the company's Web site. "The ground beef that might have been associated with illness was produced by other companies who often do not use the antimicrobial intervention steps we employ in our facility to reduce the risk of the beef products." He said JBS agreed to expand its recall "out of an abundance of caution for consumers." Symptoms of infection with E. coli bacteria can include severe or bloody diarrhea, vomiting and severe abdominal cramping. The USDA urged consumers to cook all ground beef or ground beef patties to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit to kill any bacteria. CNN's Sabriya Rice contributed to this report.

Recall includes more than 420,000 pounds of meat from JBS Swift Beef Co. USDA spokesman Brian Mabry said no fatalities had been reported . JBS agreed to expand its recall "out of an abundance of caution," spokesman says .

(CNN) -- A Colorado prosecutor Friday asked a judge to dismiss the first-degree murder charge against Tim Masters, who spent nine years in prison until new DNA evidence indicated someone else might have committed the crime. Tim Masters, center, walks out of a Fort Collins, Colorado, courthouse Tuesday with his attorney David Wymore. Court papers filed by District Attorney Larry Abrahamson cited "newly discovered" evidence, but took pains to state that evidence didn't clear Masters. "While the newly discovered DNA evidence does not exonerate Timothy Masters, it clearly warrants a complete re-examination of all the evidence related to the murder of Peggy Hettrick," the court papers state. The motion seeks dismissal of the charges "in the interest of justice." It points out the DNA testing used to uncover the new evidence wasn't available when Masters was investigated and tried. On Tuesday a judge threw out Masters' 1999 murder conviction, and he was freed -- also "in the interest of justice." Although the motion signals that Abrahamson is dropping the Masters case, he did not rule out future prosecution. In a statement, the prosecutor cautioned: "Contrary to news reports, the DNA testing results only suggest that there may be others, along with Timothy Masters, who should be investigated. These test results do not provide us with enough information to completely exonerate anyone." Abrahamson said he has asked Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to appoint a special prosecutor to continue the investigation of Hettrick's slaying. The attorney general will announce his decision early next week, Abrahamson said. Masters, 36, has been investigated for Hettrick's murder since he was 15. He has insisted he had nothing to do with her death, and no physical evidence ties him directly to the crime. Watch Masters describe his anger at police » A jury convicted Masters 12 years after the discovery of Hettrick's stabbed and sexually mutilated corpse in a field near his trailer. Among the evidence jurors considered were a collection of knives found in Master's bedroom, gruesome sketches and testimony from a prosecution expert that he fit the psychological profile of a killer. Masters' defense team said he was framed, and that police and prosecutors sat on evidence that could have raised doubt about his guilt. The significance of Friday's motion to dismiss is largely procedural, but Abrahamson indicated earlier this week that it might be unnecessary to try Masters again. "In light of newly discovered evidence revealed to me on Friday," Abrahamson said in a statement a week ago, "I will be moving as expeditiously as possible to make the determination of whether all charges against Timothy Masters will be dismissed." Abrahamson also has vowed to review all "contested convictions" in which advances in DNA testing may prove useful. He said he wanted to examine the legal discovery process and that he had met with the Fort Collins police chief and his officers "to discuss the critical flow of information with assurance that all information is available to our office and the defense." Special prosecutor Don Quick filed a motion earlier this month citing four instances in which police and prosecutors should have handed over evidence to Masters' original defense team. See the key players in the case » Among them was a police interview with a plastic surgeon who said it was improbable that a teen could have made the meticulous cuts necessary to remove Hettrick's body parts. Also, according to Quick's motion, police failed to divulge that a renowned FBI profiler warned police that Masters' penchant for doodling gruesome horror scenes did not tie him to the crime. Investigations into how police and prosecutors handled the case continue. E-mail to a friend

NEW: D.A. seeks dismissal of Tim Masters murder case . Masters was released Tuesday; conviction was tossed . Masters convicted in 1999 of murder, sexual mutilation of 37-year-old woman . He spent nearly nine years in prison .

(CNN) -- A Colorado woman is being pursued as a "person of interest" in connection with phone calls that triggered the raid of a Texas polygamist ranch, authorities said Friday. Rozita Swinton, 33, has been arrested in a case that is not directly related to the Texas raid. Texas Rangers are seeking Rozita Swinton of Colorado Springs, Colorado, "regarding telephone calls placed to a crisis center hot line in San Angelo, Texas, in late March 2008," the Rangers said in a written statement. The raid of the YFZ (Yearning for Zion) Ranch in Eldorado, Texas, came after a caller -- who identified herself as a 16-year-old girl -- said she had been physically and sexually abused by an adult man with whom she was forced into a "spiritual marriage." The release said a search of Swinton's home in Colorado uncovered evidence that possibly links her to phone calls made about the ranch, run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "The possibility exists that Rozita Swinton, who has nothing to do with the FLDS church, may have been a woman who made calls and pretended she was the 16-year-old girl named Sarah," CNN's Gary Tuchman reported. Swinton, 33, has been charged in Colorado with false reporting to authorities and is in police custody. Police said that arrest was not directly related to the Texas case. Authorities raided the Texas ranch April 4 and removed 416 children. Officials have been trying to identify the 16-year-old girl, referred to as Sarah, who claimed she had been abused in the phone calls. FLDS members have denied the girl, supposedly named Sarah Jessop Barlow, exists. Some of the FLDS women who spoke with CNN on Monday said they believed the calls were a hoax. While the phone calls initially prompted the raid, officers received a second search warrant based on what they said was evidence of sexual abuse found at the compound. In court documents, investigators described seeing teen girls who appeared pregnant, records that showed men marrying multiple women and accounts of girls being married to adult men when they were as young as 13. A court hearing began Thursday to determine custody of children who were removed from the ranch. E-mail to a friend

NEW: Texas Rangers pursue Rozita Swinton regarding phone calls to a crisis center . NEW: Search of Swinton's home reveals evidence that possibly links her to the calls . Police arrest the woman for making a false report to police in a separate case . Phone calls prompted Texas raid, but officers then got a second search warrant .

(CNN) -- A Connecticut paramedic has been charged in the alleged sexual assault last month of a woman who was only semiconscious in the back of an ambulance, according to police. Mark Powell, 49, was charged with first-degree sexual assault and unlawful restraint after he turned himself over to authorities Thursday, according to Hamden Police Capt. Ronald Smith. Smith said the 22-year-old woman received emergency medical treatment after hitting her head on Christmas Day and was transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital. It was during that time in the ambulance that the alleged victim, who was strapped to a stretcher, was assaulted, Smith said, citing the woman's account. The woman said she waited three days to report the incident because she was embarrassed and afraid, according to Smith. The American Medical Response released a statement earlier this week saying that Powell has been placed on administrative leave. "AMR takes very seriously our responsibility to provide safe care and transport for our patients, and we do not tolerate any kind of abusive behavior," said Charles Babson, General Manager of American Medical Response. Powell has been released on $25,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court January 19. It is unclear whether he has retained legal counsel.

Police say the paramedic sexually assaulted a woman in the back of an ambulance . The woman, 22, was being transported after hitting her head on Christmas Day . Mark Powell has been released on $25,000 bond; court appearance set for January 19 . It is unclear whether Powell, 49, has retained legal counsel .

(CNN) -- A Connecticut woman attacked Monday by her friend's pet chimpanzee was taken Thursday from a Connecticut hospital to the famed Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, a hospital spokeswoman said. She would not divulge the victim's condition nor the reason for the move. Travis, seen here as a younger chimp, was fatally shot by police after attacking Nash, authorities say. Charla Nash, 55, was transferred by airplane and ambulance to the clinic, where doctors in December performed the first facial transplant in the United States. The attack has raised questions about whether exotic animals should be kept as pets. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Wednesday that primates and crocodiles should be added to a state list of animals citizens are not allowed to own. Nash initially was taken to Stamford Hospital, where she underwent seven hours of surgery after she was attacked by the 14-year-old chimp, named Travis. Nash's friend, Sandra Herold, 70, had called Nash for help in getting the animal back inside her house after he used a key to escape. When Nash arrived at Herold's Stamford home, the chimp, who has been featured in TV commercials for Coca-Cola and Old Navy, jumped on her and began biting and mauling her, police said. Doctors said Wednesday that Nash had received extensive injuries to her face and hands. A Stamford police officer fatally shot the nearly 200-pound chimp after the primate turned on him inside a police cruiser, police said. Herold told reporters at her home that she and the chimp slept together and that she considered him like a son.

Charla Nash, 55, transferred from Connecticut by airplane . Friend's chimp mauled and bit her on Monday . Woman received extensive injuries to face, hands, doctors have said . Connecticut's attorney general wants primates banned as pets in that state .

(CNN) -- A Corpus Christi, Texas, hospital is investigating how up to 17 babies in a neonatal intensive care unit received overdoses of the blood thinner heparin. One of the babies died. Officials at Christus Spohn Hospital South say corrective action was taken after the discovery of the overdoses. The infant was one of 17 who may have received a more concentrated form of heparin than was prescribed, Christus Spohn Hospital South said in a statement. Heparin is an anticoagulant often used to clean the IVs of patients and prevent blood clots from forming in the lines. It came into the public spotlight last year when newborn twins of actor Dennis Quaid nearly died after receiving an overdose at a Los Angeles hospital. Nursing staff at the Corpus Christi hospital discovered the problem Sunday -- two days after the medication is believed to have been first administered, according to Bruce Holstien, president and CEO of Christus Spohn Health System. The hospital said it took corrective measures after the discovery. A preliminary investigation concluded that "the medication error occurred during the mixing process within the hospital pharmacy," Holstein said in a statement. The baby who died "was seriously ill, and we do not know at this time what role, if any, the higher than expected concentration of heparin played in this baby's death," Dr. Richard Davis, chief medical officer for the health system, said Tuesday. "Our deepest sympathy goes out to this family," he said. Twelve of the 16 other babies remain in stable condition in the neonatal intensive care unit, which cares for ill newborns. Three have been discharged, and one is critical and unstable as that baby has been since admission to the unit, Davis said. In November, Quaid's 12-day-old twins, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, were undergoing intravenous antibiotic treatment for a staph infection at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. According to standard procedure, nurses were supposed to clean the infants' IV lines with Hep-Lock, a drug containing a small dose of heparin, to allow the lines to flow freely. However, instead of the 10 units of heparin they were supposed to receive, the twins received 10,000 units -- 1,000 times the prescribed amount. The babies survived, apparently with no permanent injury, Quaid later told members of a House committee on government oversight, although there is no way to know whether they will show any long-term effects.

One baby dies in Texas hospital's neonatal intensive care unit . Hospital says medication mix-up apparently occurred in hospital pharmacy . Up to 17 babies receive too-concentrated form of blood thinner heparin . Last year, Dennis Quaid's twins given overdose of heparin at Los Angeles hospital .

(CNN) -- A Dallas Cowboys scouting assistant suffered a broken back and has been permanently paralyzed after the collapse of the team's practice canopy during a heavy thunderstorm, the Cowboys announced Sunday. An aerial view of the scene shows the Dallas Cowboys logo amid the ruins of the indoor practice facility. Rich Behm, 33, was one of three Cowboys staffers seriously hurt when the storm struck their practice facility Saturday afternoon. Behm's spinal cord was severed by a fractured vertebrae, paralyzing him from the waist down, the team said in a written statement. "To the Behm family, we extend our love, comfort and the full support of every person and resource within the organization," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "Rich is a courageous member of our family and someone for whom we care deeply. We ask for all friends and fans of the Dallas Cowboys to join us in embracing him and his family with their thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time," Jones said. A total of 12 people were hurt when a severe thunderstorm knocked down the air-supported, metal frame structure that covered the team's practice field. About 70 people, including more than two dozen of the team's rookies, were in the facility when it was blown down. Cowboys special teams coach Joe DeCamillis had a fractured cervical vertebra, while assistant trainer Greg Gaither had two broken bones in his leg, the team said. Watch CNN's Don Lemon with update on conditions of those injured in collapse » A line of heavy thunderstorms was moving through the Dallas area at the time, but no other damage to buildings was reported, said Mike Adams, a dispatcher for the Irving, Texas, Fire Department. Watch the roof collapse on players, coaches » Arnold Payne, a photographer for WFAA, was shooting the Cowboys' practice session Saturday when rain began falling "tremendously hard." "I noticed the walls started to waver ... and then I noticed that the lights that were hanging from the ceiling started to sway, and it wouldn't stop," Payne told CNN. Shortly after that, he said, "It was as if someone took a stick pin and hit a balloon." Watch Payne describe being inside when structure collapsed » Payne said Cowboys staff photographers were up in the metal framework beneath the canopy to film the practice session and "actually rode the building down with the storm." "There was nowhere for them to go, and it fell so fast -- it just collapsed as if it was being imploded," Payne said. CNN's Matt Smith contributed to this report.

Rich Behm one of three Cowboys staffers seriously hurt Saturday . Behm's spinal cord severed by a fractured vertebrae, paralyzing him from waist down . Canopy over Dallas Cowboys' practice facility collapsed during thunderstorm . Team photographers were up in framework of structure, rode it down, witness says .

(CNN) -- A Delaware pediatrician is facing numerous charges in the alleged sexual abuse of his patients, authorities said Wednesday, and there may be "multiple victims." Dr. Earl Bradley, 56, who has had a practice in Lewes, Delaware, for more than 10 years, is charged with eight counts of first-degree rape; four counts of second-degree rape; 14 counts of sexual exploitation of a child; and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden told CNN. A prosecutor in Biden's office estimated that Bradley may have had as many as 100 victims. Biden stopped short of that, saying only authorities think there may have been multiple victims, and the investigation is ongoing. As of Wednesday, seven victims had been identified, said Jason Miller, spokesman for the Delaware Department of Justice. CNN affiliate WBOC-TV reported Bradley is being held in lieu of $2.9 million bond. Read local coverage from CNN affiliate WBOC-TV He was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday in the Sussex County Court of Common Pleas, but his attorney requested that it be continued until January 14, Biden said. WBOC reported that concerns about Bradley's mental health prompted the postponement and said the doctor is under suicide watch at Sussex Correctional Institution. The charges against Bradley, and any additional charges that are filed, will be presented to a grand jury "at some point," Biden told CNN. He would not give specifics of how Bradley came to authorities' attention "over the course of recent months." Police believe the abuse goes back "for several years," with victims as young as 2, he said. Additional charges were filed earlier this week after "preliminary forensic investigation of a computer" seized by Delaware State Police, authorities said in a release. Police said they have seized photographic and video evidence showing Bradley abusing victims, WBOC said. Court documents provide graphic details about the evidence, the station said. Bradley also has medical licenses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida. Biden said authorities in those states have been contacted. Biden urged parents or others who have concerns regarding Bradley to contact his office, where a hot line is staffed with people who can provide information including counseling referrals. "We're taking this incredibly seriously," he said. CNN's Devon Sayers contributed to this report.

Dr. Earl Bradley is charged with eight counts of first-degree rape . One prosecutor estimates Bradley may have had as many as 100 victims . The charges against Bradley will be presented to a grand jury . Police believe abuse goes back "for several years," with victims as young as 2 .

(CNN) -- A Delaware pediatrician was indicted Wednesday on 58 additional counts of rape and other sexual offenses in the alleged child abuse of his patients, state Attorney General Beau Biden announced Monday. Dr. Earl Bradley, 56, previously pleaded not guilty to 471 felony counts involving 102 girls and one boy. Wednesday's indictment -- which includes charges of rape, unlawful sexual contact, continuous sexual abuse of a child and sexual exploitation -- involves 24 girls he saw as patients from 1999 to 2009. Biden has said the charges are based on "video and digital evidence" seized from Bradley's home and medical practice in December, when the doctor was arrested. Bradley, whose practice was in Lewes, Delaware, also has medical licenses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida. Authorities have said they have contacted officials in those states. In a February 24 interview with CNN, Bradley's attorney said he would base his client's defense on mental health. "Most of the evidence in this case comes from videotapes -- it's kind of hard to argue with videotapes," Eugene Maurer Jr. said. He added, "The issue in this case is going to come down to his mental health at the time."

Dr. Earl Bradley previously pleaded not guilty to 471 felony counts . Latest charges involve 24 girls he saw as patients from 1999 to 2009 . Officials say charges are based on "video and digital evidence"

(CNN) -- A Democratic congressman from Mississippi plans to hold a hearing into how millions of dollars worth of supplies meant for Gulf Coast hurricane survivors ended up being given away as surplus property. Rep. Bennie Thompson says he'll hold a hearing into how supplies for Katrina victims were diverted. Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, called the situation "a debacle." In June, CNN revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had warehoused $85 million worth of household goods for two years before giving them away to federal agencies and 16 states. But Thompson said there is still a great need for basic supplies in Mississippi. "We just think that FEMA needs to come and tell the committee how such a debacle could occur, and in the process, what are they going to do to assure Congress and the taxpaying public that it will never happen again," Thompson said. The household goods were meant to help Gulf Coast households rebuild. But they sat in FEMA warehouses for two years before the agency declared them surplus property and gave them away in February. The state of Louisiana had not asked for any of the supplies, prompting outrage there after the original CNN report. Since then, the state has taken steps to claim some of the stockpiles and distribute them to groups working to resettle victims of Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 storm that flooded New Orleans and ravaged the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Mississippi took the supplies it was offered but did not give them to Katrina victims. Instead, as CNN reported this week, the state distributed them to prisons, volunteer fire departments, colleges and other state agencies. Thompson said he was stunned at how Mississippi officials made "a mockery of the whole process." "I'm disappointed that my state decided that prisoners had a higher priority than Katrina victims and has made no effort to correct it even when this mistake was made," he said. "Any time items intended for victims of Katrina end up in the hands of the Department of Corrections or state employees, then clearly, Mississippi dropped the ball." Watch victims tell why they need the items » Thompson said his committee would "ask all the tough questions" and demand any documents associated with the matter. "So we are prepared, if necessary, to put those officials under oath," he said. "We are prepared if necessary to subpoena any and all documents relative to this situation." FEMA spokesman Marty Bahamonde said the agency welcomed any congressional hearing. "We always make ourselves available to answer the questions. That's something we are always ready to do," he said. FEMA said it was costing more than $1 million a year to store the supplies, but officials have not been able to answer why the agency didn't get the supplies to Katrina victims. FEMA said the agency has launched an internal probe into the issue. Jim Marler, director of Mississippi's surplus agency, failed to return repeated phone calls over several months to explain what happened there. But spokeswoman Kym Wiggins said the agency was not told the items were still needed -- a statement that didn't sit well with groups working to rebuild the stricken coast. Bill Stallworth, executive director of the Hope Coordination Center in Biloxi, said he and other community leaders would have begged for the FEMA stockpiles had they known they were available. "When I hear people stand up and just beat their chest and say we've got everything under control, that's when I just want to slap them upside the head and say, 'Get a grip, get a life,' " said Stallworth, also a Biloxi city councilman. If you have a story tip, e-mail SIU.TIPS@CNN.com

Rep. Bennie Thompson wants FEMA to explain giveaway of hurricane supplies . FEMA held $85 million worth of supplies meant for Katrina victims for two years . Goods later given to federal agencies and states, CNN revealed . Thompson's state, Mississippi, didn't give the goods it received to hurricane victims .

(CNN) -- A Disney stunt performer died Monday night after suffering an injury during a rehearsal, company and local officials said. A performer was injured during rehearsal for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Hollywood Studios. Walt Disney World spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez said the performer was injured while performing a tumbling roll for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Disney's Hollywood Studios, part of the Orlando, Florida, theme park. It was the third fatal incident at the park in less than two months. Earlier this month, a performer was injured in a pirate show and later died. In July, two monorail trains collided, killing a driver. "'We feel a sense of loss for these valued cast members," Suarez said. She said a review would be conducted on each incident. Performers receive extensive training, she said. The Orange County Sheriff's Department identified the performer in the latest incident as Anislav Varbanov, 30, and said he had been pronounced dead at a hospital. Watch a report on the incident » Security personnel at Hollywood Studios called 911 Monday evening to say a cast member had suffered a head injury during the rehearsal, the sheriff's department said. No other details were given. The sheriff's department said the incident is under investigation. CNN's Carolina Sanchez contributed to this report.

Man hurt while rehearsing for Indiana Jones stunt show at Hollywood Studios . Two people died after incidents at Orlando, Florida, theme park this summer . Sheriff's department is investigating death of Anislav Varbanov .

(CNN) -- A Dolton, Illinois, police officer assigned to a school was placed on administrative leave and later resigned after a surveillance video surfaced of him allegedly assaulting a special-needs student, officials said. Videotape allegedly shows an unidentified police officer assaulting student Marshawn Pitts, 15. Ed Manzke, an attorney who represents the student, Marshawn Pitts, 15, told CNN Wednesday the officer beat Pitts for not adhering to the school's dress code. The incident occurred in May at the Academy for Learning, a Dolton high school for special-needs students. Pitts was admitted to the school in May after moving from Iowa, Manzke said. He suffered brain injuries as a child when he was hit by a car. The police officer, who has not been identified, reprimanded Pitts for not tucking in his shirt as school dress code and policy requires. A video, released to Pitts' parents by the school several weeks after the incident, showed Pitts talking to the officer and a faculty member grabbing Pitts' arm. Pitts pulls away and walks down the hall, with the officer and faculty member close behind. But the officer then slams him against the lockers and pins him on the floor -- breaking his nose, according to Manzke. Pitts was treated by a school nurse after the incident, then taken to the Dolton Police Department, where his mother picked him up, Manzke said. The officer was taken to a hospital and treated for an eye scratch, Manzke said. But, he said, the officer was never charged with anything and an explanation for the incident was never provided. In a written statement, Guy Lindsay, internal information officer for Dolton police, said the department was made aware of the incident and the tape on May 20. After review of the tape, the officer was removed from the school and placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Lindsay said. While on administrative leave, the police officer returned to the department and voluntarily resigned, Lindsay said. The investigation continues, he said. In a statement obtained by CNN affiliate WGN, the Academy for Learning said it could not comment on an incident involving a specific student. But, the school said, "Unfortunately, the physical restraint of a student sometimes becomes necessary. In such instances, AFL and its staff are committed to employing techniques that are safe, effective and which conform to best practice standards. "Annually, a Behavioral Intervention Committee comprised of administrators, staff, union representatives and parents convenes to review restraint procedures. The AFL Behavior Management Team also participates in professional development and training regarding physical restraint on an annual basis. After a physical restraint occurs, the team meets to process, debrief and evaluate the incident and use of a physical restraint. AFL addresses the unauthorized or inappropriate use of a physical restraint, or improper techniques, as necessary, as an internal manner." Pitts' parents are considering litigation against the city of Dolton, the school and Dolton police, Manzke said. He added he is in talks with Dolton police to settle the case. If those talks are not fruitful, Manzke said, a lawsuit could be filed within a few weeks. Pitts is now living with his father and attending another school, Manzke said. CNN's Monica Trevino and Kara Devlin contributed to this report

Officer beat student for not adhering to school's dress code, says student's lawyer . Incident at Academy for Learning, a Dolton high school for special-needs students . Student, Marshawn Pitts, 15, suffered brain injuries as a child in car accident . Academy for Learning would not comment on incident involving a specific student .

