National and International news: maio 2012

quinta-feira, 31 de maio de 2012

Ex-Liberia President Charles Taylor gets 50 years

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor makes his first appearance at the Special Court in Freetown, in this April 3, 2006 file photo. (AP Photo/George Osodi)

MIKE CORDERLEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands -- International judges sentenced former Liberian President Charles Taylor to 50 years in prison Wednesday, saying he was responsible for "some of the most heinous and brutal crimes recorded in human history" by arming and supporting Sierra Leone rebels in return for "blood diamonds."

The 64-year-old warlord-turned-president is the first former head of state convicted by an international war crimes court since World War II and judges said they had no precedent when deciding his sentence.

Taylor will serve his sentence in a British jail. His lawyers, however, said they will appeal his convictions and that will likely keep him in a jail in The Hague, Netherlands, for months.

Prosecutor Brenda Hollis also said she was considering an appeal.

"It is important in our view that those responsible for criminal misconduct on a massive scale are not given a volume discount," Hollis said.

The Special Court for Sierra Leone convicted Taylor last month on 11 charges of aiding and abetting the rebels who went on a brutal rampage during that country's decade-long war that ended in 2002 with more than 50,000 dead.

At a small protest outside the court, one man held up a hand-written placard proclaiming: "Blood diamonds are not forever. They come at a cost Taylor."

Taylor showed no emotion as he stood while Lussick handed down what was effectively a life sentence.

"The lives of many more innocent civilians in Sierra Leone were lost or destroyed as a direct result of his actions," Presiding Judge Richard Lussick said.

Prosecutors had asked for an 80-year sentence; Taylor's lawyers urged judges to hand down a sentence that offered him some hope of release before he dies.

Hollis said the sentence would only provide a measure of closure for victims of one of Africa's most savage conflicts.

"The sentence that was imposed today does not replace amputated limbs. It does not bring back those who were murdered," she said. "It does not heal the wounds of those who were victims of sexual violence and does not remove the permanent emotional and psychological and physical scars of those enslaved or recruited as child soldiers."

Lussick said an 80-year sentence would have been excessive as Taylor was convicted of aiding and abetting crimes and not direct involvement.

But the judge added that Taylor was "in a class of his own" compared to others convicted by the United Nations-backed court.

"The special status of Mr. Taylor as a head of state puts him in a different category of offenders for the purpose of sentencing," Lussick said.

Taylor's lead attorney, Courtenay Griffiths, warned that the court's refusal to take into account Taylor's decision to step down from power following his indictment in 2003 when setting his sentence sent a worrying message against the backdrop of ongoing atrocities allegedly being committed by Syrian government forces.

"What lesson does that send to President Assad?" Griffiths said. "Maybe the lesson is: If you are a sitting leader and the international community wants to get rid of you either you get murdered like Col. Gadhafi, or you hang on until the bitter end. I'm not so sure that's the signal this court ought to be transmitting at this particular historical juncture."

At a sentencing hearing earlier this month, Taylor expressed "deepest sympathy" for the suffering of victims of atrocities in Sierra Leone, but insisted he had acted to help stabilize the West Africa region and claimed he never knowingly assisted in the commission of crimes.

"What I did...was done with honor," he said. "I was convinced that unless there was peace in Sierra Leone, Liberia would not be able to move forward."

Judges rejected that argument, saying that while he posed as a peacemaker he was covertly funning the flames of conflict by arming rebels in full knowledge they would likely use weapons to commit terrible crimes.

Prosecutors said there was no reason for leniency, given the extreme nature of the crimes, Taylor's "greed" and misuse of his position of power.

"The purposely cruel and savage crimes committed included public executions and amputations of civilians, the display of decapitated heads at checkpoints, the killing and public disembowelment of a civilian whose intestines were then stretched across the road to make a check point, public rapes of women and girls, and people burned alive in their homes," prosecutor Brenda Hollis wrote in a brief appealing for the 80-year sentence.

Taylor stepped down and fled into exile in Nigeria after being indicted by the court in 2003. He was finally arrested and sent to the Netherlands in 2006.

While the Sierra Leone court is based in that country's capital, Freetown, Taylor's trial is being staged in Leidschendam, a suburb of The Hague, for fear holding it in West Africa could destabilize the region.

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Court backs extradition of WikiLeaks' Julian Assange

Founder and editor of the WikiLeaks website, Julian Assange, faces the media during a debate event, held in London in this July 27, 2010 file photo. (AP Photo / AP Photo/Max Nash, File)

RAPHAEL SATTERLONDON -- Britain's Supreme Court has endorsed the extradition of WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange to Sweden, bringing the secret-spilling Internet activist a big step closer to prosecution in a Scandinavian court.

But a question mark hung over the decision after Assange's lawyer made the highly unusual suggestion that she would try to reopen the case, raising the prospect of more legal wrangling.

Assange, 40, has spent the better part of two years fighting attempts to send him to the Sweden, where he is wanted over sex crime allegations. He has yet to be charged.

The U.K. side of that struggle came to an uncertain end Wednesday, with the nation's highest court ruling 5-2 that the warrant seeking his arrest was properly issued - and Assange's lawyer saying she might contest the ruling.

Supreme Court President Nicholas Phillips, reading out the verdict, acknowledged that coming to a conclusion in the high-profile case had "not been simple."

But he said that the court had ultimately concluded that "the request for Mr. Assange's extradition has been lawfully made and his appeal against extradition is accordingly dismissed."

Assange lawyer Dinah Rose stood up after the verdict to complain that the court's ruling largely relied on a treaty whose interpretation she says she never had the chance to challenge, requesting time to study the judgment with an eye toward trying to reopen the case.

Such a maneuver is practically unheard of, according to attorney Karen Todner, whose law firm handles many high-profile extradition cases.

"It's very unusual," she told The Associated Press. "I've never known them to reopen a case."

Phillips gave Rose two weeks to make her move, meaning an extradition wouldn't happen until the second half of June at the earliest.

It could be much later. Even if the Supreme Court refuses to revisit its judgment, Assange could appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, although Todner said he was unlikely to make much headway there unless he could argue that his physical safety or psychological well-being would be at risk in Sweden.

Assange, a former computer hacker from Australia, shot to international prominence in 2010 with the release of hundreds of thousands of secret U.S. documents, including a hard-to-watch video that showed U.S. forces gunning down a crowd of Iraqi civilians and journalists that they'd mistaken for insurgents.

His release of a quarter-million classified U.S. State Department cables in the final months of that year outraged Washington and destabilized American diplomacy worldwide.

But his work exposing government secrets increasingly came under a cloud after two Swedish women accused him of molestation and rape following a visit to the country in mid-2010. Assange denies wrongdoing, saying the sex was consensual, but has refused to go to Sweden, claiming he won't get a fair trial there.

He and his supporters have also hinted that the sex allegations are a cover for a planned move to extradite him to the United States, where he claims he's been secretly indicted for the WikiLeaks disclosures.

Those allegations, paired with the ponderous progress of Assange's appeals, have caused irritation in Sweden.

Claes Borgstrom, the lawyer who represents the two Swedish women who accuse Assange of sex crimes, expressed relief at the U.K. Supreme Court's decision, but said the British judicial system should have dealt with the case more quickly.

"Now, finally, we have a decision," Borgstrom told AP, saying the long wait had been stressful for his clients. He dismissed suggestions that the underlying motive behind the extradition was to hand Assange over to the United States.

"He is not at a greater risk of being handed over from Sweden than from Britain," Borgstrom said.

Australia's government said in a statement released after the verdict that it would "closely monitor" any proceedings against Assange in Sweden.

Unusually, Assange did not appear in court Wednesday; he was reportedly stuck in traffic. Attempts to reach him for comment weren't immediately successful.

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Associated Press Writers Karl Ritter in Stockholm and Rod McGuirk in Sydney contributed to this report.

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Vatican: Pope unafraid of results of leaks scandal

NICOLE WINFIELDVATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI isn't afraid about what might emerge in the widening investigation into leaked documents and is encouraging prosecutors and a fact-finding commission to get to the truth over one of the most serious Holy See scandals in recent history, the Vatican spokesman said Tuesday.

Spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said Benedict was pained by the leaks and that he, Lombardi, felt "personally violated," even though none of the spokesman's correspondence had filtered out to Italian media or into a recent book of leaked documents that have laid bare the infighting, intrigue and petty squabbles that have plagued the highest echelons of the Catholic Church's governance.

The so-called "Vatileaks" scandal has tormented the Vatican for months and represents one of the greatest breaches of trust and security for the pope in recent memory. Benedict's personal butler has been arrested, accused of theft, after documents he had no business having were found in his Vatican City apartment. Few think the butler acted alone, and the investigation is continuing on three separate tracks.

The butler, Paolo Gabriele, is due to be formally questioned in the coming days by Vatican prosecutors following his May 23 arrest, Lombardi said. His lawyers reported that had pledged to fully cooperate with the investigation to get to the truth, raising the specter that higher ranking prelates may soon be implicated.

Lombardi said the scandal was certainly grave, and pointed to the fact that Benedict had established a commission of high-ranking cardinals to investigate alongside the criminal investigation and an internal administrative probe. The cardinals' commission is headed by a heavyweight: Cardinal Julian Herranz, an Opus Dei prelate who headed the Vatican's legal office as well as the disciplinary commission of the Vatican bureaucracy before retiring.

In addition, the pope's personal bodyguard, Domenico Giani, a former Italian secret service agent, has been on something of a crusade tracking down the origin of the leaks in recent months, Vatican insiders report.

"We aren't afraid of the problems, the difficulties and also the errors and guilt that might come out," Lombardi told reporters. "We are trying to do the right thing, following a difficult path of truth and taking the necessary measures to reestablish the trust and good functioning of the governance of the church and its institutions."

He said it certainly was a "difficult test" for the pope and his aides but that he hoped that the problems would be identified so that the Vatican can "enjoy the trust of the people God, which the pope certainly merits and we his collaborators must try to support."

The Vatileaks scandal broke in January when Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi broadcast letters from the former No. 2 Vatican administrator to the pope in which he begged not to be transferred for having exposed alleged corruption that cost the Holy See millions of euros (dollars) in higher contract prices. The prelate, Monsignor Carlo Maria Vigano, is now the Vatican's U.S. ambassador.

The scandal widened over the following months with documents leaked to Italian journalists that laid bare power struggles inside the Vatican over its efforts to show greater financial transparency and comply with international norms to fight money laundering. There was even a leak of a memo claiming that Benedict would die this year.

The scandal reached a peak last weekend, when Nuzzi published an entire book based on a trove of new documentation, including personal correspondence to and from the pope and his private secretary, much of which paints Benedict's No. 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in a negative light.

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Wildfire close to being New Mexico's largest ever

RUSSELL CONTRERASNEW MEXICO -- Two lightning-sparked blazes that merged in a mountainous southwestern New Mexico forest are close to becoming the largest wildfire in state history, fire officials said Tuesday.

The U.S. Forest Service said the erratic blaze in Gila National Forest had grown to about 152,000 acres by Tuesday - just 5,000 acres from breaking the state record. It is about 15 miles east of Glenwood, N.M., a small town with a few hundred residents.

More than 1,100 firefighters and nine helicopters from around the state were fighting the blaze. But officials said extremely low humidity will keep making efforts against the fire difficult.

The two lightning-sparked fires merged last week to form the giant blaze, which has destroyed 12 cabins and seven small outbuildings. One fire was first spotted May 9 and the second blaze was sparked May 16, but nearly all of the growth has come in recent days due to relentless winds. Officials also said a "record breaking dry air mass" and persistent drought in the region contributed to the fire's growth.

Those winds forced crews to the sidelines last week as the fire rapidly spread in an isolated area and charred several homes in the community of Willow Creek, which remains under evacuation. Smoke has spread across New Mexico and parts of Arizona, putting cities as far away as Albuquerque under health alerts.

Officials said areas around some of New Mexico's largest cities, including Albuquerque and as far southeast as Roswell, will see smoke by late Tuesday.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman announced Tuesday that FEMA has approved New Mexico's request for fire management assistance declaration for the Whitewater-Baldy Fire Complex burning in Catron and Grant Counties. Bingaman visited Reserve, N.M., Tuesday and was briefed by the U.S. Forest Service on the fire.

Under the declaration, the state is eligible for funding through the Fire Management Assistance Grant Program, which provides for the "mitigation, management, and control" of fires burning on publicly or privately owned forest or grasslands.

Also on Tuesday, Gov. Susana Martinez urged business affected by the Whitewater-Baldy Complex Fire to apply for low-interest Small Business Administration loans that could become available if enough applicants seek the help.

"As a result of this fire, small businesses are unquestionably feeling the impact, and I want to make sure that these businesses and their surrounding communities can take advantage of any assistance possible," Martinez said in a statement.

A fire last year that burned about 244 square miles was the state's largest. That blaze threatened property around Los Alamos National Laboratory, the nation's premier nuclear facility.

Dry and hot conditions in the Southwest have also fueled wildfires in other states, including Colorado. Hundreds of firefighters were at an 8-square-mile fire in western Colorado near that state's border with Utah, and a separate 4-square-mile blaze about 200 miles southwest of Denver.

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Angry Birds debit cards to be released in Russia

by NATALIYA VASILYEVAMOSCOW -- Russian fans of the videogame Angry Birds will soon be able to get special debit cards - or "Angry Cards" - giving them discounts on the game's products.

Moscow-based Promsvyazbank said Tuesday it will start issuing the new MasterCards on June 4. They will be printed with images of the various characters and will give users a 10 percent discount on all Angry Birds-branded products.

Besides debit cards, the bank will also issue Angry Bird cash cards, which users top up with money. The bank will pay a 4 percent annual interest rate on the card's balance.

The maker of Angry Birds, Rovio Entertainment, has already launched toys and baby clothes lines featuring Angry Birds characters. But the Russian debit card is going to be the first Angry Birds branded financial product. The videogame has been downloaded more than 10 million times in Russia.

Ivan Pyatkov, director for retail sales and technology at Promsvyazbank, told the Associated Press that the bank is planning an initial printing of 50,000 cards but hopes to issue twice as much by the end of the year.

The bank expects the card to help attract urbanites between 25 and 35 years of age with a monthly income of at least $1,000.

Pyatkov said the bank is receiving a large number of requests for Angry Birds cards following early reports in the Russian press.

"Some clients are demanding their Angry Birds cards right now - before the official launch," Pyatkov said.

Promsvyazbank will be launching the card in partnership with Internet Retail Solutions, Rovio's agent in Russia.

Promsvyazbank, ranked as Russia's 11th largest by the Interfax research center, is 74 percent-owned by two Russian tycoons, the Ananyev brothers. Commerzbank holds 14 percent in the lender via a subsidiary while the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has a 12 percent stake.

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Italy earthquake death toll rises to 17

by ALBERTO ARSIEMIRANDOLA, Italy -- Italian rescue workers removed the last earthquake victim from the rubble Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 17 as the government approved measures to rebuild the quake-hit area so crucial to Italy's economic health.

The magnitude 5.8 temblor north of Bologna on Tuesday felled old buildings and new factories and warehouses alike, many of them already weakened by a stronger quake May 20 that measured 6.0 and killed seven people.

In both quakes, the death toll was disproportionately workers toiling in factories, leading to some questions about Italy's building codes or possible corruption.

"I remember with sorrow the deaths in Emilia, who died while working, mostly workers but also entrepreneurs," Interior Minister Anna Maria Cancellieri said in Rome.

Premier Mario Monti has promised the government would do whatever is necessary to rebuild the region. On Wednesday, the government approved measures, including raising the price of gas by .02 cents a liter, to begin the reconstruction of homes, businesses and historic structures, including many churches, in the stricken area.

Crews on Wednesday pulled the last body from the rubble of a factory in the town of Medolla. Three others also died in the structure. Civil Protection authorities in Rome say no one else is known to be missing.

