Datasets:

youssefkhalil320

/

cnn_dailymail_t5_summaries

like 0

(CNN)The Palestinian Authority officially became the 123rd member of the International Criminal Court on Wednesday, a step that gives the court jurisdiction over alleged crimes in Palestinian territories. The formal accession was marked with a ceremony at The Hague, in the Netherlands, where the court is based. The Palestinians signed the ICC's founding Rome Statute in January, when they also accepted its jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed "in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014." Later that month, the ICC opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Palestinian territories, paving the way for possible war crimes investigations against Israelis. As members of the court, Palestinians may be subject to counter-charges as well. Israel and the United States, neither of which is an ICC member, opposed the Palestinians' efforts to join the body. But Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki, speaking at Wednesday's ceremony, said it was a move toward greater justice. "As Palestine formally becomes a State Party to the Rome Statute today, the world is also a step closer to ending a long era of impunity and injustice," he said, according to an ICC news release. "Indeed, today brings us closer to our shared goals of justice and peace." Judge Kuniko Ozaki, a vice president of the ICC, said acceding to the treaty was just the first step for the Palestinians. "As the Rome Statute today enters into force for the State of Palestine, Palestine acquires all the rights as well as responsibilities that come with being a State Party to the Statute. These are substantive commitments, which cannot be taken lightly," she said. Rights group Human Rights Watch welcomed the development. "Governments seeking to penalize Palestine for joining the ICC should immediately end their pressure, and countries that support universal acceptance of the court's treaty should speak out to welcome its membership," said Balkees Jarrah, international justice counsel for the group. "What's objectionable is the attempts to undermine international justice, not Palestine's decision to join a treaty to which over 100 countries around the world are members." In January, when the preliminary ICC examination was opened, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as an outrage, saying the court was overstepping its boundaries. The United States also said it "strongly" disagreed with the court's decision. "As we have said repeatedly, we do not believe that Palestine is a state and therefore we do not believe that it is eligible to join the ICC," the State Department said in a statement. It urged the warring sides to resolve their differences through direct negotiations. "We will continue to oppose actions against Israel at the ICC as counterproductive to the cause of peace," it said. But the ICC begs to differ with the definition of a state for its purposes and refers to the territories as "Palestine." While a preliminary examination is not a formal investigation, it allows the court to review evidence and determine whether to investigate suspects on both sides. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said her office would "conduct its analysis in full independence and impartiality." The war between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza last summer left more than 2,000 people dead. The inquiry will include alleged war crimes committed since June. The International Criminal Court was set up in 2002 to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. CNN's Vasco Cotovio, Kareem Khadder and Faith Karimi contributed to this report.

the international Criminal Court on Wednesday, a step that gives the court jurisdiction over alleged crimes in Palestinian territories. a preliminary examination

(CNN)Never mind cats having nine lives. A stray pooch in Washington State has used up at least three of her own after being hit by a car, apparently whacked on the head with a hammer in a misguided mercy killing and then buried in a field -- only to survive. That's according to Washington State University, where the dog -- a friendly white-and-black bully breed mix now named Theia -- has been receiving care at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Four days after her apparent death, the dog managed to stagger to a nearby farm, dirt-covered and emaciated, where she was found by a worker who took her to a vet for help. She was taken in by Moses Lake, Washington, resident Sara Mellado. "Considering everything that she's been through, she's incredibly gentle and loving," Mellado said, according to WSU News. "She's a true miracle dog and she deserves a good life." Theia is only one year old but the dog's brush with death did not leave her unscathed. She suffered a dislocated jaw, leg injuries and a caved-in sinus cavity -- and still requires surgery to help her breathe. The veterinary hospital's Good Samaritan Fund committee awarded some money to help pay for the dog's treatment, but Mellado has set up a fundraising page to help meet the remaining cost of the dog's care. She's also created a Facebook page to keep supporters updated. Donors have already surpassed the $10,000 target, inspired by Theia's tale of survival against the odds. On the fundraising page, Mellado writes, "She is in desperate need of extensive medical procedures to fix her nasal damage and reset her jaw. I agreed to foster her until she finally found a loving home." She is dedicated to making sure Theia gets the medical attention she needs, Mellado adds, and wants to "make sure she gets placed in a family where this will never happen to her again!" Any additional funds raised will be "paid forward" to help other animals. Theia is not the only animal to apparently rise from the grave in recent weeks. A cat in Tampa, Florida, found seemingly dead after he was hit by a car in January, showed up alive in a neighbor's yard five days after he was buried by his owner. The cat was in bad shape, with maggots covering open wounds on his body and a ruined left eye, but remarkably survived with the help of treatment from the Humane Society.

theia, a friendly bully breed mix now named Theia, is receiving care at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

(CNN)If you've been following the news lately, there are certain things you doubtless know about Mohammad Javad Zarif. He is, of course, the Iranian foreign minister. He has been U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's opposite number in securing a breakthrough in nuclear discussions that could lead to an end to sanctions against Iran -- if the details can be worked out in the coming weeks. And he received a hero's welcome as he arrived in Iran on a sunny Friday morning. "Long live Zarif," crowds chanted as his car rolled slowly down the packed street. You may well have read that he is "polished" and, unusually for one burdened with such weighty issues, "jovial." An Internet search for "Mohammad Javad Zarif" and "jovial" yields thousands of results. He certainly has gone a long way to bring Iran in from the cold and allow it to rejoin the international community. But there are some facts about Zarif that are less well-known. Here are six: . In September 2013, Zarif tweeted "Happy Rosh Hashanah," referring to the Jewish New Year. That prompted Christine Pelosi, the daughter of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, to respond with a tweet of her own: "Thanks. The New Year would be even sweeter if you would end Iran's Holocaust denial, sir." And, perhaps to her surprise, Pelosi got a response. "Iran never denied it," Zarif tweeted back. "The man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone. Happy New Year." The reference was likely to former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had left office the previous month. Zarif was nominated to be foreign minister by Ahmadinejad's successor, Hassan Rouhami. His foreign ministry notes, perhaps defensively, that "due to the political and security conditions of the time, he decided to continue his education in the United States." That is another way of saying that he was outside the country during the demonstrations against the Shah of Iran, which began in 1977, and during the Iranian Revolution, which drove the shah from power in 1979. Zarif left the country in 1977, received his undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University in 1981, his master's in international relations from the University of Denver in 1984 and his doctorate from the University of Denver in 1988. Both of his children were born in the United States. The website of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, which Zarif runs, cannot even agree with itself on when he was born. The first sentence of his official biography, perhaps in a nod to the powers that be in Tehran, says Zarif was "born to a religious traditional family in Tehran in 1959." Later on the same page, however, his date of birth is listed as January 8, 1960. And the Iranian Diplomacy website says he was born in in 1961 . So he is 54, 55 or maybe even 56. Whichever, he is still considerably younger than his opposite number, Kerry, who is 71. The feds investigated him over his alleged role in controlling the Alavi Foundation, a charitable organization. The U.S. Justice Department said the organization was secretly run on behalf of the Iranian government to launder money and get around U.S. sanctions. But last year, a settlement in the case, under which the foundation agreed to give a 36-story building in Manhattan along with other properties to the U.S. government, did not mention Zarif's name. Early in the Iranian Revolution, Zarif was among the students who took over the Iranian Consulate in San Francisco. The aim, says the website Iranian.com -- which cites Zarif's memoirs, titled "Mr. Ambassador" -- was to expel from the consulate people who were not sufficiently Islamic. Later, the website says, Zarif went to make a similar protest at the Iranian mission to the United Nations. In response, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations offered him a job. In fact, he has now spent more time with Kerry than any other foreign minister in the world. And that amount of quality time will only increase as the two men, with help from other foreign ministers as well, try to meet a June 30 deadline for nailing down the details of the agreement they managed to outline this week in Switzerland.

, he was born in 1961; he is 54, 55 or maybe even 56. he is the opposite number in

(CNN)Five Americans who were monitored for three weeks at an Omaha, Nebraska, hospital after being exposed to Ebola in West Africa have been released, a Nebraska Medicine spokesman said in an email Wednesday. One of the five had a heart-related issue on Saturday and has been discharged but hasn't left the area, Taylor Wilson wrote. The others have already gone home. They were exposed to Ebola in Sierra Leone in March, but none developed the deadly virus. They are clinicians for Partners in Health, a Boston-based aid group. They all had contact with a colleague who was diagnosed with the disease and is being treated at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. As of Monday, that health care worker is in fair condition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has said the last of 17 patients who were being monitored are expected to be released by Thursday. More than 10,000 people have died in a West African epidemic of Ebola that dates to December 2013, according to the World Health Organization. Almost all the deaths have been in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Ebola is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.

: Five Americans who were monitored for three weeks have been released. one of the five had a heart-related issue on Saturday and

(CNN)A Duke student has admitted to hanging a noose made of rope from a tree near a student union, university officials said Thursday. The prestigious private school didn't identify the student, citing federal privacy laws. In a news release, it said the student was no longer on campus and will face student conduct review. The student was identified during an investigation by campus police and the office of student affairs and admitted to placing the noose on the tree early Wednesday, the university said. Officials are still trying to determine if other people were involved. Criminal investigations into the incident are ongoing as well. Students and faculty members marched Wednesday afternoon chanting "We are not afraid. We stand together," after pictures of the noose were passed around on social media. At a forum held on the steps of Duke Chapel, close to where the noose was discovered at 2 a.m., hundreds of people gathered. "You came here for the reason that you want to say with me, 'This is no Duke we will accept. This is no Duke we want. This is not the Duke we're here to experience. And this is not the Duke we're here to create,' " Duke President Richard Brodhead told the crowd. The incident is one of several recent racist events to affect college students. Last month a fraternity at the University of Oklahoma had its charter removed after a video surfaced showing members using the N-word and referring to lynching in a chant. Two students were expelled. In February, a noose was hung around the neck of a statue of a famous civil rights figure at the University of Mississippi. A statement issued by Duke said there was a previous report of hate speech directed at students on campus. In the news release, the vice president for student affairs called the noose incident a "cowardly act." "To whomever committed this hateful and stupid act, I just want to say that if your intent was to create fear, it will have the opposite effect," Larry Moneta said Wednesday. Duke University is a private college with about 15,000 students in Durham, North Carolina. CNN's Dave Alsup contributed to this report.

has admitted to hanging a noose from a tree near a student union. the incident is one of several recent

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

is a blue chip college basketball recruit. Trey is a high school freshman with Down syndrome. Trey's prom-

(CNN)Governments around the world are using the threat of terrorism -- real or perceived -- to advance executions, Amnesty International alleges in its annual report on the death penalty. "The dark trend of governments using the death penalty in a futile attempt to tackle real or imaginary threats to state security and public safety was stark last year," said Salil Shetty, Amnesty's Secretary General in a release. "It is shameful that so many states around the world are essentially playing with people's lives -- putting people to death for 'terrorism' or to quell internal instability on the ill-conceived premise of deterrence." The report, "Death Sentences and Executions 2014," cites the example of Pakistan lifting a six-year moratorium on the execution of civilians following the horrific attack on a school in Peshawar in December. China is also mentioned, as having used the death penalty as a tool in its "Strike Hard" campaign against terrorism in the restive far-western province of Xinjiang. The annual report catalogs the use of state-sanctioned killing as a punitive measure across the globe, and this year's edition contains some mixed findings. On one hand, the number of executions worldwide has gone down by almost 22% on the previous year. At least 607 people were executed around the world in 2014, compared to 778 in 2013. Amnesty's figures do not include statistics on executions carried out in China, where information on the practice is regarded as a state secret. Belarus and Vietnam, too, do not release data on death penalty cases. "The long-term trend is definitely positive -- we are seeing a decrease in the number of executions (worldwide)," Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty's Director of Global Issues, told CNN. "A number of countries are closer to abolition, and there are some signs that some countries will be abolitionist by 2015. (There are) signals of a world that is nearing abolition." While the report notes some encouraging signs, it also highlights a marked increase in the number of people sentenced to death in 2014. At least 2,466 people globally are confirmed to have been handed the sentence last year, an increase of 28% compared with 2013. The report notes that the spike in sentencing is attributable to mass-sentencing in countries including Egypt and Nigeria, "against scores of people in some cases." The organization found "positive developments" worldwide, with most regions seeming to show reductions in the number of executions. Opinion: Sharp spike in death sentences . Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, saw a 28% fall in reported cases, and executions recorded in the Middle East and North Africa were down 23% compared to 2013. "Even though we've highlighted some of the negative developments... I think we would always highlight that there are positive developments," Gaughran said. "Across the board, with the exception of Europe and Central Asia there were fewer reports of executions in every region." The resumption of the use of capital punishment in Belarus -- the only country in Europe and Central Asia to execute people -- after a two year hiatus spoiled an near-universal decrease in countries using the death penalty by region. The United States has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the Americas to conduct executions, but the number of convicts put to death here fell slightly, from 39 in 2013 to 35 in 2014. The state of Washington also imposed a moratorium on executions last year. The U.S. remains one of the worst offenders for imposing capital punishment, with only Iran (289+), Iraq (61+), and Saudi Arabia (90+) executing more people in 2014. While figures are not available, Amnesty estimates that China also executes "thousands" of prisoners each year, "more than the rest of the world put together." The report also highlights the imperfections in the judiciary processes that lead to many sentenced to death. "In the majority of countries where people were sentenced to death or executed, the death penalty was imposed after proceedings that did not meet international fair trial standards," the report stated. "In 2014 Amnesty International raised particular concerns in relation to court proceedings in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka." The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, last year stressed the need to move toward abolition of capital punishment. "The taking of life is too irreversible for one human being to inflict it on another," he said, in marking World Day against Death Penalty in October. "We must continue to argue strongly that the death penalty is unjust and incompatible with fundamental human rights." Amnesty estimates that at least 19,094 people were believed to be on death row at the end of 2014.

the number of executions worldwide has gone down by 22% on the previous year. at least 607 people were executed around the world

(CNN)Andrew Getty, one of the heirs to billions of oil money, appears to have died of natural causes, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman said. The coroner's preliminary assessment is there was no foul play involved in the death of Getty, grandson of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, said Detective Meghan Aguilar. Andrew Getty, 47, had "several health issues," Aguilar said, adding that an autopsy will be conducted. There is no criminal investigation underway, he said. Some medication had also been recovered from Getty's home, though investigators don't know whether Getty was taking it or what his medical history was, Ed Winter, assistant chief in the Los Angeles County coroner's office, told CNN affiliate KTLA Tuesday night. KTLA reported that Getty was found on his side near a bathroom in his home. Getty's parents, Ann and Gordon Getty, released a statement confirming their son's death and asking for privacy. Where the Getty family fortune came from . Gordon Getty is one of three living sons of J. Paul Getty, the oil baron who was thought to be the richest man in the world at the time of his death in 1976. Gordon Getty, 81, has a net worth of $2.1 billion, according to Forbes. One other son died in 1958 and another died in 1973. Gordon Getty spearheaded the controversial sale of Getty to Texaco for $10 billion in 1984. In its list of richest American families, Forbes estimated the Gettys' net worth to be about $5 billion. Court records show Andrew Getty had recently filed to get a restraining order against an ex-girlfriend. A hearing in the case had been scheduled for next week. In his request, Getty said he had been diagnosed with a serious medical condition in 2013. "A rise in my blood pressure places me in grave risk of substantial and irreparable injury or death," he wrote in the petition. "My doctors have advised that heated arguments can cause my blood pressure to rise dangerously." Andrew Getty had three brothers and three half-sisters. People we've lost in 2015 . CNN's Doug Criss, Janet DiGiacomo, Mark Mooney, Mike Love, Julie In and Cheri Mossburg contributed to this report.

