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Where in the world is Michael Jackson's doctor?
L.A.'s finest are continuing to search for a Houston-based cardiologist who was on the scene Thursday when the King of Pop went into cardiac arrest at his home and died suddenly. But the good news is, now they have a name to go on.
E! News has identified Jackson's personal physician as Dr. Conrad Robert Murray, who had been living in the 50-year-old "Thriller" star's rented Holmby Hills mansion.
Houston station KHOU interviewed a medical assistant at the Acres Home Heart and Vascular Institute, who confirmed that Murray was present at the time Jackson was stricken and administering CPR before paramedics arrived. But she hadn't been able to reach him despite numerous attempts. Murray also has offices in Nevada.
Investigators want to talk to the doctor as part of a standard probe into the music legend's death, though no foul play is suspected at this time.
Questions were raised Thursday after authorities towed a BMW with Texas plates from Jackson's home. The car was registered to Murray's sister. LAPD Officer Tenesha Dobine tells E! News "there may have been some medication inside the vehicle that the coroner needs for its investigation."
Meanwhile, it has since been confirmed that AEG Live, the promoter behind Jackson's proposed 50-night concert series, hired Murray to accompany the singer to London.
Jackson family friend Majestik Magnificence tells E! News that Jackson met Murray when he was living in Las Vegas. As far as the particulars of Jackson's health are concerned, Magnificence said the family is waiting to find out the results of the coroner's toxicology tests before commenting further.
Jackson rep Dr. Tohme Tohme told the Los Angeles Times Friday that Murray had only been in town for about two weeks. The doc had sent a letter to his patients, dated June 15, informing them that he would be leaving his practice indefinitely—presumably to go work for Jackson.
Here's what else we've learned about Murray...
• He is licensed to practice medicine in both Texas and California. • He has been sued twice for breach of contract in Clark County (Las Vegas) by creditors. Last year, HICA Education Loan Corp was awarded $71,332.45 in a case against him. • His Houston business, Acres Home Heart and Vascular Institute, was on the losing end in a September 2008 case and ordered to pay the plaintiff, Popular Leasing CA, more than $135,000. • Capital One sued him through a debt-collection law firm and was awarded $1,473 last December.
Michael's brother Jermaine earlier stated that Jackson's physician had attempted to revive him before medics arrived, though he did not identify Murray by name.
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Sunday, June 28, 2009
Tour Promoter Hired Michael Jackson's MIA Mystery Doctor
Michael Jackson 911 Tape: "He's Not Breathing...He Needs Help!"
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It's the call Michael Jackson fans have dreaded hearing.
E! News has obtained the tape of the chilling 911 call relayed by one of the pop icon's handlers at 12:21 p.m. Thursday requesting emergency assistance after Jackson suffered his fatal cardiac arrest.
The unidentified caller immediately requests an ambulance and gives the address of the 50-year-old singer's rented Holmby Hills mansion. Without giving Jackson's name, the caller tells the dispatcher that Jackson had collapsed and appeared to be lifeless.
Caller: Uh, sir, I have—we have, uh, a gentleman here that needs help, and he's not breathing. He's not breathing and we need to—we're trying to pump him, but he's not. . .He's not.
911 Operator: OK, how old is he?
Caller: He's 50 years old, sir.
911 Operator: 50? OK. He's unconscious, he's not breathing?
Caller: Yes. He's not breathing, sir.
Moments later, the increasingly anxious caller tells the dispatcher that Jackson's personal physician—later identified as Dr. Conrad Robert Murray—was performing CPR but the music legend remained unresponsive.
The dispatcher asks the caller if the doctor saw what happened, at which point a voice is heard in the background shouting, "They need to come!"
Caller: Sir, if you just, uh, um, if you can please—
911 Operator: We're on our way, we're on our way, I'm just passing these questions on to my, uh, paramedics that are on the way there, sir.
Caller: Thank you, sir. He's pumping, he's pumping his chest, but he's not responding to anything, sir, please.
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Thursday, June 25, 2009
Star-faced teen lied about tattoo
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The Belgian teen-ager who made headlines across the globe after claiming a tattoo artist had drawn 56 stars on her face, rather than the three she asked for, has admitted she lied.
Kimberley Vlaeminck from the city of Kortrijk, 90 km (56 miles) northwest of Brussels said she fell asleep during the procedure, and woke up in pain when her nose was being tattooed.
But the 18-year-old was caught off camera on Dutch television when she said she quite liked the tattoo, but lied about asking for all 56 stars when she saw her father's furious reaction.
Tattoo artist Rouslain Toumaniantz said Vlaeminck initially liked her new look, and that she got what she asked for.
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Perez Hilton sues Black Eyed Peas manager
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Perez Hilton struck back Wednesday with a civil lawsuit filed against the Black Eyed Peas manager accused of hitting him outside a Toronto nightclub.
The celebrity blogger, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, sued the Peas' road manager in Los Angeles for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He is seeking unspecified damages of more than $25,000.
The suit states Hilton is seeking to protect his rights to free speech and claims Polo Molina attacked him because he made critical comments about the Black Eyed Peas' new album. Molina was arrested in Toronto early Monday after he allegedly punched Hilton following a heated argument between the blogger and Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am.
An e-mail sent to the group's publicist was not immediately returned Wednesday. Molina is due to appear in court Aug. 5.
"Perez Hilton was assaulted by the band's road manager because he would not agree to stop writing about the Black Eyed Peas on his Web site Perezhilton.com," Bryan Freedman, Hilton's lawyer, said in a statement. "Whether you love Perez or hate him, he is entitled to his freedom of speech without fear of physical violence. This lawsuit will make the statement that violence is never the answer."
The lawsuit details the events leading up to Molina's alleged attack on the blogger.
The complaint states Black Eyed Peas vocalist Fergie approached Hilton on Saturday and asked why he was writing "mean" things about her and the group. Hilton replied that he was "simply being honest and truthful about his opinions of them," according to the lawsuit.
On Sunday, Hilton claims he was pushed by an unidentified member of the Black Eyed Peas' entourage, who "slammed his shoulder into Hilton's shoulder and thereafter pushed him."
The lawsuit claims Fergie again approached him at an afterparty for the MuchMusic Video Awards on Sunday night and that his argument with will.i.am happened at another party. The lawsuit claims the blogger was trying to leave that party when Molina punched him at least three times.
"Lavandeira sustained injury to his eye and was bleeding as a result of this violent and malicious attack," the lawsuit claims.
His damage claims include medical costs and damages due to "humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional and physical distress." The lawsuit also claims that Molina is on probation in California for a drunken driving conviction under his real name, Liborio Molina.
Hilton, who is openly gay, said Monday that he called will.i.am a "faggot," a gay slur, inside the club after the musician told the blogger not to write about his band on his Web site.
He posted about the attack on the popular microblogging site Twitter on Monday, and has since rejected a call by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to apologize for using the term.
The Black Eyed Peas' newest album, "The E.N.D," has proved popular, ranking No. 1 on last week's Billboard magazine's charts for R&B/Hip-Hop albums. Singles from the album have also proved popular in other rankings.
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009
SEC pitches tightened rules for money-market funds
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Federal regulators on Wednesday proposed tightened rules for money-market mutual funds that would require them to hold some assets that could be easily converted to cash and to invest only in the highest quality securities.
The Securities and Exchange Commission action came after a $60 billion money fund "broke the buck," exposing investors to losses that could ultimately reach about 8 cents on the dollar. The value of the Primary Reserve Fund's assets in September fell to 97 cents per investor dollar — below the dollar-for-dollar level needed for full repayment.
The SEC voted 5-0, to issue the proposed rule changes for the popular money-market funds, which hold about $3.8 trillion in assets, for public comment. The new rules could be approved sometime after that 60-day period.
The funds are a mainstay of financial management for U.S. families and companies, holding themselves out as safe and easily accessible investments that offer returns exceeding those of conventional savings accounts.
"I believe that the proposal ... will go a long way toward better protecting investors and making money-market funds more resilient to short-term market risks," SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said before the vote.
Money funds that cater to retail investors would be required to hold at least 5 percent of their assets in cash, Treasury bonds or other instruments that could be sold for cash within a day. At least 15 percent of the retail funds' assets would have to be convertible to cash within a week. There currently are no such liquidity requirements.
The change would make it easier for investors to redeem their money from the funds amid a rush of demand.
The liquidity requirements for money funds marketed to institutional investors would be stricter, and the maximum maturity of bonds that money funds can invest in would be shortened to 60 days from 90 days.
The SEC also proposed changes in money funds' operations, such as requiring that they be able to electronically process investors' purchases and redemptions at a price other than $1 a share — to make it easier for investors to get their money back if a fund "breaks the buck."
The commissioners punted, however, on more fundamental changes to the regulation of money funds, such as substituting a floating share price that would make them more akin to investments like conventional mutual funds whose value goes up and down.
The SEC wants to examine whether a floating price would better protect investors from runs on money-market funds or if the "efficiency" of the $1 price provides a greater benefit, Schapiro said.
The role of credit rating agencies' assessments of money-market funds also will be studied. The industry, dominated by Standard & Poor's, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, has been widely criticized for failing to give investors adequate warning of the risks in subprime mortgage securities, whose collapse helped set off the global financial crisis. The SEC has been studying proposals to tighten its oversight of the industry.
On the day of the Primary Reserve Fund's blowup, it continued to be rated investment grade by the three big agencies, said Commissioner Kathleen Casey. "There must be a better way," she said.
The commissioners didn't issue proposals for such changes but recommended seeking public comment on them.
The administration's plan for overhauling financial regulation, issued last week, recommended that the President's Working Group on Financial Markets — which includes Schapiro, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke — examine whether more fundamental changes are needed to better protect investors in money-market funds.
