(CNN)Han and Chewie are back. An ESPN reporter went on a regrettable rant. And we all taxed our brains trying to deduce the date of Cheryl's damn birthday. Here are pop culture's most talked-about stories of the week. Producers of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" unveiled a nearly two-minute trailer for the upcoming movie, arriving in December. When Harrison Ford shows up with Chewbacca at the end, you can almost hear the Internet's collective squeals. A logic problem from a Singapore math test somehow spread across the Web, leaving millions trying to figure out the hypothetical birthday of someone named Cheryl. We're guessing that most of us cheated and peeked at the answer. Who retires at age 34? Supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who walked what she says was her last fashion-show runway this week in her native Brazil. She'll still keep modeling, though -- and hanging out with her husband, who is apparently a football player of some kind. Oh, Britt McHenry. We all hate having our car towed. But for someone who's on air at ESPN, you don't seem to understand how to behave on camera. Speaking of McHenry, a new book by Jon Ronson explores how social media may go too far in encouraging haters to shame people who make public missteps. Ronson told CNN, "It's so corrosive to create that kind of society." The first set of female quintuplets in the world since 1969 was born in Houston, Texas. Just imagine how fun it'll be for their parents 16 years from now when they all start dating. Fire department, I need you now . Singer Hillary Scott of country band Lady Antebellum had to vacate her tour bus when it caught fire outside of Dallas. Most of her stuff was burned, but her Bible survived. To infinity and beyond . Famed physicist Stephen Hawking, known for his sense of humor, partnered with the silly lads of Monty Python to recreate the "Galaxy Song" from their 1983 film "The Meaning of Life." Duckie dances! Remember Duckie from "Pretty in Pink?" Of course you do. Actor Jon Cryer charmed fans on CBS's "Late Late Show" by reprising his character's record-store dance to Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness," right down to the wall-dancing and counter-bashing.

Summary: Here's a roundup of the week's trending pop-culture stories . They include a new "Star Wars" trailer and an ill-advised, on-camera rant .


(CNN)When Les Moonves sits down at a restaurant in Hollywood, it's usually the waiter's lucky night. As the president and CEO of CBS Corp., which includes Showtime, Moonves runs a powerful television network in a town where nearly every waiter also wants to be an actor. But when he walked into Craig's in West Hollywood last year, those roles were reversed. This time, Moonves' waiter, Gabriel Salvador, was the one serving up a mouthwatering opportunity that had nothing to do with the shrimp diavolo. Instead, he was offering Moonves an "in" to the most coveted match-up in boxing: Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao. "Moonves' love of boxing, our love of boxing -- that gave me the confidence to say to him 'Give me a chance,'" said Salvador, an actor who has appeared in "Bones" and "Blue Bloods." "I said 'I can help you make this fight happen,' and he looked at me like, 'Okay, I'm listening.'" That's when Salvador told Moonves his son trained at the Hollywood gym owned by Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, and that he would put in a good word for Moonves. At that point, Salvador told CNN, he was driven more by his passion to see the fight happen than any real connection to Roach. But he got Roach's phone number from his son, Elijah, who was skeptical of his father's plan. Everybody had already tried, his son said. But Salvador made the call and gained an audience in Roach. "I said, 'Listen, I can help you make this fight happen,'" Salvador said in an interview with CNN. Salvador helped set up a meeting between Moonves, Roach and himself at Scarpetta in Beverly Hills that he says began with a discussion about the legacy of boxing. "Mr. Moonves said to me, 'If this fight happens, you're going to be sitting there,'" said Salvador. Salvador's role ended after that dinner. What followed was a series of meetings between Moonves and both sides that eventually ended the stalemate keeping Pacquiao and Mayweather from entering the same ring. The May 2 fight -- on the pay-per-view services of Showtime and HBO -- is expected to gross as much as $600 million. With that kind of money, and a smattering of media buzz around Salvador's story, inevitable questions circulated over what, if any, reward he should get, given the epic nature of the fight. When asked to comment, Pacquiao's team downplayed Salvador's role. "For him giving Les my phone number I don't think he deserves a finder's fee," Roach told CNN. Promoter Bob Arum said Salvador "got his 10 minutes of fame," though he called Salvador "a really nice guy." Salvador insists he is not seeking money, and a CBS spokesman confirmed his role in the initial meeting. "My reward will be sitting at the fight," Salvador said. Moonves made good on that promise -- Salvador will be ringside on Saturday night. "It's about taking a chance," Salvador said. "It's about putting people in touch with each other and being able to sit back and say, 'Wow, I planted that seed.'"

Summary: Gabriel Salvador set up an initial meeting between a TV exec and Manny Pacquiao's trainer . Salvador is an actor and waiter at Craig's restaurant in Los Angeles .


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

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


(CNN)Kanye West has settled a lawsuit with a paparazzi photographer he assaulted -- and the two have shaken on it. The photographer, Daniel Ramos, had filed the civil suit against West after the hip-hop star attacked him and tried to wrestle his camera from him in July 2013 at Los Angeles International Airport. West pleaded no contest last year to a misdemeanor count of battery over the scuffle. A judge sentenced him to two years' probation, as well as anger management sessions and community service. Ramos and his lawyer, Gloria Allred, sought general and punitive damages in the civil suit, saying that West had interfered with the photographer's rights to pursue a lawful occupation. The case had been set for trial next week, but Allred issued a statement Tuesday night saying Ramos' side had filed a dismissal "because the case was settled to the satisfaction of the parties." She didn't disclose the details of the settlement other than saying that "one important aspect of it was an apology by Kanye West to our client, Daniel Ramos." Her statement included a picture of West and Ramos shaking hands, which she said happened after the apology. The original incident was caught on video, including the following exchange. "Kanye! Kanye! Talk to me, Kanye!" Ramos shouts outside a terminal at the Los Angeles airport on the night of July 19, 2013. "What's' going on? Why can't we talk to you? I mean, why?" he asks as West moves through a group of paparazzi. "Now come on, Kanye, I don't want to fight with you," he says as West advances toward him. "I told you, don't talk to me, right," West says. "You're trying to get me in trouble so I step off and have to pay you like $250,000." West is then seen rushing the photographer and attempting to wrestle his camera from his hands. West retreats after about 15 seconds of scuffling with the photographer. "We believe that this case sent an important message," Allred said. "Celebrities are not above the law, and they have no right to physically attack someone simply because they were asked a question." Beverly Hills Police investigated an incident in January 2014 in which West was accused of assaulting a man at a Beverly Hills chiropractor's office. West avoided criminal charges by reaching a civil settlement with the man. Kanye West apologizes to Beck, Bruno Mars . CNN's Sonya Hamasaki contributed to this report.

Summary: The rapper assaulted the photographer at Los Angeles International Airport in 2013 . West apologized as part of the settlement, the photographer's lawyer says .


(CNN)Was it politics or something else? No one is sure, but the headstone of Hillary Clinton's father, Hugh Rodham, was found tipped over this week, just a couple of days after she announced her run for the White House. "It was just laying down just right like that, boom," Paul McGloin told CNN affiliate WNEP. "I pass here five, six times a day because I live two blocks from here and when I looked I couldn't believe it, to see that it was tipped over." McGloin said he's tended to the grave site at the Washburn Street Cemetery in Scranton, Pennsylvania, since Rodham was buried there in 1993. Police are investigating, but no other headstones were knocked over. Police Chief Carl Graziano told The Scranton Times-Tribune that he suspects vandalism. "I'm not sure how else it would have fallen over," he said. Still, police will look into the possibility that it was weather-related. Funeral director Neil Regan also said vandalism is the most-likely cause, not the weather. "The more I thought about it, there were no serious winds or weather events," he said. "Paul McGloin told me he had driven by here 8 o'clock (Monday) morning and the stone was in place." McGloin believes it's no coincidence that it happened within days of Clinton announcing her second presidential bid. "And all of a sudden the headstone is tipped over, two days later," he said. "As long as I`ve been coming here, the headstone has been pretty secure around the base of it." CNN's Greg Morrison contributed to this report .

Summary: Hugh Rodham's tombstone is found tipped over in Scranton, Pennsylvania . It was reported two days after Hillary Clinton announced her presidential bid .


(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.

Summary: Frida Ghitis: President Barack Obama is right to want a deal, but this one gives Iran too much . She says the framework agreement starts lifting Iran sanctions much too soon .


