Omawumi discloses why she doesn't want to discuss the paternity of her daughter

Omawumi opened up to Thisday entertainment contributor, Seun Apara, on the reasons why she does not like discussing the paternity of her daughter. She said: 

Rapist Burnt and buried near the grave of the woman he raped in Bolivia.

Villagers in Bolivia’s southern highlands buried a man alive in the grave of the woman he is suspected of having molested and murdered, an official said Thursday.

Police had identified 17-year-old Santos Ramos as the possible culprit in the attack on 35-year-old Leandra Arias Janco Sunday in a Quechua community near the municipality of Colquechaca, said Jose Luis Barrios, the chief prosecutor in Potosi province where the community is located.

J. Cole Isn’t Afraid of Releasing Album on Same Day as Kanye West

J. Cole is making a big deal about releasing his sophomore album “Born Sinner” on June 18, the same day that hip hop superstar Kanye West - Kim Kardashian’s baby daddy - drops his controversial “Yeezus.”
The Roc Nation artist addressed the topic a few times during his hour-long performance for iHeart Radio Tuesday in New York for an event live streamed on Yahoo! Music.

Lil’ Kim’s Ever-Changing Face

Sometimes you have to wonder if Lil' Kim secretly wishes she was a member of the Jackson family. The one-time Queen of Hip Hop has altered her face so many times, she's almost unrecognizable.
The 38-year-old femcee appeared at Hot 97's annual Summer Jam at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, and showed off a sexy outfit that included a tight black corset, but it was her face that really stunned the crowd. Her cheekbones looked more sculpted and her pout seemed to be locked into a permanent duck face.

The Tornado That Hit Oklahoma Last Week Was A Record-Breaking 2 Miles Wide

The tornado that killed nine and injured about 50 people near Oklahoma City on Friday has been rated a top-of-the-scale EF5, the National Weather Service said Tuesday.

It also had a record-breaking width of 2.6 miles, double the size of the 1.3-mile-wide tornado that devastated Moore, Oklahoma last month.

Judge accepts insanity plea in Colo. shooting case

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) -- A judge accepted James Holmes' long-awaited plea of not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday and ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation — an examination that could be a decisive factor in whether the Colorado theater shooting suspect is convicted and sentenced to die.
The judge also granted prosecutors access to a hotly contested notebook that Holmes sent to a psychiatrist shortly before the July 20 rampage, which left 12 people dead and 70 injured in a bloody, bullet-riddled movie theater in suburban Denver.

Taylor Swift Channels ’60s Icon On Stage With the Stones

Forget about playing Joni Mitchell. Taylor Swift should set her sights on portraying Marianne Faithfull instead. The blond superstar did an admirable job of channeling the '60s icon Monday night, when she joined the Rolling Stones on stage for a rendition of "As Tears Go By."

The ballad, of course, was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, but was released first by Faithfull in 1964 before the Stones dropped their own version a year later.

Best Break-Up Letter Ever: Ask Kelsi Where Your Stuff Is

What's scarier than a really nasty break-up note? A really nice break-up note. You better watch your back if you get caught cheating and then receive a Dear John letter that opens: "Hey Honey!"

one such letter, and it's since gone viral, having received more than 1 million page views as of Monday morning.

Kim Kardashian Is Feted at Baby Shower ― and Baby Kimye’s Gender Is Revealed

 Kim Kardashian is officially ready for baby Kimye!
The mom-to-be, who is expecting her first child with Kanye West, was celebrated by friends and family at a baby shower in Beverly Hills on Sunday.

The late-morning event took place at the posh pad of family friends Irving and Shelley Azoff and it was star-studded affair. In addition to Kardashians and Jenners aplenty, celebs included Kelly Osbourne, Nicole Richie, NeNe Leakes, fitness guru Tracy Anderson, Kimberly Stewart, and Mel B.

Daughter Is Sick And Tired Of Caring For Ailing Relatives

DEAR ABBY: I took care of my grandmother until her death a few years ago, and now my mother is very sick. I feel angry because I'm only 23, and it seems all I have ever done is take care of sick people. I sit at the hospital sometimes just fuming.