The SEC plan proposed Wednesday closely reflects recommendations made by the Investment Company Institute, the mutual fund industry's major trade group. The biggest money-market funds are managed by BlackRock Inc., Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Vanguard Group, according to Crane Data.
The collapse of the money fund run by Reserve Management Co. last fall was one in the cascading series of troubling events in the financial meltdown. It marked only the second such instance in the nearly four decades that money-market funds have been available to keep money safe and readily accessible while earning a modest return.
The "breaking of the buck" by the Primary Fund — the first U.S. money fund, established in 1970 — stoked fears over the safety of the trillions held in the money funds.
After investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 15, New York-based Reserve Management's board declared its $785 million investment in Lehman debt's worthless. That triggered a rush of orders from institutional clients to pull money out of the fund, gutting the fund's value as its managers were forced to sell assets amid sharply declining markets.
The Treasury Department stepped in with a temporary program to guarantee money-market funds, but the Primary Fund didn't qualify and had to liquidate.
The SEC last month charged Reserve Management and its two top executives with civil fraud, saying they withheld key facts from investors. The firm and the executives said they would defend themselves against the SEC's allegations.
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Judge blocks 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' sex tape
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One of the stars of Bravo's television series "Real Housewives of New Jersey" went to court Wednesday to avoid getting a little more exposure than she wanted.
A judge granted Danielle Staub's request for a temporary restraining order to stop her former boyfriend Stephen Zalewski from releasing a sexually explicit videotape and images of her.
State Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Brogan also ordered Zalewski to produce all copies of the video and pictures of Staub, and he set a hearing for July 21.
Staub, 46, also filed a lawsuit against Zalewski seeking damages for invasion of privacy, defamation and infliction of emotional distress. She claimed she was unaware Zalewski was taping her and only found out about it when someone read her a Star magazine article in which Zalewski discussed the tape.
"It sickened me," Staub told the judge during the brief hearing.
Zalewski didn't appear in court, and a telephone message left Wednesday at his home in Lincoln Park, in northern New Jersey, wasn't immediately returned. It was unknown if he had retained a lawyer.
Outside court, Staub said Zalewski was trying to get back at her and her two daughters, ages 11 and 15, for her breaking up with him. She said the couple dated from May 2008 to December 2008 and Zalewski appeared briefly on "Real Housewives," which is described on Bravo's Web site as following "five of the most affluent Jersey Girls as they live lavish lifestyles and deal with all the drama that money can buy."
"This is about my kids," Staub said. "I'm a big girl. Do what you want to me. But you broke bread with my children. Don't do this to me. No adult should ever do this to a child."
According to the suit filed by attorney Darren Del Sardo, Zalewski told Star magazine he was considering selling the videotape and images and said, "She cost me so much money, why shouldn't I make a few dollars?"
Del Sardo said the judge told him he would refer the case to the county prosecutor's office since videotaping someone involved in sexual activity without that person's consent is prohibited under state law.
Staub is one of five New Jersey women on the Bravo series, which premiered in May. Her bio on the show's Web site describes her as a newly single mother "whose history of celebrity hook-ups is one for the record books."
"Known for being brutally honest," the bio says, "Danielle enjoys pushing people's buttons and doesn't apologize for it."
A Bravo spokeswoman didn't immediately return a telephone message seeking comment Wednesday.
Outside the courthouse, passers-by called greetings to Staub, and a small crowd gathered around her to take pictures with cell phones.
"I like her. I like the fact that she's outspoken," said Cassandra Jordan, of Paterson, a devoted "Housewives" watcher.
Her daughter, Brenda Jordan, had some words for Zalewski: "I think he just needs to find something better to do with himself," she said.
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North Korea threatens US as world anticipates missile
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North Korea accused Washington of seeking to "provoke a second Korean War" as the regime prepared to hold maritime military exercises off the eastern coast. U.S. and regional authorities were watching closely for signs that North Korea might fire short- or mid-range missiles during the June 25 to July 10 timeframe cited in a no-sail ban for military drills sent to Japan's Coast Guard.
North Korea had warned previously it would fire a long-range missile as a response to U.N. Security Council condemnation of an April rocket launch seen as a cover for its ballistic missile technology.
An underground nuclear test last month drew more Security Council action: a resolution seeking to clamp down on North Korea's trading of banned arms and weapons-related material by requiring U.N. member states to request inspections of ships carrying suspected cargo.
In a first test of the new resolution, a North Korean ship suspected of transporting illicit weapons was sailing off China's coast with a U.S. destroyer close behind.
The Kang Nam, which left the North Korean port of Nampo a week ago, is believed bound for Myanmar, South Korean and U.S. officials said.
Myanmar state television downplayed the reports of a possible weapons shipment Wednesday evening, saying another North Korean vessel was expected to pick up a load of rice but that the government had no information about the Kang Nam.
A senior U.S. defense official said Wednesday that the ship had already cleared the Taiwan Strait.
He said he didn't know how much range the Kang Nam has — that is, whether or when it may need to stop in some port to refuel — but that the Kang Nam has in the past stopped in Hong Kong's port.
Another U.S. defense official said he tended to doubt reports that the Kang Nam was carrying nuclear-related equipment, saying the information officials have received seems to indicate the cargo is conventional munitions.
The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing intelligence.
Officials said last week that they believed the ship was carrying smaller arms, though they didn't elaborate.
The U.S. and its allies have not decided whether to contact and request inspection of the ship, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday.
"That's a decision that will have to be made at some point, and not necessarily just by us or this government," he said at a news conference. "I think we will likely take (the decision) collectively with our allies and partners."
He said he didn't believe a decision would come soon.
North Korea has said it would consider interception of its ships a declaration of war, and on Wednesday accused the U.S. of seeking to start another Korean War.
"If the U.S. imperialists start another war, the army and people of Korea will ... wipe out the aggressors on the globe once and for all," a dispatch from the official Korean Central News Agency said.
The warning came on the eve of the 59th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. The brutal fighting ended after three years in a truce in 1953, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula divided and in a state of war. The U.S. has 28,500 troops in South Korea to protect against an outbreak of hostilities.
On Wednesday, the top U.S. commander in South Korea, Gen. Walter Sharp, praised soldiers from U.S.-led U.N. forces who died fighting the "tyranny" of communist North Korea decades ago.
"A North Korean victory in the Korean War would have brought the nightmare of tyranny to this great land, thrusting the citizens of the Republic of Korea into a darkness that their northern counterparts have yet to emerge from," he said a commemoration ceremony Wednesday, referring to South Korea by its official name, the Republic of Korea.
Reports about possible missile launches from the North highlighted the state of tension on the Korean peninsula.
A senior South Korean government official said the no-sail ban is believed connected to North Korean plans to fire short- or mid-range missiles. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
Yonhap reported that the North may fire a Scud missile with a range of up to 310 miles (500 kilometers) or a short-range ground-to-ship missile with a range of 100 miles (160 kilometers) during the no-sail period.
U.S. defense and counterproliferation officials in Washington said they also expected the North to launch short- to medium-range missiles. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence.
South Korea will expedite the introduction of high-tech unmanned aerial surveillance systems and "bunker-buster" bombs in response to North Korea's provocations, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, citing lawmakers.
Meanwhile, a flurry of diplomatic efforts were under way to try getting North Korea to return to disarmament talks.
Russia's top nuclear envoy, Alexei Borodavkin, said after meeting with his South Korean counterpart that Moscow is open to other formats for discussion since Pyongyang has pulled out of formal six-nation negotiations.
In Beijing, top U.S. and Chinese defense officials also discussed North Korea. U.S. Defense Undersecretary Michele Flournoy was heading next to Tokyo and Seoul for talks.
South Korea has proposed high-level "consultations" to discuss North Korea with the U.S., Russia, China and Japan.
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SC Gov. Sanford admits affair after going AWOL
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After going AWOL for seven days, Gov. Mark Sanford admitted Wednesday that he had secretly flown to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he was having an affair. Wiping away tears, he apologized to his family and gave up a national Republican Party post, but was silent on whether he would resign.
"I've been unfaithful to my wife," he said in a news conference in which the 49-year-old governor ruminated on God's law, moral absolutes and following one's heart. He said he spent the last five days "crying in Argentina."
Sanford, who in recent months had been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2012, said he would resign as head of the Republican Governors Association.
By leaving the country without formally transferring power, critics said he neglected his gubernatorial authority and put the state at risk. It wasn't clear how his staff could reach him in an emergency.
At least one state lawmaker called for his resignation. As a congressman, Sanford voted in favor of three of four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, citing the need for "moral legitimacy."
The affair is now over, Sanford said, describing the woman who lives in Argentina as a "dear, dear friend" whom he has known for about eight years and been romantically involved with for about a year. He said he has seen her three times since the affair began, and his wife found out about it five months ago. A newspaper published steamy e-mails between Sanford and the woman. He did not identify her.
"What I did was wrong. Period," he said. His family did not attend the news conference, and his wife Jenny Sanford said she asked the governor to leave and stop speaking to her two weeks ago. The governor said he wants to reconcile, and his wife's statement said her husband has earned a chance to resurrect their marriage.
"This trial separation was agreed to with the goal of ultimately strengthening our marriage," she said.
Sanford denied instructing his staff to cover up his affair, but acknowledged that he told them he thought he would be hiking on the Appalachian Trail and never corrected that impression after leaving for South America.
"I let them down by creating a fiction with regard to where I was going," Sanford said. "I said that was the original possibility. Again, this is my fault in ... shrouding this larger trip."
Questions about Sanford's whereabouts arose early this week. For two days after reporters started asking questions, his office had said he had gone hiking on the trail.
Cornered at the Atlanta airport by a reporter from The State newspaper, Sanford revealed Wednesday morning that he had gone to Argentina for a seven-day trip.
