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Yale senior dies in machine shop accident
A Yale University senior was killed in an accident in a chemistry laboratory's machine shop late Tuesday or early Wednesday, officials at the Connecticut school said.
Michele Dufault of Massachusetts was working on a project in the Sterling Chemistry Laboratory's machine shop when her hair got caught in a lathe, a machine that shapes material by rotating it against a tool, Yale President Richard C. Levin said in an e-mailed statement. Her body was found by other students who were working in the building, Levin said.
The cause of death was asphyxia due to neck compression, and the manner was accidental, said Kathy Wilson, an investigator with Connecticut's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
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Reserve established for one of world's rarest animals
Vietnamese officials are setting up a nature reserve to protect one of the world's rarest animals, the saola, sometimes known as Asia's "unicorn."
A few hundred are believed to remain in the wild, inhabiting the Annamite Mountains along the border of Vietnam and Laos in Southeast Asia, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which, along with the Quang Nam Provincial Forest Protection Department, announced the establishment of the Saola Nature Reserve in the province.
None of the animals are in captivity, and the few that have been caught have survived only a short time, including one that villagers in Laos captured last year.
“The establishment of this new Saola Nature Reserve shows a strong commitment by the Vietnamese government and Quang Nam Province in the conservation of this highly threatened endemic species,” said Tran Minh Hien, country director of WWF-Vietnam, said in a press release. “This new reserve will create a biodiversity corridor connecting the East of Vietnam to West side of Xe Sap National Park in Laos.”
NBA fines Kobe Bryant $100,000 for 'offensive' comments
The National Basketball Association fined Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers $100,000 on Wednesday for "offensive and inexcusable" comments he made during Tuesday night's game, the league said in a statement.
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Report promotes alternatives to prison as national recidivism rate holds steady
A state-by-state study has found that four in 10 offenders return to prison within three years of their release, a figure that has held steady for the past 30 years despite massive state spending increases on prisons, the Pew Center on the States said Wednesday.
Figures vary widely across the 33 states that provided data for "The Revolving Door of America's Prisons" report, with 17 states reporting a drop in recidivism rates, 15 claiming an increase and one reporting no change between 1999 and 2004. Oregon reported the steepest drop, at 31.9%, and South Dakota reported the highest increase, at 34.9%.
The number of offenders returning for new crimes also varied significantly among states, from 44.7% in Alaska to 4.7% in Montana, the report said. Technical violations of parole - such as failure to attend drug treatment or testing positive for drugs or alcohol - were similarly wide-ranging, from 40.3% in Missouri to 0% in Arkansas, the report said. Technical violations also accounted for the bulk of returns to prison.
The report attempts to highlight successful alternatives to incarceration in states that saw the biggest drops in recidivism, giving taxpayers "a solid return on their investment in public safety," said Adam Gelb, director of Pew's Public Safety Performance Project.
"We know so much more today than we did 30 years ago, when prisons became the weapon of choice in our country's fight against crime," Gelb said. "There are new technologies, new strategies that are far more effective and less expensive than $29,000-per-year taxpayer-funded prison cells."
FULL POST
Overheard on CNN.com: Readers weigh in on U.S. financial future
Comment of the day: "How does one get out of trillions in debt? It's not that he's not serious, it's that the task is impossible." -lena73
President Obama lays out long-term plan
After reaching a budget deal with Republicans last week, President Barack Obama outlined his plan for reducing long-term deficits and the national debt in a speech at The George Washington University on Wednesday. His plan will reduce the federal deficit by $4 trillion in 12 years.
CNN.com readers reacted to his plan:
bexers24 said, "You know, I think it's absolutely wonderful that he's tackling the taxes for the rich. I am one of those people who is poor and I struggle through life, living paycheck to paycheck. If I were one of the super rich, I would WANT to give back to those who need the help."
roaringtiger said, "As an independent, I feel this is a good plan This is the most balanced approach that won't put our country in a drawn out depression while making cuts AND some moderate tax increases. This is exactly what the Bipartisan committee proposed."
smartdem said, "This was simply brilliant. The president reminded the country of the history that lead to this deficit (namely George Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy), then explained why the Ryan plan would be disastrous to the country. He then laid down the gauntlet on increases on the wealthy. Put simply, you cannot ask 33 seniors to pay for each millionaire’s tax cut. Brilliant."
BubBee said, "He never mentioned curbing the costs of illegals, pay cuts of congress and elected officials or cuts in the size of government which has grown at a rapid pace. A 20 percent cut in all 3 would save us billions a year right now."
357fixer said, "Hi, I just graduated 5th grade and I need help on a math problem. If we run a $1.5 trillion deficit each year for the next 12 years, but only cut $4 trillion in spending in the same timeframe, then won't the national debt still increase by $10 trillion?"
JoeinUSA said, "Less talk, more action. I’m tired of hearing about plans to set up this committee and that committee.... proposals to do this and do that. As Larry the Cable Guy would say "Git r dun."
Led by U.S., world military spending rises 1.3%
The world's governments shelled out $1.63 trillion in military spending last year, a 1.3% increase over 2009, according to a Swedish institute.
The United States accounted for nearly all of the increase, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute noted sharp increases by South American and African countries as well.
By virtually every measure, U.S. military spending, which rose 2.8%, leaves every other nation in the dust. The $698 billion it spent accounted for 43% of all the military spending in the world and was six times the amount expended by the No. 2 country, China. Military spending amounted to 4.8% of U.S. gross domestic product, compared to the world average of 2.6%.
