National News

At least 137 reported killed as Syrian attacks escalate

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:38:02 GMT

A Syrian opposition group reported at least 137 deaths at the hands of government forces Thursday as President Bashar al-Assad escalated a brutal assault against an opposition that wants an end to his regime.

Thursday marked the fifth consecutive day of attacks on opposition activists and civilians in the besieged city of Homs -- Syria's third-largest city -- which has become a flashpoint in the uprising.

The Local Coordination Committees, a network of opposition activists that organizes and documents protests, said that 110 of the deaths were in Homs; 10 were children.

The president has repeatedly denied attacking civilians, saying Syrian forces are targeting armed gangs and foreign terrorists bent on destabilizing the government.

Syrian state television Thursday said armed terrorist gangs fired seven shells into Homs in the early morning, adding that there were no reports of damage.

The station then showed video of people it identified as residents saying armed gangs had fired on their homes and schools with shells and rocket-propelled grenades.

Nearly all other reports from within the country, however, tell a different story. Opposition activists in Homs describe explosions from mortars and tank shells launched by Syrian forces every few minutes, people bleeding to death in the streets for lack of medical attention, and snipers picking off civilians running for cover.

Video reportedly from Homs and posted online shows rubble and the remains of buildings as gunfire is heard in the background.

Medical charities say doctors inside Syria have reported hospitals, clinics, medical staff and patients being targeted.

A doctor in the Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr, Ali, said a group from the Red Crescent recently tried to visit to give medical aid, but their vehicle was attacked and they were forced to turn around.

CNN is not fully naming the doctor for his protection.

Civilians who enter hospitals with what would have been minor injuries if properly treated were left instead to die, said Col. Malek Al Kurdi of the rebel Free Syrian Army, who said he witnessed such a scene in the coastal city of Latakia.

"Al-Assad is now using the tactic of attacking three or more cities at the same time to attempt to deter the revolt," Al Kurdi said. "Last night the killers attacked Zabadani, Homs, and Talkala at the same time."

The LCC described the shelling of Zabadani, going on for a sixth consecutive day. Ten people died on Thursday, five of them members of the same family, the group said. Another 40 people were wounded, it said, adding that medical supplies, fuel and food were in short supply.

Attacks also occurred in the cities of Lattakia, Daraa, Idlib, and the Damascus suburbs, and said snipers were on rooftops in the southern village of Taseel, the group said.

The LCC accused the government of lying about its own attacks.

In Taseel, it said, "a civilian's home was exploded and a huge amount of weaponry was brought in, then photographed by the Syrian regime's state media as tools and acts of armed gangsters to justify for raiding the town, which is now strictly sealed off."

CNN cannot independently confirm reports in Syria because the government has severely limited the access of international journalists.

Britain's ambassador to Syria painted a picture of a brutal crackdown on civilians in a Foreign Office blog post Thursday. Simon Collis described seeing peaceful protesters, including the elderly and children, being beaten. Those chanting for freedom in the Umayad Mosque in Damascus were also beaten, he said.

"It is too shocking to ignore," Collis wrote, calling for world condemnation of the actions of al-Assad's regime.

In an open letter, a group calling itself the Syrian Scientific Community asked the Syrian Army not to participate in the killing of people and the shelling of cities and neighborhoods, no matter the reason. They also want aid and ambulances to be allowed to reach their destinations freely without obstruction.

A U.N. Security Council resolution addressing the violence failed to pass over the weekend after Russia and China vetoed it. The 13 other Security Council members, including the United States, voted for the resolution, which was also supported by the European Union and the Arab League.

With the Security Council at an impasse, the United States and other countries have called for the creation of a "Friends of Democratic Syria" group to support a free and democratic Syria, said Victoria Nuland, the U.S. State Department spokeswoman.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu arrived Thursday in Washington, where he was expected to hold talks with U.S. lawmakers on an Arab League proposal on Syria. The plan calls for resuming a monitoring mission to determine whether al-Assad is abiding by an agreement that his government would end all violence.

Turkey has been critical of al-Assad's crackdown.

Also critical of Syria is Libya, which experienced its own revolt last year that led to the downfall of longtime leader Moammar Ghadafi. Libya announced Thursday it is expelling the Syrian charge d'affaires and his staff because of the "escalation" of the government's crackdown on its people.

9 men jailed in UK on terror plot charges

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:48:48 GMT

Nine men were jailed in London Thursday on terror charges, four of them over "an al Qaeda-inspired plot" to bomb the London Stock Exchange, UK police said.

Abdul Malik Miah, Gurukanth Desai, Shah Mohammed Lutfar Rahman and Mohammed Moksudur Rahman Chowdhury had pleaded guilty last week to the London Stock Exchange plot, police said.

Five others, Abdul Bosher Mohammed Shahjahan, Mohibur Rahman, Nazam Hussain, Omar Sharif Latif and Usman Khan, also admitted terror offenses, police said.

All nine were sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court Thursday to terms ranging from five to nearly 17 years, with some given indeterminate sentences with at least eight years to serve.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Osborne, the senior national coordinator for counterterrorism, issued a statement saying: "This was one of the most significant and complex counter terrorism operations of recent years.

"We had a network of highly dangerous men based in three cities who were working together to plan terrorist attacks in the UK.

"Had we not taken action to disrupt this network, their actions could have resulted in serious casualties or fatalities."