When news first broke about his mysterious disappearance, Jenny Sanford told The Associated Press she did not know where her husband and father of their four sons had gone for the Father's Day weekend. She said he needed time away to write.
Sanford emerged Wednesday afternoon at a news conference, where he mused openly of his love of hiking and how he used to guide trips along the Appalachian Trail, and eventually tearfully apologized to his wife, his staff and his friends — but without yet saying what he was apologizing for.
"I hurt a lot of different folks," he said, occasionally choking up throughout the news conference that lasted about 20 minutes.
With those watching still wondering what he was admitting, Sanford said: "The odyssey that we're all on in life is with regard to heart."
Excerpts of e-mail exchanges between the governor and his mistress were published online Wednesday by The State. The governor's office wouldn't discuss the e-mails with The Associated Press, but told The State it wouldn't dispute the authenticity of the messages.
One from the governor read: "I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificent gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curve of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of the night's light — but hey, that would be going into sexual details."
Several residents said they were disappointed in Sanford.
"He shouldn't have lied to us. He should have been up straight," said college student Gerald Walker, 19, in downtown Columbia. "It's very embarrassing for someone in a leadership role that we are supposed to respect, especially me being a young guy."
Glenn Mitchell, of Columbia, said he felt Sanford's absence showed a lack of concern for the state.
"He left the state unattended," said Mitchell, 54, out of work recuperating from surgery. "He just hasn't been there for us."
State Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, called for Sanford's resignation.
"There is nothing left to save," Rutherford said. "There is no reason for him to remain as governor."
Sanford, a former three-term congressman, was elected governor in 2002. He has more than a year remaining in his second term and is barred by state law from running again.
Sanford was elected chairman of the Republican Governors Association this year after he helped raise a record $10.6 million at the group's 2008 annual dinner to help elect GOP governors. The association said Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour would assume the duties as chairman.
The libertarian-leaning Republican was seldom a firebrand. But he was known for salting tales of family life into policy discussions.
He criticized the $787 billion federal stimulus law and efforts by legislators to claim a share of it by saying in tough times a family would sit around the table and find ways to cut spending.
His vocal battle against the Obama administration over the stimulus money won praise from conservative pundits, but ultimately, a state court order required him to take the money.
Jenny Sanford, a millionaire whose family fortune comes from the Skil Corp. power tool company, has been central to Sanford's political career. She ran his congressional campaigns and his first race for governor. She was an almost daily fixture at senior staff meetings, and often could be seen driving a minivan away from the Statehouse in the mornings.
The two met when Sanford, who has an MBA, was trying his hand on Wall Street. She was working at a brokerage house when he entered a training program.
As governor, Sanford has had seemingly endless run-ins with the GOP-dominated Legislature, once bringing pigs to the House chamber to protest pork barrel spending. He also put a "spending clock" outside his office to show how quickly a proposed budget would spend state money.
Sanford's announcement came a day after another prominent Republican, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, apologized to his GOP Senate colleagues after revealing last week that he had an affair with a campaign staffer and was resigning from the GOP leadership.
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Monday, June 15, 2009
Hundreds honor David Carradine at LA funeral
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Hundreds gathered to honor David Carradine at a sprawling hillside cemetery on Saturday during a funeral that was attended by family, former co-stars and other Hollywood friends.
The invitation-only services were held indoors at the Hall of Liberty at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills, a 400-acre cemetery laid out adjacent to Los Angeles' Griffith Park.
Mostly gloomy skies prevailed outside, with cold blasts of wind sweeping across the cemetery. The funeral lasted more than two hours and as more than 400 mourners left, clouds parted in the west offering a magnificent sunset.
Guests gathered and hugged outside the hall, where security ensured only invited guests gained entry.
They gathered more than a week after Carradine, 72, was found hanging in a Bangkok hotel room on June 4. Thai authorities continue to investigate his death. A statement released Thursday by a private pathologist said suicide had been ruled out as a cause of death.
Carradine's family stayed out of sight from a small group of reporters and cameras. His burial was private. Brothers Keith and Robert Carradine asked for privacy and understanding while the family mourned in a statement released on Thursday.
Keith Carradine briefly appeared outside before the service and greeted some people before heading back inside.
Among the hundreds of guests were numerous actors, including Michael Madsen, Jane Seymour, Tom Selleck, Frances Fisher, Daryl Hannah, Lucy Liu, Edward James Olmos, Ali Larter, and James Cromwell. Rob Schneider also attended, carrying a basket of flowers.
Madsen and Liu both starred alongside Carradine in Quentin Tarantino's two-part "Kill Bill" saga. Carradine married his fifth wife, Annie Bierman, at Madsen's home in 2004.
Carradine is perhaps best known for his role as Kwai Chang Caine on three seasons of the 1970s hit show "Kung Fu." His role in popular culture was cemented by the time he left the show after three seasons in 1975.
He later went on to star in the cult flick "Death Race 2000" and in Ingmar Bergman's "The Serpent's Egg" in 1977, but by the 1980s his career arc had moved to lower-budget fare.
He continued to foster interests in Asian herbs, exercise and philosophy, and made instructional videos on tai chi and other martial arts.
Tarantino's "Kill Bill" films offered Carradine a career resurgence. His role as the titular character earned Carradine a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actor for his role in "Kill Bill — Vol. 2."
Carradine's father, John, was a character actor whose 50-year stage and screen career began during Hollywood's early years.
Some mourners on Saturday opted for bits of Western flair, with some sporting cowboy boots and hats and turquoise jewelry. Keith Carradine wore a bolo tie.
Programs handed out to guests included a photo of a smiling Carradine in a tuxedo on the cover and sketch of the actor on the back, above lyrics to "Midnight Rider" by The Allman Brothers Band.
The program indicated several remembrances by Carradine's family and song selections that included The Beatles' "Let It Be" and Ludwig von Beethoven's "Requiem for a Fallen Hero."
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NKorea warns of nuclear war amid rising tensions
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South Korea's president ordered his top security officials Sunday to deal "resolutely and squarely" with new North Korean warnings of a nuclear war on the eve of his U.S. visit. In Washington, Vice President Joe Biden said "God only knows" what North Korea wants from the latest showdown.
President Lee Myung-bak travels to Washington on Monday for talks with President Barack Obama that are expected to focus on the North's rogue nuclear and missile programs.
The trip comes after North Korea's Foreign Ministry threatened war with any country that stops its ships on the high seas under new sanctions approved by the U.N. Security Council in response to its May 25 nuclear test.
It also vowed Saturday to "weaponize" all its plutonium and acknowledged a long-suspected uranium enrichment program for the first time. Both plutonium and uranium are key ingredients of atomic bombs.
A commentary published Saturday in the North's state-run Tongil Sinbo weekly claimed the U.S. was deploying a vast number of nuclear weapons in South Korea and Japan.
North Korea "is completely within the range of U.S. nuclear attack and the Korean peninsula is becoming an area where the chances of a nuclear war are the highest in the world," it said.
Kim Yong-kyu, a spokesman at the U.S. military command in Seoul, denied the allegation, saying the U.S. no longer has nuclear bombs in South Korea. U.S. tactical nuclear weapons were removed from South Korea in 1991 as part of arms reductions following the Cold War.
President Lee summoned his top security ministers Sunday and ordered them to "resolutely and squarely cope" with the North's threats, his office said. The Unification Ministry, responsible for ties with the North, issued a statement demanding that it stop inflaming tension and resume talks with the South.
"North Korea should give up its nuclear program ... and stop any kind of military threat," it said. "We urge North Korea to respond in a sincere dialogue to improve South-North Korean relations."
The new U.N. sanctions approved Friday are aimed at depriving the North of the financing used to build its nuclear program. They also authorize searches of North Korean ships suspected of transporting illicit ballistic missile and nuclear materials.
Biden told NBC's "Meet the Press" that it's crucial that the U.S. and other nations "make sure those sanctions stick."
North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Il, reportedly had a stroke 10 months ago and analysts believe there may be a plan in place to name his inexperienced 26-year-old son, Kim Jong Un, as the future leader.
"God only knows what he wants," Biden said of Kim. "There's all kinds of discussions. Whether this is about succession, wanting his son to succeed him. Whether or not he's looking for respect. Whether or not he really wants a nuclear capability to threaten the region. ... We can't guess his motives.
"We just have to deal with the reality that a North Korea that is either proliferating weapons and or missiles, or a North Korea that is using those weapons ... is a serious danger and threat to the world, and particularly East Asia," the vice president said.
Lee Sang-hyun, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, a South Korean security think tank, said he believes the North will continue to conduct nuclear tests until it masters the technology to mount nuclear warheads on missiles and will give credit for it to Kim Jong Un.
"Kim Jong Un's status is still unstable. Kim Jong Il appears to be trying to give the son a powerful means to strengthen his succession," Lee said. "Kim Jong Un could also get the credit for nuclear weapons development."
North Korea is already believed to have enough plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs.
North Korea says its nuclear program is a deterrent against the U.S., which it accuses of plotting to invade and topple its regime. Washington, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, has repeatedly denied having any such plans.
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Sunday, June 14, 2009
Without signs of economic growth, stocks to drift
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The summer slowdown is setting in on Wall Street.
The stock market has been drifting, stalling a three-month rally, and analysts say investors need to see more concrete signs of economic growth before they'll take stocks higher.
At the same time, concerns are growing over climbing interest rates, a falling dollar and rising commodity prices — all factors that could inhibit recoveries for the market and the economy.
But with trading entering a traditionally slow period, stocks' moves will likely be more sedate this week, especially in the absence of any economic reports. Analysts say that isn't necessarily a bad thing.
"A sideways move in the market is actually a corrective move," said Keith Springer, president of Capital Financial Advisory Services in Sacramento, Calif. "You get rid of the overbought condition when you move sideways."
