'Rot' in Air Force nuclear watch

8 May 2013 Last updated at 15:44 ET

The US Air Force has stripped 17 officers of the authority to control nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, US media have reported.

The unprecedented action was taken in April, after the unit's deputy commander wrote in an email the programme was suffering "rot".

The story was first reported by the Associated Press.

The Air Force's top official told a Senate hearing that the revelation shows it has strengthened inspections.

Michael Donley, the Air Force secretary, said he was confident that the nuclear missile force was secure.

24-hour watch

In an email initially obtained by the AP, Lieutenant Colonel Jay Folds wrote that drastic action was needed because "we didn't wake up" after an underwhelming inspection the month before.

The 91st Operations Group at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, the unit responsible for 15 Minuteman III missile launch control centres, received an satisfactory review overall in March.

But the unit received the equivalent of a D grade on the test of its mastery of the missile launch operations.

Continue reading the main story

Minuteman launch crews have long been marginalised and demoralised by the fact that the Air Force's culture and fast-track careers revolve around flying planes"

End Quote Bruce Blair Former ICBM officer

Lt Col Folds also complained of unwarranted questioning of orders by launch crews and the failure of more senior officers to report infractions.

"We're discovering such rot in the crew force," he wrote, that the unit was accepting violations of safety rules and code compromises "all in the name of not inconveniencing yourselves".

The 17 officers were removed from duty of 24-hour shifts watching over nuclear missiles that can strike targets across the globe. Inside each underground launch control capsule, two officers stand "alert" at all times, ready to launch an ICBM upon presidential order.

The Air Force said the lapses never put the security of the nuclear force at risk and that the officers pulled from the watch will receive more training. They are expected to return to normal duty within two months.

The service has removed officers from nuclear authority before, but never so many at one time.

The move comes after a 2008 Pentagon report excoriated the Air Force for a series of blunders, including a bomber's mistaken flight across the country armed with nuclear-tipped missiles.

The top civilian and military leaders of the Air Force resigned over the report.

It had taken numerous steps since then to improve the force's nuclear performance.

Deep malaise

At a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Mr Donley said the launch control officers were relatively junior in rank and needed to be reminded continually of the importance of "this awesome responsibility".

The Air Force's chief of staff also endorsed the handling of the situation by Minot Air Force base officials and said it had been "more of an attitude problem than a proficiency problem".

But at least one senator was not calmed by official assurances. Illinois Democrat Richard Durbin, chairman of the Senate appropriations defence subcommittee, expressed outrage, saying the AP report revealed a problem that "could not be more troubling".

Bruce Blair, who served as an Air Force ICBM launch control officer in the 1970s and is a co-founder of nuclear weapons elimination group Global Zero, said the email points to a broader problem.

"The nuclear air force is suffering from a deep malaise caused by the declining relevance of their mission since the Cold War's end over 20 years ago," Mr Blair said.

"Minuteman launch crews have long been marginalised and demoralised by the fact that the Air Force's culture and fast-track careers revolve around flying planes, not sitting in underground bunkers baby-sitting nuclear-armed missiles."

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Jodi Arias convicted of murder

8 May 2013 Last updated at 18:39 ET

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Jodi Arias wept quietly as the verdict was read out

A California woman has been found guilty of premeditated murder in the shooting and stabbing death of her boyfriend in his Arizona home in 2008.

A jury found Jodi Arias, 32, planned the killing of Travis Alexander, 30, a motivational speaker and salesman.

Initially blaming the killing on intruders, Arias later said she had killed him in self-defence.

Arias wept quietly as the verdict was read. She faces either life in prison or the death penalty.

The jury deliberated for 15 hours over three days after hearing closing arguments on Friday.

Testifying for 18 days in her own defence, Arias said she was too scared and ashamed to tell the truth at the time of the killing but insisted she was not lying to jurors. She has spent four years in prison.

Shifting story

The case, with its attractive victim and defendant and salacious testimony of sex and violence, has gained an outsized media interest in the US since the trial began in January.

Alexander's body was found in the shower of his suburban Phoenix, Arizona home in June 2008. He had been shot in the forehead and stabbed multiple times, his throat slashed.

Arias initially denied any involvement, telling authorities masked intruders had killed Alexander.

But she later said Alexander attacked her following a series of sexual encounters that day, slamming her onto a tile floor. She said she escaped and shot him in self-defence using a gun he kept on a shelf.

She said she had no memory of stabbing him, but acknowledged she had tried to clean the crime scene.

During the trial, prosecutors portrayed Arias as manipulative and jealous.

'Slaughter'

Juan Martinez accused her of planning every detail of the crime, including bringing a pistol, never recovered, to his home from California. He said she had rented a car, removed its licence plate and carried gasoline cans to fuel her car on the journey to Phoenix.

"Nothing indicates that this is anything less than a slaughter," he told jurors during closing arguments.

Defence lawyers said Arias had suffered physical and emotional abuse at Alexander's hands. Arias said he had made her feel "like a prostitute" but said she continued to have sex with him despite the alleged abuse.

Her lawyer Kirk Nurmi argued she had snapped in the "sudden heat of passion" after Alexander attacked her.

A psychologist testified for the defence that her memory lapses stemmed from post-traumatic stress as a result of Alexander's alleged abuse and the killing itself.

The case now enters a second phase, with the same jury deciding whether the murder was "especially cruel, heinous and depraved".

The outcome of that portion of the trial will affect Arias' sentence.

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Nun guilty of nuclear site break-in

8 May 2013 Last updated at 20:42 ET

An elderly Catholic nun and two peace activists have been convicted for damage they caused while breaking into a US nuclear defence site.

Sister Megan Rice, 83, Michael Walli, 64, and Greg Boertje-Obed, 56, admitted cutting fences and entering the Y-12 site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which processes and stores uranium.

The incident last July prompted security changes.

Sister Megan said she only regretted having waited 70 years to take action.

A jury deliberated for two and a half hours before reaching its verdict. The three face up to 20 years in prison after their conviction for sabotaging the plant, which was first constructed during the Manhattan Project that developed the first nuclear bomb.

The three, who belong to the group Transform Now Plowshares, were also found guilty of causing more than $1,000 (£643) of damage to government property, for which they could face up to 10 years in prison.

Walli and Boertje-Obed, a house painter, testified in their own defence, telling jurors they had no remorse for their actions.

Sister Megan stood and smiled as the verdict was read out at a court in Knoxville, Tennessee. Supporters in the courtroom gasped and wept and sang a hymn as the judge left.

The break-in disrupted operations at Oak Ridge and reportedly caused more than $8,500 of damage.

Continue reading the main story

Our actions were providing real security and exposing false security"

End Quote Greg Boertje-Obed

"We are a nation of laws," prosecutor Jeffrey Theodore said during closing arguments. "You can't take the law into your own hands and force your views on other people."

But defence lawyers said the break-in was symbolic and was not intended to hurt the facility, and officials have acknowledged the protesters never got near nuclear material.

"The shortcomings in security at one of the most dangerous places on the planet have embarrassed a lot of people," said lawyer Francis Lloyd.

"You're looking at three scapegoats behind me."

'Ineptitude'

Sister Megan said her only regret was waiting so long to stage her protest. "It is manufacturing that which can only cause death," she said.

In a statement to the court, Boertje-Obed said: "Nuclear weapons do not provide security. Our actions were providing real security and exposing false security."

The three activists admitted cutting the fence to get into the site, walking around, spray-painting words, stringing out crime scene tape and chipping a wall with hammers. They spent two hours inside.

They also sprayed the exterior of the complex with baby bottles containing human blood.

When a guard approached, they offered him food and started singing.

After the activists' action, Congress and the energy department investigated the facility and found "troubling displays of ineptitude" there.

Top officials were reassigned, including at the National Nuclear Security Administration.

WSI, the company providing security at the site, was dismissed and other officers were sacked, demoted or suspended.

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Enron chief set for reduced sentence

8 May 2013 Last updated at 21:02 ET

The former chief executive of Enron could be released from prison nearly a decade earlier than expected.

Jeffrey Skilling presided over Enron when it became embroiled in one of the biggest corporate frauds in US history.

Mr Skilling's 24-year sentence could come down to 14, now that he has agreed to stop appealing against his conviction.

Thousands of workers lost their jobs and retirement savings when Enron collapsed in 2001.

The agreement between Mr Skilling and federal prosecutors would also allow more than $40m seized from him to be distributed to the victims of the Enron fraud.

"The proposed agreement brings certainty and finality to a long painful process," Mr Skilling's lawyer Daniel Petrocelli said in a statement.

"Although the recommended sentence for Jeff would still be more than double any other Enron defendant, all of whom have long been out of prison, Jeff will at least have the chance to get back a meaningful part of his life," he added.

The agreement is subject to court approval and recommends that Mr Skilling be re-sentenced to between 14 and 17-and-a-half years, including time already served. He has been in prison since December 2006.

Corporate collapse

Mr Skilling worked for Enron for 20 years and was chief executive for just six months, leaving the company four months before bankruptcy.