: "A rise in my blood pressure places me in grave risk of substantial and irreparable injury or death" heir to billions

(CNN)Filipinos are being warned to be on guard for flash floods and landslides as tropical storm Maysak approached the Asian island nation Saturday. Just a few days ago, Maysak gained super typhoon status thanks to its sustained 150 mph winds. It has since lost a lot of steam as it has spun west in the Pacific Ocean. It's now classified as a tropical storm, according to the Philippine national weather service, which calls it a different name, Chedeng. It boasts steady winds of more than 70 mph (115 kph) and gusts up to 90 mph as of 5 p.m. (5 a.m. ET) Saturday. Still, that doesn't mean Maysak won't pack a wallop. Authorities took preemptive steps to keep people safe such as barring outdoor activities like swimming, surfing, diving and boating in some locales, as well as a number of precautionary evacuations. Gabriel Llave, a disaster official, told PNA that tourists who arrive Saturday in and around the coastal town of Aurora "will not be accepted by the owners of hotels, resorts, inns and the like ... and will be advised to return to their respective places." Aldczar Aurelio, a meteorologist with the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said the storm was centered 200 miles southwest of Aurora province as of 5 p.m. (5 a.m. ET) and heading west at a 12.5 mph clip. It's expected to make landfall Sunday morning on the southeastern coast of Isabela province and be out of the Philippines by Monday. Ahead of the storm. Isabela Gov. Faustino Dry III warned Saturday that residents should act as if this will be "no ordinary typhoon." Dry told PNA, "We do not know what the impact will be once it will make landfall."

and heading west at a 12.5 mph clip. Maysak is now classified as a tropical storm, according to the Philippine

(CNN)For the first time in eight years, a TV legend returned to doing what he does best. Contestants told to "come on down!" on the April 1 edition of "The Price Is Right" encountered not host Drew Carey but another familiar face in charge of the proceedings. Instead, there was Bob Barker, who hosted the TV game show for 35 years before stepping down in 2007. Looking spry at 91, Barker handled the first price-guessing game of the show, the classic "Lucky Seven," before turning hosting duties over to Carey, who finished up. Despite being away from the show for most of the past eight years, Barker didn't seem to miss a beat.

(CNN)For the first time in eight years, a TV legend returned to doing what he does best. contestants

London (CNN)A 19-year-old man was charged Wednesday with terror offenses after he was arrested as he returned to Britain from Turkey, London's Metropolitan Police said. Yahya Rashid, a UK national from northwest London, was detained at Luton airport on Tuesday after he arrived on a flight from Istanbul, police said. He's been charged with engaging in conduct in preparation of acts of terrorism, and with engaging in conduct with the intention of assisting others to commit acts of terrorism. Both charges relate to the period between November 1 and March 31. Rashid is due to appear in Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, police said. CNN's Lindsay Isaac contributed to this report.

to appear in Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday. Yahya Rashid, a 19-year-old man

(CNN)Paul Walker is hardly the first actor to die during a production. But Walker's death in November 2013 at the age of 40 after a car crash was especially eerie given his rise to fame in the "Fast and Furious" film franchise. The release of "Furious 7" on Friday offers the opportunity for fans to remember -- and possibly grieve again -- the man that so many have praised as one of the nicest guys in Hollywood. "He was a person of humility, integrity, and compassion," military veteran Kyle Upham said in an email to CNN. Walker secretly paid for the engagement ring Upham shopped for with his bride. "We didn't know him personally but this was apparent in the short time we spent with him. I know that we will never forget him and he will always be someone very special to us," said Upham. The actor was on break from filming "Furious 7" at the time of the fiery accident, which also claimed the life of the car's driver, Roger Rodas. Producers said early on that they would not kill off Walker's character, Brian O'Connor, a former cop turned road racer. Instead, the script was rewritten and special effects were used to finish scenes, with Walker's brothers, Cody and Caleb, serving as body doubles. There are scenes that will resonate with the audience -- including the ending, in which the filmmakers figured out a touching way to pay tribute to Walker while "retiring" his character. At the premiere Wednesday night in Hollywood, Walker's co-star and close friend Vin Diesel gave a tearful speech before the screening, saying "This movie is more than a movie." "You'll feel it when you see it," Diesel said. "There's something emotional that happens to you, where you walk out of this movie and you appreciate everyone you love because you just never know when the last day is you're gonna see them." There have been multiple tributes to Walker leading up to the release. Diesel revealed in an interview with the "Today" show that he had named his newborn daughter after Walker. Social media has also been paying homage to the late actor. A week after Walker's death, about 5,000 people attended an outdoor memorial to him in Los Angeles. Most had never met him. Marcus Coleman told CNN he spent almost $1,000 to truck in a banner from Bakersfield for people to sign at the memorial. "It's like losing a friend or a really close family member ... even though he is an actor and we never really met face to face," Coleman said. "Sitting there, bringing his movies into your house or watching on TV, it's like getting to know somebody. It really, really hurts." Walker's younger brother Cody told People magazine that he was initially nervous about how "Furious 7" would turn out, but he is happy with the film. "It's bittersweet, but I think Paul would be proud," he said. CNN's Paul Vercammen contributed to this report.

Walker was on break from filming "Furious 7" at the time of the fiery accident. Walker's brother says

(CNN)Seventy years ago, Anne Frank died of typhus in a Nazi concentration camp at the age of 15. Just two weeks after her supposed death on March 31, 1945, the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where she had been imprisoned was liberated -- timing that showed how close the Jewish diarist had been to surviving the Holocaust. But new research released by the Anne Frank House shows that Anne and her older sister, Margot Frank, died at least a month earlier than previously thought. Researchers re-examined archives of the Red Cross, the International Training Service and the Bergen-Belsen Memorial, along with testimonies of survivors. They concluded that Anne and Margot probably did not survive to March 1945 -- contradicting the date of death which had previously been determined by Dutch authorities. In 1944, Anne and seven others hiding in the Amsterdam secret annex were arrested and sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Anne Frank's final entry . That same year, Anne and Margot were separated from their mother and sent away to work as slave labor at the Bergen-Belsen camp in Germany. Days at the camp were filled with terror and dread, witnesses said. The sisters stayed in a section of the overcrowded camp with no lighting, little water and no latrine. They slept on lice-ridden straw and violent storms shredded the tents, according to the researchers. Like the other prisoners, the sisters endured long hours at roll call. Her classmate, Nannette Blitz, recalled seeing Anne there in December 1944: "She was no more than a skeleton by then. She was wrapped in a blanket; she couldn't bear to wear her clothes anymore because they were crawling with lice." Listen to Anne Frank's friends describe her concentration camp experience . As the Russians advanced further, the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp became even more crowded, bringing more disease. A deadly typhus outbreak caused thousands to die each day. Typhus is an infectious disease caused by lice that breaks out in places with poor hygiene. The disease causes high fever, chills and skin eruptions. "Because of the lice infesting the bedstraw and her clothes, Anne was exposed to the main carrier of epidemic typhus for an extended period," museum researchers wrote. They concluded that it's unlikely the sisters survived until March, because witnesses at the camp said the sisters both had symptoms before February 7. "Most deaths caused by typhus occur around twelve days after the first symptoms appear," wrote authors Erika Prins and Gertjan Broek. The exact dates of death for Anne and Margot remain unclear. Margot died before Anne. "Anne never gave up hope," said Blitz, her friend. "She was absolutely convinced she would survive." Her diary endures as one of the world's most popular books. Read more about Anne Frank's cousin, a keeper of her legacy .

Frank Frank died of typhus in a concentration camp in 1945. the sisters slept on lice-ridden straw and violent storm

(CNN)A year ago Bloomberg published a story with the following headline: Mike Pence, a Koch Favorite, Mulls 2016 Run for President. The story ticked off items on Pence's conservative things-to-do list while also noting his close ties to the deep-pocketed Koch brothers, as well as other right-wing lobbying groups. Last August the Indiana governor was in Dallas for an Americans for Prosperity event; the group is backed by the conservative Koch brothers, and supported Gov. Pence's tax-slashing budget. Now, Pence is drawing huge heat for his controversial decision to sign a religious freedom law last week that opens the door to discrimination against gays and lesbians. Why would Pence ignore the pleas of Indiana's Chamber of Commerce as well as the Republican mayor of his state capital and sign such a bill? Because there's a very powerful wing of his party that wants a conservative as its 2016 candidate and this bill was Pence's way of shoring up his street cred. It is also the reason why Republican Jeb Bush, Pence's fellow White House hopeful, who is viewed as a little light in that category, was first to rush in to defend Pence and the law. One lesson here: Just because more than 70% of the country now lives in states where same-sex marriage is legal does not mean 70% of the country is happy about it. Backlash aside, the fact is Pence has scored a lot of points this week among ultraconservatives. And while that may not be enough to get him over this political hump, the very public debate that now embroils him — and Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and likely 14 other states considering similar proposals this year -- is more than enough to drag the entire Republican field farther to the right than the party had hoped. Pence: 'Was I expecting this kind of backlash? Heavens no.' For there is no way a Republican can get through the pending primary without denouncing LGBT rights, which unfortunately will turn numerous Americans into single-issue voters. I foolishly hoped the issue of LGBT rights would be a bit player in the 2016 general election, overshadowed by foreign policy and the economy. Instead it looks like it's going to be dragged down to a replay of Pat Buchanan's "cultural war" speech, during which he told the 1992 Republican National Convention: "We stand with (George H.W. Bush) against the amoral idea that gay and lesbian couples should have the same standing in law as married men and women" and later followed with "There is a religious war going on in this country. It is a cultural war, as critical to the kind of nation we shall be as the Cold War itself. For this war is for the soul of America." Progressives may enjoy watching Pence's temporary fall from grace, but his policy rhetoric has echoed that of 2016 hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who has indicated a federal ban on same-sex marriage is not off the GOP table. And even if you think neither Pence nor Bush nor Cruz will win the nomination, someone has to. In light of that, listen to conservative former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a potential 2016 candidate describing conservatives' discomfort with same-sex marriage: "It's like asking someone who's Jewish to start serving bacon-wrapped shrimp in their deli." Or Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal: "I certainly will support Ted Cruz and others that are talking about making ... a constitutional amendment to allow states to continue to define marriage." Or Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has a long history of fighting against same-sex marriage and civil unions. And Ben Carson said jail turns people gay, so there's that. Remember: Pence didn't act alone. He only signed a bill that first passed muster with other elected officials. In fact, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, "the Indiana RFRA [Religious Freedom Restoration Act] is one of 24 introduced in 15 states this year that could allow someone to use their religious beliefs to discriminate. Numerous other bills specifically single out the LGBT community for unequal treatment." Who supports, denounces Indiana law? Gallup Polls may suggest voters nationwide are more gay-friendly, but the trend on the state level tells a different story. Perhaps we're witnessing the final gasp of long-ago biases. Or maybe those biases are having a rebirth we had underestimated. Former Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the first member of Congress to marry someone of the same sex while in office, said he believes Republicans want the Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex marriage to provide political cover in the GOP primary. "We're winning," he told a crowd in Chicago recently while promoting his latest book. I guess if you look at where the country was on LGBT issues 10 years ago, we definitely are. That's assuming you are part of the "we" who believe LGBT people should have the same rights as their heterosexual/cisgender counterparts. But as the situation in Indiana has shown, "winning" should not be mistaken for having "won." For it is doubtful that a candidate will be able to avoid taking a position on the wave of so-called "religious freedom" bills snaking through red-state legislatures. Or to sidestep the topic of a constitutional amendment when it's raised in a debate or at a campaign stop, especially with Republicans controlling both the House and the Senate. Pence, and to a lesser extent, Jeb Bush, may be toxic now but America has a short attention span. More importantly, they are not alone. Frank said when progressives get angry they march in the streets, and when conservatives get mad they march to the polls. If that holds true in 2016, "winning" is going to feel very strange.

, a year ago, Bloomberg published a story with the following headline: Mike Pence, a Koch Favorite,

(CNN)If you're famous and performing the American national anthem, be prepared to become a national hero or a national disgrace. Facts are facts. Just ask Vince, Whitney, Roseanne, Jimi and Michael. Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil reminded us again this week of the dangers of tackling "The Star-Spangled Banner." Sure, he can shred it on "Girls, Girls, Girls" and "Dr. Feelgood," but this is a different story -- a completely different story. To say Neil butchered the song before the Las Vegas Outlaws Arena Football League game would be unkind to those in the profession. There's less carnage when butchers are done with their work. The late Whitney Houston set the modern standard for the national anthem at Super Bowl XXV. In the early stages of the Gulf War in 1991, a patriotic America saluted her performance. Just six months earlier, comedian Roseanne Barr may have established the low-water mark. The crowd at the San Diego Padres game booed her rendition and President George H. W. Bush called it "disgraceful." There's nothing quite like getting the presidential thumbs down. One of the most controversial and beloved versions of "The Star-Spangled Banner" comes from 1969. Guitar slinger Jimi Hendrix inflamed mainstream America with his psychedelic take on the national anthem to the delight of the Woodstock generation. And then there's Michael Bolton's version. Overly wrought songs are his specialty and he doesn't disappoint in that department when he sings at the American League Championship Series in 2003. Bolton belts it out, but there's one little problem -- the words. Can anyone say crib notes?

: a different story -- a completely different story. Facts are facts. Be prepared to become a national hero or

(CNN)As goes Walmart, so goes the nation? Everyone from Apple CEO Tim Cook to the head of the NCAA slammed religious freedom laws being considered in several states this week, warning that they would open the door to discrimination against gay and lesbian customers. But it was the opposition from Walmart, the ubiquitous retailer that dots the American landscape, that perhaps resonated most deeply, providing the latest evidence of growing support for gay rights in the heartland. Walmart's staunch criticism of a religious freedom law in its home state of Arkansas came after the company said in February it would boost pay for about 500,000 workers well above the federal minimum wage. Taken together, the company is emerging as a bellwether for shifting public opinion on hot-button political issues that divide conservatives and liberals. And some prominent Republicans are urging the party to take notice. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who famously called on the GOP to "be the party of Sam's Club, not just the country club," told CNN that Walmart's actions "foreshadow where the Republican Party will need to move." "The Republican Party will have to better stand for" ideas on helping the middle class, said Pawlenty, the head of the Financial Services Roundtable, a Washington lobbying group for the finance industry. The party's leaders must be "willing to put forward ideas that will help modest income workers, such as a reasonable increase in the minimum wage, and prohibit discrimination in things such as jobs, housing, public accommodation against gays and lesbians." Walmart, which employs more than 50,000 people in Arkansas, emerged victorious on Wednesday. Hours after the company's CEO, Doug McMillon, called on Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson to veto the bill, the governor held a news conference and announced he would not sign the legislation unless its language was fixed. Walmart's opposition to the religious freedom law once again puts the company at odds with many in the Republican Party, which the company's political action committee has tended to support. In 2004, the Walmart PAC gave around $2 million to Republicans versus less than $500,000 to Democrats, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. That gap has grown less pronounced in recent years. In 2014, the PAC spent about $1.3 million to support Republicans and around $970,000 for Democrats. It has been a gradual transformation for Walmart. In 2011, the company bulked up its nondiscrimination policies by adding protections for gender identity. Two years later, the company announced that it would start offering health insurance benefits to same-sex partners of employees starting in 2014. Retail experts say Walmart's evolution on these issues over the years is partly a reflection of its diverse consumer base, as well as a recognition of the country's increasingly progressive views of gay equality (support for same-sex marriage is at a new high of 59%, according to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll). "It's easy for someone like a Chick-fil-A to take a really polarizing position," said Dwight Hill, a partner at the retail consulting firm McMillanDoolittle. "But in the world of the largest retailer in the world, that's very different." Hill added: Same-sex marriage, "while divisive, it's becoming more common place here within the U.S., and the businesses by definition have to follow the trend of their customer." The backlash over the religious freedom measures in Indiana and Arkansas this week is shining a bright light on the broader business community's overwhelming support for workplace policies that promote gay equality. After Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, signed his state's religious freedom bill into law, CEOs of companies big and small across the country threatened to pull out of the Hoosier state. The resistance came from business leaders of all political persuasions, including Bill Oesterle, CEO of the business-rating website Angie's List and a one-time campaign manager for former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. Oesterle announced that his company would put plans on hold to expand its footprint in Indianapolis in light of the state's passage of the religious freedom act. NASCAR, scheduled to hold a race in Indianapolis this summer, also spoke out against the Indiana law. "What we're seeing over the past week is a tremendous amount of support from the business community who are standing up and are sending that equality is good for business and discrimination is bad for business," said Jason Rahlan, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign. The debate has reached presidential politics. National Republicans are being forced to walk the fine line of protecting religious liberties and supporting nondiscrimination. Likely GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush initially backed Indiana's religious freedom law and Pence, but moderated his tone a few days later. The former Florida governor said Wednesday that Indiana could have taken a "better" and "more consensus-oriented approach." "By the end of the week, Indiana will be in the right place," Bush said, a reference to Pence's promise this week to fix his state's law in light of the widespread backlash. Others in the GOP field are digging in. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, the only officially declared Republican presidential candidate, said Wednesday that he had no interest in second-guessing Pence and lashed out at the business community for opposing the law. "I think it is unfortunate that large companies today are listening to the extreme left wing agenda that is driven by an aggressive gay marriage agenda," Cruz said. Meanwhile, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who previously served on Walmart's board of directors, called on Hutchinson to veto the Arkansas bill, saying it would "permit unfair discrimination" against the LGBT community. Jay Chesshir, CEO of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce in Arkansas, welcomed Hutchinson's pledge on Wednesday to seek changes to his state's bill. He said businesses are not afraid to wade into a politically controversial debate to ensure inclusive workplace policies. "When it comes to culture and quality of life, businesses are extremely interested in engaging in debate simply because it impacts its more precious resource -- and that's its people," Chesshir said. "Therefore, when issues arise that have negative or positive impact on those things, then the business community will again speak and speak loudly."