(CNN) -- A Dutch Court will decide the fate Friday of 13-year-old Laura Dekker, either making her a potential world-record-breaking sailor, or returning her to school. Laura Dekker will find out on Friday whether the Dutch Court will back her record attempt. Welfare services in the Netherlands have taken legal action to try to stop the teen from attempting to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world because they believe the voyage will be too dangerous. The Dutch Council for Child Protection has applied to the District Court in the city of Utrecht for Dekker to be made a ward of court so that her parents, who support her plans, temporarily lose the right to make decisions about her. Laura's father, Dick Dekker, has already had a request for her to miss two years of school turned down. However, CNN affiliate TVNZ reported that Laura, who was born off the coast of New Zealand and began sailing solo when she was 10, may attempt to obtain a Kiwi passport which would allow her to start her round the world trip from New Zealand shores instead. Laura's court battle comes as a 17-year-old English teen sailed into the record books Thursday as the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe to date. Mike Perham sailed into Lizard Point in Cornwall, the southernmost point in Britain, at 9:47 a.m. (4:47 a.m. ET) to mark the end of his 48,280-kilometer (30,000-mile), 282-day ocean journey. Perham set off on his round-the-world trip on November 18. He has been sailing his yacht, TotallyMoney.com, single-handedly, though a support team has been sailing next to him along the way. Perham told CNN how he battled 50-foot waves and 57 mph winds in the Southern Ocean between Australia and Antarctica. He said at one point, a "freak wave" picked up the boat and turned it on its side.

Laura Dekker, 13, wants to become youngest person to sail solo around globe . Dutch social workers say it is too dangerous and want to prevent her . Dekker may apply for New Zealand passport to start bid there instead . Comes as 17-year-old English teen breaks current record .

(CNN) -- A Dutch court Friday ruled against letting a 14-year-old girl sail solo around the world, saying she is not experienced enough to make the trip on her own. Laura Dekker would be allowed to travel from July 1 of next year if she fulfills certain requirements the court established for her to sail. In August, Dutch authorities placed Dekker under state care for two months, following her parents' refusal to prevent her from undertaking the potentially dangerous voyage. Dekker is seeking to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. The current record holder is 17-year-old British teenager Mike Perham who completed his nine-month voyage in August.

Dutch court rules 14-year-old Laura Dekker cannot embark upon solo sailing trip . Plans to ensure Dekker's safety during planned trip insufficient Judge said . Dutch authorities placed Dekker under state care in August .

(CNN) -- A Dutch man once considered a suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway has told a television station he dumped her body in a swamp, Aruba's chief prosecutor told CNN. However, Joran van der Sloot's claims to Dutch station RTL-5 are "unbelievable," prosecutor Peter Blanken said. RTL-5 said Tuesday it had "acquired exclusive material containing a statement by Joran van der Sloot" regarding Holloway's disappearance. "This material was first offered to us in 2009," Remko van Westerloo, the station's director of programming, said in a statement. "Obviously, our initial response was skeptical," van Westerloo said. "However, we did feel that this interview required thorough research. We've spoken to a variety of experts and several critics. These findings resulted in a TV special which will air this Sunday. It's up to the viewers to form their own opinions on the matter." The statement did not divulge the contents of van der Sloot's interview. However, Blanken told CNN on Tuesday that van der Sloot says in the interview that he dumped Holloway's body "in a swamp on the north end of the island." "He was very unspecific," Blanken said. Blanken said RTL contacted him about the interview last summer, and the station showed the interview to him to get his reaction. He said his office and Aruban police investigated. "We tried to verify it," Blanken said. "It couldn't be true. We talked with several witnesses and reviewed several facts. The story is unbelievable and not true, in my opinion." He said his office told van der Sloot "we'd like him to come in and speak with us about it. He failed to respond." Asked why van der Sloot gave the interview, Blanken said, "You should ask him. Maybe he wanted to be on camera or make some money." Holloway was 18 when last seen in the early hours of May 30, 2005, leaving an Oranjestad, Aruba, nightclub with van der Sloot and two other men, brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. She was visiting Aruba with about 100 classmates celebrating their graduation from Mountain Brook High School in suburban Birmingham, Alabama. Holloway failed to show up for her flight home the following day, and her packed bags were found in her hotel room. Van der Sloot and the Kalpoes were arrested and released in 2005 in connection with the case. In 2007, they were arrested a second time after Aruba's then-chief prosecutor, Hans Mos, said he had received new evidence in the case. Van der Sloot, who was attending college in the Netherlands, was brought back to Aruba. But judges ruled the new evidence -- which included an Internet chat the same day Holloway disappeared with one of the three youths saying she was dead -- was not enough to keep them jailed. In 2008, prosecutors sought unsuccessfully to arrest van der Sloot a third time after a videotape surfaced on Dutch television. In it, van der Sloot tells a man he considered to be his friend that he had sex with Holloway on the beach after leaving the nightclub, then she "started shaking" and lost consciousness. He said he panicked when he could not resuscitate her and called a friend who had a boat. The two put Holloway's body in the boat, he said, and then he went home. The friend told him the next day that he had carried the body out and dumped it in the ocean. "I didn't lose a minute of sleep over it," van der Sloot said on the tape. Holloway's mother, Beth Twitty, told ABC at the time that the video showed van der Sloot was "not innocent." But an Aruba court ruled there was not enough evidence to re-arrest him. Aruban prosecutors said authorities had met with van der Sloot in the Netherlands, but in a two-hour interview he denied any role in Holloway's disappearance. Van der Sloot acknowledged to a Dutch television program he

Ex-suspect tells TV station he dumped Alabama teen's body in swamp, Aruba prosecutor says . But Joran van der Sloot's alleged confession "unbelievable," prosecutor says . Alabama teenager disappeared on trip to Aruba in May 2005 . Nancy Grace has the latest breaking developments at 8 and 10 p.m. ET Tuesday on HLN .

(CNN) -- A Dutch tourist says she recently spotted missing 4-year-old Madeleine McCann at a French restaurant near Montpellier, McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said Wednesday. A handout photo, released September 16, 2007, of missing child Madeleine McCann. The tourist said she recognized Madeleine from the many media reports about the child's May 3 disappearance and may have even seen the well-publicized defect in the little girl's eye, Mitchell said. "She and a friend saw a child that they immediately took to be Madeleine," said Mitchell. "They actually called out her name. "A man who was with the child scooped the child up and took her out of the cafe before the girls could take a photograph with their mobile phones," he said. Mitchell said there is a surveillance tape of the girl in the L'Arche restaurant and Madeleine's parents are hoping to be able to use it to determine if it is their missing daughter. Mitchell explains how the sighting came about » But The Associated Press, quoting an unnamed police official, is reporting that investigators have determined it was not the missing child. Police watched the closed-circuit video footage, and despite the child looking like Madeleine, it was not her, said the official, who did not want his name published because he is not authorized to speak to media about the case. Madeleine disappeared May 3, days before her fourth birthday. Her parents, who were vacationing with her in Portugal, have said she disappeared from their room at a resort while they dined in a nearby restaurant. Despite a global search and the attention of celebrities like Virgin Chairman Richard Branson, author J.K. Rowling and soccer star David Beckham, there have been no major breaks in the case. Portuguese investigators in September named the McCanns official suspects in their daughter's disappearance. The McCanns deny involvement, saying they believe Madeleine may have been abducted by pedophiles and taken to North Africa. A few months ago, there was a reported sighting of Madeleine in Belgium, but nothing came of that report. Last year, excitement grew when a video surfaced of a Moroccan woman carrying a child on her back who looked very similar to Madeleine. Authorities determined that it was the woman's child. E-mail to a friend

Madeleine McCann possibly seen at roadside restaurant near Montpellier . AP: Police say girl on surveillance tape is not Madeleine . Man takes girl from restaurant after Madeleine's name called, spokesman says . McCann has been missing since May 3; her parents named official suspects .

(CNN) -- A Dutch-operated container ship outran pirates off the coast of Tanzania this weekend, an official with the International Maritime Bureau said Sunday. French soldiers, who have joined British, Indian, Russian and American patrols off Somalia, during an exercise. The incident took place "very far out to sea," showing that Somali-based pirates are extending their reach further and further, Noel Choong of the IMB's Piracy Reporting Center told CNN. "Earlier attacks were on ships off the coast of Somalia, then off the coast of Kenya, and now this was 450 nautical miles off Dar es Salaam," he said, tracing the southward expansion of the pirates' area of operations. The ship, which Choong declined to name, came under attack from rocket-propelled grenades, starting a fire on board, he said. The crew was able to put out the fire and escape by increasing speed. The ship and crew are now out of danger, he said, following the incident at 11:42 GMT Saturday. Piracy has become increasingly common in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean this year. So far, pirates have attacked almost 100 vessels off Somalia's coast and successfully hijacked nearly 40, according to the center. Watch how NATO is combating piracy » Those hijacked vessels include an enormous oil tanker, a chemical tanker, and a ship laden with Soviet-era arms including tanks. The pirates normally hold the ships for ransom. A luxury cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 passengers and crew successfully outran pirates off the coast of Yemen last weekend. The IMB has tracked at least 11 incidents of actual or attempted piracy near the Tanzanian coast this year. A multinational fleet, including vessels from the U.S., NATO member states, Russia and India, has been patrolling the Indian Ocean waters near the Gulf of Aden, which connects the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. Around 20,000 oil tankers, freighters and merchant vessels pass along the crucial shipping route each year. Watch anti-piracy vessels patrol the region. » In a recent interview provided to CNN, a pirate leader claimed attacks on shipping would continue as long as life in Somalia remained desperate. "The pirates are living between life and death," said the pirate leader, identified by only one name, Boyah. "Who can stop them? Americans and British all put together cannot do anything."

Piracy has become increasingly common in the Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean . Experts have tracked 11-plus incidents of actual or attempted piracy near Tanzania . Around 20,000 oil tankers, freighters and merchant vessels use the route annually . A multinational fleet has been patrolling the Indian Ocean and nearby waters .

(CNN) -- A Florida TV anchor became an Internet sensation this week when she pressed Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden about whether Sen. Barack Obama's policies were Marxist. WFTV-TV anchor Barbara West tells Larry King she was doing her job as a reporter when she interviewed Sen. Joe Biden. Critics said WFTV-TV anchor Barbara West of Orlando had an agenda and was asking biased questions. Biden responded, "Is this a joke?" CNN's Larry King on Monday talked with West about the interview on "Larry King Live." Larry King: Your recent grilling of Joe Biden has stirred up a lot of controversy. Let's take a look at part of it, and we'll get your comments. Watch. [Video clip begins] Watch as West interviews Biden » Barbara West: You may recognize this famous quote. "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." That's from Karl Marx. How is Sen. Obama not being a Marxist if he's intending to spread the wealth around? Sen. Joe Biden: Are you joking? Is this a joke? West: No. Biden: Or is that a real question? West: That's a question. Biden: He is not spreading the wealth around. He's talking about giving the middle class an opportunity to get back the tax breaks they used to have. I know this has been a pretty mean campaign. I was on a television station the other day and doing a satellite feed to a major network in Florida. And the anchor quotes Karl Marx and says in a sense, "Isn't Barack Obama Karl Marx?" You know I mean folks, this stuff you're hearing, this stuff you're hearing in this campaign, some of it's pretty ugly. [Video clip ends] King: All right, Barbara, what were you getting to, since generally the redistribution of the wealth is a graduated income tax? West: Well, Larry, no, I don't believe that it is just a graduated income tax. I think a lot of people who are talking to me out on the street are saying they are very, very concerned that this idea of redistributing the wealth means taking it out of somebody's pocket who is a wage earner and putting it in somebody's pocket who refuses to work. And they're asking about. That's what they don't want. That is what they want to know, what does this really mean? My job as a journalist is to ask those questions and get those answers, and I don't believe I got answers at all. King: Was the implication in the question that Barack Obama is a Marxist? West: I was asking him to tell us about how Barack Obama's redistribution of wealth was different from that quote by Karl Marx, that's all I wanted to know. ... I'm not here to debate the issues. I am not a political pundit. ... I'm a journalist. Watch as West defends her questions » And I -- my job is to ask tough, probing questions of the candidates. I had a very short time to be able to do that, only about four minutes. There were issues that I wanted to cover, including the issues about ACORN and the abuses that they've done with voter registration, particularly here in Florida, and Florida is such a key state. And also this issue of the redistribution of wealth, as well as Sen. Biden's comments about "You mark my words, in six months, Barack Obama will be tested." King: I got you. West: But it was his caveat afterward that was the issue that I was questioning, and that is it may not be readily apparent as to what, as to whether or not the actions or whatever he does are in fact the appropriate ones. And so America, stand with him and trust him. King: I got you. West: I just wanted answers to those questions

TV news anchor attracts controversy with interview of Sen. Joe Biden . Anchor asks Biden how Sen. Barack Obama's polices aren't Marxist . WFTV's Barbara West says her job is to ask tough, probing questions . "I don't believe I got answers at all," West tells CNN's Larry King .

(CNN) -- A Florida company is suspending launch of its "Caylee Sunshine" doll following a public outcry that included members of slain toddler Caylee Anthony's family. The "Caylee Sunshine" doll would have cost $29.99 but sales of the doll have been suspended. Jaime Salcedo, president of Showbiz Promotions, told CNN that the Jacksonville-based company intended for the dolls to honor children who die young and raise money for charity. But on Tuesday the company announced on its Web site that it is suspending the promotion. The dolls were scheduled to go on sale at noon Tuesday for $29.99, according to the company's Web site. The dolls have blond hair, rather than Caylee's brown hair, and wear jeans and a T-shirt that says "Caylee Sunshine." According to the Web site, each doll plays the song "You are My Sunshine." "However, after reviewing the response to our media introduction of the Sunshine Caylee Doll and listening to the advice of the general public, we feel that it is best to suspend the launch," said a statement on the Web site -- called the "Caylee Anthony Tribute Site" -- signed by Salcedo. "While we still feel it is important to raise awareness and raise money to help stop this type of crime from being committed, we feel we can be more effective using traditional methods," the statement said. Watch Nancy Grace grill Salcedo » Caylee was 2 when she was last seen in June. Her skeletal remains were found last month in woods about a half-mile from her grandparents' home. Her mother, Casey Anthony, 22, faces charges including first-degree murder in her death. "Holding a Caylee Sunshine Doll can help us remember that all the children taken from this world prematurely are dancing, playing and singing their sunshine song forever," the Web site says. Brad Conway, attorney for the girl's grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony, told the Orlando Sentinel on Monday, "This is an example of another person trying to profit from the tragedy of Caylee's death. "He has never met my clients, spoken to my clients and has not gotten authority of any type to do this," Conway said. "And after I have a chance to research it, I will likely take whatever legal action I can." Salcedo appeared Monday night on "Nancy Grace" on CNN's sister network HLN to defend the doll. The criticism, he said, was "not something that we did not expect. We actually have been over it several times ... and for that exact purpose, we did not create the Caylee Sunshine Doll in the likeness of Caylee Anthony. We thought that that would be way off base in this," he said. "The fact that you gave the little doll blond hair, how does that somehow remove the sleaze from this whole thing?" Grace asked. Showbiz Promotions said on the site http://www.cayleedoll.com/ that 100 percent of its profits would be given to charity. Salcedo told Grace that "a portion of the sales are going to charity." He would not be more specific, however, saying he did not know how much would be donated because none have been sold. Salcedo also refused to name the charity that would receive the money. "We contacted a few of the biggest organizations in the world, and especially in the United States," he told Grace. "They don't want to partner up because it's -- it's a policy that they have to follow. They cannot get themselves involved with a case that they're handling." Pressed on the issue, he said he had contacted the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, but "their answer was real simple. They don't speak about Caylee Anthony on their Web site. It's not that it's good or bad. They can't do it. They don't raise funds using the name of any children or any situation that they're following. So it was difficult for us. That is the organization that

Dolls have blond hair; Caylee Anthony had brown hair . Company planned to charge $29.99 for dolls . President Jaime Salcedo said he hoped to raise awareness, money for charities . Promotion was criticized by public, members of slain tot's family .

(CNN) -- A Florida court has approved the divorce of the father of Haleigh Cummings, a Florida girl who disappeared in February, and the girl's stepmother, a key witness in the case. Ronald Cummings divorced his wife, Misty, who was the last person to see his daughter, Haleigh. Ronald Cummings, 25, cites irreconcilable differences in ending his short marriage to his 17-year-old wife, whom he married more than a month after Haleigh went missing from her father's home in Satsuma, Florida, on February 9. Cummings has made several public pleas for information in her disappearance. Misty Cummings, then known as Misty Croslin, was the last person known to have seen Haleigh the night she disappeared from the family's rented mobile home. The teenager said she tucked Haleigh and her 4-year-old brother into bed about 8 p.m. and went to sleep herself two hours later, but awoke at 3 a.m. to find the girl missing and a cinder block propping open a back door. Ronald Cummings called police and reported his daughter missing when he returned from work at dawn. Investigators have said they do not feel Misty Cummings has told them everything she knows. "The police have been telling me that I've been keeping Misty under my wing and that's why she hasn't talked to the cops," Ronald Cummings told a HLN's "Nancy Grace" producer earlier in October. "So now, here you go, I divorced her. So now go find my baby." The Putnam County Sheriff's office said in August that "the evidence and investigatory effort has minimized the likelihood that Haleigh's disappearance is the work of a stranger." Ronald Cummings and Crystal Sheffield, Haleigh's mother, are not considered suspects, police said. "Investigators believe that Misty Croslin-Cummings continues to hold important answers in the case," the sheriff's office said in a written statement. "She has failed to provide any sort of detailed accounting of the hours during the late evening and early morning of Haleigh's disappearance. Furthermore, physical evidence at the scene contradicts Misty's sketchy account of her evening activities." Croslin has not been named a person of interest or suspect in the case. In televised interviews, Croslin has said she does not know what happened to the little girl, while also saying she believed "the other side of the family" knows where she is. The couple lived together for about six months before marrying in March. Under the divorce settlement approved Thursday by a St. John's County court, both sides permanently and irrevocably waive any rights to alimony and other types of financial payments.

Ronald Cummings, wife Misty finalize divorce after brief marriage . Misty Croslin was last person to see 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings . Haleigh Cummings disappeared from home in February while in Croslin's care .

(CNN) -- A Florida judge Friday handed a legal victory to a former astronaut accused of assaulting a romantic rival, ruling evidence found in her car and statements she made to police after her arrest were inadmissible at trial. Lisa Nowak, accused of using pepper spray against a romantic rival, is set to go on trial in April. Ninth Judicial Circuit Judge Marc Lubet ruled that all were unlawfully obtained. He said his decision stemmed from a variety of factors, most concerning police tactics in their interview of Lisa Nowak and the fact that no written consent was obtained to search her car. "In each and every case, this court must ensure that the constitutional protections afforded by our forefathers are scrupulously honored," Lubet wrote in his opinion. "Unfortunately, in this case those protections were not as thoroughly followed as the law demands." Nowak, 44, is accused of stalking Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman and using pepper spray against her in a parking lot at Orlando International Airport in Florida on February 5. She pleaded not guilty March 22 to charges of attempted kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily harm, battery and burglary of a vehicle using a weapon. Her trial is set for April. If convicted, she would face a sentence of up to life in prison. Her defense attorneys had claimed Nowak's comments to police and her consent to search her car were made under duress. During a hearing held in August, Lubet heard testimony from, among others, Nowak, Shipman and Orlando police detective William Becton, who interviewed Nowak after her arrest. Lubet said in his ruling that when Nowak asked Becton if she needed an attorney during the interview, he failed to answer her question in a "simple and straightforward manner." "There was a concerted effort to minimize and downplay the significance of the Miranda rights by referring to these constitutional rights as 'formalities' " during the interview, Lubet wrote. On the audiotape of the interview, there was no audible response from Nowak on whether she understood that her statements could be used against her in court, and when she was asked whether anyone had threatened or promised her anything to get her to talk to police, Lubet wrote. "Thus, there is nothing in either the audio recording or the transcript of the interview that demonstrates that defendant understood these two rights and waived them." Nowak testified at the August hearing she did not respond to Becton's questions because she was confused, Lubet wrote. In addition, he said, Becton used "legally impermissible" statements and techniques, including threats, to get Nowak's statements and consent. "Well, what you say can change what you're charged with," Becton said at one point. "Right now we're looking at [a] possible life felony of carjacking." In a written statement, an Orlando Police Department spokeswoman said it was inappropriate for the department to comment on the case since it is pending in court, and referred questions to prosecutors. Lubet noted that, although Nowak was given the opportunity to use the restroom and was asked if she wanted something to eat, she was "subjected to a barrage of questions" beginning in the predawn hours and was questioned for six hours without being given the opportunity to sleep or make a phone call. "Defendant had not slept during the preceding 24 hours," the judge said. Nowak's consent to search her car, Lubet wrote, "followed illegal police activity, such as a prolonged detention, threats to obtain a warrant and repeated requests for consent." Prosecutors accuse Nowak of driving nearly 900 miles from Houston to Orlando -- wearing NASA diapers to cut down on the number of stops she needed to make -- and donning a disguise before following Shipman from baggage claim to a parking lot. Her attorney has strongly denied that she wore the diapers. Shipman told police that after she got into her car, Nowak feigned distress and knocked on the window. When Shipman cracked it to talk to her, Nowak sprayed her in the face with pepper spray

Judge: Lisa Nowak's statements and items in her car were unlawfully obtained . Nowak's attorneys have said her comments were made under duress . Former astronaut is accused of stalking and assaulting a romantic rival . Nowak has pleaded not guilty to charges including attempted kidnapping .

(CNN) -- A Florida jury has recommended the death penalty for a plumber who kidnapped, raped and murdered a police detective's daughter. Denise Lee's frantic 911 call was the centerpiece of her killer's trial. Michael King, 38, showed no reaction Friday afternoon as the jury's 12-0 decision was announced in Sarasota. Jurors deliberated for nearly three hours. King was convicted a week ago of first-degree murder and related offenses in the January 17, 2008, death of Denise Lee, a 21-year-old mother of two boys. Nathan Lee and Sgt. Dave Goff, the victim's husband and father, remained composed in court. They had maintained a daily presence in the courtroom during a trial that included the heartbreaking tape of Denise Lee's frantic 911 call on her captor's cell phone. Watch the jury recommend death » In Florida, a jury's recommendation for a death sentence is advisory. King will be formally sentenced later. Judges rarely overturn a jury's unanimous decision. Jurors Marcia Burns and Pat O'Quinn told reporters that defense testimony about King's head injury from a sledding accident and his low IQ carried little weight in the jury room. Denise Lee's father and husband had hoped for the death penalty. "I don't think he should be able to live another day," Nathan Lee said Friday as he awaited the verdict. Lee and Goff told the jury that she was a bright young woman who put aside her career ambitions to marry her college sweetheart and raise their two boys, now 2 and 3. "She was everything we could wish for in a daughter and more," Goff said. Several jurors had tears in their eyes as Nathan Lee described his wife as a devoted mother who was nursing one son and potty-training another when a stranger abducted her from their home. "I was so proud to call her my wife," he said. "Denise was the love of my life, my soul mate. I knew after our first date that I had found the perfect girl." He added that their boys "know their beautiful, courageous mommy has gone to heaven and now is an angel." King's siblings spoke of how a childhood sledding accident left him with a head injury that contributed to a lifetime of troubles. One expert described the injury as a "divot" in his brain. Experts testified that scans indicated that King's brain was abnormally shaped, especially his frontal lobe: the center for logic, planning and reason. His IQ was described as about 76, in the low range. A person with an IQ of 70 is considered to be mentally retarded, according to testimony. King's brother, Greg, testified that the defendant was 6 when he crashed head-first into a post while being pulled on a sled by a snowmobile. "I felt bad for him," Greg King said. "I felt responsible, but I wasn't." As a child, Michael King would get a faraway look in his eyes, witnesses said. Once, he fired his BB gun at witches he said he saw in the trees. Another time, he chased family members around the house with a running chainsaw. His eyes were "bugging out," his brother testified. King also complained of headaches and hearing "a buzzing sound" in his head, Greg King told the jury. King seemed to be deteriorating mentally in late 2007, according to testimony. He faced foreclosure, was considering filing for bankruptcy and broke up with a girlfriend on Thanksgiving Day. The ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Robb, testified that he sat on the bed staring into space and unable to dress himself. "He acted as if he were somewhere else," she said. But she said she never knew him to be violent. According to testimony, Lee was taken from her home during the afternoon, driven to King's home, sexually assaulted and then shot in the head and buried in a ditch. During the trial, Lee's voice filled the

Jury votes 12-0 to recommend death sentence . Michael King convicted of kidnapping and murdering Denise Lee . Mother of two was taken from her home by man in green Camaro . Centerpiece of trial was victim's frantic 911 call .