A jury in Houston, Texas convicted him in May 2006 on 19 counts of securities fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors.

The jury also found Mr Skilling's predecessor as chief executive, Kenneth Lay, guilty of fraud and conspiracy. Mr Lay died in July 2006.

Enron's former chief financial officer, Andrew Fastow, testified against both Mr Skilling and Mr Lay and was sentenced to six years in prison.

He was released in December 2011. He declined to comment on Mr Skilling's re-sentencing.

Enron was part of a series of corporate accounting scandals at the turn of the century that led directly to a raft of reforms, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

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Harry to begin seven-day US visit

9 May 2013 Last updated at 01:49 ET

Prince Harry begins a seven-day visit to the United States later, starting with a trip to Washington and an engagement with a landmine clearance charity supported by his mother, Diana.

During the trip, which will also move on to New York, Harry will attend the Warrior Games, a sporting championship for injured servicemen and women.

He will also support British interests and promote his own charities.

It is his first return to the US since being pictured naked in Las Vegas.

The pictures of Prince Harry and a young woman naked appeared in 2012 after he had reportedly been playing "strip billiards" after inviting friends back to his hotel room for a private party.

Ahead of this latest trip, the prince's private secretary said Harry wanted to highlight "once again the extraordinary commitment and sacrifice of our injured servicemen and women - our wounded warriors."

Continue reading the main story

When Prince Harry last visited America, he played strip billiards with strangers and was photographed naked at a Las Vegas hotel.

This time, a fully-clothed prince will once again attract attention in a country which dispensed with the institution he represents centuries ago, but which remains fascinated by it.

His high profile visit comes at a time when the talk is of the Queen reducing her workload and of others stepping up to the mark. Harry, the soldier prince, will - with his brother - help to fashion the future direction of the monarchy.

In Washington, he'll support a cause embraced by his late mother - landmines. When Diana called for an international ban, seven months before she died, a Tory minister accused her of being a "loose cannon".

The princess's son has vowed to finish the work of someone, he said, "had more guts than anybody else".

Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton said: "Although a prince, Harry is also an operational soldier - indeed he's a soldier's soldier - therefore throughout this briefing the recurring theme is to help recognise and bring a spotlight on to the work being done to help these outstanding young men and women."

In Washington, the prince will visit Capitol Hill and view a photography exhibition staged by the anti-landmine organisation the Halo Trust.

Harry is patron of the trust's 25th anniversary appeal and will be escorted around the display, which features images of landmine victims, workers clearing ordnance and former landmine sites, by Senator John McCain.

The exhibition is on display at the Russell Senate Rotunda, and will open to the public on Friday.

Later on Thursday the prince will attend a reception at the residence of Sir Peter Westmacott, Britain's ambassador to the US, followed by a dinner.

The tour will also take Harry to New York, where he will support the Great Campaign, a government initiative which promotes the UK around the world on the back of the success of the Diamond Jubilee and London 2012.

Harry will also attend a baseball event as he promotes a sports programme involving his Royal Foundation.

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Doubt cast on study of lead in rice

9 May 2013 Last updated at 04:38 ET By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News

Tests indicating that rice imported to the US contained high levels of lead have been cast into doubt.

At a conference in April, researchers reported that commercially available rice contained many times more lead than US food authorities deemed safe.

The findings sparked international concern over imported rice.

But preliminary independent checks on the findings have failed to replicate the results, and tests suggest the equipment used may have been to blame.

The initial findings, revealed at a meeting of the American Chemical Society, reported on tests of rice imported to the US from eight nations.

The team, led by Tsanangurayi Tongesayi of Monmouth University in New Jersey, US, analysed rice using a technique called X-ray fluorescence.

Continue reading the main story

Dr Tongesayi's reported results stand out as being orders of magnitude higher than normal"

End Quote Alex Waugh UK Rice Association

Researchers claimed to have found levels of lead exceeding by a factor between 20 and 40 the "provisional total tolerable intake" for adults, set by the US Food and Drug Administration. Their report suggested that untreated wastewater used in irrigation was a likely cause.

Media reports, including that by BBC News, have caused concern internationally, prompting two members of the European Parliament to raise the issue formally and a follow-up study by the Dutch food safety authority NVW.

However, attempts to replicate the results have found levels far below those initially reported - between 6 and 12 parts per million (6,000 to 12,000 parts per billion).

Dr Tongesayi's team sent samples to another laboratory for analysis using a different technique - that study recorded levels below one part per million.

The team then put on hold planned publication of the findings in the Journal of Environmental Science and Health, for what Dr Tongesayi told BBC News was a "data verification exercise". The American Chemical Society was asked to remove the press release on the work from its website.

"The most important issue for me at this point is to make sure the data is accurate," Dr Tongesayi told BBC News in late April. "If it is not accurate, we will obviously not publish the paper."

The team subsequently sent the instrument used in the study back to its manufacturer, which has since reported that the machine has calibration problems.

The Dutch authorities' independent study of 26 samples of rice imported from Asian nations found average levels of seven parts per billion - a thousandth of those found in the original study - and with no samples above the EU limit of 200 parts per billion.

Dr Tongesayi's findings also stand in stark contrast to prior published research on lead in rice, most of which have been established using a technique called mass spectrometry, which allows for more precision.

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said in a blog post that "even where the soil is contaminated with a lead spill, a number of studies have shown that rice plants do not take up a significant amount of lead and move it to the grains".

Alex Waugh of the UK's Rice Association said that "in terms of work undertaken throughout Europe and the USA on rice of multiple origins, Dr Tongesayi's reported results stand out as being orders of magnitude higher than normal".

"This in itself ought to be enough to raise questions about whether his data are correct," he told BBC News.

In 2010, the European Food Safety Authority published a report outlining analysis of 612 rice samples from the EU, finding average levels of just a few tens of parts per billion.

An extensive study in 2012 by US magazine Consumer Reports, including rice and rice-based products such as rice cakes and drinks available in the US, measured lead levels even lower, with a majority of samples measuring less than five parts per billion.

The Federation of European Rice Millers told BBC News that "there is no published evidence of rice containing the levels of lead of [even] the same order of magnitude reported by Dr Tongesayi, and consequently no evidence of 'harmful levels' of lead in rice on the European market".

Dr Tongesayi told BBC News he was determined to reconcile his initial findings with the outcomes of subsequent analyses of his samples by other means, including the mass spectrometry method.

Sarah Beebout, a soil scientist with the IRRI, said: "I will be surprised if the independent analysis confirms these apparently anomalous results, but that will be a good starting point for scientific discussion and investigation if it happens."

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Official describes Benghazi attack

9 May 2013 Last updated at 06:28 ET

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Gregory Hicks said the US explanation that Benghazi was a spontaneous attack was "embarrassing"

A top US official who was in Libya during the deadly attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi has given the first public account of the event.

Gregory Hicks, deputy chief of mission in Tripoli, said he was "stunned" by UN Ambassador Susan Rice's comments that the attack was spontaneous.

He also told lawmakers he received a phone call from US Envoy Christopher Stevens, just before he died.

Three other Americans were killed in the attack on 11 September 2012.

Continue reading the main story

"Start Quote

My jaw dropped and I was embarrassed"

End Quote Gregory Hicks on his reaction to Susan Rice's comments

During several hours of emotional testimony before a House of Representatives committee on Wednesday, Mr Hicks described the moment he was informed of the attack.

He said he was in Tripoli watching TV when he received a phone call from Ambassador Stevens.

"Greg, we're under attack," the ambassador reportedly told Mr Hicks by telephone before the line cut.

He later received a phone call from the Libyan prime minister informing him of Ambassador Steven's death.

"I think it is the saddest phone call I have ever had in my life," Mr Hicks said.

After the disrupted phone call with Ambassador Stevens, Mr Hicks said he received calls from Libyans using the ambassador's phone who said they had the envoy with them.

Continue reading the main story

At the scene

Suzanne Kianpour BBC News, Washington

---

The Benghazi hearing, billed as sure to be "explosive", was packed.

People lined the walls, including some notable members of Congress not assigned to the committee.

Behind the witnesses sat the mother of embassy attack victim Sean Smith. She has said she blames Hillary Clinton for her son's death.

Since the embassy attack, the incident has been vigorously debated.

Mr Hicks, who was Chris Stevens' deputy on the ground, said he did not speak to UN Ambassador Susan Rice before her ill-fated Sunday chat show rounds where her talking points clashed with his report of a terrorist attack.

But the hearing did not resolve how and why things went wrong.

But Mr Hicks decided not to act on the calls, fearing an ambush.

UN Ambassador Susan Rice has been the focus of outrage from Republicans in Congress, for giving the news media what has been acknowledged as an incorrect explanation for the attack.

She said on a Sunday chat show on 16 September that the attack had grown out of an anti-US protest, while other officials have said they knew at the time it was an organised, armed assault, possibly by an Islamist militant group.

"My jaw dropped and I was embarrassed," Mr Hicks said on his reaction to her interview.

Some Republicans accuse the White House of hiding information about the attack, while Democrats say the issue has become politicised.

