(CNN)On the surface, the mix-up seems incomprehensible: How can a volunteer sheriff's deputy accidentally fire a handgun instead of a Taser, killing a man? That's apparently what happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when a 73-year-old reserve deputy, Robert Bates, killed Eric Harris. Bates said he meant to use his stun gun but ended up firing his handgun instead. "Oh! I shot him. I'm sorry," Bates said in a video of the shooting. But it's happened before. In a well-publicized 2009 case, a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer fired his gun instead of his Taser, killing 22-year-old Oscar Grant in Oakland, California. The former officer, Johannes Mehserle, testified that he had meant to use his Taser but drew his gun instead. Mehserle was sentenced to two years in prison for involuntary manslaughter but was released early due to good conduct. So how easy -- or hard -- is it to draw and fire a handgun mistakenly instead of a Taser? Here are some factors to consider: . Law enforcement experts say the gun should be holstered on the officer's dominant side of the body, and the Taser should be placed on the nondominant side. So if an officer is left-handed, the gun should be on the left side. Bates' attorney said his client is left-handed. But the reserve deputy said his gun was holstered on his right side -- his nondominanant side. "I shoot long guns left handed and handguns right handed," Bates said in a written statement to investigators. After Bates announced at the scene he was going to use his Taser, he "used his nondominant hand, and it was the gun," said Clark Brewster, Bates' attorney. "He said that he saw the laser sight on the shoulder, assumed it was the Taser," Brewster said. "Both the gun and the Taser have a laser sight, and he just made a mistake." Brewster also said his client's left hand was holding a pepper gun. In his statement to investigators, Bates said he had grabbed a "pepper ball launcher" to try to slow or stop Harris, who was running away. Bates did not say explicitly where the Taser was on his body. But he admitted to grabbing the wrong device and said he was "startled" by the recoil of the gun. "After realizing what had happened I was in a state of shock and disbelief," he told investigators. Bates is now charged with second-degree manslaughter. If convicted, he faces up to four years in prison. Deputy who shot Eric Harris turns himself in . Bates was carrying his personal gun, a Smith & Wesson .357 five-shot revolver, and a Model X26 Taser, he said in his statement to investigators. Attorneys representing the Harris family said there are stark differences between the two devices. One held up a small black .357 revolver, followed by a mostly bright yellow Taser that was noticeably larger than the gun. "There's no way an officer can get this confused with this," said one of the attorneys from the law firm of Smolen, Smolen & Roytman. Taser's X26 model comes

Summary: Attorney: Robert Bates assumed the gun was a Taser because he saw a laser sight on it . Harris family lawyers say there are stark differences between the gun and Taser used . In 2009, an officer in California also said he mistakenly used his gun instead of a Taser .


(CNN)Rebekah Gregory blinked back tears as she thought about the verdict. It had been almost two years since Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his brother planted bombs at the Boston Marathon, setting off deadly explosions that wounded her and hundreds of others. In court last month, she testified that one of the blasts on that day in 2013 left her lying in the street, staring at her own bones. Now, jurors have found him guilty on all 30 counts he faced for the deadly bombings and their aftermath. But no verdict can ever totally make up for the pain, she said. "I don't believe that there will ever be justice brought to this, no mater if he does get the death penalty or he remains in prison for the rest of his life," she said, crying as she spoke to reporters outside her Texas home. "I do believe, however, that he should be held accountable for his actions. And I'm very thankful for each of the jury members that are making him do that." Gregory, who wrote a widely publicized letter to Tsarnaev after testifying, said the trial has left her and other victims reeling from a flood of emotions as they relive horrifying memories, but it's an important step. "Everything is being brought up again full force. Our lives will never ever be the same, but I hope with this we can move forward and remember that we are still here for a reason, that there's a bigger plan," she said. "I may be standing on one fake leg, but I'm standing here, stronger than ever, because someone tried to destroy me, and he failed." For Gregory and others who lived through the 2013 attack, Wednesday's verdict brought a mix of emotions, from triumphant vows to move forward, to expressions of gratitude, to debate over whether Tsarnaev should be sentenced to death. There were no outbursts inside the federal courthouse in Boston. In fact, there was barely any peripheral noise as people sat on the edges of their seats. As Tsarnaev fidgeted and scratched the back of his head, some survivors and victims' family members lowered their heads and dabbed tears. As CNN's Alexandra Field noted from inside the courtroom, "They've waited a long time for this." The family of Sean Collier, a 26-year-old police officer shot to death in his patrol car on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said Tsarnaev and his brother, Tamerlan, were terrorists who "failed monumentally" in striking fear in people. "While today's verdict can never bring Sean back, we are thankful that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be held accountable for the evil that he brought to so many families," the Collier family said in a written statement. To Richard "Dic" Donohue, an MBTA police officer left in a pool of blood after being wounded in a shootout with the Tsarnaevs in Watertown, the verdicts show that "as a society, ... terrorism will not prevail, and we will hold those accountable for their acts against our nation." "Justice has been served today," Donahue tweeted. Survivor Karen Brassard

Summary: Survivor Jeff Bauman stresses "we will never replace the lives that were lost" A man who was at the finish line is glad Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is now a "convicted killer" "Justice has been served today," says a once wounded police officer .


(CNN)Film critic Richard Corliss, whose populist passion for all genres of movies illuminated Time magazine's coverage of cinema for 35 years, died Thursday night in New York City. He was 71. Corliss died a week after suffering a major stroke, according to a tribute on Time's website by colleague Richard Zoglin, who called him "perhaps the magazine's most quoted writer of all time." Unlike some critics, Corliss appreciated all kinds of movies -- from the arty drama of Ingmar Bergman to the epic fantasy of "The Lord of the Rings." His all-TIME top 100 movies list, which he compiled with fellow Time critic Richard Schickel, contained everything from "Pulp Fiction" to "Finding Nemo" to Jackie Chan's "Drunken Master II." "He savored it all: the good, the bad, the indifferent. Except that he was indifferent to nothing," Zoglin wrote. "To any fan or friend who would ask whether a new movie was 'worth seeing,' Corliss had a stock, succinct reply: 'Everything is worth seeing.' " But Corliss was not afraid to puncture hype around big movies he found overrated, including "Titanic" ("dead in the water") and even -- blasphemy! -- "Star Wars," about which he wrote, "The movie's 'legs' will prove as vulnerable as C-3PO's." He also didn't care much for sentimental, uplifting movies that often become mainstream hits and win Oscars. "There are movies whose feel-good sentiments and slick craft annoy me so deeply that I know they will become box-office successes or top prizewinners," he once wrote. "I call this internal mechanism my Built-In Hit Detector." A graceful and prolific writer, Corliss reviewed more than 1,000 movies, penned many Time cover stories and authored four books on film, including "Mom in the Movies: The Iconic Screen Mothers You Love (and a Few You Love to Hate)," published just last year. (It was a partnership with Turner Classic Movies, which, like CNN, is owned by Turner Broadcasting.) Some credit him with coining the phrase "drop-dead gorgeous" to describe actress Michelle Pfeiffer in a review of her 1985 film, "Into the Night." He also cleverly, and subtly, gave away the big plot spoiler of "The Crying Game" by spelling it out with the first letters of each paragraph of his review. Born in Philadelphia, Corliss moved to New York after college and began writing film reviews for a variety of publications before joining Time in 1980. He served as editor of Film Comment, the movie journal of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, for 20 years, was a frequent guest on Charlie Rose's talk show and made annual pilgrimages to film festivals in Cannes, Toronto and Venice. "It's painful to try to find words, since Richard was such a master of them," Time editor Nancy Gibbs wrote in a note Friday to her staffers. "They were his tools, his toys, to the point that it felt sometimes as though he had to write, like the rest of us breathe and eat and sleep. It's not clear that Richard ever slept, for the sheer expanse of his knowledge and writing defies the normal contours

Summary: Veteran Time magazine film critic Richard Corliss died Thursday night in New York City . Corliss reviewed more than 1,000 movies and authored four books on film .


Sanaa, Yemen (CNN)Saudi airstrikes over Yemen have resumed once again, two days after Saudi Arabia announced the end of its air campaign. The airstrikes Thursday targeted rebel Houthi militant positions in three parts of Sanaa, two Yemeni Defense Ministry officials said. The attacks lasted four hours. The strikes caused no casualties, but did destroy all three military compounds that were targeted, the officials said. They said Saudi airstrikes were also targeting Houthi positions in Lahj province. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia announced the end of its Operation Decisive Storm, a nearly month-long air campaign against Houthi positions. The Saudi-led coalition said a new initiative was underway, Operation Renewal of Hope, focused on the political process. But less than 24 hours later, after rebel forces attacked a Yemeni military brigade, the airstrikes resumed, security sources in Taiz said. Five airstrikes targeted a weapons depot in the province late Wednesday, two Taiz security officials said. They said explosions lasted for about 40 minutes. Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners started pounding Houthi positions across Yemen starting on March 26, hoping to wipe out the Iranian-allied rebel group that overthrew the Yemeni government and seized power. The Saudis say they want to restore the Yemeni government -- a key U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda -- which was kicked out of the capital by the rebels earlier this year. This month, Saudi officials said airstrikes have degraded Houthi-controlled military infrastructure, including key buildings in Sanaa. The campaign achieved its objectives "by a very good planning, very precise execution, by the courage of our pilots, our sailors, our soldiers," said Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri, a Saudi military spokesman. A senior Saudi official told CNN that the Houthis agreed to "nearly all demands" of the U.N. Security Council. A statement from the Saudi Embassy in Washington outlined objectives of the next phase of operations, including protecting civilians, enhancing humanitarian and medical assistance, confronting terrorism and creating an international coalition to provide maritime security. Ground troops will continue to protect the border and confront any attempts to destabilize the situation, Asiri said. Military action will be taken if needed. Houthi leader: 'Anyone who thinks we will surrender is dreaming' On Wednesday, Houthis released Yemeni Defense Minister Mahmoud al-Subaihi in Sanaa, a senior Saudi source said on the condition of anonymity. The Houthis had said they detained the defense minister at an air base near the Yemeni port city of Aden on March 26, shortly before the Saudis began their airstrike campaign. The rebels had captured the base that day as part of an advance on the Aden area. The United Nations demanded al-Subaihi's release earlier this month. But beyond the military campaign, the Saudis and their allies have said they want to find a political solution for the violence-plagued nation. President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who says he's Yemen's legitimate leader, thanked the Saudi-led coalition. He is working with the Saudis and other allies to return to his country. "We promise to restructure the Yemen military to ensure that it serves the people of Yemen," Hadi said,

Summary: After calling off its air campaign, Saudi Arabia resumes airstrikes in Yemen . No casualties are reported, but 3 Houthi military compounds were destroyed . Saudi airstrikes resumed after rebel forces attacked a Yemeni military brigade .