The quake, which also injured some 350 people, dealt another blow to one of the country's most productive regions at a time when Italy is struggling to restart its anemic economy amid Europe's debt crisis. Italy's economic growth has been stagnant for at least a decade and the economy is forecast to contract by 1.2 percent this year.

The area encompassing the northern cities of Modena, Mantua and Bologna is prized for its super car production, churning out Ferraris, Maseratis and Lamborghinis; its world-famous Parmesan cheese, and less well-known but critical to the economy - its machinery companies.

The ground continued to shake through the night, rattling the nerves of residents. Many spent the night in tent camps or their cars, too afraid to sleep at home.

In the tent camp, residents had basic needs met but carried profound scars.

"I had a psychological breakdown," said Annalisa Caiazzo, 34, from Mirandola near Modena as she began her day in a makeshift tent camp. "After so many aftershocks, I did not expect that everything would have restarted again. We are all collapsed."

Civil protection coordinator Carmine Lizza said counselors were on hand to help rattled residents who have lived through two terrifying quakes in two weeks in an area not considered particularly quake-prone.

"They will need weeks to recover, because the earthquake is a deep wound," Lizza said.

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Obama welcomes Bush back to the White House

Despite frequently blaming his predecessor for the “messes” he inherited, today President Obama will welcome former President George W. Bush back to the White House to honor his legacy.

The 43rd president and his wife, former First Lady Laura Bush, will be back at their former home for the official unveiling of their portraits, an often uncomfortable presidential tradition.

The White House maintained Wednesday that President Obama is looking forward to the event and that it’s “not at all” awkward.

“Look, there are differences… without question, between [President Obama's] approach and the approach and the policies of his predecessor,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters. “That was certainly the case when, I believe, President George W. Bush had President Clinton to the White House for his portrait unveiling. And I think it is well-established that those two now-former presidents have a good relationship…. I think there is a community here with very few members that transcends political and policy differences.”

Obama often publicly blames Bush for the economic crisis and the nation’s continued high unemployment, as well as many of America’s foreign policy challenges. Today’s event, however, will be free of politics.

“What has been the case and will be the case is that there is so much shared experience between, so far, the men and one day the men and women who hold this office that there is much to talk about that they hold in common. So there’s not a lot of need to talk about where they differ,” Carney said.

This will not be the first time that Obama and Bush have met at the White House. Then President Bush first welcomed then President-elect Obama to his future home shortly after his election in November 2008. They met again at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue shortly before Obama took office and, of course, on the day of Obama’s inauguration in January 2009.

The last time Bush was at his former home was in 2010, when he joined Obama and former President Clinton in announcing humanitarian aid for Haiti.

This time, the gathering will be a family affair. In addition to his wife, Bush will also be joined by his father, former President George H.W. Bush and his mother, former First Lady Barbara Bush.

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Seattle shootings leave 6 dead

seattle shootings Police investigate the scene where a man who was believed to have shot and killed several people earlier in the day shot himself Wednesday, May 30, 2012, in the West Seattle neighborhood of Seattle. A gunman opened fire at a Seattle cafe earlier Wednesday, killing three people and critically wounding two others and later a man believed to be the same suspect shot and killed a woman and took her car near downtown, abandoning it less than two miles from where the alleged shooter shot himself as officers closed in on him, authorities said. His condition wasn't immediately known. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) (AP Photo)

by GENE JOHNSONSEATTLE -- A city already anxious about a recent spate of shootings was rattled further when a man walked into an arts cafe near a Seattle university and opened fire, fatally wounding four people. Police say he later killed a woman during a carjacking before shooting himself.

As officers closed in during a widespread manhunt late Wednesday afternoon, the suspect put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. He died at a local hospital, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The five victims brought the number of homicides in Seattle so far this year to 21, matching the total for all of last year, and left city leaders wondering what could be done to stop the bloodshed.

"Two tragic shootings today ... have shaken this city," Mayor Mike McGinn said at a news conference. "It follows on the heels of multiple, tragic episodes of gun violence that have occurred throughout the city."

In the last month, there had already been two random killings. A man died last week when he was hit by a stray bullet as he drove, and a woman was killed in a drive by shooting in late April. No arrests have been made, Police did not publicly name the suspect in Wednesday's shootings, but the Seattle Times identified him as Ian Lee Stawicki, 40, of Seattle, citing unidentified law enforcement sources.

Andrew Stawicki, 29, of Ellensburg, told the Times he recognized a photo shown on TV newscasts of the alleged gunman as his brother Ian. Andrew Stawicki said Ian Stawicki was mentally ill.

"It's no surprise to me this happened," he told the newspaper. "We could see this coming. Nothing good is going to come with that much anger inside of you."

A phone number for Andrew Stawicki rang busy when The Associated Press tried to reach him for comment.

Gunfire erupted about 11 a.m. at Cafe Racer, a restaurant and music venue north of the University of Washington.

Police quickly released two photos from inside the cafe, apparently taken from a security camera. One showed a man walking into the establishment, with a woman nearby reading a book and people chatting at the nearby cafe bar. Another photo about a minute later showed stools overturned, and the man standing and holding what appeared to be a handgun.

Two men died at the cafe, and a third man and a woman from the cafe died at a hospital.

Police said it appeared the gunman fled to the First Hill neighborhood near downtown, where he fatally shot a woman in a parking lot and stole her SUV.

He then drove the SUV to West Seattle and ditched it, leaving a gun in the car. After officers found the vehicle, they flooded that area with uniformed and plainclothes officers.

A detective spotted the suspect late in the afternoon and called for backup and a SWAT team, Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel said. As those officers arrived, the man shot himself, he said.

A King County medical examiner's spokeswoman said her office might be able to release the dead victims' identifications Thursday.

One man wounded in the cafe shooting was reported in critical but stable condition late Wednesday at Harborview Medical Center following surgery earlier in the day. Hospital spokeswoman Susan Gregg confirmed his name as Leonard Meuse. Meuse's father, Raymond Meuse, told the Times his son was shot in the jaw and armpit but was expected to survive.

Evan Hill, who lives above the building where the shooting happened, said the cafe was an artists' collective and performance space.

"It's the strangest place to think of a shooting," said Hill, who heard four to five shots. He said he ran to his balcony and called 911, but didn't see a suspect.

On a street corner across from the cafe, friends of the victims gathered by the ivy-covered wall of an apartment building. Some collapsed in grief. The cafe's owner hugged them and commiserated.

Units of police officers marched by with rifles and shotguns, knocking on doors and checking driveways and yards in the neighborhood of single-family, bungalow-style homes, restaurants and businesses.

During the manhunt, Roosevelt High School, Eckstein Middle School and Greenlake Elementary were locked down, according to the school district.

In other recent violence to hit Seattle, a bystander was wounded near the Space Needle Saturday when he was struck by a bullet that police say was fired by a gang member involved in a dispute with another man. Later that night, about 60 shots were fired in drive-by shootings at four houses. No one was hit.

Besides a plan to increase the number of officers on patrol in high-crime areas, police are urging people with information about shootings to come forward.

They also said Seattleites could expect an increased police presence in the near future.

City Councilman Bruce Harrell said leaders needed to consider everything - from changing laws to addressing the culture of violence.

"If we are to be honest, there's no easy fix," he said.

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Virginia girl, 6, is youngest ever in National Spelling Bee

JOSEPH WHITEMcLEAN, Va. -- The youngest person ever to qualify for the National Spelling Bee was running around in a stream with a friend, hunting for rocks. Suddenly, she came charging up the bank and headed straight for her mother.

"Hold on to that basalt," Lori Anne Madison said in a bossy 6-year-old's voice, "and do not drop it."

"Go away," her mother said playfully.

Sorina Madison held on the rock nonetheless, and soon was carrying more basalt and a nice hunk of quartz. "I can't carry the entire park," she eventually told her daughter.

Never mind. By then Lori Anne, wearing a green "Little Miss Sunshine" shirt, had joined up with more friends and had taken on a different quest, searching for snails, slugs, tadpoles, water striders, baby snakes and more as they splashed in the waters on a sunny day at the Scotts Run Nature Preserve in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

"Oh my gosh, what is it? A water worm. A water worm! It's alive," said Lori Anne, her shoes soaked from more than an hour of exploring. "I need it in my collection. It's wonderful."