, the business community's overwhelming support for workplace policies that promote gay equality. a recent backlash over the religious freedom law

(CNN)On May 28, 2014, some 7,000 people gathered in a stadium in China's northwestern Xinjiang region. But they had not come to watch the local football team or any other grand sporting event. Instead, the authorities paraded scores of prisoners dressed in orange jumpsuits. Armed soldiers guarded the exits. In the patently unfair, open air trial that followed, 55 people were found guilty of a range of offenses linked to violent attacks in the region and jailed. Three were sentenced to death. The public mass sentencing was part a China's "Strike Hard" campaign against unrest in Xinjiang, a campaign the government claims was launched to combat "terrorism" and "separatism." But it was also indicative of a trend that was starkly evident last year around the world -- governments using the death penalty in a misguided, and often cynical, attempt to tackle crime and terrorism. Today, Amnesty International releases its annual review of the death penalty worldwide. Much of it makes for grim reading. In Pakistan, the government lifted a six-year moratorium on the execution of civilians in the wake of the horrific Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar in December. More than 60 people have been put to death since, and the government has threatened to send thousands more death row prisoners to the gallows. Iran and Iraq executed people for "terrorism," and other countries expanded the scope of capital crimes in their penal codes. In a year when abhorrent summary executions by armed groups were branded on the global consciousness as never before, governments are themselves resorting to more executions in a knee-jerk reaction to terrorism. Other countries made use of executions in similarly flawed attempts to address -- or appear to address -- crime rates. Jordan ended an eight-year moratorium in December, putting 11 murder convicts to death, with the government saying it was a move to end a surge in violent crime. In Indonesia, authorities announced plans to execute mainly drug traffickers to tackle a public safety "national emergency." Six people have already been executed this year. A sharp spike in death sentences recorded in 2014 -- up more than 500 on the previous year -- can also be attributed to governments using the death penalty as a political tool. The rise was largely because of developments in Egypt and Nigeria, where courts imposed hundreds of death sentences in the context of internal political instability or crime and armed conflict. The simple fact is that governments using the death penalty to tackle crime and security threats are deceiving themselves or the public or both. There is no evidence that the threat of execution is more of a deterrent to crime than a prison sentence, as United Nations and other studies have repeatedly confirmed. It is high time that world leaders stop using the death penalty as an easy way out when times get tough. At Amnesty International, we have campaigned for an end to the death penalty for decades. Thankfully, most of the world now appears to agree with us. The numbers speak for themselves. In 1945 when the United Nations was founded, only eight countries had abolished the death penalty. Today, 140 states are abolitionist in law or practice. Last year, we recorded executions in 22 countries, down by almost a half from 20 years ago. Despite the troubling developments we recorded last year, there was still much good news to be found. The number of executions recorded around the world dropped significantly in 2014 compared with the previous year, from 778 to 607. This number does not include China, where more people are put to death than the rest of the world put together, but with death penalty statistics treated as a state secret, the true figure is impossible to determine. Executions were recorded in only three countries in sub-Saharan Africa -- Equatorial Guinea, Somalia and Sudan -- and the number of people put to death went down by more than a quarter. The Americas continued to be execution-free, apart from the United States. Those governments that still execute need to realize that they are on the wrong side of history. They must join the vast majority of countries which have dropped the ultimate cruel punishment. Fighting for an end to the death penalty remains an uphill task, but all of us must try to make the world free of this punishment. With determination, I know that we can achieve this goal.

the number of executions recorded around the world dropped significantly in 2014 compared with the previous year. despite the troubling developments we

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

that he had a "previous episode of severe depression," a source says. investigators have recovered cell phones from the

(CNN)The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, California televangelist and founder of the television ministry "Hour of Power," died Thursday, according to his family. He was 88 years old. Schuller, also the founder of Crystal Cathedral megachurch, had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer in August 2013, a release from "Hour of Power" said. "My father-in-law passed away peacefully early this morning. He was a great Dad and a great man of God," said Schuller's daughter-in-law, Donna Schuller, in a Twitter message. Schuller's life followed an almost Shakespearean arc. He was born in a Iowa farmhouse without running water and longed to preach from his earliest days. In his autobiography, "Prayer: My Soul's Adventure with God," he described standing alone by a river and picturing himself delivering sermons to a rapt congregation. After attending a Hope College and Western Theological Seminary in Michigan, he met his wife of more than 60 years, Arvella, while preaching at her church (she was the organist). With their young family in tow, the Schullers caravanned west to California, where he rented a drive-in theater and preached from the roof of the snack bar. It was beneath the dignity of Christian ministry, some local pastors huffed. The "passion pits" where teenagers necked was no place for the gospel. Schuller was undeterred, and he quickly outgrew the drive-in. He called the explosive growth of his tiny congregation a "miracle," though his many mainstream critics had other names for it. His confident, breezy version of Christianity -- too breezy, by some estimations -- drew hordes of seekers and lapsed Christians who were put off by the hellfire fulminations of many post-War American preachers. Schuller sold a softer, gentler message, which borrowed heavily, he acknowledged, from the father of the feel-good gospel, Norman Vincent Peale. He preached not to convert or condemn people, but to encourage them, a sentiment he called "possibility thinking." People loved it. "Evangelicalism at its best wants to be innovative and reach people," said Timothy Larsen, a professor of Christian thought at Wheaton College in Illinois. "And Schuller was a master at that." "What he got right is that the gospel is good news," Larsen continued. "And he preached an uplifting message about personal transformation and uplift and hope." Some of Schuller's favored phrases, though, struck others as cornpone Christianity. "Turn your hurt into a halo?" said Randall Balmer, a professor of American religious history at Dartmouth College, citing one such phrase. "That's pretty weak tea." Still, Balmer gives Schuller some credit. "It may be bad theology, but it's brilliant marketing." In 1970, Schuller began broadcasting "Hour of Power," believed to be one of the first, if not the very first, Sunday service to be shown regularly on television. With his genial smile, priestly robes and gray hair, he looked and talked like a guy who wanted nothing more than to see his flock succeed. The show, which ran for decades, reached millions, making Schuller a televangelist before the term became tarnished by the sins of his many successors. Schuller's crowning achievement, at least architecturally, still stands in Orange County, California, though it is now owned by the Roman Catholic Church. The Crystal Cathedral, a great gleaming edifice with 10,000 glass panels, gave worshipers a look at the clouds that house the heavens, while Schuller preached in the pulpit below. The message was clear to many: The road to the former ran through the latter. During the 1980s and 1990s, Schuller's star continued to rise, with presidents stopping by the Crystal Cathedral -- often during campaigns, it should be said -- and future megachurch pastors like Rick Warren and Bill Hybels seeking his advice. As Schuller aged, though, his family was beset by a succession scandal straight from the pages of "King Lear." He tried to install his only son, Bobby Jr., as pastor of Crystal Cathedral. But the preaching styles of father and son were too different for the congregation -- measured at times at 10,000 strong -- to countenance. Bobby Schuller Jr. left "Hour of Power" and the pulpit at Crystal Cathedral after a short time. As the family searched for a new successor and tussled over finances, viewers and donations to the church and its television show dropped precipitously. Crystal Cathedral Ministries filed for bankruptcy in 2010, citing debts of more than $43 million, according to The Associated Press. Schuller's empire, which once soared as high as his glassy cathedral, had fallen to dust. Eventually, Schuller's grandson, also named Bobby, took over "Hour of Power," though at a different church. In a statement on Thursday, the younger Schuller recalled standing atop Crystal Cathedral's 12-story Tower of Hope with his grandfather as they surveyed the surrounding landscape. "You could see the whole world from there," he said. People we've lost in 2015 . CNN's Stella Chan reported from Los Angeles.

a televangelist and founder of the tv ministry "Hour of Power" he died Thursday, according to

(CNN)Michele Bachmann is comparing President Obama to the co-pilot of the doomed Germanwings flight. "With his Iran deal, Barack Obama is for the 300 million souls of the United States what Andreas Lubitz was for the 150 souls on the German Wings flight - a deranged pilot flying his entire nation into the rocks," the Minnesota Republican and former representative wrote in a Facebook comment posted March 31. "After the fact, among the smoldering remains of American cities, the shocked survivors will ask, why did he do it?" Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525, is accused by authorities of deliberately crashing the plane in the French Alps. He died in the crash along with 149 other crew and passengers. The motive of the March 24 crash is under investigation, though investigators are looking in to whether Lubitz feared a medical condition would cause him to lose his pilot's license. Many comments posted on her Facebook page blasted the former representative. Melissa Coca wrote, "Comparing this tragedy to anything is moronic and despicable." Michael J Pristash wrote, "Your allusion is so inappropriate and divisive, not to mention disrespectful on so many levels. Shame on you." Some also accused her of taking desperate measures to stay in the public eye. Lynda Anderson wrote, "Posting outrageous things in a pathetic attempt to stay relevant?" Negotiations are coming down to the wire between Iran, the United States and other nations on restricting Tehran's nuclear program to prevent the ability to develop an atomic bomb. One deadline passed Tuesday, but there is a June 30 deadline for a comprehensive deal -- with all technical and diplomatic impasses fully worked out. Bachmann is no stranger to voicing her opinion on the President's dealing with Iran, personally telling him to "bomb Iran" during the 2014 White House Christmas Party. "I turned to the president and I said, something to the effect of, 'Mr. President, you need to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities, because if you don't, Iran will have a nuclear weapon on your watch and the course of world history will change,'" she told the Washington Free Beacon. The congresswoman, who sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, said Obama had a "condescending smile on his face and laughed at me." She said he told her: "Well Michele, it's just not that easy."

comparing President Obama to the co-pilot of the doomed Germanwings flight 9525. "With his Iran deal,

Norfolk, Virginia (CNN)The second mate of the Houston Express probably couldn't believe what he was seeing. Hundreds of miles from land there was a small boat nearby. At first it looked abandoned. It was in bad shape, listing to one side. The crew of the 1,000-foot long container ship thought it was a yacht that had wrecked. Incredibly, as they got closer, they saw there was a man on it, signaling for help. "He was moving, walking around, waving to us and in surprisingly good condition," Capt. Thomas Grenz told CNN by phone Friday. That man, Louis Jordan, 37, had an amazing story. He'd been drifting on the 35-foot Pearson sailboat for more than two months since leaving Conway, South Carolina, to fish in the ocean. Just a few days into his trip, a storm capsized his boat and broke his mast. One of his shoulders was broken, too, so he couldn't fix the boat right away. Eventually he was able to rig a makeshift mast and sail, but he could make little headway against the currents. "It took so long," Jordan said. "It moved so slowly." The boat capsized two more times before he was rescued, according to Jordan. His father, Frank Jordan, told CNN's Jim Sciutto that he was expecting his son to look different. "He looked good. Hadn't lost too much weight. He wasn't badly sunburned like I thought he probably would be," he said. Lost at sea for 66 days . After his food and water ran out, it became an issue of survival. Collecting fresh water was a nightmare for Jordan. The weather wouldn't cooperate. Records show there were more than a dozen storms off the coast of the Carolinas during the time he was missing. The precipitation came at night during harsh conditions. "I had tried to collect (rain)water ... but every time the waves would splash into the boat," Jordan said. "The waves would put saltwater into my freshwater and it tasted bad. "Finally the conditions were right. I filled up my water tank, which is 25 gallons. I filled up a bucket." Then there was the issue of food. The fish weren't cooperating, but after a while Jordan learned they were attracted to his laundry, which he would put out to sea for a rinse. The fish would swim in and out of his clothes and he could easily scoop them up with a hand net, he said. Jordan came ashore Thursday evening. CNN affiliate WAVY in Norfolk, Virginia, reported that he was able to walk from the helicopter into Sentara Norfolk General Hospital about 7:30 p.m. Coast Guard officials have said they have found no reason to doubt Jordan's incredible story. They noted that his father contacted them January 29 to report his son and his boat missing. Frank Jordan addressed the skepticism about his son's appearance, saying the boat stayed afloat and upright most of the time. His son spent most of his days in the cabin, out of the sun. Frank Jordan said it was obvious when the Jordans met at the hospital Friday morning that his normally low-key and private son had been through an ordeal. "I know he went through what he went through," Frank Jordan said. Jordan is an unemployed truck driver who lived on his boat at a marina in Conway. He had free rent and free food in the river, he said. But when it became difficult to catch dinner, he took off for the ocean in hopes he would land some bigger fish. Frank Jordan told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Thursday that he had worried about his son, who is an inexperienced sailor, but he held hope because his son had a good boat. And he had the strength to make it. "He's got a very strong constitution and (is strong) not only physically, but spiritually," Frank Jordan said. "And he told me on the phone that he was praying the whole time, so I believe that sustained him a great deal." Rescue swimmer Kyle McCollum was the first to care for Jordan on the flight back to land. "You would expect sunburns, severe sunburn, blisters maybe ... a bunch of medical issues that could possibly be wrong with him," he said. "But for him to be in his current state was pretty amazing." Grenz was also surprised by Jordan's condition, physically and mentally. The rescued sailor knew almost exactly what day it was, remarkable for someone who had been on the water for more than 60 days. Jordan was dehydrated and said he was hungry. "We took him to a rescue boat," the container ship captain said. "He was given water and pea soup to gain some power again." Derriel Morris, a neighbor at the Bucksport Plantation Marina & RV Resort called Jordan a nice guy who loved his 47-year-old boat, named "Angel." Morris said: "It was immaculate, it was gorgeous, beautifully painted. I mean it looked like a brand new sailboat." Morris told CNN affiliate WPDE that one day in January he was going to the store and Jordan asked him to bring back some coffee creamer. But when he returned to the marina, Jordan had slipped away. "There was no shore line, no hose; it was like he was never there," Morris told the station. After he disappeared others who also live there held a candlelight ceremony. The marina's manager, Jeff Weeks, told WPDE that Jordan is expected to be back at Buscksport next week. Tales of people who cheated death after days, weeks adrift .

that he had been missing for more than two months. a storm capsized his boat and broke his mast. he

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

a framework agreement that limits Iran's nuclear activities, such as uranium enrichment, will be imposed almost exclusively on