Washington (CNN)Rick Santorum says he'd hoped Indiana Gov. Mike Pence would veto the "fix" to his state's religious freedom law rather than limiting its scope. The law unleashed an intense backlash against Indiana, led by tech giants like Apple and Salesforce and sports organizations like the NCAA, amid concerns it would allow businesses to turn away gay and lesbian customers. Santorum, the former Republican senator from Pennsylvania, who is likely to mount another presidential campaign in 2016, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that Pence's decision to sign a follow-up bill -- which made clear the law couldn't be used to refuse services based on sexual orientation -- led to a "limited view" of religious freedom. "It doesn't really open the debate up on some of the more current issues," Santorum said -- a reference to gay rights issues. With the Supreme Court set to rule in June on whether same-sex marriage should be legalized nationwide, social conservatives like Santorum have asserted that Christian bakers, florists and wedding photographers shouldn't be forced to provide their services to same-sex weddings. The Indiana uproar drew nearly all of the GOP's 2016 contenders into the debate, with candidates like Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz rushing to Pence's defense. "Tolerance is a two-way street," Santorum said. "If you're a print shop and you are a gay man, should you be forced to print 'God hates fags' for the Westboro Baptist Church because they hold those signs up?" Santorum said. "Should the government force you to do that?" he said. "And that's what these cases are all about. This is about the government coming in saying, 'No -- we're going to make you do this.' And this is where I think we just need some space to say, 'Let's have some tolerance -- have it be a two-way street.'" Gay rights groups, meanwhile, have used the outrage over Indiana's law -- as well as a similar one that Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law -- and debate in at least 14 other states over similar measures this year to renew their calls for state laws that bar discrimination based on sexual orientation. Sarah Warbelow, the Human Rights Campaign's legal director, said the debate could shift to states like Texas and South Carolina, where similar bills have been introduced. She said tech companies like Facebook and Google are increasingly wading into the debate because they're recognizing that "nondiscrimination protections are critical to every area of their employees' lives." Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of the Catholic archdiocese in New York, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the debate over religious freedom calls for a "delicate balance." "We've got to make sure that the rights of conscience and the ability to publicly exercise one's religion is also balanced with another good -- namely, the rights of people not to be discriminated against," he said. "It's easier to ignore religious freedom than it is, today, the more popular issues," Dolan said. "In a way, I appreciate the fact that we have political

Summary: Rick Santorum says "religious freedom" debate is about government telling people what to do . Santorum, a likely 2016 GOP presidential candidate, weighs in on Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's decision .


(HLN)HLN's #MeForReal is an uplifting, revealing conversation about the way we present ourselves online. We want to see the REAL parts of life, the ones that don't get a filter or a Facebook post but are a part of our realities nonetheless. Tag your favorite unscripted, unedited, un-perfected moments using #MeForReal and see what others are sharing on Facebook, Twitter and the Daily Share. The Internet is always quick to dish out judgmental opinions, such as the body-hate people showed to singer P!nk after she posted a photo of herself in a black dress she wore to a cancer benefit this past weekend (which, if you ask us, was pretty fantastic, and she looked fabulous in it.) As a woman with a lot of experience singing to her detractors, though, she knew exactly what to say and how to say it. And when it came to keeping her tongue firmly in cheek while she schooled people who had nothing better to do than be totally rude, she owned it. Clearly, it's not troubling P!nk or her hubs, Carey Hart (who, by the way, is quite handsome himself, so clearly he has rad taste). Not only did P!nk's response rally her fans, but they also started sharing their own photos of themselves post-pregnancy and embracing what P!nk tells her daughter is her "squishiness." Postscript for the haters: We think you just racked up MORE fans for P!nk. Now go look in a mirror, and tell us -- are YOU perfect?

Summary: P!nk took to Twitter to address online comments about her body . Her "squishiness" is a result of happiness, she says .


Beijing (CNN)China's state prosecutors on Friday formally charged the country's former security czar with accepting bribes, making him the highest-ranking Chinese Communist Party official ever to face corruption charges. Zhou Yongkang, 72, was also charged with abuse of power and leaking state secrets, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the highest prosecution authority in China, said. As a member of the ruling Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee -- China's top decision-making body -- Zhou was one of nine men who effectively ruled the country of more than 1.3 billion people. He retired in 2012. At the height of his power, Zhou controlled police forces, spy agencies, court systems as well as prosecution offices across China -- and wasn't shy in deploying his vast assets to crush dissent and unrest in the name of "preserving social stability." Now, prosecutors have accused Zhou of "taking advantage of his posts to seek benefits for others and illegally accepting huge amounts of money" during his long political career. His alleged actions have caused heavy losses to public assets and greatly harmed national interests, they added. Zhou was notified of his legal rights during the investigation and his lawyer's views were heard, according to a statement by the prosecutors. His case will be tried in Tianjin, a city near the Chinese capital, Beijing. The president of China's supreme court recently told reporters there would be "open" trials for accused former leaders like Zhou. However, the charge of leaking state secrets may allow authorities to shield certain legal proceedings from public view in Zhou's case. Zhou has not been seen in public since he attended an anniversary event at his alma mater in October 2013. He was expelled from the Communist Party and arrested last December. State media have painted an intricate web of officials, cronies and tycoons -- some with alleged mafia connections -- orbiting around Zhou before the crumbling of his power structure last summer. Zhou and his family members were said to have accumulated enormous wealth, in a blatant exchange between money and power. He was also found to have affairs with multiple women and allegedly traded power for sex, state-run Xinhua news agency reported last year. Analysts have viewed his shocking downfall as a watershed moment in the secretive world of Chinese politics, now ruled by President Xi Jinping. Xi has been spearheading a massive anti-corruption campaign, targeting both "tigers" and "flies" -- high-ranking, and low-level, officials. Zhou is by far the biggest tiger caught in Xi's dragnet to date. "The important thing here is that Xi has proven he's powerful enough to break this taboo of never incriminating former Politburo Standing Committee members," longtime political analyst Willy Lam, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said last year, when the government revealed its formal investigation into Zhou. Many observers also note Zhou's patronage of Bo Xilai, a former Communist leader sentenced to life in prison for corruption in 2013. Bo's spectacular downfall the year before -- complete with tales of murder, bribery and betrayal -- attracted global attention. State media have cited his

Summary: Prosecutors formally charged former top official Zhou Yongkang . Zhou charged with accepting bribes, abuse of power and leaking state secrets . Former domestic security official is the most senior Chinese official to face corruption charges .


(CNN)For more than four days, police say, a 21-year-old quadriplegic with cerebral palsy was left lying in the woods of Philadelphia's Cobbs Creek Park with only a blanket and a Bible. The person responsible is the man's mother, who on Sunday faced a host of charges after allegedly abandoning her son and catching a bus to Maryland to see her boyfriend, said Philadelphia police Lt. John Walker. Low temperatures reached the mid-30s during the week, and rain was reported in the area Wednesday and Thursday. The man is unable to communicate how he came to be in the park, but Walker told reporters that the man's mother, whom he did not identify for CNN, left him there Monday morning. "Sometime at 11 a.m., the mother went to visit her boyfriend down in Maryland, over in Montgomery County, and we believe she placed the child into Cobbs Creeks Park," Walker said at a news conference. Walker told CNN the man was transported to Presbyterian Hospital, but CNN affiliates reported he was being treated at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He suffered eye problems, dehydration, malnutrition and a cut to the back that has raised infection concerns, the lieutenant told reporters. "This kid's obviously a fighter," Walker said during a Saturday news conference. "It's just unbelievable how we found him out there last night. To see that kid laying there, it's heartbreaking to see another human, especially a mother, can treat someone like that." Officials at Philadelphia's School of the Future, which the man attends, became concerned when he didn't show up for classes and tried to contact his mother but eventually reached an aunt, CNN affiliate WPVI reported. When police tracked down the mother, she told them her son was with her, Walker said. "She indicated to both family members and the police officers that the child was with her down with her boyfriend in Maryland," he said. The boyfriend was not aware of what happened, Walker told CNN affiliate KYW-TV. The mother now stands charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment of another person, neglect of a care-dependent person, unlawful restraint, kidnapping and false imprisonment, the station reported. Walker told reporters she bore "clear criminal liability in this case." Maryland police took her into custody on Sunday, and she will face the charges in Philadelphia following an extradition hearing, WPVI reported. There was no reason for the man to suffer, Walker told philly.com, because the mother had sisters willing to take care of him. Two of his aunts, who have tried to obtain guardianship of him, were staying with him at the hospital, police told the website. The mother has another child, a 16-year-old, who is also being taken care of by family members, WPVI reported. The mother's arrest was only the beginning of the investigation, Walker told reporters. Authorities are interested in learning more about "how this kid was cared for, and what actions were taken and providing of services by different agencies." CNN's Carma Hassan contributed to this report.