(CNN) -- A Florida man arrested with his wife on anabolic steroid possession charges claimed to have sold steroids to professional hockey and baseball players in the District of Columbia, but the National Hockey League and Washington Capitals said Wednesday they doubted the allegation. Richard Thomas and his wife, Sandra, were arrested Tuesday night at their home in Lakeland, Florida. Richard Thomas, 35, told officers he sold the steroids to unidentified players on the NHL's Capitals and the Washington Nationals of baseball's National League, said Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County, Florida. "Richard Thomas told us that he sold steroids to ballplayers on those teams," Judd said after the arrests late Tuesday night. "Now, is that one ballplayer to two ballplayers? We don't know." NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the league would investigate the claim, but added that the Washington Capitals "have no knowledge of any aspect of this allegation." "Capitals players were subjected to no-notice testing five separate times over the past two seasons pursuant to the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and there was no indication of any improper conduct or wrongdoing," Daly said in a statement issued Wednesday. A separate statement by Capitals president Dick Patrick said the team had "no reason to believe there is any merit to this story," but would fully cooperate with the NHL's investigation. MLB.com, the Web site of Major League Baseball, reported Wednesday that the league would look into the allegation involving the Washington Nationals. The report posted on the Web site of the Washington Nationals quoted Nationals president Stan Kasten as saying the team knew nothing about the steroids claim, and that the league was handling it. Thomas and his wife, Sandra, 49, were arrested Tuesday night at their home in Lakeland, Florida, on 21 counts of possession of anabolic steroids, importation of anabolic steroids and maintaining a residence for drug sales, Judd said. He said the couple has been charged with 10 counts of steroid possession with intent to distribute, 10 counts of importing the drugs and one count of maintaining a residence for drug sales. According to Judd, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Philadelphia received information that the Florida couple would be receiving a shipment of steroids. Judd's office then obtained a search warrant for the Lakeland home, where officers found steroids from points outside the United States, including Iran, he said. The arrest report says Richard Thomas told officers he was "the biggest steroids dealer in central Florida." Bond for Richard and Sandra Thomas was set at $215,000 each, said Carrie Eleazer, spokeswoman for the Polk County Sheriff's Office, and Sandra Thomas was released on bail Wednesday afternoon. The two are scheduled to make an initial court appearance Thursday. CNN's John Couwels contributed to this report.

Couple arrested in central Florida on anabolic steroid possession charges . Claim they sold steroids to professional athletes in District of Columbia, sheriff says . Richard Thomas says he sold steroids to pro baseball, hockey players, sheriff says .

(CNN) -- A Florida man in custody in Haiti faces first-degree murder charges in the deaths of his wife and five children, authorities said Tuesday. Police have obtained a warrant to arrest Mesac Damas, 33, on suspicion of six counts of first-degree murder. Police obtained a warrant overnight to arrest Mesac Damas, 33, on suspicion of six counts of first-degree murder, the Collier County, Florida, Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "This warrant was obtained based on information and evidence collected thus far in the investigation and statements made by Damas to a federal agent after his detention in Haiti," the statement said. The body of Damas' wife, Guerline Damas, 32, was found Saturday in the family's North Naples, Florida, home, along with those of the couple's five children -- Michzach, 9; Marven, 6; Maven, 5; Megan, 3; and Morgan, 11 months, police said. Authorities have not said how the five were killed, but Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk described the scene as "horrific." Police released few new details in the case at a Tuesday news conference, except to say they think the killings were premeditated. They added that under the law, "premeditated" does not necessarily mean a crime was planned far in advance. Damas was last seen about 9 p.m. Thursday at the Naples restaurant where he was employed as a cook, authorities said. On Friday, he is thought to have arrived at Miami International Airport about 7 a.m. He boarded a flight for Haiti about 10 a.m., Rambosk said. His car was found at the airport. He purchased a one-way ticket to Haiti, police said Tuesday. Police had asked the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for help in finding Damas. The FBI's legal attaché in the Dominican Republic notified Collier County authorities that a man believed to be Damas was taken into custody Monday by the Haitian National Police. "Information obtained by CCSO shows Damas was found hiding near a hotel in the capital city of Port-au-Prince," a sheriff's statement said Tuesday. The judge who signed the warrant ordered that Damas be held without bond upon his return to Collier County, authorities said. If convicted of six counts of first-degree murder, Damas could face life in prison or the death penalty. Collier County investigators are traveling to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to interview Damas, the statement said. Rambosk said authorities are looking into two options to return Damas to Florida: following the normal extradition process, or having him deported from Haiti, since he is a U.S. citizen. Mesac and Guerline Damas had a history of domestic violence, police said. Mesac Damas was arrested in January, and pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery charges against his wife in June. Police said they did not believe he served any jail time, and did not think a restraining order was currently in place regarding the couple. However, an arrest warrant was issued Monday for Damas on charges of violating probation stemming from the January arrest. The Damases had been married about 10 years, Rambosk said. He did not know how long they had lived in Naples. The six bodies were found about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, a day after police had visited the home to check on the family, Collier County sheriff's Capt. Chris Roberts said. A family member asked police to conduct a welfare check on the home Friday, saying a resident there had not been heard from, Roberts said. Responding officers knocked on the door and got no answer, he said, but they saw nothing that aroused their suspicions. The following morning, the family member became more concerned and filed a missing persons report, Rambosk said. Later, authorities requested a key to the house from property management, as well as authorization to enter. Rambosk said Tuesday the victims' family members are "extremely emotional and distraught."

NEW: At a news conference, police say they think killings were premeditated . Mesac Damas charged with first-degree murder in deaths of wife, 5 children . Six bodies found Saturday in family's North Naples, Florida, home, police say . Damas, 33, captured Monday in Haiti; authorities are headed there to interview him .

(CNN) -- A Florida man is using billboards with an image of the burning World Trade Center to encourage votes for a Republican presidential candidate, drawing criticism for politicizing the 9/11 attacks. Businessman Mike Meehan says he has put up three billboards such as this one around Orlando, Florida. "Please Don't Vote for a Democrat" reads the type over the picture of the twin towers after hijacked airliners hit them on September, 11, 2001. Mike Meehan, a St. Cloud, Florida, businessman who paid to post the billboards in the Orlando area, said former President Clinton should have put a stop to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda before 9/11. He said a Republican president would have done so. "I believe 9/11 could have been prevented if we'd had a Republican president at the time," Meehan said Wednesday on CNN's "American Morning." But Democrats and Republicans are saying Meehan shouldn't be using a 9/11 image to make a political point. "This is a blatant exploitation of that terrible tragedy for political and, perhaps even worse, personal gain," Bill Robinson, the Orange County, Florida, Democratic Party chairman told CNN affiliate WFTV-TV in Orlando. The local Republican Party called the billboard "inappropriate," according to WFTV. "There are many ways to convey the importance of national security in this election without going to extremes, and we encourage a constructive dialogue," the Florida Republican Party said in a statement Tuesday. According to Meehan, President Bush has done "an excellent job ... going after these terrorists." Watch Meehan's take on terrorism and the election » "You got to remember all the ... people that George Bush did catch and how much success he did have. And we haven't had an attack on this soil since 9/11," Meehan said. "Unlike Bill Clinton, who actually had bin Laden right in his hand and through the CIA and other high officials decide to get him go," Meehan said. In a 2006 interview with "Fox News Sunday," Clinton said he authorized the killing of bin Laden in 2000 after the attack on the Navy warship USS Cole in Yemen, but the order was never carried out because U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies refused to certify that bin Laden was behind the Cole attack. "I got closer to killing him than anybody has gotten since," Clinton said in the 2006 interview. Meehan also is using the billboard to promote his Web site, the republicansong.com, where he's trying to sell copies of his song, "Please Don't Vote for a Democrat." The song goes beyond the national security issue, ripping Democrats on taxation and energy issues, too. "They want to take the money from the hard workin' man, and give it to the lazy folks that don't give a damn," Meehan sings. Another verse takes on the oil issue. "We're not fightin' for oil, we got plenty if we drill it," he sings. The song's not a moneymaker, he said, just an effort to recoup some of what he's invested in the billboards. A copy of the song on CD cost $5 on the Web site, and the site points out that Meehan can be hired to perform at a "concert, party, meeting or event." "I'm willing to pay the cost for the fact that our soldiers that have died protecting this country have paid a heck of a lot more than what these billboards cost," Meehan told "American Morning." Florida resident Mary Anderson told WFTV she doesn't see politics when she's looking at the billboard. "Just looking at it, I'm not thinking about Democrat or Republican, I'm thinking about the twin towers and all the people killed," she told WFTV.

Billboards use image from 9/11 to encourage GOP votes . 9/11 image wrong for ad, say Florida political parties . Floridian praises President Bush, says ex-President Clinton failed to stop al Qaeda .

(CNN) -- A Florida woman has been arrested in connection with the death of a lottery millionaire, whose body was found buried under recently added concrete at a home, authorities said. Dorice Donegan Moore, 37, was arrested Tuesday evening on charges of accessory after the fact regarding a first-degree murder in the death of Abraham Shakespeare, 43, said Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee. Moore befriended Shakespeare after he won a $31 million Florida lottery prize in 2006 and was named a person of interest in the case after Shakespeare went missing, authorities said. Before her arrest, Moore proclaimed her innocence during a tearful, impromptu news conference outside her home. She said was planning to help Shakespeare write a book about the challenges of winning millions and that she was helping him manage the money. "Abraham had a life of drama because of the money," she told CNN affiliate WTSP. "The money was like a curse to him. And now it has become a curse to me." Moore might have committed fraud to obtain parts of Shakespeare's fortune, and she bought lime to deal with his body and was trying to find someone to move the corpse to another location, Gee said. Shakespeare was killed on April 6 or April 7, and Moore has admitted trying to convince Shakespeare's family members that he was still alive, Gee said. "In December 2009, Dorice Moore wrote a letter to the victim's mother, claiming to be the victim and to be all right," Gee said. "Dorice Moore also used the victim's cell phone and sent text messages to the victim's family." Deputies found Shakespeare's body outside a home in Plant City late January after receiving a tip from an associate of Moore, Gee said. Moore could face more charges, and authorities are looking for other suspects, Gee said. Reporters were at the scene during Moore's arrest Tuesday and she again denied having anything to do with Shakespeare's death as she was led to a police cruiser in handcuffs, WTSP reported. "I'm deeply saddened for his family," Moore said.

Dorice Moore says she helped manage Abraham Shakespeare's lottery winnings . Shakespeare's remains were recently found buried under concrete slab . Authorities: Moore tried to convince Shakespeare's family that he was still alive .

(CNN) -- A French Mirage 2000 jet fighter collided with a Lithuanian plane during a training mission Tuesday in Lithuania, the French Defense Ministry said. No one was hurt during the training exercise at an air force base in Siauliai, Northern Lithuania, military officials from both countries said. Two French jet fighters and and a Lithuanian jet trainer were in the air when one of the jet fighters collided with the Lithuanian plane, officials said. Both pilots of the Lithuanian L-39 Albatross ejected and are safe. Their plane crashed. The French jet landed, Lithuanian officials said.

French plane collides with Lithuanian plane during training exercise . No one is hurt .

(CNN) -- A Georgia man accused of screaming racial slurs while beating an African-American female Army reservist outside a restaurant was released from jail on bail Wednesday, Clayton County, Georgia, authorities said. They said Troy Dale West Jr. was released on a $320,000 bond. Attorney Kip Jones, who represents alleged victim Tashawnea Hill, said a judge Tuesday ordered West placed under house arrest, and he was fitted with an ankle monitor. He also was told to surrender his passport, have no contact with Hill and stay out of Clayton County, where Hill lives, the lawyer said. West, of Poulan, Georgia, faces one count of aggravated assault, two counts of battery, two counts of disorderly conduct, false imprisonment and cruelty to children for allegedly beating Hill outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant September 9, according to a Clayton County Court online docket. Hill was with her 7-year-old daughter when the alleged incident occurred at the entrance to the restaurant, which is in Morrow, Georgia. West, 47, was arrested on misdemeanor charges after the incident, but Clayton County District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson took the case to a grand jury asking for more serious charges. Hill, 35, said the attack occurred after she warned West to be careful, after almost hitting her daughter with the restaurant door as she was leaving. West, according to a police report, admitted striking Hill "after she spit on me and accused me of trying to hit her daughter with a door." Hill denied the accusations, saying she did nothing to provoke the alleged attack. Hill told police that West, who is white, yelled racial epithets at her during the attack. Police said witnesses confirmed her account. Morrow is a racially diverse city in the southeast suburbs of Atlanta, with a population of about 4,900, according to the 2000 census. CNN's Carolina Sanchez contributed to this report.

Troy Dale West Jr. released on $320,000 bond . Lawyer says judge ordered West to be under house arrest . Man told to surrender his passport, not contact victim . Man charged after alleged racist beating at a Cracker Barrel restaurant .

(CNN) -- A Georgia teacher's passion and curiosity about her immigrant students' homelands led to a path that changed her life and those she's touched - forever. Sue Ellen Wortzel said her student's stories of struggle to find food, a safe place to live, a basic education other economic hardships in their home countries often left her speechless and explained why their families searched for a better life in the U.S. Their emotional stories moved Wortzel to learn more about where they came from in Central America and inspired her to help their home countries. As an educator, Wortzel felt she had the ability to create a positive change in some of their country's schools and began her journey to do so in 2006 with a trip through Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. During this visit, she took note of some of the specific problems educators and students faced. "I saw teachers and students doing amazing things with nothing or bare-bone structures," she said. In one high school in Nicaragua, Wortzel discovered classrooms that only had one or two copies of a text book for a 30-plus-student class. Teachers would use chalkboards and cover them with notes from the text book, so everyone could see and digest the information. In addition to a lack of books, Wortzel noticed a lack of maps, globes, calculators and other teaching supplies. Basic transportation to and from school is a problem, too, for some families. "Oftentimes, kids walk up to two hours to school in rural areas, since their families can't afford to pay for public transportation," said Wortzel. "This hardship is tough on kids and many times they just give up and quit attending school." Public education throughout the world varies greatly. In the United States, education is predominantly funded by taxpayers, and students are not charged tuition to attend public schools. In Central America, resources lack for many children to obtain a basic public education. Wortzel acknowledges the U.S. public education system is filled with problems, but has witnessed that students in "forgotten" countries suffer, too. She has made it her life's mission to help those outside U.S. borders. "Children have no control over what happens to them and access to education is not something we can save for particular children," she noted. Wortzel's personal interaction with her students as well as her international travels inspired her to create a nonprofit organization calledTALICA in 2006, with operations based in Atlanta and Central America. TALICA stands for "The Teaching and Learning Initiative for Central America." Its mission is to expand access to basic educational materials for schools in Central America. Since 2006, TALICA has established school collections and donated about 4,500 books and supplies to seven public school libraries in five communities, and helped establish a community library and the first-ever medical collection in the village of Balgue, Nicaragua. The school materials are hand-picked by local teachers, and TALICA takes them shopping about once or twice a year for their supplies. How does TALICA make this happen? It takes hard work, coordination and personal relationships to make it all come together. TALICA's team is small, consisting of five volunteer directors as well as hundreds of supportive family and friends across the U.S. and Central America who volunteer their time and resources. Grass-roots fundraising is a key element to TALICA's survival. Members will host dinner parties, wine tasting events and other fundraising efforts to raise cash. With a budget of about $12,000 a year, TALICA uses its money as strategically as possible to do the most good. TALICA's current projects include supporting five schools on the island of Ometepe, Nicaragua, and a scholarship program to send a student to college. This impoverished rural region was selected because it has a literacy rate hovering around 67 percent and has big educational challenges, according to Wortzel. In comparison, the U.S. literacy level is 99 percent according to the CIA-World Fact Book. The nonprofit's newest project is a science initiative. "We're building an extra classroom to house a small science

U.S. educator forms nonprofit called TALICA to help students in Central America . Sue Ellen Wortzel said her immigrant student's struggles inspired her to form TALICA . Since 2006, TALICA has donated 4,500 books to public schools in Central America .

(CNN) -- A German supermarket employee got a surprise this week when she opened two boxes of bananas to find them filled with more than 60 pounds of cocaine worth $2 million, police said. Government-released photos show bananas and packages of what is identified as cocaine. "This is obviously a matter of a logistical mistake," a spokesman for the Bavarian State Bureau of Investigation, based in Munich, told CNN Friday. A 26-year-old employee with the discount chain Lidl in the sleepy town of Illertissen was randomly checking the boxes on Wednesday morning, police said. The fresh bananas had just been taken off a food truck, an hour after the store was open, they said. The employee was suspicious of the boxes because they felt lighter than normal, police said. As she unpacked the bananas to take them into the store's produce section, police said, she found 26 small yellow parcels hidden underneath the fruit. She immediately called police. The investigators established that the substance is cocaine and confiscated the goods, police said. The cocaine totaled 28 kilos, or 61.7 pounds, police said. The German shipper who delivered the bananas also made stops at other stores in southern Germany, but police said no other box with cocaine had been found at those stores yet. The freight had come from Antwerp, Belgium, but originated from Colombia, police said. "The drug courier obviously screwed up. He simply was not quick enough," the Bavarian State Bureau of Investigation spokesman said. He dubbed the finding a "discovery by accident." Police said they did not know why the shipment of illegal drugs was delivered to the particular store in Illertissen, halfway between Munich and Stuttgart. The town is right next to a major highway, a North-South route between Scandinavia in the north and Italy in the south. The freight might have been delivered to the wrong address, the spokesman said. Police were not releasing any further details because of their ongoing inquiries. They said they did not know if a drug cartel or a drug courier was using Illertissen as a hub.

Supermarket employee uncovers 28 kilograms worth of cocaine, police say . Packages were discovered in supermarket in southern Germany . Freight came from Belgium, originated in Colombia, authorities say . Town of market is along route between Scandinavia and Italy .

(CNN) -- A German top-division football match was called off on Saturday after the appointed referee apparently tried to commit suicide before the kickoff. Cologne's game against Mainz was postponed when match official Babak Rafati failed to show up, the home team's website reported. German Football Assocation president Theo Zwanziger called an emergency press conference at Cologne's RheinEnergieStadion to explain the situation. "At 1345 I was informed that something terrible had happened," Zwanziger said. Rafati, a German with Iranian ancestry, did not appear at midday for his scheduled appointment with his three assistants, who then went to his hotel room and opened it with the help of staff. The 41-year-old was found inside in a "motionless" state, Zwanziger said. Police confirmed that no-one else was involved, and it is assumed that he tried to commit suicide. "According to the information that I have, his state is stable," Zwanziger said. "He is no longer in critical condition and he is currently being treated in the intensive care unit." Zwanziger said Rafati's assistants were receiving counseling after the incident, which came two years after the suicide of former Germany international goalkeeper Robert Enke. Rafati had refereed in the Bundesliga since 2005, and was on the panel of FIFA's international officials from 2008 before being dropped this year, the AFP agency reported. "The pressure in professional sports is unbelievably high. We just don't manage to bring the right balance into it. No-one should be in such a hopeless situation," said Zwanziger, who promised to provide support for Rafati's family and colleagues. Saturday's other Bundesliga matches were played as scheduled. Bayern Munich's lead was reduced to two points after a 1-0 home defeat by defending champions Borussia Dortmund. Teenage midfielder Mario Gotze score the only goal in the 65th minute to put Dortmund second on 26 points, above Borussia Monchengladbach on goal difference. Gladbach crushed fifth-placed Werder Bremen 5-0 as Marco Reus scored a hat-trick, while Schalke moved up to fourth with a 4-0 win at home to Nuremberg thanks to a double from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and another goal from veteran Spanish strike partner Raul. Wolfsburg moved clear of the relegation zone with a 4-1 win over Hanover, while third-bottom Freiburg snatched a 2-2 draw against visiting Hertha Berlin as Stefan Reisinger scored his second goal five minutes into time added on.

German Bundesliga match is called off after referee fails to show up . Officials later reveal that ref Babak Rafati tried to commit suicide . German FA president says that Rafati is "stable" in intensive care in hospital . The 41-year-old had been due to control game between Cologne and Mainz .

(CNN) -- A Gulf Coast official accused BP of shipping workers into Grand Isle, Louisiana, for President Barack Obama's visit to the oil-stricken area Friday and sending them away once the president left the region. Early Friday morning, "a number of buses brought in approximately 300 to 400 workers that had been recruited all week," Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts told CNN's "Situation Room." Roberts said the workers were offered $12 an hour to come out to the scene at Grand Isle and work in what he called a "dog and pony show." But, when Obama departed, so did the workers, he said, adding that he's never seen more than 20 workers at the Grand Isle cleanup site since the effort started. BP Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles downplayed the claim Friday evening, telling CNN it is not unusual to see people wrapping up work in the afternoon. "These individuals are working out in the heat of the sun. These are long days. They start early in the morning and they stop early in the evening," he said. "So the fact that they were leaving the location late in the afternoon was not unusual. It's not associated with the president arriving." Suttles added that the workers would be back Saturday morning to continue working. The company hired to provide the cleanup workers told WWL, a New Orleans-based radio station, that it was told to beef up the cleaning work force five days ago. "No, I did not put extra workers on the job because the president was coming," said Donald Nalty of Environmental Safety and Health, which was contracted by BP to help in the cleanup effort. An official at the oil cleanup command center told CNN that a temporary busing system had been established to shuttle the growing number of workers because of limited parking and housing accommodations in areas most impacted by the spilled oil. The official said trained responders were putting in 12 to 14-hour days. Roberts told CNN's Anderson Cooper the hundreds of workers who showed up early Friday wouldn't speak to local emergency management officials. "The sheriff's office did manage to get one person to speak with them and that individual said they were hired yesterday and told to report to a staging area at 7:30 this morning," Roberts added. "It just doesn't add up."