Los Angeles (CNN)It's more than just one state's internal problem. The historic California drought hurts the rest of the union, too. That's because California is a breadbasket to the nation, growing more than a third of its vegetables and nearly two-thirds of its fruits and nuts. Here's why we should heed the ongoing drought in the most populous state, a slowly expanding natural disaster now in its fourth year that this week prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to announce a mandatory 25% cutback in water consumption in all cities. In 2014, one expert predicted consumers would pay more for some groceries because of the California drought. He was often right, according to statistics gathered by Timothy Richards, agribusiness professor at Arizona State University. Prices rose last year for these items on your kitchen table: . • Berries rose in price by about 80 cents per clamshell to $3.88 . • Broccoli by 11 cents per pound to $1.89. • Grapes by 64 cents a pound to $3.06 . • Melons by 24 cents a pound to $1.23. • Packaged salad by 23 cents a bag to $2.91. • Peppers by 26 cents a pound to $2.39. Though fruits and vegetable prices fell in February, overall prices are expected to rise this year, because of inflation, U.S. Department of Agriculture economist Annemarie Kuhns said. Fresh fruit prices are projected to rise between 2.5% and 3.5%, and vegetables between 2% and 3%, close to historical average increases, Kuhns said. Whether the California drought will affect food prices again this year is unknown, thanks to a strong dollar. The greenback's strength allows producers to import crops that may be withering under the absence of West Coast rain or other misfortunes elsewhere in the nation, Kuhns said. Moreover, the drop in oil prices also eases the cost of transporting food from California to the other 49 states, she said. What economists don't know yet is whether farmers will plant fewer crops because of the drought. Those decisions are now being made in the field and could boost supermarket prices, she said. "The drought in California does have the potential to impact the price we pay for fresh fruit and fresh vegetables and dairy and fresh eggs we pay at the counter," Kuhns said. "We are not sure what the exact impact will be." The reality is there's a major drought throughout the West and Southwest. While not as bad as California, Texas and Oklahoma are also seeing extreme and exceptional drought -- the two worst categories -- in several parts of their states, the U.S. Drought Monitor said this week. Overall, the Western drought affects more than 52 million people, the monitor says. As a result, consumers paid a whopping extra 12.1% for beef and veal in 2014, the USDA reports. Straining under a drought that began in 2012, ranchers in Texas and Oklahoma last year saw smaller grazing pastures, paid more for feed, and experienced difficulties accessing water to cool their cattle. So the cattlemen began culling their herds, Kuhns said. This year's beef and veal prices should rise only by 6% at most, still higher than the 4.1% historical average, the feds project. But beef prices offer an object lesson about the drought. "There's other areas being affected," Kuhns said. It's called the Golden State for the gold rush of yore, but let's face it: the rest of the nation flocks to California for vacation because of another golden reason. Its year-round sunshine. So the next time you take a holiday in California, you'll find a few changes around here, thanks to the drought. Like asking for a glass of water at a restaurant. You won't find water waiting for you on the table. Eateries now "can only serve water to customers on request," the State Water Resources Control Board declared in March under expanded emergency regulations. Tourists can also expect to hear a lot of requests at hotels about whether they want their linens and towels laundered daily. These requests are mandatory under the new regulations. And they'll see fewer homes running decorative fountains. Because much of the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada has alarmingly disappeared, many ski resorts shut down early this year, including at Lake Tahoe, and some are now building zip lines, mountain bike trails and wedding venues to keep tourists coming, the Sacramento Bee reported. "If the drought continues through next winter and we do not conserve more, the consequences could be even more catastrophic than they already are," State Water Board Chair Felicia Marcus said in March. But what about those yummy California wines, you ask? Guess what. They're only getting better -- because of the drought. Yes, you read that right. The 2014 wine grape harvest was "third in a string of great vintages this decade," the Wine Institute says. "California vintners and growers across the state are grateful for another excellent vintage, despite an ongoing drought and earthquake that rocked south Napa in late August just as crush was getting underway," the institute said in a statement last year. "A mild winter and spring caused early bud break, although the overall length of the growing season was similar to past years." Wine grapes use relatively low water, said institute spokeswoman Gladys Horiuchi. "Yes, drought years tend to produce terrific quality," she added. "With the record high California wine grape harvests in 2012, 2013 and 2014, there is a good supply of California wine." That may be the only thing to toast about this drought.

the drought in the most populous state. the drought hurts the rest of the union, too. the drought is a

(CNN)The FBI charged a Philadelphia woman on Thursday with trying to travel overseas to fight for ISIS. She's one of three women arrested this week on terror charges. Two New York women were also taken into custody. An FBI complaint cites numerous social media messages dating back to August 2013 that were sent by Keonna Thomas, 30, also known as "Young Lioness" and "Fatayat Al Khilafah." One Twitter message said, "If we truly knew the realities ... we all would be rushing to join our brothers in the front lines pray ALLAH accept us as shuhada [martyrs]." Another said, "When you're a mujahid [violent jihadi fighter] your death becomes a wedding." The FBI said Thomas purchased an electronic visa to Turkey on March 23. Turkey is known as the easiest place from which to enter Syria and join ISIS. An ISIS manual advises recruits to buy round-trip tickets to vacation spots such as Spain and then purchase tickets for their real destination once they arrive overseas, the FBI said. On March 26, Thomas purchased a ticket to Barcelona, with a March 29 departure and an April 15 return to the United States, the complaint said. It's not clear when or where she was arrested. She was charged with knowingly attempting to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization. She could be sentenced to 15 years in prison. On Thursday, Noelle Velentzas, 28, and her former roommate, Asia Siddiqui, 31, were arrested in New York and accused of planning to build an explosive device for attacks in the United States, federal prosecutors said. In the past 18 months, the Justice Department's National Security Division has prosecuted or is prosecuting more than 30 cases of people attempting to travel abroad to join or provide support to terrorist groups. Of those cases, 18 allegedly involve support to ISIS. "The terrorist threat is more decentralized, more diffuse, more complicated," Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told reporters Thursday. "It involves the potential lone wolf actor, it involves the effective use of social media, the Internet."

a Philadelphia woman on Thursday charged with trying to travel overseas to fight for ISIS. Keonna Thomas is one of three women arrested

(CNN)Since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, women have been barred from attending most sports events involving men. But the situation appears set to improve in the coming months after a top Iranian sports official said that the ban will be lifted for some events. A plan to allow "women and families" to enter sports stadiums will come into effect in the next year, Deputy Sports Minister Abdolhamid Ahmadi said Saturday, according to state-run media. But it isn't clear exactly which games women will be able to attend. According to the state-run Press TV, Ahmadi said the restrictions would be lifted for indoor sports events. The rules won't change for all matches because some sports are mainly related to men and "families are not interested in attending" them, Press TV cited him as saying. Iranian authorities imposed the ban on women attending men's sports events after the revolution, deeming that mixed crowds watching games together was un-Islamic. During the ensuing decades, the crowds at soccer games, Iran's most popular sport, have been all male. Iranian women were briefly permitted to attend volleyball matches under the moderate President Mohammad Khatami, but the ban was reinstated in 2005 after the more hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power. The Iranian government has come under pressure from international sports officials over the restrictions. FIFA President Sepp Blatter called on Iran last month to end its "intolerable" ban on women attending soccer matches, saying the situation "cannot continue." Iran had been in the running to host the 2019 edition of soccer's Asian Cup, but the tournament was awarded to the United Arab Emirates. The ban on women attending matches was widely seen as a major impediment to Iran's chances of securing the event. The ban came under the spotlight at the Asian Cup in Australia earlier this year, when thousands of female Iranian fans watched their soccer team without restriction. During the match against Iraq, activists called for the ban to end and unfurled a banner showing the face of Ghoncheh Ghavami, a British-Iranian woman detained in Iran last year while trying to watch a volleyball match. Iranian officials have denied that Ghavami was arrested for attending the volleyball game, saying she was taken into custody for "anti-Iran activities." The news agency Reuters reported that she was recently pardoned by the Court of Appeal. CNN's Annie Ramos contributed to this report.

, a top sports official said the restrictions will be lifted for indoor sports events. the ban was widely seen as a major obstacle

(CNN)Just as mimeograph machines and photocopiers were in their day, online activity -- blogs, YouTube channels, even social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter -- have fully emerged as the alternative to traditional mainstream media. It is not just the low cost of posting online that attracts dissidence, though that in itself is liberating. It is the lack of access to traditional print and broadcast media in authoritarian countries that is really the driving force leading disaffected voices to post online. It is not unique to Asia, but it might seem more pronounced if you live there. Going online has become the path of least resistance if you want to make yourself heard. But it still brings resistance, some of it legal, some of it deadly. Let's look at the legal angle first. Amos Yee, the teenage video blogger who was arrested and held pending bail Sunday in Singapore, drew international attention for his anti-Lee Kuan Yew harangue. But jailing critics is not usually the government's first choice in Singapore. It is part of Lee Kuan Yew's legacy that the government's use of the courts to bring libel and defamation cases, usually carrying heavy financial penalties, is the preferred method of silencing discomfiting online voices. His father has reportedly apologized for his son's behavior, but the younger Yee could face up to three years in jail. Yee is not unique. Another dissident blogger in Singapore, Roy Ngerng, continues to suffer financial and legal pressure, including the loss of his job, because of a blog post that allegedly accused the city-state's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, of corruption. Ngerng's concern is with the lack of transparency in the management of the Central Provident Fund, the government's compulsory pension program. Yee and Ngerng are two of many. The Committee To Protect Journalists' file on Singapore going back to 2000 has a long string of similar cases, some against politicians, others against citizens simply frustrated with their government. But it is not just Singapore where Internet activity comes under fire: On Monday in Malaysia, with much less of the international attention heaped on Amos Yee, five editors and executives from The Malaysian Insider were arrested over the site's March 25 report claiming that a senior council of royal rulers and state governors, known as the Conference of Rulers, had rejected a proposal to amend federal law to allow for the introduction of hudud, or punishments meted out under Islamic law. In deeply Muslim Malaysia, questions of Islamic faith are a third-rail issue, as is revealing government decisions before they are announced. By far the biggest jailer of journalists in the world is China, where a majority of the 44 people behind bars at the end of 2014 were bloggers, most of them Uighur or Tibetan activists who straddle the line between journalism and activism. But in second place in Asia is Vietnam, where CPJ's most recent prison census showed Vietnam holding 16 reporters behind bars as of December 1. Add one more in late December, Nguyen Dinh Ngoc, a prominent blogger who was arrested for "law-violating" after police searched his home in southern Ho Chi Minh City on December 27, and two more in January, Nguyen Quang Lap and Hong Le Tho, arrested on anti-state charges of "abusing democratic freedoms" and you can see the pattern. Because the print and broadcast media are so totally government controlled, mainstream journalists seldom go to jail any more in Vietnam. Only two investigative print reporters remain behind bars in Vietnam, their cases dating back to 2012 and 2013. Both were accused of accepting bribes for dialing back critical news coverage. The list could go on, but the reality is that, as CPJ wrote in 2013, across Asia "governments have curtailed Internet freedoms through increasingly restrictive practices, including prohibitive laws, heightened surveillance and censorship, and threats of imprisonment on various national security-related offenses." That is still the policy path being followed by most countries in Asia, and it does not look like it will be changing any time soon. Jailing journalists is one thing, but watching them being killed and doing little or nothing about it is another. Since 1992, 11% of journalists killed have died for their work online. Because our 1992 start date really precedes the full advent of the Internet, that proportion can be expected to grow. While most bloggers have not been the targets of murderers, Bangladesh has recently become the exception. On Monday, Washiqur Rahman Babu was the second blogger to be hacked to death in public in Bangladesh in the past five weeks. Blogger Avijit Roy and his wife, Rafida Ahmed Bonna, were attacked by assailants wielding sharp weapons while the couple was visiting Dhaka. Roy, a U.S. citizen of Bangladeshi origin, was killed and his wife was critically injured. Both Rahman and Roy had written critically on Islamic matters. The blogger death toll gets higher in Bangladesh if you go back a year or two, and religious beliefs are always involved, and the killings almost always carried out with near perfect impunity. In January 2013, blogger Asif Mohiuddin, who wrote critical commentary on religion, Islamist groups, free speech, and human rights, barely survived after he was stabbed by Islamists. In February 2013, blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider, who had written about Islamic fundamentalism and Islamist groups, was hacked to death by members of an Islamist militant group, according to police investigations. Later in 2013, Islamist groups called for the execution of bloggers they said had committed blasphemy. While arrests were made after those murders, there have been no convictions. The bottom line: Online journalists, operating outside the restraints of mainstream media, have become the most vulnerable targets for governments and independent actors. Where there is the restrictive rule of law, journalists are vulnerable to the anger of officialdom. Where the rule of law is weak, they are vulnerable to the attacks of killers who seldom, if ever, answer to the rule of law.

in the country, but it's not unique to Asia, but it's not unique to Asia. amos Yee

(CNN)When singer Avril Lavigne went missing from the music scene, there was tons of speculation. Was she pregnant? In rehab? Going through a split from her husband, Nickelback front man Chad Kroeger? Focus on the mystery intensified in December after a fan Twitter account posted a direct message from Lavigne when she solicited prayers, saying she was "having some health issues." Now the Canadian singer has revealed to People magazine that she was bedridden for five months after contracting Lyme disease. "I felt like I couldn't breathe, I couldn't talk, and I couldn't move," she told the magazine. "I thought I was dying." Lyme disease: What you should know . Lavigne believes that she was bitten by a tick last spring. What followed was months of lightheadedness and lethargy that doctors were initially unable to diagnose. The 30-year-old performer said she recuperated in her Ontario home, where her husband would use tour breaks to care for her and her mother moved in to assist. "There were definitely times I couldn't shower for a full week because I could barely stand," she told People. "It felt like having all your life sucked out of you." Opinion: Why you should be afraid of Lyme disease . After her direct message about her health went viral, Lavigne was inundated with concern from fans. "The get-well messages and videos they sent touched me so deeply," she said. Now declaring herself "80 percent better," Lavigne is releasing a new single this month to support the 2015 Special Olympics and says that being ill was a "wake-up call" that has given her a new perspective. "I really just want to enjoy life from here on out," she said.

: People magazine: Avril Lavigne was bedridden for five months after contracting Lyme disease. lavigne

(CNN)A trip to a former heavyweight champ's gaudy, abandoned mansion. The tallest and fastest "giga-coaster" in the world. A dramatic interview with a famed spiritual leader -- and the tearful reaction by one of his former students. These are some of the best videos of the week: . In the 1980s and '90s -- before he moved to Vegas and started keeping tigers as pets -- former heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson lived in a Southington, Ohio, mansion. The home featured an indoor swimming pool, a marble-and-gold Jacuzzi (with mirrored ceiling, naturally) and an entertainment room large enough for small concerts. Tyson sold the house in 1999; it's due to become, of all things, a church. The video can be seen at the top of this story. Not a fan of roller coasters? You may want to skip the next video -- but for the rest of us, the thrill of watching is the next best thing to being there. The Fury 325 can be found at Carowinds amusement part in Charlotte, North Carolina. Watch the video: . In a CNN exclusive, Alisyn Camerota looked into allegations that Bikram yoga creator Bikram Choudhury sexually assaulted six former students. "He's a person who's based a lot of truths on a lot of lies," said Sarah Baughn, who alleges that Choudhury sexually assaulted her. Watch the video: . CNN's Karl Penhaul spoke to a shepherd who witnessed the final seconds of Germanwings Flight 9525, which crashed in the French Alps last week. "I saw the plane heading down along the valley and I said, 'My God, it's going to hit the mountain,' " Jean Varrieras told Penhaul. "I ducked my head. ... Then after that, I saw the smoke." Watch the video: . Magician and comedian Penn Jillette was part of a panel speaking to CNN's Don Lemon about the controversial Indiana religious freedom law. Jillette, an avowed atheist and libertarian, noted "we are not talking about forcing people to engage in gay sex, or even endorse gay sex." His provocative opening led to an energetic back-and-forth with the Alliance Defending Freedom's Kristen Waggoner and the ACLU's Rita Sklar. Watch the video: . A professor of physics at a British university asked 100 people to create a composite with facial features they thought were beautiful -- and then asked another 100 to rate their attractiveness. You'll never guess what celebrities best fit the model. Watch the video: .

the video:. The Fury 325 can be found at Carowinds amusement part in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Washington (CNN)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the deal six world powers struck to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions, saying he sees better options than "this bad deal or war." "I think there's a third alternative, and that is standing firm, ratcheting up the pressure until you get a better deal," Netanyahu told CNN's Jim Acosta Sunday on "State of the Union." His comments come as Democrats and Republicans spar over the framework announced last week to lift Western sanctions on Iran in exchange for the country dropping from 19,000 to 5,060 active centrifuges, limiting its highly enriched uranium, and increasing inspections. President Barack Obama endorsed the deal, saying it was better than the alternatives. But GOP contenders for the party's 2016 presidential nomination lambasted it, saying it gave Iran too much flexibility. On Sunday, the sparring continued. One Senate Democrat said Netanyahu needs to "contain himself." And a top Republican said almost any of Obama's successors as president "could do better." Netanyahu's most recent argument against the Iran nuclear deal was similar to the one he'd made in a March trip to Washington, when he addressed a joint session of Congress -- fueling a Republican push to have the deal sent to Congress before it's implemented. "It does not roll back Iran's nuclear program. It keeps a vast nuclear infrastructure in place. Not a single centrifuge is destroyed. Not a single nuclear facility is shut down, including the underground facilities that they built illicitly. Thousands of centrifuges will keep spinning, enriching uranium," Netanyahu said Sunday. "That's a very bad deal. " Netanyahu said Iran is a country of "congenital cheating" and that it can't be trusted to abide by the terms of the deal, which lasts 10 years with some provisions extending well beyond that. He said his opposition has little to do with his frosty relationship with Obama. "I think that we can have a legitimate difference of opinion on this, because I think Iran has shown to be completely distrustful," Netanyahu said. Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, meanwhile, said she wishes Netanyahu "would contain himself." The top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said negotiators working on the deal -- from Iran and the United States, as well as Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany -- are "on the cusp of something that can be workable." "It's a framework. It has to be wrapped into a final agreement. There still can be some changes," Feinstein said. "But I don't think it's helpful for Israel to come out and oppose this one opportunity to change a major dynamic -- which is downhill, a downhill dynamic in this part of the world." Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz defended the deal in an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, saying it would extend from two months to one year the "breakout" time period -- the length of time it would take Iran to build a nuclear bomb. He said it also allows for the "almost instantaneous recognition of any attempt to evade the deal." "We have blocked all of these pathways to a bomb," he said. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said on "Face the Nation" that the best option for the United States is to keep current sanctions in place for two more years and then have a "new crack at it with a new president that doesn't have the baggage of Obama." And he said the alternatives to Obama on both sides -- with the exception of Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who's called for a less active U.S. role overseas -- would likely strike a better deal. "Hillary Clinton would do better. I think everybody on our side, except, maybe, Rand Paul, could do better," Graham said.

