The race to the presidency now turns toward the general election in November. CNN.com Live is your home for all the latest news and views from the campaign trail.
Today's programming highlights...
12:00 pm ET - John King live chat - CNN's John King returns to CNN.com Live to talk all things politics! Send your questions to John via Twitter @JohnKing CNN and he may answer your query today.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague, Netherlands, on Wednesday sentenced Charles Taylor, former president of Liberia, to 50 years in prison for war crimes committed in the civil war of neighboring country Sierra Leone over the course of five years.
Taylor, president of Liberia from 1997 to 2003, was convicted last month of aiding rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone in a campaign of terror, involving murder, rape, sexual slavery and the conscription children younger than 15.
There is no death penalty in international criminal law.
The former Liberian president does not see himself as a war criminal but as a victim - a leader wronged by corruption and a hypocritical hand of justice with a political agenda.
"I never stood a chance," he said. "Only time will tell how many other African heads of state will be destroyed."
FULL STORYBritain's Supreme Court is due to rule Wednesday on whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden to face interrogation on sexual assault allegations against him.
The decision will mark the end of Assange's second and final appeal in Britain against an extradition order handed down in February 2011.
Two women in Sweden accused Assange in August 2010 of sexually assaulting them during a visit to the country in connection with WikiLeaks' release in summer 2010 of internal U.S. military documents.
WikiLeaks' work is not at issue in the extradition hearing or the Swedish allegations against Assange.
FULL STORYThe long-running battle between a Tennessee Muslim community and a group of critics over a new mosque took a dramatic turn Tuesday when a judge ruled that construction had to halt.
"Everyone is really shocked, many people are crying about this," Imam Osama Bahloul, leader of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro, said early Wednesday morning. "We did exactly what other churches in the county did. We followed the same process that other churches did. Why did this happen? Some people feel like it is discrimination."
The judge, Chancellor Robert Corlew, ruled that plans for the new mosque that had previously been approved by a local planning commission were now "void and of no effect," CNN affiliate WTVF reported.
He said the planning commission violated state law by not providing proper public notice.
FULL STORYWhen Lori Anne Madison, 6, takes the stage Wednesday, she will be stepping into history as the youngest person to compete in the National Spelling Bee.
The second-grader joins 277 other contestants, marking a milestone as the youngest competitor in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, according to the event's record books dating to 1993.
Since 1993, there have been four spellers who were 8 years old, said Mike Hickerson, the bee's communications manager.
Lori Anne beat out 21 kids in the regional bee in Prince William County in Virginia, earning a spot in the national bee.
She won by spelling the word "vaquero," the Spanish translation of "cowboy" often used in parts of the South.
While she loves spelling, Lori Anne has other interests as well.
FULL STORYA boiling primary battle in Texas headed to a runoff early Wednesday as two Republicans running for U.S. Senate failed to reach the 50% threshold to clinch the GOP nomination.
Though Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst led the crowded field of candidates, he narrowly failed to cross the 50% mark required to secure the nomination and avoid a July 31 runoff.
Dewhurst's challenger in the runoff will be tea party favorite Ted Cruz, a former solicitor general with strong support from national groups and high-profile conservative leaders.
With 92% of precincts counted, Dewhurst held 48% of the vote to 30% for Cruz.
Other contenders in Tuesday's primary included former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and ESPN Broadcaster Craig James. Neither candidate will forge ahead to compete in the runoff.
The Texas race is particularly important because the balance of power in the U.S. Senate could shift in 2012. It is also another test in the staying power and influence of tea party groups and their political strategy to focus more on congressional races than on the presidential campaign.
FULL STORYhis is the time of the year where NBA executives may get a little religious, praying that the ping pong balls in Wednesday's NBA draft lottery fall in their favor.
Nobody may be praying harder than Michael Jordan whose Charlotte Bobcats is the the losingest team in NBA history.
The Bobcats ended the season with a record of 7-59 and finished with an all-time worst .106 winning percentage.
For the lottery, the league assigns ping pong balls to the worst performing teams. The poorer a team performed in the season, the more balls it gets.
The idea is to help the team get first dibs in the draft and pick up a promising player.