NEW: Company hired to provide cleanup crews says it got order to beef up 5 days ago . NEW: "No, I did not" add workers for the president, boss tells radio station . BP beefed up cleanup workers just for Obama visit, local official says . Workers left when president left, parish councilman says . BP denies allegations: 'It's not associated with the president arriving'

(CNN) -- A JetBlue flight from Boston, Massachusetts, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was diverted Saturday when a fight broke out after someone was smoking in the bathroom, federal officials said. A JetBlue plane was held in North Carolina for two hours while passengers were interviewed. One passenger aboard JetBlue Flight 455 was taken into custody at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina after the plane landed about 5:45 p.m. A federal Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman said one person was injured in the face by what may have been a punch. She said the fight involved three people who are thought to be related. According to the airline, there were 88 people and four crew members aboard the jet. The flight had been scheduled to leave Boston at 1 p.m. but did not take off until 3:11 p.m., spokeswoman Alison Eshelman said. Eyewitnesses said the scuffle was between two brothers, one of whom was angry that his brother had smoked on a plane. One passenger interviewed by CNN affiliate WFOR said the fight left one of the men bloody. "I saw the guy holding his head with the blood coming out," Mike Rocha said. The jet was held at the North Carolina airport for about two hours while FBI investigators interviewed passengers.

Witnesses said fight broke out after someone was smoking in bathroom . One person taken into custody at Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, airport . Witness: "I saw the guy holding his head with the blood coming out" Plane held two hours in North Carolina while FBI interviewed passengers .

(CNN) -- A Kentucky Chihuahua is expected to make a full recovery after a freak accident that left a large barbecue fork lodged in his head for days, according to the animal hospital where he was treated. During a family gathering two weeks ago, 12-week-old Smokey was waiting to be fed as his owner used the fork to shoo another dog away from Smokey's food, Su Smith, vice president of Cumberland Valley Animal Hospital in London, Kentucky, wrote in an article on the hospital's Web site. As owner Vickie Brumley of Manchester, Kentucky, waved the fork, the handle broke off and the fork end was flung through the air, embedding itself several inches into Smokey's head. Smokey immediately ran into the woods, Smith wrote. For two days, his owner's family searched for him despite bad weather and finally came to the conclusion that he had either died of his injury or been killed by wildlife. Brumley's brother, Hughie Wagers, was visiting his sister and sitting on the porch when Smokey came up the driveway with the fork still sticking out of his head, Smith wrote. He rushed him to the animal hospital. "They arrived at 6:59 p.m., right as we were about to lock up," hospital staffer Michelle Duncum told CNN. "Mr. Wagers walked into the hospital and asked if we could please help him." Staffers were shocked when they saw Smokey, she said. "We had never dealt with anything like this before." Veterinarian Keaton Smith knew Smokey's treatment might be expensive and spoke with Wagers about options, Smith wrote. Keaton Smith offered to treat Smokey at the hospital's expense if Wagers allowed the hospital to call media outlets about the Chihuahua's story. However, staffers wanted to make sure Smokey would live through the night first before calling anyone, Su Smith said. It only took the veterinarian about 30 seconds to remove the fork from Smokey's head, Duncum said. And when the veterinarian arrived at the hospital the next morning, July 8, he found Smokey "recovering much better than expected," Su Smith wrote. Smokey has been advised to take it easy for a few weeks, but is expected to fully recover, Duncum said. The Chihuahua's owner did not immediately return a call seeking comment from CNN. "Dr. Smith asks everyone who believes this is a cruelty case to 'please back off' and stop jumping to unfounded conclusions," Su Smith wrote. "If you have never had an accident of any kind, you may cast the first stone, but there will be no criminal charges filed in this case."

Broken fork accidentally gets stuck in Chihuahua's head . Smokey ran into the woods, owners couldn't find him for two days . Pet is "recovering much better than expected," vet says .

(CNN) -- A Lonely Planet author says he plagiarized or made up portions of the popular travel guidebooks and dealt drugs to supplement poor pay, an Australian newspaper reported Sunday. Lonely Planet publishes more than 500 titles and employs 300 authors, according to its Web site. Thomas Kohnstamm, who has written a book on his misadventures, also said he didn't travel to Colombia to write the guidebook on the country because "they didn't pay me enough," The Daily Telegraph reported. "I wrote the book in San Francisco [California]," he is quoted as saying in the Telegraph. "I got the information from a chick I was dating -- an intern in the Colombian Consulate." The 32-year-old Seattle, Washington, native also claims he accepted free travel, which is a violation of the company's policy. Kohnstamm has worked on more than a dozen books for Lonely Planet, including its titles on Brazil, Colombia, the Caribbean, Venezuela, Chile and South America. An e-mail from Lonely Planet said Kohnstamm's book were being reviewed, the newspaper reported. "If we find that the content has been compromised, we'll take urgent steps to fix it. Once we've got things right for travelers as quickly as we can, we'll look at what we do and how we do it to ensure as best we can that this type of thing never happens again," the e-mail said, according to the newspaper. The book's publisher, Piers Pickard, told the paper that an "urgent" review of Kohnstamm's books did not reveal any inaccuracies. The Lonely Planet series publishes 500 titles, updated every two to four years, and employs 300 authors, according to the company's Web site. It sells more than 6 million guides a year, the newspaper reported. Kohnstamm's book, "Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?: A Swashbuckling Tale of High Adventures, Questionable Ethics and Professional Hedonism," is set for release next week. On his MySpace page, Kohnstamm says the book "is about the decision to abandon Manhattan to try to make it as a travel writer and the good, the bad and the really surreal that I experienced on the road." E-mail to a friend

Author tells paper he got data for Colombia guidebook "from a chick I was dating" Author's works include guides on Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, paper reports . Lonely Planet tells paper it wants to ensure "this type of thing never happens again" "Urgent" review of author's books reveals no inaccuracies, publisher tells paper .

(CNN) -- A Los Angeles, California, art dealer, federal authorities say, thought she'd done the math: Pay an art restorer $1,000 to create a knock-off of Pablo Picasso's 1902 pastel, "The Woman in the Blue Hat." Then sell the fake as an original for $2 million. She may have not counted on the feds getting involved. That woman, 70-year-old Tatiana Khan, agreed to plead guilty to federal charges related to the sale of the phony Picasso, authorities said Tuesday. The woman is scheduled to appear in federal court next month to plead guilty to felony counts of making false statements to the FBI and witness tampering, federal authorities said. "Khan falsely told an FBI agent who was investigating the sale that Khan had obtained the drawing from an acquaintance," a Department of Justice statement said. "Khan also admitted that she told the art restorer to lie to the FBI by saying that she only did restoration work for Khan and did not do any copying work." Khan faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison but the plea agreement recommends a maximum prison sentence of 21 months, according to the Justice Department.

Tatiana Khan agreed to plead guilty to charges related to the sale of the phony Picasso . Khan paid art restorer $1,000 to create fake " Woman in the Blue Hat," authorities say . Khan's plan was to sell the knock-off for $2 million, according to authorities .

(CNN) -- A Los Angeles-area man has been charged with murder in the death of his wife while on a cruise along the Mexican coast, an FBI spokesman told CNN sister network HLN. Shirley McGill, 55, was found dead on Tuesday in her cabin on the Carnival Elation. Shirley McGill, 55, was found dead in her cabin on the Carnival Elation on Tuesday as the ship, after a five-day cruise to Cabo San Lucas, was heading back to its origination point of San Diego, California, authorities said. Robert McGill, who is in his mid-50s, is charged with murder on the high seas, FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter told HLN. The FBI and the Carnival cruise line said that a domestic dispute Tuesday night resulted in the woman's death, but did not elaborate on how she was killed. The FBI said the cause of death would be determined through autopsy. Another passenger became suspicious that foul play had taken place "for a variety of possible reasons," Slotter said, and notified ship security. When security checked the couple's room, Shirley McGill was found dead inside, he said. Authorities believe she had been dead for no more than a couple of hours. Watch Slotter describe how the body was found » Robert McGill was arrested on board the ship and was kept in its brig for the remainder of the cruise, the FBI said. After the ship docked, he was taken into federal custody, as crimes on the high seas fall under federal jurisdiction. FBI agents boarded the ship to start the investigation as the vessel neared San Diego, with the Coast Guard transporting the agents about 10 miles offshore. Agents were completing their work on the ship Thursday, having interviewed about 50 passengers and processed the crime scene, Slotter said. He would not elaborate on the domestic dispute, saying authorities are still trying to piece together what happened. The 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation had departed on the cruise July 11. CNN's Scott Thompson contributed to this report.

Shirley McGill, 55, was found dead in her cabin on the Carnival Elation on Tuesday . Husband Robert McGill, in mid-50s, charged with murder on the high seas, FBI says . FBI and Carnival cruise line said domestic dispute Tuesday night led to death .

(CNN) -- A Louisiana teenager whose 2006 arrest in the racially charged "Jena 6" assault case drew thousands of protesters tried to commit suicide days after a separate arrest last week, a police report says. Mychal Bell was released in September 2007 and later agreed to a plea deal in the beating of a classmate. Mychal Bell, who was arrested last week after allegedly stealing clothes worth $370 from a department store, told investigators he shot himself Monday evening "because he was tired of all the media attention," the report says. The high school senior's mother and his grandmother also told an investigator that he'd indicated "he did not feel like he could live anymore" because of media coverage of the shoplifting allegations, according to the report. Earlier, Bell's attorney, Carol Powell-Lexing, told CNN that Bell's family told her he'd accidentally shot himself while cleaning a gun. According to the police report, however, an officer responded to a 911 call from his grandmother's Monroe, Louisiana, home, where Bell lives. The grandmother, Rosie Simmons, told the officer that she had hidden the gun after the shooting "for Mychal's safety so he did not try to shot [sic] himself again," according to the report. Bell, 18, suffered a wound to the upper right chest, the report says. Powell-Lexing told CNN that Bell had surgery Monday night, and Monroe police Sgt. Cassandra Wooten said the wound was not life-threatening. Bell was being treated Tuesday at a hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana. In December 2006, Bell was one of a half-dozen black teenagers who faced felony charges in the beating of a white classmate in the town of Jena, Louisiana, an incident that followed months of racial tensions in the community of about 3,000 people. The case of the "Jena 6" drew national attention from civil rights groups that said the charges were excessive, and an estimated 15,000-plus people turned out for a September 2007 rally in Jena on the youths' behalf. Bell eventually pleaded guilty to battery in a juvenile court and later moved to Monroe, about 70 miles north of Jena. On Christmas Eve, Bell was arrested at the Pecanland Mall in Monroe and charged with shoplifting, simple battery and resisting arrest, Monroe Police Lt. Jeff Davis said Tuesday. Bell was released on $1,300 bond, and the case was assigned to city court. Watch CNN's Sean Callebs report on the case » On Monday, Simmons and Bell's mother, Melissa Bell, told investigators they heard a gunshot from the teenager's room and found him on the bed, according to the police report. "Rosie and M. Bell stated Mychal had made comments over the past two days that because of the current media attention he had because of a shoplifting arrest he did not feel like he could live anymore," the police report says. Monroe police Lt. Jeff Harris said investigators do not know whose gun Bell used. Bell's Christmas Eve arrest came after security guards at the shopping center were told Bell and a male friend were seen stuffing clothing into a bag in a menswear section of Dillard's, according to the investigative report. Once spotted, the men split up, police said. Bell, chased by security guards, ran from the store to a parking lot, where he tried to hide under a car, Davis said. As a store security officer tried to pull Bell out, "Bell swung his arms wildly" and hit the guard with his elbow, the report says. Davis said the guard was hit in the face. Bell admitted to the thefts, which police said included four shirts and a pair of jeans, Davis said. The merchandise was photographed by store security and returned to stock, he added. Bell was taken to jail and booked. Davis said the second man escaped. Powell-Lexing told CNN her client went to the mall with someone to return a shirt, for which he had a receipt. The person with Bell did the shoplifting,

Police report: Mychal Bell shot himself because he's tired of media attention . Bell was arrested last week on suspicion of shoplifting . He is accused of stealing clothes worth $370 from a department store . Bell was a defendant in the racially charged case in Louisiana .

(CNN) -- A Marine who survived being burned over more than 95 percent of his body in Iraq and established a charity to help burned children has died, the military has announced. Sgt. Merlin German was 22. He was severely wounded February 21, 2005, en route to Camp Ramadi when his Humvee hit a roadside bomb. He was not expected to survive, but he was transported to Germany and then to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, which has the U.S. military's top burns unit. He spent nine months in intensive care and underwent more than 100 operations. German moved out of the hospital into his own home after 17 months of treatment. He founded Merlin's Miracles, a charity that aims "to assist burned children and their families to take vacations, trips, outings or anything the families needed to make life a little easier," according to its Web site. German died April 11 at Brooke Army Medical Center of complications after surgery. "He beat all odds and then on top of that continued to serve as an inspiration and motivator for others," said Dr. Evan Renz, a critical-care surgeon who treated German. "It is very difficult to describe the sense of loss. He endeared himself to all he came in contact with. It's really impossible to describe, except to say: Imagine the loss of dear family or friend." Renz remembers being impressed with German from the start. "This young man was clearly showing us signs he was going to fight through this from the very first minute," he said. "There was consensus he was going to be a someone who would probably break some of the previous expectations about survivability. If someone was going to survive, he was going to be that individual." E-mail to a friend CNN's Barbara Starr and Larry Shaugnessy contributed to this report.

Sgt. Merlin German was burned over more than 95 percent of his body in 2005 . He spent nine months in intensive care and underwent more than 100 operations . German founded Merlin's Miracles, a charity to help burned children . "He endeared himself to all he came in contact with," doctor says .

(CNN) -- A Maryland funeral home has lost its license after investigators found about 40 bodies stacked on top of each other, leaking fluid, in a garage, a state official said. The state Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors revoked the license of Chambers Funeral Home & Crematorium in Riverdale, Maryland after an April 26 visit to the site. Hari Close, president of the the state funeral board, told CNN Tuesday that some of the bodies were cadavers who had been donated to a local university for research. Other bodies came from other funeral homes, Close said. The bodies were supposed to be cremated, but investigators were alarmed at how they were stored in the garage while they awaited cremation. "Even somebody who donates their body to science, they still should be treated with dignity," said Close. "Not to mention the health and safety issues with the body fluids flowing out." William Chambers, co-owner of the funeral home, told CNN-affiliate WJLA said that he hopes to work with the state to resolve the alleged violations. When investigators inspected the funeral home they were warned by an employee, who told them, "Don't get upset about all the bodies in there," according to documents released by the state funeral board. Inside the room was a "large pile, approximately 12 by 12 feet, of body bags containing human remains strewn on the floor of the garage in front of a removal van. There was visible leakage from the body bags as well as a pungent odor," the documents said. "The investigator also observed writing on some of the body bags," they said. "However, fluid leakage from the body bags caused the writing to smear and become illegible. As a result, it was not immediately possible to determine the identity of the remains." There will be a hearing at the end of the month to determine whether the funeral home will get its license back, Close said. CNN's Patty Lane contributed to this report.

Investigators found about 40 bodies stacked atop each other awaiting cremation . Maryland board revoked license of Chambers Funeral Home & Crematorium . Room contained body bags of human remains strewn on the floor of the garage .

(CNN) -- A Maryland mother faces assault charges for allegedly ordering a group of teens to beat up a 14-year-old who was stabbed in the ensuing melee, Baltimore County police said Friday. Kimberley Lyn Cudanin, 34, told her 16-year-old son and at least four of his friends to attack Malaki Malloy as retaliation for a recent assault against her 14-year-old son, police said in a news release. On Saturday night, Cudanin drove some of the teens to where Malloy was, about a mile from her home, police said. Those teens and others at the scene then beat and stabbed Malloy and three friends who were with him, police said. Malloy was released from the University of Maryland Medical Center's shock trauma center Monday, hospital spokeswoman Cindy Rivers said Friday. Cudanin and her son Andre were arrested Monday and face first- and second-degree assault charges, police spokesman Bill Toohey said. Four other teens face the same charges after being arrested Wednesday: Leo Eades, 17; Marvin King, 16; Malcolm Scott, 15; and James McBride, 16. All are being charged as adults, police said. Police are looking for two other suspects, Toohey said. Warren Brown, defense attorney for at least one of the teens, could not be immediately reached for comment Friday. An attempted murder charge is likely against the person alleged to have stabbed Malloy, Toohey said, but police have yet to determine who that person was. Investigators do not think it was Kimberley Cudanin, he said. In fact, investigators do not think she assaulted anyone, but under Maryland law, her role in the attack warrants the assault charges, Toohey said. CNN's Khadijah Rentas contributed to this report.

Kimberley Lyn Cudanin told son and his friends to attack Malaki Malloy, police say . Teen stabbed after assault against Cudanin's 14-year-old son . Cudanin, son Andre, 4 teens face first- and second-degree assault charges . Whoever stabbed Malloy will face attempted murder charge, spokesman says .

(CNN) -- A Maryland woman involved with a group described as a religious cult pleaded guilty in the starvation death of her son, but insisted that the charges be dropped when he is resurrected. Under terms of her plea agreement, Ria Ramkissoon's charges will be dropped if her son rises from the dead. The condition was made a part of Ria Ramkissoon's plea agreement, officials said. She entered the plea Monday in Baltimore, Maryland, to a first-degree felony count of child abuse resulting in death, her attorney, Steven Silverman, said Tuesday. Ramkissoon, a member of a group called One Mind Ministries, believes Javon Thompson, her year-old son, will rise again, and as part of her plea agreement, authorities agreed to the clause. "She certainly recognizes that her omissions caused the death of her son," Silverman said. "To this day, she believes it was God's will and he will be resurrected and this will all take care of itself. She realizes if she's wrong, then everyone has to take responsibility ... and if she's wrong, then she's a failure as a mother and the worst thing imaginable has happened. I don't think that, mentally, she's ready to accept that." Under the plea agreement, Ramkissoon, 22, must testify against four other One Mind Ministries members who are also facing charges, including first-degree murder, in Javon's death. At her sentencing, set for August, she will receive a 20-year sentence, which will be suspended except for the time she has already served behind bars, Silverman said. She must also undergo deprogramming and psychiatric counseling. In court Monday, it was clarified that the "resurrection clause" would apply only in the case of Javon's actual resurrection -- not a perceived reincarnation, Silverman said. "This has never come up in the history of American law, as far as I've seen," Silverman said, adding that the clause was "very important to her." "On one level, she certainly is competent to stand trial, because she does recognize that as far as her legal entanglements are concerned, this is a grand-slam resolution for her," Silverman said. "On the other hand, she's still brainwashed, she's still delusional as far as the teachings and influence of this cult, and she certainly is going to benefit with professional help and deprogramming." Ramkissoon and the others are accused of denying Javon food after the group's leader, a 40-year-old woman who goes by the name Queen Antoinette, decreed the boy was a demon since he refused to say "amen" after meals, Silverman said. "Ria would cling to him every day and try to get him to say 'amen,' " Silverman said. Eventually, Queen Antoinette ordered that Ramkissoon be separated from the child, he said. Javon is believed to have died in December 2006, court documents allege. Following his death, the group members put the boy's body in a back room, and "everyone was directed to come in and pray," according to the documents. "The Queen told everyone that 'God was going to raise Javon from the dead.' Javon remained in the room for an extended period of time (in excess of one week). The resurrection never took place." Authorities believe the boy's body was then placed into a wheeled suitcase along with mothballs and fabric-softener sheets, documents said. Prosecutors allege Antoinette opened the suitcase periodically and sprayed its interior with Lysol to mask the decomposition odor. The group then moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and befriended a man who agreed to take care of their luggage before they left, documents said. The body was found in April 2008, still inside the suitcase, in the man's storage shed. All five One Mind Ministries members were set to stand trial Monday. The case against the others has been postponed, Silverman said, as Antoinette and another woman lack attorneys and must either obtain one or waive their right to

Javon Thompson is believed to have died in December 2006 . One Mind Ministries members prayed for his resurrection . When he didn't rise, his body was put in a suitcase with mothballs . Under terms of plea deal, charges will be dropped if he rises from dead .

(CNN) -- A Massachusetts grand jury has indicted a 98-year-old woman, accused of strangling her 100-year-old nursing-home roommate, on a second-degree murder charge. Prosecutors say Laura Lundquist killed centenarian Elizabeth Barrow, a resident of Brandon Woods Nursing Home in Dartmouth, after the two women had an argument over a table Lundquist had placed at the foot of Barrow's bed. Barrow was found dead September 24 with a plastic shopping bag tied loosely around her head, according the Bristol County district attorney's office. An autopsy indicated Barrow had been strangled. Barrow complained that the table obstructed her path to the bathroom, authorities said. When a nurse's aide moved it, Lundquist punched the aide and grumbled that her roommate "might as well have the whole room," prosecutors said. District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said Barrow repeatedly complained that Lundquist was making her life "a living hell" in the weeks leading up to the woman's death, and that Lundquist remarked that she would outlive her roommate. A nursing home spokesman said the facility twice presented Barrow with the chance to change either rooms or roommates, but she declined each time. He compared the pair to "sisters," saying they took "daily walks together ... ate lunch together every day, and were heard at night saying, 'Good night, I love you,' to each other." Lundquist's attorney, Carl Levin, contends his client was not involved in Barrow's death, saying, "We maintain her innocence." A superior court judge granted a motion to send Lundquist to a state hospital for a competency evaluation. An arraignment will be held only if Lundquist is found competent to stand trial.

Prosecutors say Laura Lundquist, 98, strangled Elizabeth Barrow, 100 . The two allegedly argued about a table Lundquist had placed at the foot of Barrow's bed . Nursing home spokesman: Barrow declined offers to change rooms or roommates . Spokesman: The two women were like "sisters," took daily walks together .

(CNN) -- A Mexican man who was allegedly killed on orders from his own cartel believed they were hunting for him after he began working as an informant and was fearful for his life, according to court documents. Police say soldier Michael Jackson Apodaca, 18, acted as the gunman. Jose Daniel Gonzalez Galeana began to worry after he began working as an informant for immigration officials in the United States. "The victim was concerned for his own well-being and the safety of his family," the documents said, referencing statements the victim made to a witness. When Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials gave Gonzalez a visa so he could live in El Paso, Texas, his fellow Juarez cartel members began to get suspicious, El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said at a press conference. Allen said Gonzalez's exit from Mexico, combined with a raid on a cartel warehouse and the arrest of cartel lieutenant Pedro "El Tigre" Aranas Sanchez led cartel members to believe he might be working as an informant, Allen said. Then, a Mexican newspaper named Gonzalez as an informant in the arrest of the high-ranking cartel member, according to court documents. Police say Gonzales quickly became the target of his own cartel. Police said Gonzalez knew if his fellow cartel members found him, he would likely be killed, police said. On May 15, the cartel found him. He was shot eight times outside his home in El Paso, Texas, police said. Pfc. Michael Jackson Apodaca, 18, Ruben Rodriguez Dorado, 30, and Christopher Andrew Duran, 17, were each named as suspects Monday and each are facing one count of capital murder. The three men are being held on $1 million bond. Police said Apodaca was the shooter, Duran was the getaway car driver, and Rodriguez was the one who coordinated the murder. On Wednesday, police also arrested a 16-year-old who they said was involved in the surveillance and reconnaissance of the victim. The juvenile also faces one count of capital murder. Rodriguez and the victim were in the Juarez cartel, based across the border from El Paso, police spokesman Chris Mears said. He said police believe Apodaca and Duran were not cartel members. Apodaca joined the Army a year ago and worked as a crew member on a Patriot missile launcher, officials at Fort Bliss in El Paso said. "He was in the top of his class," said Dave Jackson, his grandfather. "You talk to all his sergeants. He's a good soldier. Now, before he went in [and joined the Army], he was in, he was in with a bad crowd." Investigators said at the press conference they think the three suspects met through a relative of Rodriguez. "He [Rodriguez] was the older guy, he provided the alcohol, the party locations," police Lt. Alfred Lowe said. "And he recruited these people to do his bidding." Once the three men were allegedly hired, they were "told to find the victim in the United States," Allen said. Rodriguez paid the victim's cell phone bill hoping he would be able to learn where he lived, federal officials learned, according to court documents. Federal law enforcement was apparently concerned enough about the incident that officers told local law enforcement to signal Gonzalez's home could be at risk. Hours before the slaying, police said Rodriguez called a tactical supply store that exclusively sells the same brand of ammunition found at the scene. The suspects found Gonzalez at a relative's home in Canutillo, Texas, and followed him back to his home before shooting him, police said. The three arrested men's phone records showed their approximate locations on the night of the killing and corroborated that the suspects were tracking the victim, according to court documents. During an interrogation, Rodriguez told investigators he ordered Gonzalez's execution, police said. But Allen also said during the press conference that Rodriguez planned the killing and hired the other suspects after he was given the order by cartel lieutenant Jesus

Police say victim believed if cartel found him, he would be killed . Documents: Suspect tried to find victim by paying his phone bill . Soldier Michael Jackson Apodaca, 18, was one of three men arrested Monday . Other suspects include Ruben Rodriguez Dorado and Christopher Andrew Duran .