Analysts have warned that the market may have rallied more than economic fundamentals warranted this spring, and that a significant pullback is in order given how far and how fast stocks rose. A gain of 40 percent — like the one in the Standard & Poor's 500 index since early March — usually takes years, not months.
But while stocks are no longer barreling higher as they did in the early spring, they have yet to retreat meaningfully, and that's a sign of strength in the market.
The major stock indexes moved little last week, rising less than 1 percent after big gains the week before. The S&P 500 index ended the week up 6 points, while the Dow Jones industrial average added 36 points and the Nasdaq composite index rose 9 points. The Dow, however, managed to show a gain for the year by the close of trading on Friday.
"I'm inclined to take the market action the last two weeks as reasonably positive," said Uri Landesman, head of global growth strategies at ING Investment Management.
Still, a pruning of 10 percent in the market is not out of the question, analysts said.
"Unless we get some kind of clear picture of what the future has to bring and where growth is going to come from in the short term, I don't know that there are any acute drivers out there," said Kim Caughey, vice president and investment analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.
Among the biggest threats to the market's rally right now are concerns over rising interest rates and inflation — worries that have grown as the dollar weakens against other currencies.
The dollar has fallen steadily over the past three months partly because of the signs of economic improvement that sent investors in search of bigger returns in riskier assets like stocks and commodities.
But concerns over the government's mounting debt load have further shakened the greenback and sent yields on Treasurys climbing. Investors are concerned about the huge inflow of government debt into the market, part of the Treasury's efforts to fund the country's stimulus programs. They're worried that an oversupply of U.S. debt will scare away buyers, who then won't need to buy dollars in order to purchase Treasurys.
The big debt sales are also multiplying investors' concerns about inflation. There's a growing belief in the market that the Federal Reserve will make inflation fighting a priority and start raising interest rates again. That in turn, could stifle an economic recovery: Long-term bond yields are tied to mortgages and other consumer loans, which means borrowing costs are rising at a time when Americans are still under considerable financial stress. And a prolonged decline in the dollar would further erode the buying power of consumers.
As a result, investors will stay focused on how much demand Treasury auctions garner in the coming weeks. This week, the Treasury will auction off 1, 3, and 6-month bills.
Other important reports this week include the National Association of Home Builders housing market index for June, to be released Monday. The following day, the Commerce Department will issue a report on housing starts for May.
The Conference Board releases its May index of leading indicators on Thursday.
In addition to those reports, the Labor Department will release its producer price and consumer price indexes for May, while the Federal Reserve will release a report on industrial production.
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Sunday, June 07, 2009
Clinton says NKorea reconsidered for terror list
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The U.S. is considering adding North Korea back to a list of state sponsors of terrorism, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in an interview broadcast Sunday after President Barack Obama pledged "a very hard look" at tougher measures because of the North's nuclear stance.
The communist country has conducted recent nuclear and missile tests, and there are concerns about the North's shipping nuclear material to other nations.
Obama's strong language on North Korea appeared to point toward nonmilitary penalties such as financial punishments, either within the United Nations or by Washington alone. Obama made the comments Saturday during his visit to France.
The Bush administration agreed to remove North Korea from the U.S. list of terrorist states after the North said it would dismantle its nuclear weapons facilities. It later refused to go forward with the dismantlement.
Clinton was asked on ABC's "This Week" about a letter that some senators wrote Obama about returning North Korea to that list.
"We're going to look at it. There's a process for it," Clinton said in the interview, taped Thursday in Egypt. "Obviously we would want to see recent evidence of their support for international terrorism."
She added, "We're just beginning to look at it. I don't have an answer for you right now."
North Korea, she said, was "taken off of the list for a purpose and that purpose is being thwarted by their actions."
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Carradine family takes action on probe, photos
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David Carradine's family members, dissatisfied with Thai investigators and "profoundly disturbed" by the publication of a forensics photo in a Bangkok tabloid, are seeking help from the FBI and an independent pathologist and have threatened legal action against any media outlet that reprints images of the actor in death.
Keith Carradine has filed reports with the FBI that could lead to the agency's involvement, said Mark Geragos, attorney for the "Kung Fu" actor's half-brother. The FBI confirmed that Carradine's family had contacted the agency.
The family will also seek an independent autopsy by famed forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden to determine whether another person could have been involved, Geragos said. Results of an autopsy performed Friday in Bangkok were not expected for at least three weeks.
A chambermaid found Carradine's body Thursday at Bangkok's Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel. Thai authorities said they have all but ruled out foul play, based on surveillance footage and interviews with hotel staff that indicate no one was in Carradine's room before he died, said Col. Somprasong Yenthuam, who is heading the investigation.
A grainy photo published on the Saturday cover of the tabloid Thai Rath shows a naked body suspended from a clothes bar in a hotel closet, hands apparently bound together above the head and feet on the floor. The face is blacked out and other areas are obscured.
The paper did not indicate the source of the image, but Thai police said they believed it was a picture of Carradine's body taken by a forensics team.
Keith Carradine said in a statement that the family was "profoundly disturbed by the release in Thailand of photographs taken at the scene of David Carradine's death," and threatened legal action against further distribution.
"The family wants it understood that, per attorney Mark Geragos, any persons, publications or media outlets will be fully prosecuted for invasion of privacy and causing severe emotional distress if the photos are published," the statement read.
The actor's family hopes the body will arrive in Los Angeles by Monday, Geragos said, but he did not give specifics.
Geragos said the family decided to intervene because of conflicting information about Carradine's death and a lack of direct information from Thai authorities.
"All we really know is not much more than what the public knows, and that's disturbing," Geragos said.
Agents were checking with the FBI's legal attache at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok to see if Thai authorities "are requesting or would welcome FBI assistance in this matter." FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said the agency generally only gets involved in death investigations overseas if a crime is suspected.
Investigators initially said Carradine's body was found "naked, hanging in a closet," causing them to suspect he had taken his own life. But his family, friends and representatives have said they doubt the 72-year-old actor would have killed himself.
Police later said the actor may have died from accidental suffocation or heart failure after revealing that he was found with a rope tied around his wrist, neck and genitals — leading to speculation that Carradine may have engaged in a dangerous form of sex play known as auto-erotic asphyxiation.
But Geragos said he expects the examination by the New York-based Baden, a celebrity among forensic pathologists who frequently consults on high-profile cases, will clear up many unanswered questions.
"It's an amazing thing what a good pathologist can accomplish," Geragos said.
Carradine flew to Thailand last week and began work on a film titled "Stretch" two days before his death. His friends and associates told CNN's Larry King he had a happy marriage, recently bought a new car, and had several films lined up after he finished work in Bangkok.
A martial arts practitioner himself, Carradine was best known for the U.S. TV series "Kung Fu," which aired from 1972-75. He played Kwai Chang Caine, an orphan who was raised by Shaolin monks and fled China for the American West after killing the emperor's nephew in retaliation for the murder of his kung fu master.
Carradine also appeared in more than 100 feature films with such directors as Martin Scorsese, Ingmar Bergman and Hal Ashby. He returned to the top in recent years as the title character in Quentin Tarantino's two-part saga "Kill Bill."
Funeral arrangements have not been announced.
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Federer wins French Open, ties Sampras' record
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Roger Federer beat Robin Soderling, tied Pete Sampras and won the French Open at last.
Undeterred by an on-court intruder, Federer defeated surprise finalist Soderling 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 on Sunday to complete a career Grand Slam and win his 14th major title, matching Sampras' record.
"It's maybe my greatest victory, or certainly the one that removes the most pressure off my shoulders," Federer said. "I think that now and until the end of my career, I can really play with my mind at peace, and no longer hear that I've never won Roland Garros."
On his fourth try in Paris, Federer became the sixth man to win all four Grand Slam championships.
"Now the question is: Am I the greatest of all time?" Federer said. "We don't know, but I definitely have many things going for me because I've finally won all four Grand Slams, and I'm particularly happy reaching Pete's 14."
Sampras said Federer deserves to be at the top of the all-time list.
"I'm obviously happy for Roger," Sampras told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Los Angeles, where he lives. "Now that he has won in Paris, I think it just more solidifies his place in history as the greatest player that played the game, in my opinion."
Midway through the match, a spectator ran onto the court and tried to put a hat on Federer. That only briefly delayed Federer's march to the title.
When the stylish Swiss hit a service winner on championship point, he fell on his knees to the clay that had vexed him for so long, screamed and briefly buried his face in his hands. He was teary by the time he met Soderling at the net, and fans gave Federer a standing ovation as he raised his arms in triumph.
The supportive crowd included Andre Agassi, the most recent man to complete a career Grand Slam when he won at Roland Garros 10 years ago. Agassi presented Federer with the trophy.
"I'm so happy for you, man," Agassi said.
"You're the last man to win all four Grand Slams," Federer said. "Now I can relate to what it really feels like. ... It feels good to be for once on the podium as the winner. It's a magical moment."
Tears ran down Federer's cheeks as the Swiss national anthem played.
"Roger, really, congrats to you," Soderling said. "You really gave me a lesson in how to play tennis today. And to me you're the greatest player in history. So you really deserved to win this title."
Federer owed Soderling a thank-you for easing his path by upsetting four-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.
"I kind of was relieved, because he was going to be the hardest one to beat," Federer said.
Nadal defeated Federer at Roland Garros the past four years, including three consecutive times in the final.
A matchup against the No. 23-seeded Soderling was much more inviting. The Swede had never previously been beyond the third round at a Grand Slam tournament, and he fell to 0-10 against Federer.
"Yesterday, me and my coach were joking," Soderling told Federer during the trophy ceremony. "You've beaten me nine times in a row, and we were joking nobody can beat me 10 times in a row. But we were wrong."
Playing in cool, windy weather and occasional rain, Federer raced to a quick lead and kept it. Soderling appeared nervous at the start of his first Grand Slam final, and Federer kept him scrambling with penetrating groundstrokes to both corners and an occasional drop shot.
