(CNN)About a quarter of a million Australian homes and businesses have no power after a "once in a decade" storm battered Sydney and nearby areas. About 4,500 people have been isolated by flood waters as "the roads are cut off and we won't be able to reach them for a few days," Michael Langley, spokesman for the New South Wales State Emergency Service said. Devastating winds lashed cars and homes. The storm system also brought destructive flooding that washed away houses and brought down trees onto streets and buildings. The emergency services have been slammed with 13,000 calls for help due to flooding and have carried out 144 rescue tasks. The powerful storm has already claimed four lives, according to New South Wales Police. The dangerous conditions have prompted the police department to issue pleas on social media for people to not attempt driving through flooded areas. The heavy flooding prompted school and college closures and disruptions to public transportation. The adverse weather was caused by an intense low pressure system, said Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. The strongest wind gusts peaked at 135 km/h (85 mph) and it was estimated that about 200 millimeters (7.87 inches) of rainfall fell in the area on Tuesday. Transport NSW, which provides public transportation throughout the New South Wales area, issued a warning that many public services across the region have been disrupted because of the weather. It also posted a video on its Facebook page showing CCTV footage of a flood waters rising in a train station. Samantha Mancuso was driving in her neighborhood of Liverpool, a suburb in Sydney on Wednesday, when she noticed gallons of water pouring into the streets. She said Joe Broad Reserve, a nearby park, was flooded. The severe weather caused a local creek to break its banks and now the flooding is seeping into the neighborhood. Water levels at the park reached 2.6 meters (8.5 feet) earlier in the morning, but have slightly receded, she said.

Summary: Quarter million people without power in Sydney and nearby areas . A large storm system brought damaging winds and flooding to parts of Australia . The flooding is affecting public transportation services, residential and coastal areas .


Hong Kong (CNN)Cathay Pacific was forced to cancel a scheduled flight from London to Hong Kong after one of the pilots was arrested after trying to board the airliner with knives in his luggage. The pilot, who has not been identified, was stopped during security checks as the flight prepared to depart on Saturday night, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement Monday. "At around 21:10 hours police at Heathrow Airport were called to a staff search area. "Officers attended and subsequently the member of flight crew, a man, was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place and possession of a knife blade / sharp pointed article in a public place." He was then taken into custody at a local police station where he was later bailed and ordered to return in May pending an investigation, the police statement added. Cathay Pacific, which is headquartered in Hong Kong, told CNN in an email that it would cooperate with authorities, but that it was unable to provide further details as the incident is being investigated by police. It apologized to the 262 people on board Flight CX254, which eventually departed on Sunday, adding that it assisted passengers with overnight accommodation in London and alternative flight arrangements. Passengers were forced to wait in the seats on board the Boeing 777 for more than two hours before the service was canceled. "They just told us there were crew issues. The captain said 'apologies for everything that has happened'. He said they tried to get another pilot but they couldn't get there on time," one passenger on the flight told the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.

Summary: Pilot stopped during security checks as the flight prepared to depart on Saturday night . Cathay Pacific runs regular flights between its Hong Kong hub and London . The male pilot has been bailed pending an investigation .


(CNN)The Question: How can I know if my food is safe to eat after a specific product recall? The Answer: Many of us shed a few tears over the recent Sabra hummus recall (even though we are perfectly capable of making our own at home), but that sadness quickly transformed into anxiety when we looked inside our refrigerators and saw the potentially tainted culprit sitting there on the shelf. To assuage any fears, we asked John Swartzberg, M.D., a clinical professor at the University of California at Berkeley, to walk us through the process of determining if our favorite dip was still safe to eat. Related: Amy's Kitchen Recalls More Than 70,000 Cases Of Food Due To Fear Of Listeria Contamination . The first step, according to Swartzberg, is to go to the Food and Drug Administration's website and find the official report for the recalled product you're worried about. Each report will list recalled items with their product codes, which are typically categorized by the Universal Product Code (the number adjacent to the barcode) or the Stock Keeping Unit (a specific number that would only be valid at the store where the product is being sold). They will also include the recalled products' use-by dates, and the geographical areas affected. "The recall is not based on the use-by dates, though," said Swartzberg. "If the product is within the use-by date, it should still be recalled. This makes sense, because the product was contaminated prior to purchase and no matter how 'fresh' the product is, it still may be contaminated." After cross-checking these details, you should have a strong sense of whether your food product is safe to eat or needs to be trashed right away. But as far as avoiding potential problems before learning such details about a food recall, the consumer is at an automatic disadvantage. Related: 14 Habits Of People With A Healthy Relationship To Food . "There's nothing the consumer can do prior to learning about the recall," said Dr. Swartzberg. "Discarding or returning the product to the store is all that can be done." In the case of this specific hummus recall, while there was no evidence that it caused any consumer illness, the product's routine sample last month revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes. Consuming such bacteria can lead to listeriosis, a serious infection, and Dr. Swartzberg recommends that anyone who has consumed a listeria-laden food should let their physician know as soon as possible. "Listeria survives well at cool temperatures," he said. "Most bacteria and fungi do not -- that's why we refrigerate. Healthy people are at low risk for disease, but it can happen. Those at greatest risk for disease are the elderly, immunocompromised and pregnant." To learn more about the best food safety practices, visit UC Berkeley's Wellness website. Related: 8 Things Nutrition Experts Wish You Would Stop Saying About Food .

Summary: Find the FDA's official report for the recalled product . If the product is within the use-by date, it should still be recalled .


Garissa, Kenya (CNN)Days after a horrific Al-Shabaab attack on its soil, Kenya launched airstrikes targeting the terror group in Somalia, according to a military source, who insisted the strikes were not retribution for last week's massacre at Garissa University College that killed nearly 150 people. "The latest attack of Al-Shabaab bases by the Kenya military is part of the ongoing operations that started in 2011. It is not a retaliation to the Garissa attack. The operation has been ongoing," the military source said Monday. It is customary for Kenyan military sources not to give their names to media. Two of the airstrikes hit Al-Shabaab training camps, according to a resident of the southwest Somalian town of Bardera, almost 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the Kenyan border, and a local journalist who asked not to be named out of fear for his safety. The Kenyan military began its bombing raids Sunday afternoon, targeting the Al-Shabaab stronghold of Godon Dhawe, Somali resident Ibrahim Mohammed said. Godon Dhawe is between Bardera and the Somalia-Kenya border. Al-Shabaab, an al Qaeda-linked militant group based in Somalia, has claimed responsibility for the university attack. Also Monday, a police source said Kenyan authorities had intelligence beforehand that a university in Garissa could be attacked, yet the country's rapid response team was stuck in Nairobi for hours after the massacre began, arranging for transport. It's not clear exactly why the elite team was stuck in the Kenyan capital, roughly 370 kilometers (230 miles) west of the attack, but the police source in Garissa told CNN that Kenyan politicians and Nairobi-based journalists arrived on the scene before the team did. Journalists on the ground corroborated that report. Once the team entered the university complex, the situation was quickly defused, journalists and the police source said. Manoah Esipisu, a spokesman for Kenya's president and deputy president, defended the response time, telling CNN there is always criticism regarding whether "you reacted as fast as you have or shouldn't have." "With the benefit of hindsight you can always say things could have been done better," he said, adding that Kenyan authorities saved a lot of students and "got the job done." Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed echoed those remarks in a Monday interview with CNN, saying the response was sufficient and denying reports that it was the elite rapid response team alone that brought an end to the situation. "We have a military garrison in Garissa, and the work began immediately after the attack was reported and continued for a number of hours until we were able to rescue 663 students of the 800 students that had been taken hostage by these terrorists. So the response was adequate," she said. She repeated Esipisu's assertion that dubbing the response slow is a reaction that comes only with the luxury of hindsight. "Obviously when parents are grieving and the country is mourning, it's always easy to fall back on things like that, but I can assure you that we took very quick action as soon as this was reported," Mohamed said. "Obviously hindsight is always 20/20. We

Summary: "We did everything that we could do," Kenya's foreign minister says . Despite intelligence, rapid response team stuck in Nairobi for hours after massacre, official says . Al-Shabaab's Mohamed Mohamud "has a lot of grudges against the Kenyans," expert says .


Sao Paulo, Brazil (CNN)Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen sashayed down the catwalk at Sao Paulo Fashion Week on Wednesday night in an emotional farewell to the runway. Bundchen announced over the weekend that she would be retiring from the catwalk, though not the fashion industry. The 34-year-old, who is married to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and has two children, has said she wants to spend more time with her family. On Wednesday night, Brady had a front-row seat at what was hailed as a historic moment in Brazil's fashion world. Bundchen wrote about her fashion career on her Instagram account: "I am grateful that at 14, I was given the opportunity to start this journey. Today after 20 years in the industry, it is a privilege to be doing my last fashion show by choice and yet still be working in other facets of the business."

Summary: Gisele Bundchen walked the runway for the last time Wednesday night in Brazil . The supermodel announced her retirement from runway modeling over the weekend . She plans to continue working in other facets of the industry .