She is blonde and adorable and talks at 100 mph. In the last few weeks, she has won major awards in both swimming and math, but one accomplishment above all has made her an overnight national celebrity: This week, the precocious girl from Lake Ridge, Va., will be onstage with youngsters more than twice her age and twice her size as one of 278 spellers who have qualified for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

"She's like a teenager in a 6-year-old body," Sorina said. "Her brain, she understands things way ahead of her age."

It's hard to argue with that, especially after spending a couple of hours with her. There's been no need for Lori Anne's parents to push her to do anything - because she's already way out in front dragging them along. Some kids are ahead of the curve physically, mentally or socially from a very young age. Lori Anne is the rare exception who defies the norms in every category.

She hit all her milestones early, walking and talking well before others in her playgroup. She was reading before she was 2. She swims four times a week, keeping pace with 10-year-old boys, and wants to be in the Olympics. When her mother tried to enroll her in a private school for the gifted, the headmaster said Lori Anne was just way too smart to accommodate and needed to be home-schooled.

"Once she started reading, that's when people started looking strange at us, in libraries, everywhere, she's actually fluently reading at 2, and at 2 ? she was reading chapter books," Sorina said. That meant an unexpected lifestyle change for the mother, a college professor who teaches health-related courses. Lori Anne now studies at home, mastering topics other kids her age won't touch for several years. She wants to be an astrobiologist, a combination of her two favorite subjects, astronomy and biology.

And she talks soooo fast, with well-formed diction and a touch of know-it-all confidence - just like a teenager.

"She out-argues both of us, and my husband is a trial lawyer," Sorina said with a laugh.

Now there's another wrinkle: spelling bee fame. When Lori Anne spelled "vaquero" to win the regional bee in Prince William County in March, she set a new standard for youth in the national bee's 87-year-old history.

"It was shocking," Sorina said. "I didn't expect all the media attention. We're private people. We're regular people. It was intimidating. But I'm happy for her. She loves it and she does it because it's a passion, and we never push her into anything and want her to make her own choices."

Interviews can be boring for a 6-year-old, especially if it's a television setting where she has to sit and sit and sit, so she pulled the plug, telling her mother: "I want to go back to being a kid and playing with my friends."

So a detente was reached. Lori Anne was more than happy to let a reporter and photographer from The Associated Press tag along at a picnic with other gifted home-schooled children, but she craftily steered any questions about spelling back toward the joint pursuit of slimy things in the creek.

On all the attention she's getting: "I sort of didn't like it. I asked for no interviews but the media seems to be disobeying me, and that's why we're looking for snails and water slugs right now."

On why she wants to be an astrobiologist: "I'm going to sort of find life forms. And, plus, alien planets are new. But I need some slugs."

Asked to spell her favorite word, she raced through the letters of "sprachgefuhl" like a blur. Asked to spell it backward, she paused a bit and had to take her time, but she got it right.

"It's even crazier backwards than it is forwards," she said with a giggle, her hand holding a collection jar and her eyes focused on the wet rocks. "Now let's look for some slugs or snails."

By now, the jar contained a diversity of small living things, with the help of Lori Anne's friends. The children in the group are also smart and accomplished - there's a boy who has been studying calculus at age 8 - but there's something noteworthy about being in the bee.

"Are you that girl who won the spelling bee?" one boy asked.

"That's me," Lori Anne said.

No one is expecting Lori Anne to win the national bee this year. Just being there is a unique accomplishment, and making it beyond the preliminaries on Tuesday and Wednesday would be another stunning development. The veteran spellers, some as old as 15, have honed sophisticated study methods, spending hours daily over many months in their attempts to master as much of the unabridged dictionary as possible.

Lori Anne? She likes to study while jumping on her trampoline, with her mother calling out words.

"She doesn't sit at a table for hours to study anything. I mean, she's 6," Sorina said with laugh. "She's still a 6-year-old and we want to allow her to be a 6-year-old."

But, at this pace, she'll be a spelling bee force for years to come, one of those youngsters who returns for several years and becomes a familiar face on the ESPN broadcasts.

Asked how she thinks she'll do this year, Lori Anne simply answered "great" and kept on hunting.

There was one question she was more than happy to answer: How does she win all those arguments with her parents?

"I argue and argue and argue," she said, "until their brain is spinning."

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Facebook's stock falls below $30 for 1st time

Eyewitness NewsNEW YORK -- Facebook's stock has fallen below $30 for the first time since its much-awaited public debut this month.

The stock fell $3.07, or 9.6 percent, to close at $28.84 on Tuesday. That's down 24 percent since its public stock debut. It went as low as $28.65 earlier in the day.

Facebook Inc. began trading publicly on May 18 following one of the most anticipated stock offerings in history.

The site, which was born in a Harvard dorm room eight years ago and has grown into a worldwide network of almost a billion people, was supposed to offer proof that social media is a viable business and more than a passing fad.

Facebook's initial public offering of stock priced at $38 and raised $16 billion for Facebook and some of its early investors. It had valued the company at $104 billion - more than Amazon.com Inc., at $98 billion, at the time.

But the stock's public debut was marred by technical glitches at the Nasdaq Stock Market that delayed trading.

And the company, along with the investment banks that led the IPO, is the subject of at least two shareholder lawsuits. They allege that analysts at the large underwriting investment banks cut their financial forecasts for Facebook just before the IPO and told only a handful of clients. Morgan Stanley has declined to comment. Facebook calls the lawsuits "without merit."

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said that Facebook's stock has been hurt by what he called "near-term issues" that include the Nasdaq glitches, an oversupply of stock that was being offered and the allegations of selective information disclosure.

But he rates the stock "Outperform" and has a 12-month target price of $44.

"Facebook has built a huge moat between it and its competitors, and we endorse Mr. Zuckerberg's mission," he wrote in a note to investors Tuesday, referring to Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg.

With the latest drop, Facebook's value is about $79 billion.

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John Edwards jurors begin 9th day of deliberations

by MICHAEL BIESECKERGREENSBORO, N.C. -- The jury in the John Edwards campaign corruption trial is expected to resume a ninth day of talks in North Carolina.

As the jury ended their eighth day of talks without a verdict Wednesday, the judge released four alternate jurors who garnered attention for their matching shirts. They have not participated in the deliberations.

U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Eagles did not give any indication of whether she believed the 12 jurors are any closer to deciding the fate of the two-time Democratic presidential candidate.

Edwards faces six felony charges in a case involving nearly $1 million provided by two wealthy political donors to help hide the Democrat's pregnant mistress as he sought the White House in 2008.

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Seven Pillars That Support a Good Nation

Romney campaign app misspells 'America'

Mitt Romney says he believes in America. For a while, his campaign's new app touted "A Better Amercia."

Ooops. That typo distracted from the rollout Tuesday of a Romney campaign app designed to run on the iPhone and other Apple products. The mistake was corrected Wednesday.

The app, called "I'm with Mitt," encourages supporters to post a photo of themselves framed by various Romney campaign slogans including "Obama Isn't Working" and "Day One, Job One."

The slogan "A Better America" contained the typo.

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Folk musician, guitar master Doc Watson dies at 89

MARTHA WAGGONERWINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- You could hear the mountains of North Carolina in Doc Watson's music. The rush of a mountain stream, the steady creak of a mule in leather harness plowing rows in topsoil and the echoes of ancient sounds made by a vanishing people were an intrinsic part of the folk musician's powerful, homespun sound.

It took Watson decades to make a name for himself outside the world of Deep Gap, N.C. Once he did, he ignited the imaginations of countless guitar players who learned the possibilities of the instrument from the humble picker who never quite went out of style. From the folk revival of the 1960s to the Americana movement of the 21st century, Watson remained a constant source of inspiration and a treasured touchstone before his death Tuesday at age 89.

Blind from the age of 1, Watson was left to listen to the world around him and it was as if he heard things differently from others. Though he knew how to play the banjo and harmonica from an early age, he came to favor the guitar. His flat-picking style helped translate the fiddle- and mandolin-dominated music of his forebears for an audience of younger listeners who were open to the tales that had echoed off the mountains for generations, and to the new lead role for the guitar.