Washington (CNN)One former employee of the private Blackwater Worldwide security company was sentenced Monday to life in prison and three others to 30 years each behind bars for their roles in a 2007 mass shooting in Baghdad that left 17 people dead. A federal jury convicted the four in October after a lengthy trial that saw some 30 witnesses travel from Iraq to testify against the security contractors. Prosecutors accused the men of illegally unleashed "powerful sniper fire, machine guns and grenade launchers on innocent men, women and children." Senior U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced Blackwater sniper Nicholas Slatten to a term of life in prison, mandatory for his first-degree murder conviction. Blackwater workers Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were sentenced to 30 year each, plus one day. Slough was convicted of 13 counts of voluntary manslaughter, 17 counts of attempted manslaughter and a firearms offense. The jury convicted Liberty of eight counts of voluntary manslaughter, 12 counts of attempted manslaughter and a firearms offense. Heard was found guilty of six counts of voluntary manslaughter, 11 counts of attempted manslaughter and a firearms offense. According to prosecutors, the four were among seven Blackwater employees who opened fire in the Nusoor Square traffic circle in Baghdad, killing 17 people. An FBI investigation found 14 of the deaths unjustified, according to rules of engagement for private security contractors in Iraq. Slatten was accused of firing the first shots. Survivors of shooting tell FBI their stories in 2007 . Blackwater said its convoy came under attack, and defense attorneys said in court that witness accounts were fabricated. But witnesses testified that the contractors opened fire without provocation. "It was horror," said Hasan Jaber, an attorney who was driving to work when he was shot three times. "People running out of their cars were being shot at. ... Anything that moved in Nusoor Square was shot. Women, children, young people, they shot everyone." Among the dead were two boys, 9 and 11, a doctor, a used car salesman, a truck driver, a businessman, an Iraqi soldier, a gardener, a taxi driver and an aspiring doctor taking his mother to an appointment, according to prosecutors. The parents and brothers of the 9-year-old victim were present in court during the sentencing hearing and spoke. Ali Razzaq's father looked at the defendants and yelled in broken English: "If I kill anyone in his family, what he do?! Today, we will see who will win, the law or Blackwater," he said. "Blackwater killed my son." Dad in 2007: Blackwater blew up son's and wife's 'skulls' The defense presented character witnesses, family members and former colleagues who testified to the defendants' capacity to work under fire and willingness to help others. Each defendant also gave a closing statement. Slatten addressed the court last, taking the opportunity to declare his innocence. Lamberth rejected his argument. The judge said that the punishments reflected the seriousness of the crimes. He said that the U.S. government "should be commended for finding and exposing the truth of what happened." Blackwater incident witness

Summary: Blackwater sniper Nicholas Slatten is sentenced to life in prison, mandatory for his first-degree murder conviction . Three others get 30 years plus one day in the 2007 shooting in Baghdad that left 17 dead .


(CNN)It's a good thing -- a lucky thing -- that a bystander had the courage and presence of mind to record the shocking video that shows a white police officer, Michael Slager, gunning down and killing an apparently unarmed black man named Walter Scott after a traffic stop in North Charleston, South Carolina. And the resulting national wave of revulsion and indignation -- along with the prompt arrest of Slager on murder charges -- is a welcome and appropriate response. But the event raises broad, troubling questions about how often such incidents take place without the benefit of a third-party recording. It's not supposed to be a mystery: More than 20 years ago, Congress approved a law, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, signed by President Bill Clinton, that requires the federal Justice Department to collect data on deaths caused by police. The law has never truly been implemented, leaving us with patchy information about particular episodes rather than a comprehensive sense of how race and policing play out in America. "What happened here today doesn't happen all the time. What if there was no video? What if there was no witness -- or hero, as I call him -- to come forward?" said L. Chris Stewart, an attorney for Scott's family. "As you can see, the initial (police) reports stated something totally different." That's putting it mildly. In early police statements -- issued before the video came to light -- Slager reportedly said that Scott attacked him, that he fired only after a scuffle and that cops made medical efforts to revive Scott. The video makes hash of those claims, and likely contributed to Slager's swift arrest and pending murder charges. "When you're wrong, you're wrong," said North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey. That leaves Slager to face murder charges that could land him on death row -- and the rest of us to face a disturbing reality. I'm all for having police use body cameras, although they are not a magic cure for preventing or stopping the excessive use of force. But the much bigger problem is that we simply don't know when and where police killings take place, or whether they cluster in particular cities or states. And that means we don't know for certain whether unjustified or excessive force correlates with particular forms of officer training or detectable underlying racial bias. We don't even know the role played by officers operating under stressful conditions or while dealing with mental or physical illness. These vital questions aren't supposed to be a mystery. According to Section 210402 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, "The Attorney General shall, through appropriate means, acquire data about the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers. ... The Attorney General shall publish an annual summary of the data acquired under this section." That section of the law has effectively been ignored, beyond a first attempt at a comprehensive report published in 1996. By 2001, a New York Times article noted that when it comes to police

Summary: Errol Louis: By chance a bystander video caught South Carolina officer shooting apparently unarmed black man . Federal law on reporting of such shootings goes unenforced -- how many instances do we never hear about? he asks . Louis: It's long past time for officials to tell the truth -- even when there's no video .


(CNN)It's not easy being the Pope. Not only does he shepherd nearly 1 billion Catholic souls, he also leads a small but morally significant state with envoys and interests in nearly every country. As scholars like to say, the Vatican has walked the line between spiritual and worldly concerns for centuries. Sometimes, as when St. John Paul II stood up to Communist Poland, the church's moral and political clout have combined to pack a powerful punch. At other times, popes have to make a hard choice: Adopt the sharp tongue of a prophet or the discretion of a diplomat? This Sunday in Rome, Pope Francis faced just such a dilemma. First, the back story: . One hundred years ago, more than 1 million Armenians (some estimates run as high as 1.5 million) died at the hand of the Turks. Many of the victims were part of a branch of Christianity closely aligned with Catholicism. A slew of historians and at least 20 countries call the killings a "genocide." (A U.S. resolution to do the same has languished in Congress.) Turkish officials disagree, arguing that the deaths, while unfortunate, were part of a long-running war that witnessed casualties on all sides. For their part, previous popes had finessed the genocide question. John Paul II used the "g" word in 2001, but didn't dare speak it out loud. Instead, it was tucked into a document signed by the former pontiff and the head of the Armenian church, after they had celebrated Mass together. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI called the killings "a great evil" and "terrible persecution" in a speech 2006, but avoided labeling them genocide. (Benedict found other ways to tick off the Turks, initially opposing their entry into the European Union.) As Pope Francis prepared to celebrate a special Mass Sunday to commemorate a century since the slaughter, Vatican watchers were divided about whether he would use the word "genocide." He did, but in a roundabout way, by quoting John Paul's document. "In the past century, our human family has lived through three massive and unprecedented tragedies," Francis said. "The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th century,' struck your own Armenian people." The middle phrase comes directly from the document issued 14 years ago by John Paul. In citing his predecessor, Francis highlighted one of the Vatican's chiefest concerns, especially on matters of moral import: continuity. Whether holding the line against artificial birth control, declining to ordain female priests or dealing with diplomatic tensions, it sometimes seems as if the church considers inconsistency the most unforgivable of sins. "The Vatican and the papacy love continuity," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, a Vatican analyst for National Catholic Reporter. If Francis had not called the Armenian killings a genocide, particularly at such a high-profile event -- the audience included Armenia's President -- it might have been interpreted as a change in church policy, Reese said. At the same time, Francis didn't want to anger the Turks more than necessary, especially since they have become a key ally against the persecution

Summary: Previous popes had finessed the question of whether the killing of 1.5 million Armenians was genocide. Because he often shines such a smiley face on the world, it can be easy to forget the bluntness Francis sometimes brings to the bully pulpit .