(CNN) -- A Mexican woman -- a former inmate in Maricopa County, Arizona -- claims in a lawsuit that sheriff's officers mistreated her during and after her pregnancy, including shackling her while she was in labor and after her Caesarean section. The federal suit filed by Miriam Mendiola-Martinez this week comes days after the U.S. Department of Justice alleged the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, under the leadership of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, engaged in a pattern of discrimination against Latinos. Mendiola-Martinez's suit is against the sheriff's office, Arpaio, the Maricopa Medical Center and unidentified male and female officers, doctors and nurses. Mendiola-Martinez, a Mexican citizen, alleges in the suit she was arrested October 23, 2009, by Scottsdale, Arizona, police, and was booked into Maricopa County's Estrella Jail on charges of identity theft. She was held without bond under Arizona law. According to the police report filed at the time of her arrest, Mendiola-Martinez was accused of using someone else's name, date of birth and Social Security number to obtain work. She was arrested at her place of employment, a department store, while she was vacuuming the floor. When arrested, she was six months' pregnant and had developed gestational diabetes and high blood pressure, according to the suit. On December 10, 2009, Mendiola-Martinez pleaded guilty to solicitation to commit forgery under a plea agreement. Her sentencing was set for December 24. While incarcerated, in what her attorney, Joy Bertrand, called "two months of hell," Mendiola-Martinez says in the suit that she was told by jail staff she would receive a "special" pregnancy diet. That diet, she claims, consisted of "items such as two slices (of) cheese or ham, two slices of bread, indistinguishable cooked vegetables and occasionally a piece of fruit." She also said she was given two small cartons of milk a day and a pill that she was told was a vitamin. On days when she was transported to court, Mendiola-Martinez said, she was given no food during the day. In one instance, she alleges in the suit, an officer taunted her and other inmates with his food, telling them there was no food for them. On December 20, four days before her sentencing, Mendiola-Martinez began to have contractions, according to the suit. She was shackled at her ankles and taken to the Maricopa Medical Center, where medical personnel determined she was not in labor and returned her to the jail. By the following day, however, her pain had increased. "Ms. Mendiola-Martinez had been left in the jail visitation room, in extreme pain," the suit says. Guards ignored her attempts to speak to them in Spanish, so she asked an English-speaking person in the room to tell them she needed help. She was again taken to the Maricopa Medical Center, where she gave birth to a son via Caesarean section. She was shackled before and after the surgery, according to the suit. While she was recovering, a male correctional officer "insisted that she be shackled to the hospital bed," and the shackles on her feet were painful, according to the lawsuit. Asked about the allegations in 2010, Maricopa County Sheriff's Office Lt. Brian Lee said in a statement that Mendiola-Martinez "was not shackled during or directly after her medical procedure. After the procedure, she did have a soft restraint attached on one leg to her bed to prevent escape." Maricopa County sheriff's spokesman Justin Griffin referred to the earlier statement when asked about the suit. Lee said Mendiola-Martinez was treated the way any other inmate would be while receiving treatment "in an unsecured facility. Although she was being held on a Class Three felony, MCSO would have treated other inmates in the same manner." Mendiola-Martinez was not initially shackled, thanks to a "guardian angel" guard, Bertrand said, but "she has her C-section, the guards change and this new guard comes

Miriam Mendiola-Martinez was arrested for using another identity to get a job . She says she was shackled while in labor and afterward in Maricopa County custody . She says she was also shackled while recovering from a C-section .

(CNN) -- A Michigan man could face life in prison after he allegedly tortured and ultimately killed his girlfriend's 4-year-old son last week for wetting his pants, prosecutors say. Brandon Joshua-Frederick Hayes, 24, "systematically beat" Dominick Calhoun, 4, "pummeling [him] with fists and kicking him" on his arms, legs and genitalia, Genesee County prosecutor David Leyton told CNN. Hayes also apparently burned the boy in the course of the torture. "The knuckles across one hand were charred," Argentine Township police chief Dan Allen said. "I've been doing this a long time, and this is the worst case of child abuse I've ever seen," the police chief said. "In all respects, he was tortured." Prosecutors arraigned Hayes on Thursday on nine charges, including one count of first-degree premeditated murder, one count of first-degree child abuse and one count of torture, which by itself carries a possible life sentence. "Little Dominick met his boogeyman, and that was defendant Hayes," Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickell said at a news conference Thursday. CNN was unable to reach someone who could speak on Hayes' behalf. Hayes' motivation for his savage multiday attack on the boy was that the child "had wet his pants," Leyton said. "It had happened before." Hayes also resented the child because his "biological father wouldn't pay child support," Leyton said. Dominick's mother, Corrine Baker, was present for at least some of the beating and tried to shield the boy from Hayes' aggression, authorities said. "She tried to lay on top of the child to guard the child against being beat any further, but she was beat in the process," according to the police chief. The sequence of events that led to the discovery of the abuse began when Baker's sister and several acquaintances came to the apartment to buy drugs from Hayes, according to Allen. After seeing Dominick's condition, the sister alerted the boy's paternal grandfather, who in turn contacted authorities. When emergency responders entered the apartment on the afternoon of April 11, Dominick was "barely alive." EMS transferred him to Hurley Hospital in Flint, where he was pronounced brain dead. The boy was taken off life support the following morning. Dominick's mother's whereabouts and actions through all portions of the torture session remain somewhat hazy. The county prosecutor said his office is "still investigating her involvement in all this." "She's also culpable for putting him in the dangerous position in the first place," he added. Baker was taken into custody on Sunday but released later. Attempts to reach her at her home Thursday evening were unsuccessful. The town police chief said Baker and her son had been brought to the attention of Genesee County Department of Child Services on several occasions. The agency did not respond to CNN's requests for comment Thursday. It was not immediately clear whether Baker's involvement with the child services agency predated her relationship with Hayes. The police chief said he believed Baker and Hayes had been together for about six months.

Brandon Joshua-Frederick Hayes, 24, arraigned on nine charges . They include first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree child abuse, torture . Police chief on 4-year-old Dominick Calhoun: "In all respects, he was tortured" Police still looking into role of Dominick's mother, Corrine Baker .

(CNN) -- A Mississippi lesbian Tuesday won a judge's backing for her contention that her First Amendment rights were violated when her high school refused to allow her to attend her prom with her girlfriend. But U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson refused to order the Itawamba County School District in Fulton, Mississippi, to hold the dance it had canceled over the matter. In his 12-page order, Davidson also ruled that Itawamba Agricultural High School's denial of 18-year-old Constance McMillen's request to wear a tuxedo to her prom was a violation of her rights. "The record shows Constance has been openly gay since eighth grade and she intended to communicate a message by wearing a tuxedo and to express her identity through attending prom with a same-sex date," Davidson wrote. "The court finds this expression and communication of her viewpoint is the type of speech that falls squarely within the purview of the First Amendment." When school officials told McMillen she could neither take her girlfriend to the prom nor wear a tuxedo to the event, the senior went to the American Civil Liberties Union, which demanded the school change its policy. In response, the school district canceled the prom altogether. Davidson denied a motion for an injunction filed by McMillen against the school district's superintendent, the school's principal and its assistant principal asking the court to order that the April 2 prom be reinstated, saying that parents were planning a private event to be held on that date for all students, including McMillen. Requiring school officials "to step back into a sponsorship role at this late date would only confuse and confound the community on the issue," he said. Read the judge's opinion (PDF) Both sides in the dispute were happy with the outcome. "It vindicates Constance's rights," said Christine Sun, senior counsel with the ACLU's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender project. "It sets a legal precedent for gay and lesbian students all over the country that they have the right to bring a same-sex date to the prom and also to wear gender-nonconforming clothes to the prom. We were looking for a ruling that what the school did was violate her rights," Sun said. School board attorney Michele Floyd said the school district was also pleased with the decision. She said the parent-sponsored event, which may be called a ball instead of a prom, is to be held in Tupelo, 19 miles away. But ACLU's Sun said McMillen had not received an invitation. "We haven't heard anything about this private prom other than what this school district has told us," she said. "It remains to be seen whether she will be able to attend the private prom." McMillen's case is going forward on a damages claim and the ACLU's request for attorneys' fees, she said. "She got what she wanted, and now it's just a question of what the damages might be in her case." "I never thought the school would try to cancel the prom and hurt everyone just to keep me and my girlfriend from going together," McMillen said last week in an ACLU news release. "A lot of people have made really generous offers to pay for a prom somewhere else, which I really appreciate. But all I've ever wanted was to be able to just go to my own school's prom with my girlfriend." At the center of the lawsuit is a February 5 memorandum from the school to students that said prom dates must be of the opposite sex. Superintendent Teresa McNeece also told McMillen that she and her girlfriend could be ejected from the prom if other students complained about their presence, according to the documents.

ACLU, school board attorney both say they're pleased with the decision . Judge won't order school district to hold a prom that it had canceled . Cancellation came after openly lesbian student asked to attend with girlfriend . School board attorney says parent-sponsored event will take place April 2 in Tupelo .

(CNN) -- A Mississippi schoolteacher was sentenced to life without parole Wednesday for shooting and stabbing to death her lover's pregnant fiancee in 2006. Carla Hughes met the victim's fiance at the middle school where she was a teacher. The same jury that convicted Carla Hughes of two counts of murder Tuesday for the death of Avis Banks spared her life, declining to impose the death penalty. Mississippi is among the states that consider murdering a pregnant woman to be taking two lives. Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest asked the panel of nine women and three men to sentence Hughes to death based on the gruesome nature of Banks' murder. Banks, 27, was found lying in a pool of blood on November 29, 2006, in the garage of the Ridgeland home she shared with Keyon Pittman, the father of her unborn child. She was five months pregnant. She had been shot four times in the leg, chest and head, and then stabbed multiple times in the face and neck as she lay dying, according to medical testimony. Prosecutors alleged that Hughes killed Banks so she could have Pittman, a colleague at Chastain Middle School in Jackson, to herself. "She took Avis Banks' life and the life of her unborn child because she wanted that life," the prosecutor said. The jury deliberated Wednesday for about an hour to decide on the sentence after hearing emotional testimony from seven defense witnesses, including her parents. "Carla has been a kind, loving person all her life," said Carl Hughes, who adopted his daughter when she was 6 weeks old. "I'm not asking you, I'm pleading with you, to spare my daughter's life," said Hughes, who is also a teacher. He said that the person portrayed by prosecutors as a cold-blooded killer was completely different from the accomplished honors student, equestrian and beauty pageant contestant that he knew and loved. Hughes' pastor and friends also took the stand to describe her work mentoring youths, volunteering at church and at the school where she met the victim's husband. Suspicion initially fell on Pittman, who admitted to having an affair with Hughes, a language arts teacher. A key prosecution witness, Pittman told the jury he began seeing Hughes one month after finding out his girlfriend was pregnant. He testified that the two met frequently in Hughes' home and even went out of town together, but he insisted the relationship was based solely on sex. Throughout the trial, defense lawyers maintained her innocence and attempted to cast blame on Pittman, portraying him as a womanizer seeking to avoid the burden of fatherhood. Prosecutors alleged the murder weapons connected Hughes to the crime. The defendant's cousin testified that he lent her a knife and a loaded .38 caliber revolver the weekend before Banks' death. Ballistics tests matched the bullets from Banks' body to the gun, which Hughes returned unloaded to her cousin after her first interview with police. None of Banks' relatives testified at the sentencing. Instead, the jury heard from a forensic pathologist, who described the nature of Banks' injuries. Madison County Deputy District Attorney John Emfinger urged the jury to look past Hughes' prior achievements and focus on the crime in rendering its sentence. "In my mind, this overshadows everything else she's done in life. She took the lives of two people in that garage," he said in his closing argument Wednesday. "When that door opened, (Avis Banks) was not met by a beauty pageant winner, she was not met by a member of the mayor's youth council, she was not met by a peacemaker. ... She was met by a stone-cold killer," he said. In Session's Jean Casarez contributed to this report.

Same jury that convicted Carla Hughes of murder declines to impose death penalty . Prosecutors said gruesome nature of crime warranted death sentence . Avis Banks was five months pregnant when she was shot, stabbed multiple times . Prosecutors alleged Hughes killed rival so she could be with Keyon Pittman .

(CNN) -- A Moroccan court on Friday sentenced to death Adil Othmani, the main suspect in a terrorist attack in Marrakech last spring, Morocco's state news agency, Maghreb Arabe Presse, reported. Othmani was held responsible for an explosion that tore through a cafe April 28, killing 17 people and wounding 20 others. The blast occurred at Cafe Argana in Place Jemaa el Fna, a bazaar and square popular among tourists. Moroccan authorities said the bomber remotely triggered two explosives, which he had placed there while disguised as a Western hippie. A Moroccan Ministry of Justice official who refused to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the case confirmed that a death sentence has been handed down to the mastermind of the bombing, the news agency reported. Another man, Hakim Dah, was sentenced to life in prison; defendants Abdssamad Bettar, Azzedine Lachdari, Ibrahim Cherkaoui and Skiribia Wadia were each given sentences of four years in prison; Mohammed Reda, Amhinni Mohammed, Dehhaj Abdelfattah were given three years each.

Adil Othmani gets the death sentence for an explosion last spring in Marrakech . The blast tore apart a cafe, killing 17 people . Blast occurred at square popular among tourists .

(CNN) -- A Muslim teenager from Ohio says her father threatened to kill her because she converted to Christianity. Rifqa Bary claims her father wants her dead after she converted to Christianity. Rifqa Bary, 17, ran away from her family in Columbus, Ohio, in July and took refuge in the central Florida home of the Rev. Blake Lorenz with the Global Revolution Church in Orlando. The teen heard of the pastor and his church through a prayer group on Facebook. The girl's parents reported her missing to Columbus police, who found her two weeks later in Florida through cell phone records. The teenager, in a sworn affidavit, claims her father, Mohamed Bary, 47, was pressured by the mosque the family attends in Ohio to "deal with the situation." In the court filing, Rifqa Bary stated her father said, "If you have this Jesus in your heart, you are dead to me!" The teenager claims her father added, "I will kill you!" Mohamed Bary told CNN a lot of false information has been given and "we wouldn't do her harm." He knew his daughter was involved with Christian organizations. "I have no problem with her practicing any faith," he said, but Bary admitted he would have preferred his daughter to practice the Muslim faith first. Although Mohamed Bary said he did not expect his daughter to run away, Rifqa Bary was placed in foster care by an Orlando judge in August while the Florida Department of Children and Family investigated the threat allegations against the parents. In a court filing Monday, John Stemberger, Rifqa Bary's attorney and president of the Christian advocacy organization Florida Family Policy Council, accused the parents' Ohio mosque of having ties to terrorism and radical Islam. The Noor Islamic Cultural Center has denied the allegations. Stemberger told CNN he agreed with his client that she would be killed by radical Muslims if she is returned to Ohio. "She is a person who is ripe for apostate killing or mercy killing. I'm not going to let my client slip away in the night by going back," said Stemberger. Roger Weeden, the mother's attorney in Florida, said the filing had no credible evidence but instead was meant "just to inflame the community and the court." Weeden said he believes the teen's attorney is trying to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation. The teen's attorney said his client has endured a history of abuse from her family. Stemberger said the young girl was forced to wear the Muslim headscarf called a hijab and was punched in the face by her father for being ashamed while wearing it. Stemberger is asking the court to keep Rifqa Bary in the custody of the state of Florida until she turns 18 in a year. Mohamed Bary, who is not a United States citizen, said he can't believe all the false allegations and the bad image caused by the situation. "We are not bad people," Bary said. "We are not like that, we are normal." The mother's attorney said the teenager was a normal girl, a cheerleader in Ohio, and what Muslim extremist would allow his daughter be a cheerleader? At a court hearing scheduled for Thursday in Orlando, the parents will have an opportunity to respond to the allegations against them. Their attorney said the parents will deny all allegations. After the court hearing, the judge may force all the parties involved into mediation, followed by an adjudication hearing.

Teen convert says she ran away from Muslim father after he allegedly threatened her . Rifqa Bary's attorney says his client would be killed if she is returned to Ohio . Mohammed Bary calls allegations false, says Rifqa can practice any faith she wants . Hearing on case is scheduled for Thursday in Florida .

(CNN) -- A Muslim woman and the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations sued a judge Wednesday for allegedly ordering the woman to remove her hijab, or religious head covering, in court. Raneen Albaghdady, of Wayne County, Michigan, contends that Judge William Callahan told her to remove her hijab on June 16 when she was petitioning for a name change, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in a U.S. district court in Michigan. Wayne County is also listed as a defendant in the suit. Callahan and the 3rd Circuit Court of Michigan said in a written statement that they had not seen the complaint and could not comment on the lawsuit. However, they said that Albaghdady did not object to removing her head covering and that she had not informed the judge that she wore it for religious reasons. The lawsuit says Callahan "insisted" that Albaghdady, a naturalized citizen, remove her hijab and that she eventually complied. It says the judge denied Albaghdady's petition for a name change, saying that she had filed her petition five days too early. No further details were offered. The lawsuit seeks an order declaring the practice of "forcing Muslim women to remove their hijab as a precondition to appearing in court" unconstitutional and illegal. It asks that the judge and Wayne County not be allowed to "take similar unconstitutional actions." The Michigan Islamic relations council released a partial video of the incident Tuesday on YouTube. In the 30-second video, the judge can be heard saying, "The head piece? No hats allowed in the courtroom." The statement from Callahan and the 3rd Circuit said that the YouTube video was "missing some critical footage." "In response to Judge Callahan's direction, 'No hats allowed in the courtroom,' Ms. Albaghdady responded, "Okay, it doesn't matter,' and immediately removed her head covering, without protest or explanation," the statement said. "Judge Callahan and the court have the greatest respect for spiritual practices and all religious preferences. Had he been informed that the head covering had some religious significance, the judge would have permitted Ms. Albaghdady to continue wearing it in court," it said. The suit comes a day after the state's Supreme Court issued an order allowing lower state courts to "exercise reasonable control" over the appearance of witnesses and parties to lawsuits, a rule change that had been proposed after a Muslim woman refused to remove an Islamic garment in a small claims court. The order allows courts "reasonable control over the appearance of parties and witnesses" so as to "ensure that the demeanor of such persons may be observed and assessed by the fact-finder and ensure the accurate identification of such person." The order, which amends a rule of the Michigan Rules of Evidence, is effective September 1. The justices had voted earlier this summer to change it. The amendment was prompted by a 2006 small claims case in Michigan filed by Ginnah Muhammad, who wore a niqab -- a garment that covers the entire face and head, except for the eyes -- to court, the order said. The judge asked her to remove her niqab, saying he needed to be able to see her face to tell whether she was telling the truth, according to court documents. Muhammad refused, saying she was a practicing Muslim and would take off the veil only in front of a female judge. The judge said a female judge was not available and told Muhammad she could remove the niqab or have her case dismissed. She chose the latter, according to court documents. She sued the judge in federal district court, which declined to exercise jurisdiction over the case. Muhammad has since appealed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, according to court documents. Michigan is home to about 600,000 Muslims, and close to 500,000 live in the southeastern part of the state, according to the Michigan office of the American-Islamic relations council. The Detroit area, in Wayne County, ranks fifth nationwide for the number of Muslims, it said. Last

Lawsuit claims naturalized citizen was forced to remove religious head covering . American-Islamic relations group seeks order declaring the action unconstitutional . Judge: Woman didn't protest, never said it was a religious garment .

(CNN) -- A Nepalese journalist who reported on women's rights and wrote several articles criticizing the dowry system was hacked to death in her room, a media rights group said Monday. A Nepalese journalist takes part in a protest last month demanding more freedom for the press. The killing of Uma Singh, 26, is part of a growing and troubling pattern of violence directed at reporters in the South Asian country, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists said. In protest, journalists throughout Nepal are expected to stage demonstrations Tuesday, calling on the government to ensure their safety. "If the government is not ready to provide any kind of security to journalists, it will be very difficult to do journalism in a free mode," said Dharmendra Jha, president of the federation. Singh wrote for a daily newspaper and reported for a radio station in Janakpur, about 240 km (150 miles) southeast of the capital city of Katmandu. When she got home from work Sunday night, a group of about 15 men barged into the room she rented at a house and hacked her with sharp objects in full view of other boarders, Jha said. "I am very very shocked," said Jha, who arrived in Janakpur Monday to probe the killing. "She was my student and I brought her into active journalism." Authorities do not have a motive for the killing. In some of her articles, Singh spoke out against the dowry system, where a bride's family is forced to give cash and property to the groom's family before the wedding. Also Sunday, a group of men ransacked the house of another journalist, leaving a cross on her door and telling her it was her turn next, media groups said. Police do not know if the two incidents are related. In recent months, the number of attacks on journalists in Nepal has shot up. The federation released a year-end report, recording 284 incidents -- including three deaths and a kidnapping. The incidents also include shutting down media outlets, burning copies of magazines and beatings. Some of the assailants have ties to the Communist Party of Nepal, the largest party in Nepal's coalition government, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch. The party is led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, or Prachanda -- a man who led a decade-long bloody insurgency before being sworn in as prime minister. During the decade-long civil war, Maoist forces under him carried out numerous attacks on journalists they believed were opposed to their cause, Human Rights Watch said. And after he became prime minister, Prachanda issued a public warning to journalists while addressing a massive crowd in Katmandu: "Now we will no longer tolerate criticism as we have already been elected by the people." "The problem we're facing is the problem of impunity," Jha said. "There are many armed groups in plain sight. The government has to hold them accountable. Otherwise, we are not safe."

Nepalese journalist who reported on women's rights is hacked to death . Killing of Uma Singh is part of pattern of violence directed at reporters in Nepal . Journalists throughout Nepal expected to stage demonstrations Tuesday .