Miah, who had previous convictions, was sentenced to 16 years and 10 months in jail, while Desai was jailed for 12 years, and Latif for 10 years and four months.

Shahjahan, Khan and Hussain were each handed an indeterminate sentence, with a minimum of eight years to serve. Mohibur Rahman was jailed for five years.

Chowdhury was sentenced to 13 years and eight months, and Shah Rahman to 12 years.

Osborne said a major covert operation had been put in place to monitor the suspects, who were based in London and Stoke-on-Trent in England and Cardiff in Wales.

At the height of the operation, over the 2010 Christmas period, nearly 1,000 police officers and staff were involved, he said in an online statement posted by West Midlands Police.

"These men were arrested when the balance between public safety and gathering evidence meant that we could not run the operation longer," Osborne said.

"This plot clearly demonstrates that there are still people living in our communities who are intent on doing us harm. If we are to find them and we are to stop them we must all remain vigilant and aware."

The investigation, which was coordinated by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, also involved police forces in London, Wales and Staffordshire, and national counterterrorism and security services.

10 states freed from 'No Child Left Behind' requirements

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:18:49 GMT

Ten states are being granted waivers to free them from some requirements of the No Child Left Behind education reform law, with President Barack Obama explaining Thursday that the move aims to "combine greater freedom with greater accountability."

Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and Tennessee will no longer have to meet 2014 targets set by the law.

In exchange for that flexibility, the states "have agreed to raise standards, improve accountability, and undertake essential reforms to improve teacher effectiveness," the White House said in a statement Thursday morning.

Obama elaborated on the rationale for the decision later in the day, speaking at a White House event attended by teachers and school superintendents.

He stressed that his administration remains committed to the overarching goals of raising standards and closing the achievement gap in the nation's public schools. At the same time, "We determined we need a different approach" than what was prescribed by the landmark legislation.

"We've offered every state the same deal: We've said, if you're willing to set higher, more honest standards then we're going to give you the flexibility to meet those standards," Obama said.

Each of those states granted waivers Thursday offered different approaches. Massachusetts, for instance, set a goal to slash its number of underperfoming students by half within six years; Colorado is setting up a comprehensive online database of assessment measures, among other steps; and New Jersey is developing an "early warning" system in an effort to prevent students from dropping out of school.

New Mexico also requested such flexibility from the No Child Left Behind law, and the Obama administration is working closely with that state. Another 28 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia also have indicated plans to seek such flexibility, according to the White House.

"This is good news for our kids, it's good news for our country," the president said of the waivers, adding that one approach may work well in one part of the country while another may better suit another place. "If we're serious about seeing our children reach their full potential, the best ideas aren't just going to come from here in Washington."

President George W. Bush signed No Child Left Behind into law in 2001. One of the bipartisan bill's sponsors was the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, a Democrat from Massachusetts. The law included a focus on measuring student outcomes, largely based on standardized test results.

Some supporters say it has helped close an achievement gap between disadvantaged students and others.

But the law is a source of controversy, with opponents arguing it is turning classrooms into test preparation centers, taking time away from subjects that aren't tested, and potentially contributing to cheating scandals.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan believes the law drives down standards, weakens accountability, causes narrowing of the curriculum and labels too many schools as failing, the White House said in its news release. "Moreover, the law mandates unworkable remedies at the federal level instead of allowing local educators to make spending decisions," it said.

The law has been in need of reauthorization since 2007, and the president has been critical of the lack of Congressional action on the matter in recent years.

Last September, the Obama administration announced that states could apply for waivers from some provisions of the law if they meet other federal mandates.

To get the waivers, states had to adopt and have a plan to implement "college and career-ready standards," the White House said. "They must also create comprehensive systems of teacher and principal development, evaluation and support that include factors beyond test scores, such as principal observation, peer review, student work, or parent and student feedback."

Based on standards set by the existing law, more schools were listed as failing last year than in any previous year since the law's passage. About 48% of schools did not make what's called "adequate yearly progress" in 2011, up from 39% in 2010, according to the non-profit Center on Education Policy.

In his remarks Thursday, Obama expressed confidence that the academic performance of the nation's students would improve using a more flexible approach -- though he also emphasized that any change won't be instantaneous.

"This is not a one-year project, this isn't a two-year project," he said. "This is going to take some time, but we can get it done."

Paul McCartney voice mails hacked, ex says

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:02:51 GMT

Voice mails left by Paul McCartney for his then-girlfriend Heather Mills were illegally accessed and heard by a former employee of a major British newspaper group, Mills told an independent investigation into press ethics Thursday.

The former Beatle left about 25 messages for her one night in 2001, including one where he sang to her, as he tried to make up with her after a quarrel, she said.

"One of them said, 'Please forgive me,' and he sang a little ditty of one of his songs onto the voice mail," said Mills.

The former Trinity Mirror group employee later phoned her and said he had heard her voice mail.

She responded angrily, she testified before the Leveson Inquiry, saying there was no way he could have heard the message unless he had obtained it illegally.

Mills said the man laughed, and she said she told him: "I promise you, if you report this story, even if it's true, you have obtained the information illegally, and I will do something about it."

"And he never reported the story," she added.

The inquiry is not releasing the name of the person who heard the message because he is under police investigation, said Robert Jay, the chief counsel to the Inquiry.

But it was not a Daily Mirror journalist or anyone working under the supervision of its then-editor, Piers Morgan, Jay said. Morgan now hosts a CNN talk show, "Piers Morgan Tonight."