the deal would extend from two months to one year the "breakout" time period. "I think everybody on our side, except

(CNN)Standing up for what you believe. What does it cost you? What do you gain? Memories Pizza in the Indiana town of Walkerton is finding out. The family-run restaurant finds itself at the center of the debate over the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act after its owners said they'd refuse to cater a same-sex couple's wedding. "If a gay couple was to come and they wanted us to bring pizzas to their wedding, we'd have to say no," Crystal O'Connor told CNN affiliate WBND-TV in South Bend. The statement struck at the heart of fears by critics, who said the new law would allow businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians. They called for boycotts. But supporters also rallied. And by the end of the week, they had donated more than $842,000 for the business. Social media unloaded on the pizzeria in the community of 2,100 people that few folks outside northern Indiana knew existed before this week. RiskyLiberal tweeted: "Dear #MemoriesPizza. No. My boycotting your business because I don't like your religious bigotry is not a violation of your freedom to practice your religion." "Don't threaten #MemoriesPizza" tweeted Aღanda. "Just mock them for their ignorance." Bad reviews flooded the restaurant's Facebook page, most having little to do with the quality of the food. Many too vulgar to share. "Do you really want to financially support a company that treats some of your fellow citizens like second class citizens? BOYCOTT MEMORIES PIZZA!!" said Rob Katz of Indianapolis. "Let's hope they either rethink their policy or the free market puts them out of business." Anti-bigotry critics harass wrong pizzeria . But one outburst in particular shut down the restaurant Wednesday and was expected to do the same Thursday. "Who's going to Walkerton with me to burn down Memories Pizza?" Jessica Dooley of Goshen tweeted, according to the Walkerton Police Department. The account has been deleted since the tweet was posted. Detectives who investigated have recommended charges of harassment, intimidation and threats, according to Charles Kulp, assistant police chief. The mood was a bit more subdued on the streets of Walkerton. A man stood outside Memories simply holding a sign that reads "bigots." Jason Narducy bought $100 of pizza from another shop down the street and started handing it out, WBND reported. "Do you want some non-discriminatory pizza?" Narducy asked. But for every tweet and Facebook post taking Memories Pizza to task were words of support and a groundswell of financial support. "Because nothing says tolerance like threatening to kill Christians & burn down their businesses," said a tweet from Victor Nikki. "What's happening to #MemoriesPizza isn't the free market, it's a lynch mob," tweeted Savannah. "Cyber bulling isn't the same as taking your business elsewhere." Supporters rallied to a GoFundMe page in support of Memories Pizza. By the time the fundraiser ended late Friday, $842,387 had been raised. The purpose of the campaign is "to relieve the financial loss endured by the proprietors' stand for faith," according to Lawrence Billy Jones II, the man who started it. For the O'Connors their stand was no pie in the sky dream. It wasn't calculated but was spurred by their beliefs, they told WBND. "That's a lifestyle that you choose. I choose to be heterosexual. They choose to be homosexual," Kevin O'Connor told the TV station. "You can't beat me over the head with something they choose to be." Faced with threats against business, they're still weighing the cost. CNN's Rob Frehse and Melanie Whitley contributed to this report.

the restaurant in Walkerton, Indiana, is finding out. "Don't threaten #MemoriesPizza,"

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

, Maharashtra, has imposed a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison. authorities in the western state of Maharashtra

(CNN)It's the kind of thing you see in movies, like Robert Redford's role in "All Is Lost" or Ang Lee's "Life of Pi." But, in real life, it's hard to swallow the idea of a single person being stranded at sea for days, weeks, if not months and somehow living to talk about it. Miracles do happen, though, and not just in Hollywood. We're not talking about people who float aimlessly or run aground after running out of gas or being let down by faltering winds only to be picked up a few hours later by the U.S. Coast Guard. Much rarer are cases in which individuals become lost at sea long enough that they run out of whatever food and drinking water they'd brought aboard, if any. In order to survive, they can't bank on technology or the proximity of a nearby city, town or boat -- but instead must rely on ingenuity, resourcefulness and luck. It's hard to say how many of these types of stories end sadly, with a sailor dying at sea, except that it is a much higher number than those that end in rescues. Such happy endings do occur -- given what rescue agencies have reported and assuming you believe what any sole survivor says, a big qualifier since typically no one else can prove or refute their accounts. Below are a few recent examples: . Louis Jordan says that he set off on his 35-foot sailboat from South Carolina in late January. He headed into the Gulf Stream looking for a good spot to catch fish. And then everything -- his boat, his life -- turned upside down. Rescued man says he is 'utterly thankful' Not only did his boat capsize, but its mast broke, Jordan said. And so, too, did his shoulder. He bought time by rationing water, then collecting fresh water in a bucket. As to food, Jordan says he used laundry to trap and scoop up fish. And he rigged a makeshift mast and sail. But, Jordan said, "It took so long. It moved so slowly." His sailboat would capsize two more times before crew members on a German-flagged container ship, the Houston Express, spotted Jordan about 200 miles off the North Carolina coast on Thursday. After their reunion, his father greeted him with a hug and an admission every parent dreads. "I thought I lost you." Jose Salvador Alvarenga says his journey began in Paredon Viejo, a port on Mexico's Pacific coast, in late 2012. The exact date is up for debate -- he says he set off in December, locals say it was November. But what's not in doubt is that, after he left, he disappeared. Until January 2013. That's when Alvarenga interacted with humans once again, thousands of miles away on a remote atoll in the Marshall Islands. Castaway recounts how he survived over a year adrift in Pacific . What was supposed to be a one-day trip, he says, turned into an arduous odyssey across the Pacific Ocean, one that saw him lose his fishing companion and tested his will and ability to survive. His nightmare began when winds blew the pair off course. Then a storm hit causing their boat, which was about three people long and one wide, to lose its engine and use of its radio communication and GPS systems. Four weeks in, Alvarenga said his partner -- 23-year-old Ezequiel Cordova, according to the boat's owner -- died because he refused to eat raw birds. The days, weeks and months ran together after that. Alvarenga says he drank rainwater and, when there wasn't any available, his own urine. He ate sea turtles. Then, after 13 or 14 months adrift, he and his small, heavily damaged boat arrived on the Ebon Atoll, about a 22-hour boat ride from the Marshall Islands capital of Majuro. The atoll has one phone line, no Internet service and a few residents, two of whom Alvarenga spotted and shouted to after spending a night in the woods. The El Salvador native told CNN that his faith in God helped him survive. "I thought, 'I am going to get out," he said. "Get out, get out, get out." Some in their late 60s might relax in their retirement, reining it in a few notches as life slows down. And if you live in Hawaii, there's even more reason to take it easy. The thing is: Ron Ingraham isn't one of those people. He's a fisherman. The sea is both his life and livelihood, his son, Zakary, told CNN. And he's tough, with his son jokingly comparing him to Rambo. Still, even the hardiest fishermen would have been tested by what Ron Ingraham went through after setting off around last Thanksgiving solo from the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Son vindicated as father rescued after 12 days at sea . After bad weather hit, Ron Ingraham told CNN affiliate KHNL/KGMB that his 25-foot sailboat went "backwards all night long." At one point, a huge wave struck -- pushing his mast into the water and him as well. The 67-year-old used a rope to pull himself back in. But his boat couldn't be rescued so easily, leaving him at the mercy of the current. A distress call went out, prompting a search that would cover 12,000 square miles. When a Coast Guard official told him the search was being called off December 1, Zakary Ingraham responded, "I don't feel like he's dead. I don't feel it." He was right. Twelve days after that first distress call, Ron Ingraham was picked up about 64 miles (103 kilometers) south of Honolulu "weak, hungry and dehydrated" and -- most importantly -- alive. The veteran fisherman headed back to shore only after getting assurances his damaged boat would come with him. In February 2012, two friends asked 18-year-old Adrian Vasquez whether he wanted to tag along on an overnight fishing expedition. He said yes, and the three set off from the Panama town of San Carlos on a small boat, Vasquez's mother, Nilsa de la Cruz, recalled. Things started out well, by all accounts. The three caught plenty of fish. Then, their boat's engine died without warning. And, with no tools and scant navigational experience, the trio didn't know what to do, according to Vasquez's mother. Mother calls Panama teen's return 'a miracle' Vazquez ate raw fish and drank rainwater as currents swept his boat, the Fifty Cents, further and further from the coast and into the Pacific Ocean. Somewhere along the way, his two companions died. It's not clear exactly how, with Ecuadorian Rear. Adm. Freddy Garcia Calle saying Vasquez threw their bodies into the sea "because they had become badly decomposed." Some 26 days after and nearly 600 miles away from where the journey began, fishermen spotted the tiny vessel north of the Galapagos Islands. The Ecuadorian navy came in and picked up the teenage survivor, who'd lost 20 pounds and showed "severe signs of dehydration and lack of nutrition," according to Calle. He returned home to loved ones eager to embrace him, but mindful of giving him time to process the ordeal. "For us, this is an opportunity to get closer as a family," his mother said by phone, "to be more understanding and loving." Sometimes one doesn't have to be in the ocean for weeks to have his or her life imperiled. Sometimes people don't have to set off by boat to have the sea challenge them to the end. For proof, look no further than Hiromitsu Shinkawa. 60-year-old man waves red flag to alert rescuers . He was at home on March 11, 2011, when a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck 231 miles northeast of Tokyo. A devastating tsunami followed, its 30-foot waves ravaging cities and towns and damaging several nuclear reactors. By the time it had run the course, nearly 16,000 people were dead. It's a miracle Shinkawa wasn't one of them. Shortly after the quake, he and his wife had gone to collect some belongings when the tsunami slammed their hometown of Minamisoma. His home was one of the tens of thousands destroyed by the the huge, powerful tsunami wave. "I was saved by holding onto the roof," the 60-year-old said, according to Kyodo News Agency. "But my wife was swept away.' More than two days later, video showed Shinkawa barely visible amid heaps of splintered wood, shattered homes and other debris floating more than nine miles (15 kilometers) out to sea. He was waving a self-made red flag. After being spotted by crew aboard a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer and picked up in a smaller rescue boat, he took a drink offered to him and burst into tears, Kyodo reported. Shinkawa told his rescuers, "I thought today was the last day of my life."

a sailor, Ron Ingraham, was rescued after 12 days at sea. he and his wife were

(CNN)The world's biggest and most powerful physics experiment is taking place as you read this. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a particle accelerator and the largest machine in the world, is ready for action following a two-year shutdown. After problems that delayed the restart in March, scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) completed final tests, enabling the first beams to start circulating Sunday inside the LHC's 17 mile (27 km) ring. "Operating accelerators for the benefit of the physics community is what CERN's here for," CERN Director-General Rolf Heuer said on the organization's website. "Today, CERN's heart beats once more to the rhythm of the LHC." The LHC generates up to 600 million particles per second, with a beam circulating for 10 hours, traveling more than 6 billion miles (more than 10 billion kilometers) -- the distance from Earth to Neptune and back again. At near light-speed, a proton in the LHC makes 11,245 circuits per second. It took thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians decades to devise and build the particle accelerator, housed in a tunnel between Lake Geneva and the Jura mountain range. The purpose of the lengthy project is to recreate the conditions that existed moments after the "Big Bang" -- the scientific theory said to explain the creation of the universe. By replicating the energy density and temperature, scientists hope to uncover how the universe evolved. Our current, limited, knowledge is based on what's called The Standard Model of particle physics. "But we know that this model is not complete," Dr. Mike Lamont, operations group leader at the LHC, told CNN in March. The burning questions that remain include the origin of mass and why some particles are very heavy, while others have no mass at all; a unified description of all the fundamental forces such as gravity; and uncovering dark matter and dark energy, since visible matter accounts for only 4 percent of the universe. The LHC could also question the idea that the universe is only made of matter, despite the theory that antimatter must have been produced in the same amounts at the time of the Big Bang. CERN says the energies achievable by the LHC have only ever been found in nature. The machine alone costs approximately three billion euros (about $3.3 billion), paid for by member countries of CERN and contributions by non-member nations. The organization also asserts that its guidelines for the protection of the environment and personnel comply with standards set by Swiss and French laws and a European Council Directive. Scientists and physics enthusiasts will be waiting with bated breath as the LHC ventures into the great unknown. "After two years of effort, the LHC is in great shape," said CERN Director for Accelerators and Technology, Frédérick Bordry. "But the most important step is still to come when we increase the energy of the beams to new record levels." Peter Shadbolt contributed to this report.

the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is ready for action following a two-year shutdown. the project is to

Atlanta (CNN)It was a scene worthy of any top cop show on TV -- bullets flying, banged-up cars and the FBI chasing an armed robbery suspect. In the end, two agents were injured in a crash and the suspect was shot before being captured. FBI agents and task force officers were following 36-year-old Kevone Charleston of Austell, Georgia, as he pulled into a CVS pharmacy in Forsyth County, Georgia, early Saturday. Charleston is suspected of involvement in 32 commercial robberies dating to November 2013, according to FBI officials. "The incident all happened around 7 o'clock Saturday morning," said FBI Special Agent Stephen Emmett. "There were multiple agents and officers that were following him based on his prior MO, and when they saw he was about to rob another CVS, they moved in." Authorities say Charleston parked his vehicle nearby and then popped the hood as if there were something wrong. Then he walked to the CVS, preparing to enter. When agents confronted him, Charleston ran, got in his car and traveled about 75 yards as agents opened fire. "There were several FBI vehicles that were rammed or were hit by the suspect's vehicle when he was trying to flee. One government vehicle sustained heavy damage to its front and side, and another government SUV ended up on its side. That's how the two agents sustained their injuries," Emmett said. Twelve FBI agents and six government vehicles followed Charleston. Emmett said Charleston "was trying to get away, our agents were trying to stop him. He collided with the first government vehicle, the Taurus, then the second, and the SUV ended on its side. "The perp was stopped 8 feet away in the median, and that's where he received his gunshot wounds." The two agents were treated at an area hospital and released, according to Emmett, who says "they are fine." Charleston was shot and wounded by FBI agents and task force officers, but his injuries are not life threatening, according to Forsyth County Sheriff's Deputy Robin Regan. Although he declined to give details of the 32 previous robberies, Emmett said it was an intensive investigation that was already underway as a priority for the FBI's violent crimes and major offender squad. He added, "His MO involved armed confrontations, so our officers went into this fully prepared for an armed confrontation based on his past history." Emmett says he's relieved that the FBI's officers and agents are OK and that the suspect is in custody. He said it was the "conclusion of an intensive and lengthy investigation." CNN's Vivian Kuo and Ryan Scallan contributed to this report.