The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says Wednesday's testimony will do nothing to dispel Republican concerns that President Barack Obama tried to cover up a terrorist attack in the run-up to a presidential election.

Democrats will continue to say there was no attempt to mislead the public, our correspondents adds.

'Need to evacuate'

At Wednesday's hearing, Mr Hicks expressed frustration with the lack of a US military response during the night-time attack, saying one could have deterred a second assault.

The Pentagon has said nothing could have been done to assist the Americans in Benghazi.

Mr Hicks and two other state department employees criticised an official review undertaken after the attack, saying many people with first-hand knowledge of the event were not interviewed and it focused too much on lower-ranking officials.

The review found that poor leadership and management in two state department teams led to a security plan that was "inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate to deal with the attack that took place".

Mr Hicks told the panel he spoke to people at the State Department and to Libyan officials, and had a conversation with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton around 02:00 on the night of the attack.

"Secretary of State Clinton called me along with her senior staff... and she asked me what was going on. And I briefed her on developments," Mr Hicks told congressmen.

"Most of the conversation was about the search for Ambassador Stevens. It was also about what we were going to do with our personnel in Benghazi, and I told her that we would need to evacuate. She said that was the right thing to do."

The ambassador died of smoke inhalation when he was trapped in the burning consulate building, after armed men stormed the compound.

State department employee Sean Smith and former Navy Seals Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty also died in the attack.

Mrs Clinton angrily defended her handling of the Benghazi raid in a series of hearings on Capitol Hill in January.

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3-D print gun hits 100,000 downloads

9 May 2013 Last updated at 07:05 ET

The blueprint used to produce a 3D-printed plastic gun has been downloaded about 100,000 times since going online earlier this week, according to Forbes.

Defense Distributed told the news site it was surprised by the amount of interest its Liberator gun had generated.

Earlier in the week, the company demonstrated the firearm being fired

But even before any more guns come off the DIY printing presses, there are moves afoot to ban it.

Metal detectors

Californian senator Leland Yee said he wanted a law passed to stop the manufacture of 3D-printed guns.

"I plan to introduce legislation that will ensure public safety and stop the manufacturing of guns that are invisible to metal detectors and that can be easily made without a background check," he said in a statement.

According to Defense Distributed, most of the 100,000 downloads have been in the US, followed by Spain, Brazil, Germany and the UK.

The blueprint has also been uploaded to file-sharing site the Pirate Bay, where it has become the most popular file in the site's 3D-printing category.

Firing pin

It took Defense Distributed eight months to produce the firearm, which was assembled from separate components produced on an $8,000 (£5,000) 3D printer bought from auction site eBay.

While downloading the blueprints may not be illegal, owning a firearm is, according to the UK's Metropolitan Police.

"To actually manufacture any type of firearm in the UK, you have to be a registered firearms dealer (RFD)," it said in a statement.

"Therefore, unless you are an RFD, it would most definitely be an offence to make a gun using the blueprints. It may be legal for an RFD to manufacture a gun this way, as long as they had the necessary authorities."

One of the biggest headaches for law enforcers is the fact the gun is made from plastic - with only the firing pin made from metal.

New York congressmen Steve Israel and Chuck Schumer have sponsored legislation aimed at adding a 3D-printing provision to the US Undetectable Firearms Act, which requires all guns to be detectable.

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Tech girl blocks tweet plot spoilers

9 May 2013 Last updated at 08:00 ET

For people watching on-demand content, negotiating social media before they have watched their favourite show can be fraught.

It inspired American teenager Jennie Lamere to create software designed to stop people finding out the plot lines of TV shows and movies on Twitter.

The 17-year-old's code blocks tweets mentioning pre-set keywords.

Ms Lamere recently won "best in show" at a hackathon in Boston for her design.

She beat professional developers at the TVnext Hack event and now plans to develop her plug-in Twivo commercially.

Favourites spoilt

Ms Lamere came up with the idea the night before the competition and it took her 10 hours and 150 lines of code to complete.

She said that she had grown tired of having her own favourite shows, Dance Moms and Pretty Little Liars, spoilt by mentions on Twitter.

Twivo works as an extension of the Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers and users can specify the keywords they want to block and for how long.

For now Ms Lamere is concentrating on perfecting the Twitter version but said similar software for Facebook was possible.

Since her victory, Ms Lamere has become something of a poster girl for those determined to get more women interested in coding.

Although other women attended the event, all the other 80 competitors were male. Ms Lamere was also the only individual to enter the competition: everyone else worked in a team.

Hackathons are events where programmers, developers and designers compete to design code for innovative new programs in a set time.

Google ambitions

Ms Lamere's success has inspired groups such as the US-based Girls Who Code, which aims to redress the gender imbalance in technology.

According to the organisation, only 12% of computer science graduates are women.

Ms Lamere is due to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York state, in the autumn. She will study software engineering and hopes one day to work for Google.

In his blog, her father Paul Lamere, also a developer, detailed how the win had changed her life, with multiple press interviews, offers of internships and marketing deals.

For now though, her ambitions are more limited.

"Her next life goal is to get more Twitter followers than her friend Andrew," he said.

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Cleveland kidnap accused in court

9 May 2013 Last updated at 09:10 ET

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Ariel Castro was charged with kidnap and rape

The man accused of imprisoning three women for about a decade in the US city of Cleveland has made his first court appearance.

Ariel Castro, 52, is charged with kidnap and rape.

Bail was set at $2m (£1.3m) for each charge of kidnap, a total of $8m. He did not enter a plea.

Mr Castro, handcuffed and dressed in blue overalls, remained silent and looked down while lawyers spoke to the judge.

The police detained two of Mr Castro's brothers, Pedro and Onil, but later said they appeared to have no involvement in the crime.

They instead face misdemeanour charges of drinking in public. Onil Castro also faces an additional drug abuse charge.

The women were abducted at different times and held in Mr Castro's house. One woman, Amanda Berry, 27, escaped on Monday and raised the alarm.

Ariel Castro owned the house in which Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, 23, and Michelle Knight, 32, were held.

Police said the women could only remember being outside twice during their time in captivity, and were then only allowed into the garage.

Continue reading the main story

• Commenting on the media coverage of the case, the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes: "If there is a bigger story here that can lead to systematic improvements in how the Cleveland police handle cases of missing teens and young adults, that deserves coverage as well."
• Slate questions the testimony of Ariel Castro's neighbours: "One possible explanation is that the neighbours are simply caught up in the excitement over a national story unfolding in their backyard, and they're misremembering their pasts because of it."
• Referring to the Facebook account of Ariel Castro, the New York Times' Lede blog says: "None of the posts or photos on his profile hint at the horrifying secret he kept since 2002 in his dilapidated Cleveland home. Nor do they reveal a disturbed mind."

Deputy police chief Ed Tomba said the women were not held in one room "but they did know each other and they did know each other was there".

Emotional homecoming

Ms Berry escaped on Monday along with her six-year-old daughter Jocelyn, who was born in captivity.

A source told the BBC that one of the women was forced to help Ms Berry deliver her daughter, and was threatened with death if the child did not survive.

In a news conference late on Wednesday, authorities said Mr Castro would be charged with four counts of kidnapping.

The charges covered the three initial abduction victims and Jocelyn.

Mr Castro was also charged with three counts of rape, one against each woman.

Police said more than 200 pieces of evidence had been taken from the home where the three women were held captive.

They said interviews with the women had yielded enough information to charge Ariel Castro, and that further charges could be added.

Police say Mr Castro has been co-operating with them, waiving his right to silence and agreeing to a test to establish Jocelyn's paternity.

Ms Knight remains in hospital, while the other two women have been released to their families.

On Wednesday hundreds of people gathered around the DeJesus family home, cheering as Gina DeJesus was brought from hospital.

Ms DeJesus, wearing a bright yellow hooded shirt, was escorted into her home by a woman with her arm around her, giving the well-wishers a brief wave.

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Listen to the moment an officer radioed "we found them, we found them" from the house in Cleveland

Ms Berry and her daughter arrived at her sister's home shortly before midday on Wednesday.

She disappeared in 2003 aged 16, but escaped on Monday with the help of a neighbour who heard her screaming and kicking a door while her alleged captor was out of the house.

When police arrived, they also found Ms DeJesus and Ms Knight in the house.

Ms DeJesus had gone missing aged 14 in 2004, while Ms Knight had disappeared in 2002, aged 20.

Ariel Castro reportedly fled the neighbourhood and was arrested at a nearby McDonald's restaurant, according to local media.

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Marge Simpson 'inspiration' dies

7 May 2013 Last updated at 11:58 ET

Margaret Groening, the mother of The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and the basis for animated matriarch Marge, has died in Portland, Oregon aged 94.

Her death was announced in an obituary notice in The Oregonian, which stated she died in her sleep on 22 April.

Many of Matt Groening's family details went on to feature in The Simpsons, among them his mother's maiden name - Wiggum - and his father's name Homer.

Homer Groening, a World War II veteran and cartoonist, died in 1996.

According to her obituary, Margaret taught high school English before starting a family and was a talented needlework artist.