Another air traffic controller allegedly caught asleep at the switch
The FAA is investigating yet another case in which an air traffic controller apparently fell asleep while on duty, a source says. The incident occurred Wednesday morning at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. It would be the third incident this year involving a sleeping controller.
Gotta Watch: Awkward TSA pat-down moments
We thought we'd bring you some of our most memorable awkward airport pat-down moments after hearing all the buzz from this video. Here, a 6-year-old is filmed by her parents as she gets the full TSA pat-down treatment at an airport in New Orleans.
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/04/13/dnt.tsa.pats.down.child.wwl"%5D
Wednesday's intriguing people
Jose Canseco
Considered the face of Major League Baseball's "era of steroid abuse," the former slugger will be named today as player-manager for the Yuma (Arizona) Scorpions, a minor league team with the North American League, the Yuma Sun reports.
"I think it's exciting for Yuma," league President Kevin Outcalt said. "It's going to be a lot of fun. Jose is a very accomplished player, he has a lot of sway in the media and in pop culture, and he's bringing that to the city. It will be a good team and a fun time at Desert Sun Stadium for the fans."
Canseco hit 462 home runs in a 17-year major-league career with the Oakland A's and several other teams. His 2005 book "Juiced" blew the lid off the use of performance-enhancing drugs by pro ballplayers, including himself.
Canseco's twin brother, Ozzie, who played just a handful of games in the major leagues, will also play and coach for the Scorpions.
Joseph Massino
The "Last Don" of the New York Bonanno crime family broke the code of silence Tuesday in a Manhattan federal court. During his testimony, Massino became "the first mob boss in history to turn stoolie," the New York Post wrote.
Massino was arrested in 2004 and is now in prison. He revealed that he became an FBI informant to avoid the death penalty and to protect his wife from prosecution.
Massino then identified Vincent Basciano as his hand-picked successor, confirming that Basciano ordered the killing of an associate.
Massino also detailed his own history with organized crime, which began when he was 12; his own recruitment in the 1970s by a former Bonanno mob boss; and how he personally led the Bonannos through scandals that included the "Donnie Brasco" FBI sting and the "Three Captains" murders. Massino continues his testimony today.
Pete Peterson
The former Richard Nixon aide, "Mad Men" ad exec and Wall Street billionaire has spent 30 years speaking out about the country's debt and dependence on entitlement programs. He's written books, given speeches and even donated a billion of his own dollars to fund a foundation to solve the problem. So what does the 84-year-old "godfather of our nation's finances" think of the Tea Party? "I don't know much about them," he recently told The New York Times.
Study: Yellowstone volcano much larger than believed
A new kind of image suggests the giant volcanic plume lying under Yellowstone National Park is even bigger than previously thought.
University of Utah geophysicists used the electrical conductivity of the huge tongue of hot and partly molten rock to create an image. That image suggests the plume is even bigger than it appears in earlier images made with seismic waves.
Hairy caterpillars swarm over parts of Indonesia
Parts of Indonesia are under siege by swarms of hairy caterpillars, which are getting into homes and causing skin rashes, according to local news reports.
“The caterpillars are very disturbing. They crawl into the house and make our skin itch for days. They have long hairs,” a Jakarta resident identified as Nurhayati told the Jakarta Globe.
A caterpillar swarm was first reported in East Java two weeks ago, according to the Globe, and new swarms have been observed in Bekasi, West Java, and Buleleng, Bali.
Wednesday's live video events
President Obama is set to speak to the nation on his plans to reduce the federal deficit. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage on this and other stories.
Today's programming highlights...
10:00 am ET - House debates budget - A vote on the 2011 budget plan reached last week is not expected to happen until Thursday, so expect more discussion on the House floor today.
On the Radar: Bonds' trial; Obama's plan for deficit reduction; Libya's future
Bonds trial: The jury resumes deliberations in the perjury trial of Major League home run king Barry Bonds at 8:30 a.m. PT.
The 12 jurors have had three full days of deliberations on perjury and obstruction of justice charges the federal government brought against Bonds, alleging he lied to a federal grand jury in 2003 about knowingly taking anabolic steroids and getting injections from anyone but his doctors.
Defense lawyers argued that prosecutors essentially entrapped Bonds with their questioning in December 2003, before the federal grand jury investigating the illegal distribution of performance-enhancing drugs to athletes.
Bonds, 46, is on trial for in a San Francisco federal court for three perjury counts and one count of obstruction of justice, each carrying a 10-year prison sentence upon conviction. Prosecutors dropped a fourth perjury charge last week.
Deficit reduction: President Barack Obama will outline his plan for reducing the nation's long-term deficits in an afternoon speech at George Washington University in the nation's capital.
The president is scheduled to speak at 1:30 p.m. after meeting at the White House in the morning with congressional leaders.
The speech is a response to a Republican budget plan for the next fiscal year released last week by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, that would overhaul the Medicare and Medicaid government health care programs for the elderly while reforming the tax code to lower rates and eliminate loopholes.
Libya's future: An international conference on the Libya's future is set to begin Wednesday in Qatar.
A delegation from the United Nations, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, will attend the first meeting of the Libya Contact Group in the Qatari capital of Doha. The group also includes officials from the European Union, the Arab League, NATO, the African Union and several countries. Members from the Libyan opposition's Transitional National Council will appear before the group.
Former Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa is expected to meet with Qatari government officials and Libyan representatives in Doha "to offer insights in advance of the Contact Group meeting," the British government said. Koussa, a longtime confidant of Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi and a former intelligence chief, fled to London last month after resigning from Gadhafi's regime.
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