The voice mail in question was a critical point when Morgan testified in December before the Leveson Inquiry.

The probe was set up in response to widespread anger in Britain at the revelation that a murdered 13-year-old girl's phone was hacked by journalists in search of stories -- and that many other crime and terror victims, politicians and celebrities had also been targeted.

Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid has been the focus of much of the anger, and Murdoch's son James ordered it shut down over the scandal.

But accusations have been leveled against other newspapers as well, including the Daily Mirror.

Testifying in December, Morgan said he did not believe phone hacking had taken place when he was editor of the tabloid, prompting Jay to follow up: "You don't believe so or you are sure?"

"I don't believe so," Morgan responded by video link.

Jay pressed Morgan particularly hard about his having written in 2006 that he had heard a message McCartney left for Mills, trying to make up after a quarrel and singing to her.

Morgan refused to say who played the message for him or where, but he admitted under sustained questioning that he believed it was a voice mail.

"Did you know that was unethical?" Jay demanded.

"Not unethical, no. It doesn't necessarily follow that it was unethical," Morgan said, insisting he would not "go down a trail that will lead to the identification of a source."

On Thursday, Mills said she had never authorized Morgan to access her voice mail or to listen to a recording of it.

"Never, ever," she said.

She said she had never made a recording of any of the messages.

"No, no. They were deleted pretty much straight away," she said.

Brian Leveson, the judge leading the inquiry, intervened to ask if she had ever authorized anyone to listen to her voice mail.

"No," she said.

Mills and McCartney divorced in 2008.

Morgan has said in the past that he has never hacked a voice mail and vigorously denied ever ordering phone hacking. Morgan said Thursday, "I have nothing further to add to the evidence I gave to the Leveson Inquiry."

The publisher of the defunct News of the World paid out hundreds of thousands of pounds Wednesday to settle lawsuits over phone hacking from celebrities and politicians, including former Tony Blair spokesman Alastair Campbell.

Piers Morgan is a former editor the News of the World, but left in 1995 -- about seven years before the Milly Dowler hacking -- and went to the Mirror, which he edited until 2004.

With Wednesday's settlements, News Group Newspapers has settled 59 of the 60 lawsuits against it.

But former child singing star Charlotte Church, who has testified publicly about the damage phone hacking did to her personal life, has refused to settle. Her case is expected to go to court as soon as this month.

In addition to the Leveson Inquiry, police are carrying out three separate investigations into elements of the scandal: phone hacking, e-mail hacking, and police bribery.

Two parliamentary committees are also investigating the scandal.

Both James and Rupert Murdoch, as well as senior executives at News International, have testified before British lawmakers examining allegations of wrongdoing.

There have been 13 arrests in connection with Operation Elveden, the Metropolitan Police investigation into bribery of police officers by journalists.

There have been 17 arrests in relation to Operation Weeting, the phone-hacking inquiry. Three people have been arrested in connection with both investigations.

No one has been charged.

First new nuclear reactors OK'd in over 30 years

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:50:57 GMT

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved licenses to build two new nuclear reactors Thursday, the first authorized in over 30 years.

The reactors are being built in Georgia by a consortium of utilities led by Southern Co. They will be sited at the Vogtle nuclear power plant complex, about 170 miles east of Atlanta. The plant already houses two older reactors.

"Today marks an advancement in our nation's energy policy," Southern Company chief executive Thomas Fanning said at a press conference after the approval. "The project is on track, and our targets related to cost and schedule are achievable."

The 5-member NRC voted in favor of the licenses four to one, with Chairman Gregory Jaczko dissenting.

Jaczko said the new licenses don't go far enough in requiring the builders to incorporate lessons learned from the Japanese nuclear disaster last year.

Although new nuclear reactors have come online in the United States within the last couple of decades -- the last one started operation in 1996 -- the NRC hasn't issued a license to build a new reactor since 1978, a year before the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania. Reactors that have opened in the last decades received their initial licenses before 1978.

The combination of the Three Mile Island incident and the high costs of nuclear power turned many utilities away from the technology.

The utilities building the new Vogtle reactors submitted their application seven years ago. Prep-work at the site has been under way for some time, but construction on actual reactors couldn't begin until the final license was issued.

The new reactors are a Westinghouse design called the AP 1000. Together they are expected to cost $14 billion and provide 2200 megawatts of power, according to a spokesman for Southern Co. That's enough to power 1 million homes.

The plants are being built with the help of a conditional $8.3 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. The loan guarantee is part of DOE's broader loan program that has been criticized for backing companies like Solyndra, the bankrupt maker of solar panels.

The Southern spokesman said the loan guarantee, combined with other regulatory measures, enable the project to receive cheaper financing that will ultimately save ratepayers $1 billion.

The first reactor is expected to come online in 2016 and the second one in 2017, according to Southern Co.

The AP 1000 is the newest NRC-approved nuclear reactor. This would be the first one built in the United States, although four are already under construction in China, said Scott Shaw, a Westinghouse spokesman.

Critics have said the containment walls of the AP 1000 aren't strong enough to withstand a terrorist attack, but Shaw says they were redesigned after September 11, 2001 and have held up during simulations.

He also said the design's passive cooling system makes it much safer than older designs. The AP 1000 uses gravity and condensation -- not electricity -- to cool the fuel rods.