(CNN)Doing weird stuff to your body in the name of beauty isn't anything new. Humans have been changing the shape of our skulls, inking ourselves up and sticking things through various protuberances since before we figured out how to write. But now we have Twitter and Facebook and hashtags, so these things seem to sweep around the world faster than a quick trip to the piercing joint. And somehow, many trends these days seem to somehow involve a member of the Kardashian clan. The latest: Lip plumping. By sucking on a jar. To look like Kylie Jenner. Seriously. It even has a hashtag: #KylieJennerChallenge . Don't worry, we said, "What the ... ?" too. But, we are, after all, in the business of providing you, dear reader, with information about the news, events and trends that surround you. So please read on to learn more about this and other "beauty" trends inspired by the Kardashians: . Used to be, YouTube would teach the kiddos how to put on eyeliner or style their hair like a favorite star. That's so old-school. Now, the nets say you should stick your lips in a shot glass, suck all the air out and then pull it off to reveal your all-new plump kisser, just like Kylie Jenner. Except, well, see for yourself. The hashtag #KylieJennerChallenge has been trending on Twitter in recent days, with posters showing off the often disturbing results of their efforts. "Made my chin look like a hickey a week ago and I'll say iv never felt so dumb," Twitter user emmaburkie posted Monday. Plenty of folks shared the sentiment. Many were people who'd tried it. Others were just shaking their heads. Surgeon Dr. Dendy Engelman told Seventeen that the trend is dangerous. "Not only can significant pain, swelling, and bruising result from these suction techniques, but there is potential risk for scarring and permanent disfigurement with repeated attempts," Engelman said. Jenner has tweeted her disapproval of the lip-plumping trend she inspired. It's a trend that predates the Kardashians, but they certainly gave us a lot of it: the sideboob, the flash of breast from the side of a dress, shirt or just about anything else that can be draped on a woman's body. According to Google, the arbiter of all things, search interest in sideboob has fallen off since its 2012 peak, when Huffington Post dutifully reported "another day, another sideboob" shot from Kim Kardashian. How about something newer? Surely you've heard of the "belfie"? A term reportedly coined by Kim Kardashian herself, this charming practice -- a butt selfie -- involves posting self-photography of one's posterior, thusly: . The trend took off last year, with a deluge of broadcast butts and not a little derision, but may have reached its peak with the apparently real belfie stick -- a device for taking "perfect belfies simply and quickly." Butt never fear, Kylie Jenner is here to keep the trend going, with a belfie taken just this month liked by 1.4 million people: . Here's a fact for you: In 2014, the number

Summary: From belfies to butt implants, the Kardashian clan has inspired many a trend . The latest: Kylie Jenner's pouty lips spark the #KylieJennerChallenge .


(CNN)The other day, I searched through hundreds of photos hoping to find a starting point to write this article. Looking through old photos is usually an enjoyable experience -- coming across a wedding or remembrances of happy times with family and friends. On this occasion, however, I found myself flipping through images from a devastating time we dearly wish had never happened but cannot afford to forget. White sand beaches stained with black sludge, oil-choked waterways and wildlife, shuttered businesses, and front-lawn signs pleading for justice and help. Five years after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster that killed 11 people, devastated livelihoods and wreaked havoc on the already fragile natural resources of the Gulf of Mexico region, it's time to ask ourselves: What have we learned? And what are we willing to do make sure it doesn't happen again? I spent much of 2010 in the Gulf, traveling through the communities, spending time with the people and witnessing the impact of this environmental catastrophe. Five years later, I returned to see what has changed and what has remained the same. First, it's important to understand that the principle "out of sight, out of mind" doesn't apply in the communities of Gulf Coast states. The BP oil spill's legacy continues to haunt this region like a recurring cancer. On this most recent trip, I saw the ghostly remains of entire islands virtually swallowed up by the oil, and I learned about oystermen and fishermen whose livelihoods are still crippled by what happened five years ago. Imagining Daddy: A rig worker's daughter and her dreams . Of course, that's not to say progress hasn't been made. Community groups and dedicated organizations have worked ceaselessly to restore and repair not only the physical environment, but also the way of life. This work is critical, and it deserves our attention and additional resources to continue to progress. But make no mistake: Though a kind of normalcy has returned to the Gulf region and important progress has been made, the oil is still there. What we do and don't know about the oil spill . A recent study from Florida State University estimates that up to 10 million gallons of that oil is still on the seafloor of the Gulf. (BP disputes the study). Everything is not "back to normal." So far, BP has spent more than $14 billion on cleanup, and despite its assurances that everything is recovering, we witnessed a crew on a beach in Barataria Bay (off Louisiana) digging up oily sand. Not what I would call recovered. And while this kind of reflection is rarely pleasant, it is critical in order to avoid another tragedy on the scale of the BP spill, or potentially much worse. It's important to note that for areas like the Gulf, which are already affected by drilling, many of the common-sense safety reforms called for by the National Commission on the oil spill in January 2011 have yet to be implemented. And yet, early this year, the Obama administration proposed a five-year offshore oil and gas drilling

Summary: "Out of sight, out of mind" doesn't apply to communities along the Gulf of Mexico, Philippe Cousteau says . We must take the time and effort needed to understand our natural resources, he says . He says our understanding of how the Gulf works remains limited .


Tokyo (CNN)A former school principal in Japan says he paid for sex with more than 12,000 women -- some of them girls as young as 14 -- during repeated visits to the Philippines over more than a quarter of a century, according to police. Now, at the age of 64, he's facing criminal charges. Japanese police say they arrested the man, Yuhei Takashima, on Wednesday over allegations he photographed an obscene act with a girl of 13 or 14 and produced pornography in a hotel room in Manila, the Philippine capital. Police officers seized 147,600 photos that Takashima took of his activities over the years, said Takeshi Akimoto, the police officer in charge of crime involving minors in Kanagawa, a prefecture south of Tokyo. The pictures were kept in more than 400 photo albums, he said. Takashima, who comes from the city of Yokohama, told police that he began paying for sex with women in 1988 when he went to work at a Japanese school in Manila. He said that stepping outside of moral codes relieved the heavy pressure he felt at work, according to police. Takashima told police that he continued to pay for sex because it was so cheap. After the end of his three-year stint at the school in Manila, he frequently returned to the Philippines on vacations in order to buy sex. He said the ages of the prostitutes he hired ranged from 14 to over 70. The Philippines is a notorious destination for sex tourists, including pedophiles. The country's sex industry is tied to human trafficking and feeds off the high poverty rate. Akimoto, the police officer, said Takashima's case had been under investigation since 2013. The incident for which he was arrested is believed to have taken place in Manila in January 2014. Yokohama education authorities said that Takashima became a junior high school teacher in 1975 and was sent to work at the school in Manila between 1988 and 1991. He served as a junior high school principal from 2008 until his retirement in 2011. The education authorities said that the crime was very regrettable, if proven to be true, and that the city government works hard to try to prevent inappropriate actions. CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki reported from Tokyo, and Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong.

Summary: Police: Yuhei Takashima, 64, says he had sex with girls as young as 14 in Philippines . Officers seize nearly 150,000 photos that the former principal kept of his activities .


Atlanta (CNN)Silently moving deep beneath the ocean's surface, combat submarines can employ the element of surprise to carry out devastating attacks on naval fleets and land targets. For decades, the U.S. military has maintained its dominance in the depths of the world's oceans by boasting the most technologically advanced submarine fleet. However, officials say China and other nations are rapidly expanding the size and scope of their own submarine forces. And, according to a report by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, the U.S. must rethink the role of manned submarines and prioritize new underwater detection techniques. "We know they are out experimenting and looking at operating, and clearly want to be in this world of advanced submarines," Vice Adm. Joseph Mulloy told the House Armed Services Committee's sea power subcommittee in February. Mulloy, who is deputy chief of naval operations for capabilities and resources, says Chinese submarines are still technologically inferior to those used by the United States, but that margin of difference is shrinking. Concern that China could match U.S. underwater capabilities in the near future has encouraged the development of an unmanned drone ship to independently track enemy ultra-quiet diesel electric submarines over thousands of miles to limit their tactical capacity for surprise. Initiated by a Pentagon research group called the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Vessel (ACTUV) would be able to operate under with little supervisory control but also as remotely controlled or piloted vessels, depending on the circumstances of specific missions. "We're looking for test-ready, multi-sensor approaches that push the boundaries of today's automated sensing systems for unmanned surface vessels," said Scott Littlefield, DARPA program manager. "Enhancing the ability of these kinds of vessels to sense their environment in all weather and traffic conditions, day or night, would significantly advance our ability to conduct a range of military missions." DARPA says the so-called drone ships will be 132 feet long and likely cost about $20 million, significantly less than the billion-dollar manned warships currently in use. The development of the ACTUV aligns with the "culture change" described by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus Tuesday at the Navy League's Sea Air Space symposium at National Harbor, Maryland. "Unmanned systems, particularly autonomous ones, have to be the new normal in ever-increasing areas," Maybus said. Maybus said new staff will be put into place to help streamline, coordinate and champion unmanned systems in "all domains." An ACTUV prototype vessel is already in production and, if testing is successful, the Navy could move to the next phase of development by 2018.

Summary: U.S. Navy is developing an unmanned drone ship to track enemy submarines to limit their tactical capacity for surprise . The vessel would be able to operate under with little supervisory control . Advances are necessary to maintain technological edge on Russia and China, admiral tells House panel .