The Bobcats' dismal distinction means it will have a 25% chance of getting the top pick in Wednesday's draft lottery - and the greatest chance at picking Kentucky's all-world big man Anthony Davis.
FULL STORY
Bear sightings caught on video!
We expect bears to wander through the wilderness or even parade inside a zoo. See what happens when the "unexpected" happens and a bear is caught wading in a family's pool. We've obtained video of bears crashing a TV news set and bumping into an unexpected man texting on his phone, too.
A bear in California decides to "cool off" and take a dip in a family's pool.
Four bears walked into WNEP's outdoor weather set seconds before the start of a live forecast.
A California man comes face to face with a 400-pound black bear scouring a busy neighborhood in search of food.
Editor's note: This post is part of the Overheard on CNN.com series, a regular feature that examines interesting comments and thought-provoking conversations posted by the community.
When a soldier puts on his uniform for the first time, has he joined the ranks of our nation’s heroes? Or is he simply doing his job? MSNBC’s Chris Hayes chose Memorial Day to share his opinion that military service alone does not a hero make – an opinion he quickly rescinded and publicly apologized for amid a barrage of criticism.
While many thought the newsman was out of line, others supported him as simply exercising his rights to tell an uncomfortable truth.
Ed He should be fired! Not only is it insensitive but shows that he has no understanding of the news that he reports.
Michael So every person that dies is a hero? If that's a case, we need a new word to describe someone who does something heroic.
Obvious Guy Why should he be fired, Ed? I thought we had freedom of speech, which is exactly what he is exercising.
Alex No, he shouldn't. He told an uncomfortable truth. Not every soldier is a hero. Most are just soldiers, very few are heroes, and (thankfully) a very very few are villains. That distribution is representative of humans in general. noun, plural he·roes 1. a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for brave deeds and noble qualities
ConLaw That's right, let's fire him for expressing his opinion. Might as well get rid of the First Amendment while we're at it, the whole right to free speech thing.
Some, including former servicemen, felt that a hero is defined by action in or out of the military.
Beadlesaz The word *hero* is greatly overused. Just serving in the military doesn't make one a hero. If so, what do you call the fellow (or woman) who lays down his life to help his comrades survive? Those who serve in the military do so at possibly great personal peril and the nation should be thankful. But service to one's country should be viewed as good citizenship. And, such service may take many forms – not everyone can or should serve in the military. Let's save the hero worship for those who truly deserve it.
– Retired Navy Captain
RootenTooten No real need for Chris to apologize. If anything maybe Memorial Day might not have been the best time to have such a discussion, but fundamentally he's right – the mere act of putting on a uniform, any uniform, doesn't make a Hero. To broaden that term to anyone who has put on a uniform only makes it meaningless. I've even seen some who post here making it seem like ONLY those in uniform could possibly be heroes, or even understand heroism or be qualified to comment on it – I hate to break it to these folks but plain old civilians save each others lives and sacrifice for others on a daily basis, all over the country and around the world. Are these folks not heroes because they aren't in the military ?
What's most telling about this to me is whenever someone who has performed an act of pure bravery and self sacrifice and saved lives or prevented disaster, military or civilian, is interviewed, the interviewer always asks a question along the lines of "So how does it feel to me/do you consider yourself a Hero ?" and the true Hero always replies "I'm not a hero. I just did what had to be done"
Some debated whether serving in the military is inherently heroic, or just a case of working citizens doing their job.
Phil Dolan The military has defined who is and who is not a hero in the military for centuries. Aren't they more qualified to define a military hero than some news guy who never served? The military rewards men/women who are designated heroes with one or more of several awards for valor.
For example, if you are looking at a soldier wearing a Purple Heart or other award of valor then you are looking at a hero. A real hero.
I served in Vietnam and I've looked in the faces of many heroes. Plus, there is nothing wrong with calling anyone who served a hero. But to say they are not heroes is an insult to everyone who did serve.
Liz Chris is right. For most recruits, joining the service is an economic choice. It's a job, it can pay for college, etc. Just doing what you're paid to do isn't heroic. I'll always whole-heartedly support the troops even though I believe war is wrong and the rationale given the young people is mostly lies. Many, many of them come back disillusioned, traumatized both physically and psychologically, and against war. But heroism is above and beyond what is expected, for the benefit of another.