(CNN)Pope Francis risked Turkish anger on Sunday by using the word "genocide" to refer to the mass killings of Armenians a century ago under the Ottoman Empire. "In the past century, our human family has lived through three massive and unprecedented tragedies," the Pope said at a Mass at St. Peter's Basilica to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian massacres. "The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th century,' struck your own Armenian people," he said, referencing a 2001 declaration by Pope John Paul II and the head of the Armenian church. His use of the term genocide -- even though he was quoting from the declaration -- upset Turkey. The nation recalled its ambassador to the Vatican for "consultations" just hours after Francis' comments, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. Earlier, Turkey summoned the ambassador from the Vatican for a meeting, Turkish state broadcaster TRT reported. Turkey's former ambassador to the Vatican, Kenan Gursoy, told CNN in a telephone interview that while it is the first time Turkey has summoned its ambassador home from the Vatican, "This does not mean that our diplomatic ties with the Vatican are over." "Since this is a situation that we do not approve of, as a first reaction, (the ambassador) is summoned to get consultation," Gursoy said, adding that the Pope's use of the word "genocide" was "a one-sided evaluation." In a tweet Sunday on his official account, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the Pope's use of the word "unacceptable" and "out of touch with both historical facts and legal basis." "Religious offices are not places through which hatred and animosity are fueled by unfounded allegations," the tweet reads. This consternation over the use of the word 'genocide' occurs regularly. And Armenians are equally upset, when Turkey protests it. Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian rebuked Turkey. "We are in a situation in which Turkey speaks a different language from the rest of the international community and it seems that it doesn't understand that it is speaking a different language," he said to Italian News Agency Adnkronos. "During these past days there have been several international organizations that adopt resolutions or issue statements that recognize the Armenian genocide and that appeal to Turkey to make this step," he said. "The Pope's statement are in this context of universal value. When Turkey is able to understand this, it will be able to understand what the International community and big personalities (or better translations 'leaders') are saying." Armenian groups and many scholars say that Turks planned and carried out genocide, starting in 1915, when more than a million ethnic Armenians were massacred in the final years of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey officially denies that a genocide took place, saying hundreds of thousands of Armenian Christians and Turkish Muslims died in intercommunal violence around the bloody battlefields of World War I. The Armenian government and influential Armenian diaspora groups have urged countries around the world to formally label the 1915 events as genocide. Turkey has responded with pressure of its own against such moves.

Summary: Former Turkish ambassador to the Vatican calls use of the word "genocide" a "one-sided evaluation" Pope discusses massacres of Armenians a century after they took place . Turkey denies the mass killings constituted a genocide .


(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.

Summary: 17 Americans were exposed to the Ebola virus while in Sierra Leone in March . Another person was diagnosed with the disease and taken to hospital in Maryland . National Institutes of Health says the patient is in fair condition after weeks of treatment .


(CNN)Eleven channels associated with the French-language global television network TV5Monde went black late Wednesday due to an "extremely powerful cyberattack," the network's director said. In addition to its 11 channels, TV5Monde also temporarily lost control of its social media outlets and its websites, director Yves Bigot said in a video message posted later on Facebook. On a mobile site, which was still active, the network said it was "hacked by an Islamist group." ISIS logos and markings could be seen on some TV5Monde social media accounts. But there was no immediate claim of responsibility by ISIS or any other group. The outage began around 10 p.m. Paris time (4 p.m. ET), and network teams were still working to restore service more than five hours later. According to France's Ministry of Culture and Communications, TV5Monde offers round-the-clock entertainment, news and culturing programming in French that reaches 260 million homes worldwide. It functions under a partnership that consists of the governments of France, Canada and Switzerland, as well as the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. Other networks that provide content to TV5Monde include CNN affiliates France 2 and France 3, France 24 and Radio France International.

Summary: TV5Monde went black late Wednesday and was still out hours later . The network blames an "Islamist group"; there's no claim of responsibility .


Boston (CNN)Adrianne Haslet-Davis and her husband, Adam Davis, were standing near the finish line on the day of the Boston Marathon bombing. Her feet were sore from wearing 4.5-inch heels. Still, they walked to Boylston Street to watch the runners. "We were so in love and happy together," she told a federal jury Wednesday. It was the second day the Boston jury heard a procession of heartbreaking loss -- the survivors and families of those killed when twin bombs planted by the pair of brothers named Tsarnaev exploded near the finish line. The jury must decide whether bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 21, should live or die for what he has done. Haslet-Davis and Davis, who had just returned from a tour in Afghanistan with the Air Force, were steps away from the explosion near the Forum restaurant. She recalled the force of the blast that killed three people and injured over 200 that April day in 2013. She knew right away it was a terrorist attack. Screams and heavy smoke filled the air. She couldn't hear her own screams. She thought she was dead. When her husband, who also was injured, lifted her leg, he too let out a scream. She said she thought he was in shock. She rolled over onto her stomach and crawled over broken glass, shredding her arms. She dragged herself to the Forum. "I saw all five of my toes, but I saw a lot of blood," she said. "I didn't see my ankle." A ballroom dancer, Haslet-Davis' left leg would later be amputated below the knee. Inside the Forum, Haslet-Davis begged for whiskey. "I just wanted the pain to go away. I only begged for the whiskey when I thought I was going to die." When someone removed Adam's shoe, an artery was spurting blood. His face got whiter and whiter, she said. His eye rolled back. She thought he was dead. At a hospital, she called her parents on her cellphone. She told them she was in a terrorist attack. "I don't think I have a left foot anymore," she told her father. "I'm in really bad shape and I really need to talk to you because this might be it." Her father told her he was driving and it was illegal to pull over. "I don't care if it's illegal. I need to talk to you because these might be our last words. I said I was in a terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon and Adam is dead and this might be it for me." Haslet-Davis told the jury that, at the Forum, her husband kept telling her he was sorry. "That was all he could say. That he loved me. He was so sorry." Her husband, she said, has since "bravely admitted himself into a mental facility at the VA hospital." After her testimony, Haslet-Davis walked slowly off the stand. She appeared to glare at Tsarnaev, who did not look at her. Earlier this week, prosecutors showed jurors an image of Tsarnaev taken when he was in a holding cell. It was dated

Summary: Jurors in sentencing phase in Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's trial hear of loss . Victims testify about the impact of the bombing on their lives .


(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

Summary: The song rules the chart for 13th week . It passes Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" Song three weeks from potentially tying "One Sweet Day" for record .


Rome (CNN)A destination for the destitute, Sicily is the "promised land" for thousands of migrants and refugees making the desperate journey from North Africa to Europe's Mediterranean coast. More than 10,000 people have arrived from Libya since last weekend alone, according to the Italian Coast Guard. Stories of death at sea and unimaginable suffering are nothing new in the waters between North Africa and Italy; boat people have been arriving on Italy's islands for more than a decade. But what makes the current influx different is the increase in numbers and the absence of control from the ports of embarkation, specifically those in Libya, because when Moammar Gadhafi was in control, he also controlled the flow of migrant ships. In 2008, the-then Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Gadhafi signed an historic friendship agreement in which Italy promised to invest $5 billion in Libyan infrastructure and Gadhafi promised to close what he described as a "spigot" of migrants. During a three-day state visit to Italy in August 2010, he famously threatened to "turn Europe black" if Libya did not enjoy cordial relations with the European Union. After the agreement, Gadhafi kept his promise and the number of arrivals drastically decreased. For a time, almost all migrant arrivals came from Tunisia, just 70 miles from the Italian island of Lampedusa. Because Italy sent most of those migrants who did not qualify for political asylum back to Tunisia, the flow eventually tapered off. And once a new Tunisian government was in place, after the Arab Spring, Italy signed an accord with Tunisia in which they promised to help patrol Tunisia's ports. But after Gadhafi was overthrown, the flow of migrants from Libya exploded again: the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Rome told CNN that more than 140,000 migrants arrived from the North Africa coast in 2011. In October 2013, after a tragic boat accident off the coast of Lampedusa in which 349 people -- including an infant still attached to its mother by the umbilical cord -- died, trapped like sardines in their smugglers' boat as it sank, Italy decided it had to act. In November of 2013, the Italian Navy launched a €9M-a-month search-and-rescue program called Mare Nostrum, in which Italian naval ships patrolled the seas to rescue migrants. In just one year, the program rescued more than 160,000 migrants, according to the Italian Navy. Due to budget constraints and criticism from the European Union that the program itself was encouraging migrants to head across the Mediterranean, the mission ended in October 2014. By the end of the year, more than 174,000 people had been rescued in Italy; an estimated 3,072 people died making the journey, according to the IOM. In November last year, the European Union's border control, Frontex, started its own mission -- Triton -- with a budget of less than a third that of Mare Nostrum. Frontex has no vessels or surveillance equipment of its own, so has to rely on European member states to lend them ships; a ship from Iceland, at the far north of the continent,

Summary: Tens of thousands of migrants and refugees risk the perilous journey across the Mediterranean every year . Many make the trip in dangerous boats owned by people smugglers; thousands have died along the way in recent years .