(CNN)Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have always been thorny, but rarely has the state of affairs been as venomous as it is today. Tehran and Riyadh each point to the other as the main reason for much of the turmoil in the Middle East. In its most recent incarnation, the Iranian-Saudi conflict by proxy has reached Yemen in a spiral that both sides portray as climatic. For Riyadh and its regional allies, the Saudi military intervention in Yemen -- "Operation Decisive Storm" -- is the moment the Sunni Arab nation finally woke up to repel the expansion of Shia-Iranian influence. For Tehran and its regional allies -- including the Houthi movement in Yemen -- Saudi Arabia's actions are in defense of a retrogressive status quo order that is no longer tenable. And yet both sides have good reasons to want to stop the Yemeni crisis from spiraling out of control and evolving into an unwinnable war. When Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was elected in June 2013, he pledged to reach out to Riyadh. He was up front and called Tehran's steep deterioration of relations with the Saudis over the last decade as one of the principal burdens on Iranian foreign policy. From Lebanon and Afghanistan to Pakistan and the Gaza Strip, the Iranian-Saudi rivalry and conflict through proxy has been deep and costly. And yet despite Rouhani's open pledge, profound differences over Syria and Iraq in particular have kept Riyadh and Tehran apart. But if the questions of Syria and Iraq prevented a pause in hostilities, the Saudi military intervention in Yemen since late March has all but raised the stakes to unprecedentedly dangerous levels. Unlike in Syria and in Iraq, the Saudi military is now directly battling it out with Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen. While Riyadh no doubt exaggerates Tehran's role in the Yemen crisis, its fingerprints are nonetheless evident. "Iran provides financial support, weapons, training and intelligence to Houthis," Gerald Feierstein, a U.S. State Department official and former Yemen ambassador, told a Congressional hearing last week. "We believe that Iran sees opportunities with the Houthis to expand its influence in Yemen and threaten Saudi and Gulf Arab interests." The Iranians find the charges biased and point to the Saudi airstrikes in Yemen as a much bigger case of meddling in a neighbor's affairs. In Iran, the cue came from the country's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been unusually blunt. He tweeted: "Despite disputes, the Saudis used to display composure [with] us but now inexperienced youngsters have come to power & replaced composure [with] barbarism." Three days after Khamenei's speech, Iran suspended religious pilgrimages to Mecca. This came as news broke about two Iranian teenage boys who had reportedly been sexually assaulted by the police while visiting Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, anti-Saudi protests have been staged in a number of Iranian cities. Khamenei's speech opened the floodgate of anti-Saudi statements. The voices of hardline figures in Tehran have been the most agitated. General Ahmad Purdastan, the commander of the Iranian ground forces, taunted the Saudis. "Beware of

Summary: Vatanka: Tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia are at an unprecedented level . Iran has proposed a four-point plan for Yemen but Saudis have ignored it . Vatanka: Saudis have tried to muster a ground invasion coalition but have failed .


London (CNN)Time's running out for Britons to decide who they'll back, as polling booths prepare to open across the country in an election that could change the political landscape. It's been a blink-and-you-miss-it campaign, especially by U.S. standards, where candidates can take years to finesse their messages. The election could result in the handing of power from David Cameron's Conservative government to the Labour Party, led by Ed Miliband -- or a frenzy of wrangling from leaders as they attempt to forge alliances with smaller parties. But that's all to come when polls close late Thursday evening, local time. Very strict rules govern the reporting of UK elections, but until they kick in, here are some things you should know -- who are the candidates, what are the issues, who's likely to win, why bacon sandwiches matter, what is "UKIP" and, if the Queen isn't in charge, what does she do? The Queen doesn't run Britain . Before we get on to the candidates, let's dispel one common misconception. Queen Elizabeth II is officially Britain's head of state, but she's only nominally in charge. She signs off on legislation and appoints new prime ministers but has no real power, so no beheadings but maybe a few disapproving stares. Officially, she's politically neutral. The closest she apparently comes to expressing opinion is -- savor this image -- "purring" like a cat. Visit: Windsor Castle, the Queen's country residence (Windsor and Maidenhead; +44 20 7766 7304), royalcollection.org.uk/visit/windsorcastle . So who are they voting for? Duh, they're voting for a new prime minister. Well, actually no. In presidential elections Americans vote in each state for "electors," who support the candidate they want to lead the country. But in a UK parliamentary the vote is more indirectly aimed at appointing a new government. Voters put their "X" next to the local stooge/aspiring public servant from whichever political party they support. Votes are tallied by constituencies -- political fiefdoms, really -- some of which date back centuries to when Britain was run by barons, or maybe even elves -- each with a seat in parliament. The party that wins most seats then gets to say who becomes prime minister, pending the final thumbs up from Her Majesty. Of course, in reality, people may be swayed by party figureheads and see voting as a direct endorsement of their leadership, personality or -- true things -- their ability to eat bacon sandwiches and point at fish. Visit: Hampstead Heath -- a beautiful north London green space that lies partly within the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency, likely to be one of the most hotly contested of the election. (South Hill Park Gardens, London; +44 20 7332 3322). Is that a fair system? Kinda. But also kinda not, since it means a party can easily win power without winning the most votes. That's because Britain's elections are run on a "first-past-the-post" basis. It's an analogy that highlights how similar British politics is to horse racing, just with fewer doping scandals. Here's how it works: . The elected parliament consists of 650

Summary: Everything you need to know about how the UK election really works . Things like: The candidates, the issues, who's likely to win, the importance of bacon sandwiches . Plus, if the Queen isn't in charge, what does she do?


(CNN)It's time for liberals to look local. With Washington gridlocked over almost everything and congressional Republicans standing firm against any further expansion of domestic policy, the odds of Congress passing another New Deal or Great Society are minimal. It will take a lot of work by Democratic voters and activists to change the numbers on Capitol Hill so that liberal ideas stand a chance of passing. Yet at the state and local level, the story has been much different. Liberal Democrats have found more political space to move forward with their initiatives. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has launched an ambitious pre-K education program to broaden access for all of the city's residents. In New Orleans, the mayor has put together a generous housing program to guarantee that there are no veterans without shelter. The drive for same-sex marriage equality took hold in the states before reaching the federal level. States such as Vermont, Oregon, and Washington as well as New Jersey have taken the lead in adopting eco-friendly policies. While Congress has resisted President Barack Obama's call to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 from $7.25, 21 states and the District of Columbia went ahead and enacted minimum wage increases of their own. This is just the tip of the iceberg. At the annual conference for New America in Washington last week, the focus was on innovation. The most exciting ideas are taking hold at the local level. As the Atlantic's James Fallows explained to the audience, when one moves beneath the gridlock of Washington and down to the towns and communities of America, it is quickly possible to see the "functionality of politics" -- where partisanship does not trump the need to solve problems. This has given liberals an opening. In Detroit, a company called Detroit Dirt is taking food scraps from local eating establishments and transforming them into compost for gardens to nurture communities and lower the environmental footprint of the city, Pashon Murray said at the New America conference. Jonathan Mintz, the founding president and CEO of Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund, explained how his organization assists local governments to develop global partnerships that help lower- and middle-income Americans gain greater access to banking services. But many liberal Democrats are uneasy about embracing this trend. Since the New Deal in the 1930s, which followed the total collapse of the patchwork of local and state social welfare programs overwhelmed by the weight of the Great Depression, doing things at the national level has been seen as the only way to go. Only by making programs national could policymakers ensure that state and local government officials (particularly Southern Democrats who had little taste for giving benefits to African-Americans) could not distribute benefits only to certain portions of the population. Only the federal government had the taxing power necessary to sustain robust domestic initiatives. In this view, it was believed that only Washington policymakers could bring together the best and brightest minds to make sure that programs were designed and administered well. Only through centralized programs, could

Summary: Julian Zelizer: Washington is gridlocked and leans conservative . But liberals can launch social programs at lower levels, Zelizer says . Trying programs out locally can set groundwork for Washington action in coming years, he says .


(CNN)Are you a boxing fan? Fancy the best seats in the house for Saturday night's showdown in Las Vegas between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao? Got a spare $361,894 for a couple of tickets? No? Ah, well then you might have a problem. Yes, while most of the tickets for the highly-anticipated clash have sold out, there are still some floating around on secondary sites with ringside seats going at crazy money. A ticket at ringside will cost you $180,000 -- a knockout price which might have you seeing stars. As of lunchtime Friday, the most expensive seat on sale through the StubHub website, was retailing for a mammoth $128,705 but has since skyrocketed. Tickets were released last Thursday, just eight days before one of the biggest fights in history after legal wrangling between the two camps. However only around 1,000 were available to the general public, the rest of the estimated 16,500 tickets split between the fighters' camps and the casino as well as promoters and sponsors. Not long after some were made available on resale websites at a mark up that could only be dreamed about even by the sharpest financial trader. Those at the lower end of the eye-watering scale -- priced between $1,500 and $7,500 -- were snapped up in a matter of minutes. The cheapest priced ticket being offered on StubHub as of Monday is $4,600 with that seat right at the back of the MGM Grand arena., . "We've never seen anything like this in boxing, and I don't think in any sporting event," Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, told CNN, . And Arum isn't worried that the steep prices would keep fans away. "The 1% has so much money, they don't know how to spend it. Whether it's yachts, paintings or tickets to a fight, money means nothing," he said. "There was a craze for tickets and under our agreement with Mayweather Promotions, we felt we were being deprived of our fair share of the tickets (from) the standpoint of number and location. "It was very, very important to my fighter Manny Pacquiao, to the Philippines people... Manny has friends and family like you can't believe -- that will be in account for 800 or 900 tickets themselves."

