- @
- Followers:
No Tweets Found
CNN POLITICS ON FACEBOOK » | CNN POLITICS ON TWITTER »
FBI 'most wanted' alleged sex abuser arrested
Mexican authorities have arrested a former college professor who was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list over allegations of child sex abuse.
Walter Lee Williams was detained late Tuesday, Mexican state news agency Notimex reported.
The FBI placed the former university professor wanted for alleged sexual exploitation of children on the list Monday, according to Notimex.
Williams researched in the field of gender development at a university in California, which gave him easy access to his victims, mainly teenage boys in developing countries, the FBI said.
Gotta Watch: Parents fighting at children's ball games
Some kids may not be learning good sportsmanship from their parents. We've obtained video of some adults losing control at their kids' sporting events by fighting and punching other parents. See why these parents became so upset.
Get Real! Parents brawl at Little League
A Little League game in Georgia got out of hand when a verbal fight turned physical.
Parents throw punches at baseball game
Three parents face criminal charges after a youth baseball tournament turns ugly. KUSA reports.
2006: Pee Wee football parents attack
Back in 2006, CNN affiliate KZTV captured video of parents at a Texas Little League game fighting with the referee.
This Week's Top Videos
Editor's Note: This post is a recap of the top five videos on CNN.com from the past week. So in case you didn't catch our best videos during the week, here is your chance to see what you missed.
FULL POST
This Week's Top Videos
Editor's Note: This post is a recap of the top five videos on CNN.com from the past week. So in case you didn't catch our best videos during the week, here is your chance to see what you missed.
This week's top videos ranged from bizarre, to humorous to just plain tragic. From crazy sea creatures to ogling royals to a heart-wrenching rescue, here are this week's five most popular videos.
Caught ogling her royal assets
Was the royal bosom ogled? CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on men caught up to their eyeballs in cleavage.
Woman shot with Taser now brain dead
A woman shot with a Taser by a trooper in Florida, falls into a coma. Jane Velez-Mitchell speaks with her parents.
Strange fish with 'wings' and 'legs'
Check out this strange fish found in a Chinese market, which one man thought had wings and legs.
Gov. Christie's harsh words for Buffett
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says if Warren Buffett wants to pay more taxes, he can just write a check
Passerby finds starved teen on roadside
The stranger who rescued a malnourished teen lying on the side of the road speaks with CNN's Brooke Baldwin.
Alaska's 'Hot-sauce Mom' convicted of child abuse
An Alaska mother's segment on "Dr. Phil" has landed her with the possibility of a jail sentence.
Jessica Beagley was found guilty of misdemeanor child abuse Tuesday. In November, she appeared on the talk show to discuss a video she had submitted of her disciplinary method, in which she had her then 6-year-old son hold hot sauce in his mouth and take a cold shower, said Anchorage prosecutor Cynthia Franklin. The video, which Beagley had e-mailed to the show in November 2009, ignited a debate about whether the tactic constituted abuse.
In the episode, which aired on November 17, 2010, host Phil McGraw challenges Beagley, calling the discipline over-the-top, outrageous and abusive. Authorities launched an investigation on the same day the episode, called "Mommy Confessions," aired.
Beagley's sentencing is scheduled for Monday. She could face a up to year in jail and fine of up to $10,000. Franklin said she was unable to provide any more commentary on the case, because Beagley's sentence is still pending.
The segment featured a home movie of Beagley punishing her son for getting in trouble at school and lying about it. In confessional-style explanations, Beagley provided commentary, saying she had tried other methods of discipline, including time outs and spankings, but to no avail.
Sitter charged after taking baby on ride in back of pickup
A Florida babysitter was charged with child neglect after taking a baby in his stroller for a ride the bed of a pickup.
According to 911 calls, several people contacted Daytona Beach police Wednesday when they saw the stroller in the back of the truck.
"It's not something you see every day," Daytona Beach police Chief Mike Chitwood told CNN affiliate WESH. "I hope they revoke her babysitting license for that. Would you want her watching your kid?"
The babysitter, Keyona Davis, 23, said in a court appearance Thursday that she had a firm grip on the stroller and that she did not realize her actions constituted neglect.
Davis' public defender had argued that the charge of child neglect was too harsh, as the baby was unharmed.