It was the loss of electric power that led to the meltdown of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi reactors following the tsunami in 2011.

Still, a coalition of nine mostly regional anti-nuclear groups say the current design is not safe. They plan on challenging Thursday's decision in federal court.

In addition to fears of a meltdown at a nuclear power plant, critics also point out that the nation still has no long term plan for the disposal of nuclear waste.

The waste, which is highly radioactive, is currently stored at the plants themselves while the federal government continues its decades-long search for a permanent disposal facility.

There are currently 104 operating nuclear reactors at 64 plants across the country. Half are over 30 years old.

Nuclear power provides the country with about 18% of its electricity. Coal is the nation's largest source for electricity, providing 43% of our energy, while natural gas makes up another 25%, according to the Energy Information Agency.

Renewables make up the remaining 14%, with hydroelectric dams accounting for more than half of that. Wind accounts for about 3% and biomass (think paper mills or agricultural plants) another 2%. Solar and geothermal make up under 1% of American electricity production, according to EIA.

In addition to the Vogtle plant, 16 other plants across the country have applications with the the NRC to build 25 more reactors.

Most of those reactors would be built at existing nuclear power plants but there are two applications submitted for brand new nuclear plants -- one in Levy County, Fla., and another outside Gaffney, S.C.

Environmentalists are split when it comes to nuclear power. Many are weary of it, citing the safety, cost and waste disposal concerns. Others favor it on the grounds that it can provide massive amounts of power that's basically greenhouse gas-free.

"Moving away from fossil fuels in order to address climate change is the biggest challenge facing our power sector, and safe nuclear power will be an important part of that solution," Richard Caperton, director of clean energy investment at the left-leaning Center for American Progress said in a statement.

But, underscoring the dichotomy, he added: "If the new reactors are not brought online in a timely and cost-effective manner, as often happens with nuclear plants, those consumers could see their electric bills skyrocket."

-- CNN's Carol Gantt contributed to this report

Outrage after 'Eagle Dad' make son run in snow

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:33:53 GMT

A video of a toddler crying while running in the snow nearly naked has sparked a firestorm in China, but the boy's father says the exercise was meant to strengthen his son.

"It's tough for me, too, when he cried out for my comfort," father He Liesheng said. "But I believe in 'no pain, no gain.' Like an eagle, I push my child to the limit so he can learn how to fly."

The father shot and posted the online video clip showing his 4-year-old son running down a snow-covered street, wearing only shoes and underpants.

In the footage, the boy -- nicknamed Duoduo -- chases his father, sobs and begs to be picked up.

"Daddy, Daddy please hold me," Duoduo cries in the video, which was filmed while the family was in Flushing, N.Y., on vacation.

The father, who lives in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, said he calls himself "Eagle Dad" for his tough parenting skills.

He told CNN in a phone interview that the snow run is part of a training regimen of intensive physical and mental activities designed to strengthen his son, who was born premature and has suffered from health problems.

"I consulted my doctor friends to ensure what we do is scientific and that it won't harm my son's body," he said.

The video has been viewed by tens of thousands of people online. In China, it has reignited debate about how far parents should push their children to attain success.

Chinese parenting techniques have come under scrutiny after author Amy Chua's book, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother," sparked heated discussion worldwide about the benefits of tough parenting.

"Some compare me to the 'Tiger Mom,' but we are different," He told CNN. "Unlike her, I always respect my son's will."

He said he plans to publish a book on his "eagle-style" training soon.

But his parenting method might have trouble finding followers.

On Weibo, China's version of Twitter, many users said the approach was tantamount to child abuse.

"I can't agree with this educational style," a user going by the name of Dangpoluobaoyushangfengweibao posted. "It's so cruel."

Others suggested government officials should step in.

"Why don't we have a law against this abnormal behavior?" a user going by the name of Xinhongbaobei wrote. "Before long, there will be all sorts of lion dads and snake moms who feel justified abusing their children."

The boy's father told CNN he doesn't care about the criticism.

"I've always felt Chinese parents spoil their only child too much," he said. "We don't expose them to nature enough and they get weaker and less competitive compared to foreign children."

In the video, both parents can be heard off camera instructing Duoduo to lie down in the snow.

He said he and his wife always ensure their son is happy, and that Duoduo's health has improved because of his unique training regimen.

"My wife strongly opposed my idea in the beginning, but I kept persuading her about the benefits of my method," He said. "She told me she's beyond caring now."

USPS pleads for help as losses continue

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:23:49 GMT

The U.S. Postal Service renewed its pleas for congressional support Thursday as the floundering agency reported another massive quarterly loss.

The Postal Service announced that it sustained a net loss of $3.3 billion in the last three months of 2011, as declining mail volumes and mounting benefit costs continue to weigh on its business.

In the previous fiscal year, the Postal Service lost $5.1 billion and said its losses would have been roughly $10.6 billion if not for the passage of legislation postponing a $5.5 billion payment required to pre-fund retiree health benefits.

In a statement, the Postal Service urged the government to do away with the requirement that such benefits be funded at their current rates, and also called for greater "delivery flexibility."

The Postal Service has floated the idea of scaling back to five-day delivery from the current six-day system to save costs, though this is unpopular with Congress, which has the final authority. Also under consideration is a plan to slow down next-day service.

"Passage of legislation is urgently needed that provides the Postal Service with the speed and flexibility needed to cut costs that are not under our control, including employee health care costs," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in the statement.