"Overall, Doc will be remembered as one of America's greatest folk musicians. I would say he's one of America's greatest musicians," said David Holt, a longtime friend and collaborator who compared Watson to Lead Belly, Bill Monroe, Muddy Waters and Earl Scruggs.

Like those pioneering players, Watson took a regional sound and made it into something larger, a piece of American culture that reverberates for decades after the notes are first played.

"He had a great way of presenting traditional songs and making them accessible to a modern audience," Holt said. "Not just accessible, but truly engaging."

Watson died at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, where he was hospitalized recently after falling at his home in Deep Gap, 100 miles northwest of Charlotte. He underwent abdominal surgery while in the hospital and had been in critical condition for several days.

Touched and toughened by tragedy several times in life, Watson had proven his mettle repeatedly. Singer Ricky Skaggs called Watson "an old ancient warrior."

"He prepared all of us to carry this on," Skaggs said. "He knew he wouldn't last forever. He did his best to carry the old mountain sounds to this generation."

Watson's simple, unadorned voice conveyed an unexpected amount of emotion, but it was his guitar playing that always amazed - and intimidated. Countless guitarists have tried to emulate Watson's renditions of songs such as "Tennessee Stud," ''Shady Grove" and "Deep River Blues."

Mandolin player Sam Bush remembers feeling that way when he first sat down next to "the godfather of all flatpickers" in 1974.

"But Doc puts you at ease about that kind of stuff," Bush said. "I never met a more generous kind of musician. He is more about the musical communication than showing off with hot licks. ... He seems to always know what notes to play. They're always the perfect notes. He helped me learn the space between the notes is as valuable as the ones you play."

Arthel "Doc" Watson was born March 3, 1923, and lost his eyesight when he developed an eye infection that was worsened by a congenital vascular disorder, according to a website for Merlefest, the annual musical gathering named for his late son Merle.

He came from a musical family. His father was active in the church choir and played banjo and his mother sang secular and religious songs, according to a statement from Folklore Productions, his management company since 1964.

Watson learned a few guitar chords while attending the North Carolina Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh, and his father helped him buy a Stella guitar for $12.

"My real interest in music was the old 78 records and the sound of the music," Doc Watson is quoted as saying on the website. "I loved it and began to realize that one of the main sounds on those old records I loved was the guitar."

The wavy-haired Watson got his musical start in 1953, playing electric lead guitar in a country-and-western swing band. His road to fame began in 1960 when Ralph Rinzler, a musician who also managed Bill Monroe, discovered Watson in North Carolina. That led Watson to the Newport Folk Festival in 1963 and his first recording contract a year later. He went on to record 60 albums, and wowed fans ranging from '60s hippies to those who loved traditional country and folk music.

Seven of his albums won Grammy awards; his eighth Grammy was a lifetime achievement award in 2004. He also received the National Medal of the Arts from President Bill Clinton in 1997.

Guitarist Pete Huttlinger of Nashville, Tenn., said Watson made every song his own, regardless of its age.

"He's one of those lucky guys," said Huttlinger, who studied Watson's methods when he first picked up a guitar. "When he plays something, he puts his stamp on it - it's Doc Watson."

Merle began recording and touring with him in 1964. But Merle Watson died at age 36 in a 1985 tractor accident, sending his father into deep grief and making him consider retirement. Instead, he kept playing and started Merlefest, an annual musical event in Wilkesboro, N.C., that raises money for a community college there and celebrates "traditional plus" music.

"When Merle and I started out we called our music 'traditional plus,' meaning the traditional music of the Appalachian region plus whatever other styles we were in the mood to play," Doc Watson is quoted as saying on the festival's website. "Since the beginning, the people of the college and I have agreed that the music of MerleFest is 'traditional plus.'" Watson never let his blindness hold him back musically or at home. He rose from playing for tips to starring at Carnegie Hall.

And he was just as proficient at home. Joe Newberry, a musician and spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, remembered once when his wife called the Watson home. Rosa Lee Watson, Watson's wife since 1947, said her husband was on the roof, replacing shingles. His daughter Nancy Watson said her father built the family's utility shed.

It's that same kind of self-sufficiency that once led him to refuse his government disability check.

"He basically started making enough money performing - couple of hundred dollars a week," Holt said. "So he went to the services for the blind and said he was making enough money to support his family and they should take what they were giving him and give it to somebody who needed it more."

In 2011, a life-size statue of Watson was dedicated in Boone, N.C. At Watson's request the inscription read, "Just One of the People," echoing a statement he'd once made to Holt about how he'd like to be remembered.

"Just as a good ol' down-to-earth boy that didn't think he was perfect and that loved music," Watson said. "And I'd like to leave quite a few friends behind and I hope I will. Other than that, I don't want nobody putting me on a pedestal when I leave here. I'm just one of the people ... just me."

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Beryl dumps rain along southeast coast

by RUSS BYNUMSAVANNAH, Ga. -- The former tropical storm Beryl was expected to bring up to 10 inches of rain to parts of the southeast coast before it heads out to sea again, where it could regain some strength.

Forecasters said Beryl, downgraded to a tropical depression after losing wind strength Monday, could dump up to 4 inches of rain in coastal South Carolina, where a flash flood warning was in place. Southeast Georgia and northern Florida could get as much as 10 inches.

Meteorologist Brett Cimbora of the National Weather Service in Charleston, S.C., said the risk of flash floods was greater because much of the area has been dry and sudden rain could run off the hard soil instead of soaking into the ground.

Meanwhile, with the official start of hurricane season coming Friday, U.S. officials are reviewing their disaster plans - especially since a tropical storm already swept ashore this week.

While Beryl, which hit as a tropical storm, left little damage after making landfall with 70 mph winds early Monday at Jacksonville, Fla., it gave the city the chance to put its natural disaster plans to the test.

"You can call it a dry run, but we were prepared," Mayor Alvin Brown said.

The city will assess the damage before deciding how much federal and state aid to seek, Brown said. About 20,000 customers remained without electricity in the city Monday evening.

Although the Atlantic's six-month storm season officially begins Friday, the season got off to an early start with Tropical Storm Alberto forming earlier in the month off the coast of South Carolina.

Then Beryl swept ashore. Beach trips, backyard barbecues and graveside Memorial Day observances got a good soaking in southeastern Georgia and northern Florida.

Jacksonville, because of its location on an inward curve in the Florida coast, rarely takes a direct hit from a tropical storm or hurricane.

"I hope this is not a sign of things to come," said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. "It's quite unusual, if you look at the history of the tracks of hurricanes, that you would have one come straight into Jacksonville from the Atlantic. ... Normally the hurricanes are forming out in the Atlantic and as they come toward the coast of the United States, the Gulfstream has a tendency to turn them north."

By Tuesday morning, Beryl had maximum sustained winds of 30 mph (45 kph). It was centered about 115 miles (185 kilometers) west-southwest of Savannah and was moving northeast near 5 mph (7 kph).

The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the depression's center was expected to near the South Carolina coast by Wednesday morning, then veer back over the Atlantic where it could regain tropical storm strength.

Joyce Connolly and her daughters left their home in Hurricane, W.Va., to head south for a Memorial Day vacation in to Jacksonville Beach, Fla. - and ended up in the center of Tropical Storm Beryl.

The storm wrecked much of Connolly's trip. She skipped a graduation ceremony because powerful winds kept her and her daughters from venturing past the beach boardwalk when the storm approached Sunday. She also postponed their drive home Monday as Beryl, downgraded to a tropical depression, continued to dump rain near the Georgia-Florida state line.

"It definitely changed our vacation to unfortunate circumstances that we're not happy with. But you just have to live with it," said Connolly, who at least found the irony of her hometown's name "pretty funny."

Beach lifeguards turned swimmers away from the ocean because of dangerous rip currents from Jacksonville to Tybee Island, Georgia's largest public beach 140 miles to the north. Skip Sasser, who oversees the island's lifeguards as its fire chief, said beach traffic was unusually thin for a holiday. The ocean was declared off-limits to swimmers for a second day in a row.