Summary: Tickets for Mayweather v Pacquiao on sale online for $180,000 . Majority of the 1,000 tickets for the general public snapped up within minutes . The fight in Las Vegas on May 2 is one of the biggest in the sport's history .


(CNN)Anyone who has given birth -- or been an observer of the event -- knows how arduous it can be. But to do it live on the Internet? With two hooves sticking out for several minutes in the midst of labor? Luckily, Katie -- a giraffe at the Dallas Zoo -- is a champ. In an hour-long labor captured by 10 cameras and streamed live by Animal Planet, Katie gave birth to a not-so-little baby (about 6 feet tall) early Friday evening. There was no immediate word on the newborn's gender or condition. But there were good signs, as seen on the live stream and Dallas Zoo's Twitter feed -- like its ears moving, its efforts to stand, and its nursing (or at least trying to nurse) from mom. "We're so proud," the zoo tweeted. The newcomer's debut was a long time coming, especially when you count for Katie's 15-month gestation period -- average for a giraffe, according to Animal Planet. The baby joins a sister, 4-year-old calf Jamie. It wasn't immediately known how many people online saw Katie go into labor and give birth. But the giraffe definitely did have watchers in the form of fellow giraffes who saw the scene unfold from an abutting barn, one of them being Katie's BFF Jade. The fact that the spunky Katie held up so well under the spotlight isn't a total shocker. The zoo describes her as the "diva" among a herd of 12 giraffes at the zoo who loves to "toss her head around" when she doesn't like something. As Animal Planet noted, "She's one of the only giraffes at the Dallas Zoo who can stick her long tongue out on cue." CNN's Justin Lear contributed to this report.

Summary: Animal Planet captures Katie the giraffe's labor and delivery . The new baby wiggles its ears, rises, tries to nurse from its mom .


Durham, North Carolina (CNN)President Obama's nomination of Loretta Lynch to become the country's first African-American woman attorney general is a historic pick. Her confirmation, however, is now taking on new historical relevance as her wait for a confirmation vote by the full Senate drags into its sixth month. The period between the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote to confirm and the full Senate vote -- which in Lynch's case has not been scheduled -- has lasted longer for her than for any attorney general nominee in recent history. By the time the Senate returns from Easter recess on Monday, it'll have been longer than the eight previous nominees for the job -- combined. Lynch, currently the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, cleared the committee February 26 by a vote of 12-8, with Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona joining Democrats in sending the nomination to the full Senate. Obama nominated Lynch to replace Attorney General Eric Holder on November 8, after Holder had announced plans to leave the post weeks earlier. Hundreds of miles from Washington, longtime residents of Durham, North Carolina, were beaming with pride. Lynch's family moved to the city when she was a child. Her parents, married for 60 years, still live there. They watched the announcement on television . "That was encouraging but I knew then that we had a fight on our hands," said Lynch's father, the Rev. Lorenzo Lynch. "I've been in politics most of my life. I know that nothing is certain, and I know that nothing is easy." Lorenzo Lynch, 82, is a retired Baptist preacher and was active in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He ran, unsuccessfully, for mayor of Durham in 1973. For the next round of his daughter's "fight," he traveled to Washington in late January to attend his daughter's confirmation hearing before the Judiciary Committee. "I heard a lot at that hearing that I've heard since childhood. That is the presupposition of the mindset," Lorenzo Lynch said. "The dual system or the dual treatment." When asked to provide specific examples, Lorenzo Lynch deferred to the state branch of the NAACP and E. Lavonia Allison, a Durham activist who has known Loretta Lynch since the family moved to Durham. "I don't want to think about the epidermis, but some people are thinking that way," Allison said, suggesting that Lynch's confirmation vote has been delayed because Lynch is African-American. "When it has taken so long, when it has been so different from any other person who has been nominated ... how else can we interpret that it is so different?" Allison said. In March, Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-North Carolina, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said, "I think race certainly can be considered as a major factor in the reason for this delay, but it's also the irrationality of the new Republicans." Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, evoked imagery of the segregated South in criticism of Republicans, saying Lynch had been "asked to sit in the back of

Summary: The nomination of Loretta Lynch as U.S. attorney general was announced in November . She would be the country's first African-American woman attorney general . But as her confirmation process drags on, her supporters wonder why .


Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN)Three people were killed and five others were wounded Thursday afternoon when a group of armed assailants stormed into the attorney general's office in Balkh province, northern Afghanistan, according to a press release from the provincial governor's office. Although most staff members and civilians have been rescued, an exchange of fire between Afghan security forces and the assailants is ongoing, the statement says. Two police officers and a security guard of the provincial attorney general's office were among the dead. Afghan security forces are cautiously making advances in the fight in order to avoid civilian casualties, according to the press statement.

Summary: Three people killed; five wounded in attack on attorney general's office in Balkh province . Staff and civilians have been rescued as gunmen engaged Afghan security forces .


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

Summary: Bob Barker returned to host "The Price Is Right" on Wednesday . Barker, 91, had retired as host in 2007 .


(CNN)ESPN's Britt McHenry this week found herself in the news, rather than reporting on it, after a video surfaced showing her berating and belittling an employee of a tow company in Arlington, Virginia. Among the highlights, as caught on tape and eventually uploaded to LiveLeak: "I'm on television and you're in a f**king trailer, honey," and "I wouldn't work at a scumbag place like this. Makes my skin crawl even being here." And, finally, "Lose some weight, baby girl." It's pretty cringe-worthy stuff that seems difficult, if not impossible, to defend. McHenry quickly issued an apology, blaming the incident on a moment of intense frustration but admitting her mistake and accepting responsibility. It was, however, too late: the #firebrittmchenry hashtag was already trending on Twitter, where she was called everything from classist, class-less, and "ugly on the inside" to a "sad, self-hating coward." ESPN, meanwhile, announced that McHenry would be suspended for a week. Certainly McHenry should have known better than to have used such words, even if that's what she was thinking, least of all because in our YouTube age, such missteps always come to light. But while McHenry's reaction could very well have been a result of an overblown sense of entitlement, evidence of a mean girl who never left high school, what's also troubling is how quickly and gleefully the rest of us issued blame on McHenry without fully knowing -- or, it seems, caring about -- the other side of the story. The video that was released -- by the tow company -- was heavily edited and included only McHenry's responses, not the comments of the employee who may have provoked her and contributed to an argument that clearly escalates as the video goes on. McHenry knew she was being taped; at one point, she looks directly at the camera. The employee even threatens to make the video public. Did McHenry keep going because she has that much of a self-destructive streak? Or because she truly could not help herself? Or was she confident that any video evidence would show that there were two people playing this particular game? How Britt McHenry could have responded . These days, there's nothing we love more than an example of a celebrity fall from grace, whether it's Lindsay Lohan or Brian Williams or Britt McHenry, who was judged not on the facts but on what we take particular joy in believing: that the over-privileged and semi-famous do not necessarily deserve a fair trial. The high price of public shaming online . Sure, McHenry probably feels entitled, but that's our doing, too. We're a society obsessed with putting celebrities on a pedestal -- celebrating them, compensating them. And yet when, in a moment of frustration and stress, McHenry lets the entitlement bestowed on her win out over taking a deep breath and walking away, we're right there to demand to know what gives her the nerve. You know what gives her the nerve? We do. (Be honest: When is the last time you had a warm and fuzzy experience at the tow

Summary: Video shows ESPN reporter Britt McHenry berating and belittling a tow company worker . Drexler: She was wrong to act that way, but aren't we too quick to judge without seeing full video?


(CNN)Blues legend B.B. King was hospitalized for dehydration, though the ailment didn't keep him out for long. King's dehydration was caused by his Type II diabetes, but he "is much better," his daughter, Claudette King, told the Los Angeles Times. The legendary guitarist and vocalist released a statement thanking those who have expressed their concerns. "I'm feeling much better and am leaving the hospital today," King said in a message Tuesday. Angela Moore, a publicist for Claudette King, said later in the day that he was back home resting and enjoying time with his grandchildren. "He was struggling before, and he is a trouper," Moore said. "He wasn't going to let his fans down." No more information on King's condition or where he was hospitalized was immediately available. B.B. is short for Blues Boy, part of the name he used as a Memphis disc jockey, the Beale Street Blues Boy. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and has 30 Grammy nominations. King, 89, has used various models of Gibson guitars over the years, and named each one of them Lucille. In the 1980s, Gibson officially dropped the model number on the guitar he used last and most. It became a custom-made signature model named Lucille, manufactured exclusively for the "King of the Blues." Some of his hits include "The Thrill Is Gone," which won him his first Grammy in 1970, "There Must be a Better World Somewhere" and "When Love Comes to Town," a collaboration with U2. Last year, the bluesman suffered from dehydration and exhaustion after a show in Chicago, forcing him to cancel the remainder of his tour. CNN's Greg Botelho and Sonya Hamasaki contributed to this report.