Summary: Temperatures dipped into the mid-30s during 4 days man lay in woods of Philadelphia park . Mom told police son was with her in Maryland, but he was found Friday with blanket, Bible . Victim being treated for malnutrition, dehydration; mother faces host of charges after extradition .


(CNN)Criminal justice reform is rapidly becoming one of the few bipartisan issues of our time. It's about time. America has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with 5% of the world's population and 25% of its prisoners. Nearly 2½ million Americans are in prison. Over 65 million people, or 20% of the country, have criminal records. Most disturbingly, nearly 40% of our country's prisoners are African-Americans, who only make up 13% of the general population. It's time for policymakers to address this criminal justice crisis head on. We must change the dismal status quo. We must start by asking a simple question: Why are so many Americans criminals? Look no further than Washington, which has spent the past century devising the most complicated — and nonsensical — criminal code known to man. The federal criminal code includes over 4,500 laws and counting, not to mention government regulations for which there are criminal penalties. The list of federal crimes is so long, so broad and so vague that you and I likely commit three felonies every day, unwittingly breaking numerous federal laws as we go about our daily business. No wonder America's prison population is out of control. Americans aren't addicted to crime; our politicians are addicted to criminalizing things. Sadly, the criminalization of Americans also traps them in poverty. According to the Pew Charitable Trusts, incarceration leads to reduced wages (11% drop), employment (nine weeks lost annually), and earnings overall (40% annually). Making matters worse, over half of new prisoners are at or below the poverty line and three-quarters of former prisoners are sent back to jail within five years of their release. The deck is stacked against my generation in particular. Young adults are 10% of the population yet comprise 29% of the country's arrests. Young African-Americans are particularly at risk: They're 15 times more likely to be in prison than whites. No wonder 18-to-29-year-olds have the lowest level of trust of any age group that our justice system treats everyone equally. Thankfully, there is a bipartisan consensus in Washington that something needs to be done, and fast. On the left, civil rights groups and their allies in Congress have been demanding that the criminal system be fixed for years. On the right, politicians from Paul Ryan to Rand Paul are now recommending the same thing. If politicians are serious, they should consider three specific areas for reform. 1. Reduce punishment for nonviolent crimes . Politicians should consider reducing nonviolent offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, and end mandatory sentencing for nonviolent crimes. The federal government's unsuccessful war on drugs has led to unfair punishments for nonviolent drug offenders who made youthful mistakes. While some policies may have made sense in the 1980s and '90s, they now do more harm than good. Those involved in the buying and selling of small amounts of drugs shouldn't be subjected to years or decades in prison for their crimes. And more generally, judges should be free to tailor their rulings to the specific facts and details of the case -- and the person standing

Summary: America has the highest incarceration rate in the world, holding 25% of the world's prisoners . Evan Feinberg: We must change the dismal status quo with specific solutions .


(CNN)The White House insists it doesn't need congressional approval for the Iran nuclear deal announced this month. But while historical precedent suggests the President might indeed have the authority to move forward without Congress, the Obama administration should probably learn another lesson from history: Getting Congress' signature might be worth the effort. True, the fight for congressional approval would be politically bruising and consume a huge amount of energy. But it would still be a mistake to move forward with the deal as an executive-based agreement rather than obtaining the consent of the legislative branch -- a diplomatic breakthrough of this magnitude would be far more enduring with the imprimatur of Congress. The President and his advisers have avoided using the term "treaty," instead explaining that it would be a "nonbinding agreement." According to Secretary of State John Kerry: "We've been very clear from the beginning. We're not negotiating a 'legally binding plan.' We're negotiating a plan that will have in it a capacity for enforcement." On "Meet the Press," Kerry said, "What we're looking for is not to have Congress interfere with our ability, inappropriately, by stepping on the prerogatives of the executive department of the President." There is a big legal argument that will play out over these definitional issues, with the potential for court challenges. But outside of the legal debate, there are also significant political questions, and those are a different beast altogether. For a start, there is growing pressure on Capitol Hill -- from members of both parties -- to pass legislation that would give Congress the right to review the deal and make a decision about lifting sanctions. On Tuesday, a deal was reached on legislation proposed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker that would require President Barack Obama to submit the final deal to Congress, giving it 52 days to review and approve the agreement. Corker told MSNBC on Tuesday that negotiators had reached a "bipartisan agreement that keeps the congressional review process absolutely intact, full of integrity." What's in the Iran bill and why all the fuss? There is good reason for Obama to avoid calling this a treaty. After all, given the contentious political environment on Capitol Hill, where legislators struggle to pass even a routine budget, the notion that they would move on a treaty of this importance seems dubious at best. But there is also a history of Congress causing significant trouble for important international treaties. In the late 1970s, for example, President Jimmy Carter tried to obtain consent for the SALT II treaties, but conservatives argued the agreement was evidence that Carter was weak on defense. Carter pushed for the treaties as essential to international peace but to no avail. After Iranians took American hostages and the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, the treaties died in the Senate. Yet there are other examples where even in a contentious congressional environment, presidents successfully pushed for the ratification of treaties that they knew would cost them important political capital, and even once the White House exited the struggle bruised and battered, the

Summary: Framework agreement with Iran over its nuclear program was reached this month . Julian Zelizer: White House should seek congressional approval for final deal . There's a history of Congress causing trouble for major international treaties, he says .


(CNN)Two CNN Heroes are among the earthquake survivors in Kathmandu, Nepal. And they are struggling in the aftermath. Anuradha Koirala, who rescues victims of sex trafficking, has a rehabilitation center in Kathmandu that is home to 425 young women and girls. While her primary facility seems structurally unharmed, all of the children have been sleeping outdoors because of aftershocks, followed by a second earthquake on May 12. The once-vibrant campus has gone from a place of safety and healing to one of uncertainty and worry. "We are suffering with rain, strong wind. The fear is not gone from us. It is very, very hard," said Koirala, the founder of the nonprofit Maiti Nepal and the 2010 CNN Hero of the Year. The public has been warned not to use the main water line due to risk of cholera. Koirala's group is relying on bottled water and is now rationing food. Still, she has offered to take in 200 other girls orphaned by the disaster. "These girls are most vulnerable, because now people will target them," Koirala said. "They could be victims of any forms of sexual abuse. Maybe rape, maybe they will be trafficked, anything. ... If I get more support I will take as many as I can." About five miles away, the wall of Koirala's HIV/AIDS hospice has crumbled. Home to 115 girls, many of whom are terminally ill, the facility is under guard. "They're not injured, but they are terrified," Koirala said. "Everything is broken in the hospice." Koirala's group also has about a dozen other homes throughout the district, and all of them have been damaged. "It's really very sad for me and for my children," Koirala said. "This disaster, the noise and the way it shook, I cannot get over it. I was not afraid that I was going to be killed. I was afraid about what is going to happen next." Another CNN Hero, Pushpa Basnet, and the 45 children she cares for were also forced to evacuate their residence. They are now living on the ground in a nearby field. "Physically, we are not hurt. But mentally, we are," said Basnet, whose Early Childhood Development Center provides a home and education to children whose parents are incarcerated. Basnet says the building's walls are all cracked, and the staff is afraid it might fall down. She and the older children created a shelter using the frame of a greenhouse, taping plastic around the sides to protect themselves. "It's really cold in the middle of the night; there are lots of fox in the field," Basnet said. "We are really scared." They also don't have much water or food, Basnet says. But she is trying to stay positive. "I think for the time being, whatever we have, we should be happy, you know? Because at least we have our life," she said. "(My kids) all are safe. That's the most important thing for me." Basnet's "Butterfly Home" -- the permanent residence she was building for the children -- also suffered extensive damage in the quake. Basnet had

Summary: Anuradha Koirala and 425 young women and girls have been sleeping outdoors because of aftershocks . Pushpa Basnet and 45 children she cares for were forced to evacuate their residence . Seven other CNN Heroes and their organizations now assisting in relief efforts .


(CNN)At first police in Marana, Arizona, thought the shoplifted gun Mario Valencia held as he walked through a busy office park was locked and unable to fire. The cable through the lever and trigger couldn't be taken off, an officer was told by an employee of the Walmart where Valencia took the gun and some rounds of ammunition. But just 10 seconds after the worker told police that ... a shot. Valencia had fired into the air, and less than a minute later a police car slammed into him in a move that ended a crime spree and sparked nationwide discussion on the officer's unusual tactic. The 36-year-old Valencia was hospitalized and within a few days transferred to jail where he faces 15 charges, including shoplifting the .30-30 rifle. That February morning, police have said, Valencia committed several crimes in nearby Tucson before stealing a car and driving to the Walmart in Marana. There he went to the sporting goods department, asked to see a rifle, then told an employee he wanted the ammunition. Officer who drove into suspect justified, chief says . The woman told police she gave Valencia the rounds because he told her he would break the case with the bullets inside. He also told her not to do anything stupid. In spite of that she also said she didn't feel threatened, leading police to charge him with shoplifting and not armed robbery. Walmart told CNN's Miguel Marquez that the store clerk acted appropriately, even using a code to alert security to call police. Valencia took the gun and ammo and fled into a nearby business park where he encountered an officer in a slow-moving patrol car. At one point he pointed the weapon at an officer and at another he pointed it at his head. The officer told him several times to put down the gun, police have said. The officers that were tailing him assumed that he likely couldn't shoot anyone because of the store's lock. Marana police on Thursday said the cable gun lock was still on the rifle when it was recovered. But the wire that goes through the trigger and the lever to reload the gun were loose enough to allow it to still be used, police said. It also should have been wrapped through the lever twice, not once, police said. A Walmart spokesman told CNN that the rifle had been properly locked and might have been affected by the hard blow caused by the police car. Valencia, who is in Pima County Jail, will appear in court again on May 18.