"It's been raining intermittently, so it's chased a lot of them off," Sasser said. "There was a lot of traffic this morning heading westbound out of Tybee."

Veterans groups, meanwhile, carried out outdoor Memorial Day ceremonies despite the grim forecast.

At Savannah's historic Bonaventure Cemetery - made famous by the book, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" - American Legion members worked through a downpour to make sure its plot for veterans had a small American flag planted by each headstone.

"When we were setting up, I had a different shirt on and I got soaked to the skin. My socks and my underwear probably are, too," said Jim Grismer, commander of American Legion Post 135 in Savannah. "I had so many people trying to talk me into moving it inside. But I said then you can't have the live firing salute and the flag raising."

Aside from ruining holiday plans, the rain was welcome on the Georgia coast for bringing some relief from persistent drought. According to the state climatologist's office, as of May 1, rainfall in Savannah was 15 inches below normal for the past 12 months.

Emergency officials said minor flooding was reported near the coast, but the ground was quickly soaking up the water. And the winds had died down considerably.

"We've needed it for a long time," said Ray Parker, emergency management director for coastal McIntosh County south of Savannah, who said the worst damage came by trees falling on two homes overnight. "We were lucky that we didn't get 3 to 4 inches in 30 minutes. Most of it soaked right in before it had a chance to run off. It fell on an empty sponge."

Florida Gov. Rick Scott said much progress was made repairing Beryl's damage, including removing trees and restoring power to homes and businesses.

"We're very fortunate this did not become a hurricane," he said. "If it had been a couple of months later, we could have had a Category 3 hurricane."

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Associated Press writers Jennifer Kay in Miami and Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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Police: Allegedly drunk pregnant mom left child in car

HOUSTON -- An alleged drunk pregnant 20-year-old was arrested for DWI in front of her child after she tried to get a piercing in north Houston.

It happened on the North Freeway just south of Tidwell. Police say Stephanie Irene Santana, who is seven months pregnant, drove to a tattoo parlor to get a piercing and told the tattoo artist she wanted to know how long it would take, since her baby was waiting in the car.

Employees told police they could tell the woman was drunk and kicked her out of the store.

One employee followed her out and that's when he saw the one-year-old in the passenger seat. He says the woman passed out with the front door of the car wide open.

"I knew she was stumbling. I knew she was on something," tattoo business employee 'Yogi.' "I don't assume nothing and that's why I turned her down."

When police arrived, they found beer bottles inside the diaper bag. They also discovered Xanax. The child was not injured.

Santana faces multiple charges, including child endangerment, DWI and possession of a controlled substance.

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Body dysmorphia takes son's life

From the age of 11, Nathaniel Asselin struggled with body dysmorphia -- a cruel disorder that made him magnify every imperfection he imagined on his face.

The "fiercely intelligent" boy with a keen sense of humor agonized over gelling his hair the right way or staying in shape, but mostly about his skin.

"A shaving nick or a small blemish, or even just a bump under the skin would keep him in front of the mirror for hours, applying small pieces of Band aid to cover up the marks," said his mother, Judy Asselin, a middle school teacher from Pennsylvania.

"The irony, of course," she said, "was that he had a beautiful complexion."

In his teens, Nathaniel's social sphere grew smaller. Dating was "an impossibility," according to his mother. And when he mustered the courage to leave the house, he thought people were looking at him because of his "wrong" appearance.

But after numerous hospitalizations and failed treatments, Nathaniel took his own life somewhere near the family's home in Cheyney, Pa., at the age of 24.

He told his parents throughout the "roller coaster" of his life: "I can't do this anymore," and "I can't wake up in my bed in the morning and do this all over again."

His father, Denis Asselin, a retired French teacher, said they felt "helpless."

Now, his grieving father has embarked on a 525-mile trek on foot to Boston -- "Walking With Nathaniel" -- stopping at hospitals and clinics that were part of his son's painful journey.

As for healing, Asselin, 64, said that if he "puts one foot head of the other" he might get there.

"It was a metaphorically powerful symbol for me -- how to move forward after the most tragic experience," he said.

Nathaniel had dysmorphic body disorder (BDD) -- often called "broken mirror syndrome" -- a form of obsessive compulsive disorder that may affect as many as 1 in 100 people, according to the International OCD Foundation.

The disorder commonly starts in adolescence when children begin to compare themselves to their peers. The obsessions can consume a person's thoughts, harming every aspect of their life.

"They focus on a part of the body -- the nose is too big or the skin is not smooth enough or the hair is not thick enough," said the foundation's executive director Dr. Jeff Szymanski. "For men, you have a group who feel like they are too thin ... the gym rats."

Those with BDD can fixate on their appearance, mirror checking and covering up with hats, scarves or make-up. Some turn to frequent and excessive plastic surgery.

"It goes beyond a preoccupation and the mind can't let go of the obsessions," he said.

They are at 45 times greater risk for suicide than the general population. And because those with BDD don't recognize they have a problem, therapies are often ineffective.

"You have to look at their belief system and get insight in there and go the distance," he said.

Szymanski praised Denis Asselin, who has already raised $50,000 for research, who has turned "adversity to advocacy," a theme of the foundation.

Asselin left Pennsylvania on April 24 and by June 7, he will arrive in Boston, the home of McLean and Massachusetts General hospitals, in clinics where Nathaniel sought treatment.

Nathaniel began to experience OCD compulsions in the fifth grade. A healthy interest in running became an obsession and his weight dropped. By high school, he was spending hours in front of the mirror.

A therapist suggested Nathaniel had BDD. School and the pressures that accompanied test taking were stressful for Nathaniel.

"It was as if the patterns he followed were all dictated by the disorder," said Judy Asselin. "He never felt he could launch a career, as he couldn't go to college. He was brilliant and could have taken anything if he had not had the disorder."

Nathaniel yearned to be an emergency medical technician, "to be a hero, a rescuer," but getting the certification in a timed manner was "unbearable" to him, she said.

Instead, he volunteered to be an ambulance rider, and coached track and worked part-time at Westfield School, where Judy Asselin is a middle school teacher.

"He was a pied piper," said his father. "Kids just loved him and they never knew about his struggle because he never complained."

But Nathaniel's obsessions continued to get worse and medications came with side effects. He was eventually hospitalized at McLean, but ran away, refusing treatment.

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Roger Clemens' catchers back up pitcher at trial

In this Feb. 13, 2008 file photo, former New York Yankees baseball pitcher Roger Clemens, left, listens to the testimony of his former personal trainer Brian McNamee, right, on Capitol Hill in Washington. The New York Times reported on its website Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010, that federal authorities have decided to indict Roger Clemens on charges of making false statements to Congress about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, testified under oath at a hearing before a House committee and contradicted each other about whether Clemens had used the banned substances. (AP Photo / Susan Walsh)

FREDERIC J. FROMMERWASHINGTON -- Two catchers who were teammates of pitcher Roger Clemens said he played with integrity and refused to cut corners, the opposite of the image painted by prosecutors of a man who cheated to gain an edge and then lied about it to Congress.

"I don't think he'd cheat," said former journeyman catcher Charlie O'Brien, who caught Clemens' games for much of the 1997 season with the Toronto Blue Jays. O'Brien portrayed Clemens as such a stickler that he'd refuse to throw scuffed baseballs because he considered it cheating.

The former catcher testified Wednesday he once approached Clemens on the mound during a game with a scuffed ball and said, "This is a great ball to use." He said Clemens responded, "I don't need that."

O'Brien also said he had seen vitamin B12 "shots lined up ready to go" for players, a claim also made by Clemens and for which he was charged with obstructing Congress. The government maintains that Clemens concocted the B12 account as a cover for steroid injections.

During Clemens' trial, prosecutors have asked several government witnesses associated with major league teams whether they've ever seen B12 shots lined up, and all of them have said no. But O'Brien replied "Yes, sir" when defense lawyer Rusty Hardin posed that question.

Prosecutor Steven Durham quizzed him in an incredulous tone about that statement, but the burly O'Brien stuck to his story in a calm, matter-of-fact manner.