, Georgia, armed robbery suspect Kevone Charleston, 36, was shot and wounded by agents and task force officers

(CNN)Sky watchers in western North America are in for a treat: a nearly five-minute total lunar eclipse this morning. Here's how it's unfolding: . It started at 3:16 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, when the moon began moving into Earth's shadow. For the next hour and 45 minutes, that shadow will move across the moon and engulf it at 4:58 a.m. Pacific Time. The total eclipse will only last four minutes and 43 seconds, and NASA says that makes it the shortest one of the century. Watch it live on NASA TV . While people west of the Mississippi River will have the best view, at least a partial eclipse will be visible across the nation. But sunrise will interrupt the show on the East Coast. Parts of South America, India, China and Russia also will be able to see the eclipse, but it won't be visible in Greenland, Iceland, Europe, Africa or the Middle East. A lunar eclipse happens when the sun, Earth and moon form a straight line in space, with the Earth smack in the middle. The sun shines on the Earth and creates a shadow. As the moon moves deeper into that shadow, it appears to turn dark and may even appear to be a reddish color. Why red? Because Earth's atmosphere is filtering out most of the blue light. Some people have nicknamed the effect the "blood moon." NASA says lunar eclipses typically happen at least twice a year, but this eclipse is the third in a series of four in a row, known as a "tetrad." The first was on April 15, 2014. The second was in September 2014, the next is Saturday and there will be one more, on September 28. If you want to learn more about the eclipse, NASA astronomer Mitzi Adams will take questions on Twitter @NASA_Marshall. Did you see the total lunar eclipse? Share your photos with CNN iReport.

this morning. It started at 3:16 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, when the moon began moving into Earth's shadow

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

al-Shabaab has claimed an attack on Garissa University College in eastern Kenya. the group has claimed an attack on

(CNN)Easter is a cornerstone event in the Christian faith, but it's surrounded by interesting quirks. It celebrates the completion of Christ's mission of salvation in the Crucifixion and Resurrection. By dying on Good Friday, Christ atoned for the sins of others; by rising from the grave on Sunday, Christ conquered death. Simple enough and reason for Christians to celebrate. But, like Christmas with its tree, ornaments and Santa Claus, Easter has picked up its peripheral trappings -- the bunny and colorful eggs. Unlike Christmas, it doesn't fall on the same day every year but shifts around in spring depending upon cosmic events. And that blood moon we just had -- is it pure coincidence that it fell around Easter? (No.) Here's a journey from the Vatican to the Holy Land, around the moon and the Earth's tilting axis, to Germany and the United States to try to explain the complex holiday called Easter. And you'll learn to how to color Easter eggs with Kool-Aid. Let's start at the Vatican. At the Vatican, Holy Week began with Palm Sunday last week and culminated in Easter Sunday Mass with multiple celebrations in between to mark the final week of Christ's mortal life. Jesus rode on the back of a donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday where crowds celebrated him as the Messiah and laid down palm branches in his path. But the crowd and the Romans turned on him in the course of the week, according to the Bible, leading to his crucifixion and resurrection. Rain sprinkled down on worshipers standing under a sea of umbrellas as they gathered in a gray St. Peter's Square on Sunday to partake in the outdoor services held by Pope Francis. Afterward, the Pontiff took a moment to tell the world to do right those in need in his Urbi et Orbi address. Francis lamented the suffering of people in many of the conflicts around the globe. From Nigeria to South Sudan, Iraq to Ukraine, he expressed hope that violence would end. Francis also doesn't put on airs. This week he washed the feet of believers, repeating the Biblical account of a woman, a sinner, washing Jesus' feet and anointing them with oil. Let's move on to old Jerusalem, the birthplace of Easter. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher in old Jerusalem unifies the spot where Christ was crucified -- Calvary -- with his tomb, or sepulcher. On Sunday, Catholics and Armenian Christians celebrated the Resurrection there. In the morning, the Latin Patriarch, the Archbishop of Jerusalem, entered the basilica. Then mass was held followed by a procession. But a large group of indigenous Christians didn't join them. It's not quite Easter yet in the Holy Land for Eastern Orthodox Christians. They'll be celebrating a week from now, because they determine Easter's date by a different calendar than Western Christians -- the Julian calendar. Which brings us to the question of how astronomy is used to determine the date of Easter Sunday. A blood moon appeared in the sky early Saturday, right between Good Friday and Easter Sunday and during Passover. Just a coincidence? Not completely, because the dates for both Passover -- the Jewish holiday celebrating the deliverance from slavery in Egypt -- and Easter are determined by moon phases, according to timeanddate.com. Easter's timing is related to Passover, because Jesus was crucified around then, according to the Bible. Many Jewish holidays, including Passover, fall on full moon, which is also a prerequisite for a lunar eclipse, the event that turns the moon a blood red color. Since the timing of moon phases doesn't jibe with Earth's orbit -- which is how we determine the length of a year now -- Passover's exact date moves around -- and so does Easter's. When Christian bishops first convened at the Council of Nicaea in the year 325, they made a rule to determine the date of Easter, so as to fairly reliably pin it to Passover: . It would fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. That's the day in March when Earth's axis reaches a midpoint between winter and summer and the day and night are of equal length. But ... if the full moon fell on Sunday, Easter would be pushed down a week. Confusing? It got worse. When the West moved from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, Orthodox Christians stayed put, resulting in -- usually -- two separate dates for Easter. In 1997, the World Council of Churches pushed for a unified method of determining a date based on astronomical occurrences. It didn't catch on. But some odd Easter trappings that popped up after the Middle Ages very much have -- the eggs and the bunny. The bunny is an egg-laying pagan that worships the moon. That's one notion of its origins, but probably not the actual one. German immigrants appear to have brought it to North America in the 1700s. German historians are not clear on its beginnings, but the first known mention of the bunny and the eggs in writing was in 1682. Professor of medicine Georg Franck von Frankenau described in his paper "De ovis paschalibus," or "On Easter eggs," a custom in the Alsace region involving a bunny and eggs, according to German public television. Some also credit the region with inadvertently inventing the Christmas tree. But von Frankenau left out any explanation of how the tradition arose, leading to a number of theories in Germany. One common idea: During Lent, people had to abstain from eating eggs, but hens kept on laying them, so farmers boiled and preserved them. By the time Easter rolled around, they were practically swimming in them. They had to figure out something to do with them when the holiday hit. Play hide and seek with them; color them; give them as gifts. Parents may have invented the bunny as a playful explanation for children on where the Easter eggs came from. If you're coloring eggs this year, here's an interesting tip. Instead of stinking up your place with the smell of vinegar, use Kool-Aid, YouTube science geek Grant Thompson suggests. And it appears to work. Just use a whole packet in a small glass of hot water and gently lay the eggs in. They turn out as bright as they would in any other food dye. But be careful, it stains everything else, like clothes and upholstery, Thompson warns. That's why your tongue changes colors when you drink it. Happy Easter! Happy Passover!

Easter, but it's not a coincidence. Here's a journey from the Vatican to the Holy Land, around the moon

(CNN)After years of making the case that the education of athletes is paramount, the NCAA now says it has no legal responsibility to make sure education is actually delivered. On its website, the NCAA prominently states, "It's our commitment -- and our responsibility -- to give young people opportunities to learn, play and succeed." And later, it says that "in the collegiate model of sports, the young men and women competing on the field or court are students first, athletes second." But the NCAA is taking a very different position in response to a lawsuit filed by former University of North Carolina athletes. The lawsuit claimed the students didn't get an education because they were caught up in the largest known academic fraud scandal in NCAA history. In its response, the NCAA says it has no legal responsibility "to ensure the academic integrity of the courses offered to student-athletes at its member institutions." Even with pages of online information about academic standards, and even though the NCAA has established a system of academic eligibility and accountability that it boasts of regularly, NCAA attorneys wrote in this court filing that "the NCAA did not assume a duty to ensure the quality of the education of student-athletes," and "the NCAA does not have 'direct, day-to-day, operational control' " over member institutions like UNC. "It's nonsense. It's double talk," said Gerald Gurney, a former athletic-academic director who is now president of The Drake Group for academic integrity in collegiate sport. "If you look at their basic core principles, it's all about academics, the experience, the integration of academics, and the education of the student is paramount," Gurney said. "They seem to talk out of both sides of their mouths." The NCAA referred calls for comment to an online statement, which read in part: . The NCAA believes that the lawsuit misunderstands the NCAA's role with respect to its member schools and ignores the myriad steps the NCAA has taken to assist student-athletes in being equipped to excel both in the classroom and on the playing field. "This case is troubling for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that the law does not and has never required the NCAA to ensure that every student-athlete is actually taking full advantage of the academic and athletic opportunities provided to them," said Donald Remy, NCAA chief legal officer. In its response to the lawsuit, it also likened its role to that of the American Bar Association or American Medical Association, and said that those entities are not sued every time a lawyer or doctor acts inappropriately. The scandal at UNC involved thousands of athletes who, over 18 years, were funneled into classes that never met, where advisers fudged grades and accepted plagiarism so that athletes who were falling behind in class could remain eligible to play sports. Mary Willingham, the UNC whistleblower turned NCAA critic, has for years said that athletes across the country are accepted to colleges even though they're academically underprepared and then pushed into classes where little work is required. The system of eligibility that the NCAA brags about, she says, is a sham. "Why do we go through the trouble of compliance if we can't legitimize that the courses are real and the education is real anyway? It makes no sense," said Willingham, who recently wrote a book about the UNC scandal called "Cheated." "If they can't legitimize that the academics are real and take no responsibility for that, then why certify students semester after semester to play? It's lost its meaning for me." The NCAA's claim that it's hands-off when it comes to athletics seems to be a direct contradiction of what the organization has been repeating for years, not just in the rhetoric on its website, but in speeches by its president, Mark Emmert, and in court defending itself from numerous lawsuits over paying athletes. For example, before it lost a case filed by former UCLA player Ed O'Bannon, suing for the right of athletes to make money off their images and likenesses, the NCAA stood on the pillar of amateurism, insisting that college athletes are paid with an education. That's the defense the NCAA is now using in another class action filed by big-time sports attorney Jeffrey Kessler, seeking to make college sports a free market where athletes are paid salaries based on their value. In response, the NCAA said that what sets college sports apart from pros is education: Consistent with "its commitment to amateurism, member institutions conduct their athletics programs for students who choose to participate in intercollegiate athletics as a part of their educational experience and in accordance with NCAA bylaws." Attorney Michael Hausfeld, who represented both O'Bannon and now the UNC athletes, said this: . "This startling inconsistency is unfortunately all too symptomatic of the NCAA's shifting rhetoric and faltering commitment to its college athletes. NCAA President Mark Emmert has repeatedly proposed that 'What we live for is the education of our athletes,' but the NCAA's record tells a far different story." But Rick Burton, professor of sport management at Syracuse University, said it's not realistic to think that the NCAA would regulate every professor and every course an athlete might take at each university across the country. "I understand, I think, where the NCAA is coming from. We would not let the NCAA come in and tell us how to run our chemistry department at Syracuse University," he said. "It sounds like someone is trying to say the NCAA should have been supervising that department at the University of North Carolina, and there's no logic to that," he said. "The people who are saying the NCAA should be held accountable for academics at every school are just looking for an opportunity to throw rocks at the NCAA." UNC, which was also sued, has admitted to the fraud, but also asked for a judge to throw out the case, saying the athletes waited too long -- seven years -- to sue and the "educational malpractice" theory doesn't apply. UNC claims it is protected by state law. This is reminiscent of another NCAA reversal. The NCAA, which was founded a century ago to protect athletes from "dangerous and exploitive athletic practices," now says it does not enforce health and safety rules. In fact, in response to a lawsuit filed by the family of a player who died in 2011, the NCAA wrote: "The NCAA denies that it has a legal duty to protect student-athletes." A CNN investigation found that the NCAA has failed to open investigations in several cases where safety rules allegedly were broken. It has also fallen behind in imposing rules for concussions -- far behind even the NFL. Ramogi Huma, president of the National College Players Association, and a leading thorn in the NCAA's side for decades, said this latest backpedaling from the NCAA leaves him wondering why the organization exists at all. "There's nothing left the NCAA can claim it does that is beneficial to college athletes or society. One has to wonder what does the NCAA do if it doesn't protect players? If it doesn't play a role in the education of college athletics? It begs the question of why does the NCAA exist -- and why does it have a tax exemption."

the NCAA says it has no legal responsibility to protect student-athletes. the lawsuit claims the athletes didn't get an education

(CNN)A Connecticut teen who has been forced to have chemotherapy to treat Hodgkin lymphoma will remain in temporary custody of the state for the time being, according to her attorney, Josh Michtom. A Connecticut juvenile court judge issued a written decision Wednesday denying a motion to let the teen, identified in court documents as "Cassandra C.," go home. The judge also denied a motion for visitation. The 17-year-old is in remission after nearly six months of forced chemo treatments. On March 16, Michtom tried to convince the court that she should be able to return to her mother's home because she was no longer at imminent risk of harm from her illness. Michtom and attorney Michael Taylor, who represents Cassandra's mother, Jackie Fortin, released a written statement after receiving the judge's decision Wednesday: "We are disappointed in this ruling, not least of all because it draws a factual conclusion that is directly contradicted by the weight of the evidence. We're conferring with our clients now about next steps, including whether to take another appeal." Cassandra was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in September and medical experts gave her an 85% chance of survival if treated with chemotherapy. Without it, doctors said at the time, she was likely to die within two years. She started chemotherapy in November but ran away after two days, according to court documents, when she decided she did not want to put the poison of the treatment into her body. In December, a judge ordered the young woman to be under the custody of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families. At that time, she was admitted to Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford and has remained there since then. Doctors surgically implanted a port in Cassandra's chest to administer chemotherapy medications, which began in spite of legal maneuvers to halt them. Cassandra is feeling well and is in good shape as far as her health is concerned, according to Michtom. "She's seen in her case the side effects weren't bad, and she's been well-treated by the nurses and doctors and does want to complete the treatment," he said. Her treatment is scheduled to wrap up this month. Michtom and Taylor failed in their effort before the Connecticut Supreme Court to make the case that Cassandra was mature enough to make her own medical decisions. Joette Katz, the commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, told CNN in March the agency is "very pleased with Cassandra's progress toward a complete recovery. We understand how difficult this has been for Cassandra and her family, but we have had full confidence throughout that the medical professionals involved in her treatment would be successful in saving her life." The agency has denied CNN's request to speak with Cassandra or her physicians. According to Michtom, the Department of Children and Families could have withdrawn its position for an order of custody but hasn't. He said the department sees Cassandra as a flight risk because she has run away before. Representatives for the department have said in court and in conversations with Michtom and Taylor that they will withdraw their pending neglect petition once Cassandra completes her last round of chemo -- expected around the end of April -- and that she'll be allowed to return home. So for now, Cassandra is said to spend her days reading, watching TV and drawing. "The hospital is effectively jail," Michtom said.