Summary: B.B King is now out of the hospital and back at home . Bluesman suffered from dehydration and exhaustion after a 2014 show in Chicago . B.B. is short for Blues Boy, part of the name he used as a Memphis disc jockey .


(CNN)Aaron Hernandez is known for his swagger. Should he act any differently when he's on trial for murder? When the once rising star for the New England Patriots walks into court each day with what appears to be an air of confidence -- or is it bravado? -- he enters from a connecting holding room. Some court security officers who escort him are as tall and muscular as he is. Besides that certain bounce to his step, there's usually a smile. Jury deliberations resume Wednesday . Watch "Downward Spiral: Inside the Case against Aaron Hernandez" tonight at 9 p.m. ET. It hasn't been there as often in the last couple of weeks when state witnesses have included his fiancée Shayanna Jenkins and his former boss, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who testified Hernandez would usually greet him with a kiss and a hug. Always impeccably dressed in suit and tie brought in by his defense team, Hernandez quickly scans the courtroom, usually starting with the rows of seats directly behind him. The front row is reserved for his family. Some days, none of his relatives is there. But when his mother, fiancée, brother and other friends attend, he winks, nods, smiles, jokes, laughs, flirts with his fiancée and mouths greetings to them including "'thanks for coming' and 'I love you.'" Twice, he nodded his head and smiled at me. It's not unusual for his lawyers to slap him on his back and huddle before court begins, appearing at ease. They've been representing him since June 2013. There was an unfortunate moment. His mother once asked permission from a court officer to touch her son once the jury left the room. Given an OK, she reached over the bar to him, took one of his hands in hers and kissed it. Rules forbid contact. It did not go unnoticed by the family of victim Odin Lloyd. Hernandez does not avoid looking in their direction. He glances at Lloyd's relatives. Lloyd's mother Ursula Ward, who is in court daily, appears to look right back at Hernandez without expression from her usual seat on the end of a row. When one witness, a high school friend, testifies that Hernandez once allegedly talked about carrying a gun, Hernandez appears to glare at him. When his fiancée takes the stand and testifies Hernandez told her to ditch a box from their basement the day after Lloyd's slaying, his eyes are glued on her. She barely glances his way but does appear to say something as she passes the defense table on the way out. When Kraft is asked to officially point out Hernandez in court and describe what he was wearing, I watch Hernandez look down at his shirt and tie as Kraft detailed his outfit. When the team owner leaves the stand -- the same man who signed him to a $40 million bonus in 2012 -- Hernandez turns and watches him walk out of the courtroom. Would it be the last time he'd see him in person? On the last day of testimony when

Summary: Aaron Hernandez, even when on trial for murder, keeps that certain bounce in his step . Hernandez seemed to watch his former boss and fiancee closely when they were on the stand .


April 2, 2015 . An unstable Middle Eastern country has become a potential battlefield for a proxy war. Today on CNN Student News, hear an explainer on why Yemen is the focus of global concern. We also report on the origins of April Fools' Day, we detail how a 1,000-year-old recipe could cure a modern-day superbug, and we feature a Character Study on a woman who's steering kids to a better life. On this page you will find today's show Transcript and a place for you to request to be on the CNN Student News Roll Call. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show. ROLL CALL . For a chance to be mentioned on the next CNN Student News, comment on the bottom of this page with your school name, mascot, city and state. We will be selecting schools from the comments of the previous show. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call! Thank you for using CNN Student News!

Summary: This page includes the show Transcript . Use the Transcript to help students with reading comprehension and vocabulary . At the bottom of the page, comment for a chance to be mentioned on CNN Student News. You must be a teacher or a student age 13 or older to request a mention on the CNN Student News Roll Call.


(CNN)Sabra Dipping Co. is recalling 30,000 cases of hummus due to possible contamination with Listeria, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. The nationwide recall is voluntary. So far, no illnesses caused by the hummus have been reported. The potential for contamination was discovered when a routine, random sample collected at a Michigan store on March 30 tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes. The FDA issued a list of the products in the recall. Anyone who has purchased any of the items is urged to dispose of or return it to the store for a full refund. Listeria monocytogenes can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems, the FDA says. Although some people may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

Summary: A random sample from a Michigan store tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes . No illnesses caused by the hummus have been reported so far .


(CNN)38 and home. The Kentucky Wildcats' bid for perfection ended Saturday night at the hands of the Wisconsin Badgers, who rallied for a tough 71-64 victory in the NCAA men's basketball Final Four at Indianapolis. They will meet four-time national champ Duke in Monday night's title game. The Blue Devils dominated Michigan State 81-61 in the first contest of the night. National player of the year finalist Frank Kaminsky led Wisconsin with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Junior forward Sam Dekker added 16 points. "These guys just gutted it out.," Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan said. "We just kept battling on every possession." Freshman Karl-Anthony Towns led Kentucky with 16 points. Sophomore Andrew Harrison chipped in 13 points while Aaron Harrison had 12 points. Kentucky came into the game as the first men's team to have a 38-0 record. But the Badgers fought back from a 60-56 deficit with 6:39 left in the game. Wisconsin went on an 8-0 run to regain a lead it never relinquished. It will be looking to win its first title since 1941. As the final minutes ticked off, the Wildcats failed to score. They were stuck on 60 for five minutes. The Harrison twins, who shot well in the first half, couldn't get much done offensively. "I didn't execute. I mean, we didn't execute as a team, but me being the point guard, I didn't do what coach told me to on a couple of occasions," Andrew Harrison said at the postgame news conference. His coach sternly interjected. "He did fine. He did fine," John Calipari said. Meanwhile, Dekker stepped up, making a layup, a three-pointer and a free throw as the Badgers scooted ahead. Calipari said the Badgers did a good job defending the Kentucky big men. "They crowded us a little bit, and (our) guys got a little tentative," he said. Calipari looked at the stat sheet: Kentucky had only six turnovers, hit 90% of its free throws, made 48% of its field goals, and lost. He said his team struggled to guard Wisconsin's players, and the rebound battle -- which Wisconsin won by 12 -- was crucial. Kamisky, who turned 22 on Saturday, was asked how the Badgers outrebounded a team that is the tallest in basketball. "We stayed into them, attacking them, trying to do whatever we can," he said. "Just trying to keep them off the glass was one of our main priorities." Freshman Justise Winslow led Duke with 19 points while national freshman of the year Jahlil Okafor had 18 points, 10 of which came in the first half. Senior guard Quinn Cook had 17. "The defense was terrific," Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We drove the ball with such strength. I actually think our offense gave our defense a push." Junior guard Denzel Valentine sparked the Spartans with three early three-pointers and finished with 22 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Senior guard Travis Trice had 16 points. The Spartans, of the Big Ten, began the game in a higher gear than Duke, and quickly took an eight-point

Summary: Wisconsin, which last won a title in 1941, was led by birthday boy Frank Kaminsky . Justise Winslow leads Duke with 19 points, while Jahlil Okafor has 18 . Coach K says his team's defense was "terrific"


(CNN)After two days of deliberation, jurors found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty on all counts in the Boston Marathon bombing. The verdict isn't surprising. What might be, however, is the answer to how we prevent this kind of violence from happening again. Because there could be other more young men just like him, which means the lessons we take from Boston will affect whether we can keep America and Americans safer. Today, nearly 1 out of 4 people in the world are Muslim. By 2050, Pew reports, that will be some 1 out of 3. By 2070? Well, I'll quote the all-caps headline reprinted by the Drudge Report: "Muslims to outnumber Christians!" Many Americans read such numbers and worry: Will this mean more Dzhokhar Tsarnaevs? But that's only if you believe Islam causes extremism, which many have argued. And that's wrong, of course. On the other hand, there are people who claim Islam has nothing to do with terrorism. Which is true — and false. Sure, the Islamic faith forbids murder, but there's a small but significant minority of Muslims murdering people in terrible ways, and in Islam's name. Understanding what leads young Muslims like Dzhokhar down a dangerous path requires we understand radicalization. At any given moment in the Middle East, we have little idea who's going to attack whom next, who's on whom's side, how this is going to end, or what anyone's even fighting over anymore. This bad news is going to turn worse before it gets better. But it will get better. To understand why, we have to take a stab at understanding what radicalizes Muslims . Contrary to common belief, Muslims aren't unusually predisposed to violence. Radical Islam, which has taken on an ugly life of its own, began at the intersection of politics, religion and religious identity. Islam is about what you believe, but it's also about being part of a community. And what happens when you are a member of a community and you see it under attack? Some Muslims who have turned to violence have done so with good intentions (the road to hell, after all). Consider: The tragedy of modern Islam is in its endless sequence of tragedies. Before my time, the brutal Soviet invasion of Afghanistan horrified many Muslims. When I was in high school, Bosnia occupied all our attention. There was of course Russia's brutal war on the Chechen people — Dzhokhar shares his name with a recent Chechen patriot -- and Israel's ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories. And the blows against Muslims don't end there. There was Serbia's war on Kosovo, another war in Chechnya, the invasion of Iraq, oppression in Myanmar, civil strife in Syria, the colonization of East Turkestan, massacres of Muslims in the Central African Republic, wars on a besieged Gaza and West Bank still under Israeli rule. Imagine how this looks to a restless young Muslim. Countless places where co-religionists have been killed, and nobody seems to do anything about it. Nobody even wants to. Extremists have long offered crude reasons for why the violence was happening,

Summary: Haroon Moghul: Tsarnaev found guilty in terrorist bombing of Boston Marathon. How to prevent future such acts by young Muslims? Pew reports by 2050, one in 4 will be Muslim. Many equate terror with Islam. Not true, but we should grasp what causes radicalization . Moghul: Muslims see their community besieged around world, some think solution is violence. They must be shown other way to help .