In a trial with that's had its share of dry, scientific witnesses, the two ex-catchers provided colorful relief.

O'Brien said the Blue Jays' medical services at the time were very poor and said former Blue Jays head athletic trainer Tommy Craig was a nice guy but "might have been one of the worst trainers." O'Brien also had trouble recognizing Clemens in a Blue Jays team photo and couldn't supply the proper name to the jury for the former New York Yankees pitcher known widely as El Duque. "What's his name, Roger?" O'Brien blurted out toward the defense table, but Hardin laughingly waved Clemens off before he could respond that the player was Orlando Hernandez.

The other backstop was Darrin Fletcher, Clemens' catcher with the Jays in 1998. When Hardin said good afternoon, Fletcher replied, "How we doing?" and frequently called the lawyer by his first name.

He said Clemens was a "big strong man" who set the standard for work ethic.

"Did Roger Clemens ever cut corners?" Hardin asked.

"Cut corners?" he replied with a taken-aback look and a smile. "No."

He gave up some of Clemens' trade secrets as a pitcher. Clemens, for example, would purse his lips on the mound to ask for curveballs.

"You're not making a comeback any time are you, Roger?" Fletcher said. "I'm not giving anything away, am I?" Clemens laughed.

Fletcher said it was important to make sure that batters didn't steal signs, because "the whole integrity of the game is ruined if the hitter knows what's coming."

He also testified that he didn't see Clemens at a pool party at teammate Jose Canseco's house in Florida in June of that season, but Fletcher also said he left the party around 1:30 p.m. A government witness recalled seeing Clemens at the party later in the day. One of the charges against Clemens is that he lied when he told Congress that he wasn't at the party at all.

Fletcher drew more laughter when he said it would have left an impression if he had seen Clemens.

"I've always wanted to see Roger in a bathing suit," he said, and Clemens chuckled again.

Clemens joined the Blue Jays at the age of 34 as a free agent after the Boston Red Sox did not re-sign him following the 1996 season. Boston's then-general manager, Dan Duquette, said at the time that Clemens was in the twilight of his career, but Clemens won the Cy Young Award the two next seasons for the Blue Jays.

In that second season in Toronto, Clemens met strength coach Brian McNamee, who says he injected the pitcher with steroids and HGH and testified that he had the impression the Clemens had used steroids previously. The government used its cross-examination of witnesses Wednesday to reinforce its claim that Clemens turned to performance-enhancing drugs to help his aging body recover more quickly during the physically demanding major league seasons.

The defense called Boston's assistant general manager at the time of Clemens' departure, Steven August, who testified he had recommended the team re-sign Clemens.

"I told Mr. Duquette that Roger was at the top of his game," August said. But in fact, Clemens had gone only 40-39 in his last four seasons with Boston, and had mediocre earned run averages over 4.00 in two of those years. August, who said he was good friends with Clemens, called the pitcher "extremely hardworking," and said younger players couldn't keep up with him during runs.

Amid the flood of testimonials to Clemens from defense witnesses, prosecutor Gil Guerrero at one point told August, "You understand he's not on trial for how great he was in baseball."

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Romney clinches nomination with win in Texas

KASIE HUNTWASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney has won the Republican presidential nomination after years of fighting, though his triumph was partially overshadowed by the celebrity businessman who helped him along the way.

As primary voters in Texas on Tuesday pushed him past the 1,144-delegate threshold he needed to win the nod, Romney was raising money in Las Vegas with Donald Trump, the real estate mogul who has stoked doubts about whether President Barack Obama was born in America.

It's the start of a weeklong push to raise millions of dollars during a West Coast swing as Romney looks to bring in as much cash as possible ahead of a ramped-up campaign schedule later this summer.

"Mr. Trump, thank you for letting us come to this beautiful hotel and being with so many friends. Thank you for twisting the arms that it takes to bring a fundraiser together," Romney told the approximately 200 people who paid thousands to attend the event at the Trump International Hotel. "I appreciate your help."

The Trump event and surrounding controversy overshadowed the Texas primary win that officially handed Romney the nomination, a triumph of endurance for a candidate who came up short four years ago and had to fight hard this year as voters flirted with a carousel of GOP rivals. According to the Associated Press count, Romney surpassed the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination by winning at least 97 delegates in the Texas primary.

The former Massachusetts governor reached the nomination milestone with a steady message of concern about the U.S. economy, a campaign organization that dwarfed those of his GOP foes and a fundraising operation second only to that of Obama, his Democratic general election opponent. He outlasted a half-dozen Republican opponents to clinch the nomination later in the calendar than any recent GOP nominee.

Romney must now fire up conservatives who still doubt him while persuading swing voters that he can do a better job fixing the nation's struggling economy than Obama. In Obama, he faces a well-funded candidate with a proven campaign team in an election that will be heavily influenced by the economy.

Romney will continue his push to raise money with fundraisers this week in wealthy California enclaves like Hillsborough, near San Francisco, and Beverly Hills. He has at least one major fundraising event every day for the rest of the week, as well as a series of smaller events.

But the focus Tuesday was on Trump, who once led polls of GOP primary voters. He endorsed the former Massachusetts governor just before the February Nevada caucuses, offering his support at a morning endorsement event in ballroom in the hotel that bears his name. In the same room Tuesday night for the fundraiser, Trump introduced Romney. He steered clear of the "birther" issue as he spoke to donors, though just hours earlier he had repeated his doubts about the authenticity of the birth certificate that shows Obama was born in Hawaii.

"A lot of people do not think it was an authentic certificate," Trump told CNN of Obama's birth certificate. Such allegations have been repeatedly proven false. The state of Hawaii recently re-affirmed that Obama was born there.

Trump's comments, repeated in several media interviews Tuesday, overshadowed Romney's attempts to focus on failed stimulus projects and federal money given to companies like Solyndra, the green energy company that received millions from the government only to go bankrupt.

Romney hasn't condemned Trump's assertions. On Monday night, he told reporters aboard his campaign plane that Trump is entitled to his opinion. Even as Trump-related criticism from Democrats and Republicans intensified in recent days, Romney showed no sign of distancing himself from the polarizing figure.

"I don't agree with all the people who support me. And my guess is they don't all agree with everything I believe in," Romney said. "But I need to get 50.1 percent or more."

Trump remains popular among the conservative base and boasts ties to deep-pocketed donors. He has recorded automated phone calls for Romney, hosted a fundraiser with Romney's wife, Ann, in New York, and pressed the candidate's case as a television surrogate.

The Obama campaign released a video Tuesday criticizing what it considers Romney's unwillingness to stand up to Trump and the more extreme elements in his party.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, once a rival for the GOP nomination and now a Romney supporter, suggested that the Trump issue will not derail Romney's campaign.

"Gov. Romney's not distracted. The Republican Party's not distracted," said Gingrich, who attended the Trump fundraiser. "We believe that this is an American-born job-killing president. Other people may believe that he was born somewhere else and still kills jobs."

Gingrich was one in a series of rivals who challenged Romney during the prolonged primary fight.

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Countries expel diplomats in protest of Syria

BASSEM MROUETURKEY -- Turkey and Japan expelled Syrian diplomats on Wednesday, joining the U.S. and several other nations in protesting a weekend massacre of more than 100 people in Syria, including women and children.

The move came as Syrian forces bombarded rebel-held areas in the same province where the Houla killings occurred, although no casualties were immediately reported, activists said.

Survivors blamed pro-regime gunmen for at least some of the carnage in Houla as the killings reverberated inside Syria and beyond, further isolating President Bashar Assad and embarrassing his few remaining allies. The Syrian government denied its troops were behind the killings and blamed "armed terrorists."

The U.N.'s top human rights body planned to hold a special session Friday to address the massacre.

Damascus had said it would conclude its own investigation into the Houla deaths by Wednesday but it was not clear if the findings would be made public.

The Houla killings prompted Western nations to expel Syrian diplomats in a coordinated protest, with the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria ordering top Syrian diplomats to leave on Tuesday.

Syria's state-run media on Wednesday denounced the diplomatic expulsions, which began Tuesday with announcements by the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria, as "unprecedented hysteria."