"It's only if the pickup crashes, the child will be injured or hurt," a public defender said in court.
Davis replied, "Exactly!"
Davis said she didn't realize that police would consider what she did as "negligent."
"It's not like they give you a handbook or anything," she said.
Davis was released from jail on her own recognizance. Police are still investigating the driver of the truck and the baby's mother.
Media firestorm surrounds 10-year-old's suggestive fashion shoot
A 10-year-old model's low-cut dress, stiletto heels, heavy makeup and sultry gaze in a Vogue Paris fashion editorial has raised some eyebrows around the Web.
Lots of little girls dress up in their mothers' heels and dresses, but photos of Thylane Loubry Blondeau dolled up to look like a grown woman are, to some, just too convincing. "Creepy" and "weird" are among the more common words used in the headlines that have cropped up regarding the fashion editorial.
The photos actually ran months ago, in Vogue Paris' December/January issue, and they received some criticism at the time. But the images of Blondeau - the daughter of a fashion designer and a former soccer player - have recently ignited the blogosphere in a debate about what is and isn't appropriate treatment for child stars, though it's unclear why the photos are just now receiving so much media attention.
The Los Angeles Times addressed the photos in an article Friday headlined, "10-year-old Vogue model: Pretty or pretty weird?" The New York Daily News wrote Thursday, "Thylane Loubry Blondeau photos: 10-year-old model's sultry Vogue spread sparks controversy," and the International Business Times dubbed the images a "sexualized photo spread."
Gotta Watch: Nutty fight; cell phone deflects bullet; 'Color'-ful new app
Who knew a child's peanut allergy would start a parental smackdown, or that a cell phone could deflect a bullet? In today's Gotta Watch videos, find out why a school's allergy guidelines have caused a parental uproar; how a cell phone can save a life and get a sneak peek at the next big thing in social networking.
Parental peanut controversy – A 6-year-old girl’s peanut allergy has ignited a parental firestorm at one school. When a public school took steps to save a student from potentially fatal contact with peanuts, parents picketed to remove the rules. How far should a school go to protect a child from a deadly allergen?
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2011/03/24/exp.am.intv.peanut.carroll.cnn"%5D
Monday's intriguing people
Tad Boyle
The head coach of the University of Colorado Buffaloes basketball team is trying to comprehend why his team did not make the field of 68 in the NCAA tournament while trying to motivate his guys to begin play in the post-season National Invitation Tournament. Boyle was hosting a watch party at his house that was featured on the CBS broadcast that announced the brackets, and the nation saw stunned and disappointed faces as Colorado's players and coaches realized they would not be playing in the tournament. "I had no words to console them," Boyle said afterward. "I thought we were in." He wasn't the only one.
FULL POST
Gotta Watch: Chainsaw britches, pot for tots, history's jigsaw, Haiti's 'Earth ships'
The ol' cut and run - An Oklahoma man is accused of stuffing a chainsaw down his pants and running. Well, waddling is likely a better word. The best part about this absurd story is the repeated use of the term "britches" and the infamous local news standby – the old camera man re-enactment routine.
50 people in 50 days: Little boy vanished outside grandmother's home
Editor's note: Nancy Grace's new show on HLN, "Nancy Grace: America's Missing," is dedicated to finding 50 people in 50 days. As part of the effort, which relies heavily on audience participation, CNN.com news blog "This Just In" will feature the stories of the missing.
This was the seventh case.
It's been two years since the disappearance of Adji Desir, but police have not given up hope to find the boy alive.
Police marked the second anniversary on January 10 by knocking on doors and distributing updated fliers with the then 6-year-old's smiling face. A large triangle image on the fliers highlights what police aim to do by building a triangle of trust between residents of the Immokalee village, Adji's parents and law enforcement. Did someone see something when the developmentally disabled boy vanished while playing outside his grandmother's home with friends?
Reuniting families in Haiti a year later
Thousands of nongovernmental organizations have been working in Haiti in the past year. They range from operations of just a few people supporting a school or orphanage to some of the largest aid groups in the world, like the Red Cross. Regardless of their size, there has been no shortage of work for them to do after the devastating earthquake.