The Postal Service warned that it could default on its health benefit pre-payments this year. It may also reach its $15 billion debt limit and run out of cash even if Congress changes or eliminates the pre-funding requirement.

The Postal Service is chartered as a government enterprise but does not receive taxpayer support.

In an effort to cut some $20 billion in costs, the agency plans to close post offices around the country. But it has delayed the closures until May 15, allowing Congress some time to devise a plan to support it.

The Postal Service's struggles have come even as its private-sector competition is thriving. Both UPS and FedEx reported strong increases in earnings and revenue in their most recent quarterly reports.

Mortgage deal could bring billions in relief

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:23:30 GMT

In the largest deal to date aimed at addressing the housing meltdown, federal and state officials on Thursday announced a $26 billion foreclosure settlement with five of the largest home lenders.

The deal settles potential state charges about allegations of improper foreclosures based on robosigning, seizures made without proper paperwork.

The settlement includes the Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as 49 state attorneys general -- all but Oklahoma.

"We are using this opportunity to fix a broken system," said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at the news conference announcing the settlement.

The settlement sets up a federal monitor to oversee the process and try to prevent roadblocks and red tape that tripped many homeowners seeking help in earlier programs designed to address the housing crisis.

President Obama said the settlement will "begin to turn the page on an era of wrecklessness that has left so much damage in its wake."

"No action, no matter how meaningful, is going to by itself entirely heal the housing market," he said in separate remarks at the White House. "But this settlement is a start."

Most of the relief will go to those who owe far more than their homes are worth, known as being underwater on the loans. That relief will come over the course of the next three years, with the banks having incentives to provide most of the relief in the next 12 months.

"This settlement is about homeowners, homeowners in distress," said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller at the news conference with state and federal officials.

Principal reduction: At least $17 billion will go to reducing the principal owed by homeowners who are both underwater and behind on their mortgages.

The agreement calls for principal reduction for as many as 1 million people. But it's unlikely the money will go that far, because many people need more than the $17,000 average reduction that would result if the money is split among 1 million homeowners.

At the same time, total principal reduction could go higher -- to as much as $34 billion -- since the agreement requires deeper principal reductions for the most troubled loans.

Refinancing: Officials say up to 750,000 other underwater homeowners who are current on their mortgages will be able to refinance their current loans at lower rates. They will not receive a reduction in principal, but with mortgage rates now near record lows, they could receive substantial savings on their monthly payments.

The settlement sets aside $3 billion to account for the reduced interest payments the banks will receive after the refinancing.

Robosigning payments: About $1.5 billion of the settlement will go to homeowners who had their homes foreclosed upon between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011, and who meet other criteria. They will receive up to $2,000 each.

Accepting that payment does not preclude homeowners who lost their home in an improper foreclosure from suing the bank to recover damages, Donovan said.

Participating banks: The five mortgage servicers that are parties to the settlement -- Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial -- will pay a total of $5 billion to the states. Some of that money will go to foreclosed homeowners and the rest to the states.

Federal officials say negotiations are underway to expand the settlement to nine other major servicers, which would raise the overall value of the settlement to $30 billion.

Related settlements: The deal spurred pacts between the authorities and banks in similar cases.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt announced a separate $18.6 million settlement that addressed homeowners whose homes were foreclosed through improper means, but did not provide help to those whose mortgages were underwater. He said he believes the broader agreement "overreached" the authority of both federal and state governments.

"We had concerns that what started as an effort to correct specific practices harmful to consumers, morphed into an attempt by President Obama to ...fundamentally restructure the mortgage industry in the United States," Pruitt said.

The Federal Reserve said it had reached an agreement with the five banks to pay a $766.5 million in sanctions related to their servicing practices.

And Loretta Lynch, the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, N.Y., announced a $1 billion settlement with Bank of America to resolve claims of underwriting and mortgage origination fraud by BofA and mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, which BofA bought in 2008.

The $26 billion deal announced Thursday is the second biggest settlement ever involving states. It trails only the $206 billion pact in 1998 with the tobacco industry.

And it dwarfs any settlements that major Wall Street firms have reached to resolve other allegations of misdeeds related to the financial markets meltdown and the Great Recession.

Still it only will help a faction of those homeowners who are struggling with mortgages.

There are 1.5 million homeowners who are 90 days or more delinquent on their mortgages but not yet in foreclosure, according to the most recent estimate from the Mortgage Bankers Association. An additional 1.9 million are in the foreclosure process. And CoreLogic estimates that 11 million homeowners are underwater on their mortgages.

The settlement does not preclude criminal prosecutions from being pursued. It also doesn't stop investigations into other allegations of misdoings, such as the process of bundling loans into mortgage-backed securities and selling them to investors.

"It wasn't the servicing practices that created the bubble nor caused the collapse," said Donovan. "It was the origination and the securitization of these horrendous products. We will be aggressive about going after those claims."

The deal is supposed to protect consumers when it comes to robosigning, and ensure that mortgage servicers agree to communicate better, avoid delays and give homeowners who are late on mortgage payments a fairer shake.

New York's participation had been shaky this week, because some of the banks involved in the multi-state deal had also been sued by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman last week. Those banks -- Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase -- had also asked for a legal pass from Schneiderman's lawsuit, which accuses them of deceptive foreclosure practices for relying on the Mortgage Electronic Registration System.