A spokesman for The Simpsons confirmed her death and said Matt Groening was not available for comment.

Last month the Simpsons creator confirmed that the inspiration behind the show's fictional town of Springfield was Springfield, Oregon.

First broadcast in 1989, The Simpsons is the longest-running animated series on US television.

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New Jersey governor has gastric band

7 May 2013 Last updated at 12:42 ET

The governor of New Jersey, often mentioned as a possible future Republican presidential candidate, has undergone gastric band surgery.

The famously overweight Chris Christie had the operation in February to reduce the size of his stomach, his aide said.

Mr Christie said that he had decided to lose weight for the sake of his wife his four children.

He won praise for his response to Superstorm Sandy, which devastated parts of New Jersey last October.

His effusive praise of Democratic President Barack Obama and federal recovery efforts were not welcomed by his Republican colleagues so close to the election.

He is often mentioned as a possible Republican contender for the 2016 presidential election.

Mr Christie has already said he will run for a second term as governor in November, but denied that thoughts of running for the presidency had led him to have the operation.

"I know it sounds crazy to say that running for president is minor, but in the grand scheme of things, it was looking at Mary Pat and the kids and going: 'I have to do this for them, even if I don't give a crap about myself,'" he told the New York Post.

He went on to say: "I've struggled with this issue for 20 years. For me, this is about turning 50 and looking at my children and wanting to be there for them."

He said the operation, in mid-February, had lasted 40 minutes and he had returned home the same afternoon.

He declined to say how much he had lost since the surgery, but acknowledged it had affected his eating behaviour.

"A week or two ago, I went to a steakhouse and ordered a steak and ate about a third of it, and I was full," he said.

A gastric band, or lap band, operation involves placing a silicone tube around the upper part of the stomach to make it smaller and therefore limit the amount of food the stomach can hold.

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US military sex assaults on rise

7 May 2013 Last updated at 15:23 ET

President Barack Obama has said sexual harassment and assault will not be tolerated in the US military.

His spoke as figures showed reported sexual assaults in the US military rose from 3,192 to 3,374 in 2012.

But as many attacks go unreported, officials estimate the total number of sexual assaults stands at 26,000, up from 19,000 last year.

It comes after the officer tasked with stopping sexual crimes in the US Air Force was charged with sexual battery.

Lt Col Jeff Krusinski, 41, was arrested on Sunday accused of grabbing a woman's breasts and buttocks in a car park in Virginia, police said.

The Air Force has been criticised after a slew of sexual assault cases at its main training centre in Texas.

'Not acceptable'

"If we find out that somebody is engaging in that stuff they have got to be held accountable, court martialled, fired, dishonorably discharged. It is not acceptable. Period," Mr Obama said at the White House on Tuesday.

He said he had spoken directly to Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel on Tuesday about the need to "exponentially step up our game" in addressing the matter.

The Pentagon study on sexual harassment and assaults, released on Tuesday, was based on anonymous surveys.

It will be followed by a series of measures to tackle abuse, the news agency AP reported.

Government officials want to make officers more accountable for what happens under their command, it said.

"Sexual assault is a crime that is incompatible with military service and has no place in this department," said the US defence secretary.

"The DoD needs to be a national leader in combating sexual assault and we will establish an environment of dignity and respect, where sexual assault is not tolerated, condoned, or ignored."

Air Force officials told US media that Lt Col Krusinski had been removed from his post following reports of the arrest.

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin, said the case showed how far the defence department still had to go in addressing the problem of sexual crimes in the military.

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Insanity plea for 'Batman gunman'

7 May 2013 Last updated at 18:16 ET

The man accused of killing 12 people and injuring dozens in the July massacre at a Batman film in Colorado intends to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, his lawyers have said.

Lawyers for James Holmes, 25, said they would ask for the change of plea at a 13 May hearing.

A judge previously entered a not guilty plea after the defence said Mr Holmes was not ready to plead.

Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.

Mr Holmes is charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder in the 20 July attack in Aurora, Colorado. It was one of the worst mass shootings in US history.

The attack took place at the midnight premiere of the newest Batman film in a suburb of Denver.

He is also accused of booby-trapping his apartment with explosive chemical and incendiary devices linked by wires, intended to distract emergency responders from the cinema shooting.

Medical evaluation

If the judge accepts the new plea, Mr Holmes will be moved to a psychiatric hospital where doctors will determine whether he was insane at the time of the attack.

A jury could still find him guilty despite a medical finding of insanity.

Colorado law defines insanity as the inability to distinguish right from wrong, caused by a diseased or defective mind.

Mr Holmes's lawyers have said at hearings and in court documents that they believe the former student is mentally ill. He was being seen by a psychiatrist before the shooting.

The trial had been scheduled for August, but a judge has pushed it back to February 2014. It is unclear if the new plea will further delay the case.

Prosecutors rejected an earlier offer from Mr Holmes's lawyers to plead guilty in order to avoid execution.

In a court filing, they accused the defence of violating a gag order by making the offer public, and argued the defence had repeatedly refused to yield information they needed to evaluate the plea offer.

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Shamed ex-governor wins House race

7 May 2013 Last updated at 21:40 ET

A former South Carolina governor who left office in disgrace after admitting an extramarital affair has won a comeback election to the US Congress.

Mark Sanford defeated Democratic businesswoman Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of a TV comedian, in a special election on Tuesday.

Mr Sanford, a 52-year-old Republican, left the governor's office in 2011 after two terms.

He won 54% to 45%, and Ms Colbert Busch called to concede early in the evening.

"The people have spoken, and I respect their decision," she said in a brief statement on Tuesday evening.

Meanwhile, Mr Sanford was cheered by supporters as he said voters had sent "a messenger to Washington DC on the importance of changing things in that fair city".

The race was competitive, though the district is seen as firmly Republican. No Democrat has represented the district since the early 1980s.

The seat was left vacant when its previous occupant, Tim Scott, was appointed to a vacant Senate seat.

'Sanford fatigue'

Mr Sanford said ahead of the results he would retire from politics if defeated.

"You can go back in and you can ask for a second chance in a political sense once," he said on Tuesday after voting. "I've done that, and we'll see what the voters say."

The former governor, once considered a rising star in the Republican party, saw his political fortunes fall in 2009 when he acknowledged an extramarital affair.

After telling his staff he was hiking the famed Appalachian Trail and disappearing for several days, the then-married governor returned to the state to admit that he had been in Argentina with a mistress.

He was censured by the state legislature and fined $70,000 (£45,000) for the travel expenses - the largest ethics fine in state history. But Mr Sanford defied numerous calls to step down before his term ended in January 2011.

He divorced his wife, Jenny, and is now engaged to the Argentine woman, ex-TV reporter Maria Belen Chapur.

Ms Colbert Busch, 58, is a businesswoman and the sister of television political satirist Stephen Colbert, who raised money for her campaign.

She gained the endorsement of The Post and Courier, a major newspaper in the area, which said she offered "responsible leadership" and was "a welcome tonic" for "Sanford fatigue".

Ms Colbert Busch focused on her business experience during the race, initially refusing to make Mr Sanford's past an issue.

But last week, she reminded voters during a televised debate that Mr Sanford had used taxpayer money to leave the state for personal reasons.

The former governor's attempt at a political comeback was not entirely smooth.

Three weeks before the special election, it was revealed that his ex-wife had filed a court complaint alleging he had entered her house in February without permission, a violation of their divorce agreement.

Mr Sanford said he had been unable to get in touch with her and had been in the house to watch the Super Bowl championship football game with his youngest son. He is due in court on Thursday.

The national Republican party pulled its support from the campaign after the complaint became public.

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Metal star arrested over murder plot

8 May 2013 Last updated at 04:31 ET

The singer of Grammy-nominated US heavy metal band As I Lay Dying has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to plot the murder of his estranged wife.

Police in California said Tim Lambesis, 32, had tried to hire an undercover detective to kill his wife Meggan.

"The information came to us late last week. We acted quickly on it. I believe that we averted a great tragedy," said a police spokesperson.

Lambesis was arrested "without incident" in San Diego on 7 May.

The singer's wife filed for dissolution of marriage last September, according to San Diego Superior Court documents.

The couple adopted three children from Ethiopia together in recent years before separating.

As I Lay Dying, who formed in San Diego in 2000, have sold more than a million albums through the Metal Blade record label.

Their 2007 album An Ocean Between Us reached number eight in the US album chart and featured the Grammy-nominated track Nothing Left.

Last year, the band - who take their name from a 1930 novel by William Faulkner - released their sixth album, Awakened.

According to the band's website, they are scheduled to tour the US with several other metal acts later this month.

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Tributes paid to 'giant' Harryhausen

8 May 2013 Last updated at 04:59 ET

A host of directors have paid tribute to visual effects guru Ray Harryhausen following his death at the age of 92.

Britain's Nick Park said he was "one of the true greats", while George Lucas said that without him, "there would likely have been no Star Wars".

"I loved every single frame of Ray Harryhausen's work," said Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright. "He was the man who made me believe in monsters."

Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans were among his many films.