Summary: Before he was slammed into by a police car, Mario Valencia fired a rifle with a loosened lock . He shoplifted the gun and ammo from a Walmart, where a saleswoman who showed him the weapon alerted security . Walmart says the lock was properly installed but police say it was loose when it was found .


(CNN)A freshly fallen tree in the roadway was Jason Warnock's first clue. Warnock was driving through a canyon in Lewiston, Idaho, on Wednesday when he saw the tree, then looked up to see an SUV dangling over the edge of a cliff. The only thing holding the GMC Yukon and its terrified driver from a 30-foot drop was a crumpled chain-link fence, still clinging to the earth above Bryden Canyon Road. "I seen that guy hanging there and he was trying to beat the window out or the door open and I was like 'Oh man,' 'cause only like five links were hanging there," Warnock told KXLY, a CNN affiliate. "I was like, I gotta do something and no one was doing anything." What Warnock did next, captured in a dramatic photo by Lewiston Tribune photographer Barry Kough, made headlines around the world. Warnock dashed from his car and scrambled up a hill to the Yukon and its driver, 23-year-old Matthew Sitko, who appeared to be in shock. "I got up there and I was like, 'Are you alright man?' He shook his head, yeah. I grabbed my Snap-on multi-tool and it had jagged edges on each end. I hit the window three times and it didn't break. Every time I hit it, the thing rocked like it was going to fall off," Warnock told KXLY. Sitko was finally able to get the passenger-side window down. Warnock then reached in and pulled Sitko out to safety -- a moment recorded by Kough's camera. Then Warnock disappeared. "I left and got out of there before anyone knew who I was," he said. He remained an unknown good Samaritan, his identity a mystery, until Kough's picture of the daring rescue appeared in the Lewiston paper and spread across the Internet. "I don't feel like I deserve any credit or anything," Warnock said. "I just did what anyone would do, went right back to work." Thanks to Warnock, Sitko went to the hospital with just minor injuries. "The Lewiston Police Department would like to thank Jason Warnock for his quick and decisive actions in helping Mr. Sitko and preventing the situation from worsening," said Roger Lanier, the interim police chief. Warnock told KXLY he didn't want or expect all the attention and would rather be fishing in the mountains than reading about himself.

Summary: Jason Warnock rescued a man whose SUV was dangling off the edge of a cliff . Warnock: "I don't feel like I deserve any credit ... I just did what anyone would do"


(CNN)A family trip to a Nebraska zoo turned terrifying for one family after the gorilla they were looking at leaped toward the exhibit window, cracking it. Kevin Cave caught the incident on video that he posted on his Reddit page. It has already been viewed more than 1 million times. Cave said when his family first arrived at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo gorilla exhibit, he noticed one of the gorillas had a cut below his eye that was "bleeding a little bit." He said he overheard a couple of zookeepers say the gorillas had been fighting with one another. Then the gorilla -- named Kijoto -- charged toward the window and smacked into it, he said. The leap sent the family and other patrons running, but Cave said when he looked back, "it wasn't as bad as we thought it was." Dan Cassidy with the Henry Doorly Zoo said he's been surprised by the attention since he considered the whole thing a "nonevent." The group of male gorillas is known to have occasional skirmishes. "They show how tough they are by pounding on the wall and the windows," Cassidy said. Even with the crack, the public was never in danger, he said, because the window has multiple layers of both glass and acrylic. Kijoto is a 20-year-old western lowland gorilla, according to a release on the zoo's website. He weighs 375 pounds.

Summary: Gorilla leaps toward exhibit window and hits it, sending family running. Zoo says patrons were never in danger.


(CNN)They left Iran unwillingly, often in a hurry. It was for the best for these refugees. Iran is a difficult place to be gay or lesbian. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former President of Iran, famously said during a 2007 trip to the United States, "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country." Of course, they do live there, in fear of being discovered. Homosexuality is illegal. You can be executed if convicted of engaging in sexual acts. Kissing another person of the same sex can earn corporal punishment, like lashes. Others have been pressured to undergo gender reassignment. Psychologists in Iran have reportedly pushed LGBT patients toward hormone therapy and eventually surgery. Some flee the country before surgery, as do other homosexuals who believe they may be outed. Many come to Turkey, and the small town of Denizli is host to hundreds of gays and lesbians from Iran who are now in limbo. Photographer Laurence Rasti, the Swiss-born daughter of Iranian parents, flew from her home in Geneva, to Denizli to explore her fascination with identity issues in Iran. "I couldn't understand that in Iran (homosexuality) isn't accepted," she said recently by phone from Geneva. "A lot of my friends are gay. And for me it was a huge cultural difference between Europe and Iran." Rasti, whose yearlong project was part of her studies at Ecole Cantonale d'Art de Lausanne, said that when she first went to Turkey, it was difficult to get people to pose. They didn't trust her motives, didn't trust strangers, she said. It was a process to become friends. She would talk to the potential subjects about their stories then discuss with them her ideas for what the photo would be like. "I took a little part of their story to imagine a photograph," she said. There was another challenge. Social media . Follow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. "It was a work about identity even though we don't see faces," she said. She hopes the images will give back to each of these people the face that their country has "temporarily stolen." Rasti, 25, said once people understood her sincerity, and the anonymity of the project, they agreed to be photographed. Rasti, a photographer for four years, used her Mamiya 7 to give people a view into the spirit of these refugees. Despite their status -- they cannot earn a living in Turkey and it take years to getting papers to go to a new country -- the refugees are still full of hope and love despite their rough lives, Rasti said. It's even more remarkable, she said, when you consider how they never imagined having to flee the land they loved and then lie to their families, many telling their kin they left to pursue their studies. Most will eventually go on to a third country. Rasti said she remains friends with some of her subjects who now live in Canada. A few will return to Iran, hoping to keep their homosexuality a secret. Rasti hopes her photos spark dialogue. "The

Summary: Homosexuality is illegal in Iran . Denizli, Turkey, is host to hundreds of gays and lesbians from Iran . Photographer Laurence Rasti traveled to Turkey to explore her fascination with identity issues .


Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)It is an unimaginably hideous outcome. To be raped by your cousin's husband; be jailed for adultery as your attacker was married; to suffer the ignominy of global uproar about your jailing and assault, but be pardoned by presidential decree; and then to endure the shame and rejection from a conservative society that somehow held you to blame. The solution in this society? Marry your attacker. That's what happened to Gulnaz, who was barely 16 when she was raped. She's now carrying the third child of her attacker, Asadullah, who was convicted and jailed -- though this was then reduced. Gulnaz's plight -- like so much in beleaguered Afghanistan -- disappeared from the world's gaze once she was pardoned and released courtesy of a presidential pardon. Instead of a new start, what followed for Gulnaz was a quiet, Afghan solution to the "problem" -- a telling sign of where women's rights stand in Afghanistan despite the billions that have poured into this country from the U.S. government and its NATO allies during more than a decade of war. We found Gulnaz in her family home. Smile, the name of the daughter born of the rape, is now a shining little girl, bouncing around the house that her mother shares with Asadullah's first wife -- who is also Gulnaz's cousin. Asadullah agreed to let us speak with him and Gulnaz because, it seemed, he wanted to show us that things were now settled, that under Afghanistan's version of social morality he had done the right thing. He had rescued Gulnaz from shame. "If I hadn't married her, (but) according to our traditions, she couldn't have lived back in society," he tells us. "Her brothers didn't want to accept her back. Now, she doesn't have any of those problems." 2011: Thousands sign petition for Gulaz release . Gulnaz remains subdued throughout our meeting and does not once look her husband in the eye. "I didn't want to ruin the life of my daughter or leave myself helpless so I agreed to marry him," she says. "We are traditional people. When we get a bad name, we prefer death to living with that name in society." As Smile attempts to pour tea, the other seven children in this household run around the courtyard. The first wife remains unseen in the house. A portrait of Gulnaz's liberator in 2011, the then-president Hamid Karzai, hangs on the wall. But the sense of order here is undermined by the fact that this is a house built around a crime. How Gulnaz ended up here requires some explanation. There was pressure upon her to marry her attacker after her release. But at the same time, other activists were trying to assist her with an asylum bid abroad. "Unfortunately, Gulnaz was heavily pressured to marry her attacker by various people within the government which, in and of itself, was immensely disappointing," her former attorney, an American citizen named Kimberley Motley, tells us. "Gulnaz was constantly told that neither she nor her daughter would be protected if she did

Summary: Gulnaz was jailed after the attack as her rapist was married . Her case gained international attention; prompted a presidential pardon . She was forced to marry her attacker or face disgrace .