On Tuesday, Schneiderman's office organized a media briefing to talk about the deal and then canceled it minutes before it was supposed to begin.

The big question throughout the negotiations was how much money would be available to help homeowners, which depended on how many states agreed to the deal. California's participation raises the total settlement value by several billion dollars.

At least one consumer advocacy group, the Center for Responsible Lending, has said the deal -- while "no silver bullet" -- leaves room to hold banks accountable in other mortgage probes, said Kathleen Day, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit.

But other left-leaning groups, including Move On and the New Bottom Line, are continuing to urge states to hold out for a big criminal investigation and a $300 billion settlement award.

--CNN's Jessica Yellin contributed to this story.

Americas, Asia will fuse to form 'Amasia'

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:03:38 GMT

You won't be alive to see the way the Earth looks in 100 million years, but as the name suggests, it would "amaze ya."

Amasia is what scientists are calling the supercontinent that they predict will form as the continents we know and love drift toward one another and collide, closing the Arctic Ocean and fusing around the North Pole. Antarctica may be left out as a loner, however, as Australia snuggles up to Asia between India and Japan.

While the northern coast of North America would form a mountain range, the United States' West Coast will probably be the edge of this supercontinent, geologist Ross Mitchell said.

In a study in the journal Nature, Mitchell and colleagues at Yale University propose a new theory of how and where this supercontinent will form.

It's been established that supercontinents tend to form and break apart in cycles. There have been at least three: Nuna (1.8 billion years ago), Rodinia (1 billion years ago) and Pangea (300 million years ago).

Between 50 and 200 million years from now, the next supercontinent, Amasia, will take shape, Mitchell said. And we're well halfway into the cycle of its formation; most of Asia has been created since the rifting of the last supercontinent, Pangea, he said.

Considering trends in mammalian evolution over the past 20 million years, individual species tend to last only about 2 million years, so there probably won't be any humans living on Amasia.

"None of us will be around 100 million years from now to be able to test these supercontinent models, but it's nonetheless interesting to think about how humanity fits in this larger tectonic dance," Mitchell said.

Why do supercontinents form?

Continents and oceans as we know them are not permanent. Instead, continents drift across the surface of the Earth, and oceans aren't stable. German geophysicist Alfred Wegener proposed this idea about a century ago, and it gained further credence in the second part of the 20th century as scientists began to study plate tectonics. Basically, underneath us, there are solid slabs of rock called plates, and they move in different directions because of convection currents.

Earthquakes result from plates rubbing against one another. The Ring of Fire, a region we know today where most earthquakes happen and volcanoes lie, marks the edge of the previous supercontinent, Pangea, and is about 90 degrees away from it. The seismic activity of the Ring of Fire will result in the formation of Amasia.

Geologists say that when Pangea broke apart, new oceans were created, and more ocean in one part of the world means there's less somewhere else. "This is why, all around the Pacific, the ocean floor is being sucked back down into the planet in a process called subduction," writes Ted Nield in the book "Supercontinent."

But exactly why supercontinents break up after they form remains a mystery, Mitchell said.

How supercontinents form

Before Mitchell's study, there have been two theories about the next supercontinent, extroversion and introversion, although they don't have much to do with its personality.

Proponents of extroversion believe the continents will drift away from a supercontinent and eventually scoot around to the opposite side of the globe, 180 degrees from where the old one was.

Introversion is a little simpler, stating that the next supercontinent would form where the last one did.

But Mitchell's group argues that Amasia will be 90 degrees away from Pangea was. The Yale researchers used as the basis of their analysis insights from minerals from ancient rocks, which reflect the Earth's magnetic field. Geologists are able to infer how a continent moves through time with respect to the North Magnetic Pole based on that.

The introversion and extroversion models provided a set of testable predictions for supercontinents of the past but could not really give estimates for the future, said Peter Cawood, chairman of Earth Sciences at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and former president of the Geological Society of Australia.

Mitchell's study is important because it provides explanations for how we get from one supercontinent to another, Cawood said in an e-mail.

"In the past we have wondered if there is 'method in the madness' of continental reconstructions and the position of continents through time. If this paper is correct the answer is yes, there is indeed a method," Cawood said. And that method is "driven by processes deep within the Earth."

Amasia will take shape at the North Pole, and then, as it matures and heats up, it will drift down toward the equator and nestle there, Mitchell said.

"Understanding the past distribution of continents, either individually or when periodically amalgamated as supercontinents, is fundamental to understanding the history of the Earth," Cawood said. "Continents are the archive of Earth history -- not just of the rocks themselves but of past climate, oceans, life, etc. And the distribution of the continents has an important influence on these features."

Cawood added: "Pity that it will take hundreds of millions of years to happen and we won't be here to see it!"

Girl fights off accused Walmart kidnapper

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:02:48 GMT

A 7-year-old Georgia girl kicked and screamed her way out of an attempted kidnapping at an Atlanta-area Walmart, police said.

Brittney Baxter was alone in the toy aisle of the Bremen, Ga., Walmart on Wednesday as her mother shopped for groceries, the family told “Good Morning America.”

She told police a man began talking to her while she was looking at toys.

"I just said, 'I'm going to see what my momma is doing,' and he just grabbed me and picked me up," Brittney told Atlanta TV station WSB.

The man, identified by police as 25-year-old Thomas Woods, put his hand over her mouth, but Brittney kicked, squirmed and made as much noise as possible before he let her go and ran off.