(CNN)No identification, no Social Security card and only a box to live on. John Helinski was homeless and nameless for three years. Suddenly, he's set to buy his own place and collect a nice pension. Helinski hit it big thanks to the Social Security Administration, and a big-hearted cop and a case worker determined to untangle major bureaucracy. Charles Inman could not bear to see his 62-year-old ward land back on the street, he told CNN affiliate WFTS. The shelter where the case worker works set Helinski up with a bunk and a locker. But getting him into the system was hard, because Helinski's ID and Social Security cards had been stolen. "He needed to have an identification, but we couldn't get an identification without a birth certificate," Inman said. A hassle all by itself, except that Helinski was foreign born -- in Poland, as an American citizen. "We first had to figure out that we needed a consular record of foreign birth or something like that," said Tampa police Officer Dan McDonald, who pitched in to help Helinski. With those papers squared away, he and Inman got Helinski a driver's license and a Social Security card. Then, Helinski remembered that he used to have an account with a certain Landmark Bank. "Then it became Bank of America," he said. The account was still there, and the Social Security Administration hadn't forgotten about him. It had kept paying Helinski benefits for years, and they had stacked up high. Now Helinski is thinking of buying his own four walls. And he'll have monthly benefits to live on. "I guess I'm exhilarated, excited, you know," he said. McDonald said he and Inman were stunned. "We weren't quite sure what to say."

Summary: John Helinski's ID and Social Security cards had been stolen . His case worker and a cop had to get foreign ID papers to get him a driver's license . Then Helinski remembered a bank account he used to have .


(CNN)In Russia's tightly-managed democracy, where being an opposition politician can seriously damage your health, chances to question the country's leader are rare. President Vladimir Putin cuts an isolated figure, closely guarded behind the walls of the Kremlin, traveling to-and-fro by helicopter or high-speed motorcade. His almost daily appearances on state television often show him in formal meetings with subordinates, or visiting dignitaries. Interaction with ordinary Russians is usually carefully controlled and fleeting. That is why this annual Q&A session -- in which Putin will spend hours fielding questions from the general public on live television -- is such a widely anticipated event which provokes such excitement. It is direct access to the Russian leader, or at least as direct as most Russians will ever get. In recent years, sitting in a shiny studio surrounded by a hand-picked audience of soldiers, doctors, teachers, factory workers and so on, Putin has held forth on subjects from parenting to food prices, to relations with America. Last year he spoke for three hours and 55 minutes. In 2013, it was a record-breaking 4 hours and 47 minutes. Organizers say this year, public interest is especially strong. At one call center in Moscow, where the public are encouraged to pitch their Putin questions, officials say more than 200,000 questions were submitted in the first hour after lines opened. The Kremlin says they will have to sift through well over 1.7 million emails, video messages and texts to decide who gets to ask what on the big day. A few would-be questions released ahead of the event give us a flavor of what's on Russia's mind. One man, who identifies himself as Vitaly from the Leningrad region, asks: "Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin's middle name), why are prices going up in the shops but wages are staying the same?" Sanctions and Russia's deep economic crisis, which saw the value of the Russian currency, the ruble, plunge in value by 50% against the dollar, is set to be a major a theme. So too is foreign policy. With Moscow at odds with the West over Ukraine, some of the released questions show how concerned ordinary Russians are about their country's place in the world. One unidentified schoolgirl asks: "Is there a threat to Russia's interests from the United States and Europe? And will there be a new Iron Curtain?" It's not just Russian schoolchildren who want to hear Putin's answer. Critics of the Kremlin, of course, slam this entire event as Russia's imitation of democracy in action. It's hard to imagine a truly critical question, they say, getting aired on national television here. In fact, its best not to look at this event as an opportunity for Russians to question their leader at all. Instead, it is more like a highly produced, highly choreographed chance for their leader to speak to them, and to the world. Sometimes, the Kremlin likes to throw in a nasty surprise, too. Last year saw NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, granted asylum in Russia, address Putin by videolink. Who knows who may pop up this time.

Summary: Putin to spend hours fielding questions from the general public on live television . Sanctions and Russia's deep economic crisis likely to be a major theme . Critics of the Kremlin slam event as Russia's imitation of democracy in action .


(CNN)Recently, Robert Kennedy Jr. was in Sacramento, California, to campaign against Senate Bill 227, which makes it harder for parents to opt out of vaccinations. In his remarks at an anti-vaccination movie screening, he decided to compare "vaccine-induced" autism to the Holocaust. He said, "They get the shot, that night they have a fever of a hundred and three, they go to sleep, and three months later their brain is gone," Kennedy said. "This is a holocaust, what this is doing to our country." A few days later, he apologized to people who were outraged on behalf of the memory of the Holocaust. To many, it's sacrilege to compare any lesser issue to the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis. In a statement, Kennedy said, "I want to apologize to all whom I offended by my use of the word to describe the autism epidemic. I employed the term during an impromptu speech as I struggled to find an expression to convey the catastrophic tragedy of autism, which has now destroyed the lives of over 20 million children and shattered their families." Robert Kennedy Jr. has apologized for the wrong things. First and foremost, vaccines do not cause autism. The two have nothing to do with each other. Second, he seems to think people with autism are "gone," their lives "destroyed" and their families "shattered." Autism is not a death sentence. People with autism are not missing or destroyed. They are everywhere, trying to live their lives in a society that too often demeans them as subhuman, missing or worthless. Kennedy's rhetoric is a problem, even beyond the fraudulent basis for his claims about vaccines. People who believe autism is an environmental disease try to cure kids with quack treatments like giving them bleach-based enemas. Others, believing autism functions as a death sentence, even kill their children. I am worried about the effect of having such a powerful, high-profile member of our political class endorse this demeaning depiction of life with autism. I reached out to a number of autistic activists for comment. Ari Ne'eman, president of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, wrote, "Robert Kennedy Jr, who has engaged with autism only to spread lies, misinformation and dehumanizing rhetoric, has never meaningfully engaged in efforts to improve the lives of autistic Americans. While his father, uncle and many others in the Kennedy-Shriver family championed the rights of people with disabilities, he has instead cast his lot with those who use pseudo-science to question our humanity." These are harsh words, but try to see the situation through Ne'eman's eyes. Not only is Kennedy perpetuating a discredited theory, but he's also suggesting that it's better to let your children get preventable and sometimes fatal diseases than risk becoming autistic. The usual response to people like Ne'eman is that he is "high functioning," but what of the burden to families who are struggling to care for less able individuals? Henry Frost, an autistic teenager and writer, is devastated by this focus on burden. Last year, he wrote a post to other autistic children: "Know you are not

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


(CNN)Remember the Tuskegee syphilis experiment from the 1930s? Scientists studied poor African-Americans in Alabama who'd contracted the venereal disease but didn't tell them they had the disease or do anything to cure them. A lawsuit filed this week alleges Johns Hopkins University and the Rockefeller Foundation helped conduct a similar study in Guatemala from 1945 to 1956. Orphans, inmates, psychiatric patients and prostitutes were deliberately infected with sexually transmitted diseases to determine what drugs, including penicillin, worked best in stopping the diseases, the lawsuit says. The subjects of the experiments weren't told they'd been infected, the lawsuit says, causing some to die and others to pass the disease to their spouses, sexual partners and children. The suit seeks more than $1 billion in damages and has 774 plaintiffs, including people who were subjects in the experiments and their descendants. This is the second attempt to collect damages. In 2012, a class-action federal lawsuit was filed against the U.S. government over the Guatemala experiments conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service. A judge dismissed it, saying the Guatemalans could not sue the United States for grievances that happened overseas. The new lawsuit was filed in the Baltimore City Circuit Court. Johns Hopkins and the Rockefeller Foundation filed statements on their websites condemning the experiments, but denying responsibility. "The plaintiffs' essential claim in this case is that prominent Johns Hopkins faculty members' participation on a government committee that reviewed funding applications was tantamount to conducting the research itself and that therefore Johns Hopkins should be held liable," the Johns Hopkins statement said. "Neither assertion is true." The lawsuit alleges the Rockefeller Foundation funded Johns Hopkins' research into public health issues, including venereal disease, and employed scientists who monitored the Guatemala experiments. The lawsuit, the Rockefeller Foundation statement said, "seeks improperly to assign 'guilt by association' in the absence of compensation from the United States federal government." The suit says Johns Hopkins and the Rockefeller Foundation designed, supported and benefited from the Guatemala experiments. Bristol-Myers Squibb pharmaceutical group and that company's owner, Mead Johnson, also are defendants. The pharmaceutical company supplied drugs for the experiments, the suit says. On Saturday, a spokeswoman for Bristol-Myers Squibb sent this statement to CNN: "We've only just received the complaint in this matter. Bristol-Myers Squibb played an important role in the development of penicillin in the past and today we continue to focus our work on developing breakthrough medicines for serious disease. As a company dedicated to patients, we take this matter very seriously and are reviewing the allegations." Nobody doubts the experiments happened. In 2010, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized to Guatemala for the experiments, saying they were "clearly unethical." In the 1930s and 1940s, the government followed a policy of funding scientific medical research but not controlling individual doctors, the suit says. The lawsuit says John Hopkins controlled and influenced the appointed panels that authorized funding for research into venereal disease. The lawsuit says prostitutes were infected to intentionally spread the disease and that syphilis spirochetes were injected into the spinal fluid of subjects. A woman

Summary: Lawsuit says scientists infected hundreds of Guatemalans with sexually transmitted diseases . A similar lawsuit filed against the U.S. government was dismissed .