Tokyo (CNN)On the 29th floor of Roppongi Hills, an upscale Tokyo high-rise full of offices, restaurants and residences, two actors in kimonos sit on a tatami mat and glare at each other as artificial smoke billows around them. It's been a long day of filming "The Crawler in the Dark," a new sci-fi horror movie set in Japan's Meiji era. This movie won't be released in theaters; it's going directly to YouTube. The file sharing website is celebrating 10 years since the first 19-second video "Me at the zoo," was uploaded on April 23, 2005 by one of the site's founders. A decade later, the site gets billions of views every day. And the most popular YouTube channels draw larger audiences than many TV networks. In 2015, YouTube is striving to improve the quality of its content by investing in "YouTube Spaces," like the one in Tokyo, where "creators" like Tokyo independent filmmaker JR Lipartito have access to professional studios, training, and many resources once out of reach for low budget productions. "Having a set, especially a period set like this, is almost inaccessible for an independent filmmaker," Lipartito says. "It really breaks down the barriers." David Macdonald, who moved to Japan as an English teacher two decades ago, is now the Head of YouTube Spaces for Asia Pacific. "YouTube is not only cats and dogs on skateboards any more. It's a place for great content. Great high quality content," Macdonald says. The Tokyo space is one of five worldwide available for free to YouTube partners, who create content and share ad revenue with the website. "Helping creators find better audiences, more audiences, and just improve their craft," Macdonald says. Anyone can create a YouTube channel. The most popular, 25-year-old Swedish gamer PewDiePie, has more than 36 million subscribers. Many of his videos have a viewership that exceeds popular television programs. YouTube has 300 hours of video uploads per minute. The website wants more of those videos to be polished productions. Japanese film and TV company Toei is partnering with YouTube to encourage more Japanese samurai dramas -- called Jidaigeki. The goal is to attract new subscribers in one of YouTube's biggest markets. "They're building sets. We have high quality cameras, high quality sets, high quality actors," says Bob Werley, one of the actors in "The Crawler in the Dark." Werley and fellow actor Masa Hitokawahata hope their higher quality work will appeal to more of YouTube's one billion users. "It's going to raise the bar," Werley says. "We've seen a lot more people wanting to use [the studio], becoming aware of it, getting excited about it." If a video goes viral, the financial rewards can be significant. Thousands of the most popular YouTube creators earn six-figure incomes through ad revenue and sponsorships. A handful earn in the millions of dollars.

Summary: April 23 marks 10 years since first video, "Me at the zoo," was uploaded to YouTube . Site gets billions of views every day; 300 hours of uploads every minute . New studios being opened for budget filmmakers to improve quality of output .


(CNN)It is not hard to imagine the conversations inside the Hillary Clinton camp prelaunch: How do we take the best known woman in the world and make her seem like less of a big shot? How can the people in Iowa and New Hampshire get to know the "real Hillary," the Midwestern Methodist? (As a friend told me, she's someone who "likes to sing 'God Bless America' on New Year's Eve.") And how to open the minds of people about someone everyone already has an opinion about? Same questions, no doubt, that the staff asked in 2008 when she ran against the newbie Barack Obama, and same questions they asked when, as first lady, she ran for the Senate in New York. In that race, she ended up spending a lot of all-ears quality time in upstate New York. In this race, she could be spending a lot of all-you-can-eat time at Diners, Drive-ins and Dives — just like the TV show. (Except Guy Fieri would probably have been recognized by the crowd at Chipotle. Just sayin.' ) Dining aside, it's hard -- almost impossible -- to soft-launch a campaign with a superstar politician. All the gauzy ads and the small classrooms and the coffee shops can't mask the Houdini-like effort Hillary Clinton is making to escape the inescapable reality -- that even her "Scooby-Doo" van is followed by throngs of press. (I half imagined an O.J. moment with a helicopter hovering as she made her way down I-80.) Try as she might to launch with a humble start — not entitled to anything — she still is who she is. Virtually unchallenged. Not to mention famous, accomplished and controversial. In watching it all unfold, it's hard to underestimate the task at hand. It's also hard to figure out whether it's actually going to work. Hillary Clinton — and her experienced campaign team — are disciplined and relentlessly on message. That's usually a good thing when you're running a presidential campaign. But when you're sitting at a community college in Iowa and you tick off your rationale for running and your resume — unprompted — it seems less effective and more oddly incongruent. (Especially when the former secretary of state described her tenure in five words — as "standing up for our country." Short shrift, it seems to me.) Maybe it's that the old lessons of message discipline don't work in the informal environment the campaign is trying to create — at least not with this candidate. The hardest combination in politics is that just-right mixture of spontaneity and discipline. The ability to understand exactly what you have to say (over and over) and then say it as if you have never said it before. And look like you're having a great time doing it. We like to call it authenticity, but it's probably not. It's a honed skill that combines connection and gravitas, both of which the voters demand in a president. (A majority of voters -- 53% -- say they want to vote for someone who has been financially successful,

Summary: Gloria Borger: Hillary Clinton's team is doing all it can to make her appear relatable to ordinary people . She asks if the most famous woman in the world can really connect with ordinary voters?


(CNN)They come from more than 20 countries, drawn to Libya as the funnel to Europe. Eritreans want to escape repression or military service; Somalis flee Al-Shabaab and clan warfare; Syrians have given up hope of returning home. In villages in Senegal and elsewhere across West Africa, young men sell all they have in the hope of a better life in Europe, perhaps hoping to join a cousin or brother who made it. Motivations among the tens of thousands making the trek to the Mediterranean coast are as many and varied as the nationalities involved, according to researchers and human rights groups. But in 2014 more than 80% of them headed for the Libyan coast as the easiest point of embarkation. From the Horn of Africa to the Atlantic, from Syria and Gaza, these would-be migrants travel well-established smuggling routes. Along the way they must cross deserts and mountains, risk kidnap or robbery, are often cheated or left stranded. One African migrant reported surviving on toothpaste for days. A teenage Somali who made it to Malta told researchers that he had warned other family members not to come. "I tell them its 95% sure that you will die," he said. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has tracked the migrant flows through North Africa for years. Eritreans have long been prominent among the travelers, escaping an authoritarian government, poverty and indefinite military service -- a land without possibilities. "Many conscripts are not demobilized from the military as scheduled and some were forced to serve indefinitely under threats of detention, torture, or punishment of their families," according to a report by the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat (RMMS) in Nairobi last year. They travel to Sudan, so long as they can avoid kidnap by tribes on the border, and are handed from one group of smugglers to the next in relay. One Eritrean woman told the UN Refugee agency (UNHCR) this month that she had paid $5,000 to reach the Mediterranean. Eritreans and Syrians made up half of the migrant traffic to Europe last year, according to Arezo Malakooti, director of migration research at Altai Consulting and author of one of the most detailed studies of migration patterns. Malakooti has recently visited seven countries, including Libya, Tunisia and Morocco to update her study. The "push factor" is much greater than the "pull" of Europe, she says. Upheavals and instability across much of Africa and the Middle East -- combined with the perception that Libya's doors are open -- have led to a massive increase in the numbers trying to reach Libya. "Worsening repression in Eritrea" has been one factor, she says -- while Eritreans already in refugee camps in Sudan have decided to make a dash for the Mediterranean. One reason is that other routes -- through Saudi Arabia and to Israel -- have become more difficult: Israel has adopted a much tougher approach on would-be Eritrean migrants trying to enter the country through the Sinai desert, including detention, and Yemen's implosion has cut off that conduit. As one Eritrean told the humanitarian journal IRIN

Summary: Would-be immigrants come from more than 20 countries to North Africa to cross Mediterranean to Europe . They risk their lives crossing deserts and mountains; many are robbed or cheated as they try to reach the Libyan coast .


(CNN)As goes Walmart, so goes the nation? Everyone from Apple CEO Tim Cook to the head of the NCAA slammed religious freedom laws being considered in several states this week, warning that they would open the door to discrimination against gay and lesbian customers. But it was the opposition from Walmart, the ubiquitous retailer that dots the American landscape, that perhaps resonated most deeply, providing the latest evidence of growing support for gay rights in the heartland. Walmart's staunch criticism of a religious freedom law in its home state of Arkansas came after the company said in February it would boost pay for about 500,000 workers well above the federal minimum wage. Taken together, the company is emerging as a bellwether for shifting public opinion on hot-button political issues that divide conservatives and liberals. And some prominent Republicans are urging the party to take notice. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who famously called on the GOP to "be the party of Sam's Club, not just the country club," told CNN that Walmart's actions "foreshadow where the Republican Party will need to move." "The Republican Party will have to better stand for" ideas on helping the middle class, said Pawlenty, the head of the Financial Services Roundtable, a Washington lobbying group for the finance industry. The party's leaders must be "willing to put forward ideas that will help modest income workers, such as a reasonable increase in the minimum wage, and prohibit discrimination in things such as jobs, housing, public accommodation against gays and lesbians." Walmart, which employs more than 50,000 people in Arkansas, emerged victorious on Wednesday. Hours after the company's CEO, Doug McMillon, called on Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson to veto the bill, the governor held a news conference and announced he would not sign the legislation unless its language was fixed. Walmart's opposition to the religious freedom law once again puts the company at odds with many in the Republican Party, which the company's political action committee has tended to support. In 2004, the Walmart PAC gave around $2 million to Republicans versus less than $500,000 to Democrats, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. That gap has grown less pronounced in recent years. In 2014, the PAC spent about $1.3 million to support Republicans and around $970,000 for Democrats. It has been a gradual transformation for Walmart. In 2011, the company bulked up its nondiscrimination policies by adding protections for gender identity. Two years later, the company announced that it would start offering health insurance benefits to same-sex partners of employees starting in 2014. Retail experts say Walmart's evolution on these issues over the years is partly a reflection of its diverse consumer base, as well as a recognition of the country's increasingly progressive views of gay equality (support for same-sex marriage is at a new high of 59%, according to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll). "It's easy for someone like a Chick-fil-A to take a really polarizing position," said Dwight Hill, a partner at the retail consulting firm McMillanDoolittle. "But in the world of

Summary: While Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson was weighing an Arkansas religious freedom bill, Walmart voiced its opposition . Walmart and other high-profile businesses are showing their support for gay and lesbian rights . Their stance puts them in conflict with socially conservative Republicans, traditionally seen as allies .