The CNN Daily Mash-up is a roundup of some of the most interesting, surprising, curious, poignant or significant items to appear on CNN.com in the past 24 hours. We top it with a collection of the day's most striking photographs from around the world.
Kofi Annan, envoy for the United Nations and the Arab League, met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday to convey the international community's grave concern over Friday's massacre in Houla and to get his peace plan on track. After the meeting, Annan said:
We are at a tipping point. The Syrian people do not want the future to be one of bloodshed and division. Yet the killings continue, and the abuses are still with us today. (I appeal) for bold steps now - not tomorrow, now - to create momentum for the implementation of the plan.
Tuesday's magnitude 5.8 earthquake in Italy killed at least 16 people and destroyed or damaged thousands of buildings. Archaeology student, photographer and CNN iReporter Irene Fanizza lives near the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, so she walked over to the church to see if it was damaged. It was. Photography normally is not allowed inside the church, but the guards allowed her to document cracks in the basilica's domed ceiling.
Dogs like to chase bikes sometimes. Most dogs give up after a few hundred yards. Not this dog. How does a few hundred miles sound?
World powers weighed tough options to end brutality in Syria on Tuesday amid the aftermath of the now-infamous massacre in Houla.
Politicians and opposition forces have been going back and forth over the future of the Kofi Annan peace initiative, the need for more diplomatic arm-twisting and even the prospect of military intervention as the world community cries for an end to the Syrian conflict.
The incident occurred on Friday in the Homs province town of Houla, where more than 100 people died. The United Nations says government forces went house to house and slaughtered men, women, and children. The Syrian government is blaming the violence on "terrorists."
The violence has left more than 12,000 slain since March 2011, according to one count, and tens of thousands of people have been displaced.
What's next?
READ FULL STORY TO SEE THE SCENARIOS
Italy might be better off without soccer for a few years in the wake of new arrests in a match-fixing probe in the top-flight Serie A, Prime Minister Mario Monti said Tuesday.
"Maybe soccer should be suspended for two or three years," Monti said, according to a report from Italy's ANSA news service. "It's not a government proposal, but it's a question we should ask ourselves."
Nineteen people were arrested Monday in the ongoing investigation by magistrates in Cremona. Eleven of those arrested are players in Italy's top division.
"It's particularly sad when a world-like sport, which should express noble values, shows itself to be a concentrate of the most reproachful ones, like unfairness, illegality and fraud," Monti said Tuesday in the ANSA report.
A lot of you were distracted over Memorial Day weekend by sun, fun and good food, so we thought we'd wrangle some of our favorite videos from the last few days to ease you back into the work week. From a cool lip-dub proposal to dreams of pole dancing at the Olympics, you've Gotta Watch them all.
It was the ultimate public display of affection. A guy gets dozens of friends and family members to lip-sync and dance for one romantic marriage proposal.
It may be the only Olympic event that could be done in heels, but the man who wants pole dancing in the Olympics says stilettos will have to stay home. Watch the video to hear his pitch and see the dancers in action.
You may remember the story of Caine's Arcade. The filmmaker recently told CNN that the whole thing started with the need for a new car door handle. Watch the video to find out why.
A woman dying of cancer is days away from death, but she held on to see the birth of a grandchild. Watch the video to see Becky Moran meet the the baby for the first and only time.
We all know Olivia Newton-John as the iconic singer and actress from "Grease" and "Xanadu," but there was a time when she had completely different career aspirations. Watch the video to find out what she could have become.
A half-million pigs on a Chilean farm will be destroyed after the facility was closed for several days during a dispute with local residents.
Jose Guzman, chief executive of Agrosuper, which owns the farm, said the animals would be killed rather than moved, according to a report from Agence-France Presse.
"They are going to be slaughtered. They are not going to another farm, nor to another plant," Guzman is quoted as saying.
The events that precipitated the slaughter began this month when villagers from Freirina blockaded the farm after months of protests about foul odors and disease-infested water they said emanated from the farm and its slaughterhouse. The 500,000 pigs went unattended for five days, prompting the Chilean government to declare a sanitary emergency, according to a report from MercoPress.
Agrosuper was given six months to move the pigs and remedy the sanitary problems with the plant, MercoPress reported.
What makes someone a hero?