Then came the day's biggest surprise. The match was between points in the second set when a spectator waving a flag climbed through the photographer's pit and onto Federer's side of the court.
Federer backed away toward the backstop, but the fan caught up with him and tried to put a hat on Federer's head. Security personnel seemed slow to react before chasing the man to the other side of the court, and he was tackled, then carried out.
There was silence from the stunned crowd, then the familiar chant of "Ro-ger! Ro-ger!" when the bizarre episode ended. Federer readjusted his headband, Soderling gave him a thumbs-up sign and play resumed.
Soderling's strokes steadied, and he pushed the second set to 6-all. But Federer played a brilliant tiebreaker, hitting aces on all four of his service points, and Soderling could only smile ruefully.
Federer broke again to start the third set and kept that lead the rest of the way. He never lost serve, and despite the difficult conditions, he had more winners than unforced errors — 41 to 24.
While Federer benefited from Nadal's surprising departure, the journey to the title wasn't easy. Federer rallied from a two-set deficit in the fourth round to beat Tommy Haas, and survived another five-setter against Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals.
"I've had a tough draw," Federer said. "Of course, it's not Nadal on the other side of the net, but I beat him a couple of weeks ago on clay (in Madrid), so I really feel like I really deserve it."
Federer won his 14th Grand Slam championship at age 27. Sampras, who never reached a French Open final, was 31 when he won his last major title. Federer will try for No. 15 beginning in two weeks at Wimbledon, which he has won five times.
He has also won the U.S. Open the past five years, and he has three Australian Open titles.
Besides Federer and Agassi, the other men to win all four Grand Slams tournaments were Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson.
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Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Debris confirms crash of Air France Flight 447
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An airplane seat, a fuel slick and pieces of white debris scattered over three miles of open ocean marked the site in the mid-Atlantic Tuesday where Air France Flight 447 plunged to its doom, Brazil's defense minister said.
Brazilian military pilots spotted the wreckage, sad reminders bobbing on waves, in the ocean 400 miles northeast of these islands off Brazil's coast. The plane carrying 228 people vanished Sunday about four hours into its flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
"I can confirm that the five kilometers of debris are those of the Air France plane," Defense Minister Nelson Jobim told reporters at a hushed press conference in Rio. He said no bodies had been found and there was no sign of life.
The effort to recover the debris and locate the all-important black box recorders, which emit signals for only 30 days, is expected to be exceedingly challenging.
"We are in a race against the clock in extremely difficult weather conditions and in a zone where depths reach up to 7,000 meters (22,966 feet)," French Prime Minister Francois Fillon told lawmakers in parliament Tuesday .
Brazilian military pilots first spotted the floating debris early Tuesday in two areas about 35 miles (60 kilometers) apart, said Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral. The area is not far off the flight path of Flight 447.
Jobim said the main debris field was found near where the initial signs were spotted.
The cause of the crash will not be known until the black boxes are recovered — which could take days or weeks. But weather and aviation experts are focusing on the possibility of a collision with a brutal storm that sent winds of 100 mph straight into the airliner's path.
"The airplane was flying at 500 mph northeast and the air is coming at them at 100 mph," said AccuWeather.com expert senior meteorologist Henry Margusity. "That probably started the process that ended up in some catastrophic failure of the airplane."
Towering Atlantic storms are common this time of year near the equator — an area known as the intertropical convergence zone. "That's where the northeast trade winds meet the southeast trade winds — its the meeting place of the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere's weather," said Margusity.
But several veteran pilots of big airliners said it was extremely unlikely that Flight 447's crew intended to punch through a killer storm.
"Nobody in their right mind would ever go through a thunderstorm," said Tim Meldahl, a captain for a major U.S. airline who has flown internationally for 26 years, including more than 3,000 hours on the same A330 jetliner.
Pilots often work their way through bands of storms, watching for lightning flashing through clouds ahead and maneuvering around them, he said.
"They may have been sitting there thinking we can weave our way through this stuff," Meldahl said. "If they were trying to lace their way in and out of these things, they could have been caught by an updraft."
The same violent weather that might have led to the crash also could impede recovery efforts.
"Anyone who is going there to try to salvage this airplane within the next couple of months will have to deal with these big thunderstorms coming through on an almost daily basis," Margusity said. "You're talking about a monumental salvage effort."
Remotely controlled submersible crafts will have to be used to recover wreckage settling so far beneath the ocean's surface. France dispatched a research ship equipped with unmanned submarines that can explore as deeply as 19,600 feet (6,000 meters).
A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion surveillance plane — which can fly low over the ocean for 12 hours at a time and has radar and sonar designed to track submarines underwater — and a French AWACS radar plane are joining the operation.
France also has three military patrol aircraft flying over the central Atlantic, two commercial ships reached the floating debris, and Brazilian navy ships were en route.
Even at great underwater pressure, the black boxes "can survive indefinitely almost. They're very rugged and sophisticated, virtually indestructible," said Bill Voss, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va.
"I would expect they'll dedicate the rather substantial resources of the French navy to this," Voss added. "I've got to figure this will go quickly. I'm hoping they'll have stuff up in a month, if not just a few weeks."
Rescuers were still scanning a vast sweep of ocean. If no survivors are found, it would be the world's worst civil aviation disaster since the November 2001 crash of an American Airlines jetliner in the New York City borough of Queens that killed 265 people.
Investigators have few clues to help explain what brought the Airbus A330 down. The crew made no distress call before the crash, but the plane's system sent an automatic message just before it disappeared, reporting lost cabin pressure and electrical failure.
Brazilian officials described a three-mile strip of wreckage, and have refused to draw any conclusions about what that pattern means. But Jack Casey, an aviation safety consultant in Washington, D.C., and former accident investigator for airlines and aircraft manufacturers, said it could indicate the Air France jetliner came apart before it hit the water.
A debris field of that length that is strung out in a rough line rather than in a circle, especially when an airplane comes down from a high altitude, "typically indicates it didn't come down in one piece," Casey said. "But it doesn't have to be a jillion little pieces. It can come down in three or four main pieces, and then the ocean drift takes care of the rest."
Casey cautioned it's possible, although less likely, that the plane did not break apart and spread of the debris field is due entirely to ocean drift. Since the disaster happened in violent weather, thunderstorms and deep ocean swells could have scattered the debris during the 32 hours that passed before it was spotted on Tuesday.
"The big thing to understand right now is we don't know," said Casey, chief operation officer of Safety Operating Systems LLB. "These are tough airplanes. They don't just come apart."
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Everyone but Eminem is talking about Bruno stunt
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Eminem was mum Monday night about the MTV Movie Awards incident with Sacha Baron Cohen. The rapper, performing at a private concert to celebrate the launch of the DJ Hero video game, said nothing from the stage about the incident in which Cohen, dressed in character as Bruno, a flamboyant fashion reporter, dropped down on the rapper's face, exposing his bare bottom.
Of course the litany of celebrities who were in attendance (Leonardo DiCaprio, Usher, Kim Kardashian and Tobey Maguire) couldn't stop chatting — or giggling — about the spectacle that had everyone wondering — staged or not?
"This is like the new Britney," joked Pete Wentz before the concert. "I would not put my (butt) in Eminem's face. Seriously, I would not want Sacha Baron Cohen's (butt) in my face. I know that much."
Wentz and Blink-182's Mark Hoppus joked that they were considering wearing feathers and thongs to the concert, but feared retaliation.
Actor Tyrese Gibson, who sat in the row behind Eminem at the MTV awards, said that he saved a few feathers that he was able to grab off of Cohen.
"That was crazy! I don't know what's going on with that whole situation, but I tried my best to help dude get off of Eminem," Gibson said. "But yo, that was crazy. That was a bit much. That was nuts!"
Actress Taraji P. Henson, who helped introduce Eminem's performance at the movie awards, said it had to be a skit .
"That was staged! Do you really think it wasn't? They would not put a man's naked (butt) in Eminem's face and not let him know. Come on! They're not stupid," she said. "When something crazy didn't jump off, I was like, 'Oh, OK! He knew!' "
Comedian Aisha Tyler said staged or not, the incident gave people something to laugh about.
"I don't want to be a hater, because I love Sacha Baron Cohen, but this was already done by Howard Stern. He did this like, 10 years ago, at the movie awards. Sasha does have a nicer butt than Howard, though," she laughed. "But I think it was probably a stunt, and that's OK. Hollywood is about theater. We're so jaded in this town, so anytime people get us talking, it's a good thing."
DJ AM, who performed with Travis Barker ("I don't know if the Eminem thing was staged," Barker said) before Jay-Z and Eminem took the stage, said that he missed the live show, but saw highlights and couldn't believe what he saw.
"That was kind of crazy," he said.
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Mike Tyson's daughter dies after hanging accident
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The 4-year-old daughter of boxer Mike Tyson died at a hospital Tuesday, a day after her neck apparently got caught in a treadmill cord at her Phoenix home, police said.
Exodus Tyson was pronounced dead just before noon, police Sgt. Andy Hill said. She had been on life support and police have said their investigation showed her injury on Monday was a "tragic accident."
"There are no words to describe the tragic loss of our beloved Exodus," the family said in a statement. "We ask you now to please respect our need at this very difficult time for privacy to grieve and try to help each other heal."
Police said Exodus either slipped or put her head in the loop of a cord hanging under the console. Her 7-year-old brother found her and told their mother. She took Exodus off the cord, called 911 and tried to revive her.
Responding officers and firefighters performed CPR as they took the girl to the hospital.
Former heavyweight champion Tyson was in Las Vegas at the time of the accident and flew Monday to Phoenix, where he was seen entering the hospital.
The family's home is in a modest, quiet neighborhood. Neighbors say they saw Tyson there from time to time and the children played outside regularly.