(CNN)I remember the day I stopped praying. It was the day after my little brother, Jimmy, died of cancer. He was 25. I was so angry at God. I was 27 at the time, and, like most young people I had stopped going to church. But, on that day -- that terrible day -- I desperately needed to understand why God took my brother. I called the nearest Catholic church, looking for a priest. A lady picked up the phone. "Can I talk with Father?" I asked. I wish I could say her answer was "yes." Instead, she asked me if I was a member of that particular parish. "Does it matter?" I asked. (At the time I lived far from my home parish.) I don't remember how she responded, but the answer about my being able to see Father was clearly no. I don't know if all Catholic churches would have shut me out, but I figured, at the time, it was part of the long list of rules the Vatican required Catholic leaders to follow. I cried for a bit, then decided I would never ask God for anything. Clearly, his conduits on Earth did not have time for me -- a lifelong Catholic -- and sinner -- so why would he? Ever since, I've considered myself a lapsed Catholic. Until Pope Francis. There is something about Francis that's reawakened my faith. And it's not because he opened the floodgates to allow sin in the eyes of the church. He still argues against things I passionately support, but I find myself -- like many other lapsed Catholics -- enthralled. Recently I had the pleasure of meeting one of the Pope's newly appointed cardinals. His name is Cardinal Gerald Lacroix. The 57-year-old presides at the Basilica Cathedral of Notre Dame in Quebec City. One of my first questions: What is it about Pope Francis? "Every person is a mystery you know. ... But what's evident is this man is living with such freedom, such inner freedom. He's himself. He's in tune with the Lord," Lacroix told me. "Those close to him say he's up close to 4 in the morning to prepare his daily Mass, which is at 7 in the morning on the weekdays. So that's almost three hours of prayer, preparation and silence before the Lord and the word of God. Wow, that really fine-tunes you to start off a day." Perhaps that's how the Pope stays humble. Why he defies tradition and washes the feet of the disabled, women and those of other faiths. Why he ordered showers to be built for the poor in St. Peter's Square. All of this is appealing, but it's more than that. In my mind, it's his tone. When Pope Francis said, "If a person is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" The comment took me aback. Homosexuality has long been a taboo subject for the Vatican, yet Pope Francis uttered those welcoming words. Lacroix likened the Pope's approach to Jesus. "Jesus

Summary: There is something about Pope Francis that's reawakened her faith, say CNN's Carol Costello . Meeting Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of Quebec showed how the Pope is putting people in place to carry out his new vision, Costello writes .


(CNN)The Indonesian government has ordered preparations for the execution of 10 inmates on death row, including Filipino maid Mary Jane Veloso and Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. Jakarta has advised consular officials to travel to Indonesia's "execution island" -- Nusa Kambangan -- where the ten are being held, though a spokesman for the Attorney General, Tony Spontana, told CNN Friday this is not the required 72-hour notice given to death row convicts before the actual execution. But he said, "the time is approaching." The 10 inmates, from Australia, France, Ghana, the Philippines, Brazil, Nigeria and Indonesia, had their petitions for clemency denied by President Joko Widodo in late 2014. The executions, which will be carried out by firing squad, were planned for earlier this year but were postponed after several inmates filed separate legal challenges. On Tuesday, the Indonesian Supreme Court rejected reviews filed by French national Serge Atlaoui and Ghanaian Martin Anderson. "We're just waiting for one more decision on the judicial review filed by Zainal Abidin and we hope the Supreme Court's decision will come out tomorrow (Friday)," Spontana added. Abidin is also a drug convict and the only Indonesian citizen in the group. Chan and Sukumaran, members of the so-called "Bali Nine" convicted for their role in a failed 2005 heroin smuggling plot, tried to challenge the President's decision earlier this month but lost an appeal for the State Administrative Court to hear their case. Their lawyers have since filed another review at the Constitutional Court. The Attorney General's office has said they would respect all ongoing court proceedings but insisted the inmates have exhausted all their legal options. Australia has repeatedly appealed for clemency for the pair and has unsuccessfully proposed a prisoner swap with Indonesia as a way of avoiding their deaths. In another sign that the execution date may be announced soon, Spontana said Veloso, 30, was moved Friday to Nusa Kambangan, which lies off the coast of West Java. She has been held in a prison in Yogyakarta, Central Java since 2010. The Supreme Court rejected her petition for a judicial review in March but her lawyers were still preparing to file a second review on Monday. OPINION: Why executions won't win Indonesia's drug war . According to her lawyers, Veloso unknowingly carried drugs into Indonesia and that she was set up by members of a drug syndicate. Her entire family has traveled to Indonesia to fulfill her last wish. Older sister Marites Laurente told CNN Friday that Veloso wants to see parents, siblings and two young sons before facing the firing squad. Laurente said that while her sister seemed resigned to her fate, the family still hopes for a stay in her execution. "The chances are slim but we're hoping for a miracle. That's what we need, a miracle," she said. "If President Widodo kills her, he would kill an innocent person. So please stop them from executing her." At the time of the interview, lawyers had not informed the family about news of the attorney general's orders. Veloso's father, Cesar Veloso, 59,

Summary: Indonesia has advised foreign consular officials to travel to Indonesia's "execution island" The 10 death row inmates being held have had their legal bids rejected . They include Australian "Bali Nine" members Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran .


(CNN)Their relationship led to jail time for her, but Mary Kay Letourneau Fualaau wants the world to know that she and her husband, Vili Fualaau, are still happily together. She was a married 34-year-old teacher and mother of four in Seattle in 1996 when she began an affair with Fualaau, her 13-year-old student. Letourneau gave birth to her young lover's child and went on to serve more than seven years in prison on charges related to their sexual relationship. On Friday, ABC's "20/20" will air an exclusive interview with the couple, who will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary on May 20. The pair wed soon after she was released from prison in 2005 and are now the parents of two teen girls. According to ABC, during the interview with Barbara Walters, "Mary Kay tells Walters what makes their marriage work in spite of their huge difference in their age." "She also discusses her surprising plans to teach again, as well as her intentions to have her status as a registered sex offender lifted," a posting on the network's site says. "Vili Fualaau, meanwhile, discusses his bouts with alcoholism, depression and why he believes the system failed him while he was still a minor." Letourneau Fualaau is now 53, and her husband is 31.

Summary: Letourneau Fualaau had a sexual relationship with her student . He was 13 when they began the relationship in 1996 . In May, they will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary .


(CNN)Percy Sledge, the R&B belter whose biggest hit, "When a Man Loves a Woman," became a cornerstone of soul music, died Tuesday. He was 73. Sledge died in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said Stephanie Price of the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office. Sledge died of natural causes, said East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. William Clark. He had been in hospice care for cancer, Clark added. In a career that started in the 1960s, Sledge had a number of hits, including "Take Time to Know Her," "Warm and Tender Love" and "It Tears Me Up" among them. But his first and biggest hit, "When a Man Loves a Woman," towered over them all. Over a mournful, slowly rising instrumental track provided by organist Spooner Oldham, drummer Roger Hawkins and guitarist Marlin Greene -- key musicians of what became the Muscle Shoals sound, heard on countless soul records -- Sledge crooned, pleaded and roared his way through the tune. It came directly from the heart: Originally called "Why Did You Leave Me Baby," he'd written it about a former girlfriend, drawing from a tune that he used to sing to himself as a child. "I hummed it all my life, even when I was picking and chopping cotton in the fields," the Alabama-born singer told the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the time, Sledge was working as a hospital orderly, picking up gigs at night with a group called the Esquires Combo. In a fit of generosity, he gave the songwriting credit for "Woman" to two of the Esquires, Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, who had helped him with a few chords. The song was recorded on February 17, 1966, in Sheffield, Alabama. Atlantic Records picked it up and wanted to redo the slightly out-of-tune horns, but the original version ended up being released. It hit No. 1 on May 28, 1966. "Southern soul had at last entered the mainstream of pop in the unlikely guise of the ultimate make-out song," music historian Peter Guralnick wrote. Producer Jerry Wexler called it "a holy love hymn." Sledge never saw a dime of songwriting royalties. He had some regrets about that, he told Blues and Soul magazine -- the song would have helped provide for his children -- but he accepted it. "Worst decision I ever made. But I am not at all bitter. I figure if God wanted me to do what I did, and say what I did to tell those guys they could have the song, then I'll leave it that away," he told the magazine. "When a Man Loves a Woman" became a standard, covered many times -- Michael Bolton took it to No. 1 in 1991 -- and featured on several movie soundtracks. It was even the title of a 1994 film starring Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan. Sledge's version also returned to the charts, hitting the UK top 10 in 1987. Even with his other hits, he said, it all came back to "When a Man Loves a Woman." "The granddaddy to all of my songs. The

Summary: "When a Man Loves a Woman" singer Percy Sledge dies at 73 . Sledge died Tuesday morning in Baton Rouge, Louisiana . "When a Man Loves a Woman" is cornerstone of soul music, much covered and much played .