Harryhausen made his models by hand and painstakingly shot them frame by frame to create some of the best-known animated sequences in cinema.

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He is perhaps best remembered for animating the seven skeletons who come to life in Jason and the Argonauts, a sequence which took him three months to film, and for the Medusa who turned men to stone in Titans.

"I've followed the work of Ray Harryhausen all my life," said Park, Oscar-winning creator of Wallace and Gromit.

"He is one of the true greats, if not the true great of stop motion animation.

"The unique craftsman," Park told the BBC, "has been my mentor and inspiration since my earliest childhood memories."

Fellow Oscar-winner Peter Jackson also paid homage, saying that his Lord of the Rings films would never have been made "without his life-long love of his wondrous images and storytelling".

Steven Spielberg said Harryhausen's inspiration "goes with us forever", while James Cameron said Hollywood's science-fiction film-makers had been "standing on the shoulders of a giant".

Director John Landis described Harryhausen as a "true giant of the cinema" and said his creations were "not only the stars of those movies, but the main reason for those movies to exist at all".

Peter Lord, co-founder of Aardman Animations, described Harryhausen as "a one-man industry and a one-man genre" on Twitter.

He later told the BBC: "What is now done by a team of hundreds... he did this single-handedly for 15 years."

The movies Harryhausen made - which include The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Valley of the Gwangi and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad - are cherished by devotees of film fantasy.

"I had seen some other fantasy films before, but none of them had the kind of awe that Ray Harryhausen's movies had," said Lucas.

The late science fiction author Ray Bradbury, a longtime friend and admirer, once remarked: "Harryhausen stands alone as a technician, as an artist and as a dreamer.

"He breathed life into mythological creatures he constructed with his own hands."

Harryhausen lived in the UK for several decades with his wife Diana and often appeared at fantasy conventions.

In 1992 he was given a special Oscar to honour his work with special effects.

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Police to quiz Cleveland suspects

8 May 2013 Last updated at 05:22 ET

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Neighbours of Ariel Castro speak to the BBC

Police investigating the abduction of three women for about a decade in Cleveland, Ohio, are due to interview three male suspects.

A judge granted them an extra 12 hours to file charges, and they now have until Wednesday evening local time.

Correspondents say police have been put on the defensive by questions over their handling of the case.

All three women are said to be in good health, following their dramatic rescue on Monday evening.

Amanda Berry, who disappeared in 2003 aged 16, escaped with a neighbour's help while her alleged captor was away.

Gina DeJesus, who went missing aged 14 a year later, and Michelle Knight, who vanished in 2002 aged about 19, were also rescued from the property.

Properties searched

A school bus driver, Ariel Castro, and his two brothers - Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50 - have been arrested.

Continue reading the main story

It is difficult to believe that Seymour Avenue could be home to such a crime: a quiet tree-lined street with houses knocked about and sometimes boarded up, a red-brick church and traffic humming back and forth at either end.

But it is the residents and neighbours who are most surprised. Aurora Marti, 75, has lived across from 2207 Seymour Avenue for 27 years. Ariel Castro used to come and sit on her porch and chat with her. He took her granddaughter out for bike rides at a nearby park.

When the nearby area was being dug up in the search for Amanda Berry's remains, he talked to her about it. All the while he is alleged to have held Amanda and two other women just across the road.

Ariel Castro reportedly fled the neighbourhood after neighbours kicked in the door of his house to help the women escape.

He was arrested at a nearby McDonald's restaurant, according to local media.

It is unclear when Castro's brothers were detained.

The reappearance of the women astounded residents of the neighbourhood in which they had been held, but some have claimed police failed to act on their tip-offs.

Police have confirmed a six-year-old girl, Jocelyn, who was discovered along with the women, is Amanda Berry's daughter.

Police say they are planning to conduct in-depth interviews with the suspects on Wednesday, and charges are expected to be filed by that evening - 48 hours after the men were arrested.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg. This investigation will take a very long time," Cleveland police spokeswoman Jennifer Ciaccia told CNN.

Police are carrying out an inch-by-inch inspection of the house at 2207 Seymour Ave and say they are also searching other properties.

Monday's rescue unfolded with a frenzied call to the emergency services by Ms Berry, now 27.

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911 call: "Help me I'm Amanda Berry... I've been missing for 10 years"

She escaped with the help of a neighbour who heard her screaming while her alleged captor was out of the house.

Rescuer Charles Ramsey said he had helped kick in a metal door so that Ms Berry could climb outside, with her daughter, and phone police.

In a recording of Monday's emergency call, she says: "I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years. And I'm here. I'm free now."

She begged for police to come soon, "before he gets back".

Police then arrived to find the two other abductees.

The women were taken to hospital and reunited with their families.

Medical officials said they appeared to be in good health and were discharged from hospital.

Jocelyn was smiling and eating ice lollies, police said, adding that she had been surreptitiously home-schooled by her mother in the house.

FBI Special Agent Stephen Anthony said on Tuesday: "The nightmare is over. These three young ladies have provided us with the ultimate definition of survival and perseverance. The healing can now begin."

Jaycee Dugard, who was 11 when she was kidnapped in South Lake Tahoe, California, and held captive for 18 years before being rescued in 2009, released a statement saying: "As simple as it sounds, these women need the opportunity to have the privacy to heal and reconnect.

Continue reading the main story

• Elisabeth Fritzl: Held by her father for 24 years in Amstetten, Austria; freed after her daughter was taken to hospital and doctors noticed irregularities in her medical record
• Natascha Kampusch: Escaped from a windowless basement in Vienna after being held for eight years; captor killed himself shortly afterwards
• Jaycee Dugard: Held for 18 years in Antioch, California; freed after suspicions were raised about the erratic behaviour of captor Phillip Garrido

"I know individuals are strong in spirit and can be resilient in crisis. I wish them the best in their journey."

Startling details about the close connections between the alleged abductors and the families of the abducted have emerged.

Tito DeJesus, an uncle of Georgina (or Gina) DeJesus, played in bands with Ariel Castro and had even visited the house while the women were being held there.

Ariel Castro's son, Anthony, wrote an article about the disappearance of Gina DeJesus for his local newspaper in 2004.

He has been quoted as saying that it was "unspeakable" to discover the suspected perpetrators were in the family.

'Only two calls'

Neighbours told news organisations they had made multiple calls to police regarding suspicious activity at the house, including sightings of women crying for help.

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Elsie Cintron told the BBC her granddaughter saw a "naked lady crawling in the backyard"

Another neighbour claimed to have alerted police to the sound of pounding on the doors.

Meanwhile, Ariel Castro was allegedly seen taking a small girl for early-morning walks.

In a statement, Cleveland police insisted they had not been alerted to reports also emerging from neighbours concerning sightings of "naked women and women in chains" at the property.

"Upon researching our call-intake system extensively, only two calls for service from police are shown at that address.

"One call was from the resident, Ariel Castro, reporting a fight in the street. The second call was in relation to an incident regarding Ariel Castro and his duties as a bus driver. Police investigated the possibility that Castro had left a child unattended on a school bus.

"The investigation included an interview with Castro; however, officers did not enter the home. No charges were filed in that incident."

But one resident, Lupe Collins, described as close to relatives of the women, said police had failed the victims.

"Everyone in the neighbourhood did what they had to do. The police didn't do their job."

Cleveland police were heavily criticised in 2009 after officers discovered a home in a poor district in which Anthony Sowell had killed 11 women.

Victims' families allege police did not take neighbours' reported suspicions seriously enough.

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Ancient bone-headed dinosaur found

8 May 2013 Last updated at 06:29 ET By Helen Briggs BBC News

Scientists have unveiled a new species of bone-headed dinosaur, which they say is the oldest in North America, and possibly the world.

The dog-sized plant-eater had a dome-shaped skull that may have been used to head-butt other dinosaurs.

University of Toronto researchers say the new species, revealed in the journal Nature Communications, fills in gaps in the dinosaur family tree.

They believe more small dinosaurs like Acrotholus audeti await discovery.

Bone-headed dinosaurs, or thick-headed lizards, are known scientifically as pachycephalosaurs.

Continue reading the main story

We can predict that many new small dinosaur species like Acrotholus are waiting to be discovered by researchers willing to sort through the many small bones that they pick up in the field"

End Quote Dr Michael Ryan Cleveland Museum of Natural History

They are a strange group of herbivorous dinosaurs which possessed a thick-boned dome on the top of their skulls.

The dome may have been used for decoration or to head-butt other dinosaurs in combat.

The new find, Acrotholus, dates back to 85 million years ago.

It was about the size of a large dog, weighed about 40kg (88lb), walked on two legs, and had a skull composed of solid bone over 10cm (4 inches) thick.

Dr David Evans of the Royal Ontario Museum and University of Toronto said the fossil provides a wealth of new information on the evolution of bone-headed dinosaurs.

He told BBC News: "What's interesting about Acrotholus is that it's the oldest known pachycephalosaur from North America, and it might be the oldest known pachycephalosaur in the world.

"So what Acrotholus does is it extends our knowledge of the anatomy of this group early in their evolution - and it's actually important for understanding the evolution of pachycephalosaurs in general."