Tokyo (CNN)A week after a Japanese court issued a landmark injunction halting plans to restart two nuclear reactors in a western prefecture, a different court has rejected a petition by residents to delay the reactivation of reactors in the country's southwest. Kagoshima District Court found no "irrationalities" in new safety standards set out by the government in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima meltdowns, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported. By dismissing resident's demands, the court ruled that the Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima could restart. The first of two reactors is scheduled to go back online in July. The ruling could provide a fillip to the government's plans to bring Japanese nuclear reactors back into operation, more than four years since the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that caused the failure at TEPCO's Fukushima plant. The original court ruling, which affects the Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture, cited safety concerns as the reason for the injunction, a court official told CNN. Japan's nuclear watchdog, the Nuclear Regulation Authority, had previously given a green light to the reopening of reactors 3 and 4 of the Kansai Electric Power Company's plant. But locals successfully petitioned the court in Fukui, raising concerns about whether the reactors would survive a strong earthquake. Japan's 48 nuclear reactors are offline in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in 2011, when a tsunami triggered by a massive earthquake sent a wall of water crashing into the power plant. Since then, the island nation has imported greater amounts of expensive natural gas and coal to meet its energy needs. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed for a return to nuclear energy, arguing it is essential to the country's economic recovery to reduce the skyrocketing utility bills associated with energy imports. But opinion polls have consistently shown public opposition to a nuclear restart. Keith Henry, managing director of Tokyo-based Asia Strategy, which advises businesses on Japanese public policy issues, says the decision will force Abe to rethink the economics of his energy policy. "That was a body blow (for Abe) because it's no longer a political issue, it's a legal issue. It changes the calculus and the dynamics," he said. "It's now in the courts. And the government is powerless to do anything about it." READ MORE: Power company abandons robot stranded inside Fukushima plant . Anti-nuclear activists celebrated following the Fukui District Court's decision in their favor Tuesday. The nuclear plant operator had argued in court that the plant was safe, meeting heightened safety regulations introduced by the nuclear watchdog following the Fukushima disaster. It said in a statement that "scientific and professional findings" showed that the safety of the reactors was assured. But the court ruled that the new safety standards were "loose," lacked rationality and could not guarantee the safety of the plant, an official said. The power company said it would appeal the decision. "We deeply regret that our assertion was not well comprehended, and cannot accept it at all," it said in a statement. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters Tuesday that the country's

Summary: A Japanese court has rejected a petition by residents to delay the reactivation of reactors in the country's southwest . The reopening of two other nuclear reactors in Fukui was recently blocked by a Japanese court over safety fears . Japan's 48 nuclear reactors have been offline in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster .


(CNN)He might have just won one of sport's most prestigious events, but it wasn't long before Jordan Spieth's thoughts turned to his autistic sister in the glow of victory. The 21-year-old golfer equaled Tiger Woods' 1997 record winning score of 18 under par to realize his childhood ambitions of donning the green jacket on Sunday as he swept through the field to become Masters champion at Augusta. An ice-cool display made him the second-youngest winner -- behind only Woods, who was 155 days younger that year -- and only the fifth man to have led from start to finish over the tournament's four days. "I miss her a lot, and I wish she could have been here," Spieth told CNN's Don Riddell in the aftermath of his triumph as he opened up about younger sibling Ellie, who was not able to attend the tournament. "But I can't wait to get back to her and maybe let her try on the jacket. "I'll have to bring her back a present from here. That's what she'll be expecting." Amid all the pressure of playing professional golf, Spieth's 14-year-old sister provides him with perspective. "How has she shaped my upbringing? Well, she's the most special part of our family. She's the funniest part of our family," he said. "I love having her around. She's an incredible sister, my biggest supporter. She is somebody who you can watch and then reflect on the big picture of life and understand that all these frustrations in a day, or in a round of golf, are really secondary. "We wouldn't have that realization without her." At the age of just 14, the prodigy from Texas -- who was named after basketball legend Michael Jordan -- had been clear about what he wanted: his aim was to take the Masters title one day. And he betrayed virtually no sign of nerves throughout his stunningly dominant performance, letting slip only a muttered "oh dear" when he marginally sliced a tee shot halfway through the final round. Last year, Spieth lost the lead just before the nine-hole turn on the last day -- but he never looked like being denied this time, beating Phil Mickelson's Masters record of 26 birdies for good measure. "To sit with this jacket on and to be a part of the history of Augusta National and the Masters was something I watched slip away last year," said Spieth, who described the reality of winning as "even better" than his dreams. "I had a chip on my shoulder (about that). I carried some momentum into this week and it all came together, right at the right time." Shown a picture of himself wearing one of the most coveted pieces of clothing in sport, Spieth, born in Dallas, added: "Putting on the jacket, it looks good. It looks good. I'm OK wearing green!" He couldn't stop grinning as he said that he hoped to be finishing his final Masters appearance in 50 years' time, but added that he would "still remember what it was like walking up the 18th

Summary: Jordan Spieth hails autistic younger sibling as his biggest supporter . Ice-cool display made him second-youngest winner behind Tiger Woods .


(CNN)Wednesday's game between the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox will be closed to the public, the Orioles announced Tuesday. The closed-door contest follows the postponements of Monday's and Tuesday's games against the White Sox until a doubleheader scheduled for May 28 following unrest in Baltimore. A source within Major League Baseball told CNN the league is not aware of any prior closed-door games in major league history. The game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards is scheduled to begin at 2:05 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on the MASN regional cable network. "After conferring with local officials, it was determined that Wednesday afternoon's game should be played without fan admittance in order to minimize safety concerns," Major League Baseball said. The office of new Commissioner Rob Manfred said the league and Orioles will keep an eye on the situation in Baltimore. "Our thoughts are with all those who have been affected by violence in Baltimore, and everyone in our game hopes for peace and the safety of a great American city," Manfred said. Hall of Famer Frank Thomas tweeted that the series should be moved to a later date. The former White Sox star said, "Playing in front of a empty house makes no sense!!" The game changes come as the situation in the city remains tense following Monday's riots, with more protests and arrests Tuesday. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said the closed game will mean "another sad day in our city." "We're a sports town. We love our O's," Rawlings-Blake told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. The Orioles said tickets from Monday's postponed game can be used for admittance on May 28. Fans with tickets for Tuesday's game must exchange them for tickets for any remaining home game, including May 28. The team also announced it would move three games (May 1-3) against the Tampa Bay Rays to Florida. The Orioles will still be the home team, the team said. Fans with tickets for those games and Wednesday's contest can swap their tickets for future games, based on the dollar amount of the ticket. Exchanges must be completed by June 30, the team said. The Orioles have averaged more than 33,000 fans in their first nine games at Camden Yards this season, about 73% of capacity. According to MLB.com, games have been postponed in the past because of security concerns. In 1992, four Los Angeles Dodgers games were pushed back because of riots after the acquittals of police officers in the Rodney King case. In 1967, riots in Detroit prompted baseball officials to move games between the Tigers and the Orioles to Baltimore. Opening Day of 1968 was postponed for two days after the killing of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, all professional baseball was called off for one week. ESPN anchor and baseball expert Keith Olbermann tweeted that a September 1882 game hosted by Worcester had six fans come, the lowest spectator turnout for a major league game. CNN's Jill Martin, Dave Close and Theodore Schleifer contributed to this report.

Summary: White Sox Hall of Famer tweets the closed-door game also should be postponed . Baltimore unrest leads to postponement of two baseball games . Third game in series will be first ever played without spectators .