A handful of aid organizations have taken on the difficult task of reuniting children who became separated from their families. They've developed a database of information on more than 5,000 cases. In a country where accurate records of family histories were already difficult to come by, it can take months of painstaking detective work to establish a verifiable connection between a child and a living relative.
CNN's Steve Kastenbaum spoke with an official from an aid organization that has been reuniting families amid the chaos. Listen to the story here:
You can also listen to the CNN Radio Reports podcast on 
or 
to the podcast here.
The day's most popular stories
The five most popular stories on CNN.com in the past 24 hours, according to NewsPulse:
Man says wife's death was sex fantasy accident: Arthur Sedille was up-front with police: He would often put a gun to his wife's head during fantasy sex play at their Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, home. But Sedille said he didn't know the gun was loaded when he aimed it at his wife's head and pulled the handgun's slide back during sex December 21. Sedille, 23, is now facing the possibility of a murder charge.
Where are the top destinations for 2011? The time to plan your journey is now. To set your itinerary in motion, we sought out recommendations from three travel experts: Robert Reid, U.S. travel editor for Lonely Planet; Pauline Frommer, creator of Pauline Frommer's guidebooks; and Martin Rapp, senior vice president of leisure sales at Altour.
Keeping safe in the kitchen: From smoke alarms to goggles
The leading cause of Thanksgiving fires is residential cooking, FEMA says.
Amid all the shopping and chopping and cooking and baking tonight and tomorrow, followed by more preparation for Black Friday, fire prevention probably isn't at the forefront of most people's minds going into the holiday weekend.
But it should be, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, who says the leading cause of all Thanksgiving fires is cooking in the home.
An estimated 2,000 fires occur each on Thanksgiving in the United States, resulting in an average of five deaths, 25 injuries and $21 million in property loss each year, said the agency, an entity of the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Fires occur most frequently from noon to 4 p.m., prime time for roasting turkeys/tofurkeys, boiling potatoes and vegetables and baking pies. Smoke alarms were not present in 20 percent of Thanksgiving Day fires that occurred in occupied residential buildings, the agency said.
So, what to do? Make sure your smoke alarms work, which I'm sure you already do, as a practical matter of everyday life. And here are a few more tips that may seem like common sense, but are always good to be reminded of:
- Keep a close watch on your cooking. You should never leave cooking food unattended.
- Keep oven food packaging and other combustibles away from burners and heat sources.
- Heat cooking oil slowly and watch it closely; it can ignite quickly.
- Don't wear loose sleeves while working over hot stove burners. They can melt, ignite or catch on handles of pots and pans.
- Have a "kid-free zone" of at least three-feet around the stove and areas where hot foods or drinks are prepared or carried.
- Keep a lid nearby to smother small grease fires. Smother the fire by sliding the lid over the pan and turn off the stovetop. Leave the pan covered until it is completely cool.
And, if you must deep fry a turkey, which is basically not recommended in good faith by any fire safety or prevention agency, remember to wear your goggles, keep children and pets far, far away, and this stuff, too:
- Turkey fryers should always be used outdoors a safe distance from buildings and any other flammable materials.
- Never use turkey fryers in a garage or on a wooden deck.
- Make sure the fryers are used on a flat surface to reduce accidental tipping.
- Never leave the fryer unattended. Most units do not have thermostat controls. If you do not watch the fryer carefully, the oil will continue to heat until it catches fire.
- Never let children or pets near the fryer even if it is not in use. The oil inside the cooking pot can remain dangerously hot hours after use.
- To avoid oil spillover, do not overfill the fryer.
- Use well-insulated potholders or oven mitts when touching pot or lid handles. If possible, wear safety goggles to protect your eyes from oil splatter.
- Make sure the turkey is completely thawed and be careful with marinades.
- Oil and water do not mix, and water causes oil to spill over causing a fire or even an explosion hazard.
- The National Turkey Federation (NTF) recommends thawing the turkey in the refrigerator approximately 24 hours for every five pounds in weight.
- Keep an all-purpose fire extinguisher nearby. Never use water to extinguish a grease fire. If the fire is manageable, use your all-purpose fire extinguisher. If the fire increases, immediately call the fire department for help.
Thursday's intriguing people
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin shows off his new pup.
Putin's puppy
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is asking Russians' help in naming his new puppy.
The dog was a gift from Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in celebration of an agreement to build a gas pipeline between the two countries.