Relatively little is known about the diversity of small dinosaurs weighing less than 100kg (220lb), as they are under represented in the fossil record.

There has been scientific debate over whether the fossil record is a true reflection of the diversity of small dinosaurs or whether their more delicate bones are less likely to have been preserved compared with their larger cousins.

The Canadian study predicts the latter, suggesting there may be more discoveries of small bodied dinosaur fossils in the future.

"We can predict that many new small dinosaur species like Acrotholus are waiting to be discovered by researchers willing to sort through the many small bones that they pick up in the field," said co-researcher Dr Michael Ryan, curator of vertebrate palaeontology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

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Madonna sells painting for $7.2m

8 May 2013 Last updated at 06:54 ET

A painting by Fernand Leger owned by Madonna has been sold for $7.2 million (£4.7m) in New York.

The singer bought the 1921 Cubist work, Three Women at the Red Table, in 1990 for $3.4m (£2.2m).

According to Sotheby's, proceeds from the sale "will benefit Madonna's Ray of Light Foundation, supporting girls' education projects in the Middle East and South Asia".

"Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen!" said the pop star on Facebook.

Before Tuesday's sale, Madonna said she wanted "to trade something valuable for something invaluable - educating girls".

The sale formed part of a Sotheby's sale of Impressionist and modern art that took more than $230m (£148.6m).

Les Pommes, a still life from by French artist Paul Cezanne, fetched the highest price, selling for $41.6m (£26.9m).

L'Amazone, a portrait of French socialite Baroness Marguerite de Hasse de Villers by Amedeo Modigliani, went for $25.9m (£16.7m).

A Pablo Picasso sculpture of his young muse Sylvette, meanwhile, sold for $13.6m (£8.8m).

Overall the auction failed to live up to last year's event, which saw a version of Edvard Munch's The Scream sell for a world record $119.9m (£77.4m).

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US returns stolen Mongolia dinosaur

7 May 2013 Last updated at 05:50 ET

The US has returned a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton which was smuggled from Mongolia.

The near-complete skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus bataar was handed over to Mongolian officials at a ceremony in New York on Monday.

A Florida fossils dealer in December admitted smuggling the bones, which sold at auction for more than $1m (£643,000).

US officials seized the bones last year after Mongolia said they were stolen.

''We are very pleased to have played a pivotal role in returning Mongolia's million-dollar baby,'' US Attorney Preet Bharara said.

''Of course, that million-dollar price tag, as high as it is, doesn't begin to describe the true value of an ancient artefact that is part of the fabric of a country's natural history and cultural heritage.''

Mongolian Minister of Culture, Sport and Tourism Oyungerel Tsedevdamba said they would be setting up a new dinosaur museum, as "we never had dinosaurs' museum before".

The bones, discovered in the Gobi Desert, were smuggled into the US from the UK in March 2010.

Mongolia has laws that protect fossils - they are the property of the state and their export is banned.

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New Yorker writes King James Bible

6 May 2013 Last updated at 12:26 ET

A New York state man is finishing up his handwritten copy of the King James Bible after four years and 2,400 pages.

Phillip Patterson, 63, began the project after his long-time partner, Mohammed, told him there is a tradition in Islam of writing out the Koran.

"The next day I started researching pens and pencils and paper," he said.

Despite health issues that have sent him to hospital, including Aids and anaemia, he will finish writing the last words at his church this week.

The King James Bible is estimated to be 788,000 words, now all hand copied with a felt-tip pen on watercolour paper by Mr Patterson.

Continue reading the main story

It expands my mind more and more"

End Quote Phillip Patterson

The retired interior designer, who lives in the village of Philmont, says he does not consider himself particularly religious.

But he feels his monkish pursuit has made him more patient, confident and loving.

While he initially toiled for up to 14 hours a day on the project, he now averages six to eight hours a day.

"I hadn't counted on the fact that it would end up being beautiful," said the hard-working scribe. "Or that it would be so exhilarating. And so long."

Mr Patterson - whose partner, Mohammed, died several years ago - says he has discovered something new every day thanks to his project.

"It expands my mind more and more," he said. "Not so I can become more of a religious person, but so that I can become more of a whole person."

He told the Associated Press he especially enjoyed the Book of Ruth, although he did not like the plagues and violence scattered throughout the Bible.

Mr Patterson will finish the final lines of the Book of Revelation during a ceremony at St Peter's Presbyterian Church in Spencertown on 11 May.

His adult daughter will be among guests as he discusses the Bible afterwards with a theologian.

Once the books are bound, the Bible will be given to the church.

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Tsarnaev friend released on bail

6 May 2013 Last updated at 15:47 ET

A judge in the US has agreed to release pending trial a friend of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect who is accused of lying to FBI investigators.

Robel Phillipos, 19, is to be freed on a $100,000 (£64,300) bond provided he wears an electronic monitoring bracelet and is confined to his home.

He and two other friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were charged last week with hindering the investigation.

Mr Phillipos faces up to eight years in prison if convicted.

Meanwhile, a funeral director hired by the Tsarnaev family is searching for a burial place for Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the elder brother of Dzhokhar, as protestors have picketed the funeral home holding his body.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a shootout with police several days after the bombings, which killed three and left more than 260 wounded.

Medical officials in the state of Massachusetts said he died of gunshot wounds and blunt force trauma. Police say Dzhokhar Tsarnaev drove over his brother in a chaotic escape attempt.

Funeral for 'everyone'

Funeral director Peter Stefan has been unable to find a cemetery in Massachusetts willing to accept the remains.

"Everyone deserves a burial," Mr Stefan told Reuters news agency by telephone. "It doesn't matter who it is. I can't pick and choose."

He has said he will ask the city of Cambridge, where the brothers lived over the last decade, to allow Tsarnaev to be buried in a city-owned cemetery.

City Manager Robert Healy said he was urging the family not to make the request.

"The difficult and stressful efforts of the citizens of the city of Cambridge to return to a peaceful life would be adversely impacted by the turmoil, protests, and widespread media presence at such an interment," Mr Healy said in a statement.

Tsarnaev's brother, Dzhokhar, 19, remains in a prison hospital recovering from gunshot wounds. He faces the death penalty if convicted of terrorism charges in connect with the attack.

'No flight risk'

Mr Phillipos is accused of lying to investigators about visiting Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's dormitory at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on 18 April, three days after the bombings.

Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev, two other college friends, have been charged with conspiring to obstruct justice by taking a backpack with the remains of fireworks and a laptop from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's dorm room before the FBI searched it.

None of the three men are implicated in the planning of the bombings.

In court documents, defence attorneys for Mr Phillipos said their client had nothing to do with the attack and was not a flight risk.

According to a resume filed with the court, he was studying marketing and sociology at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, and was expected to graduate in 2015.

But the university has said Mr Phillipos was not enrolled during the current semester.

In letters filed with the court, friends and family members described Mr Phillipos as peaceful and non-violent.

"I do not believe that my beloved Robel crosses the line intentionally to support or assist such a horrendous act," his aunt, Zewditu Alemu, wrote. "By nature he does not like violence."

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Bride among dead in US limo blaze

6 May 2013 Last updated at 16:01 ET

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The limousine was travelling on the San Mateo bridge in San Francisco when smoke started to escape from the back

A newlywed was among five women killed and four injured when a stretch limo turned into a fireball during a bridal party in San Francisco Bay.

Firefighters found five badly burned passengers in the back of the vehicle, which caught light on a major bridge in the city on Saturday night.

Bride Neriza Fojas, 31, was among those who died in the unexplained blaze, her relatives told local media.

The male driver and four other female passengers escaped the vehicle.

The driver was unhurt. One of the women had severe burns while the other three suffered injuries including smoke inhalation, police said.

'Within 90 seconds'

Two of the casualties, a 32-year-old and a 48-year-old, were in a critical condition in hospital on Monday, officials said.

Continue reading the main story

This is one of the most horrific things I've seen in 21 years with this office"

End Quote Robert Foucrault Coroner

The deceased were so badly burned that medical examiners will try to identify them using dental records.

Aerial footage showed about one-third of the back half of the limousine had been burnt out.

It is still unclear what caused the vehicle to burst into flames on the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge at the southern end of San Francisco Bay.

The limo was carrying one more passenger than allowed under the state rules, California Highway Patrol Capt Mike Maskarich said. But he would not comment on whether overcrowding had been a factor in the deaths.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, and the vehicle has not yet been inspected, Capt Maskarich said.

Driver Orville Brown, 46, said one of the passengers had knocked on the partition and complained of smoke in the back of the vehicle.

But he told the San Francisco Chronicle that he initially misheard her, amid loud music from the passengers' compartment, and thought she was asking for permission to smoke.

By the time he realised something was wrong and pulled over, "within maybe 90 seconds", the hired Lincoln Town Car was engulfed in flames, he said.

"I just wish that I could have done more," Mr Brown told the Chronicle. "It's something you never imagine will happen."

The women were reportedly picked up by the limo in the city of Oakland and were being driven across the bridge to Foster City.

They had been on their way to a hotel to celebrate with the husband of the new bride, her sister told the Chronicle.

Neriza Fojas, from Fresno, California, was planning to repeat her marriage vows in the Philippines next month, relatives told the San Jose Mercury News.

San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault was quoted by the Chronicle as saying: "This is one of the most horrific things I've seen in 21 years with this office.

"Looking at it, they were on top of each other and doing what they could to get out."

He said all the women were nurses.

Limo Stop, the firm that operated the vehicle, issued a statement saying it would "do everything possible to investigate and assist authorities in determining the cause of this fire in order to bring forth answers and provide closure to victims and their families".

The San Mateo Fire Department and police are investigating the cause of the blaze.

The coroner said the authorities did not suspect anything criminal occurred.

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New York to sue banks over mortgages

6 May 2013 Last updated at 17:14 ET

New York's attorney general has said he plans to sue major lenders Bank of America and Wells Fargo for violating a $25bn (£16bn) mortgage settlement.

Eric Schneiderman said the two had not done enough to help protect homeowners.

A total of five US lenders agreed the National Mortgage Settlement with authorities last year, designed to reshape lending practices following the collapse of the US housing market.

Bank of America said it would work quickly to address any problems.

"Through March we have provided relief for more than 10,000 New York homeowners through the National Mortgage Settlement, totalling more than $1bn," the bank said in a statement.

"Attorney General Schneiderman has referenced 129 customer servicing problems which we take seriously and will work quickly to address."

Wells Fargo declined to comment.

'Flagrantly violated'

As part of the deal, banks were required to provide relief to homeowners at risk of losing their homes and provide compensation to homeowners whose homes were foreclosed.

Continue reading the main story

What's clear to us is that the foreclosure crisis in New York is far from over"

End Quote Meghan Faux Acting director of legal services in Brooklyn, NYC

Mr Schneiderman said his office had documented hundreds of instances where Wells Fargo and Bank of America had failed to process refinancing requests from mortgage holders quickly enough, putting them at greater risk of foreclosure.

Ally Financial/GMAC, JP Morgan Chase and Citibank are also covered by the settlement, but were not accused of violations by the attorney general.

"The five mortgage servicers that signed the National Mortgage Settlement are legally required to take specific, rigorous, and enforceable steps to protect homeowners," Mr Schneiderman said in a statement.

"Wells Fargo and Bank of America have flagrantly violated those obligations, putting hundreds of homeowners across New York at greater risk of foreclosure.

"I intend to use every tool available to my office to hold these companies accountable under the terms of the National Mortgage Settlement."

He said he had informed the official committee in charge of monitoring the mortgage settlement of his intention to sue.

The committee now has 21 days to decide whether to pursue the case under its own authority.

'Kafkaesque'

Speaking at a press conference in New York, Meghan Faux, acting director of legal services in Brooklyn, said: "What's clear to us is that the foreclosure crisis in New York is far from over.

"It takes us six to eight court appearances over two years to get one homeowner a loan modification."

Homeowner Joyce Harden, a Wells Fargo customer, said she and her husband had been trying to get a loan modification for almost four years, and now the bank was "doing the same thing" to her daughter in Florida.

Josh Zinner, co-director of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, said the level of frustration among homeowners was severe.

"These are not just technicalities," he said, adding that it had been a "Kafkaesque experience for many".

Bad loans legacy

The case is an indicator of how the subprime mortgage crisis is continuing to dog US lenders five years on.

In a separate development, Bank of America earlier announced it had reached a settlement with mortgage insurer MBIA in a dispute over mortgage securities issued during the housing boom.

MBIA suffered big losses when the housing market crashed, and had been seeking damages from Bank of America.

BofA now says it will pay MBIA $1.6bn in cash along with other compensation, will provide the insurer with a credit line of $500m and take a stake of 4.9% in MBIA's holding company.

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Lauryn Hill jailed for tax evasion

6 May 2013 Last updated at 18:24 ET

Singer Lauryn Hill has been sentenced in the US state of New Jersey to three months in jail for tax evasion.

The Grammy-winning singer, 37, also faces three months of home confinement, after pleading guilty last year.

Hill failed to pay taxes on about $1.8m (£1.2m) of earnings between 2005-07.

In a statement to the judge, Hill said she had intended to pay the taxes but could not after withdrawing from public life and ending her music career to raise her children.

Hill has six children, five of whom she had with Rohan Marley, the son of Bob Marley.

"I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them," Hill said in court. "I had an economic system imposed on me."

Hill started her career with Grammy-award winning hip-hop group Fugees alongside Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel.

She released her acclaimed solo debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, in 1998. It won five Grammy awards and sold more than 19 million copies worldwide.

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Senate backs online sales tax plan

6 May 2013 Last updated at 19:51 ET

The US Senate has passed a bill that would impose sales taxes on online retailers, after brick-and-mortar shops called for "a level playing field".

The 69-27 vote to enable states to collect the taxes sends the bill to the House of Representatives, where some Republicans oppose it as a new tax.

Currently, only firms with a physical presence in a state must charge online sales taxes.

States lost nearly $12bn (£8bn) last year in sales tax on online purchases.

A new tax?

The law faces opposition in the House, where anti-tax Republicans hold considerable power, analysts say.

Continue reading the main story

Complying and living under the tax laws of 50 states is a major undertaking"

End Quote Brian Bieron eBay

The law would not apply to retailers with less than $1m in online sales.

The measure is supported by a coalition of brick-and-mortar retailers and industry groups.

Under current law, large brick-and-mortar companies such as Walmart and Target must collect sales taxes on online purchases in all states where they have stores.

But online retailers such as eBay and Amazon are exempt, except in states where they have offices or distribution centres.

However, Amazon has so many distribution centres across the US it is often subject to state sales tax anyway, and so the world's largest online retailer supports the bill.

"With respect to state sales tax collection, Amazon.com has long supported a simplified nationwide approach that is even-handedly applied and applicable to all but the smallest volume sellers," Amazon's vice-president for global public policy, Paul Misener, wrote in a letter to senators sponsoring the bill in February.

Software provision

David French, spokesman for the National Retail Federation, said that as internet sales have grown "it's putting pressure on the brick-and-mortar competitors and it's putting pressure on state and local sales tax revenues".

"It's time for Congress to create a level playing field so that all retailers are treated fairly."

Under the proposed legislation, sales taxes, which differ in percentage from state to state, would be sent to the states where the purchaser lives.

States would have to provide free computer software to help online firms calculate sales taxes.

States would also be expected to establish a single entity to receive internet tax revenue, so that retailers do not have to send it to individual counties or cities.

But internet retailers who oppose the bill say it does not do enough to protect small online-only firms.

They say the onus of different tax laws would still rest with online firms, including small businesses.

"Complying and living under the tax laws of 50 states is a major undertaking because the process of complying with tax law goes far beyond just filling out the right forms,'' said Brian Bieron, eBay's senior director of global public policy.

"You have to deal with the fact that all of these government agencies can audit you and can question you and can actually take you into court and sue you if they think you are doing something wrong."

In the Senate, the law gained supporters from both sides of the aisle. The main sponsor, Senator Mike Enzi, is a conservative Republican from Wyoming.

He worked closely on the bill with Senator Dick Durbin, a liberal Democrat from Illinois.

Lawmakers from three states with 0% sales tax led the opposition. They said firms based in their states should not have to collect taxes for other states.

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Air Force anti-assault boss arrested

6 May 2013 Last updated at 20:42 ET

The officer tasked with stemming sexual attacks in the US Air Force has been arrested and accused of sexual assault in Virginia, police have said.

Lt Col Jeff Krusinski was drunk when he grabbed a woman's breasts and buttocks in a car park, Arlington police said.

The 41-year-old officer has been charged with sexual battery and was released on a $5,000 (£3,216) bond.

The Air Force has been criticised after a slew of sexual assault cases at its main training centre in Texas.

"The victim fought the suspect off as he attempted to touch her again and alerted police," police said after the arrest of the head of the Air Force's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response programme just after midnight on Sunday.

Air Force officials told US media that Lt Col Krusinski had been removed from his post following reports of the arrest.

In the sexual assault scandal at the training centre at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, dozens of female and male recruits said they were sexually harassed or raped by their instructors.

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Missing US women found after decade

7 May 2013 Last updated at 08:59 ET

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A neighbour, Charles Ramsey, tells reporters: "We had to kick open the bottom of the door"

Three young women who vanished in separate incidents about a decade ago in the US state of Ohio have been found alive in a house in Cleveland.

Amanda Berry disappeared aged 16 in 2003, Gina DeJesus went missing aged 14 a year later, and Michelle Knight disappeared in 2002 aged around 19.

Their discovery followed a dramatic bid for freedom by Amanda Berry on Monday, helped by a neighbour.

Three brothers have been arrested in connection with the case.

City officials are to hold a news conference on Tuesday morning.

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911 call: "Help me I'm Amanda Berry... I've been missing for 10 years"

Cleveland police said the suspects are Hispanic, aged 50, 52 and 54, and one of them had lived at the house on Seymour Avenue.