(CNN)Novak Djokovic extended his current winning streak to 17 matches after beating Thomas Berdych 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the rain-interrupted final of the Monte Carlo Masters. But the Serbian world number one didn't have it all his away under uncharacteristically slate gray skies on the Mediterranean coast. Tight . Djokovic edged a tight first set before losing the second after the Czech sixth seed took advantage of the short rain delay and came back strongly. But Djokovic broke twice early in the third set to surge to a 4-0 lead. And although Berdych gamely fought back Djokovic served out for the title. "It was a tough match, a particular match," said Djokovic after winning his 52nd career title, and his second Monte Carlo Masters championship. "Tomas played a great match and deserves this trophy as much as I do," he added. "It was a good final, but bad luck today." Despite running Djokovic close it was Berdych's third loss in a final this year. "What can I say? Novak had another excellent week," he said. "I tried my best but it was not good enough today. I'm missing that one step in my clay game but I'm going to work to raise my game that little bit. I'll do what I can to make that happen and hope to come back next year and go a step further"." Strong start . 2015 has been a sensational year for Djokovic so far. After winning the Australian Open back in January, Djokovic has followed up with Masters' victories at Indian Wells and Miami. He then beat Rafa Nadal, arguably one of the greatest players on clay of all time, in the semi finals in Monte Carlo. Sunday's victory over Berdych means he becomes the first man to win the opening three Masters tournaments of the season.

Summary: Djokovic wins Monte Carlo Masters . Defeats Berdych 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 . Djokovic had earlier beaten clay expert Nadal in semis .


Nairobi, Kenya (CNN)They were sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and fellow citizens. They were students and dreamers, pursuing their ambition for a better life. And on Tuesday night, Kenyans remembered them as innocent victims of a terrorist attack that stunned a nation and left communities heartbroken. The gathering started with quiet chatter among a crowd of hundreds before mourners went silent and moved toward one end of Nairobi's Uhuru Park. Organizers unloaded 147 crosses from a truck and quietly planted them in the ground. Mourners read names of some of the victims as candles flickered in the dark. The crowd then sang the national anthem. The attack at a university in Garissa on Thursday killed 147 people, mostly students. The Al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility. As the country mourned the victims, others took to social media to humanize them by sharing their stories. They talked about aspiring lawyers, doctors and teachers. "I can't even look at pictures of the people killed without crying," said Mary Wambui, 32, who lives in Nakuru, hundreds of miles from Garissa. "They were just children. They were trying to make a better life for themselves. Some were first to go to college in their communities. They died trying to get an education." Using the hashtag #147notjustanumber, Kenyans used social media to talk about the lives of the victims. They shared pictures of beaming faces, full of life and energy, in happier days. They talked about parents too shocked to speak after identifying their children's bodies. "We need to talk about the bright futures cut short," said Boniface Mwangi, who organized the vigil. "Today's meeting will be a calling to say, 'We need to remember the 147; they are not just a number.' We are trying to avoid remembering these people as just a number." Some students remain unaccounted for, and wailing relatives alternate their searches between hospitals and morgues. Kenyan authorities have not released a list of the names of the victims. At Uhuru Park, right next to the crosses, a bulletin board featured 32 photos of the young students. "With the previous attacks, there's been a sense of the victims just being numbers," Doreen Areri said. "The idea behind this is to have faces behind the numbers. We need to hear their stories, their dreams." Kellie Murungi said she got some solace from the vigil. "In 2010, I was in a grenade attack in downtown Nairobi and every time there's a terrorist attack, it hits too close to home," Murungi said. " It's not just happened to me, but many others." The vigil was important for the healing process, she said, because "we shouldn't have people walking around with scars." It was the deadliest attack in the nation since al Qaeda killed more than 200 people at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi in 1998. In the Garissa attack, the terrorists separated Christians from Muslims, making some recite verses from the Quran. Those who couldn't quote the holy book tried to flee the gunfire, but whizzing bullets sent them to the ground. Others scampered into

Summary: Kenyans gather in Nairobi to remember victims of a terrorist attack that stunned a nation . The attack at a Garissa university last week killed 147 people, mostly students .


(CNN)Famed cosmologist Stephen Hawking has proved his comedy chops on shows like "The Big Bang Theory," and now he's trying his hand at musicals. Hawking has partnered with the silly lads of Monty Python to recreate the signature "Galaxy Song" from their 1983 film "The Meaning of Life." The collabo is in honor of Saturday's Record Store Day, when the 7-inch single will be available for sale. The accompanying video is guaranteed to be the most awesome thing you see today. In it, fellow scientist Brian Cox rails against the inaccuracies in "Galaxy Song" when a fed-up Hawking, who has ALS, zooms up in his wheelchair and knocks over Cox. Hawking continues singing the song in his signature computerized voice. Hawking then launches into the stratosphere for a trippy ride and lesson on the cosmos. The scene is derived from a filmed bit that Monty Python uses during its live shows. 40 years of 'Holy Grail': The best of Monty Python . "Galaxy Song" song was written by Python member Eric Idle, along with John Du Prez, and is "an intricate and informative lecture on the enor-mity of the Universe fashioned into a bewitching and, above all, highly amusing pop song," according to the comedy troupe's site. Hawking's version is available for download. It's not Hawking's first music gig; he's also featured on the Pink Floyd song "Talkin' Hawkin.'" The original version of "Galaxy Song" is below. A sampling of the lyrics: "Just remember that you're standing on a planet that's evolving and revolving at 900 miles an hour. That's orbiting at 19 miles a second so it's reckoned. A sun that's the source of all our power. The sun and you and me and all the stars that we can see are moving at 1 million miles a day. In an outer spiral arm at 40,000 miles an hour of the galaxy we call the Milky Way."

Summary: Stephen Hawking is a famed cosmologist and mathematician . He sings Monty Python's "Galaxy Song" in a hilarious new video .


(CNN)"It's showtime!" Michael Keaton paid homage -- ever so slightly -- to his roles in "Beetlejuice" and "Batman" in his third turn hosting "Saturday Night Live" this weekend. Keaton acknowledged in his opening monologue that a lot has changed since he first hosted the comedy sketch show in 1982. "I had a baby -- he's 31. I also have a new girlfriend -- she's 28," he said. Fans who were hoping for a full-blown revival of Keaton's most memorable characters might have been a little disappointed. SNL cast members Taran Killam and Bobby Moynihan begged the actor with a song to "play" Batman and Beetlejuice with them. All they got in response were a couple of one-liners. Overall, Keaton's performance drew high marks from viewers and critics for its "deadpan" manner and "unpredictable weirdness," in the words of A.V. Club's Dennis Perkins. Fans also delighted in a cameo from "Walking Dead" star Norman Reedus during Weekend Update. Keaton scored some laughs from the audience as an ad executive who's not very good at his job, a confused grandfather and a high school teacher who gets asked to the prom in a riff on the romantic comedy "She's All That." Other crowd-pleasing spots included a Scientology parody music video and a news conference spoofing the NCAA student-athlete debate. The show also poked fun at CNN with cast member Cecily Strong playing anchor Brooke Baldwin. Baldwin said on Twitter that she's taking it as a "crazy compliment" and shared a clip from the skit.

Summary: Michael Keaton hosted "Saturday Night Live" for the first time in 1982 . In 2015, his nods to starring roles in "Beetlejuice" and "Batman" are brief .


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

Summary: Here are six of CNN's best videos of the week . Clips include a look at Mike Tyson's abandoned mansion .