Cassandra is in remission after nearly six months of forced chemo treatments. the 17-year-old

(CNN)Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk!," featuring Bruno Mars, is the longest-leading Billboard Hot 100 of the 2010s, ruling the chart for a 13th week. It's also just the 10th single in the Hot 100's entire history to spend at least 13 weeks at No. 1. Plus, newcomer Natalie La Rose reaches the top 10 with her debut hit "Somebody," featuring Jeremih. As we do each Wednesday, let's run down all the songs in the top 10, and a bit beyond, on the sales/airplay/streaming-based Hot 100 (dated April 11). "Funk," released on RCA Records, passes Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," featuring T.I. and Pharrell to take sole possession of the Hot 100's longest command this decade. Here's an updated look at the hits to lead for the most weeks since the beginning of 2010: . Weeks at No. 1, Title, Artist, Date Reached No. 1 . 13 (to date), "Uptown Funk!," Ronson feat. Mars, Jan. 17, 2015 . 12, "Blurred Lines," Robin Thicke feat. T.I. + Pharrell, June 22, 2013 . 10, "Happy," Pharrell Williams, March 8, 2014 . 10, "We Found Love," Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris, Nov. 12, 2011 . "Funk" also becomes one of an elite 10 singles ever to top the Hot 100 for at least 13 weeks, dating to the chart's Aug. 4, 1958 launch: . Weeks at No. 1, Title, Artist, Date Reached No. 1 . 16, "One Sweet Day," Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men, Dec. 2, 1995 . 14, "I Gotta Feeling," The Black Eyed Peas, July 11, 2009 . 14, "We Belong Together," Mariah Carey, June 4, 2005 . 14, "Candle in the Wind 1997"/"Something About the Way You Look Tonight," Elton John, Oct. 11, 1997 . 14, "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)," Los Del Rio, Aug. 3, 1996 . 14, "I'll Make Love to You," Boyz II Men, Aug. 27, 1994 . 14, "I Will Always Love You," Whitney Houston, Nov. 28, 1992 . 13 (to date), "Uptown Funk!," Ronson feat. Mars, Jan. 17, 2015 . 13, "The Boy Is Mine," Brandy & Monica, June 6, 1998 . 13, "End of the Road," Boyz II Men, Aug. 15, 1992 . Ask Billboard: Will 'Uptown Funk!' be the Hot 100's No. 1 Song of 2015? With "Funk" now just three weeks from potentially tying "One Sweet Day" for the record, and four weeks from possibly claiming it all to itself, can it rewrite Hot 100 history? It's too early to forecast charts a month away, but "Funk" still sports strong leads in all main Hot 100 metrics. "Funk" logs a 13th week atop the Digital Songs chart with 165,000 downloads sold (down 12 percent) in the week ending March 29, according to Nielsen Music. That's a record-tying feat: "Funk!" matches Flo Rida's 2007-08 hit "Low," featuring T-Pain, for the most weeks a title has spent at No. 1 on Digital Songs. "Funk" also leads Streaming Songs (16.2 million U.S. streams, down 15 percent) for an 11th week. On Radio Songs, "Funk" reigns for a 10th week with 166 million in all-format audience (down 4 percent). It's the first song to reach double-digit weeks at No. 1 on Radio Songs since "Blurred Lines" led for 11. Ask Billboard: Will 'Uptown Funk!' Be the Hot 100's No. 1 Song of 2015? "Funk," thus, leads the Hot 100 and its three main component charts (Digital Songs, Radio Songs and Streaming Songs) simultaneously for a record-extending ninth week (nonconsecutively). Perhaps helping the chances that "Funk" can remain at No. 1 on the Hot 100, at least for another week: while it's down by 11 percent in overall activity, the No. 2 song (for a third week), Maroon 5's "Sugar," decreases by 3 percent, while Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud," at No. 3 (for a third week, after peaking at No. 2 for eight weeks), is off by 2 percent. And, the lead of "Funk" over those songs is still significant: they each boast approximately two-thirds of the Hot 100 points of "Funk" this week. Could either "Sugar" or "Loud" rebound to challenge "Funk" further on the Hot 100? Could another song in the top 10 topple it? Or, is it a song just building, or not even yet released, that will take over? Again, it's too soon to tell. We know only that a song will eventually dethrone the uncommonly overarching smash that "Funk" has become. (At least we think one will ...) Chart Highlights: Taylor Swift's 'Style' hits No. 1 on adult pop songs . Meanwhile, "Sugar" takes over at No. 1 on the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart, despite a 10 percent drop to 4.1 million streams. ("Funk" falls to No. 3 on the list after 11 weeks at No. 1.) "Sugar" holds at No. 2 on Digital Songs (143,000, down 8 percent); rises 4-2 on Radio Songs (133 million, up 3 percent); and keeps at No. 4 on Streaming Songs (9.5 million, down 4 percent). Below Sheeran, Ellie Goulding's "Love Me Like You Do" holds at No. 4 on the Hot 100 after reaching No. 3. The Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack single dips 3-4 on Digital Songs (114,000, down 14 percent) and stays at No. 5 on Radio Songs (118 million, up 8 percent) and Streaming Songs (9 million, up 9 percent). From the same hit movie, The Weeknd's "Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)" reaches the Hot 100's top five (6-5), adding top Airplay Gainer honors for a second week. On Radio Songs, it pushes 9-6 with a 23 percent gain to 86 million. "Earned" (a possible contender for No. 1 on the Hot 100 ...) holds at No. 6 on both Streaming Songs (8.9 million, up 24 percent) and Digital Songs (107,000, up 4 percent). The sultry track also takes over at No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Chart Highlights: Taylor Swift's 'Style' Hits No. 1 on Adult Pop Songs . Fetty Wap's "Trap Queen" rises 8-6 on the Hot 100, while spending a second week at No. 1 on Hot Rap Songs; Taylor Swift's "Style" ranks at No. 7 on the Hot 100 for a third week after reaching No. 6 (and, as previously reported, reaches No. 1 on the Adult Pop Songs airplay chart); Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney's "FourFiveSeconds" drops 5-8 on the Hot 100 after climbing to No. 4 (and departs the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs summit after seven weeks); and Flo Rida climbs 10-9 with "G.D.F.R.," featuring Sage the Gemini and Lookas. The rapper's new EP, My House, arrives Tuesday (April 7). One song is new to the Hot 100's top 10: La Rose's "Somebody," featuring Jeremih (13-10). The Dutch singer's debut hit lifts 10-8 on Radio Songs (73 million, up 9 percent); backtracks 13-14 on Digital Songs, but with a 7 percent gain to 68,000; and zooms 31-19 on Streaming Songs (4.3 million, up 5 percent). The track tops the Rhythmic Songs airplay chart for a second week. (Jeremih scores his fourth Hot 100 top 10, and first in a featured role.) La Rose is adjacent to her friend, and mentor, Flo Rida, on the Hot 100. After she had introduced herself to him at a party, they soon began working together, and she started touring with him. They created "Somebody," based on Whitney Houston's 1987 Hot 100 No. 1 "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)," as La Rose is a "huge fan of '80s music," as she told Billboard. She's currently recording her debut EP. Just beyond the Hot 100's top 10, Walk the Moon's "Shut Up and Dance" pushes 15-12, and is the new No. 1 on the Hot Rock Songs chart, while Jason Derulo's "Want to Want Me" bounds 27-17. And, Rihanna roars in at No. 23 with "B**** Better Have My Money," the chart's highest debut, powered largely by its No. 5 debut on Digital Songs (108,000 sold since its digital retail arrival on March 26). More details on action below the top 10 in the weekly "Hot 100 Chart Moves" column to post on Friday (April 3). See the original story at Billboard.com. ©2015 Billboard. All Rights Reserved.

the Hot 100's No. 1 Song of 2015? "Funk!" is the first single to reach double-digit weeks at No

(CNN)A high temperature of 63.5 degrees Fahrenheit might sound like a pleasant day in early spring -- unless you're in Antarctica. The chilly continent recorded the temperature (15.5 degrees Celsius) on March 24, possibly the highest ever recorded on Antarctica, according to the Weather Underground. The temperature was recorded at Argentina's Esperanza Base on the northern tip of the Antarctica Peninsula, according to CNN affiliate WTNH. (Note to map lovers: The Argentine base is not geographically part of the South American continent.) The World Meteorological Organization, a specialized United Nations agency, is in the process of setting up an international ad-hoc committee of about 10 blue-ribbon climatologists and meteorologists to begin collecting relevant evidence, said Randy Cerveny, the agency's lead rapporteur of weather and climate extremes and Arizona State University professor of geographical sciences. The committee will examine the equipment used to measure the temperature, whether it was in good working order, whether the correct monitoring procedures were followed, whether the equipment was placed in the correct location and whether the measurement is matched by corresponding records from surrounding stations, Cerveny said. The committee will discuss the issues and make a recommendation to Cerveny, who will make an official finding, probably by late summer or early fall. Researchers who study climate change carefully watch weather changes in the Antarctic region and elsewhere for evidence that the Earth is getting warmer.

the highest ever recorded on Antarctica, according to the Weather Underground. the temperature was recorded at Argentina's Esperanza Base

(CNN)The United States has seemingly erupted this week about what it means to live your religion, especially in Indiana, where its new Religious Freedom Restoration Act faces a firestorm from critics who say it uses faith as a pretext to discriminate against gay people. Such state laws have been growing ever since the U.S. Religious Freedom Restoration Act became law in 1993, designed to prohibit the federal government from "substantially burdening" a person's exercise of religion. So far, 20 states have some version of the religious liberty law, and the legal controversies have grown, too. Nonetheless, claims under those state RFRAs are "exceedingly rare," and victories involved mostly religious minorities, not Christian denominations, experts say. "There is reason to doubt whether these state-level religious liberty provisions truly provide meaningful protections for religious believers," wrote Wayne State University law professor Christopher Lund in a 2010 analysis, when there were only 16 states with such laws. Here are some of the more interesting cases arising from the federal and state laws, touching upon an array of religious matters from a knife carried by an IRS accountant to a tea from the Amazon: . He was a Native American with eagle feathers at a religious gathering of tribes. But not in the eyes of the feds. In 2006, Robert Soto and Michael Russell attended an American Indian powwow while in possession of eagle feathers, in violation of the federal Eagle Protection Act, which outlaws the killing of bald and golden eagles and even picking their feathers off the ground. Soto, a Lipan Apache, asserted he was participating in an Indian religious ceremony. The feathers are sacred to Native Americans. But a federal Fish and Wildlife Service agent found his tribe wasn't federally recognized, and Soto surrendered his feathers. Russell, who is married to Soto's sister, isn't American Indian and agreed to pay a fine, according to court papers and the America Bar Association Journal. Soto, however, petitioned the federal Interior Department to return his feathers. The feds said no, because he wasn't from a recognized tribe. Soto and Russell sued the federal government, but a federal district court ruled in favor of the government, rejecting the two men's First Amendment assertions and their claims under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the same 1993 statute that Indiana legislators used in developing their new state law. But last August, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's decision and sent the case back to that court after finding the government's action would violate the federal RFRA. On March 10, the federal government returned the eagle feathers to Soto. But the legal war isn't over. The federal government still maintains it can criminally prosecute Soto and his congregants, so Soto is seeking a preliminary injunction, claiming the feds are violating the federal RFRA, said Luke Goodrich, Soto's attorney who's with the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. A tea used by a Brazilian faith is to them like wine used by Catholics at communion, but U.S. agents considered the brew an illegal drug. The religious organization O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal uses a sacramental tea called hoasca, made from two plants native to the Amazon that contains dimethyltryptamine, a hallucinogen, in violation of the Controlled Substances Act. The religion is a Christian spiritist faith that originated in Brazil and includes Amazonian and indigenous spiritual traditions. About 140 members of the church live in the United States and use the tea in a sacred communion. In May 1999, U.S. Customs agents entered the church headquarters in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and seized all of its hoasca. The church became alarmed and cited how the federal government allows an exception for American Indians to use another illegal drug, peyote, in their religious ceremonies. In fact, the federal RFRA was designed partly to protect the Native Americans' use of peyote, said CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. "They were a legitimate religion, and this was a legitimate ritual of the religion, and Congress wanted to make sure it was protected," Toobin said of peyote and the 1993 law. The Uniao do Vegetal, which means "the union of the plants," cited that federal law in suing the federal government. "The government has never explained why it has accommodated The Native American Church's use of peyote (which contains mescaline, also a controlled substance) but cannot accommodate the UDV's use of hoasca," the church said in a statement. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the church's favor, saying the federal government failed to show a compelling interest to ban the substance for religious use. "The peyote exception also fatally undermines the government's broader contention that the Controlled Substances Act establishes a closed regulatory system that admits of no exceptions under RFRA," the court ruling said. Bruce Rich, an Orthodox Jewish prisoner in Florida, wanted kosher meals, but the warden said no. So Rich sued the state prison system in 2010, saying its denial of a kosher menu violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, a landmark civil law rights law for inmates whose predecessor was the federal religious freedom law. Rich, 66, is serving a life sentence for murdering his parents, in their 70s, in 1995 allegedly to inherit their home. The prison system argued the meals were costly and would lead to security concerns, namely "retaliation against the kosher inmates" if other inmates believed the higher costs of kosher meals impacted the quality of their food, court papers said. At least 35 other states and the federal government, however, provided kosher diets to inmates. After losing before a magistrate, Rich won an appeal before the 11th Circuit Court, which cited "the defendant's meager efforts to explain why Florida's prisons are so different from the penal institutions that now provide kosher meals such that the plans adopted by those other institutions would not work in Florida." Recently baptized in the Sikh faith, Kawal Tagore went to her job with the IRS in Houston in 2005 carrying a new religious item: a 9-inch kirpan, a small ceremonial sword that resembles a knife but has an edge that is blunted or curved. Tagore needed to carry the kirpan at all times as a mandatory article of faith. But the federal government banned her from the building, citing the kirpan as a "dangerous weapon" with a more than 3-inch blade, and she was later fired from her accounting job because she refused to keep the kirpan out of the workplace. Tagore sued the government under the federal law. Tagore cited how the government allowed the public to enter the federal building with more threatening objects: real 2.5-inch blade knives and metal canes, said her attorneys with the Newar Law Firm and the Becket Fund. Also, federal employees inside the building were allowed to use box cutters and cake knives. In November, the federal government agreed to settle the case shortly after the start of Tagore's trial. The settlement included no admission of wrongdoing, the Christian Science Monitor reported. Tagore's attorneys described the settlement as "a groundbreaking policy allowing Sikhs and other religious minorities to wear religious symbols and attire in federal buildings," they said in a statement. Invoking a religious freedom law and related statutes doesn't always equate to victory. In Chicago, an association of 40 churches called the Civil Liberties for Urban Believers found it too onerous to erect houses of worship in business and commercial zones. The ministers needed a special use permit, but such permits were often thwarted by aldermen or it was too bureaucratic and costly to obtain one, the church leaders claimed. In fact, it was easier to get a club, lodge or community center approved. So the pastors sued the city of Chicago in 2000, alleging that its zoning laws violated the Illinois religious freedom statute, the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and the U.S. Constitution. But in 2003, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision and rejected the church group's claims, finding no substantial burden on the churches, which also failed to establish their RLUIPA claim. Defeated, church leaders were angry. "The forty (40) churches in C.L.U.B. and certainly people of all faiths throughout Chicago are outraged by the majority opinion which neuters the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act passed unanimously by Congress in 2000," Apostle Theodore Wilkinson, the group's chairman, said in a statement. "Also alarming is the court's conclusion that Chicago's religious assemblies have no free speech protection from zoning laws. The majority opinion would apparently extend free speech protection to religious assemblies only if they allowed live nude dancing," he said. At the same time, the city of Chicago revised its zoning ordinance to avoid "the threat of heightened scrutiny under RLUIPA," according to a League of California Cities report in 2002. CNN's Alexandra Meeks contributed to this report.

the federal government, but the federal government refused to return his feathers. a federal judge ruled in favor of the federal government

Atlanta (CNN)Robert Lewis Burns Jr., the original drummer in Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died Friday night in a car crash, a Georgia State Patrol spokesman said. Burns, 64, died after his car hit a mailbox and a tree in Cartersville, spokesman James Tallent said. No other cars were involved in the crash, which occurred shortly before midnight. "He was not restrained at the time of the crash," Tallent told CNN. The musician lived in northern Georgia. Burns was part of the genre-defining band's original lineup, which formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1965. Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant started Noble Five with Burns, guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins and bassist Larry Junstrom in their hometown. It then made a name change in a reference to a high school gym teacher. Lynyrd Skynyrd changed members over the years as it produced rock anthems including "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Freebird." Burns left the band before its third studio album, "Nuthin Fancy," in 1975, "exhausted by touring," according to the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame biography. He was not involved in the 1977 plane crash that killed three members, including Van Zant. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Lynyrd Skynyrd still tours with Rossington, the only original member still in the band. "Today I'm at a loss for words but I just remember Bob being a funny guy," Rossington said on the band's official Facebook page. "My heart goes out to his family and God bless him and them in this sad time. He was a great great drummer." People we've lost in 2015 .

