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The day's most popular stories
The five most popular stories on CNN.com in the past 24 hours, according to NewsPulse.
Keith Olbermann out at MSNBC: After eight years together, MSNBC and Keith Olbermann are parting ways.
Halle Berry's ex engaged to Prince's ex: Singer Eric Benet is engaged to be married to Prince's ex-wife, Manuela Testolini. Benet's rep confirmed the happy news to Us Magazine.
Bill Clinton, Bono at funeral for Shriver: Almost 50 years to the day that President John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address asked Americans to get involved by doing good, family and friends bade farewell Saturday to R. Sargent Shriver.
Search continues for California boy: A car pulled from a California canal Friday night was not the same vehicle a witness claimed he saw being driven into the water with a young boy trapped inside, the Stanislaus Sheriff's Department said Saturday.
Hearing set for singer accused of rape: A Mexican singer who is accused of raping a teen is scheduled to testify Saturday, state media reported.
Evidence to be retested in Amanda Knox murder case
Amanda Knox, the American convicted in December 2009 of sexually assaulting and murdering her British roommate in Italy, is "cautiously optimistic" as she begins the lengthy appellate process in Perugia, Italy, her best friend said Saturday.
Two forensic experts from Rome's La Sapienza University were sworn in Saturday by Italian judge Claudio Pratillo Hellman, taking an oath to uphold objectivity as they retest crucial forensic evidence used to convict Knox, 23, and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, of killing Meredith Kercher in Perugia.
The experts' work begins on February 9 and they must conclude their analysis by May 9. Results will be presented to the two-judge and six layperson jury on May 21.
FULL STORY
Saturday shooting on Falcon Lake attributed to 'pure stupidity'
Foul play is not suspected in the Saturday shooting of a fisherman on Falcon Lake, a waterway straddling the U.S.-Mexico border known for piracy and drug trafficking-related violence, the Zapata County Sheriff in Texas said.
Falcon Lake made national headlines last year as the place where American David Hartley was last seen. His wife claims he was shot in the head while they were riding their Sea-Doo watercraft and his body has not been found.
On Saturday, however, "pure stupidity" was to blame for a fisherman being shot on the lake, not criminal activity, Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said.
A fisherman on the U.S. side of the lake heard shots coming from land, Gonzalez said. Under the impression that the shots were the result of someone target practicing, the fisherman decided to get closer, Gonzalez said.
"A guy was target practicing on land. The fisherman was shot in the arm from gunfire coming from the U.S. side. It was just pure stupidity," he said.
The fisherman was airlifted to safety, Gonzalez said. No one has been arrested in the incident.
Irish prime minister steps down as party leader
Embattled Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said Saturday that he will step down as leader of the Fianna Fail political party but stay on as prime minister until the March 11 elections.
A new leader will be elected at a special party meeting on Wednesday afternoon. At least four senior Fianna Fail members have signalled that they intend to stand for the leadership post.
FULL STORY
Case of young man tied to wall stirs national debate in Netherlands
A Dutch documentary about a mentally ill and potentially dangerous 18-year-old has prompted lawmakers in the Netherlands to re-examine the permissible treatment of those in psychiatric care.
The documentary, which was produced by the Lutheran-run Evangelical Broadcasting Company and aired on public television Tuesday, followed Brandon van Ingen, a patient at a mental hospital in Ermelo. Since 2007, van Ingen has spent part of his days tethered to a wall due to the danger he poses to others, according to State Secretary for Public Health Marlies Veldhuijzen van
Zanten-Hyllner.
The program prompted widespread outrage across the country and sparked a national debate over the care of the mentally ill.
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Tigers to retire late manager's number
The Detroit Tigers will retire the number of popular manager Sparky Anderson, who died in November.
Anderson's No. 11 will hang on the left-field wall in Detroit's Comerica Park, alongside the numbers of previous honorees.
"To me, there's no greater honor for a franchise to bestow upon an individual than to retire his number," team President Dave Dombrowski said Saturday in announcing the decision, according to MLB.com.