Dinka Radic, who lives across the street, said Exodus would ask her if she had any chocolate. When Radic gave her some, Exodus would hug the woman's knees and "kiss, kiss, kiss."
"She'd say 'hi' to everybody. She was really friendly," said Abdul Khalik, 53, who lives next door.
He said Exodus rode her bicycle in the neighborhood and often played with his two children and his niece. He said his 14-year-old daughter had cried all day after hearing of Exodus' death.
Ben Brodhurst, 20, who lives across the street, said Exodus' and her family went trick-or-treating at his house the last couple of Halloweens. She was "very lively, very enjoyable to be around," he said.
The neighborhood contrasts starkly with the lavish lifestyle Tyson had through his tumultuous years of boxing, when he spent tens of millions of dollars and says he had millions more stolen from him by unscrupulous associates. During two years at the height of his career, he earned $140 million.
The death of his child in such an unusual accident adds an awful chapter to the boxer's troubled life.
Tyson first began boxing in a facility for juvenile delinquents in upstate New York at the age of 12. Eight years later, he became the youngest heavyweight champion ever when he knocked out Trevor Berbick in 1986. But in 1990, he was defeated by James "Buster" Douglas in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, and soon after was convicted of raping a beauty pageant contestant in Indianapolis.
Tyson, who still denies he raped the woman, served three years in prison.
A few years later, he served three months in jail for beating up two men after a minor car crash in suburban Washington.
As his career continued, so did his bizarre behavior. He bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear during a boxing match and once threatened to eat the children of heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.
Although Tyson's children had lived in their unassuming neighborhood for several years, he purchased a separate home in the tony Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley in 2005 for $2.1 million, selling it two years later for $2.3 million.
In November 2007, Tyson spent 24 hours in Maricopa County's "Tent City" jail after pleading guilty to one count of cocaine possession and one misdemeanor count of driving under the influence. Police found the drug when they pulled over Tyson's car after he left a Scottsdale night club.
According to police, Tyson said after his arrest that he bought cocaine "whenever I can get my hands on it."
At Tyson's sentencing hearing, nearly a year after the arrest, his attorney David Chesnoff said his client had taken 29 drug tests without a relapse and was attending Alcoholic Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
Tyson had become an example of how one overcomes problems with drugs, a violent past and poor upbringing, Chesnoff said.
"He's tried his hardest," his attorney said, "despite coming from almost impossible beginnings."
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Historic nomination: Hispanic Sotomayor as justice
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Reaching for history, President Barack Obama on Tuesday chose federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court, championing her as a compassionate, seasoned jurist whose against-the-odds life journey affirms the American dream. Republicans who will decide whether to make a fight of her confirmation said they want thorough hearings.
However, defeating Sotomayor would be difficult in the heavily Democratic Senate, and even a major effort to block her confirmation could be risky for a party still reeling from last year's elections. Hispanics are the fastest-growing part of the population and increasingly active politically.
Obama, eager to begin putting his imprint on the court, beamed as he introduced Sotomayor as a judge who displays both an impressive mind and heart, a jurist who takes on cases with "an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live." He raved about her credentials, saying she would start on the job with more experience on the bench than any of the current nine justices had when they began.
The White House tableau itself was history: A black president and his white vice president, Joe Biden, striding onto a stage in the ornate East Room with the nominee who grew up in a New York housing project where her parents had moved from Puerto Rico.
At 54, Sotomayor (pronounced soh-toh-my-YOR'), would join Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the court and just the third in its history. She would replace liberal Justice David Souter, thereby maintaining the court's ideological divide. A number of important cases have been divided by 5-4 majorities, with conservative- and liberal-leaning justices split 4-4 and Justice Anthony Kennedy providing the decisive vote.
Senate Republicans pledged to give her a fair hearing but cautioned they would question her rigorously and not be rushed. The president, whose approval ratings trump those of Congress, challenged the Senate to move swiftly and confirm her before Congress' August break. The Supreme Court begins its new term in October.
Democrats hold 59 votes in the Senate, more than enough to confirm Sotomayor but not quite enough to stop a vote-blocking filibuster if Republicans should attempt one.
The top Senate Republican, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said: "We will thoroughly examine her record to ensure she understands that the role of a jurist in our democracy is to apply the law evenhandedly, despite their own feelings or personal or political preferences."
In one of her most notable decisions as an appellate judge, she sided last year with the city of New Haven, Conn., in a discrimination case brought by white firefighters. The city threw out results of a promotion exam because too few minorities scored high enough. Coincidentally, that case is now before the Supreme Court.
Her ruling had already drawn criticism from conservatives and is likely to play a role in her confirmation hearing.
Still, seven of the Senate's current Republicans voted to confirm her for the appeals court in 1998, and she was first nominated to be a federal judge by Republican President George H.W. Bush.
Born in the South Bronx, Sotomayor lost her father at a young age and watched her mother work two jobs to provide for her and her brother. Her path has soared ever since: Princeton University and Yale Law School, then positions as a commercial litigator, federal district judge and appellate judge.
"What you've shown in your life is that it doesn't matter where you come from, what you look like or what challenges life throws your way," Obama said Sotomayor stood at his side at a packed White House event. "No dream is beyond reach in the United States of America."
Said the nominee: "I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences."
Obama's selection was not just about the next justice but also the new president.
He had not met Sotomayor until he interviewed her last Thursday at the White House. She was the only one of the four finalists he did not know. But in addition to her other qualifications, she offered a politically attractive background and appealing narrative.
Justices on the nine-member court receive lifetime appointments and can have a profound influence on daily life. Sotomayor would be a new voice on the cases that often reflect divisions in the broader society, including national security, abortion, gay rights and privacy.
Even before she was nominated, conservative activists were describing her as a judicial activist who would put feelings above the Constitution.
Sotomayor seemed to take the matter head on. She said the rule of law is the foundation of all basic rights and the principles set forth by the Founding Fathers endure. "Those principles," she said at the White House, "are as meaningful and relevant in each generation as the generation before."
The nomination of the woman who would be the first Hispanic justice comes with the United States on a population path that will see minorities become the majority, and Hispanic leaders saw Tuesday's nomination as significant.
"We are reaching a certain level politically and socially, and this is being recognized by the administration," said Gabriela Lemus of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement.
As a kid in New York's South Bronx, Sotomayor had to deal with diabetes but dreamed of a career in law, inspired by reading Nancy Drew books and watching "Perry Mason" on TV.
"Although I grew up in very modest and challenging circumstances, I consider my life to be immeasurably rich," said Sotomayor, who smiled broadly as she introduced her mother, Celina, in the front row. The nominee is divorced with no children.
Yet it is her written and spoken opinions, not her compelling life story, that are likely to shape the tone of her confirmation consideration in the Senate.
Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said he had talked with Obama and Sotomayor Tuesday and assured them she would be treated fairly. "I'd like it to be a hearing that people can be proud of," he said.
In one of her most memorable rulings as federal district judge, in 1995, Sotomayor ruled with Major League Baseball players over owners in a labor strike that had led to the cancellation of the World Series. "Some say that Judge Sotomayor saved baseball," Obama said.
She became a federal judge for the Southern District of New York in 1992, then an appeals judge in 1998 for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers New York, Vermont and Connecticut.
Obama chose her over three other finalists: federal appellate judge Diane Wood, Solicitor General Elena Kagan and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Obama interviewed all of them, too, last week. He decided on Sotomayor at about 8 p.m. Monday and telephoned her with the good news.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama never questioned Sotomayor specifically about abortion, often a flash-point topic for court nominees.
Obama came to office at a time when several potential vacancies loomed on the high court. Justice John Paul Stevens is 89, and Ginsburg recently underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer.
Sotomayor has spoken about her pride in her ethnic background and has said that personal experiences "affect the facts that judges choose to see."
"I simply do not know exactly what the difference will be in my judging," she said in a speech in 2001. "But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage."
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Thursday, May 21, 2009
How Allen ascended from meek audition to 'Idol'
Not much has changed about Kris Allen since his mostly forgettable "American Idol" audition. Well, except for the winning-it-all part.
When the 23-year-old college student from Conway, Ark., first auditioned with Leon Russell's "A Song for You" in Louisville, Ky., he seemed nothing more than a boy-next-door "Idol" hopeful, lacking the instant juggernaut feel of showy 27-year-old runner-up Adam Lambert or even plucky 17-year-old spark plug Allison Iraheta.
A newsboy cap pulled down around his eyes, Allen was asked back then by the judges if he was the best singer.
"You know, there's probably people who are better than me," was his response, a humility that Simon Cowell said he found off-putting.
"Idol" producers must have agreed. Back in February, viewers had seen less of Allen out of all the crooners that moved forward in the competition. During Hollywood Week, neither of Allen's solos were aired, just his "I Want You Back" group performance. In fact, more footage from his original audition was aired during Wednesday's eighth season finale than in any previous episodes.
Once selected as a finalist, Allen got off to a rocky start after his first performance. The judges were decidedly mixed over his rendition of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror," yet his charming nice-guy demeanor quickly emerged when it was revealed that the longtime Jackson fan had been helping the other singers — his competitors of all people! — tackle their takes on the King of Pop.
Allen himself seemed the most surprised about his shocking win by a margin of votes that, unlike last season's landslide victory by David Cook over David Archuleta, was not publicly declared by host Ryan Seacrest.
"I'm exhausted, and I'm shocked," Allen said backstage after winning the title. "I'm really shocked."
In the beginning, the judges simply seemed, if not in love, then "in like" with Allen — not heaping the same amounts of love on him as Lambert until later in the season.
The panel's initial feedback bordered on superficial. Paula Abdul once gushed he was "adorable/sexy" while Cowell teased the smiley newlywed for introducing his wife so early in the competition, at risk of scaring of female fans.