One was named as Ariel Castro, who has worked as a school bus driver.

Police have said a six-year-old was also found at the home. They have not revealed any further details, although a relative of Amanda Berry said she told him she had a daughter.

The women's families reacted with shock and delight at news of their discovery, and many people gathered outside the home where they had allegedly been imprisoned.

"It's been a whirlwind kind of day. It's surreal," said Gina DeJesus' relative, Sylvia Colon. She said the family had never given up hope, holding vigils every year and keeping memorials outside the house.

"We were living every day in the hope she would come home - and she did," she told the BBC.

Ms Colon said the women would now "need to be given some space. They have been away from us for a very long time."

Officials at Cleveland's Metro Health Medical Center said the three women had been released on Tuesday morning.

To cheers from spectators, Dr Gerald Maloney told reporters earlier outside the hospital that the women had been able to speak to staff, though he declined to give further details.

The disappearances of Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus were big news in Cleveland, and many had assumed them to be dead.

Little was made of the disappearance of Michelle Knight, who was older than the other two girls.

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Gina DeJesus' aunt Sandra Ruiz: "She knew we were looking for her"

Her grandmother, Deborah Knight, was quoted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper on Monday as saying that the authorities concluded she had run away.

'Here a long time'

The dramatic events unfolded after Amanda Berry attempted to flee the house when her alleged captor went out.

Neighbour Charles Ramsey said he heard screaming.

"I see this girl going nuts trying to get outside," he told reporters.

He said he suggested the woman open the door and exit, but she told him it was locked.

"We had to kick open the bottom," he said. "Lucky on that door it was aluminium. It was cheap. She climbed out with her daughter."

Both Mr Ramsey and Ms Berry called 911.

In her frantic call, released to the news media, Ms Berry told the operator: "I'm Amanda Berry. I've been kidnapped. I've been missing for 10 years. I'm free. I'm here now."

She identified her kidnapper as Ariel Castro and said other women were in the house.

Continue reading the main story

Mr Ramsey said he was stunned by the developments. He said he had shared barbecues with Mr Castro and never suspected a thing. "There was nothing exciting about him... well, until today," he said.

An uncle, Julio Castro, who has a shop nearby, confirmed his nephew had been arrested, and said Ariel Castro had worked as a school bus driver. The Cleveland school district confirmed he worked for them, but did not give specifics.

In an extraordinary twist, it emerged that Ariel Castro's son - also called Ariel although he now goes by his middle name Anthony - wrote an article about the disappearance of Gina DeJesus for his local newspaper in 2004.

Anthony confirmed to a journalist that he had written about the neighbourhood's heightened concern for safety in the Cleveland Plain Press, and told her that Monday's developments were "beyond comprehension".

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Charles Ramsey's 911 call after he helped free Amanda Berry

"He was stunned that something like this could possible happen," WKYC reporter Sara Shookman told CNN.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson has said an investigation into the "many unanswered questions regarding this case" will be held.

High-profile cases

Ms Berry was last heard from when she called her sister on 21 April 2003 to say she would get a lift home from work at a Burger King restaurant.

In 2004, Ms DeJesus was said to be on her way home from school when she went missing.

Their cases were re-opened last year when a prison inmate tipped off authorities that Ms Berry may have been buried in Cleveland. He received a four-and-a-half-year sentence in prison for the false information.

Amanda Berry's mother, Louwana, died in March 2006, three years after her daughter's disappearance.

Although much is still not yet known about this case, it recalled a series of recent high-profile child abduction cases.

Jaycee Lee Dugard was 11 years old when she was dragged into a car as she walked to a bus stop near her home in South Lake Tahoe, California in 1991.

She was discovered in August 2009, having spent 18 years held captive in the backyard of Phillip and Nancy Garrido in Antioch, some 170 miles from South Lake Tahoe. She had two children.

In Austria, Natascha Kampusch was abducted on her way to school at the age of 10. She was held for eight years by Wolfgang Priklopil in the windowless basement of a house in a quiet suburb of Vienna.

She managed to escape in 2006 while Priklopil was making a phone call. He committed suicide hours after she had fled.

Elizabeth Smart was 14 when she was taken from the bedroom of her Utah home in June 2002 and repeatedly raped during nine months of captivity.

She was rescued in March 2003 less than 20 miles from her home. Her abductor, Brian David Mitchell, was jailed for life in 2011.

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Briton admits US child cannibal plot

7 May 2013 Last updated at 09:17 ET

A Briton faces up to 27 years in an US jail for plotting to kidnap, rape, kill and eat a child, authorities say.

Agents found the basement of Geoffrey Portway's Massachusetts home equipped with a steel cage and a child-sized home-made coffin, in a raid last year.

The 40-year-old had spent months discussing the kidnap and murder online with an American, Michael Arnett.

Portway pleaded guilty to soliciting the kidnap of a child and distribution and possession of child pornography.

His admission on Monday was part of a plea agreement, the US Attorney's Office said. Under the terms he must serve between 216 and 327 months in jail before he is deported to the UK.

Real children

Detectives said Portway used programmes such as Skype to communicate with Michael Arnett over several months, asking him for help with the kidnap and setting out his preferred age range.

They said records of the conversations revealed the two men discussed real children - by name and photo - whom Arnett claimed to know and have access to.

According to US court documents, Portway had solicited several people for help in obtaining a child, including Arnett.

Continue reading the main story

The dungeon was described in detail by Portway in recovered chats as a place he intended to use to keep kidnapped children"

End Quote US Attorney's Office

Police believe he began making inquiries from at least 2010 and was informed that Arnett had previously helped others with such requests and had "experience" with the abduction and sexual abuse of children.

During their web conversations, Portway boasted of his intention to lock children in his basement, referencing scalpels, butchering kits, freezers and castration tools.

Detectives also found material showing that the men had shared child pornography and images of injured, mutilated and dead children.

During last year's raid, federal agents found a locked door in the basement, which led to a second door that opened into a lined dungeon containing the small makeshift coffin.

It was placed close to a steel cage with multiple locks and a steel table top with steel rings at six points, which police believe was designed to restrain victims.

Pornography collection

The dungeon was further kitted out with a chair, a television, and what appeared to be cable access to the internet, officers said.

Outside the room detectives found a chest freezer and an upright freezer, along with some disposable scalpels, butchering kits, and castration tools.

Various computers and digital devices containing Portway's child pornography collection were seized during the raid.

A forensic examination of the material revealed more than 4,500 pieces of child pornography traded with others online - including images and videos which appeared to depict dead children and cannibalism.

Authorities believe Portway was part of a worldwide network of offenders and, in many cases, distributed the material based on the preferences of his contacts.

A spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in the district of Massachusetts said: "This dungeon was described in detail by Portway in recovered chats as a place he intended to use to keep kidnapped children while he sexually abused them and as a place to eventually murder and cannibalise the children."

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Burial wrangle for Boston suspect

4 May 2013 Last updated at 04:44 ET

The search is on for a cemetery to bury Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev as protesters picket the funeral home holding his body.

The director of the funeral home in Worcester, Massachusetts, likened the task to burying notorious mass murderers from recent US history.

Peter Stefan revealed Tsarnaev's death certificate, showing gunshots and blunt trauma as the causes of death.

Tsarnaev's surviving brother Dzhokhar is under arrest for the bombing.

The brothers are accused of planting two bombs near the finishing-line of the Boston Marathon on 15 April. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured in an attack which shocked America.

They are also suspected of later shooting dead one policeman and injuring another.

Dzhokhar, 19, was shot and injured during the police manhunt and remains in a prison hospital. He faces a possible death sentence if convicted.

Three of his college friends have been arrested on suspicion of obstructing police inquiries after the bomb attack.

'Bundy, McVeigh'

Relatives of ex-boxer Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, have been making arrangements to bury his body.

Mr Stefan received the body after it was released by the Massachusetts state medical examiner on Thursday.

Protesters had picketed a North Attleborough funeral home to which it was brought initially, after which Mr Stefan's business received it, in the face of a new demonstration.

"Everyone deserves a burial," Mr Stefan told Reuters news agency by telephone.

"It doesn't matter who it is. I can't pick and choose."

Speaking to AP news agency, Mr Stefan said: "My problem here is trying to find a gravesite. A lot of people don't want to do it. They don't want to be involved with this."

Arguing that everyone deserved a dignified burial, he added: "I keep bringing up the point of Lee Harvey Oswald, Timothy McVeigh or Ted Bundy. Somebody had to do those, too."

Wife declines

According to the death certificate, Tamerlan Tsarnaev died at 01:35 on 19 April from "gunshot wounds of torso and extremities" as well as blunt trauma to the head and torso.

After being hit in a shoot-out with police, he was reportedly run over on the ground by his younger brother as he escaped from the scene in a car.

No motive has yet been established for the bombing.

The family are ethnic Chechen Muslims from Russia who had been living in the US for about a decade, and Tamerlan was drawn to radical Islam.

His wife, Katherine Russell, declined to pick up his body from the medical examiner's office, allowing his relatives to claim the remains instead and arrange for a funeral.

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