The Bulgarian shepherd has a Bulgarian name, Yorgo, but Putin wants to give it a Russian moniker, the Sofia news agency Novinite.com says.
Widely circulated photos of Putin nuzzling the fuzzy puppy could soften the ex-KGB agent's judo-wrestling, tough-guy image, for whatever reason, the Globe and Mail of Toronto, Canada, noted.
"Russia's man of deeds hugged it affectionately and kissed it on the nose," the official RIA news agency dutifully reported.
Burned boy: Attackers 'got what they deserved'
Michael Brewer, seen in March, says he is getting counseling for his anger.
Michael Brewer says the boys who set him on fire a year ago, "got what they deserved."
Brewer said he wished the three boys who poured alcohol on him and torched him with a lighter were "right here" so he could deal with them himself.
Brewer added he's getting counseling for his anger. His remarks came during a 16th birthday party thrown for Brewer by residents of a retirement facility near Fort Lauderdale.
The seniors befriended the teen after hearing about the incident which had Brewer fighting for his life.
The three boys who set Brewer on fire a year ago have been charged as adults and face attempted murder charges. All three remain in jail.
An apparent dispute over a bicycle and a music CD set off the events.
Police: 'Anything's a possibility' in disappearance of 10-year-old
Investigators are interviewing former neighbors and former teachers, and seeking surveillance video as they investigate the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl from her Hickory, North Carolina, home, police said Monday.
Zahra Clare Baker was last seen sleeping in her bedroom about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, according to Hickory police. She was reported missing about 2 p.m. Saturday by her father, Adam Baker, and stepmother, Elisa Baker.
Woman in missing girl's case gets 25 years on drug charges
Misty Croslin was also ordered to pay a $500,000 fine.
Misty Croslin, the last person known to see a 5-year-old Florida girl before she was reported missing in February 2009, was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison on unrelated drug charges.
Croslin and her former husband, Ronald Cummings, were both arrested in January along with three others after selling about $3,900 worth of drugs to undercover officers, authorities said.
Cummings was sentenced in September to 15 years in prison and was fined $250,000 for selling prescription drugs.
Cummings is the father of Haleigh Cummings, who vanished after she was tucked into bed about 8 p.m. February 8, 2009, Croslin told police.
The Croslin and Ronald Cummings divorced after Haleigh's disappearance.
Bystanders play key role in bullying, expert says
Catherine Bradshaw is associate director of the Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence
While bullying is often seen as a two-character act, psychologists say bystanders, including parents, teachers and students, can play critical roles in either enabling or defusing bullying.
"When other kids that were bystanders intervened on behalf of the victim, the victim was less likely to experience anxiety or depression," said Dr. Catherine Bradshaw, associate director of the Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence.
However, "when other kids try to [step] in, the situation can escalate," Bradshaw cautions. So if a bystander comes to the defense of a bullying victim, she says, it should be done carefully, without the threat of physical violence, in a bid to ratchet down the confrontation.
Parents must not ignore their children's complaints of bullying, Bradshaw said, but should instead notify school officials. A wrong approach for parents, she said, is for the parent to say, "Buck up, you can take care of yourself."
There's also a clear strategy for teachers to employ in an effort to curb bullying behavior. Bradshaw recommends that teachers intervene immediately; separate the students, talking first with the victim, then with the bully.
Bradshaw, an associate professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, develops and implements anti-bullying and school-based violence prevention programs in Maryland.
Hear Bradshaw explain the dynamic here:
Craigslist says no plans to resume sex ads in U.S.
Craigslist has "no plans" to resume running adult services ads that contribute to child sex trafficking in the United States, an official with the online advertising site told a House panel Wednesday.
However, the erotic services ads remain available to Americans on the company's foreign sites, including its Canadian site, acknowledged William "Clint" Powell, the director of customer service and law enforcement relations at Craigslist.
Powell's remarks to a House Judiciary subcommittee responded to testimony that the internet has greatly expanded child prostitution and child sex trafficking. In particular, witnesses cited online advertising sites such as Craigslist and backpage.com as facilitating the ability of people to hire child prostitutes.
In late August, attorneys general in 17 U.S. states banded together to urge Craigslist to discontinue its adult services.
On Twitter
Recent Comments