Surveillance cameras outside the store captured Woods getting into his car, and he was arrested on attempted kidnapping charges an hour later in a nearby town, ABC News reported.

“I didn’t bother nobody, I was never there,” he told reporters after his arrest.

Police said Woods was released from state prison in October after serving four years for a 2004 conviction for voluntary manslaughter.

Marilyn Monroe 'officially' joins Twitter

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:31:28 GMT

Add one more venue where the legend of Marilyn Monroe lives and her voice beckons: Twitter.

As of Tuesday night, @MarilynMonroe became a verified account on Twitter. With a turquoise check mark next to its Twitter handle, the social media firm officially designated @marilynmonroe as the official voice of the estate of the actress and icon.

Twitter did not return calls or emails for comment, but according to its website: "The goal of [the verification] program is to limit user confusion by making it easier to identify authentic accounts on Twitter."

Celebrities and politicians are among those verified on Twitter. The social media firm shows Barack and Michele Obama's verified accounts as examples on its explanatory page.

Who is Twitter's Marilyn? 18 months ago, a marketing firm specializing in intellectual property, Authentic Brands Group, purchased the rights to all things Marilyn Monroe for a reported $20 million to $30 million. Authentic Brands Group declined to comment on the purchase price.

"We picked the person who handles our social media to tweet for the estate now," said Nick Woodhouse, chief marketing officer at Authentic Brands Group. "Over the next few months, we'll figure out our strategy to make sure we're properly representing who Marilyn is."

Marilyn Monroe's Twitter account has already added about 3,000 followers, but at fewer than 14,000, Monroe's posthumous Twitter renown is minimal.

With about 153 tweets, channeling Monroe's signature flair proves challenging on Twitter. The feed is sprinkled with Marilyn Monroe quotes: "We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle." reads one.

The feed includes references to GE-owned NBC's new show Smash in which the debut episode is centered around a proposed Marilyn Monroe musical, and Michelle Williams' new movie "My Week with Marilyn."

The estates of Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson and the family of Bob Marley have also attained verification by Twitter. All three have an edge on Monroe's following with Presley at roughly 50,000 followers; Jackson holding about 600,000, and Marley at 150,000.

George Harrison and Jimi Hendrix's self-dubbed "official" Twitter feeds haven't received the company's stamp of authenticity.

Outside of Twitter, film icon Marilyn Monroe is building quite the social media following with nearly 2 million "likes" on her Facebook page.

Authentic Brands Group is expecting that those likes and followers will prove lucrative. Since owning her estate, the fund has created licensing partnerships with luxury brands Dolce & Gabanna and Dior.

"We'll be tweeting with other celebrities soon," said Woodhouse. "We're going to be aggressive about our social media strategy, because fans want her legacy to live on."

Changes expected for restrictions on women in combat, defense official says

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:50:34 GMT

The Defense Department is notifying Congress Thursday it will open up nearly 14,000 jobs to military women that will place them even closer to the front lines of combat.

A senior Pentagon official confirmed details to CNN, but declined to be identified until a formal announcement comes later Thursday.

Under a 1994 policy, women are restricted from formally serving in small ground units directly involved in combat. The reality of the last 10 years of war, however, has been that many women serve in support positions -- such as military police or medics -- which place them in harm's way. They are not formally assigned to combat units, but rather informally "attached," which means they do not get the crucial credit for combat duty that is needed for promotions to higher grades.

"Women may not be assigned to any unit below brigade level when the units primary mission is direct combat on the ground," another Pentagon official e-mailed CNN in explaining the current policy. "The policy has long and successfully balanced opportunities for women to pursue challenging careers, despite a clear limit on any assignment to ground combat units."

Some of the jobs that will now be open to women include specialties such as tank or artillery mechanic, crew members on missile launchers and field surgeons in forward-deployed brigade combat teams.

However, women will still not be permitted in front line jobs directly involved in combat such as infantry units or counterterrorism sniper teams.

Over the last several years, advocates as well as some senior U.S. military commanders have increasingly called for more ground combat jobs to be open to women.

According to Pentagon statistics, more than 140 women have lost their lives in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and more than 860 have been wounded.

The new changes may not go into effect fully until later this year, as Congress must have 30 days in continuous session to have a chance to voice objections if there are any.

Outbreak sickens dozens at NJ university

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:21:55 GMT

About 40 students at a university in New Jersey have been taken to hospitals for treatment after an outbreak of what authorities believe is the norovirus.

The Rider University students, at the school's campus in Lawrenceville, were brought to hospitals late Wednesday night, the school said Thursday.

The suspected outbreak comes a week after an outbreak began at nearby Princeton University, which is still under way, officials said.

"We are coordinating treatment information with that university. We have also informed neighboring institutions," Rider said on its website.

Norovirus is a highly contagious illness that is often called stomach flu or food poisoning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in the United States.

The most common symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Most people get better within one to two days.

Rider officials worked with health authorities throughout the night "to identify ill students in the residence halls and treat them either on site or send them to area hospitals," the school said.

Some of those taken to hospitals have been discharged and returned to campus.

People who get the virus are contagious "from the moment they begin feeling sick until at least three days after they recover," the school said.

Infection can occur by eating contaminated food; touching contaminated surfaces and then putting contaminated fingers in your mouth; or having direct contact with an infected person.