(CNN)Erika Langhart had a zest for life. By the time she finished college she had already visited 37 countries. After graduating from college she was working in Washington and thinking about going to law school. Her life was full of promise, but all that ended suddenly when she was just 24 years old. In Phoenix, Karen Langhart was looking forward to her daughter coming home for Thanksgiving when she received a call from Erika's cell phone. In an interview with CNN, Erika's mom said she "picked up the phone and answered it, 'Hi Schmoo, can't wait to see you' -- Schmoo-bear is our nickname for her -- and it was Sean." With groceries in hand, Erika's boyfriend, Sean Coakley, had arrived at her apartment to make dinner and found Erika collapsed on the floor. The fire department and paramedics were already on the scene. The attendant at the front desk had heard Erika screaming for help and called 911. "[The paramedics] tried to revive her with CPR and while they were in the apartment, I think she had a heart attack and then two more on the way to the hospital in the ambulance, and another one in the hospital, and she never woke up," Erika's father, Rick Langhart, said. Karen knew it was serious when the emergency room doctor said they needed to come to the hospital in Arlington, Virginia. She said the doctor asked her whether Erika was using any birth control. According to Karen, when she told him Erika was using the NuvaRing, . "He said well there's a link between NuvaRing and pulmonary embolisms," Karen Langhart said. Rick Langhart said doctors removed the NuvaRing immediately. "It was, it was a nightmare," he added. By the time Rick and Karen arrived at the Virginia Hospital Center, Erika was in a coma, in the ICU. "They had determined that Erika had no brain activity and that because of her heart attacks they basically told us that she was brain dead and that's it," Rick Langhart said, fighting back tears. Hospital records cited the NuvaRing as a risk factor for Erika's multiple pulmonary embolisms. Records confirm what Erika's parents told CNN: that a blood clot started in an artery/vein in her right thigh and traveled to her lungs, causing "massive" pulmonary embolisms and "multiple episodes of cardiac arrest" on the way to the hospital and overnight. The Langharts never heard their daughter's voice again. She died on Thanksgiving. "We miss her so much," Karen Langhart said. Less than a year later, 2,000 miles away in Utah, Megan Henry had the scare of her life. Henry, it turns out, was a classmate of Erika Langhart's at American University. She's training to compete in the Olympics in skeleton, a type of high-speed downhill sledding. The scare that shook her in August 2012 threatened her Olympic dreams. Within weeks of starting the NuvaRing, Henry said she collapsed during training, unable to breathe. "I mean I was struggling, I was struggling to breathe." Henry said. "It's like an elephant was sitting on my chest all

Summary: The NuvaRing is one of the most popular birth control products on the market . Lawsuit cites "a heightened risk of blood clots associated with the use of NuvaRing" Maker: "There is substantial evidence to support the safety and efficacy of NuvaRing"


(CNN)If newly revised NYPD training materials are approved by a federal judge, new cadets could be taking courses reminding them "not to engage in racial profiling." The proposed training materials, overseen by appointed federal monitor Peter Zimroth, were submitted to Manhattan Federal Court judge Analisa Torres on Monday for approval. They include directives to "not tell or tolerate ethnic, racial or sexist jokes" and to "not imitate the speech patterns" of others. "Do not engage in racial profiling," the training materials read. "It is against the law. It violates fundamental democratic precepts and freedoms. It violates this Department's policies. It is offensive. It violates your responsibility to treat people equally. It diverts us from catching real criminals. It alienates us from people who need us, and hurts our ability to do our job. You can probably think of other reasons not to do it, but the point is that you will not do it." The training notes also instruct new cadets "not to use terms or words that devalue groups of people or stereotype them" and "not to imitate speech patterns of other racial, ethnic and class groups when communicating cross culturally" because "they appear disingenuous, artificial, and possibly racist." The revised training notes, which include 140 pages of instruction and PowerPoint slides, are a result of a 2013 federal ruling declaring the New York Police Department's "Stop, Question and Frisk" practice unconstitutional. The NYPD has said the policy -- in which police stop, question and frisk people they consider suspicious -- was used to deter crime. The practice had been widely criticized. Police Department figures showed that nearly nine out of 10 people "stopped and frisked" in 2011 were African-American or Hispanic, though New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has said 90% of those stopped were innocent. "The current training materials had not undergone a comprehensive review for some time ... [and] did not address some important subjects or account for some changes in NYPD policies and law," Zimroth wrote in a cover letter to Torres. "All parties agreed it was essential that the materials be rewritten for the current class to reflect current law and policy." The NYPD collaborated with Zimroth's team in crafting the final training materials. They will now "review their implementation in terms of our current and ongoing practices," said an NYPD spokesperson in an email to CNN. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association declined to comment. The materials also provide historical legal information on proper "stops" and offers detailed procedures for patrolling buildings for criminal activity. They also give instructions on how an officer should lawfully conduct him or herself when engaging with the public. "Remember that a courteous, professional and respectful police officer who illustrates the opposite of bias and discrimination helps create a partnership with the community and builds rapport with the people in it. "The result is that the citizens become our allies and, in turn, policing becomes safer and easier. This enhances our effectiveness and increases our pride and pleasure in what we do," the notes read. If approved, the new training materials will

Summary: The training materials are a result of a 2013 ruling declaring "Stop, Question and Frisk" unconstitutional . They read that racial profiling "is offensive. ... It diverts us from catching real criminals"


(CNN)Misao Okawa, the world's oldest person according to Guinness World Records, has died at the age of 117. Okawa passed away Wednesday morning in Osaka, Japan, Tadahi Uchimura, a local official from the city told CNN. She left behind three children, four grandchildren and six great grandchildren. Okawa was born on March 5, 1898. Her family ran a Kimono shop in Osaka, Satoshi Yoshioka, an employee at the nursing home where she had lived since 1997 told CNN. "She was a person with mild character, and loved to eat so much. Her favorite food was sushi and udon noodles," Yoshioka said. "She had eaten a lot of cake for her birthday last March 5. " "However, in the last 10 days she stopped eating. I think eating was her motivation to live, and when she lost it, she passed away." According to Guiness World Records, the oldest person ever was Jeanne Louise Calment, who died at age 122 in 1997.

Summary: Misao Okawa, the world's oldest person dies at the age of 117. She passed away on Wednesday morning in Japan.


(CNN)If there was ever any doubt that the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan is an energy policy plan, not a carbon reduction plan, all you have to do is look at how they treat nuclear energy. Nuclear is our largest source of carbon-free energy, generating over 60% of our carbon-free electricity. Surely President Barack Obama's climate plan, allegedly aimed at reducing the United States' overall carbon emissions, would revitalize the nuclear industry, lead to increased plant construction and help meet aggressive carbon reduction targets. Well, think again. James Hansen, the former head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in 2013 that "continued opposition to nuclear power threatens humanity's ability to avoid dangerous climate change." Yet Wednesday, the White House will celebrate Earth Day and promote its work to fend off climate change, while strategically ignoring its largest tool to cut carbon emissions -- nuclear energy -- as well as the warning of one of the administration's favorite climate scientists. Despite the fact that nuclear power is carbon-free, the Obama administration's energy policy plan is biased against it. This bias is created by how Environmental Protection Agency credits nuclear power in its models of both current emissions and plan implementation. EPA's modeling is divorced from reality. First, EPA's "Base Case for the Proposed Clean Power Plan" purports to depict the current state of the industry as the future would unfold without the Clean Power Plan. This base case assumes no new nuclear construction and indicates the retirement of 96 of our 99 operating nuclear plants by 2050. EPA's implementation modeling, "Option 1 -- State," shows exactly the same situation: no new construction and 96 retirements by 2050. In other words, EPA assumes that the nuclear industry is essentially phased out by 2050. These assumptions are tremendously important because they determine how emission targets are set and what state actions will receive credit toward those targets. A group of University of Tennessee graduate students made this point to EPA at a public hearing last summer. Using EPA's own data, the graduate students showed that EPA's energy policy plan creates incentives for states to shut down nuclear power plants and replace them with natural gas combined cycle plants. The students demonstrated that under this scenario, EPA's model shows emission reductions while real world emissions actually increase. President Obama's EPA has shifted its position on nuclear energy and hidden that policy shift in a model. For example, when EPA modeled the Lieberman-Warner bill in 2008, the agency indicated 44 nuclear plants would need to be built by 2030 in order to achieve the carbon reductions mandated in the bill. EPA's modeling of the 2009 Waxman-Markey bill showed the need to build 275 new nuclear plants by 2050 to meet the carbon reduction targets in the legislation. Where did this policy shift come from? At a recent hearing in the Environment and Public Works Committee, Mary Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board, told Congress that EPA looked at California's California Global Warming Solutions Act when developing its so-called Clean Power Plan and that

Summary: U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe: Nuclear is our largest source of carbon-free energy, generating over 60% of our carbon-free electricity . So why doesn't the President's climate plan, allegedly aimed at reducing carbon emissions, do more with nuclear power?


Rome (CNN)Italian authorities said they had launched a "vast anti-terrorism operation" Friday, going after suspects associated with al Qaeda who had discussed a range of targets, including the Vatican. Some members of the terrorist cell had direct contact with al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before his death in Pakistan in 2011, wiretaps showed, Italy's state-run ANSA news agency reported. And wiretaps and other intelligence revealed that the group planned to carry out terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as in Italy, according to Caligari Chief Prosecutor Mauro Mura. Some evidence indicated the Vatican was among the targets considered, police said. Talk of this took place March 2010, around the time a possible suicide bomber from Afghanistan entered Italy, Mura said. Police said, too, that some of the suspects were involved in a Pakistani market bombing in 2009 in which more than 300 people were killed and injured . The suspects had been under surveillance for years, some as far back as 2005, police said. On Friday, Italian State Police closed in, carrying out raids in seven provinces in what they called a first-of-its-kind operation. One of the raids targeted the alleged terrorist cell's headquarters on the island of Sardinia. The operation, which is still going on, is expected to result in the arrest of 18 people, most of them from Pakistan, said spokesman Paolo Meloni, who represents the police in Sassari, Sardinia, where the investigation is being coordinated. Some suspects had an abundance of weapons and moved cash around the world, police said. One was apprehended on a flight from Italy to Pakistan while carrying 55,000 euros, or nearly $60,000, police said. Meloni said the provinces in which the raids were being carried out included Frosinone and Macerata, which are in central Italy, as well as Bergamo, in the north. Some of those expected to be arrested are suspected of having been involved in the 2009 car bombing in Pakistan, Meloni said. In that bombing, in a bazaar in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, 137 people were killed and more than 200 were injured. Still other suspects are suspected of involvement in migrant trafficking, he said. Police said the group tried to recruit to its cause the migrants it transported. CNN's Hada Messia reported from Rome, CNN's Don Melvin reported and wrote from London and CNN's Greg Botelho reported and wrote from Atlanta.