Washington (CNN)ISIS is a problem that is "off the charts historically" and has sent the United States into "uncharted territory" when it comes to putting down the terror group, the Obama administration's point man in the fight recently told CNN. The comments, which Brett McGurk made in an exclusive interview, were some of the administration's strongest to date in describing the challenge the United States and its allies face in battling ISIS. "This is a problem that is off the charts historically," he said, referring to the more than 20,000 foreign fighters who have gone into Syria. "Just put that into perspective: It's about twice the number that went into Afghanistan in the 1980s over a 10-year period to fight the Soviet Union, and those came really from only a handful of countries." He concluded, "We're in unchartered territory here." McGurk just returned from an urgent summit of coalition nations held in Jordan. Last week, Canada became the latest nation to conduct airstrikes against ISIS over Syria. The United States now lists 62 countries in the coalition. As the U.S.-led coalition has focused attention on Iraq and Syria, ISIS has expanded its reach to Libya, Egypt and Yemen, often with existing extremist groups pledging allegiance to the militants. McGurk did not rule out expanding U.S. military action beyond Iraq and Syria to combat the increasing regional threat. "We have a lot of tools to protect ourselves and our national security interests, some of which are military tools," he said. "Of course we apply those tools when the president determines and our chain of command makes the recommendation that that is the right thing to do." The United States has also been stepping up efforts to involve Sunni groups in the fight against ISIS. To date, that involvement has been extremely limited as Sunni tribes see Shiite militias, many with horrendous human rights records, take the lead. But McGurk said that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is making progress getting Sunni tribes to support a planned Iraqi offensive against ISIS in Anbar province in the coming weeks. He stressed the importance of working with al-Abadi, noting that the Iraqi leader was in Anbar province last week handing out more than 1,000 AK-47s to tribal fighters who are going to join the Iraqi security forces. "We are helping to enable and train (them) as they begin to go on the offensive over the coming weeks and months in Anbar," McGurk said. "They put out this very perverse, twisted vision, and it's very attractive to a lot of young men around the world," he acknowledged. "But in fact, what the foreign fighters are finding in Syria and Iraq is that they're more likely to get killed in Iraq and Syria, and in fact, instead of getting a slave bride as ISIS leaders promise them, they're more likely to get killed by a female Peshmerga fighter in the streets of Kobani." That bottom line, he assessed, could turn the tide: "The foreign fighters are learning the reality of what it's like when they go to join

Summary: Obama's point man in ISIS fight doesn't rule out U.S. military action beyond Iraq and Syria . Brett McGurk: Iraqi leader making progress with Sunni tribes in planned Anbar offensive .


(CNN)With help from some filmmakers, 102-year-old Alice Barker went back in time. Barker was a dancer in such New York nightspots as the Cotton Club and the Cafe Zanzibar in the 1930s and 1940s, part of chorus lines that entertained alongside notables including Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Frank Sinatra. There were motion pictures made of Barker, but she had never seen any of them. Moreover, her photographs and memorabilia had all been lost over the years. So she had never seen herself actually dancing -- until now. Mark Cantor of jazz-on-film.com and some volunteers put together a video of "soundies" -- early music videos -- and showed them to Barker at the nursing home where she lives. The ageless dancer was delighted. "It's just fabulous," she said.

Summary: Alice Barker was a dancer in the 1930s and '40s . Thanks to filmmakers, Barker -- now 102 -- finally saw herself dance .


(CNN)Sophisticated, glamorous and spacious -- when the super-rich go house-hunting they are searching for something special. Real estate in London's swankier suburbs can catch a buyers' eye. Mayfair, Kensington and Chelsea have long been the stomping ground of the elite -- and are now welcoming a new wave of African investors. "The Africans who are coming into London now are Africans who themselves have worked for their money," explains Bimpe Nkontchou, a British-Nigerian wealth manager based in London. "They have grown in industry and are actually part of the exciting story of the African renaissance," she continues. "It's bringing to London the best of the continent." These investors are having a considerable impact on London's property market and they mainly come from just six countries: Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and Senegal. Of these, Nigerians are splashing out the most cash when it comes to bricks and mortar in the British capital -- typically spending between $22 and $37 million on securing a property, according to luxury property agents Beauchamp Estates. Their research shows that over the past three years Africans have spent over $900 million on luxury residential property in London. "The new international African is very well-traveled," explains Nkontchou. "Educated in the U.S., UK and different parts of Europe their taste is definitely more modern and clean." 'Safe-Haven' Owning a home in post codes like W1 or W8 -- around the corner from Kensington Palace -- means more than having a place to lay your head. These buildings are investments which are expected to gain even bigger value in the coming years. High-end auction house Sotheby's says that foreign investors see London as a "safe haven" for prime property investments, and ranks the city as the second most important hub for ultra high-net-worth homes. The only spot more important on the planet is New York City. For evidence that London still attracts high-end buyers, look no further than the sale of a penthouse in Mayfair which fetched $40 million earlier this year. Educated thinking . As well as an intelligent investment, many of the African buyers see these houses as a way of maintaining long standing cultural ties with London -- and it's here they want to send their children to school. Harrow, Eton, Cheltenham Ladies College are all among the list of respected institutions that teach the offspring of wealthy Africans. The Nigerian Embassy in London calculates that Nigerian nationals now spend over $446 million per year on fees, tutoring and accommodation at British schools and university. "West African clients are very much driven by the need to educate their children," says Nkontchou. "Education usually means putting the children on an international stage, and that's one reason why this is feeding into the demand for property in London." Indeed, education industry experts ICEF Monitor say there were over 17,500 Nigerians studying in British universities in 2012 -- about 1,000 more than the 2009/10 academic session. And experts are expecting this trend to continue. "Virtually all the transactions are for end use, not rental investment, which indicates that the African

Summary: Wealthy Africans are investing in some of London's most upscale real estate . Some Nigerians are spending as much as $37 million on houses . Property experts say African investment in London is set to grow .


London (CNN)The Pentagon released a map this week showing coalition forces have taken back 25-30% of Iraqi territory seized by ISIS. The map, above, shows gains in key central and northern areas of Iraq where the terror group was previously the dominant force. The gains made in the fight against the terror group by Iraqi security forces and coalition air power certainly look impressive -- although as the U.S. Department of Defense acknowledges it's a dynamic conflict and territory can change hands depending on "daily fluctuations in the battle lines." So, how exactly should we read this information? What does it say about the wider fight against ISIS? CNN asked Afzal Ashraf, a counterinsurgency specialist and consulting fellow at the Royal United Services Institute to give us a steer on what this new data tells us about the fight against ISIS in Iraq. Below is an edited version of the conversation. CNN: So, is the tide turning in Iraq -- is the coalition winning? Afzal Ashraf: When it comes to insurgencies it's always problematic to think about the tide turning in terms of territorial gains because insurgencies by their very nature are extremely good at adapting to change. The one difference between ISIS and insurgencies in general is that ISIS declared itself a state, a caliphate once had territory so any loss is very strategic loss of prestige and image for them. (There have been) significant gains against ISIS -- particularly in Tikrit -- and it's no coincidence we've seen ISIS make spectacular attacks in refugee centers in Syria. It's asymmetric warfare, they know they cannot hold conventional force back for very long so what they do is they withdraw ... then take initiative elsewhere. They have to distract attention from those losses by gains and attacks elsewhere. It continues their image of initiative, of shocking, of reshaping the world -- which is what they are trying to do. CNN: What does the map tell us about the coalition's strategy? AA: It's very telling. There are losses but most of the losses are around the edges of their territory and what that means is a very conventional push forward by the Iraqi forces. It's a push against the front line of ISIS rather than being brave and creative and going in behind ISIS's lines and breaking it up. What this isn't is using maneuverist warfare -- which is a military philosophy that exploits the capabilities of conventional forces to project power by using air forces to take land along main supply routes and put friendly forces on that land to cut land into chunks which causes massive disruption to command and control and their supply chains which can cause forces to collapse much more rapidly than a frontal push. The capability you need (for this kind of warfare) is much more high-tech than the capabilities the Iraqis have. Those capabilities are available in the region -- Jordanians, Egyptians and other forces have helicopters and aircraft -- and it's very interesting that the Middle Eastern nations have not developed an effective coalition to

Summary: Pentagon releases map showing coalition forces have taken back 25-30% of Iraq territory from ISIS . Counterinsurgency specialist Afzal Ashraf on what new data tells us about fight . Ashraf: Where it counts (ISIS is) not standing and fighting .


(CNN)In 1944, 16-year-old Yong Soo Lee of Taegu, Korea, was lured by a friend of hers to meet with an older Japanese man. The man took the two of them, and three other teenage girls, by train, then ship, to Taiwan. There, the girls were forced into sexual slavery, serving four to five Japanese soldiers every day for a year. Lee suffered beatings and torture, was infected with a venereal disease, was fed paltry amounts of food, faced temperatures so cold that ice formed on her body, and was never allowed outside. Only the end of World War II brought her relief. Lee is just one example of the over 200,000 women from Korea, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, and other Asian nations, who were kidnapped and sexually enslaved by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. These so-called "comfort women" suffered unimaginable physical, emotional, and psychological trauma. When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addresses a Joint Meeting of Congress on Wednesday, he has an opportunity to do right by these women, and issue an unequivocal and irrefutable apology -- something that carries the weight of his government. In 2007, in the very same chamber the prime minister will be issuing his address, the House of Representatives sent a profound message to the Japanese government by unanimously passing House Resolution 121, which I authored. The resolution called on the Japanese government to formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Forces' coercion of young women into sexual slavery; publicly refute any claims that the sexual enslavement and trafficking of the "comfort women" never occurred; and educate current and future generations about this horrible crime. We are still waiting for their government to comply. In 2006, during his first term, Prime Minister Abe unleashed an international firestorm of criticism when he stated that there was no evidence of Japanese coercion and complicity in setting up and running the "comfort women" system. And during his second term, Abe and his right-wing allies have continued to question history -- even trying to dilute and rewrite it. Last year, I, along with 17 of my House colleagues, wrote to the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, calling the timing and contents of the Japanese government report on the 1993 Kono statement: regrettable, unfortunate, unacceptable, and destabilizing. Last year, meanwhile, the Abe administration tried (and failed) to get the United Nations to partially retract their authoritative 1996 report, which called on Japan to apologize to the victims and pay reparations to survivors who had been forced into sex slavery. Most notably, earlier this year, the Japanese government tried unsuccessfully to change passages in U.S. history textbooks about the "comfort women." Some say that Japan has already apologized enough and it's time to move on. To those people I say, in light of these continued attempts to rewrite history, for every step forward the Japanese government takes toward peace and reconciliation, it takes two steps back. As someone who was put into an internment camp as an infant, I

Summary: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will address Congress on Wednesday . Mike Honda: Abe must commit to educating future generation honestly, humbly .