He always seemed to take their remarks in stride, content to forge ahead with his earnest singer-songwriter vibe no matter the outcome, never telegraphing a drive to best his fellow contestants.
Instead, Allen stuck to focusing on his guitar and piano on the "Idol" stage, impressing the judges with his folksy, heartfelt interpretations of such songs as "Ain't No Sunshine," "She Works Hard for the Money" and "Falling Slowly" from the indie musical "Once." He hit a crescendo last week when he transformed Kanye West's robotic tune "Heartless" into a soulful, acoustic ditty.
"I had written you out of the competition, but that has changed after that performance," Cowell boasted afterward.
However, it was runner-up Lambert who always received the most praise — by both judges and screaming fans — right until Tuesday's final performance. All the while, Allen was apparently neck-and-neck with Lambert when it came to viewer votes: The only time either was in the dreaded bottom-three was after their Rat Pack-themed performances.
Last week, only 1 million viewer votes separated them — a tiny margin considering that nearly 100 million votes were cast for the finale.
"I knew it was going to be a close race," Lambert said backstage. "I think Kris is incredibly talented, and he's a good person."
Though never referenced on the show, Allen's religious background may have also played a role. Allen has worked as a worship leader at his hometown church, traveling on mission trips around the globe. His pastor, Brandon Shatswell, said Allen told him that his first time on the "Idol" stage reminded him of only one thing: going to church.
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Thursday, May 07, 2009
Susan Boyle joins stars in top viral videos
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British singing sensation Susan Boyle, who became an overnight star with her surprising performance on a British talent show, has made the top 5 in a list of the most watched viral videos of all-time.
Visible Measures, which measures the use of online videos across more than 150 video-sharing sites, has compiled a list called the "100 Million Views Club" which is of online videos that have topped the 100 million viewership.
Topping the list is a music video by rapper Soulja Boy of "Crank That," which recorded 356 million hits, followed by a trailer for the vampire movie "Twilight" with 267 million clicks.
In third and four places, with 230 million and 197 million views respectively, came Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" music video and a user generated video by American ventriloquist and stand-up comedian Jeff Dunham called "Achmed the Dead Terrorist."
Boyle, who performed on "Britain's Got Talent," was in fifth place with 186 million views.
Boyle, 47, with her untamed hair and plain-spoken manner, captivated millions of music lovers and confounded celebrity watchers after stunning judges with a voice that belied an appearance dubbed "frumpy" and "dowdy" by the British media.
She has appeared on Larry King Live in the United States and in countless newspaper and Internet articles, fuelling the number of people viewing the online clip of her song.
"The most impressive aspect of her viral video success is the fact that she burst onto the scene just three weeks ago," said Visible Measures in a statement.
Boyle is due to appear in the semi-finals of the TV talent show in the week of May 25. The final will be held on May 30.
Also on the list of top viral videos ( http://www.visiblemeasures.com/news-and-events/blog/bid/9262/The-100-Million-Views-Club-the-Most-Watched-Viral-Videos-of-All-Time ) were music videos by Leona Lewis, Avril Lavigne, Chris Brown, Alicia Keys, Miley Cyrus and Rihanna, movie trailers for "The Dark Knight," "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince," and "Hannah Montana: The Movie," and some user generated videos.
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Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Swine Flu Likely to Return to U.S. Next Winter
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Many experts are predicting that the current outbreak of swine flu, much like the regular seasonal flu, will subside during the summer months and reappear in the fall.
That return could come with a vengeance, or not.
"We can't actually be certain, but there likely will be a reemergence," said Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist with Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "We're seeing this virus at a time that is usually the end of the flu season, so you would expect, because the flu virus is hardier in cold weather, that there will probably be a return."
"If you draw parallels to previous flu pandemics, the pattern has always been a mild epidemic in the early summer or late spring, then you see a larger epidemic in the winter," said Dr. Luis Z. Ostrosky, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. "If this were to follow the pattern of previous outbreaks, we would see it again in the winter."
Ostrosky was referring to 1918 (Spanish flu pandemic), 1957 (Asian flu) and 1968 (Hong Kong flu).
This pattern of an initial "herald wave" followed by a second wave is common in the flu world.
"Sometimes we will see a little spike of flu towards the end of the season with that turning up next year. Maybe that's what this is. That would be very typical," said Dr. John Treanor, a professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. "My guess would be that if this virus does not end up causing significant disease in the northern hemisphere over the summer, it will certainly do so in the fall."
So far, some of the most affected nations have been in North America and Europe, but the flu is spread more easily in the winter, and it's already fall in the Southern hemisphere. Experts fear public health systems could be overwhelmed if swine flu and regular flu collide in major urban populations, according to the Associated Press.
"You have this risk of an additional virus that could essentially cause two outbreaks at once," Dr. Jon Andrus, of the Pan American Health Organization's headquarters in Washington, D.C., told the wire service.
Two separate flu strains could also mutate into a new strain that is more contagious and dangerous. "We have a concern there might be some sort of reassortment, and that's something we'll be paying special attention to," World Health Organization spokesman Dick Thompson told AP.
In North America, the summer should slow down the spread of swine flu; neither viruses nor bacteria survive well at temperatures above 70 degrees Fahrenheit, explained C. Ed Hsu, an associate professor of public health informatics at the University of Texas School of Health Information Sciences at Houston and associate director of health informatics at the Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness at the University of Texas School of Public Health.
How and when the flu spreads is dependent on other factors as well: the fitness and efficiency of the virus itself along with its innate ability to replicate; the susceptibility of the host; and the environment, which includes not only the weather, but also human behavior (for example, groups of people confined together inside, making it easier for the virus to jump from person to person).
If a particular virus is especially robust, the weather and other environmental factors may play a lesser role.
"It may not care what the environment is like, because it doesn't need that assistance, or it may depend on environmental factors. It could go either way," Treanor said.
And while influenza virus needs a warm human body to replicate, it seems to sustain itself better in airborne respiratory droplets when it's cold, Horovitz said. Hence, the sneeze heard around the world.
"But, if it does go away, it will come back, he added. "I would be pretty sure of that."
A fall/winter resurgence may or may not be more virulent, said Ostrosky.
"We've been very lucky so far that it's appearing to be mild, at least in the U.S., as far as virulence and susceptibility to antivirals is concerned," he said. "It could change. That's one of the concerns."
"The severity depends on whether [and how] the genotype of the virus reassorts itself," Horovitz added. The reassortment may be so minimal as to make no clinical difference, or it could assert itself in entirely new ways."
But a vaccine will likely be ready by the time a second wave hits, Ostrosky noted, and the world is prepared in other ways as well.
"We have completely sequenced the genome of the virus, and it shows low virulence at this point. We know about it. We can prepare," he said. "If nothing else, this has been an extraordinary exercise in preparation."
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009
'Octomom' seeks to trademark nickname for TV, diaper line
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The woman who gave birth to octuplets, Nadya Suleman, is seeking to trademark her media nickname -- Octomom -- for a TV show and a line of diapers.
Word of Suleman's federal trademark filings came as her lawyer confirmed he is talking to production companies about a TV show, but said reports of a signed deal are premature.
Suleman, who gave birth to octuplets in January, brought home the last and smallest of the eight babies on Monday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Suleman also has six other children. All 14 were conceived through in-vitro fertilization.
Suleman is not the only one to claim a trademark on the nickname. A Texas company not affiliated with her has filed to trademark an Octomom iPhone game.
"You press on her belly and she has babies," the company's CEO said.
One of Suleman's lawyers filed her trademark applications Friday with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, according to the documents. In the application, the word is spelled "OctoMom," with a capital M.
One trademark would cover OctoMom disposable and textile diapers, dresses, pants and shirts.
The other application would give Suleman the trademark OctoMom for "entertainment in the nature of ongoing television programs in the field of varity." The last word -- "varity" -- may have been intended to read "variety."
Suleman lawyer Jeff Czech downplayed a Life & Style magazine report that Suleman had signed with a British film company to produce six shows a year about her family over the next 18 years.
"The truth is that there is no deal yet with any production company or programming company," Czech said. "I am not certain if Ms. Suleman was properly quoted in Life & Style."
He added, "I have been in negotiations with production companies, but no agreements have been reached."
In the Life & Style report, Suleman is quoted as saying the TV show would not be a "reality show."
"What I'm doing with this TV show is basically creating documentaries about the lives of my children," she is quoted saying.
The company the magazine said would produce the shows -- Eyeworks -- has not yet responded to CNN calls.
"It will give me the opportunity to have incredible home movies that, believe me, I don't have the time to make myself. Having this documentary crew allows me to focus on raising my children and still have great movies of them," the magazine quoted Suleman saying.
The Octomom video game probably is not something she would share with her kids.
Super Happy Fun Fun Inc., an Austin, Texas, company, filed a trademark notice in March to use the Octomom application for iPhones and other technology.
Apple has been hesitant to approve the game for official iPhone downloads, so until that happens it can also be found as the "Fertile Myrtle" game, said CEO Mark Pierce.
The company's description of the game reads:
"Press down on Octomom's swollen belly and another adorable bundle of joy will be brought into the world."
"The babies must be caught by Octomom's mother. Hold down on Octomom's belly to charge, which shoots babies out faster and increases your chances of delivering twins! Tilt for better aim.
"Each baby earns welfare money. Having babies while the Paparazzi is in the room earns a cash bonus! Money is used to buy more fertility shots. Fertility shots let Octomom have more babies!
"It may 'take a village to raise a child' but it only takes Octomom to birth a village of children!"
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Wednesday, April 01, 2009
TV's 'Guiding Light' switching off after 72 years
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CBS is pulling the plug on the soap opera "Guiding Light" after a 72-year run that predates television, the show a victim of the economy and changed viewing habits. The drama's final episode will air on Sept. 18. The Guinness Book of World Records has cited it as the longest-running television drama. It began as a 15-minute serial on NBC Radio on Jan. 25, 1937, and debuted on CBS TV in 1952, focusing on the fictional town of Springfield and the Spaulding, Lewis and Cooper families.