Anderson managed the Tigers to their last World Series championship in 1984 and their last division title in '87 during his 17-year tenure in Detroit, during which he won 1,331 games, according to Baseball-Reference.com.
He previously had managed the Cincinnati Reds for nine years, winning four National League pennants and two World Series titles. The Reds retired his No. 10 uniform in 2005.
He retired after the 1995 season and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame five years later.
Tigers players will wear a patch on their uniforms throughout the 2011 season with the name "Sparky" and the number 11, Dombrowski said.
"I'm tickled. I'm happy about it," said Tigers first base coach Tom Brookens, who played for Anderson in the 1980s. "He's one of the greatest managers in the game. To have played for him, it's special."
Anderson will be the first Tigers manager to have his number retired by the club. He'll join players Al Kaline, Charlie Gehringer, Hank Greenberg, Hal Newhouser and Willie Horton, along with Jackie Robinson, whose No. 42 was retired by all Major League Baseball franchises. Also on the wall are the names of Ty Cobb, who played before players wore numbers, and longtime broadcaster Ernie Harwell, who also died last year.
Funeral remembers Shriver's love of others, service
Almost 50 years to the day that President John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address asked Americans to get involved by doing good, family and friends bade farewell Saturday to R. Sargent Shriver, who helped lead the way.
Former President Bill Clinton referred to Kennedy's famous line, "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."
Shriver, Clinton said at a funeral Mass in Potomac, Maryland, gave the perfect example of public service, both at the bright-eyed beginning of the 1960s and the cynical end of the decade and in the early 1970s.
"He showed up every day and found joy in life," Clinton said of Shriver, first director of the Peace Corps, and a force - with his late wife - behind the Special Olympics. Shriver was Kennedy's brother-in-law.
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Karzai offers to inaugurate Afghan parliament next week
Afghan President Hamid Karzai offered Saturday to end a political standoff and move up the inauguration of parliament after hours of heated debate among the country's lawmakers, officials said.
Karzai initially had postponed the ceremony by a month, but appeared to concede to demands Saturday and offered to inaugurate parliament on Wednesday.
However, the inauguration will take place only under the condition that lawmakers accept any decision of a special court established in December at Karzai's request to look into hundreds of allegations of fraud brought forward by losing candidates, parliament member Baktash Seyawash said.
Lawmakers will vote Saturday night on whether to accept Karzai's offer.
FULL STORY
Search continues for boy swiped from grandmother's arms
A car pulled from a California canal Friday night was not the same vehicle a witness claimed he saw being driven into the water with a young boy trapped inside, the Stanislaus Sheriff's Department said Saturday.
Authorities are continuing to search the canal near the area where a 4-year-old boy was abducted earlier this week.
Police say Jose Esteban Rodriguez snatched Juliani Cardenas from his grandmother's arms Tuesday afternoon in the northern California town of Patterson.
Divers using sonar equipment were preparing to search the water Saturday, including one section of the 17-feet-deep canal that goes underground, said Raj Singh, a spokesman for the sheriff's department.
FULL STORY
McChrystal: Americans need to engage with world
Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was replaced as the leader of U.S. forces in Afghanistan last year after a damaging magazine profile, says Americans need to stay informed about world events and engage with other cultures.
"The reality is that most of us have a very limited understanding of most of the parts of the world where we're invested," McChrystal told an audience Friday in Portland, Oregon, according to The Oregonian. "We have an absolute need to build relationships at the personal level, the organizational level and the regional level."
Less than 20 percent of Americans speak a second language, while nearly of half of Europeans do, he said.
Failure to understand Afghan culture and attitudes undermined U.S. efforts to gain influence in Afghanistan after the Soviets were driven out, he said, according to the Oregonian.
While Americans expected Afghans to be grateful for U.S. backing in that fight, the Afghans felt Americans failed to appreciate their sacrifices against America's greatest rival, he said.
Despite foreign armies' long history of failure in Afghanistan, McChrystal told the audience he believes the current war is winnable.
"In reality, most wars have nobody win," McChrystal said. "What we're trying to do now is have the Afghans win the war in Afghanistan."
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