It seems like it's a simple question, but MSNBC host Chris Hayes caused a firestorm when he said on Memorial Day weekend that he was uncomfortable calling people heroes just because they served in the military.
"Why do I feel so uncomfortable about the word 'hero'? I feel uncomfortable about the word hero because it seems to me that it is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war," Hayes said Sunday on MSNBC. "I don’t want to obviously desecrate or disrespect the memory of anyone that’s fallen, and obviously there are individual circumstances in which there is genuine, tremendous heroism, you know, hail of gunfire, rescuing fellow soldiers and things like that. But it seems to me that we marshal this word in a way that is problematic. But maybe I’m wrong about that."
Hayes' remarks immediately sparked a backlash, with some saying it was inappropriate to say such things about those putting their lives on the line to fight for their country.
A naked man who chewed off the face of another man in what is being called a zombie-like attack may have been under the influence of "bath salts," a drug referred to as the new LSD, according to reports from CNN affiliates in Miami.
The horrific attack occurred Saturday and was only stopped after a police officer shot the attacker several times, killing him.
Larry Vega witnessed the attack on Miami's MacArthur Causeway. He told CNN affiliate WSVN he saw one naked man chewing off the face of another naked man.
Rudy Eugene
"The guy was like tearing him to pieces with his mouth, so I told him, 'Get off!'" Vega told WSVN. "You know it's like the guy just kept eating the other guy away, like ripping his skin."
"It was just a blob of blood," WSVN quoted Vega as saying. "You couldn't really see, it was just blood all over the place."
The race to the presidency now turns toward the general election in November. CNN.com Live is your home for all the latest news and views from the campaign trail.
Today's programming highlights...
9:00 am ET - Florida real estate developer trial - After a four-day recess, testimony resumes in the trial of Adam Kaufman, who's charged with second degree murder in the death of his wife.
A hospital in northern Afghanistan admitted 160 girls Tuesday after they were poisoned in their classrooms with a type of spray, a Takhar police official said.
The incident, the second in a week's time, was reported at the Aahan Dara Girls school in Talokhan, the provincial capital.
The girls, ages 10 to 20, complained of headaches, dizziness and vomiting before being taken to the hospital, according to Khalilullah Aseer, a police spokesman. More than half of them had been discharged within a few hours of receiving treatment, he said. Blood samples were taken and sent to Kabul for testing.
Last week, more than 120 girls and three teachers were admitted to a hospital after a similar suspected poisoning.
"The Afghan people know that the terrorists and the Taliban are doing these things to threaten girls and stop them going to school," Aseer said last week. "That's something we and the people believe. Now we are implementing democracy in Afghanistan and we want girls to be educated, but the government's enemies don't want this."
But earlier this week, the Taliban denied responsibility, instead blaming the U.S. and NATO forces for the poisonings in an attempt to "defame" the insurgent group.
FULL STORY
Boxer Paul Williams, known as "The Punisher," has been left paralyzed from the waist down after a traffic accident Sunday in suburban Atlanta, according to news reports.
Williams' manager, George Peterson, told CNN affiliate WRDW in Augusta, Georgia, that the boxer is facing surgery Wednesday to stabilize his spinal column. That surgery will entail putting a wall around his upper spine, according to the report.
Williams is from Aiken, South Carolina, east of Augusta.
He was in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta to attend his brother's wedding on Monday, according to a report in the New York Daily News.
As he rode his motorcycle home from a bachelor party early Sunday, he swerved to a avoid a car and was thrown from the bike more than 60 feet in the air, Peterson told the Daily News.
“He was doing about 75 mph on the motorcycle. When he came down, he came down on his back and when he came down on his back, of course he severed his spinal cord. He’s paralyzed from the waist down. In terms of him walking again... that will never happen,” the Daily News quoted Peterson as saying.
Williams has a career record of 41-2-0, with 27 knockouts, according to the WRDW report. He has held three title belts, twice being the WBO welterweight champ and once as the WBO light middleweight champ.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 hit north central Italy on Tuesday, civil protection authorities said, nine days after a major quake in the region left seven people dead.
Civil protection officials told CNN there were fatalities in Tuesday's quake, but they said they did not yet have a confirmed number of dead.
FULL STORY
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