, Georgia, died in a car crash, a Georgia State Patrol spokesman says. "Today I'm at

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)The man accused of stabbing U.S. Ambassador Mark Lippert in Seoul last month is now charged with attempted murder, a South Korean court official said Wednesday. Kim Ki-Jong has also been charged with assaulting a foreign envoy and business obstruction, the Seoul Central District Court official said. According to South Korean law, Kim's trial must begin within 14 days of receiving today's indictment. Lippert was stabbed March 5 during an event organized by the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, which advocates peaceful reunification between North and South Korea. Shortly before Lippert was supposed to give a speech, the attacker slashed him in the face and jaw. The ambassador suffered a gash from his right cheekbone to his lower jaw that required 80 stitches. That wound measured 10 centimeters (4 inches) long and 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) deep, but there was no serious facial nerve damage, said Dr. Jung Nam-shik of the Yonsei Severance Hospital. Lippert also suffered five cuts in his left arm and hand, but was not expected to have permanent damage to his arm function. Police said Kim stabbed Lippert with a 10-inch knife because he opposed the joint South Korean-U.S. military drills, which happen every year and frequently draw the ire of North Korea. Police official Yoon Myeong-seong told reporters that Kim had visited North Korea seven times between 1999 and 2007, and that authorities were investigating a possible connection between his visits to the reclusive state and the attack against Lippert. Kim, 55, has a history of unpredictable behavior. In 2010, he received a suspended two-year prison sentence for throwing a piece of concrete at a Japanese ambassador to South Korea, according to the Yonhap news agency. South Korean President Park Geun-hye condemned the attack. "This incident is not only a physical attack on the U.S. ambassador," she said, "but an attack on the South Korea-U.S. alliance and it can never be tolerated." CNN's Madison Park and Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

, South Korea (CNN)The man accused of stabbing u.s. ambassador is now charged with attempted murder. the

(CNN)When Hong Kong police answered a call in the early hours of a Saturday morning last November, they encountered a grisly scene and an alleged crime that shocked the city. One woman was lying on the floor with cuts to her neck and buttocks. Another was stuffed inside a suitcase on the balcony. A former banker, 29-year-old Briton Rurik Jutting, was charged with two counts of murder. On Thursday, a court hearing that was to determine whether there was enough evidence to proceed to trial was adjourned until May. Here's what we know so far about the victims and their alleged attacker. Jutting allegedly lived at the murder scene, an upmarket apartment in the middle of Wan Chai, an inner-city suburb that's home to an eclectic mix of late-night bars, residential tower blocks and local markets selling groceries and assorted cheap goods. In the early hours of Saturday morning, November 1, police say Jutting called them to the apartment. There they found a woman lying on the blood-splattered floor, later identified as 29-year-old Seneng Mujiasih. During a search of the apartment, officers uncovered another body hidden in a suitcase on the balcony. It's alleged 25-year-old Sumarti Ningsih was killed on October 27, five days before her body was found. Sumarti Ningsih was from Cilacap, in Central Java, and was the mother of a five-year-old girl. In a statement, her cousin, Jumiati, described her as "just an ordinary woman from Indonesia" who, like many others, was "forced to work abroad to feed her poor family and make her dream comes (sic) true." "She wanted to work as professional so she can earn money and dignity for her family," Jumiati wrote. "She is good girl and did not deserve this treatment." According to the Asian Migrant Coordinating Body, Ningsih was visiting Hong Kong as a tourist and had been due to fly back to Jakarta the day after her body was found. Last year, her grieving father, Ahmad Khaliman, told Agence France-Presse that his daughter had worked in Hong Kong as a domestic helper between 2011 and 2013. She'd since returned on two occasions, Khaliman said. He said the family had been shocked by her murder, and called for the perpetrator to be executed. "If not, I cannot accept it. He has already taken my daughter's life, so he has to pay with his life," he told CNN affiliate Trans7. Seneng Mujiasih had more recently worked as a domestic worker in Hong Kong but had overstayed her visa, according to the Asian Migrant Co-ordinating Body. Also known as Jesse Lorena, Mujiasih was from the city of Muna in Sulawesi province, in southeast Indonesia. Other than that, few details are known about her life and why she stayed on in Hong Kong. After news of their death spread, fellow domestic workers held a vigil in Hong Kong's Victoria Park. Around 200 people gathered to sing and pray, and lay flowers besides photos of the two women. The victims' bodies were buried after being repatriated to Indonesia in November. Before being taken into custody, Rurik Jutting lived in the upmarket J Residence in Wan Chai. He was detained at the scene, where police found the bodies of two women and seized a knife during a search of the premises. It's unclear when Jutting left his job as a trader at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch; a BoA spokesman would only confirm that a man of the same name had worked there in the past. Jutting's profile on LinkedIn said he haad been employed at the bank's structured equity finance and trading division in Hong Kong since July 2013. Before that, he worked in the same unit in London for three years. According to the profile, Jutting previously worked in capital markets for the British bank Barclays and studied history and law at the prestigious University of Cambridge, between 2004 and 2008. As part of the trial process, tests were conducted to determined if Jutting was psychologically fit to enter a plea. He was. The case was then adjourned to allow for more than 200 pieces of forensic and DNA evidence to be analyzed.

police say Rurik Jutting lived at the murder scene, an upmarket apartment in Wan Chai. he was detained

(CNN)"Jake the dog and Finn the human. The fun will never end. Adventure Time." So begins the dreamy theme song intro to the strangely addictive Cartoon Network TV show that's centered around psychedelic characters like the Ice King, Marceline the Vampire Queen and, of course, Jake and Finn. Now, mega-fans of the hit show can experience "Adventure Time" in the skies. Thai Smile, a subsidiary of Thailand flag carrier Thai Airways, on Thursday unveiled colorful new livery featuring Jake, Finn and the beloved Princess Bubblegum sprawled across an Airbus A320 at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The interior of the plane also has an Adventure Time theme, with overhead bins, head rests and even air sickness bags covered in the faces of characters from the show. Airlines show off their new flying colors . The Adventure Time plane is the result of a partnership between Thai Airways subsidiary Thai Smile and Cartoon Network Amazone, a new water park near the Thai resort city of Pattaya featuring attractions based on shows that appear on the Turner Broadcasting System channel. Turner Broadcasting is a parent company of CNN. Check out these cool airline liveries . The inaugural Thai Smile Adventure Time flight takes place on April 4, heading from Bangkok to Phuket.

Adventure Time is the result of a partnership between Thai Airways subsidiary Thai Smile and Cartoon Network. Thai Smile, a subsidiary of Thai

(CNN)Imprisoned soldier Chelsea Manning can now communicate with the world -- in 140 characters or less. Manning, who is serving a 35-year prison sentence for leaking thousands of classified documents, appears to have joined Twitter this week. In a series of tweets, the prisoner formerly known as Bradley Manning said she will be using a voice phone to dictate her tweets to communications firm Fitzgibbon Media, which will post them on her behalf. She is not allowed Internet access in prison, according to The Guardian. "It will be hard, but I don't want this Twitter feed to be a one-way street/conversation," Manning posted to her nearly 26,000-plus followers. Manning was sentenced in 2013, and in August of that year, she said she wanted to transition to a female. The Fort Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks in Kansas, where she is serving her sentence, has authorized hormone therapy for her treatment. Manning said she suffers from gender dysphoria. Her lawyers describe it as "the medical diagnosis given to individuals whose gender identity -- their innate sense of being male or female -- differs from the sex they were assigned at birth, causing clinically significant distress." Last year, a Kansas judge granted her request to be formally known as Chelsea Elizabeth Manning. The former Army intelligence analyst was convicted of stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of documents and videos to WikiLeaks in what has been described as the largest leak of classified material in U.S. history. She was found guilty of 20 of the 22 charges, including violations of the U.S. Espionage Act. Manning has written opinion pieces for The New York Times and The Guardian from prison.

convicted of stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of documents and videos to WikiLeaks. she is

(CNN)President Barack Obama tied himself to the mast of a nuclear deal with Iran even before he became the Democratic candidate for president. Reaching a good, solid agreement with Iran is a worthy, desirable goal. But the process has unfolded under the destructive influence of political considerations, weakening America's hand and strengthening Iran. Obama's political standing and his historic legacy in foreign policy are so deeply intertwined with reaching an accord with Iran that if the deal ultimately collapses, he may fear that historians will conclude that his legacy in global affairs collapsed with it. There is a reason one gets the feeling that it is the United States and not Iran that is the more eager, even desperate, side in these talks, even though Iran is the country whose economy was sent into a deep chill by international sanctions; the country whose only significant export, oil, lost more than half of its value in recent months. The reason is that Obama has a huge political stake in these negotiations. The President may insist that the United States will choose no deal over a bad deal, but few people truly believe he has a credible Plan B. Few believe it, particularly in the Middle East and notably among America's Arab friends, who hold the view that Iran is running circles around the United States and outplayed Obama. As the writer David Rothkopf aptly put it, "Iran is having a great Obama administration." That's a belief that has already started shaking up the region. Saudi Arabia has said that it will pursue nuclear weapons if it believes Iran has not been stopped, and there is little doubt that other countries among Iran's Muslim rivals will do the same. In fact, the notion that Obama is not handling the Iranian threat effectively is contributing to a new war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and other Arabs are trying to push back against gains by Iran's allies. We can trace it all back to the Democratic primaries in 2007, when then-Sen. Obama said he would meet Iran's leaders "without preconditions," leading his rival, Hillary Clinton, to call the idea "Irresponsible and frankly naive." As the years of his presidency unfolded, and the Middle East started coming apart, finding a deal with Iran started to look like the one major foreign policy achievement Obama might leave behind. The political imperative started to intrude in strategic considerations on an issue that is of transcendent importance to world peace. The framework agreement announced on Thursday came two days after Obama's March 31 deadline. The U.S.-imposed deadline served only to pressure the United States, and the French ambassador very publicly decried as a "bad tactic." That bad tactic was a political move, a push to produce some sort of result, however vague, to protect the talks from critics. Again, a solid agreement that ensures Iran will not produce nuclear weapons would be a most welcome development. But the agreement so far does not look promising. It certainly shows the final outcome will differ greatly from what Obama had vowed. In a presidential debate in 2012, Obama described a crystal clear goal for negotiations. "The deal we'll accept is they end their nuclear program. It's very straightforward." Nobody is talking about Iran ending its nuclear program. Not even close. Iran will be allowed to keep one-third of its more than 6,000 centrifuges. That's not a small symbolic number. And it does not appear as though any of its nuclear facilities will be dismantled, although Fordow will contain no nuclear materials. Iran has insisted all along that its nuclear program has only civilian uses. The fact is that Iran has a well-established record of lying and concealing the elements of its nuclear program to U.N. inspectors. And the U.N. agency chief says that has not stopped. A couple of weeks ago, with days left until the negotiating deadline, U.N. nuclear chief Yukiya Amano said Iran is still stonewalling. "We are still not in a position to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is [for a] peaceful purpose," he warned. The negotiations' starting point is that Iran would like to have the bomb and the international community wants to delay that as much as possible -- and preferably, forever. The world only learned about Iran's secret facilities at Arak and Natanz after dissidents raised the alarm. Iran, we have learned repeatedly, is very good at lying to international inspectors. It is well-established that it has had something to hide about its nuclear program. It is well-established that many of Iran's neighbors don't trust it and are anxious about the U.S.-led international dealings with Iran. It is well-established that Iran has engaged in international terrorism and in destabilizing the region. It is also clear that it took harsh international sanctions and a collapse in oil prices to bring Iran to the negotiating table. It was Iran that had the most to lose from a failure of talks. But political considerations turned the United States into the supplicant. The framework agreement starts lifting those indispensable sanctions much too soon. Nuclear enrichment will continue, although at a lower level. Iran officially, legally, becomes a nuclear threshold state, with the capability to make the final dash to a bomb within a "breakout" period of one year, the time when presumably inspectors would discover violation and allow the rest of the world to act. Even the Fordow facility, conveniently inside a fortified bunker in a mountain, will remain in existence, though "converted" to a nuclear "research facility" And without nuclear material on site. International sanctions lifting will begin almost immediately. Its nuclear infrastructure will remain largely in place, even if operating at a reduced pace, giving Iran much of what it wanted. With Iranian forces gaining ground in Arab lands and Iranian commanders declaring the destruction of Israel "nonnegotiable" and threatening Saudi Arabia, this deal does not look reassuring. Obama is right that a diplomatic solution is the most desirable option. But the deal so far looks like (another) win for Iran. It introduces enough restrictions that it could give the President the political cover he wants, but it does not do enough to make the world safe from nuclear proliferation and more potentially catastrophic instability in the Middle East.

a "bad tactic" and a "bad tactic," he says. he says a deal with Iran

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

Universal's "Furious 7" continues to build momentum at the box office for a weekend debut. "Furious

(CNN)Deion Sanders is such a dad. The NFL legend called out Deion Sanders Jr. on Twitter for saying he only eats "hood doughnuts." In response, the elder Sanders -- in front of his 912,000 followers -- reminded his son he has a trust fund, a condo and his own clothing line called "Well Off." "You're a Huxtable with a million $ trust fund. Stop the hood stuff!" Sanders followed it up with another tweet that included the hashtags #versacesheets #Huxtable and #Trustfund. Junior is a wide receiver at Southern Methodist University, an aspiring entrepreneur and occasional rapper. His Twitter timeline is a mix of biblical verses, motivational quotes and references to sports, cars, school and Balenciaga shoes. He also has gone on record with his love for "hood doughnuts," or confections from "a place in the hood," saying "if my doughnuts don't come in a plain white box, I don't want them!" His father promptly put him in his place. Sanders Jr. seemed to take the public browbeating in stride, retweeting his father's comments. At least he knew better than to delete them.

called out Deion Sanders Jr. on Twitter for saying he only eats "hood doughnuts" he reminded

(CNN)According to an outside review by Columbia Journalism School professors, "(a)n institutional failure at Rolling Stone resulted in a deeply flawed article about a purported gang rape at the University of Virginia." The Columbia team concluded that "The failure encompassed reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking." Hardly a ringing endorsement of the editorial process at the publication. The magazine's managing editor, Will Dana, wrote, "We would like to apologize to our readers and to all of those who were damaged by our story and the ensuing fallout, including members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and UVA administrators and students." Brian Stelter: Fraternity to 'pursue all available legal action' The next question is: . Can UVA, Phi Kappa Psi or any of the other fraternities on campus sue for defamation? The Virginia Supreme Court said in Jordan v. Kollman that "the elements of libel are (1) publication of (2) an actionable statement with (3) the requisite intent." "Actionable" means the statement must be both false and defamatory. Of course, the law of defamation must be balanced against the freedom of speech protected under not only the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, but also the Virginia Constitution. True statements cannot be defamatory. Neither can pure statements of opinion, because they theoretically cannot be either true or false. But the Rolling Stone article certainly purported to be fact, and it apparently is not exactly what the law considers "true." The individual members of the fraternity will likely be considered private individuals, and not public figures; the latter have a harder time proving defamation. A private person suing for defamation must establish that the defendant has published a false factual statement that is about the person and that it also harms the person's reputation. The private plaintiff also must show that the defendant knew that the statement was false, or believed it was true but lacked a reasonable basis, or acted negligently in checking the facts. At first blush, that sounds like it fits perfectly, right? The Columbia report may go a long way toward establishing at least a modicum of the required intent. But that's only half the battle. There are strict rules about who can be a plaintiff in a defamation action like this. The identity of the aspiring plaintiff matters. First, let's eliminate UVA. The university is a public university, and therefore it is a governmental entity. The Supreme Court has been clear on the issue of libelous statements about the government: The government cannot sue for defamation. There is no such cause of action in American jurisprudence. Now the fraternities, starting with Phi Kappa Psi. A fraternity is not an individual, but a group. A plaintiff in a defamation case must show that the statements were "of or concerning" the plaintiff. It sounds obvious, but if you're going to say a statement hurt you, you have to prove the statement actually was about you to begin with. When the statements are about a group without naming an individual, it's hard to say the statement is "concerning" the individual -- and groups generally cannot sue. For example, you can be sued if you call a specific lawyer a thief, but that same person cannot sue you if you simply call all lawyers thieves. Defamatory statements about a group are therefore not actionable by the group's individual members, for the most part. Like all rules, however, there are exceptions. If the defamatory language is about "a comparatively small group of persons and the defamatory part is easily imputed against all members of the small group, an individual member may sue." If I said, "The 1980 Philadelphia Phillies infielders were a bunch of criminals" (they weren't), the individual players could sue, because that mean statement is clearly about certain persons -- if I said that -- which I didn't. Phi Kappa Psi would likely argue that the "small group" exception fits it perfectly: Even if the individual members were not identified by name, the defamatory story has been imputed directly to individual members, who have suffered by their association with the group. On the other hand, Rolling Stone's lawyers would likely argue that the group is so large and fluid (after all, the membership changes somewhat every year), that even though the fraternity's reputation is tarnished, the members have suffered no individualized injury. As for the other fraternities on campus but not implicated in the story, that's likely a group that moves from the small category to large, and the members of Greek life generally will have a harder time bringing a lawsuit. Lawyers will tell you that a libel suit is one of those things that citizens often threaten each other with on Facebook, but that such cases are rarely actually filed. That's because a plaintiff usually has to show some kind of financial harm. So if your Aunt Edna calls you a loser on Twitter, you're going to have to spend money on an expert to explain to a jury how that actually damaged you financially. And since most of the people who waste time threatening each other with defamation suits on Facebook live in their moms' basements and are "between jobs," these are not the kind of people who have money or reputation to damage in the first place. The UVA situation is not your run-of-the-mill defamation case. The university won't be able to sue, but if the members of the fraternity can get past some of the preliminary hurdles of a defamation claim, and they can make a tangible case for damages, then this could be one of those rare successful defamation cases.

, but there are strict rules about who can be a plaintiff in a defamation case. a fraternity