"For many of us, it was the first show we ever watched," said Lynn Leahey, editorial director of Soap Opera Digest. Unlike prime-time shows that came and went, it was a constant in people's lives. "It really is heartbreaking to see something like this go away."
Procter & Gamble Productions, which makes the show, informed cast and crew Wednesday at separate sets in New York and New Jersey. The company isn't giving up on the story, and will explore different ways to keep it going after September, a spokeswoman said.
Soap operas have been in a long, slow decline in popularity, primarily because many of the women who made up their loyal audiences are no longer at home at that hour. They're working, and can find the communal experience that their favorite soaps once gave them elsewhere.
"Guiding Light" had the lowest ratings of the eight daytime dramas on the air. When it leaves, CBS and ABC will have three weekday soap operas, with NBC having one.
"The numbers are really tough for all of these old dramas," said Ron Raines, the actor who portrayed the villain Alan Spaulding in "Guiding Light."
"I don't think any of the other shows want any of us to go off. We're all in this together," he said.
Many successful actors got their start on "Guiding Light," including James Earl Jones, Calista Flockhart, Hayden Panettiere, Kevin Bacon and Taye Diggs.
Faced with extinction a year ago, "Guiding Light" significantly revamped its operations. It ditched its fixed, three-camera set in favor of portable cameras that enabled producers to shoot in different locations. The move saved money and changed the show's look to make it seem more like the reality shows younger viewers are accustomed to.
It didn't work, at least enough for CBS. The network hasn't said what will replace "Guiding Light" on the schedule, but it will almost certainly be a talk or game show, which are much cheaper to make than dramas with a large cast.
The changes also made many of the fans and cast members unhappy, said Carolyn Hinsey, Soap Opera Digest columnist. Two of its biggest stars, Beth Ehlers and Ricky Paull Goldin, quit and now work on ABC's "All My Children."
For fans of the genre, Wednesday's move could be a peek into the future.
Ten years from now, "I absolutely think (daytime dramas) will still be around," Leahey said. "I don't know if you'll be able to watch them from noon to three o'clock on network television."
In fact, the cancellation could be an opportunity for "Guiding Light," she said. Perhaps there's a way to keep the show alive on cable or online; Procter & Gamble says it will have to evaluate whether there's a cost-effective way to do that.
For now, its cast and crew are in mourning.
"What is it? 72 years continuous?" Raines said. "That will never be touched. It's a very sad thing, but these are the times we live in. It's very tough out there."
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Monday, March 23, 2009
FedEx cargo plane crashes at Tokyo airport; 2 dead
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A FedEx cargo plane smashed into a runway and burst into a ball of fire while attempting to land at Tokyo's main international airport Monday, killing the American pilot and copilot. Investigators believe wind shear, or a sudden gust of wind, may have been a factor.
Questions were also being raised about the safety of the MD-11, a wide-body airliner built by McDonnell Douglas and based on the DC-10.
The flight from FedEx's hub in Guangzhou, China, appeared to bounce after its initial touch down, and then skipped along the main runway at Narita Airport before flipping over and coming to a fiery halt, footage from airport security cameras showed.
Firefighters and rescuers immediately swarmed the MD-11 plane but the pilot and copilot — Kevin Kyle Mosley, 54, and Anthony Stephen Pino, 49 — were killed. Mosley lived in Hillsboro, Oregon, while Pino was from San Antonio, Texas, according to online records at the Federal Aviation Administration.
They were the only two people aboard.
Investigators said the accident may have been caused by low-level turbulence or "wind shear," sudden gusts that can lift or smash an aircraft into the ground during landing, said Kazuhito Tanakajima, an aviation safety official at the Transport Ministry.
Unusually strong winds of up to about 47 miles per hour (76 kilometers per hour) were blowing through Narita City on Monday morning around the time of the crash, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.
But Tanakajima said the wind speed at the time of the accident was not enough to be considered dangerous, unless wind shear was involved. He said there was headwind of about 45 miles per hour (72 kilometers per hour), and a crosswind of about 7 miles per hour.
Strong winds and turbulence have caused other recent incidents at the airport.
Last month, a flight from the Philippines was jolted by severe turbulence as it circled prior to landing, injuring 50 passengers and crew members.
The MD-11 has been involved in accidents in which it flipped while landing, and pilots have complained about the aircraft in the past. The plane is no longer used by carriers for passenger travel but is widely employed for moving cargo.
In 1999, an MD-11 flipped over and burst into flames, killing three people during a crash landing in a storm in Hong Kong. And in 1997 one of the planes landed hard, flipped and caught fire while landing in Newark, N.J.
Tomoki Kuwano, a former Japan Airlines pilot and aviation expert, said that although wind shear could not be ruled out, the MD-11 has a tendency to be unstable during landing.
"In the past, the MD-11 has a record of landing failure," he said. "And when that happens it often flips over."
FedEx said it was investigating the cause of the accident.
"We will continue to work closely with the applicable authorities as we seek to determine the cause for this tragic incident," it said in a statement.
The plane smashed into the longer of Narita's two runways, which remained closed Monday with all incoming flights diverted, said airport spokeswoman Misuho Fukuda.
Parts of the wreckage were still burning hours after the crash, forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights. At least 10,000 passengers were affected, according to airlines contacted by The Associated Press.
Japanese media reported that Monday's was the first fatal crash at Narita Airport, a major international hub located about 35 miles (60 kilometers) east of central Tokyo. It is Japan's second-busiest airport, after Tokyo's Haneda Airport, which is used primarily for domestic flights.
Last month, FedEx opened a new $150 million operations hub for the Asia-Pacific region in Guangzhou.
Sandra Munez, a spokeswoman for FedEx in the U.S., said customers that had packages on the plane will be dealt with on an individual basis through the company's risk management and claims departments.
"As soon as the authorities give us permission, we contact customers and notify them of the incident," she said.
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Sunday, March 22, 2009
Reality TV star Jade Goody dies after cancer fight
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Jade Goody, a dental assistant turned reality-TV star whose whirlwind journey from poverty to celebrity to tragedy became a national soap opera in Britain, died of cervical cancer Sunday at the age of 27.
Goody gained fame at 21 in 2002 when she joined the reality television show "Big Brother," in which contestants live together for weeks and are constantly filmed. Loud and brash, she became a highly divisive star — initially mocked as an ignorant slob, then celebrated as a forthright everywoman by a hungry tabloid press.
It was a pattern of praise and condemnation that followed Goody for the rest of her life. She became a national touchstone who sparked debate about race, class and celebrity.
During filming of a celebrity version of "Big Brother," in the summer of 2008, Goody received a diagnosis of cervical cancer by telephone from a doctor in Britain. The camera captured the deeply personal moment, which was shown repeatedly on TV.
The progress of her illness was chronicled in detail in the tabloid press and weekly magazines, to the unease of many. She underwent surgery and chemotherapy in the public eye — filming part of the experience for another television series
Bald and frail, Goody married fiancee Jack Tweed last month in an elaborate event staged at an elegant countryside hotel outside London. Good, who reportedly sold the photos for more than $1 million, defended being paid for interviews and photo shoots.
"People will say I'm doing this for money," she said. "And they're right, I am. But not to buy flash cars or big houses — it's for my sons' future if I'm not here. I don't want my kids to have the same miserable, drug-blighted, poverty-stricken childhood I did."
Goody's publicist said last month that the cancer had spread to her liver, bowel and groin.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Sunday that Goody used her fame to help her two young sons and many women she did not know.
"She was a courageous woman both in life and death and the whole country have admired her determination to provide a bright future for her children," Brown. "She will be remembered fondly by all who knew her and her family can be extremely proud of the work she has done to raise awareness of cervical cancer."
Though many praised Goody in recent months for the way in which she handled her illness, she was mocked in the press during her stint on "Big Brother" for her weight, her big mouth and her apparent lack of general knowledge. She branded the English region of East Anglia "East Angular," and asked whether it was abroad.
She didn't win the show, but she earned millions through television and magazine appearances, an autobiography, a perfume and a series of exercise videos.
Goody was labeled a racist bully for her treatment of another contestant, Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, while filming "Celebrity Big Brother." Goody bad-mouthed Shetty's cooking of Indian food, mocked her accent and referred to her as "Shilpa Poppadom." While complaints against the show skyrocketed, so did ratings.
Goody's treatment of Shetty sparked anger in India and Britain — even becoming the topic of debate during a House of Commons question-and-answer session with then Prime Minister Tony Blair. A major sponsor suspended its advertising deal with "Celebrity Big Brother," and a chain of perfume shops pulled a Goody-endorsed fragrance, ironically named "Shh..."
After television viewers voted to evict Goody from the show, Goody — herself of mixed race — insisted she wasn't a racist. "I argue like that with everybody. It wasn't just because of the color of her skin that I was that aggressive," she said during an interview on Britain's GMTV.
After the eviction, the Indian Tourism Office invited Goody to travel to the country. She did, visiting charity projects and later agreeing to appear on an Indian version of the show.
"The people of India have only seen a small part of me and I'd like to show them that there is more to me," Goody said. "I'm a mother of two, a businesswoman. I can't be all that bad."
Goody had an unhappy childhood in a poor south London neighborhood. Her father was a heroin addict who served jail time for robbery and died in 2005, her mother a former crack addict who lost the use of an arm in a motorcycle accident.
She worked as a dental nurse before her rise to fame.
Goody is survived by Tweed and her two sons Bobby and Freddie, with an ex-boyfriend, television presenter Jeff Brazier. She also is survived by her mother, Jackiey Budden.
Budden told reporters Sunday: "Family and friends would like privacy at last."
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