(CNN)Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is scheduled to speak Wednesday to a joint meeting of Congress. The address marks the first time in history that the head of the Japanese government will address the entire U.S. Congress, and given the importance of the U.S.-Japan relationship, it is an invitation long overdue. So far, Prime Minister Abe's appearance has garnered much less attention than last month's speech to Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This is not surprising; in a recent survey by the Pew Research Center nearly three-quarters of the respondents indicated they had "never heard of" Shinzo Abe, underscoring just how difficult it is for the Obama administration to sell its much-vaunted "pivot" or "rebalance" to the American public. Nevertheless, Abe arrives in Washington at an opportune time to help along the economic centerpiece of the "pivot," the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement, or TPP. The TPP is a potentially massive free trade agreement involving the United States, Japan and 10 other Pacific-facing nations -- combined, these countries account for 40% of global GDP. And beyond its potential economic impact, it also allows the United States to expand its influence in Asia, providing an alternative to China-centered agreements such as the Regional Cooperative Economic Partnership. The stakes, therefore, are significant. But so is some of the opposition to an agreement that has been negotiated in secret. Prominent Democrats such as Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, for example, have been critical of the TPP, arguing that provisions such as one on international arbitration of disputes between investors and states undermine U.S. sovereignty. But the immediate battle in Congress is not over the TPP directly, but something called trade promotion authority, or "Fast-Track." Trade promotion authority, which would allow trade agreements such as the TPP to come before Congress without amendment, has been on the books for decades. The power to use trade promotion authority, however, must be periodically reauthorized. Congress voted narrowly to give President Bush trade promotion authority in 2002, but that authority expired in 2007 and has not been renewed. There is near universal agreement that the current talks cannot be concluded unless the Congress reauthorizes trade promotion authority, without which the 11 other nations that are parties to the talks cannot be confident that the United States speaks with one voice. Republicans control both houses of Congress, and are generally supportive of free trade. But while passage of trade promotion authority in the Senate is likely, the result in the House, where Abe will be speaking, is less certain. This is in part because some House Republicans are simply loath to delegate any power to the President, while others are certainly aware of the ramifications of the trade promotion authority vote for 2016. After all, the fact that Republicans would actually be supporting the proposal of a Democratic President will not prevent Democrats -- and their labor supporters -- from using the vote as a weapon to diminish support for Republicans among those white, working-class voters who were so crucial to Republican success in

Summary: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will address Congress on Wednesday . Paul Sracic: Abe has a lot riding on TPP trade agreement .


Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)It is a strangely detached scene for the close of America's longest war: military trainers bouncing between multi-million dollar, high security bases, on Black Hawks, miles from the front line. But it is how Washington wants this to be. And even though the departure of American troops will be fractionally slower, they will all be inside the U.S. Embassy by the end of next year, making these some of their last weeks outside of the wire. We are near Jalalabad, at a regional logistics hub for the Afghan police force -- a generous facility that was originally intended to resupply the entire east of the country with uniforms, ammunition, even fuel for vehicles. The intentions, first hatched in 2011 when the U.S. had tens of thousands of troops and still large ambitions for their war here, were large in scale. But the project has been handed between rotations of U.S. officers and is perhaps a little distant from its first conception. We are taken on a proud tour of a series of clean and newly painted blocks. Dozens of Afghan police gather there, and mill around, waiting for their commanders to arrive. Nick Paton Walsh's Afghanistan series: Afghan forced to marry her rapist . Yet a few problems are immediately visible. There are no doorhandles on the outer doors -- we're told they've been removed while a new master key is being sought. There seem to be few supplies in the actual hub. We ask the Afghan policemen how many of them get resupplied there, at this stage, four months since it opened, and they say: none. About 20 units a month file paperwork for resupply in the base, but supplies often still come from where they did before -- Kabul. U.S. officials told us they are optimistic the logistical road ahead can be smoothed -- that in the 18 plus months they have left they can get the Afghan army and police up to furnishing themselves with the supply lines they need. But here, now, that seems far away. As does the base, incidentally. It's quite a rough drive from the main road, surrounded by hills, and with at best patchy cellphone coverage -- far from ideal for a transit hub. Nick Paton Walsh's Afghanistan series: ISIS recruits in Taliban territory . And it is far away in terms of its cost. Like so much in the most costly of wars, its price tag may have made sense in briefings on Capitol Hill, where effectiveness is gauged in millions, but here in dusty eastern Afghanistan, it seems exorbitant. This as-yet, partially functional resupply hub cost $21 million, a price that presumably includes new doorhandles. There are about fifty Afghan police currently on the base -- meaning each one has so far cost $400,000 to the US taxpayer. But this is an unfair way of representing the challenge the U.S. trainers here face: working, as they are, against a clock, with diminishing resources and public interest, in an endlessly complex and often corrupt land where, when the Taliban aren't thriving,

Summary: Final troop pullout oddly detached as U.S. military operations die down in Afghanistan . Ambitious projects, like a police logistics center in Jalalabad, may not live up to their potential .


Panama City (CNN)This was the handshake that shook the Western Hemisphere. President Obama briefly met his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, on Friday night at a dinner for the dozens of Latin American leaders convening in Panama City for the Summit of the Americas. This was historic. The two nations have barely been on speaking terms -- officially -- for more than 50 years. The meeting was so important that Bernadette Meehan, National Security Council spokesperson, issued a statement: "At the Summit of the Americas this evening, President Obama and President Castro greeted each other and shook hands." Cuba and the United States had endured a half-century of enmity, the tension worsened by the two nations being only 90 miles apart. Key events of those years include some of the most traumatic in modern U.S. history, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Bay of Pigs and the Mariel boatlift of 1980. But the two leaders have been building up to the historic face-to-face. Obama spoke by phone Wednesday with the Cuban leader before heading to Panama. They met Friday at the dinner and are expected to spend a lot more time together on Saturday when the summit begins in earnest. Obama arrived in Panama late Thursday for the conference, which in years past was tinged with animosity at Cuba's exclusion. Moments after Marine One, Obama's helicopter, touched down in Panama City, Castro's plane landed on the same tarmac. Panamanian television carried both arrivals live. During their phone call Wednesday, Obama and Castro discussed the ongoing process of normalizing relations between the United States and Cuba, according to Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes. He said it "made sense" for the two leaders to communicate before their anticipated interactions Friday and Saturday. Those run-ins will represent the highest-level talks between the United States and Cuba since a meeting between then-Vice President Richard Nixon and then-Prime Minister Fidel Castro in 1959. "We're in new territory here," Rhodes said on Friday. "The reason we're here is that the President strongly believes that an approach that was focused totally on isolation, focused totally on seeking to cut off the Cuban people from the United States of America had failed." Obama was expecting a warm welcome from the dozens of countries represented at the conference, after announcing in December he was seeking to engage Havana in talks over reopening embassies and removing barriers to commerce and travel. In Panama, Obama is expected to announce he's removing Cuba from the United States' list of countries that sponsor terrorism, a major advance in building diplomatic ties between the two countries. The State Department delivered its report on the designation to the White House on Wednesday; Obama said on Thursday a panel of experts was reviewing it before he makes a final determination. The White House isn't ruling out a final decision before Obama leaves Panama late Saturday night. In remarks during a brief stopover in Jamaica on Thursday, Obama strongly hinted he was ready to remove Cuba from the list, which also includes Iran, Sudan and Syria. "Throughout this

Summary: U.S. President Obama, Cuban President Raul Castro meet in Panama City . The two nations -- only 90 miles apart -- have been at odds for more than 50 years .


(CNN)Sen. Elizabeth Warren insists she's not running for president. But her description of a 2016 "dream" presidential candidate sounds a lot like, well, her. Warren, during an appearance Friday on CNN's "New Day," said she wanted to see someone willing to fight for the middle class and "make Washington work for families again." Warren says she feels that Washington functions well for special interest groups and the well-connected but leaves out the rest of the nation. "(I've) spent my whole life studying what's happening to America's middle class and watching year by year, one blow after another," she said. "We live in an America now where the game is rigged, where Washington works really great for those who hire armies of lobbyists, armies of lawyers. It's just not working so well for the rest of America." Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, also got specific with her wish list, mentioning that a candidate willing to lower the interest rates on student loans and shore up Social Security would get high marks from her. What the economy means for 2016 . She wouldn't say which of the slew of declared or yet-to-declare candidates fit that bill, but she did want to give all of them a chance as the 2016 campaign kicks off. "I really want to give everybody who gets in this race a chance to get out there and put their agenda in front of us," she said. However, Warren said the two Republican candidates who have gotten into the race -- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul -- have already disqualified themselves in her eyes because of how they've voted in Congress. "I've watched them vote," Warren said. "They voted against the Social Security benefits increase. They voted against reducing the interest rate on student loans." Opinion: Can Democrats really take on Wall Street? Warren, a former special adviser for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is something of a political rock star in the eyes of many liberal and progressive voters because of her populist leanings and her passionate calls for an end to income inequality. Many of them want her to get into the race and become a viable challenger to Democratic frontrunner Hilary Clinton. When asked, yet again, if she was going to run, Warren didn't exactly say no. "I want to see who else gets in this race," she said. "And I want to see what the issues are that they push."