(CNN) -- A Nestle plant linked to an outbreak of illness has been shut temporarily, and the company said Monday that it expects to lay off more than 200 workers as a result. Preliminary results "indicate a strong association with eating raw prepackaged cookie dough," the CDC says. "It's likely that we're going to have some temporary layoffs at that facility," Nestle spokeswoman Roz O'Hearn said of the Danville, Virginia, facility that was churning out refrigerated cookie-dough products until Thursday. About 550 people work at the factory, but only about half of them work on cookie dough, she said. The rest work on Buitoni pasta and sauce in a separate facility at the plant. She said there is little chance that the Buitoni products might be tainted, because -- even if the cookie dough is proved to be the source of the outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 -- it is a kosher product, meaning it is made from a segregated stream of ingredients. Danville's Economic Development Office said the city's unemployment rate is 14.3 percent. Nestle was first alerted to the problem late Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, O'Hearn said, adding: "Less than a day later, we made the decision to remove the product. We shut down. We stopped shipping." Included in the recall are 300,000 cases of the product. Each case contains 12 packages, and each package contains 24 cookies. That's a total of 86.4 million cookies' worth of dough. The recall does not include Dreyer's or Edy's ice cream products with Nestle Toll House "cookie dough" ingredients. That's because the "dough" in ice cream is not really dough at all; it is cooked. "Ice cream is a different formulation," O'Hearn said. "Since it's not meant to be baked before consumption -- those cookie crumbles that are in the formulation -- they're all cooked. For the cookie dough that's present in the ice cream, Dreyer's is using heat-treated ingredients." According to the CDC, between March 1 and Monday, 70 people in 30 states had been infected with a strain of E. coli. The ages of the people affected ranged from 2 to 57 years, though more than 70 percent were younger than 19, and 75 percent were female, the agency said on its Web site. Twenty-five people had been hospitalized, and seven had developed a kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome. No fatalities had been reported, it said. "Preliminary results of this investigation indicate a strong association with eating raw prepackaged cookie dough," the agency said. "Most patients reported eating refrigerated prepackaged Nestle Toll House cookie dough products raw." Though cooking the product would kill the bacteria, the agency did not recommend that people holding on to the company's cookie-dough products do so, "because consumers might get the bacteria on their hands and on other cooking surfaces." The recall does not include Nestle Toll House morsels, which are used as an ingredient in many homemade baked goods, or other baked cookie products. CNN's Louise Schiavone contributed to this story.

Nestle may lay off factory workers after illness linked to cookie dough . 70 people in 30 states infected with a strain of E. coli. believed to originate in dough . The company recalled about 300,000 cases of the product last week . The factory also makes Buitoni products, but in separate facility .

(CNN) -- A Nevada man was found guilty Thursday of raping and strangling a 19-year-old student in a string of attacks that rattled the university community in Reno two years ago. A Washoe County, Nevada, jury convicted James Michael Biela, 28, of first-degree murder and sexual assault in the death of Brianna Denison. He was also convicted of two counts of sexual assault for attacks on two other women. He was also convicted of one count of kidnapping related to one of those attacks. The father and former construction worker faces the death penalty. Denison, a sophomore at Santa Barbara City College in California, was last seen alive on her friend's couch on January 20, 2008. Three weeks later, her body was found in a field near her friend's home. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. A pair of panties that did not belong to Denison were found near the body, in what police said was a "calling card" that helped them connect Biela not only to Denison, but also to the other assaults. From the witness stand in Biela's capital murder trial, one of the women recounted how she was attacked on the University of Nevada-Reno campus. She said her assailant threatened her with a gun, raped her and took her panties as a souvenir. The defense challenged the identification because she earlier told a friend she could not describe her attacker to police. The second woman, a student at the university, testified she was abducted outside her apartment and driven to a dark area and raped in the attacker's vehicle. The woman testified that her assailant asked for her panties and took them with him. The trial began with emotional testimony from Denison's mother, her boyfriend, and a video showing her with friends at a diner just a few hours before she was abducted. Denison was visiting friends in her hometown of Reno. After they attended a concert, she slept on the living room couch in a friend's off-campus apartment. While she slept, someone crept into the apartment and snatched her, police and prosecutors said. Her case triggered a flurry of national media coverage and thousands of tips, including the one that led to Biela's arrest. Police released a photo of the panties near Denison's body and a description of the pickup truck. A friend of Biela's girlfriend saw the photo of the panties, and thought she recognized the truck police described. She told investigators a friend's boyfriend had a truck similar to the description, and that her friend had seen women's panties inside it. Detectives immediately followed up on the tip and, with permission from the girlfriend, took DNA samples from Biela's 4-year-old son. Lab tests showed that the boy's father -- Biela -- was almost certainly a match for the DNA found on the doorknob and at the crime scene, police said. DNA obtained from the other victim's rape kit matched Biela's, according to testimony. Biela's defense attorneys challenged the DNA testing method, claiming it was not accurate. CNN's Rupa Mikkilineni contributed to this report.

James Biela convicted in rape, murder of Brianna Denison, attacks on two women . Biela, 28, faces the death penalty; an anonymous tip led to his arrest . Biela took his victims' underwear, left a pair of panties near Denison's body .

(CNN) -- A New Jersey man whose efforts to gain custody of his son in Brazil attracted international attention may have finally gotten his wish. David Goldman has been fighting for custody of his son, Sean, since his mother took him to Brazil in 2004. David Goldman's lawyer, Patricia Apy, said Monday night that a Brazilian federal court has ruled that Goldman's son should be returned to the United States. Apy said she found out Monday afternoon about the court's decision, which calls for 8-year-old Sean Goldman to be turned over to the U.S. Consulate in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday. Apy said David Goldman was traveling to Brazil and was expected to arrive in Rio de Janeiro early Tuesday morning. Sean's mother, who was Brazilian, divorced Goldman, and in 2004 returned to Brazil with Sean. She died in 2008 while giving birth to another child. Sean was was being raised in Brazil by his stepfather. Apy said that Goldman was "very happy" at the news, and that it had been "a long five years." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton referred to the case Monday, telling reporters, "I also wanted just to take this opportunity to recognize the decision by the Brazilian federal court today ordering a young American boy, Sean Goldman, to be reunited with his father, David. It's taken a long time for this day to come, but we will work with the Goldman family and the Brazilian government, with the goal of ensuring this young boy's return." Apy said she had not received a copy of the Brazilian court decision but expected to get one on Tuesday. CNN's Elise Labott contributed to this report.

Sean Goldman, 8, to be turned over to U.S. Consulate on Wednesday . Sean's parents divorced and mom moved him to Brazil in 2004 . Mom died in childbirth in 2008, leaving Sean with stepfather .

(CNN) -- A New York Times reporter who was held by the Taliban for seven months has escaped, the newspaper reported Saturday. New York Times reporter David Rohde, shown in 1995, escaped from the Taliban. David Rohde told his wife, Kristen Mulvihill, that he and a local reporter, Tahir Ludin, climbed over the wall of a compound late Friday where they were being held in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan. Pakistani military spokesman Gen. Athar Abbas told CNN that the Pakistani military was involved in freeing Rohde. Additional details were not immediately available. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement expressing her relief about Rohde's "return to freedom." "I would like to thank the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan for their assistance in ensuring his safe return," Clinton said. "Journalists put themselves at risk every day to report the news in regions gripped by conflict. We rely on their vital role and I am grateful for their service." Watch CNN's Nic Robertson report on the escape » Rohde, Ludin and their driver were kidnapped outside of Kabul, Afghanistan, on November 10, and Afghan and Western officials said recently that Rohde was being held in Pakistan. After leaving the compound Friday night, the two men then found a Pakistani army scout who led them to a nearby army base. On Saturday, they were flown to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, the newspaper said. A U.S. official told CNN that Rohde will arrive in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates at 10 p.m. Saturday. "They just walked over the wall of the compound," Mulvihill said, according to the newspaper. Ludin hurt his foot during the escape, but otherwise both men appear to be in good health, the newspaper said. The driver, Asadullah Mangal, did not escape, the newspaper said. "It is hard to describe the enormous relief we felt at hearing the news of David and Tahir's escape and knowing he is safe," a statement from Rohde's family said. "Every day during these past seven months, we have hoped and prayed for this moment," said the statement, which was provided to CNN by The New York Times . It asked that the family's privacy be respected. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the White House was "very pleased to see that David Rohde is now safe and returning home." "This marks the end of a long and difficult ordeal for David's family, friends and co-workers. The FBI has been the lead agency on his case, and we refer you to them for any further information," he said. The New York Times and other media outlets had kept the kidnapping quiet out of concern for the men's safety. "From the early days of this ordeal, the prevailing view among David's family, experts in kidnapping cases, officials of several governments and others we consulted, was that going public could increase the danger to hostages," The New York Times said in a written statement. "Therefore, we did not publicly discuss the kidnapping. We are deeply grateful to the other news organizations that honored our request to refrain from reporting on it." A Taliban spokesman told CNN several weeks ago that the Taliban had released two "proof of identity" videos and had demanded negotiations. The Taliban wanted some of its leaders in U.S. custody to be released as well as money, the spokesman said. Rohde, 41, had traveled to Kabul in early November to work on a book, The New York Times said. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for his reporting on the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia while working for The Christian Science Monitor. He was also part of The New York Times reporting team that won a Pulitzer Prize in May for coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan last year.

NEW: U.S. secretary of state Clinton thanks Pakistan, Afghanistan for help . David Rohde was kidnapped outside of Kabul, Afghanistan, on November 10 . Rohde, 41, said he climbed over the wall of a compound late Friday . Rohde was being held in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan .

(CNN) -- A New York man authorities say once pondered changing his name to Osama Hussein to honor his personal heroes -- Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein -- remained jailed Monday on bomb-related charges in what police described as a plot to attack police, military personnel and postal facilities. Police arrested Jose Pimentel, 27, on Sunday at the apartment of a confidential informant in the case when a video camera showed him drilling holes in pipes that would become the casings for bombs, according to a criminal complaint. Pimentel allegedly told police he was an hour away from completing his first bomb when he was arrested, according to the complaint. "Pimentel's behavior morphed from simply talking about such acts to actions -- namely, bomb making," New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said. While serious, the charges against Pimentel are a far cry from the mass-casualty attacks that have been al Qaeda's hallmark, and his case may reflect the weakened nature of the terrorist organization in the wake of the death of many top leaders, CNN security analyst Peter Bergen said. "If this is the big threat that we face, lone wolves using Internet recipes, we're in a pretty good place," Bergen said. Pimentel was arraigned Sunday night in a New York court on state charges of possession of a bomb for terrorism, conspiracy as a crime of terrorism, soliciting support for a terrorist act, being a felon in possession of a weapon and conspiracy to commit criminal mischief and arson, according to the criminal complaint. He planned to attack police officers, patrol cars and service members returning from service abroad, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "The suspect was a so-called lone wolf, motivated by his own resentment of the presence of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as inspired by al Qaeda propaganda," Bloomberg said. "He was not part of a larger conspiracy emanating from abroad." New York authorities have communicated with federal authorities, but even though Pimentel's alleged targets were federal troops and facilities, his case will be handled in New York courts, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said. Pimentel's attorney, Joseph Zablocki, said the case against his client is nowhere near as strong as authorities say. "As they admit, he has a very public online profile, and that flies in the face of everything that they've said," Zablocki said at the hearing. "This is not the way you go about committing terrorist attacks." Pimentel, also known as Muhammad Yusuf, according to the criminal complaint, had a "very active and very public online profile," prosecutors said. They cited the website TrueIslam1. After his arrest, Pimentel told police that he believes Islamic law requires Muslims to wage war against the United States, including assassinations, according to the criminal complaint against him. Pimentel's mother, Carmen Sosa, said her family is in shock over the allegations. "I'm upset about what my son did, but on the other hand, he's my son," she said. "I still love my son. I love the son I know, maybe a lot of people don't know." A neighbor, Simon Islam, said Pimentel was nice but "didn't seem like normal." Still nothing stood out to make him or his wife particularly suspicious of Pimentel, he said. "It's really shocking because I have two daughters in the building. It's like making me think that this is an unsafe place," he said. Pimentel's uncle Luis Saverino told CNN affiliate WABC-TV that his sister's son lived with him and that he had no idea what his nephew was up to inside his bedroom, which he always kept locked. Kelly said Pimentel is a follower of Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical U.S.-born cleric who rose to become a top figure in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula before a U.S. drone strike killed him this year in Yemen. He allegedly tried to contact al-Awlaki directly before the cleric's death, but never got

NEW: Suspect's family shocked by allegations, his mother says . Jose Pimentel is accused of plotting to attack U.S. veterans, police and post offices . Pimentel said he was one hour away from finishing his first bomb, police say . "He was not part of a larger conspiracy," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says .

(CNN) -- A Nigerian militant group released pictures Sunday of two Britons identified as captive oil workers, saying the men were "alive and well" and that more such Western workers would be taken hostage if the country does not stop exporting its oil wealth. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta released this image of two men it claims are British hostages. The photos, sent in an e-mail by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), show the men, identified as Robin Barry Hughes and Matthew John Maguire, standing on a dirt path wearing dirty shorts and flip flops. The pictures were "recent," MEND said in a written statement, but it is unclear when they were taken. MEND, formed in 2005, has taken American and European oil workers hostages in the past. The group is calling for more of the African nation's oil wealth to be pumped into the region -- instead of going to foreign investors -- and the release of political prisoners. The United States Agency for International Development says more than 70 percent of Nigeria lives on less than a dollar a day -- the population is among the 20 poorest in the world. Nigeria's federal government and oil companies split oil profits roughly 60-40. The money is then supposed to make its way down to the local governments to fund various projects, but little money actually reaches its intended destination. The country's anti-corruption agency estimates between $300 billion to $400 billion has been stolen or wasted over the last 50 years. "Our policy on kidnapping high value oil workers from Western Europe and North America remains unchanged and will continue to form an integral part of our pressure strategy in the emancipation struggle in 2009," MEND said in its statement. Watch special correspondent Lisa Ling meet militant group in a secret location A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said the government was aware of the pictures. "We call for their immediate and unconditional release and will remain in close contact with their families," the spokeswoman said, though she declined to elaborate on whether the families had seen the photos. "Our thoughts are with them on this deeply distressful time." Violence in oil-rich Nigeria has been limiting crude supplies out of the country. MEND has been attacking oil pipelines in retaliation against government forces, limiting the amount of crude oil that can be exported. MEND also repeated its threat that the men would be held hostage until the Nigerian government releases one of the group's members, Henry Okah, who was taken into custody last year and, according to local reports, is charged with treason.

Nigeria is one of world's richest oil states; people are among poorest in world . Militant group MEND demands profits given to Nigerian people . MEND is holding two British oil workers captive . MEND says more workers will be seized if Nigeria does not stop exporting oil wealth .

(CNN) -- A North Carolina man accused of plotting to wage holy war overseas also planned to attack the U.S. Marine base at Quantico, Virginia, according to new charges announced Thursday. Daniel Boyd previously was charged with conspiracy to support terrorists and conspiracy to murder. The charge is one of three counts in a new indictment against Daniel Patrick Boyd, who authorities allege is the ringleader of a group of men charged with training in North Carolina for a "violent jihad." Boyd and another man, Hysen Sherifi, are charged with conspiring to murder U.S. military personnel. "Boyd undertook reconnaissance of the Marine Corps Base located in Quantico, Virginia, and obtained maps of the base in order to plan an attack on Quantico," the charges state. FBI agents found weapons, thousands of rounds of ammunition and $13,000 cash in Boyd's Raleigh-area home, an FBI agent testified at an August bond hearing for the men, who were arrested in late July. The original indictment says the men practiced military tactics in a North Carolina county that borders Virginia. The latest indictment also charges Boyd, Sherifi, and Boyd's son Zakariya with possession of weapons in furtherance of a crime of violence, while Boyd faces an additional charge of providing a rifle and ammunition to a convicted felon. Boyd and seven others already have been charged with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure people. One of the men is believed to have fled to Pakistan, and the remaining men are in custody. In August, a federal judge denied bail for the seven in custody, but expressed skepticism about the charges against them. Magistrate Judge William Webb said the defendants made a number statements espousing holy war, and said the statements could be interpreted in isolation as braggadocio. But he agreed to keep them in jail because some of them had amassed a large arsenal and engaged in firearms training.

Daniel Boyd, another man charged with conspiring to murder U.S. military personnel . Boyd previously was charged with conspiring to provide support to terrorists . Authorities allege Boyd led group training for holy war overseas . Boyd was arrested in July .

(CNN) -- A North Carolina man charged with killing a pregnant Fort Bragg soldier was the father of her unborn child, authorities said Wednesday. Sgt. Edgar Patino faces first-degree murder charges in the slaying of Megan Touma. Army Sgt. Edgar Patino is linked to two anonymous "confession" letters sent in what police believe was an attempt to derail the investigation into Megan Touma's death, police said. Patino, 27, was arrested at his Hope Mills, North Carolina, home Tuesday night without incident. Patino, who is stationed at Fort Bragg's JFK Special Warfare Training Center, faces first-degree murder charges in the slaying of Touma, 23, who was seven months pregnant. Touma's decomposing body was found in the bathtub of a hotel room near Fort Bragg on June 21. Authorities said Wednesday that they believe she died late June 13 or early June 14. Although her death has been ruled a homicide, authorities said Wednesday that the state medical examiner has not made a final determination of how she died. Watch officials discuss the case » Patino has admitted being in Touma's hotel room June 13, and investigators found that the room's electronic key card was last used on that day, police said Wednesday. However, Patino has not admitted killing Touma. Patino wore red jail coveralls in his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon. He spoke only to answer the judge's questions, acknowledging that he understood he was charged with first-degree murder and that the charge carries a maximum penalty of death or life in prison without parole. He also requested that an attorney be appointed for him. Fayetteville, North Carolina, police Chief Tom Bergamine said Wednesday that Patino, who is married, was the father of Touma's fetus. Police also said evidence links Patino to a letter received June 25 by the Fayetteville Observer newspaper. In it, the writer claimed to have killed Touma and said more killings were planned. The letter was signed with a circular symbol similar to one used by the Zodiac killer in California in the late 1960s. At the request of police, the newspaper withheld information regarding the letters and delayed publishing a story for several days to allow police to conduct an investigation, Bergamine said. Police also received a similar letter. Fayetteville police Sgt. Chris Corcione said both letters were postmarked June 24 and sent from Fayetteville. Patino purchased a typewriter the day before the letters were sent, Corcione said. That typewriter is now in police custody. Police, however, stopped short of saying Patino wrote the letters, saying only that evidence links him to them. Two of Touma's friends, who are also female soldiers and asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the case, said Touma and Patino had been stationed together in Germany and had dated. They said Patino had proposed to Touma in Germany, but when the two returned to North Carolina, she discovered that he was married. Police said Wednesday that Patino was a person of interest from the early days of their investigation. Corcione said his initial interview with authorities could be described as "deceptive," and officials had little other contact with him until his arrest. Police have found no criminal record for him. "We felt like from the beginning, there was no major concerns of a serial killer being out there," Bergamine said. Patino was being held without bail at the Cumberland County Detention Center, Bergamine said. Asked what police believe the motive to be, Fayetteville police Detective Joshua Carter said, "Right now, the motive is going to be held close. There's still several months of investigation left to be conducted." "I think one of the things that folks need to understand is that scientific evidence, things that have to go to the lab, they're going to take time," Bergamine said. "This is not the world of television and 'CSI.' Things don't get settled within a hour." Touma, a five-year Army veteran, had served with the U.S. Army Dental Activity Clinic

Edgar Patino was arrested Tuesday, charged in death of pregnant soldier . Patino, also a soldier, was father of Megan Touma's unborn baby, police say . Touma's body was found in hotel bathtub on June 21 . Friends of Touma say she and Patino had dated, served together in Germany .

(CNN) -- A North Carolina man is accused of arranging to have his wife raped through personal ads on the Web site Craigslist, police said Wednesday. The 25-year-old man, of Kannapolis, North Carolina, was arrested in connection with the incident that occurred at his home early Sunday, police said in a statement. Police responded to the home at about 2:45 a.m. after receiving a 911 call indicating a male armed with a knife appeared in the couple's bedroom and sexually assaulted the man's wife, authorities said. The man was present at the time of the assault, and two young children were in the home, but were unharmed and unaware of the incident, the police statement said. "During the investigation, investigators interviewed the victim and her husband," the statement said. "Investigators became suspicious when they noticed there was no sign of forced entry to the home. Investigators also developed information that led them to note specific inconsistencies in the initial statement provided by [the man]." But on Tuesday, police found that the man "had responded to at least two personal ads on Craigslist.com in an effort to arrange for someone to come to his home and have sex with his wife using some type of scare tactic." "Investigators believe [he] arranged this incident without the knowledge or consent of the victim," the police statement said. The woman was taken to a hospital after the assault, where she underwent a forensic examination and was interviewed, police said. She suffered no serious physical injuries and was released shortly afterward. Police did not release the identity of the victim. CNN is not naming the victim's husband in an effort to avoid identifying her. The incident remains under investigation, police said. The man faces charges including first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sexual offense and one count of attempted first-degree sexual offense, according to the police statement. Kannapolis is about 26 miles northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Police: Man arranged wife's rape through ads on Craigslist.com . Male appeared in bedroom and sexually assaulted man's wife Sunday, police say . Attacker was armed; husband was in bedroom at the time, police say . Husband charged with rape, sexual offense .

(CNN) -- A North Korean official has questioned South Korea's credibility for its rhetoric and actions over the sinking of a South Korean warship in March, state-run media in North Korea reported Saturday. Maj. Gen. Pak Rim Su lashed out against the South for saying the North Koreans sank the Cheonan warship, a claim fiercely denied by his communist government. He said the evidence produced by South Korea to make its claim has been fabricated. He said South Korea has aggravated what has become a grave situation, and he warned that any accidental confrontation between the countries would result in war, according to an article in the state-run Korean Central News Agency. He cited North Korea's "nuclear deterrent" to deal with such situations. Pak spoke at a rare press conference from the country on Friday. He addressed Korean and foreign reporters and representatives of military attaches at foreign embassies and international organizations, the North Korean news agency reported. China, Japan and South Korea plan to discuss the warship's sinking this weekend. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has that his country will not defend whoever is responsible for sinking the South Korean warship. He also said that China is not ready to accept South Korea's conclusion that the North is to blame. China meets with South Korea South Korea says a North Korean mini-sub fired torpedoes at the Cheonan South Korean Navy ship, killing 46 people. Pak says South Korea cooked up the claim, and he called their investigations a farce. He said that the involvement of the United States shows that the probe couldn't be objective. Why are the two Koreas so hostile? Pak said people who disagreed with the investigators' assertions were expelled from the investigation team. He said the changes in investigation results as the case moved forward cast suspicion on the review, according to the state-run news agency's account. For example, the North Koreans say, the warship captain said at first there wasn't outside provocation but later said there was. And they say the military said at first there were no grounds to say it was an attack by the North but later changed that viewpoint. The North Koreans say the South is attempting to undermine efforts to promote reconciliation and North Korea's progress. They argue that the claim has served to rally conservative forces in South Korea and help them politically in upcoming elections.

North Korea denies claim it torpedoed warship . Pyongyang says South Korea fabricated evidence . China, Japan, South Korea address crisis at meeting .