Turkey, Syria's neighbor and a former close ally, joined the coordinated protest on Wednesday. Turkey has been among the most outspoken critics of the Assad regime. It closed its embassy in Damascus in March and withdrew the ambassador. Its consulate in Aleppo remains open.

The Foreign Ministry said it ordered the Syrian charge d'affaires and other diplomats at the Syrian embassy in Ankara to leave the country within 72 hours. The consulate in Istanbul will remain open for consular duties only.

The Foreign Ministry said it also reduced the number of its personnel in the consulate in Aleppo, Syria, on Wednesday.

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said new unspecified sanctions might be imposed against Syria in the coming days. The world "cannot remain silent in the face of such a situation," he said.

Japan also ordered the Syrian ambassador in Tokyo to leave the country because of concerns about violence against civilians. Japan's foreign minister, Koichiro Genba, said his country was not, however, breaking off diplomatic ties with Syria.

The announcements came a day after the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria ordered top Syrian diplomats to leave.

Syria's ally, Russia, criticized the diplomatic moves.

"The banishment of Syrian ambassadors from the capitals of leading Western states seems to us to be a counterproductive step," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said. He said the move closes "important channels" to influence Syria.

U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan met with Assad on Tuesday in Damascus to try to salvage what was left of his peace plan, which since being brokered six weeks ago has failed to stop any of the violence on the ground.

The Al-Baath daily, the mouthpiece of Assad's Baath Party, said Syria won't be intimidated by such "violent rhythms" and would remain standing in front of such "ugly, bloody and dramatic shows." It added that "Syria will not tremble as they think."

The government's Al-Thawra newspaper also blasted the Western decision, calling it an "escalation that aims to besiege Annan's plan and enflame a civil war."

Tensions have escalated as more information emerges about the May 25 killings in Houla.

The U.N.'s human rights office said most of the 108 victims were shot execution-style at close range, with fewer than 20 people cut down by regime shelling.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said there are strong suspicions that pro-Assad fighters were responsible for some of the killings, casting doubt on allegations that "third elements" - or outside forces - were involved, although he did not rule it out.

On Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said a committee comprising the ministries of justice, defense and interior was set up to investigate the massacre and would have the job done within three days.

Meanwhile, activists said Syrian troops shelled restive suburbs of Damascus and rebel-held areas in the central city of Homs on Wednesday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees said at least five people were killed in the Damascus suburb of Douma. Both groups had no details about casualties in Homs, which is the provincial capital of the province that includes Houla.

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Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Albert Aji contributed to this report from Damascus, Syria.

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Deals with banks stack fees on college students

DANIEL WAGNERWASHINGTON -- It took Mario Parker-Milligan less than a semester to decide that he was paying too many fees to Higher One, the company hired by his college to pay out students' financial aid on debit cards.

Four years after he opted out, his classmates still face more than a dozen fees - for replacement cards, for using the cards as all-purpose debit cards, for using an ATM other than the two on-campus kiosks owned by Higher One.

"They sold it as a faster, cheaper way for the college to get students their money," said Parker-Milligan, 23, student body president at Lane Community College in Eugene, Ore. "It may be cheaper for the college, but it's not cheaper for the students."

As many as 900 colleges are pushing students into using payment cards that carry hefty costs, sometimes even to get to their financial aid money, according to a report to be released Wednesday by a public interest group.

Colleges and banks rake in millions from the fees, often through secretive deals and sometimes in apparent violation of federal law, according to the report, an early copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.

More than two out of five U.S. higher-education students - more than 9 million people - attend schools that have deals with financial companies, says the report, written by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Higher Education Fund.

The fees add to the mountain of debt many students already take on to get a diploma. U.S. student debt tops $1 trillion, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Student loans have surpassed credit cards as the biggest source of unsecured debt in America, according to the CFPB, which regulates cards and private student lenders.

Among the fees charged by Higher One, according to its website, is a $50 "lack of documentation fee" for students who fail to submit certain paperwork. The U.S. Department of Education called the charging of such fees "unallowable" in guidance to financial aid officers issued last month.

Higher One founder and Chief Operating Officer Miles Lasater said in an email that the company takes compliance with the government's rules "very seriously," and officially swears that to the government each year.

"We are committed to providing good value accounts that are designed for college students," he said, and students must review the company's fee list when they sign up for an account. He cited a study commissioned by Higher One that declared Higher One "a low-cost provider for this market." The same study found that the median fees charged to the 2 million students with Higher One accounts totaled $49 annually.

Among the fees charged to students who open Higher One accounts: $50 if an account is overdrawn for more than 45 days, $10 per month if the student stops using his account for six months, $29 to $38 for overdrawing an account with a recurring bill payment and 50 cents to use a PIN instead of a signature system at a retail store.

Higher One has agreements with 520 campuses that enroll more than 4.3 million students, about one-fifth of the students enrolled in college nationwide, according to public filings and the U.S. PIRG report. Wells Fargo and US Bank combined have deals with schools that enroll 3.7 million, the report says.

Lane Community College's president, Mary Spilde, said in an interview that the real problem is a "lack of adequate public funding," which forces students to seek financial aid and colleges to find ways to cut costs.

"Many institutions are looking at ways to streamline and to do things that we're good at, which is education and learning, and not banking," Spilde said.

Programs like Higher One's shift the cost of handing out financial aid money from universities, which no longer have to print and mail checks, to fee-paying students, said Rich Williams, the report's lead author.

"For decades, student aid was distributed without fees," Williams said. "Now bank middlemen are making out like bandits using campus cards to siphon off millions of student aid dollars."

Students can opt out of the programs and choose direct deposit or paper checks to receive their college aid, but relatively few do. The cards and accounts are marketed aggressively using college letterhead and websites carrying the endorsement of colleges. Higher One also warns students that it will take extra days if they choose direct deposit or a paper check.

In the end, students feel locked into accounts before they have a chance to shop for a better deal, Parker-Milligan said.

He said that's especially tough for poor students who rely on food stamps and other social services. Those students budget down to the penny, and don't plan on paying a fee when Higher One's ATM runs out of cash, he said.

Offerings by financial companies vary by campus. Some issue checking accounts with debit cards. Others offer prepaid debit cards, which are similar to bank debit cards but can carry higher fees and offer fewer consumer protections.

Often, students' campus ID cards double as payment cards. At the University of Minnesota, TCF Bank issues cards that serve as school IDs, ATM and debit cards, library cards, security cards, health care cards, phone cards, and stored-value cards for vending machines, the report said. TCF also has branches on campus and 25-year naming rights to the football stadium. Its cards charge similar fees, the report says.

Having such visibility on campus is a big benefit for banks seeking exclusive access to an untapped group of potential customers. Many banks are willing to pay universities for the privilege.

Under its contract with Huntington Bank, Ohio State University will receive $25 million over 15 years, plus a sweetener of $100 million in loans and investments for the neighborhoods around campus, the report said. Florida State receives a portion of every ATM fee paid by a student, it says.

It's difficult to get a full picture of how much money the schools are getting because most of them refuse to release their contracts with banks. Only a handful were available to the authors of the report.

Ohio State and Florida State did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The National Association of College and University Business Officers, a trade group involved in the issue, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Lane Community College receives no payments under its contract with Higher One, Spilde said. Lasiter said Higher One does not "offer revenue sharing" to colleges that it partners with. However, Higher One does pay some universities under existing contracts, according to the U.S. PIRG report.

Campus card deals have become more popular in part because of recent legal changes that cut into the profits banks can generate from students.

A 2009 law banned credit cards given to students who had no way of repaying. It forced colleges to disclose deals with credit card companies and stopped some forms of marketing, such as offering students free gifts in exchange for obtaining a credit card.

Until recently, banks also made a lot more money from student loans. They extended federal aid to students, and also offered confusingly similar, higher-cost private loans alongside the government programs. Congress cut them out of the equation in 2010.

Neither change affected debit cards. As the recession forced states to slash higher education budgets, companies such as Higher One, Wells Fargo and US Bank approached colleges with an attractive proposition: The companies would assume the cost and hassle of handing out student aid funds, often paying for the privilege.

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