Summary: The Massachusetts senator says Washington works well for special interests and the well-connected but leaves out the rest of the nation . She says that in her eyes, two declared GOP candidates have already disqualified themselves .


(CNN)"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star and former child actress Kim Richards is accused of kicking a police officer after being arrested Thursday morning. Richards was taken into custody by police at the Beverly Hills Hotel on accusations of trespassing, resisting arrest and public intoxication after security personnel complained that she was bothering hotel guests about 1:30 a.m. 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' cast member's mother dies . A police representative said Richards was asked to leave but refused and then entered a restroom and wouldn't come out. Hotel security made a "private persons arrest," then police entered the restroom and took Richards into custody. "Ms. Richards was displaying symptoms of alcohol intoxication including slurred speech and belligerent insolent behavior, cursing at the officers and passively resisted arrest," police said in a statement. "After being transported to the station for booking, Richards kicked one of the officers in the leg; however the officer was not injured." Richards is expected to face misdemeanor charges, according to Lt. Lincoln Hoshino of the Beverly Hills Police Department. She has been released from custody. A call to Richards' representatives has not been returned. Richards reportedly entered rehab in 2011 for "serious issues" after what watchers deemed erratic behavior on the reality show, which also features her sister Kyle Richards. The Richardses are the aunts of former TV star Paris Hilton. 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' husband gets prison . Kim Richards appeared in Disney's "Escape to Witch Mountain" and "Wonderful World of Color" as a child and was a frequent guest star on television series, though her acting career later stalled. She had a significant role in the 2006 film "Black Snake Moan." Bravo, the network that airs the "Real Housewives" franchise, declined to comment on her arrest.

Summary: "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Kim Richards was arrested early Thursday morning . Beverly Hills police say Richards wouldn't leave a hotel when asked and later struck an officer .


(CNN)In the hours after the funeral of Freddie Gray, a community center and apartment complex that local leaders expected to serve as a catalyst for the rebuilding of a long blighted East Baltimore neighborhood went up in flames. The $16 million Mary Harvin Transformation Center was being built in a part of town where half the properties are vacant buildings or barren lots, where unemployment rates reach 25% and poverty and despair is rampant. "Disheartened and bewildered" was how the Rev. Donte Hickman, pastor of East Baltimore's Southern Baptist Church, described feeling Tuesday as he surveyed the still-smoldering ruins of the centerpiece of a community rebuilding effort led by his church and a coalition of other congregations. "I see the hopelessness ... and the emotions of the people but I still see hope in God that we can rise from the ashes," he said. "We can rebuild. This cannot be the legacy of Baltimore." The project was to include about 60 senior citizen apartments and a community center. In the works for eight years, the center was to provide behavioral health counseling, support services for people and families with HIV and AIDS, employment training, home and credit counseling, and ex-offender re-entry services, according to documents filed with the state of Maryland. The cause of the blaze was still under investigation. The brick building burned to the ground in the riots that followed Monday's funeral for Gray, who died mysteriously on April 19, a week after Baltimore police arrested him. Anger over Gray's death may have spurred Monday's violence -- including buildings and cars set ablaze by rioters, looting and clashes with the police -- but members of Baltimore's clergy said it was also spurred by lasting issues with young African-Americans in the city. "We've been trying to make a major difference, trying to transform the community only to discover that something as tragic as this would take place," said the Rev. Walden Wilson II, pastor of Israel Baptist Church -- part of the East Baltimore Minister's Community Development Partnership. "We saw it coming," he added. "Baltimore is a tinderbox. We have a lot of anger as a result of unemployment. We have a high rate of incarceration." High concentrations of poverty, underfunded and failing schools, neglected public housing projects and a lack of employment opportunities have been among the social issues long simmering below East Baltimore's crumbling row houses, according to the local church leaders. "I think the reason that they burned it is exactly the reason why we needed it," Hickman said of the community center. "We were seeking to restore people while we rebuilt properties. We wanted to effect change in the human community as well as rebuild properties with affordable housing." The Rev. Reginald Thomas, pastor of Greater Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church and member of the coalition, said parts of Baltimore have not recovered from the 1968 riots that followed the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Those riots sped up the flight of city residents to the suburbs. Unemployment soared with the disappearance of blue-collar jobs.

Summary: Mary Harvin Transformation Center was to house 60 senior-citizen apartments, community center . It burned down during Baltimore riots .


Lausanne, Switzerland (CNN)There are plenty of details left to iron out, but negotiators took a significant step Thursday toward a landmark deal aimed at keeping Iran's nuclear program peaceful. After a marathon stretch of late-night negotiations in Lausanne, Switzerland, diplomats announced they'd come up with the framework for an agreement that's been months in the making. Iran would reduce its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98% and significantly scale back its number of installed centrifuges, according to the plan. In exchange, the United States and the European Union would lift sanctions that have crippled the country's economy. "It is a good deal, a deal that meets our core objectives," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a speech from the White House Rose Garden. "This framework would cut off every pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon." The deal would include strict verification measures to make sure Iran complies, he said. "If Iran cheats," Obama said, "the world will know it." Key points of the deal . The world powers involved in the talks with Iran were the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germany. For the United States and Iran, two countries with a long history of strained relations, the negotiations took on an added significance. Just two years ago, they hadn't talked with each other officially in nearly four decades. "I think there was a seriousness of purpose," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN in an interview shortly after the framework was announced. "People negotiated hard. It was tough, very intense at times, sometimes emotional and confrontational. It was a very intensive process, because the stakes are very high, and because there is a long history of not talking to each other. For 35 years, we haven't talked with the Iranians directly like this." On Thursday, Iranian state television broadcast Obama's speech live, something many Iranians described as unprecedented. Some Iranians marked the historic moment in U.S.-Iranian relations on Twitter by sharing "selfies" of themselves in front of the live Obama speech. But U.S. leaders were still talking tough, even as they praised the agreement. Kerry stressed that if a final deal is reached with Iran, the removal of any sanctions against Tehran will come in phases. "And if we find out at any point that Iran is not complying with the agreement, the sanctions can snap back into place," he said. Iran didn't seem to be changing its tune, either. "Iran-U.S. relations had nothing to do with this. This was an attempt to resolve the nuclear issue. ... We have serious differences with the United States," Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said after the deal's framework was announced, noting that "mutual mistrust" had been a serious problem in the talks. The preliminary agreement will not put an end to Iran's enrichment activities, Zarif said. "None of those measures include closing any of our facilities. The proud people of Iran would never accept that," he said. But he said Iran will abide by the agreement, which would limit enrichment activities to one location, he

Summary: Netanyahu says a deal would pave the way for Iran to get a nuclear bomb . Iran's enrichment capacity and stockpile will be limited, diplomats say . Talks were tough, intense and "sometimes emotional and confrontational," Kerry says .


(CNN)The arrest and death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore has stoked protests and accusations of police brutality. But it's unclear how Gray, arrested on a weapons charge April 12, suffered a severe spinal cord injury that led to his death seven days later. Here are the big questions surrounding this explosive case: . Gray's arrest . What we know: Gray was arrested on a weapons charge in a high-crime area of Baltimore known for drugs. He "gave up without the use of force," according to Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez. An officer apparently took his Taser out, and was prepared to use it on Gray, but he never deployed it, Rodriguez said, and none of the six officers involved in the arrest describe using force against the 25-year-old. Gray was placed inside a police van and was able to talk, said Rodriguez who described Gray as upset. "And when Mr. Gray was taken out of that van, he could not talk, and he could not breathe," according to Rodriguez. What we don't know: It's unknown what caused the spinal cord injury that led to his death a week after the arrest, and it's also unknown what, if anything, happened inside the van. The knife . What we know: Court documents allege that Baltimore Police Department Officer Garrett Miller arrested Gray after finding a switchblade in his pocket. The Gray family attorney called the allegation a "sideshow." Gray was carrying a "pocket knife of legal size," attorney William Murphy told CNN. Police never saw the knife and chased Gray only after he ran from them, the attorney said. The court documents also say that Gray "fled unprovoked upon noticing police presence." "The officer noticed a knife clipped to the inside of his front right pants pocket. The defendant was arrested without force or incident," the documents say. "The knife was recovered by this officer and found to be a spring assisted, one-hand-operated knife." Maryland law makes it illegal to "wear or carry a dangerous weapon of any kind concealed on or about the person," including switchblades. What we don't know: It's not clear that simply having a knife is a crime, said Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. "It is not necessarily probable cause to chase someone. So, we still have questions," she said. What can be seen on the released video . What we know: Segments of cell phone video shot from two different positions appear to begin after Gray has been arrested and show officers dragging Gray, who is handcuffed, to a van. He can be heard screaming. "He was dragged a bit," said Rawlings-Blake, "but then you see him using his legs to get into the van, so he was able-bodied when he was in the van, and we know that when he was finally taken out of the van, he was unresponsive." Officers placed more restraints on Gray inside the van, police said, while surveillance video recorded him conscious and talking. That was at 8:54 a.m. At 9:24 a.m., police called an ambulance for Gray. Police say Gray requested medical

Summary: Gray was arrested on a weapons charge April 12; he was dead seven days later . Gray was placed inside a police van after his arrest; it's unclear if anything happened inside the van . Gray has a criminal history but it's unclear whether that had anything to do with his arrest, or death .