(CNN) -- A North Korean rocket slated for launch sometime early next month can be clearly seen in a satellite photograph taken Sunday. Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptors are located at the Ministry of Defense on March 29 in Tokyo, Japan. The satellite imagery, obtained by the Institute for Science and International Security from DigitalGlobe, shows the rocket at the Musudan-ri launch site in northeastern North Korea, casting a shadow on the ground below. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday there is little doubt that the planned launch is designed to bolster that country's military capability. He also indicated that the U.S. military could be prepared to shoot down a North Korean missile if the rogue regime develops the capability to reach Hawaii or the western continental United States in a future launch. The North Korean government says it will launch a commercial satellite atop a rocket sometime between April 4 and April 8. "I don't know anyone at a senior level in the American government who does not believe this technology is intended as a mask for the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile," Gates said during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday." Gates noted that while the United States believes it is North Korea's "long-term intent" to add a nuclear warhead to any such missile, he "personally would be skeptical that they have the ability right now to do that." Watch how the U.S. is responding to a planned launch » Japan recently mobilized its missile defense system -- an unprecedented step -- in response to the planned North Korean launch, Japanese officials said. The move, noteworthy for a country with a pacifist constitution, is aimed at shooting down any debris from the launch that might fall into Japanese territory. See a satellite image of the launch site » In a concurrent response, U.S. Navy ships capable of shooting down ballistic missiles are being moved to the Sea of Japan, a Navy spokesman said Thursday. Gates said that the U.S. military could shoot down "an aberrant missile, one that was headed for Hawaii ... or something like that, we might consider it, but I don't think we have any plans to (do) anything like that at this point." He does not believe North Korea currently has the technology to reach Alaska or Pacific coast. Gates said that an impending missile launch is a clear demonstration of the failure of the recent six-party talks to disarm the North Korean regime. "It's very troubling. The reality is that the six-party talks really have not made any headway any time recently," he said. "If (the missile launch) is Kim Jong-Il's welcoming present to a new president ... it says a lot about the imperviousness of this regime in North Korea to any kind of diplomatic overtures." Gates said that he believes economic sanctions are the best tool to getting countries like North Korea and Iran to the negotiating table. Both countries are believed by the United States and other Western nations to be trying to acquire nuclear capability.

North Korea says it will launch a commercial satellite atop a rocket between April 4-8 . Satellite imagery shows rocket at launch site in northeastern North Korea . U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says rocket aims to boost military capability .

(CNN) -- A November 1 trial date has been set for Brian David Mitchell, who is suspected in the 2002 kidnapping of Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart, said a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball set the trial date at a scheduling conference Friday, said Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Utah. Mitchell was not in court that day, she said. The trial is expected to take two weeks, according to the case file. Mitchell's defense attorneys have apparently indicated they will file a motion asking for a change of venue, as the case file said Kimball set a May 26 deadline for the motion and agreed to hear arguments before July 11. Mitchell is accused of abducting Smart, then 14, at knifepoint from her bedroom in her family's Salt Lake City, Utah, home in June 2002. Smart was found nine months later, walking down a street in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy with Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Eileen Barzee. Mitchell, a drifter and self-described prophet who called himself "Emmanuel," had done some handyman work at the Smarts' home. Barzee, now 64, pleaded guilty in November to kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor. As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, she agreed to cooperate in the state and federal cases against her husband. Earlier this month, Kimball ruled Mitchell, now 56, is competent to stand trial. State court proceedings against him have been on hold pending the outcome of the federal case. Smart, now 21, testified in October as part of Mitchell's competency hearing that after kidnapping her, Mitchell took her to a wooded area behind her home and performed a mock marriage ceremony with her before sexually assaulting her. She testified that in the nine months of her captivity, no 24-hour period passed without Mitchell raping her. Kimball's ruling on Mitchell's competency cannot be appealed until after the case concludes. Barzee had been housed at the Utah State Hospital while courts determined her competency as well as that of her husband. A state court had ruled she could be forcibly medicated, and that ruling led federal prosecutors to file charges against her. Last month, Barzee pleaded guilty but mentally ill in state court in the attempted kidnapping of Smart's cousin a month after her kidnapping. In exchange for the plea to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated kidnapping, state prosecutors dropped charges against Barzee in Smart's abduction. Federal prosecutors have recommended that Barzee serve a sentence of 15 years, but asked that her sentencing date be continued to allow for her participation in the case against Mitchell. She faces between one and 15 years in prison on the state charge, but prosecutors agreed to allow that sentence to run concurrently with the federal sentence.

Brian David Mitchell is charged with kidnapping Elizabeth Smart from her bedroom in 2002 . Smart, then 14, was found nine months later walking with Mitchell and his wife . Mitchell's attorneys apparently plan to ask for change of venue . Under a plea deal, Mitchell's wife agreed to cooperate in case against her husband .

(CNN) -- A Paris court has ordered eBay to pay $63 million damages to luxury goods company LVMH for allowing copies of its goods to be sold on the Web auction site. Louis Vuitton took eBay to court for selling a range of fake luxury goods online. The fashion company -- home to brands including Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Fendi, Emilio Pucci and Marc Jacobs -- complained it had been hurt by the sale of fake products on eBay. Pierre Godet, an adviser to LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault, said the court's decision was "an answer to a particularly serious question, on whether the Internet is a free-for-all for the most hateful, parasitic practices." eBay said LVMH was trying to crack down on Internet auctions because it was uncomfortable with its business model, which puts sellers rather than brands in control. "If counterfeits appear on our site, we take them down swiftly," eBay spokeswoman Sravanthi Agrawal said. "But today's ruling is not about counterfeits. Today's ruling is about an attempt by LVMH to protect uncompetitive commercial practices at the expense of consumer choice and the livelihood of law-abiding sellers that eBay empowers every day." She said eBay intended to appeal the ruling. The case pit two pillars of their industries -- one old, one new -- in a country whose courts often challenge Internet companies on matters protected elsewhere by freedom of speech. The ruling faulted eBay for "guilty negligence" for not doing enough to prevent fake goods from being sold on its site. The court also ruled that eBay was responsible for the "illicit sale" of perfumes from the LVMH empire, which can be sold only through the brands' "selective distribution networks." The court barred eBay from running ads for the perfume and cosmetic brands or face a fine of $79,000 per day. Heather McDonald, partner at law firm Baker Hostetler, said: "eBay has policies and procedures in place where they will intervene in an action between a buyer and seller if there's a problem, and they profit directly on the basis of every item that is sold on their Web site. "This gives them an affirmative obligation to take steps to make sure that illegal goods aren't sold, and they certainly have the ability to do that. "They have been able to make sure that you can't buy a handgun and they have been able to make sure that you cannot buy pornography or prescription narcotics or other medicines on eBay. "They have the ability to do this, they have just chosen not do and to rest the entire burden of policing eBay on the shoulders of the trademark and copyright holders whose rights are being infringed here."

Paris court orders eBay to pay $63 million in damages to luxury group LVMH . The group sued eBay over sale of fake luxury goods online . Brands affected include Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi and Givenchy . eBay said LVMH was trying to protect uncompetitive commercial practices .

(CNN) -- A Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to 45 years in prison in a deadly bank robbery plot -- described by the judge in the case as "incredibly bizarre" -- in which a pizza deliveryman died when a bomb affixed to his neck exploded. This device held a bomb to the neck of Brian Wells during a 2003 bank robbery in Erie, Pennsylvania. At the sentencing in Erie, Pennsylvania, prosecutors repeated their contention that the pizza deliveryman was involved in planning the robbery attempt but wore a live bomb only after being threatened by his co-conspirators. Kenneth Barnes, 55, of Erie, was sentenced Wednesday after he pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to commit bank robbery and using a destructive device during a crime of violence. Prosecutors said Barnes and three co-conspirators -- one of whom was pizza deliveryman Brian Wells -- planned to rob a PNC Bank on the outskirts of Erie, and Wells, 46, carried out the robbery on August 28, 2003. Authorities said Wells walked into the bank with a pipe bomb locked to his neck and passed a note demanding money to a teller. The robbery netted about $8,700. Wells died when the bomb exploded as he sat in a parking lot after being stopped by police shortly after the robbery. The case drew national attention and was the subject of intense investigation and questions about whether Wells was a willing participant or a murder victim. Prosecutors said after Barnes' sentencing that Wells was involved in planning the robbery but balked when he realized that the bomb he was supposed to wear was real. He was threatened with a gun to make him wear the bomb, according to prosecutors. U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan called the sentence "appropriate and just," and said the contentions of Wells' family that he was not involved in the plot are "overwhelmingly" countered by evidence of meetings with Wells, Barnes and the other two co-conspirators before the robbery. One of the alleged co-conspirators is now dead and the other one, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, is undergoing treatment at a federal facility in Texas after the judge in the case found her mentally incompetent to stand trial. Her case will be re-examined by the court next year, said Margaret Philbin, spokeswoman for Buchanan's office. In sentencing Barnes, U.S. District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin said, "To me, the callousness and complete lack of regard for human life is, in a word, chilling. This case represents the unhappy combination of incredibly bizarre and sadly tragic."

Pizza deliveryman died when bomb affixed to his neck exploded . Prosecutors contend victim was in on plot but didn't count on live bomb . Erie, Pennsylvania, judge calls case "incredibly bizarre and sadly tragic"

(CNN) -- A Pennsylvania prison guard accused of sexually and physically abusing more than 20 inmates has been arrested, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney's office. Harry Nicoletti, 59, was arrested Tuesday evening in Pittsburgh, and faces 92 counts of institutional sexual assault, official oppression, terroristic threats and simple assault. According to the criminal complaint, Nicoletti is accused of targeting male inmates convicted of sex crimes, particularly those convicted of crimes against children. The 34-page report details what authorities describe as a pattern of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse directed at the inmates. Nicoletti allegedly raped, slapped, bribed and exposed himself to inmates in the State Criminal Institution at Pittsburgh's "F Block." One inmate said that he assaulted 15 other inmates under Nicoletti's orders and was rewarded for doing so. He did not elaborate. Nicoletti told CNN affiliate KDKA that the allegations are false. CNN was unable to reach Nicoletti independently, and it could not be determined whether he has an attorney. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for October 7.

Pennsylvania prison guard is accused of sexually and physically abusing 20 inmates . Harry Nicoletti was arrested Tuesday evening in Pittsburgh . He faces 92 counts, including charges of "institutional sexual assault"

(CNN) -- A Pennsylvania soccer mom was chatting with a friend via webcam when she was shot to death by her husband, who then went upstairs and shot himself, police said Friday. Pistol-packing soccer mom Meleanie Hain was shot dead while chatting with a friend on a webcam, police said. Meleanie Hain, 31, made national headlines last year as the mother who carried a loaded, holstered handgun to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game. She was found dead in her Lebanon, Pennsylvania, home along with her husband, Scott Hain, 33, on Wednesday evening, Lebanon police said. Hain was in her kitchen talking with a friend via webcam just before her death, police said. Watch why Hain caused controversy » The friend, who police will not name, was looking away from the computer screen when he heard a shot and a scream, police said. He turned back to the monitor, he told police, and no longer saw Meleanie Hain but instead saw Scott Hain firing several rounds from a handgun toward where his wife had been. Police said that the woman's body had already fallen to the floor by the time the friend turned back to the screen. Scott Hain then went upstairs to a bedroom, where he shot himself in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun, police said. Meleanie Hain was shot several times with a 9 mm handgun, police said. Her fully loaded 9 mm handgun was found in her backpack hanging on the back of the front door. The couple's three children were home at the time of the killings, police Capt. Daniel Wright said. They were unharmed and took refuge at a neighbor's house before police arrived, he said. Investigators have confiscated the webcam and computer, but cannot review what the friend says he saw because the online conversation was not recorded. The death of the couple came four months after Meleanie Hain told her attorney she was separating from her husband, her attorney, Matthew B. Weisberg, told CNN Thursday. However, police said the couple still appeared to be living together. Meleanie Hain drew media attention on September 11, 2008, when she carried a Glock strapped to her belt to her daughter's soccer game. Nine days later her permit to carry a gun was revoked by Lebanon County Sheriff Michael DeLeo, who claimed she showed poor judgment by wearing the weapon to a child's game. County Judge Robert Eby later reinstated the permit. CNN's Edmund DeMarche and Susan Candiotti contributed to this story

Police: Meleanie Hain shot by husband, Scott, in Pennsylvania home . He then shot himself to death, police said . Friend heard gunshots over webcam, saw Scott Hain firing . Meleanie Hain brought loaded gun to daughter's soccer game in 2008 .

(CNN) -- A Pennsylvania woman told police she was attacked at an ATM in Pittsburgh by a robber who became angry when he saw a John McCain bumper sticker on her car, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh Police Department said Thursday. Police cannot confirm whether a man attacked this woman because she had a McCain sticker on her car. Public Information Officer Diane Richard said police cannot substantiate her story, however, and the investigation is ongoing. Richard said the 20-year-old told investigators a man approached her Wednesday night at an ATM in the city's East End, put a blade to her neck and demanded money. She said she gave him $60 and stepped away from him, Richard said. But the woman said the man "became very angry" when he noticed her car had a bumper sticker supporting the GOP presidential nominee, according to Richard. The woman said he punched her in the back of the head, knocked her to the ground and "continued to punch and kick her while threatening her," the spokeswoman said. Before he left, the woman said, he carved the letter "B" into her face with a knife, according to Richard. There was no indication what the "B" indicated. The alleged assailant fled on foot, Richard said. "We, the police, cannot substantiate this yet," she said. "This is what she told police." The woman, who is not from Pittsburgh, refused medical attention, Richard said, although she told the investigating officer she would see a doctor Thursday. There was no update on her condition, she said. Richard said the woman described her alleged attacker as a dark-skinned African-American, 6 feet 4 inches tall with a medium build and short dark hair, wearing dark clothing and shiny shoes. McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker told CNN that McCain and running mate Sarah Palin "spoke to the victim and her family after learning about the incident earlier this afternoon." Hazelbaker said the campaign would not offer more detail out of respect for the woman's privacy. The campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama responded to the report with a statement saying, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the young woman for her to make a speedy recovery, and we hope that the person who perpetrated this crime is swiftly apprehended and brought to justice."

Woman says man robbed her, returned to beat her after noticing sticker on her car . Police say they cannot substantiate her claim . The 20-year-old says man kicked, punched her, carved B into her cheek with knife . McCain spokeswoman says McCain, Sarah Palin, have spoken with the victim .

(CNN) -- A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pet store expecting a shipment of exotic fish this week found itself with a man's dead body instead. The man's widow told CNN that it might have been her husband's "last practical joke." The body of Jon Kenoyer, a California man who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, was being donated to an Allentown, Pennsylvania, research group, Life Quest Anatomical. The shipment was handled by US Airways, which also has delivered imported fish from throughout the world to Pets Plus Pet Center for more than a decade, store manager Mike Mullarkey said. On Tuesday, Mullarkey said, he received what he thought was an expected shipment of seahorses, anemones and corals from Vietnam via California. Before opening it, however, he discovered that the box's label indicated that it contained the remains of a man who had died four days before. The Pets Plus people were "shocked to see that," he said. Mary Kenoyer, Jon Kenoyer's widow, told CNN that she was initially startled by the news, but was able to see the comic side of it. "At first, of course, you're upset and shocked. But then I realized it was just a mistake," she said. Noting her husband had been afraid of flying during his life, she said, "He's just playing the last practical joke on me for putting him on a plane." Kenoyer said she hopes news of the mistake won't discourage others from donating their bodies to science. "The casket wasn't opened and was treated with respect," she said. Mullarkey said police supervised the return of the shipment to US Airways, which rerouted it to Life Quest. "In all the years, I can understand a mixup," Mullarkey said. "But something like that, I think, should be handled a little more delicately." US Airways issued a statement of apology: "Regrettably, there was an unfortunate mixup yesterday at the US Airways Cargo facility near Philadelphia International Airport. The mixup occurred due to a verbal miscommunication between a delivery driver and the cargo representative. We are working to rectify the situation and are deeply sorry for the inconvenience this has caused." A spokeswoman at Life Quest Anatomical declined to comment.

Body of Jon Kenoyer delivered to Pets Plus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania . Intended for delivery to Life Quest Anatomical in Allentown, Pennsylvania . Pet store expected shipment of seahorses, anemones, and corals . "He's just playing the last practical joke on me," says widow .

(CNN) -- A Philadelphia-area day care center said Thursday that members of a private swim club made racist comments about the center's children, and the club then canceled their swimming privileges. Some kids from the Creative Steps Day Care center say club members made racial remarks. The Creative Steps Day Care children -- ages kindergarten through seventh grade -- went to the Valley Swim Club in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, on June 29. The day center's director, Alethea Wright, had contracted to use the club once a week. During their first visit, some children said they heard club members asking why African-American children were there. One of the boys told the Philadelphia Inquirer that a woman at the club said she feared the children "might do something" to her child. Days later, the day care center's $1,950 check was returned without explanation, Wright said. The stepfather of one of the children was filing a complaint against the club with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the panel's chairman, Stephen Glassman, said Thursday. Watch one of the children say what he heard at the swim club » The commission is investigating the allegations, spokeswoman Shannon Powers said, and will attempt to resolve the conflict out of court. "Protests and public outcry won't do much to help these families, but the Human Relations Commission can determine the facts and hold people accountable for any illegal acts of discrimination," State NAACP President J. Whyatt Mondesire, who serves as a commission member, said in a press release. Sen. Arlen Specter's office said the Pennsylvania Democrat has sent a letter to the Valley Swim Club president asking him to reinstate the contract with Creative Steps, saying, "I think that you would agree that there is no place for racism in America today." On its Web site, the Valley Club disputed the allegations of racism. "We had originally agreed to invite the camps to use our facility, knowing full well that the children from the camps were from multi-ethnic backgrounds," the statement said. "Unfortunately, we quickly learned that we underestimated the capacity of our facilities and realized that we could not accommodate the number of children from these camps. All funds were returned to the camps and we will re-evaluate the issue at a later date to determine whether it can be feasible in the future." CNN attempted to speak with club President John Duesler on Thursday. He said he had no comment and asked CNN to leave the club property. But Duesler told two Philadelphia television stations that the children had changed "the complexion" and "atmosphere" of the club. A small group of protesters gathered in front of the club Thursday and said they think Duesler's statements prove that the club's action was racially motivated. "I was hoping it wouldn't be something that was so blatantly apparent. I was hoping that it was overcrowding," one protester said. "When I read the statement by the club president, it made it blatant." Jim Flynn, who said he was one of the club members who made a complaint against the children, said it was not racially motivated. "There were a lot of children in the pool and not enough lifeguards," he said. "As general members, we were not told that they were coming. If we knew, we could decide to not come when the pool was crowded or come anyway. We could have had an option." He said two other day-care centers, neither of which included minority children, had previously been similarly disinvited. A private Philadelphia boarding school said Thursday that it plans to help the day care center. "We thought it was appalling what happened," said Girard College Admissions Director Tamara Leclair. She is meeting with the director of Creative Steps to sign a contract allowing the children to use Girard's facilities this summer, as early as Monday. "We've had a wonderful response. I even received an e-mail from a woman in Florida telling us we did the

NEW: Club says facility could not accommodate the number of children . Stepdad filing complaint with state Human Relations Commission . Day care center made deal to use private club's pool . Kids say members made racist comments; center's check is returned .

(CNN) -- A Philippine government convoy was ambushed by gunmen Thursday in the same province that saw the bloody massacre of 57 people last month, a Philippine military spokesman said. The convoy was on its way back from a raid on the compound of former governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. in Maguindanao province, Maj. Randolph Cabangbang said. No one was injured in the attack, he said. "They were about to take the evidence to General Santos City when they were ambushed in the same municipality (where) the massacre took place," Cabangbang said. "The convoy was able to return fire and the gunmen scampered," he added. The attack occurred at 7:30 p.m. local time (6:30 a.m. ET) and Philippine military personnel were still in the area conducting search operations several hours later, he said. "We surmise that these are men who are still loyal to the governor trying to recover what we took from the governor's compound," Cabangbang said. Thousands of rounds of ammunition and several firearms were recovered from the compound, Cabangbang said. Maguindanao province is the same place where 57 people, including 30 journalists, were massacred on November 23. That attack, authorities have said, was an apparent attempt to keep a political opponent of the Ampatuan clan from registering to run for governor. Philippine police say that at least two people who were at the scene of the massacre have implicated a mayor as being involved in the killings, state media reported Thursday. The two are among 161 suspects in the killings in the southern province. Some of the suspects are in custody; others are being sought, the Philippines News Agency said. Immediately after the killings, suspicion fell on Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Unsay municipality and the son of the powerful governor of Maguindanao. Authorities have recommended that Ampatuan be charged with 25 counts of murder. "We have two (witnesses). Because they were in the crime scene, these two have direct testimony linking the mayor to the crime," the country's National Police Director Raul Castaneda was quoted as saying by the news agency. Also on Thursday, 75 civilians, including children, were kidnapped in the region where the massacre took place, authorities said. Several rebel groups there are fighting for different causes. Seventeen children and an adult were freed soon after, and negotiations continued to secure the release of the rest, said Army Capt. Enrico Ileto. The abductions took place Thursday afternoon in Prosperidad, the capital of Agusan del Sur province. The November 23 massacre took place on the other side of the island. There are no indications that the two incidents are related. Alongside Muslim separatist groups that have been fighting for an independent Islamic state in the region, communist rebels are engaged in a 40-year insurgency there. The Philippine Congress met Thursday for a second day in a joint session as lawmakers questioned President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Cabinet members about a martial law that was imposed on the province Friday. The martial law allows arrests without a warrant. The army has said it is necessary to impose peace following what has been called a politically motivated massacre. Critics contend that it sets a dangerous precedent. Violence in the run-up to elections is not uncommon in the country. The Maguindanao massacre, however, is the worst politically motivated violence in recent Philippine history, according to state media. The victims included the wife and sister of political candidate Ismael "Toto" Mangudadatu, who had sent the women to file paperwork allowing him to run for governor of Maguindanao. He said he had received threats from allies of Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., the father of the accused mayor, saying he would be kidnapped if he filed the papers himself. Maguindanao is part of an autonomous region in predominantly Muslim Mindanao, which was set up in the 1990s to quell armed uprisings by people seeking an independent Muslim homeland in the predominantly Christian Asian nation. CNN's Nick Valencia, Joyce Joseph and Sarita Harilela contributed to this report.

Philippine government convoy ambushed in same province as massacre . Convoy was returning from raid on compound of former provincial governor . 57 people killed in Maguindanao in apparently politically-motivated attack . Separately, 75 civilians kidnapped from a region in southern Philippines .

(CNN) -- A Phoenix, Arizona, elementary school bus careened out of control for nearly a mile Wednesday evening, causing more than a dozen accidents and sending at least 26 people to the hospital. A Phoenix, Arizona, school bus crossed over several lanes of traffic, crashing into several vehicles on Wednesday. Phoenix police officer James Holmes told CNN the bus struck two cars at an intersection as it approached an overpass on Interstate 10. The bus later crossed into oncoming lanes, causing a chain reaction of collisions. At least two cars overturned, and several passengers in the vehicles had to be cut out of the wreckage, authorities said. Holmes said the bus carrying 45 students came to a stop a mile from the first accident scene. He said panicked children began jumping from the bus and fled into the neighborhood. Watch children describe frenzy of being on out-of-control bus » Officers had to round up the students and used media reports to ask for help in looking for them. By late Wednesday, police thought they had located everyone. No injuries were reported to any of the children on board. Police were interviewing the driver, trying to determine what caused the accident. CNN affiliate KPNX reports the bus driver lost consciousness before the crash. Twenty-six passengers in the other cars, including several children, were being treated at hospitals. Some of the injuries were serious, but none was thought to be life-threatening.