Summary: Police: Some suspects involved in Pakistan blast that killed, injured more than 300 . Evidence suggests Vatican was discussed as a possible target in March 2010, police say . State news: Some members of alleged terrorist cell had direct contact with Osama bin Laden .


(CNN)Most days, 16-year-old Jason Zobott walks into Huntley High School in suburban Chicago around 7:30 a.m. like any high schooler might. It's what he does the rest of the day that's not so typical. Zobott is enrolled in Huntley High's blended learning program, which merges Internet-based instruction with a more traditional classroom setting. One-third of the school's 2,700 students are enrolled. In 2015, the school is working toward enrolling the majority of its students. "Having to work online makes it really accessible to do the work that I have to get done," said Zobott, a top-ranked junior who balances a heavy load of extracurricular activities with schoolwork. "I can learn on my own. I can work at the pace I want to work. And I learn the way I want to learn." Huntley High School students and educators often refer to the program simply as "blended." It allows teachers to write the curriculum, with students giving feedback about the focus. Unlike many traditional online learning programs, students have the option of a flexible schedule during allotted blended learning days. Some days they meet with teachers, and some days they work online, according to Anne Pasco, who heads the school's educational technology efforts. "In blended learning, we focus on the content. We don't focus on needing to cover X amount of material," Pasco said. "Blended allows us to provide a stable environment that gives students the ability to spread their wings a bit, while we have the safety net of pulling them back into class if they need it." The "homegrown" program, which launched in 2011, gives students who struggle in certain content areas more one-on-one time with teachers during the school day, Pasco said. "Before blended, that had to happen after school or before school or on Saturday or maybe not at all, because we had too many other activities that encroach upon (students') academic day," Pasco said. "Now, this student can work one-on-one with that teacher during the school day." Teachers can monitor students' progress and track lesson plans online to see how much time students spend on a specific assignment. Teachers are allowed to restructure the class schedule based on students' needs. "There's actually much better accountability," said John Burkey, the superintendent for Huntley High's school district, which includes about 9,500 students. "Blended learning is not a panacea, and the success of the program isn't about spending a bunch of money on technology. Rather, [it's] looking at what students actually need, and building a culture of innovation to meet those needs." Burkey said there were plenty of questions about blended learning when it was first introduced to the Chicago district in 2011. One concern: How was the district going to pay for it? It turns out the blended learning program spends about $8,500 per student, less than the Illinois average of $12,000 per student. "We spend considerably less than the average school district. We don't have a lot of resources compared to many districts," Burkey said. "We did not put new money into this. What we did is change the

Summary: Huntley High School in Huntley, Illinois, offers a blended learning program . It allows students to combine online learning with in-person teacher instruction .


(CNN)I've visited Nepal at least half a dozen times over the last decade, and of the more than 100 countries that Save the Children serves, it is undoubtedly one of my favorites. There are the usual things that are said about it -- the stunning landscape, which includes Mount Everest, and the amazing food. But Nepal has also made some of the most remarkable progress on maternal and child health in the last few years. In fact, I remember a time just last May when I sat with a group of mothers and their tiny babies as they told me how proud they were that they now understood how important it was to make sure they prioritized breastfeeding and nutritious foods. They spoke of the wonderful future they were now expecting for their children, and they shared with me the big dreams that they had. So you can imagine the indescribable sadness I experienced waking up this morning and seeing the news reports that Nepal had been hit by its worst earthquake since 1934, when more than 10,000 people were killed. While casualty accounts following the magnitude-7.8 quake Saturday are still difficult to confirm -- hardly surprising considering that communication lines have been severely disrupted -- estimates we are hearing from the ground are already placing the number lost in the thousands, with the official toll now at around 1,500 expected to keep growing as the hours and days pass. The fact that the epicenter of this quake was so close to the capital of Kathmandu, where the majority of Nepal's citizens reside, makes the situation even more dire. Many of these people live in cramped conditions and have never lived outside the city. As a result, it is unlikely they even have a home village to go to temporarily for shelter. Housing the scores of newly homeless will be a tall order. It is still quite cold at night in Nepal, so getting these people into shelters quickly will be of the utmost importance. Compounding this very serious problem will be the difficulty in ensuring that those affected have access to clean water in the coming days; Nepal already had one of the lowest standards of sanitation in the world before the quake. In fact, even getting food to people will be a logistical nightmare, given that the entire country -- which is about the size of Tennessee -- is served by only two main roads, which have likely been badly damaged, if not destroyed. We have been in situations like this before, and know what to do. But time is not on our side -- we have only a few short weeks before the rainy season begins, which will make an already difficult job close to impossible. With that in mind, we have set up a fund to help address the immediate needs of children, who are always the most vulnerable in an emergency. We and other relief organizations will be doing everything we can to help get Nepal back on its feet without having to wait for more people

Summary: A magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck near Kathmandu, Nepal . Carolyn Miles: Many survivors will have nowhere to go .


(CNN)The bizarre circumstances surrounding Freddie Gray's death have inflamed tensions across the country. How could a man suffer a severe spinal cord injury after getting arrested? And what happened in the 30 minutes before he was taken to a hospital? Gray wavered in and out of a coma and died Sunday, one week after his arrest. It's not clear how he suffered the spinal cord injury. But Gray is far from the only suspect who died under questionable circumstances after he was already in custody. Here are several other cases: . Date of arrest: March 31, 2015 . Date of death: March 31, 2015 . What happened: . Police in Vineland, New Jersey, responded to a call of a disorderly person, and White was arrested and handcuffed. Police dispatch recordings include an officer saying White "tried to grab my gun." One witness, Agustin Ayala, told the Vineland Daily Journal that White was resisting arrest. But two others told WCAU that police attacked White while he was already handcuffed. "They punched him, stomped him, kicked him and then they let the dog out of the car," Ricardo Garcia told the station. "The dog bit him on his face and around his body. There's no call for that. Once a man is handcuffed and unconscious, you should have stuck him in the patrol car and take him to the police station." Witness Luis Martinez gave a similar account. "The other cop let the dog out, and they just kept punching him and the dog kept biting him at the same time," Martinez told WCAU. "He was on the floor, like he was knocked out." As White was taken to a hospital, he became unresponsive, NJ.com reported. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. The aftermath: . The Cumberland County Prosecutor's Office has been investigating White's death, and officials have been waiting for the results of White's autopsy to learn the exact cause of death, NJ.com said. Two Vineland officers have been placed on administrative leave. And after Vineland police received criticism on its Facebook page about White's case, the department started hiding unfavorable comments, the Press of Atlantic City reported. An activist filed an Open Public Records Act request, saying the department's official Facebook page was a matter of public record. Vineland police later restored the critical comments on its page. Date of arrest: March 2, 2014 . Date of death: March 2, 2014 . What happened: . Sheriff's deputies in New Iberia, Louisiana, claimed White shot and killed himself in the back of a squad car -- even though White had been frisked and handcuffed. "Short of him being Houdini or David Copperfield, it's not possible," White family attorney Carol Powell-Lexing said. The incident began when authorities were responding to a fight in a gas station parking lot. About six blocks from the store, an Iberia Parish deputy saw White and stopped him, state police said. According to the service report from the Sheriff's Office, Cpl. Justin Ortis received no description of the men involved in the fight. He was told only that

Summary: Police say Victor White III and Jesus Huerta shot themselves while handcuffed in cars . Report: Police ignored Jorge Azucena's complaints that he had asthma and couldn't breathe . Kelly Thomas died five days after he was beaten by police in Fullerton, California .


(CNN)A South African university is celebrating the removal of a British colonialist's statue after weeks of protests. University of Cape Town students took to social media to demand Cecil Rhodes' statue come down, saying his legacy is tainted with racism. Using the hashtag #RhodesMustFall, students expressed their views in a campaign that started last month. Four weeks later, the hashtag is now #RhodesHas Fallen. The university said Wednesday the heritage authority granted it permission to remove the statue from the campus. "These steps are being taken to ensure the safety of the statue while matters concerning its future are resolved," the university said in a statement. Rhodes' statue was first unveiled in 1934 at the university, which also has a scholarship and memorial in his name. #RhodesMustFall gained attention after activists threw excrement on the statue in March. "He represents the former colonial representation of this country -- supremacy, racism, misogyny," says Ramabina Mahapa, president of the students' Representative Council, which led the fight to remove the statue. "Students are saying these aren't the ideals that we want to have here," Mahapa says. "The statue represents what is wrong with society." But in Pretoria, another group of protesters disagreed. "This isn't confronting history, this is erasing it," says Steve Hofmeyr, a singer who participated in a campaign Thursday that involved activists chaining themselves to the Paul Kruger statue in response to #RhodesHasFallen. Days earlier, Kruger's statue was pelted with green paint. The Afrikaner is known for his opposition to the British. Afrikaner groups also chained themselves to the statue of Dutch colonizer Jan van Riebeeck in Cape Town. "I don't want fewer monuments," Hofmeyr says. "I want more monuments erected. But don't defile the ones that exist -- we are the sum total of all the history, not just the fun parts." Mahapa said removing a statue shouldn't be equated with removing history. "People down the years will be looking at the statue and at his history and what he did," Mahapa says. "We need to be moving toward becoming an Afrocentric university where African thought can be appreciated." Hofmeyr said the statue is a race issue. "There are huge gaping differences between people in South Africa and that is why you need dialogue, which you can't have without its monuments and statues," he says. Students marked the removal of Rhodes' statue with a celebratory march. They held signs that said "we're not done yet." With the statue removed, some asked what's next for the movement.

Summary: Cape Town students demand Cecil Rhodes' statue come down . They use the hashtag #RhodesMustFall . School takes it down .