(CNN)Kim Bok-dong is 89 now, and is going blind and deaf. She knows her health is fading, and she can no longer walk unassisted. But her eyes burn bright with a passion borne of redressing her suffering of a lifetime ago. She enters a meeting of Tokyo foreign correspondents in a wheelchair, visibly exhausted after a flight from Seoul and days of interviews and meetings. The nightmares from five years as a sex slave of the Japanese army, from 1940 onwards, are still crystal clear. Kim is determined to share her story with anyone who will listen, until she's no longer physically able. "My only wish is to set the record straight about the past. Before I die," Kim says. Kim was a 14-year-old girl when the Japanese came to her village in Korea. She says they told her she had no choice but to leave her home and family to support the war effort by working at a sewing factory. "There was no option not to go," she recalls. "If we didn't go, we'd be considered traitors," Instead of going to a sewing factory, Kim says she ended up in Japanese military brothels in half a dozen countries. Along with about 30 other women, she says she was locked in a room and forced to do things no teenage girl -- no woman -- should ever have to do. Kim describes seemingly endless days of soldiers lined up outside the brothel, called a "comfort station." Often they were so close to the front lines, they could hear the battles of World War Two happening all around them. "Our job was to revitalize the soldiers," she says. "On Saturdays, they would start lining up at noon. And it would last until 8pm. There was always a long line of soldiers. On Sunday it was 8 a.m to 5 p.m. Again, a long line. I didn't have the chance to count how many." Kim estimates each Japanese soldier took around three minutes. They usually kept their boots and leg wraps on, hurriedly finishing so the next solider could have his turn. Kim says it was dehumanizing, exhausting, and often excruciating. "When it was over, I couldn't even get up. It went on for such a long time. By the time the sun went down, I couldn't use my lower body at all. After the first year, we were just like machines," she says. Kim believes the years of physical abuse took a permanent toll on her body. Tears stream down her cheeks as she explains how she was never able to fulfill her dream of having children. "When I started, the Japanese military would often beat me because I wasn't submissive," Kim says. "There are no words to describe my suffering. Even now. I can't live without medicine. I'm always in pain." Kim is part of an NGO called the "Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan," which is fighting for an apology. Some Japanese prime ministers have personally apologized in the past, but the NGO director believes

Summary: Kim Bok-dong is determined to share her story of sexual slavery until she's no longer physically able . Kim was held prisoner by the Japanese military in a "comfort station" for five years, raped ceaselessly . She says she won't rest until she receives a formal apology from the Japanese government .


(CNN)Several of the world's worst terrorist groups, like ISIS and Al-Shabaab, aim to create societies governed by strict, distorted versions of Sharia law. That means anyone who doesn't subscribe to such extremist views are enemies and in danger -- Christians included. Of course, Christians aren't the only ones who have suffered at the hands of such organizations. For example, most victims of ISIS are fellow Muslims who refuse to go along with the ISIS worldview and ruthless tactics. Still, there's ample evidence that Christians have been targeted. The latest came Friday, when an Italian prosecutor revealed that a network of Pakistanis associated with al Qaeda talked about attacking the Vatican back in March 2010. "This is ... a reminder about the world we're in right now," U.S. Rep. John Delaney, D-Maryland, told CNN on Friday. "...I do think there's a larger narrative about Christian persecution (by) militant groups around the world." This attack wasn't carried out, but many others have been. Some acts are not centrally organized but are no less horrific, such as reports that Muslim migrants threw 12 Christians off a boat in the Mediterranean Sea. Other deadly acts and alleged plots have been blamed on established terror groups, including these recent examples: . Sid Ahmed Ghlam asked for an ambulance to come to his Paris home on Sunday after (he claimed) he accidentally shot himself in the thigh. Besides getting medical help, Ghlam was arrested after authorities found four Kalashnikov guns, a revolver, ammunition, police armbands and more in his car and residence, Paris Prosecutor Francois Molins said on Wednesday. They also turned up "documents in Arabic mentioning al Qaeda and ISIS" and correspondence with someone in Syria "asking him to target a church." Prime Minister Manuel Valls later went to a church in the Paris suburb of Villejuif, one of the at least two such Christian places of worship that Ghlam allegedly targeted. While he didn't elaborate, Molins said that the satellite navigation system in Ghlam's car -- which included a loaded Kalashnikov and more -- had one church's location plugged in. It's not clear what group, if any, Ghlam was working with or possibly getting orders from. Still, authorities flatly characterized him as a terrorist -- linking him to the death of 32-year-old Aurelie Chatelain, whom Molins called the region's first victim of terrorism since the Charlie Hebdo massacre and kosher market siege in January. Regardless of whether Ghlam is ever convicted in Chatelain's killing, it appears unlikely that he'll be able to commit more violence anytime soon. "A terrorist attack has been foiled," French President Francois Hollande said. ISIS has turned its beheadings of hostages into horror shows, producing propaganda videos seemingly aimed at producing the maximum amount of terror. What set the one from April apart were the number of people killed and that they were Christians from Ethiopia. Ethiopia's government said Monday that 30 of its citizens were among two groups of prisoners shown being beheaded in Libya in a video released a day earlier, according to the Ethiopian News Agency. That 39-minute video

Summary: An Italian prosecutor announces suspected al Qaeda affiliates may have targeted the Vatican . ISIS produced propaganda videos showing beheadings of Egyptian, Ethiopian Christians . Al-Shabaab has singled out non-Muslims to kill them, as at a Garissa University College .


(CNN)The powers of Marvel's all-star superheroes go a bit wobbly in "Avengers: Age of Ultron." Faced with the daunting prospect of topping the surprise and excitement of 2012's The Avengers, the third highest-grossing film of all time, writer-director Joss Whedon mixes some brooding down-time in with the abundant spectacle. To be sure, series junkies will get their fix from the sheer massiveness of the exploits, but at least two of the big action scenes are lackluster, while the climax and resolution could have been worked out in more complex, less rote ways, so as to further increase intrigue and anticipation for "Avengers: Infinity War Parts 1 and 2," already scheduled for release in May of 2018 and 2019, respectively. Not that any of this will matter much, since the pent-up excitement among the enormous international fan base is so intense that nothing will keep the summer's presumed biggest franchise blockbuster from soaring to and beyond the one-billion dollar threshold internationally. Hands-on producer Kevin Feige and his associates have built a cinematic empire quite unprecedented in Hollywood history, a veritable solar system of staggeringly profitable individual franchises unified by the overpowering collective force of the Avengers. So while sideline enterprises like the new "Daredevil" TV series continue to pop up, the company can be so confident in the enduring appeal of its theatrical mainstays that it recently published a release schedule for its remaining big-gun commercial titles from now through the end of the decade. At this point, no one would be willing to bet on when a sense of terminal deja vu might set in to bring it all to an end, and Comic-Con can plan its main events years ahead. In the meantime, the key points of interest surround how many surprises and twists can be wrung from a format and set of expectations that demand great fealty from core fans; any significant deviations are taken as personal betrayals by the hardest-core geeks. Last summer, "Guardians of the Galaxy" showed that Marvel could play it a bit more fast and loose than it generally does, but the big-name franchises still seem sacrosanct. And so it is with "Avengers: Age of Ultron," which at moments takes a peek down some shadowy side roads but ends up mostly zooming along the main highway to deliver what the audience wants rather than something even a little bit different. Picking up where last year's "Captain America: Winter Soldier" left off, the new film, without preamble, dives right in to show the Avengers dispatching the remnants of the nasty HYDRA organization in a hectically and indifferently staged forest combat scene that leaves Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) worse for wear while also introducing two new adversaries, twins Pietro and Wanda (Aaron-Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen). Victory allows for some passably amusing scenes of the heroes blowing off steam: The favorite party trick of Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is to challenge all comers to lift up his hammer; Natasha/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) pursue a little mating dance in which her amorous interest is

Summary: 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' hits theaters May 1 . Critic: Movie doesn't quite measure up to the original from 2012 .