Out-of-control school bus crashes into dozens of cars in Phoenix, Arizona . Panicked children jumped from bus, fleeing into neighborhood . At least 26 people treated at area hospitals .

(CNN) -- A Polish court has ordered the detention of a man accused of holding his daughter captive for six years and repeatedly raping her, ultimately fathering two children with her. The accusations recall the case of Josef Fritzl, who kept his daughter captive for 24 years and fathered seven children. The man, whose name was not released, was arrested Monday, Polish national police said in a statement. The court on Tuesday ordered him jailed for three months pending a trial. The charges against him were not immediately known. Police said they arrested the man at the train station in Siedlce, a town between Warsaw and the border with Belarus. Police said they believed he was trying to escape abroad. The investigation began last week when the man's 21-year-old daughter approached police in Siemiatycze, in eastern Poland, accompanied by her mother, police said. The daughter spent several hours talking with a policewoman, detailing her alleged ordeal over the past six years, police said. She described living through a "hell" that involved rape, beatings, and being kept as a slave, police said. In 2005, the woman said, she gave birth to a boy at a hospital in Wroclaw, in southwestern Poland, police said. Two years later, in 2007, she gave birth to a boy at a hospital in Siemiatycze, in eastern Poland, also near the border with Belarus, police said. Both times, the woman told police, she left the baby in the hospital, a common practice in Poland when the mother wants to give her children up for adoption, police said. Police did not say how the daughter managed to escape her alleged ordeal or whether the mother was aware of what had gone on. Police themselves acknowledged many facts were still unclear. "There are still a lot of questions to which answers have to be found," the statement from the national police said. The case has drawn comparisons to the shocking incest case in Austria in which Josef Fritzl is accused of holding his daughter captive in an underground network of tiny rooms for 24 years. Fritzl repeatedly raped his daughter, Elisabeth, and fathered seven children with her, six of whom survived. All of the children were born in captivity. That case became public when Elisabeth's oldest child, 19-year-old Kerstin, became ill and fell unconscious in April. Elisabeth persuaded her father to let her bring Kerstin to a hospital, where staff grew suspicious and called police, who opened an investigation and uncovered the abuse. Kerstin and her family are now recovering and slowly adapting to modern life, Austrian authorities have said. CNN's Diana Magnay in Berlin and Antonia Mortensen in London contributed to this report.

Daughter accuses Polish man of holding her captive 6 years, fathering 2 sons . Police detained 45-year-old man in eastern city of Siedlce . Officers to conduct tests on boys to determine if the man is their father . Recalls case of Austria's Josef Fritzl, accused of holding daughter for 24 years .

(CNN) -- A Polish court has ordered the detention of a man accused of holding his daughter captive for six years and repeatedly raping her, ultimately fathering two children with her. The accusations recall the case of Josef Fritzl, who kept his daughter captive for 24 years and fathered seven children. The man, whose name was not released, was arrested Monday, Polish national police said in a statement. The court on Tuesday ordered him jailed for three months pending a trial. The charges against him were not immediately known. Police said they arrested the man at the train station in Siedlce, a town between Warsaw and the border with Belarus. Police said they believed he was trying to escape abroad. The investigation began last week when the man's 21-year-old daughter approached police in Siemiatycze, in eastern Poland, accompanied by her mother, police said. The daughter spent several hours talking with a policewoman, detailing her alleged ordeal over the past six years, police said. She described living through a "hell" that involved rape, beatings, and being kept as a slave, police said. In 2005, the woman said, she gave birth to a boy at a hospital in Wroclaw, in southwestern Poland, police said. Two years later, in 2007, she gave birth to a boy at a hospital in Siemiatycze, in eastern Poland, also near the border with Belarus, police said. Both times, the woman told police, she left the baby in the hospital, a common practice in Poland when the mother wants to give her children up for adoption, police said. Police did not say how the daughter managed to escape her alleged ordeal or whether the mother was aware of what had gone on. Police themselves acknowledged many facts were still unclear. "There are still a lot of questions to which answers have to be found," the statement from the national police said. The case has drawn comparisons to the shocking incest case in Austria in which Josef Fritzl is accused of holding his daughter captive in an underground network of tiny rooms for 24 years. Fritzl repeatedly raped his daughter, Elisabeth, and fathered seven children with her, six of whom survived. All of the children were born in captivity. That case became public when Elisabeth's oldest child, 19-year-old Kerstin, became ill and fell unconscious in April. Elisabeth persuaded her father to let her bring Kerstin to a hospital, where staff grew suspicious and called police, who opened an investigation and uncovered the abuse. Kerstin and her family are now recovering and slowly adapting to modern life, Austrian authorities have said. CNN's Diana Magnay in Berlin and Antonia Mortensen in London contributed to this report.

Daughter accuses Polish man of holding her captive 6 years, fathering 2 sons . Police detained 45-year-old man in eastern city of Siedlce . Officers to conduct tests on boys to determine if the man is their father . Recalls case of Austria's Josef Fritzl, accused of holding daughter for 24 years .

(CNN) -- A Red Cross worker was killed Wednesday during shelling in the conflict zone in Sri Lanka, the third aid worker killed in six weeks, the International Committee of the Red Cross says. A photo supplied by a humanitarian group on Sunday shows civilians allegedly injured in government shelling. The worker, identified as Majurin Sivakurunathan, was killed along with his mother during an assault, a ICRC spokeswoman said. The fighting between the Sri Lankan troops and the rebel Tamil Tigers has intensified in the conflict area to the point that the ICRC can not get food to that area or help the sick and wounded, said Sarasi Wijeratne, a ICRC spokeswoman. The latest death comes after Sri Lanka angrily rebuked a U.N. official Tuesday over remarks by the organization that a civilian "bloodbath" had occurred in the north of the country. U.N. spokesman Gordon Weiss told CNN on Monday that hundreds of civilians died during weekend fighting because the Sri Lankan army had surrounded rebel fighters in the country's north, putting residents in the crossfire. The Foreign Ministry expressed its displeasure to Amin Awad, acting resident representative of the United Nations in Sri Lanka, about the comments. Mahinda Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka's minister of disaster management and human rights, initially said Weiss would be summoned to explain his remarks, but this did not happen because of diplomatic protocol, a source told CNN, noting that he is a junior official at the U.N. office in Colombo. Rebel claims of civilian deaths have been considerably higher than those provided by the U.N. Lawrence Christy, the head of the Tamils Rehabilitation Organization, said more than 3,200 civilians died in fighting from Sunday evening until Monday morning, the rebel Web site TamilNet reported. Watch frustration build at the United Nations » The Sri Lankan government has denied the allegations and accused the Tamils of "taking the whole world for a ride with its well-engineered propaganda ploys," while turning their weapons on civilians trying to flee the combat zone. Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting for an independent state in Sri Lanka's northeast since 1983. As many as 70,000 people have been killed since the civil war began, and the Tigers have been declared a terrorist organization by the European Union and more than 30 countries, including the United States.

Red Cross worker killed during shelling in the conflict zone in Sri Lanka . Majurin Sivakurunathan was killed along with his mother during shelling . Fighting between Sri Lankan troops and rebel Tamil Tigers has intensified .

(CNN) -- A Republican Party that struggled in the wake of recent Democratic landslides sprang back to life Tuesday with wins in hotly contested races for governor in Virginia and New Jersey, according to CNN projections. In Virginia, 55-year-old former state attorney general Bob McDonnell will be the first Republican to win the state's highest office in twelve years, CNN projects. Republicans will win races for Virginia's lieutenant governor and attorney general as well. In New Jersey, former federal prosecutor Chris Christie will oust first-term Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine, CNN projects. Christie will be the first Republican to win the top office in heavily Democratic New Jersey in 12 years. Corzine will be the first New Jersey governor to lose a re-election bid since 1993, when then-Gov. Jim Florio, a Democrat, lost to GOP challenger Christie Todd Whitman. The two gubernatorial contests have been deemed by some analysts as the first major referendum on President Obama's administration. Republicans leaders, demoralized after landslide defeats in 2006 and 2008, have been hoping to capitalize on wins in Virginia and New Jersey to help fuel a nationwide Republican resurgence. They were buoyed by a huge swing of independent voters to the Republican column. Democrats sought to minimize the defeats. Since 1989, it was noted, the party winning the White House has always gone on to lose the gubernatorial races in both states the following year. CNN also projects that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will be re-elected to a third term. The billionaire mayor is believed to have spent well over $100 million of his own money in his quest for a third term -- shattering the record for personal spending in any American campaign. Democrat Bill Owens has won a vacant U.S. House seat in upstate New York, CNN projects. The contest to fill the seat sparked a vicious internal fight between GOP conservatives and moderates. The struggle has been viewed as a proxy for a national struggle between activists arguing the GOP slipped by betraying conservative values and officials warning a rightward move would further alienate an increasingly independent-minded electorate. The split could result in the election of a new Democratic congressman from a region that has backed Republican congressional candidates since 1872. Voters in nearby Maine -- not generally noted for their hard-edged, ideological politics -- tackled an emotional hot-button issue as voters decided whether to overturn a recently enacted law legalizing same-sex marriage. Results on the measure were not immediately expected, however. Washington state voters are choosing whether to uphold a law granting same-sex domestic partners the same rights as heterosexual married couples. Results on either measure were not immediately available, however. The fight for control of New York's City Hall is one of 380 mayoral races across the country, including contests in Atlanta, Georgia; Boston, Massachusetts; Detroit, Michigan; Houston, Texas; and Seattle, Washington. It was the two races for governor, however, that appeared to attract the most interest at the White House. Obama personally campaigned for the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in both states. A plurality of voters in both states cited the economy as their top concern, according to exit polls. Majorities in both states said Obama's job performance was not a factor in their vote. In Virginia, McDonnell beat Democratic nominee Creigh Deeds, a state senator from the rural western part of the state, by 21 points among critical independent voters. Last year, in contrast, Obama edged out GOP presidential nominee John McCain by one point among Virginia independents. African-Americans, as expected, voted overwhelmingly for the 51-year-old Deeds. Their total share of the vote, however, dropped from 20 percent from last year -- when Obama topped the ballot -- to 16 percent. McDonnell benefited from a Virginia electorate that, according to the exit poll, was slightly more conservative Tuesday than it was in 2008. Conservatives were also more unified in their support for McDonnell than they were for former GOP presidential nominee John McCain. McDonnell himself is a staunch conservative, but stressed bipartisan solutions to problems relating to job growth and transportation

NEW: CNN projects that Chris Christie will unseat New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine . NEW: CNN projects Republican Bob McDonnell will win Virginia governorship . NEW: CNN projects New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg re-elected to a third term . CNN TV: Instant results, analysis from the Best Political Team, 8 p.m. ET .

(CNN) -- A Rhode Island high school that fired all its teachers in February has reached a tentative agreement with the school's teachers union to rehire them, the union announced Sunday. The school board of the Central Falls School District, outside Providence, had voted to fire 93 staff members from its high school -- including teachers, administrators and other personnel -- over low student performance. The deal between the union and the school district allows teachers to return to work for the 2010-2011 school year without having to reapply for their jobs, though the union said Sunday that "teachers will need to recommit to their jobs and interview with the new principal." The agreement, which must still be ratified by teachers, includes measures to improve student achievement, including a longer school day, targeted professional development for teachers and more after-school tutoring, the statement from the Central Falls Teachers Union said. The school district and union have been working with a mediator since March. "There has always been agreement on these points: that we all want what is best for our students, and that significant changes are needed at Central Falls High School," teachers union president Jane Sessums said in the statement. "Working together, we and the district have arrived at a solid, forward-looking agreement that provides support for our students and the tools our teachers need to help them succeed." A teacher ratification vote on the deal is scheduled for Monday afternoon. In a move that drew national attention, the Central Falls school board had voted 5-2 to approve a plan by the school district's superintendent to fire its high school staff, including the principal, three assistant principals and 77 teachers. The vote came after the high school, which draws students from an impoverished enclave of Rhode Island, graduated just 48 percent of its seniors last year. Of Central Falls' 800 students, 65 percent are Hispanic and for most of them, English is a second language. Half the students are failing every subject, with 55 percent skilled in reading and 7 percent proficient in math, officials said earlier this year. President Obama publicly endorsed the school board's vote. "Our kids get only one chance at an education and we need to get it right," he said in March. But the move outraged the school's teachers, who argued that they'd accepted most terms of a plan by the school district's superintendent to improve student performance. The plan approved by the school board in February allowed teachers to re-apply for their jobs but stipulated that no more than 50 percent would get rehired. The firings would have gone into effect at the end of this school year. "From the start, my principal concern was not who would be working at the high school, but whether the new school leadership team would have the flexibility it needed to improve student achievement," Central Falls superintendent Fran Gallo said in the statement provided by the teacher's union. "Today's agreement provides this flexibility." Rhode Island officials applauded the tentative deal. "I'm glad both sides have... [reached] this agreement," Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist said, according to the union's statement. "Now it's time to move forward and work together to make Central Falls High one of the best in Rhode Island."

Rhode Island high school that fired all its teachers reaches tentative agreement to rehire them . School board had fired 93 teachers, administrators and others over low student performance . The deal includes measures to improve student achievement . The agreement still must be ratified by teachers .

(CNN) -- A Robin van Persie hat-trick earned Arsenal a thrilling 5-3 win over their west London rivals Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the English Premier League on Saturday. Chelsea started the match strongly taking the lead in the 14th minute when Juan Mata delivered an inch-perfect cross for Frank Lampard to guide a header past Szczesny in the Arsenal goal. The home side continued to dominate possession but Arsenal hit back in the 36th minute when Aaron Ramsey threaded the ball through to Gervinho who selflessly squared the ball back for van Persie to side-foot past Petr Cech. Chelsea had a goal disallowed two minutes later with Ramires being ruled offside, but earned a deserved halftime lead when John Terry bundled the ball home from a corner kick in the 45th minute. Arsenal were far from finished though and hit back four minutes after the break as Alex Song played in Andre Santos who squeezed a shot underneath Cech to level the scores at 2-2. Six minutes later, Theo Walcott gave the Gunners the lead -- unleashing a fierce shot inside Cech's near post after outwitting three Chelsea defenders. A 25-yard strike from Mata restored parity for Chelsea in the 80th minute, but van Persie put Arsenal ahead again five minutes later, pouncing on a mistake by John Terry to slot home his second before lashing home his third in injury time to seal a remarkable win. Manchester United bounced back from the 6-1 battering from their city rivals last weekend edging past Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park. Havier Hernandez was on hand to side-foot home from a Patrice Evra cross in the 19th minute to give United the lead after they had made a bright opening to the match. Everton battled their way back into the match and came close to an equalizer -- Leighton Baines hitting the crossbar from a free-kick, while David De Gea saved smartly from Leon Osman. But despite the pressure, United held firm to cement second place in the table behind leaders, Manchester City who enjoyed a comfortable 3-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. Edin Dzeko opened the scoring for City in the 52nd minute with Aleksandar Kolarov adding a second 15 minutes later. City's Belgian defender Vincent Kompany was sent off in the 75th minute for a challenge on Kevin Doyle -- the resulting penalty was converted by Stephen Hunt. But Adam Johnson (who came on for Dzeko midway through the second half) netted in injury time to ensure Robert Mancini's side maintained their five-point lead at the top of the table. First half goals from Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll proved enough for Liverpool who beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at The Hawthorns. Liverpool were awarded a penalty in the 9th minute when Luis Suarez was bundled over in the box -- Adam making no mistake with the spot kick. Suarez was involved again in the second, setting up Carroll who poked a shot past advancing West Brom keeper Ben Foster. Despite a host of chances in the second half Liverpool couldn't extend their lead, but the win lifts them to fifth. West Brom are 13th with 11 points. Norwich City came from two goals down to earn a 3-3 draw at home to Blackburn Rovers -- a result which keeps Steve Kean's side in the bottom three. Norwich are in eighth place. Sunderland also came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa. Goals from Villa's Bulgarian midfielder Stiliyan Petrov (20th minute) and Richard Dunne (85th minute) were canceled out by Connor Wickham, who scored seven minutes before half time and Stephane Sessegnon who stole a point for Sunderland seconds before the final whistle. Swansea City continued their promising start to season with 3-1 over struggling Bolton Wanderers. The result moves them up to 10th place. Bolton, meanwhile, are second from bottom with six points, one point ahead of Wigan who suffered their third home defeat of the season losing 2-0 to Fulham. Goals from Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele lift Martin Jol's side up to 15th.

Robin van Persie hat-trick seals memorable Arsenal win at Stamford Bridge . Manchester United beat Everton 0-1 at Goodison Park .

(CNN) -- A Russian tanker carrying fuel arrived in the Alaskan town of Nome on Saturday night, the Coast Guard said, as officials started preparations on delivering the much-needed supplies. U.S Coast Guard ice breaker Cutter Healy accompanied the fuel tanker Renda as it made its way through the frozen waters carrying 1.3 million gallons of petroleum products. "The first step is to ensure the ice is safe for the personnel to walk on," said Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow. "Then they will work to connect the piping and check for leaks. Safety is our primary concern." The cutter has broken through almost 300 miles of ice for the tanker on a journey that took them through southern Alaska's Aleutian Islands. The voyage is the first-ever attempt to supply fuel to an Arctic Alaska settlement through sea ice. A company in Nome contracted the Renda to deliver the fuel after ice formed over the Bering Sea following a ferocious November storm that prevented the last delivery of the season via barge. The Coast Guard urged Nome residents not to go out on the ice to watch the operations, saying the behavior of the ice is unpredictable and ice conditions could change. Nome is not in immediate danger of running out of fuel, said Coast Guard Capt. Craig Lloyd, who is coordinating the mission. The town has enough fuel to last until about March, but the delivery was attempted now because it would have been more difficult then, he said. Officials considered flying in fuel, but it would have taken more than 300 flights, each carrying 4,000 to 5,000 gallons, to meet the town's needs, said Jason Evans, chairman of Sitnasuak Native Corp.

It is the first-ever attempt to supply fuel to an Arctic Alaska town through sea ice . The Renda made its way through icy water carrying 1.3 million gallons of petroleum products . Nome, Alaska, has enough fuel to last until about March .

(CNN) -- A Rwandan accused of "complicity" in the massacre of students at the college he headed during the country's genocide 15 years ago has been arrested in Italy, where he served as a clergyman, an international police agency said. Interpol hailed arrest of Uwayezu as a demonstration of effectiveness of international police co-operation. Officers from the Italian Carabinieri and Interpol's National Central Bureau in Rome, Italy, arrested Emmanuel Uwayezu -- who had been wanted in Rwanda, the international police organization Interpol said Wednesday in a news release. Uwayezu, 47, is accused of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity. He is in Italian custody and is awaiting extradition to Rwanda. According to Interpol's statement, the Rwandan arrest warrant says Uwayezu was alleged "to have acted individually and as part of a conspiracy to plan and commit genocide by instigating Hutus to kill Tutsis in the area of Gikongoro, as director of the Groupe Scolaire Marie Merci college in Kibeho." He is accused of "participating in meetings with government and military authorities which allegedly planned the extermination of the Tutsi ethnic group" and "complicity in the massacre of some 80 students in May 1994 in the college which he headed." Uwayezu arrived in Italy in 1997, took an alias, and was working as a vicar at the Church in Empoli commune near Florence when he was seized, Interpol said. The man was identified after Interpol's fugitives unit received information and pictures from Rwandan authorities. The Archdiocese of Florence issued a statement about the arrest two days ago, saying it hopes the justice system will come up with the truth about the case. But, it said, "we stand by the fact that Don Emmanuel has always declared his estrangement to the events in question and we accompany him in prayers." One Italian news report noted that Uwayezu is a priest of Hutu ethnicity and lived and worked as vice-parish priest in Ponzano, part of the county of Empoli. Don Guido Engels, the head of the parish and a priest, told the ASCA news agency that "Don Emmanuel never cultivated feelings towards another ethnic group. He always wanted peace." "The arrest of Uwayezu demonstrates the power and effectiveness of international co-operation between police worldwide in obtaining information in relation to the identification, location and apprehension of fugitives around the world," said Jean-Michel Louboutin, Interpol's executive director of police services. "This operation is a credit to law enforcement officers and agencies in Italy and Rwanda." Two years ago, Interpol created a unit dedicated to searching for fugitives in the genocide who were wanted by Rwanda and the U.N.-sponsored International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. So far, seven people wanted by Rwanda and five wanted by the tribunal have been arrested. Police in Uganda recently arrested and extradited a man who is among the most wanted suspects from the Rwandan genocide. Idelphonse Nizeyimana was picked up at a hotel in Rubaga, a suburb of the capital, Kampala. The arrest, by Ugandan police, was part of an operation between the tribunal, Ugandan authorities, and Interpol. Nizeyimana was transferred Tuesday to a U.N. detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania, where the tribunal is based. The 1994 Rwandan genocide left an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus dead over a 100-day period, the United Nations and Interpol say. Millions more were raped and disfigured, and nearly an entire generation of children lost their parents.

Emmanuel Uwayezu accused of genocide, crimes against humanity . Alleged to be part of a conspiracy to kill Tutsis in area of Gikongoro, Rwanda . Uwayezu arrived in Italy in 1997, took an alias, and was working as a priest . Was identified after Interpol received information and pictures from Rwanda .

(CNN) -- A San Francisco Giants baseball fan severely beaten in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium has taken a monumental step in his recovery -- speaking for the first time in nearly six months. "We are blown away with all of this," the family of Bryan Stow posted Wednesday on its website, support4bryanstow.com. "Literally one day we got some facial responses and the next, he's talking. His voice is gravelly and you have to be close to hear him, but he is talking." Stow, 42, a paramedic from Santa Cruz, California, went into a coma as a result of the March 31 beating after a game between the Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers. According to the family, when speech therapists asked Stow his first and last name, he responded. A therapist asked what his daughter's name was and Stow said, "Tabby." The therapist asked what that was short for and he correctly said, "Tabitha." Stow was also able to say the name of his son, Tyler, the family said. The critically injured man also was able to give his birth date and say he wanted to see Tabitha and Tyler. Doctors are trying to control Stow's blood clots and keep them from his lungs, his family said. "Bryan's had many ups and downs, and though we see how far he has come, we try not to look too far back into these past 6 months, and we can't look too far down the road so we focus on right now," his family wrote. "Bryan is more awake and more responsive then ever." The men police believe were responsible for his attack -- Marvin Norwood, 30, and Louie Sanchez, 29 -- pleaded not guilty last month to felony charges related to the beating. In the parking lot, two men confronted Stow and -- unprovoked -- began kicking and punching him while yelling profanities about the Giants, police have said. It took 10 to 15 minutes after the attack for personnel to reach Stow.

Bryan Stow, 42, was severely beaten outside Dodger Stadium on March 31 . He recently was able to speak for the first time since incident . His family members say they are "blown away" by Stow's improvement .