(CNN)In this Holy Week, let us be reminded of what the word of God says about fair and living wages. Isaiah 58.6 tells us: . This is the kind of fast day I'm after: . to break the chains of injustice, . get rid of exploitation in the workplace, . free the oppressed, . cancel debts. The McDonald's announcement that the company is going to raise wages for 90,000 of its employees is a significant victory for fast-food cooks and cashiers and those of us who support them. By standing up together, fast-food workers are making it less acceptable for profitable companies like McDonald's to pay wages so low that its workers are boxed into poverty. But this action, which would raise starting wages at 1,500 McDonald's-owned restaurants to at least $1 an hour more than the minimum wage set by local law, falls short in three important ways . First, it leaves out the vast majority of McDonald's workers. The announcement only affects 10% of the McDonald's restaurants in the United States, ignoring the employees who work at franchised McDonald's restaurants. That means hundreds of thousands of workers serving Big Macs and fries won't see a dollar more in their paychecks. McDonald's claims that it has no responsibility for those franchises, but its workers, and the National Labor Relations Board, disagree. Secondly, this raise isn't nearly enough. One dollar above the minimum wage isn't enough to make paying for groceries, rent and transportation much easier, especially coming from a company that makes nearly $5 billion a year in profits. It's not enough for clothing or health care. It's not enough, as people of my faith say, for those cooks and cashiers to afford their daily bread. Thirdly, the raise does nothing to help workers have a voice in determining their workplace conditions. McDonald's and other companies need to stop trying to prevent their workers from speaking out together in a union. They should respect workers' right to collectively demand sensible schedules and such basics as adequate first aid kits, and not being compelled to work off the clock. We are at a turning point in American history. We are at a Third Reconstruction. We are at the moment when forces come together to push this country forward toward the goal of a better life for all: sustainable wages, affordable health care, quality education, and, respect for workers' right to stick together in unions so they can be heard. We are wining this fight, and the McDonald's announcement is proof that the momentum is on our side. When all McDonald's workers have more money in their pockets, they will inject money back into their neighborhoods, boosting the entire economy. Instead of houses in foreclosure and hungry children, we would have a rising wage floor and thriving communities that support more jobs. Today, thousands of McDonald's workers live below the federal poverty line. Many get help from government programs, especially food stamps, to make it week to week. Whether we like it or not, our tax dollars help McDonald's keep wages artificially low.

Summary: William Barber: McDonald's will raise minimum wage $1 for 10% of workers. This is a step in right direction but falls short in three ways . He says it leaves out 90% of workers, is not enough to lift workers from poverty, company prevents workers from speaking out in a union .


(CNN)Sofia Vergara's ex-fiance is speaking out about their dispute over frozen embryos created while they dated. In an op-ed published by The New York Times on Wednesday, Nick Loeb explained his rationale for fighting to keep the two female embryos he shares with the actress. "I wanted to keep this private, but recently the story broke to the world," Loeb wrote. "It has gotten attention not only because of the people involved -- my ex is Sofia Vergara, who stars in the ABC series "Modern Family" -- but also because embryonic custody disputes raise important questions about life, religion and parenthood." Loeb says he met the actress in 2010 and they got engaged two years later, at which point they decided to create the embryos and conceive a child via a surrogate. After two attempts failed to bring fertilized embryos to term, they created two more embryos using her eggs and his sperm. "When we create embryos for the purpose of life, should we not define them as life, rather than as property?," he said. "... A woman is entitled to bring a pregnancy to term even if the man objects. Shouldn't a man who is willing to take on all parental responsibilities be similarly entitled to bring his embryos to term even if the woman objects?" Loeb said he filed a complaint against the 42-year-old actress to prevent her from destroying their two embryos conceived through in vitro fertilization. He filed it in August in Santa Monica, California, where they apparently lived while they dated. "We signed a form stating that any embryos created through the process could be brought to term only with both parties' consent. The form did not specify -- as California law requires -- what would happen if we separated," he said. " I am asking to have it voided." Representatives for Vergara have declined to comment in the past. Loeb has said he believes "life begins at fertilization" and wants to implant the embryos in a surrogate and bring them to term. He said he doesn't want any money from the egg donor. The case has led to questions about who has the right to embryos. Typically, a prior legal agreement between a couple spells out who has ultimate authority, said fertility specialist Dr. David Tourgeman, who's not involved in this case. "Usually when embryos are created, whether the couple is married or just consenting adults, there's usually a power of attorney that is described to these embryos, if they are frozen for future use," he said. In most cases, the mother or the origin of the egg is given power of attorney, although anyone can make a request, Tourgeman said. If there's a disagreement, the courts usually get involved to decide who legally owns the embryos, he said. Vergara is now reportedly engaged to actor Joe Manganiello.

Summary: Loeb says he filed a complaint against the actress to prevent her from destroying their two embryos . The couple created the embryos while they were engaged .


Lampedusa, Italy (CNN)The cramped galley of the ship is filled with the smell of fresh garlic frying in olive oil. Gaetano Cortese, a tall, thin, sunburned 27-year veteran of Italy's Guardia di Finanza (Finance Police) is waxing eloquent on his favorite subject: food. "We picked it this morning from the hills of Lampedusa," he declares with a flourish, waving thin sprigs of wild asparagus under my nose. He demonstrates how you must break it apart with your fingers, bit by bit, until you get to the hard part, which you keep aside to boil down in water for the pasta sauce he is preparing with his shipmate, Enzo Idone. Cooking, however, may be a positive distraction from dark memories. How I was smuggled into Europe -- and why it was worth it . We boarded the Finance Police's ship, the Calabrese, in Lampedusa harbor earlier in the evening. The Calabrese regularly patrols the Mediterranean off Lampedusa, which is Italy's southernmost territory and just 70 miles, or just over 110 kilometers, from the Tunisian coast. In recent years, it has been the first point of entry to Europe for tens of thousands of migrants from Africa and the Middle East. A few years ago, the Calabrese was on the look out for "contrabandisti," smugglers trafficking in cigarettes and drugs. But in recent years, its 12-man crew has joined Italy's effort to rescue migrants coming from Africa and the Middle East. We spend seven hours on board the ship, but nothing much happens. We see some Italian fishing boats the crew knew by sight. Shortly after sunset, the Calabrese's captain, Gianluca Busonera, begins calling out quick orders to his men as we approach a small boat. The easy-going crew seem to tense up. One man turns on a bright spotlight and focuses the beam on the boat, while another with powerful binoculars read out the name on the back. Busonera peers intently at the boat, which appears to be a fishing vessel, then shrugs. "It's fine," he tells me. "If it were low in the water, we'd know it was full of people, but this boat is riding high." He waves to the Tunisian boat, where an older man in a jacket waves back. Busonera gives him a thumbs up, and steers the ship to the right. It's a routine evening for the Calabrese, and that is just fine with the crew. They've seen enough troubles in their time to appreciate an uneventful day's work. Back in the galley, I ask Cortese about his worst experience while serving at sea with the Guardia di Finanza. He and most of his shipmates took part in the rescue effort on October 3, 2013, after a ship with hundreds of migrants had gone down off Lampedusa. More than 350 people died in that disaster. The crew of the Calabrese was able to rescue four of the survivors. Cortese's cheery demeanor suddenly becomes serious. "I still remember pulling out of the water, with our hands, a young, pregnant woman who had just died," he recalls. "There were children,"

Summary: Ben Wedeman joins the Calabrese, an Italian patrol boat as it traverses the Mediterranean looking for migrants . Often the crew have little to report, only coming across fishing boats or other commercial vessels . The Calabrese was involved in a rescue in October 2013, during which more than 350 people died .


(The Hollywood Reporter)A trailer for Zack Snyder's upcoming "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" leaked online on Thursday before quickly being taken down minutes later. A YouTube user uploaded the handheld or camera phone capture of the trailer, which had Spanish subtitles on the screen. The trailer begins with a commentator's voice asking, "Is it really surprising that the most powerful man in the world should be a figure of controversy?" As footage of Superman plays, numerous commentators' voices overlap one another with their opinions of the superheroes, including "We as a population on this planet have been looking for a savior" and "Maybe he's just a guy trying to do the right thing." Ryan Gosling in talks to star in "Blade Runner" sequel . A blurred image of Ben Affleck's face appears shortly before a masked Batman appears, followed by the two superheroes coming face to face. The highly anticipated footage was set to premiere in Imax theaters on Monday. On Wednesday morning, Snyder teased the trailer by releasing a short excerpt on Twitter. "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" will be released on March 25, 2016 and stars Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman. The film also stars Amy Adams. How much it costs to get Mark Hamill's autograph at "Star Wars" celebration . ©2015 The Hollywood Reporter. All rights reserved.

Summary: "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" trailer leaked Thursday before being yanked offline . Film will be released on March 25, 2016 and stars Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill .