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Labels: LifestyleiPhone, iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.At least 19 tourists die in hot air balloon crash in Egypt
Labels: HealthUpdated 2:30 a.m. EST
LUXOR, Egypt A hot air balloon flying over Egypt's famed ancient city of Luxor caught fire and crashed into a sugar cane field on Tuesday, killing at least 19 foreign tourists, a security official said.
It was one of the worst crashes involving tourists in the country already struggling with a decimated tourism industry, two years after the 2011 uprising that ousted former leader Hosni Mubarak.
According to an Egyptian security official, the balloon carrying 21 tourists caught fire, which triggered an explosion in its gas canister, then plunged at least 1,000 feet from the sky. It crashed into a sugar cane field outside al-Dhabaa village just west of the city of Luxor, 320 miles south of Cairo, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The casualties included French, British, Chinese and Japanese nationals, the official said. Two survivors of the crash were taken to a local hospital with critical injuries. Local media reports say the survivors included the pilot.
Bodies of the dead tourists were scattered across the field around the remnants of the balloon. An Associated Press reporter at the crash site counted eight bodies as they were put into body bags and taken away.
Hot air ballooning, usually at sunrise over the Karnak and Luxor temples as well as the Valley of the Kings, is a popular pastime for tourists visiting Luxor.
Tourism is one of Egypt's economic pillars and main revenue of foreign currency.
The site of the accident has seen accidents in the past. In 2009, 16 tourists were injured when their balloon stuck a cell phone transmission. A year earlier, seven tourists were injured in a similar crash.
Americans Targeted for Allegedly Running Underage Prostitution in Philippines
Labels: Business
Arthur Benjamin is sitting at the edge of a small stage, wearing a lavender Hawaiian shirt and nursing a bottle of San Miguel Light beer. The 6-foot-6 mustachioed Texan lazily watches the half dozen or so girls dancing rather unenergetically around the stage's pole.
"I forgot your gift again, it's in the car," Benjamin says to one of the girls on stage, shouting above the pop music blaring from the speaker system.
The small, dingy bar, which Benjamin says he owns, is called Crow Bar. It's in a rundown part of the picturesque Subic Bay in the western Philippines, about a three hour drive from the capital, Manila. Home for 50 years to a United States naval base, Subic Bay has become synonymous with foreigners looking for sex in the long string of bars that line the main road along the coast.
Watch the full story on "Nightline" TONIGHT at 12:35 a.m. ET
The bars in this area are often packed with older foreign men ogling the young Filipina women available for the night for a "bar fine" of around 1,500 Filipino pesos, or just over $35. Many of the bars are owned and operated by Americans, often former military servicemen who either served on the base or whose ships docked here until the base was shuttered under political pressure in 1992.
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Most of the prostitutes working in the bars are indeed 18 or older. But in the Philippines, just a small scratch to the surface can reveal a layer of young, underage girls who have mostly come from impoverished rural provinces to sell their bodies to help support their families.
Benjamin, 49, is, according to his own statements, one of the countless foreigners who has moved beyond just having sex with underage girls to owning and operating a bar where girls in scantily-clad outfits flaunt their bodies for patrons.
"My wife recently found out that I have this place," he tells an ABC News "Nightline" team, unaware they are journalists and recording the conversation on tiny hidden cameras disguised as shirt buttons.
Benjamin said that a "disgruntled waitress" had written his wife on Facebook, detailing his activities in Subic Bay.
"She sent her this thing saying that I have underage girls who stayed with me, that I [have anal sex with them], I own a bar, I've got other girls that I'm putting through high school, all this other crap," he said.
"All of which is true," he laughed. "However, I have to deny."
He sends a text message summoning his current girlfriend, a petite dark-skinned girl called Jade, who he said is just 16 years old. Benjamin says he bought the bar for her about a year ago and while most still call it Crow Bar, he officially re-named it with her last name.
"She needed a place to stay, I needed a place to do her. I bought a bar for her," he says, explaining that she lives in a house out back by the beach.
"You're not going to find anything like this in the States, not as a guy my age," he said as he looked down at Jade. "Ain't going to happen."
Benjamin is the latest target of Father Shay Cullen, a Catholic priest with a thick Irish brogue and fluency in the local language, Tagalog. Through his non-profit center called Preda, he's been crusading against underage sex trafficking in the Philippines for 40 years.
Vatican 'Gay lobby'? Probably not
Labels: WorldSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Benedict XVI not stepping down under pressure from 'gay lobby,' Allen says
- Allen: Benedict is a man who prefers the life of the mind to the nuts and bolts of government
- However, he says, much of the pope's time has been spent putting out fires
Editor's note: John L. Allen Jr. is CNN's senior Vatican analyst and senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.
(CNN) -- Suffice it to say that of all possible storylines to emerge, heading into the election of a new pope, sensational charges of a shadowy "gay lobby" (possibly linked to blackmail), whose occult influence may have been behind the resignation of Benedict XVI, would be right at the bottom of the Vatican's wish list.
Proof of the Vatican's irritation came with a blistering statement Saturday complaining of "unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories," even suggesting the media is trying to influence the papal election.
Two basic questions have to be asked about all this. First, is there really a secret dossier about a network of people inside the Vatican who are linked by their sexual orientation, as Italian newspaper reports have alleged? Second, is this really why Benedict XVI quit?
John L. Allen Jr.
The best answers, respectively, are "maybe" and "probably not."
It's a matter of record that at the peak of last year's massive Vatican leaks crisis, Benedict XVI created a commission of three cardinals to investigate the leaks. They submitted an eyes-only report to the pope in mid-December, which has not been made public.
It's impossible to confirm whether that report looked into the possibility that people protecting secrets about their sex lives were involved with the leaks, but frankly, it would be surprising if it didn't.
There are certainly compelling reasons to consider the hypothesis. In 2007, a Vatican official was caught by an Italian TV network on hidden camera arranging a date through a gay-oriented chat room, and then taking the young man back to his Vatican apartment. In 2010, a papal ceremonial officer was caught on a wiretap arranging liaisons through a Nigerian member of a Vatican choir. Both episodes played out in full public view, and gave the Vatican a black eye.
Pope Benedict XVI
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In that context, it would be a little odd if the cardinals didn't at least consider the possibility that insiders leading a double life might be vulnerable to pressure to betray the pope's confidence. That would apply not just to sex, but also potential conflicts of other sorts too, such as financial interests.
Vatican officials have said Benedict may authorize giving the report to the 116 cardinals who will elect his successor, so they can factor it into their deliberations. The most immediate fallout is that the affair is likely to strengthen the conviction among many cardinals that the next pope has to lead a serious house-cleaning inside the Vatican's bureaucracy.
It seems a stretch, however, to suggest this is the real reason Benedict is leaving. For the most part, one should probably take the pope at his word, that old age and fatigue are the motives for his decision.
That said, it's hard not to suspect that the meltdowns and controversies that have dogged Benedict XVI for the last eight years are in the background of why he's so tired. In 2009, at the height of another frenzy surrounding the lifting of the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying traditionalist bishop, Benedict dispatched a plaintive letter to the bishops of the world, voicing hurt for the way he'd been attacked and apologizing for the Vatican's mishandling of the situation.
Even if Benedict didn't resign because of any specific crisis, including this latest one, such anguish must have taken its toll. Benedict is a teaching pope, a man who prefers the life of the mind to the nuts and bolts of government, yet an enormous share of his time and energy has been consumed trying to put out internal fires.
It's hard to know why Benedict XVI is stepping off the stage, but I doubt it is because of a "gay lobby."
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John L. Allen Jr.
Revisit issue of investigation into police brutality after proceedings end: Indranee
Labels: Technology
SINGAPORE: Issues relating to the investigation of claims of police brutality by former SMRT bus drivers will be dealt with once relevant proceedings are over.
Senior Minister of State for Law, Indranee Rajah, said this in Parliament on Monday.
She was responding to a question by Non-Constituency Member of Parliament, Yee Jenn Jong.
Mr Yee asked whether the attempted retention and confiscation of a laptop, desktop computer and mobile phone belonging to a film maker was in accordance with requirements set out in the Criminal Procedure Code.
He also questioned what the legal basis is for the attempted confiscation.
Ms Indranee said the allegations of police brutality against the former SMRT drivers, which were posted on the website "Lianain Films" on 28 January, are serious allegations.
They are currently being investigated by the Police Internal Affairs Office.
She said notwithstanding these allegations, the drivers have indicated through their counsel that they intend to plead guilty to the criminal charges preferred against them.
Ms Indranee added that it is best that the issue is dealt with after all the relevant proceedings are over.
- CNA/ck
'Crippling' winter storm belts Great Plains region (again)
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Flights in and out of Amarillo International Airport have been canceled
- NEW: Portions of I-40 and U.S. Highways 87 and 187 in Texas are closed
- Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is calling on drivers to stay off the road
- "This storm has the potential to be more dangerous than last week's storm," he says
(CNN) -- Call it winter weather, part two.
Just days after a storm walloped the Great Plains, a second one, bringing with it heavy snow and strong winds, was slamming the region early Monday, forcing airline cancellations and school closures from Colorado to Texas.
National Weather Service forecasters warned the storm was bringing potentially "life threatening" and "crippling" blizzard conditions with freezing temperatures to portions of southeast Kansas, northwest Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle overnight.
All flights in and out of Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport in Texas were canceled until noon on Monday.
"Nothing coming in or out until then at the earliest," airport spokesman Daryl Ware said.
A number of schools districts, senior centers and churches were closed in Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle until at least Tuesday, while some state and local offices were also being temporarily shuttered.
Fearing a repeat of last week's storm that brought more than 22 inches of snow to some places in Kansas, forcing the closure of airports and schools, the governor on Sunday extended a state of emergency declaration to include the new storm.
Kansas City is expecting 9 to 15 inches of snow Monday night into Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service, and officials are calling for residents to stay off the roads.
"This storm has the potential to be more dangerous than last week's storm," Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said late Sunday. "So, we ask you to stay off the road unless it's absolutely critical. If you have to be out, be prepared with a charged cell phone, an emergency kit with food, water, blankets, flares and a shovel."
'Call it a win'
Such forecasts raised alarms throughout the Plains, leading to crowded stores as residents prepared for the storm.
Amanda Roberts, an entrepreneur and blogger in Warrensburg, Missouri, hit the stores ahead of the storm that is expected to start hitting the state by late Monday.
"The snow has everyone stocking up on groceries," she said in a Twitter post. "Fresh produce is basically gone but I got the last gallon of chocolate milk. I call it a win."
Forecasters have upped their predictions for the amount of snow expected in northwest Oklahoma to 8 to 10 inches, with 15 inches in spots. This may be a shock to some, given that temperatures in places reached the mid-60s on Sunday.
"May see 4-6 foot drifts!" wrote National Weather Service meteorologist Rick Smith on Twitter. "Traveling is beyond discouraged!"
In Texas, the Department of Transportation closed portions of westbound I-40 from outside from Amarillo to Albuquerque, New Mexico, because of blizzard conditions.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, meanwhile, closed portions of U.S. Highways 87 and 187 due to overnight white out conditions expected to continue through Monday afternoon.
Salt truck drivers were on standby overnight in Oklahoma City.
"Well, we're pretty well prepared right now. We have 28 trucks loaded, plows on," Oklahoma City Emergency Management's Mike Love told CNN affiliate KWTV.
"We run our emergency snow route. We'll run that until it's free and clear. And if this stuff comes in like they're saying tomorrow, with these high winds, look forward to some drifting."
By early Monday, with more than 9 inches of snow reported in some areas of Denver, airline operations in the Colorado capital were working to return to normal a day after more than 200 of 1,500 flights had been canceled and hundreds more flights were delayed because of the weather, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Up to 19 inches of snow was reported in Jefferson, about 70 miles southwest of Denver.
Rain, flooding the issue in Southeast
While millions will see snow -- including Chicago, where 3 to 5 inches of snow and sleet are expected Tuesday -- rain may rule for the next few days in parts of the Southeast.
In Mobile, Alabama, on the Gulf Coast, residents prepared for the possibility of heavy rains and wind gusts as strong as 30 mph by Monday night.
The rain is part of a band affecting five Southeastern states where flash flood watches are in effect from Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning.
Some areas from Louisiana to South Carolina could see up to 4 inches of rain.
Record-setting February
Kansas City International Airport set a February 21 record of 9 inches of snow, 4 more inches than the amount that fell the same date in 2010. Monday might bring 6 to 10 more inches, forecasters said.
Kansas City is approaching its February snowfall record of 20.7 inches, set in 1960.
The state of Kansas is also still digging out in many places.
Wichita saw its second-highest storm snowfall total on record last week with 14.2 inches over two days, the National Weather Service said.
The town of Russell in the state's middle lay under a 22-inch layer of white by the time the storm roared by.
CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton and Judson Jones contributed to this report.
Michelle Obama makes surprise Oscars appearance
Labels: HealthFirst lady Michelle Obama, on a video screen, announces the winner for best picture along with actor Jack Nicholson at the 85th annual Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2013, in Hollywood, Calif. / Getty
First lady Michelle Obama made a surprise appearance at the Oscars, opening the envelope that contained the name of the best-picture winner, "Argo."
Oscars 2013: Show highlights
Appearing via streaming video from the White House, Mrs. Obama said all of the nominees demonstrated that "we can overcome any obstacle."
Oscars 2013: Press room
She said that message is "especially important for our young people" and thanked Hollywood for encouraging children "to open their imaginations."
The first lady was introduced by Jack Nicholson, who noted that the best picture trophy is usually announced solo.
Mrs. Obama wore a silver, art deco-inspired gown by Indian-born American fashion designer Naeem Khan. It was the same dress she wore for the Obamas' dinner with the nation's governors at the White House on Sunday night.
Oscars 2013: 'Argo' Wins Best Picture
Labels: Business
"Argo" took home the top prize as best picture at the Oscars Sunday night, with first lady Michelle Obama announcing the winner from the White House.
"You directed a hell of a film," co-producer Grant Heslov told director and fellow producer Ben Affleck. "I couldn't be more proud of the film and more proud of our director."
Affleck was snubbed in the directing category but humbly accepted the best picture Oscar as one of the three producers on the film. George Clooney was the third.
Affleck thanked Steven Spielberg and the other best picture nominees and his wife Jennifer Garner for "working on our marriage."
"It's good, it's work," he said, adding, "but there's no one I'd rather work with."
For Full List of Winners
Acknowledging his last Oscar win, as a screenwriter for "Good Will Hunting," Affleck said, "I was really just a kid. I never thought I would be back here."
In the acting categories, Daniel Day-Lewis won the Oscar for best actor, being the first actor to three-peat in that category. As he accepted the award from Hollywood's greatest actress, Meryl Streep, he joked, "I had actually been committed to play Margaret Thatcher. ... Meryl was Stephen's first choice for Lincoln."
He also thanked his wife, Rebecca Miller, for "living with some very strange men," with each new role that he takes on.
"She's the versatile one in the family and she's been the perfect companion to all of them," he said.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Daniel Day-Lewis Gets Laughs With Oscars Speech Watch Video
Jennifer Lawrence won the award for best actress. She tripped on the stairs on her way to accepting her award but picked herself up and made her way to the stage, earning a standing ovation.
"You're just standing up because you feel bad that I fell and that's embarrassing," she said, before rattling off a list of thank-yous and leaving the stage looking slightly stunned.
Watch Jennifer Lawrence's Oscar Tumble
"Life of Pi," which had a total of 11 nominations, was another big winner of the night. Director Ang Lee took home the Oscar for best director over Steven Spielberg and David O. Russell.
"Thank you, movie god," Lee said, accepting his award.
As expected, the film took home the first technical awards of the night for cinematography and visual effects. "Life of Pi" also won for best original score.
The first big acting awards of the night went to Christoph Waltz and Anne Hathaway in the supporting actor categories.
In one of the biggest tossups, Waltz claimed the award for supporting actor for his role in "Django Unchained." It was his second Oscar for a Quentin Tarantino film; his first was for Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."
PHOTOS: Stars on the Red Carpet
As expected, Hathaway took home the award for best supporting actress for her role as Fantine in "Les Miserables."
"It came true," she said, launching into a breathy speech, in which she thanked the cast and crew, her team and her husband. "The greatest moment of my life was when you walked into it," she said.
Tarantino won the Oscar for best original screenplay for his slave revenge western "Django Unchained." He thanked his cast.
"I have to cast the right people," he said. "And boy this time did I do it."
Chris Terrio won the award for best adapted screenplay for "Argo," which also won for film editing.
For only the sixth time in Academy history, there was a tie at the Oscars. "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Skyfall" tied for sound editing.
See Other Ties in Academy History
The Oscars just don't matter
Labels: WorldSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Dean Obeidallah would love an Oscar, but thinks they mostly don't matter in long run
- He says telecast not the draw it once was, and winning doesn't mean bigger box office
- He says for stars win often doesn't mean work; award season makes Oscars anticlimatic
- Obeidallah: Why not give Oscar awards first, then follow with smaller awards later?
Editor's note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is a political comedian and frequent commentator on various TV networks including CNN. He is the editor of the politics blog "The Dean's Report" and co-director of the upcoming documentary, "The Muslims Are Coming!" Follow him on Twitter: @deanofcomedy.
(CNN) -- If I won an Oscar, I'd carry it around it with me everywhere. I'd start every conversation with, "Well, as an Oscar winner..." I'd wear a pin that says, "Ask me about my Oscar." I might even get a tattoo on my neck of the golden figurine.
But that's just me. Because beyond the personal thrill of winning, the Oscars don't matter. The golden statue is increasingly becoming nothing more than a shiny paperweight.