The school's food and custodial services are taking necessary steps, including cleaning all residence hall bathrooms and other areas.

Rider has about 4,700 undergraduate and 1,100 graduate students, and 250 full time faculty members.

Authorities probe 911 response to Josh Powell's home

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:17:23 GMT

Authorities have launched an investigation into how dispatchers handled 911 calls from those seeking help before, they say, Josh Powell killed his sons and himself in his Washington home.

Critics have said it took too long for dispatchers to grasp the danger of the situation and alert police.

"We will investigate all aspects of this incident, and if there is a need to refine our processes, (as we do continually) we will do so," said Tom Orr, director of the Law Enforcement Support Agency, which operates the 911 call center. "If there is a need to investigate from a disciplinary perspective and assign individual responsibility, we will do that as well."

Call center records show that it took eight minutes for the dispatcher to send a police car, and it took an additional 13 minutes for a police car to get to Powell's home, CNN affiliate KCPQ reported.

Orr's comments come as the community come to grips with Sunday's murder-suicide at Powell's Graham, Washington home. Powell is accused of snatching his young sons from a social worker who was delivering them for a supervised visit, locking the door, hacking the kids with a hatchet and starting an explosive fire in the home.

Tapes of 911 conversations, released this week, detail the frantic social worker trying to get help.

But even after she told a dispatcher that she smelled gasoline and Powell would not let her in the home, a dispatcher continued to ask questions about her job and says "life-threatening situations come first."

"This could be life-threatening," the social worker pleads. "He was in court on Wednesday and he didn't get his kids back and this is really ... I`m afraid for their lives."

The social worker's husband said she was badly shaken up.

"She's very upset and traumatized. She has said that she thinks this is something that is going to be a life-changing event," the husband told KCPQ.

There has been some criticism of the 911 operator's responses to the social worker. Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, said he wished the operator's "etiquette" would have been different, but information gathering on such calls can take time.

"We try to get it right every single time. With humans here sometimes, there are mistakes made. I can`t tell you whether that was the case here until the investigation is complete," Orr told the affiliate.

Services for Charlie, 7, and Braden Powell, 5, will be held Saturday. Family members said they were having a hard time dealing with their grief.

"How could you do that to your children?" their grandfather, Chuck Cox, told HLN's Nancy Grace on Wednesday night.

Cox said the social worker should not have been taking the boys to Powell's residence alone.

"I'm glad she is safe," he said. "She could very well have been in that house. He could have closed the door behind her."

Powell was embroiled in an ugly custody dispute with the Cox family that stems back to the 2009 disappearance of his wife, Susan Cox-Powell.

According to investigators, Powell had said the last time he saw his wife was the night he and his sons -- then ages 2 and 4 -- left to go camping after midnight in freezing weather.

Police have said they will continue to investigate her disappearance despite the deaths.

Chuck Cox said he tried to prevent the visitation.

"We had warned the police ... everybody, that he (Josh Powell) was capable of hurting those children and we were very concerned," he said. But, apparently, the law allowed for it, according to Cox.

"I don't think we could have done anything more," he said.

The grandfather restated his belief that his son-in-law, whom he described as very controlling and unlikeable, is responsible for Susan Cox-Powell's disappearance.

According to Chuck Cox, Josh Powell bristled when he heard or saw evidence that the boys were close to their grandparents.

The Coxes said the boys at first would not talk about their missing mother, but they then opened up a little bit.

One said he last saw her on a camping trip, Chuck Cox told HLN. But then they would forget details or not want to talk about her.

"They went back to a trained and coached response," the grandfather said. "Josh didn't want them saying anything about it."

Teen gets life in killing of neighbor, 9

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:11:40 GMT

An 18-year-old Missouri resident received a life sentence Wednesday for the thrill killing of her 9-year-old neighbor, authorities said.

Alyssa Bustamante received a life sentence for the October 2009 death of Elizabeth K. Olten, according to the Cole County Circuit Court clerk's office in Jefferson City. She also got 30 years for armed criminal action.

Bustamante, who has the possibility of parole, allegedly told police she killed Olten because she wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone.

"These sentences are appropriate and fit what happened to Elizabeth at the hands of a truly evil individual who strangled and stabbed an innocent child simply for the thrill of it," Cole County prosecuting attorney Mark Richardson said in a statement.

Bustamante, wearing a bright green inmate's uniform, apologized to the Olten family in court, according to CNN Columbia affiliate KOMU.

An artist's sketch shows Alyssa Bustamante, 18, in court Wednesday in Jefferson City, Mo.

"I know that words can never be enough, and they can never adequately describe how horrible I feel for all of this," Bustamante said. "I'm so sorry. If I could give my life to get her back, I would."

The judge ordered Bustamante, who entered a guilty plea in January, to serve her sentences consecutively. Bustamante was 15 at the time of the crime.

"Hundreds of law enforcement officers and regular citizens of Cole County searched for Elizabeth for two days and nights in the cold and pouring rain in October of 2009," according to Richardson. "The discovery of Elizabeth's mutilated body in a shallow grave is something that this entire community has been grieving for more than two years."

Defense attorneys told reporters that the sentence was "harsh" and that their client was not fully competent and suffers from depression, KOMU reported.

Bob Watson, media coordinator for Cole County Circuit Court, said a life sentence in Missouri equates to a maximum of 30 years on the charge of second-degree murder. Bustamante could serve a maximum of 60 years because of the consecutive sentence.