Dean Obeidallah
And I say this as someone who loves movies, appreciates the talented people who make them and has long watched the awards show. But in three categories the Academy Awards have lost their luster: the TV telecast, the box office impact of the awards on movies and their effect on people's acting careers.
Are viewers particularly interested in watching the Oscars? Not so much. TV ratings show pretty clearly that percentage of people watching the Academy Awards has trended downward over the years. For example, in 2000, nearly 47% of the people watching TV on Oscar night watched the Academy Awards. It has not been that high since, and in 2012, the number had fallen to 34%. In fact, the 2012 Grammy awards had higher overall ratings than that year's Oscar telecast.
Why? There's almost no surprise left. Viewers have a fairly good idea of who will win every big award after the parade of award shows that queue up in the weeks before the Oscars. There are so many! The Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, Director's Guild, Producers Guild, the guys who run the deli by my apartment award show, etc. Oscar night feels more like a coronation than an actual awards show.
The only Oscar surprise this year -- and it's not one that will help the TV ratings -- is the Academy voters' bizarre snub of Ben Affleck for a Best Director nomination for his film "Argo." Affleck won Best Director honors at this year's Golden Globes, as well as at the Director's Guild, SAG and Producer's Guild awards. He even won the best director prize at the British Academy Awards. Apparently, the Academy voters still won't forgive Affleck for the stinker "Gigli."
Bergen: 'Zero Dark Thirty': Did torture really net bin Laden?
In the category of how much does an Oscar help your film at the box office, the envelope says: Not much. Sure, there's an "Oscar bump," but look at the 2009 Best Picture winner, "The Hurt Locker." It ended up grossing only $17 million in the United States. Keep in mind that $100 million in domestic box office receipts is generally considered a hit. $17 million is a bomb.
Also last year's Oscar winner for Best Picture, "The Artist," ended up earning approximately $45 million in U.S. theaters. No boffo hit there.
Cullen: With 'Lincoln', a new frontier for Day-Lewis
And here's something that the Academy Awards hate to hear: Winning a Golden Globe has proven to be much more profitable for a movie than winning an Oscar. That is at least according to a recent analysis that looked at award-wining films over the past 12 years. Edmund Helmer, a statistician whose website, BoxOfficeQuant.com, analyzes film industry statistics found that movies that won an Academy Award had on average a $3 million bump in box office sales. However, Golden Globe winners saw on average a pop of $14 million. Pretty big dollar difference.
And in the category of how much does an Oscar help your acting career, there's no denying it can help. But Oscar gold doesn't always translate into personal gold. Many talented actors and actress have won this coveted award only to find themselves with little film work a few years later. I'm talking Oscar winners like Mira Sorvino, Joe Pesci, Louis Gossett Jr. and Kim Basinger.
Williams: Django, in chains
Perhaps the most glaring example of this is actress/comedian Mo'Nique, who won the 2009 Best Supporting Actress award for her role in "Precious." According to the Internet Movie Date Base (IMDb), her only movie since her Oscar triumph went straight to video.
Conversely, there's a long list of amazingly talented actors and actresses who have yet to win an Oscar. A partial list includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Julianne Moore, Tom Cruise, Gary Oldman, Johnny Depp and Annette Benning.
Obviously, Academy Awards organizers have little impact on some of these issues. But one change they can consider is moving the Oscars up to take place before the other award shows -- like states in the presidential primaries. At least then the Academy Awards will provide real drama as to winners and losers.
Despite knowing the likely winners, I'm still looking forward to watching Sunday's Oscars. This year's host is the very funny Seth Macfarlane. Although I think the funniest moment of the awards' show may be when Russell Crowe sings a song from "Les Misérables."
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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dean Obeidallah.
Several dead in Vietnam house explosions
Labels: Technology
HANOI: Several people were killed when twin blasts tore through a residential street and destroyed three houses in south Vietnam early Sunday, police said, with reports putting the death toll at around 10.
"We have been informed of two explosions this morning that killed about ten people... but we need to check the exact number of the victims," a local policeman told AFP following the blasts, which left many more victims trapped in rubble, according to reports.
The policeman said authorities were investigating the cause of the explosions in a district of the southern metropolis of Ho Chi Minh City, adding that they were believed to have been accidental.
State mouthpiece Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on its website that a family of seven was among those killed and many people remained trapped in the rubble.
It said local people heard two large explosions within five minutes of each other -- causing shockwaves that rattled homes up to several hundred metres away. They discovered three homes ablaze and partially destroyed.
Hundreds of firefighters on more than a dozen fire trucks rushed to the scene and were leading rescue efforts, the newspaper said.
- AFP/fa
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