Mom was a smoker and now she has cancer. I keep thinking if she hadn't smoked, she wouldn't be in this fix, and neither would I. I always visit her and try to do everything she asks of me, and yet I think I'm starting to hate her. I dread going to the hospital, sitting there and waiting for test results, etc. What kind of daughter has feelings like this? -- WORST DAUGHTER ON EARTH

Female Israeli soldiers punished for racy photos

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said on Sunday that it has disciplined a group of female soldiers who posed for photos in underwear and combat gear and posted the images on Facebook.
The incident was the latest in a string of episodes involving young Israeli soldiers on social media that have drawn reprimand from the military.
Israeli news site Walla said the women were new recruits stationed on a base in southern Israel. One picture showed the soldiers removing their fatigue uniforms to expose their underwear and back sides. In another, five women posed in what appeared to be a barracks room, dressed only in helmets and a small amount of combat equipment. The faces of the soldiers were blurred in the photos.
In a statement, the military said the young women had acted in a manner that showed "unbecoming behavior" for Israeli soldiers. "The commanding officers disciplined the soldiers as they saw fitting," it said.
The statement did not identify the soldiers or give any details about the punishments. Military officials said the base conducted educational lectures to keep soldiers from repeating the offense.
Several times in recent years, the Israeli military has disciplined soldiers for what were considered improper postings in social media sites.
In a video posted to YouTube in 2010, a male Israeli soldier was filmed dancing suggestively around a blindfolded Palestinian woman. That incident followed the discovery of photos earlier that year showing a female soldier posing in front of Palestinian prisoners.
Shortly thereafter, the Israeli military banned soldiers from using social media sites while on base. The ban was an effort to prevent future embarrassing posts on social media. It remains unclear whether the ban is in effect.
Early this year, another soldier was reprimanded for writing anti-Palestinian tweets and posting pictures to multiple social media services showing himself naked with a gun.
Most Jewish Israeli men and women are required to serve in the military, starting at age 18.

Wells Fargo Is Long on the American Dream

Have you heard what the CEO of Warren Buffett's favorite bank is saying about the housing market? Its more than just words; it's where the bank is putting its money, too!
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC  ) CEO John Stumpf has been making the media rounds of late, with the housing market on his mind. Stumpf leaves no question about his viewpoint on the subject; Stumpf, and by extension Wells, think that U.S. housing is back.
Putting your money where your mouth is
"Housing for two-thirds of Americans is still the American Dream. I'm bullish on housing."
This quote puts Wells Fargo's view on housing in no uncertain terms. And Wells' financial statements back up that sentiment. Wells' biggest business is mortgage lending, contributing 26% of total non-interest income in the first quarter. That was the sixth consecutive quarter of mortgage production greater than $100 billion.
Stumpf estimates that the size of the U.S. mortgage market is about $10 trillion, or roughly the equivalent of all the nation's bank deposits combined. Stumpf contends that a market this huge can't exist without both a strong secondary market and some government involvement (probably some tweaked format to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). Without the secondary markets and government, banks simply don't have the funding to meet public demand at a reasonable price. Remember Econ 101: The same demand with less supply would lead to higher prices.
"Everyone who touches a mortgage should all be interested in making a good mortgage."
This quote strikes at the heart of the financial crisis. When originators, packagers, ratings agencies, and investors fail to understand -- or, worse yet, even consider -- the underlying credit quality of a loan, the entire system falls apart.
Wells is practicing what it preaches. The bank has $252 billion of first-lien mortgage loans on the books as of the first quarter, which is by far the overall highest concentration on its books. Even with such a large portfolio, delinquent loans -- those more than 30 days past due -- are just 4.9%, compared with 9% at Bank of America, 7.1% at JPMorgan Chase, and 5.9% at Citigroup.
Stumpf has recommended that the government should stop purchasing mortgages outright as it does today. He suggests that a move like that would increase accountability throughout the mortgage-origination process. As an alternative, Stumpf thinks it should offer guarantees on these mortgages. The result would be greater recourse for originators and packagers if the loan goes bad. In this scenario, instead of having the government take the loss, private investors would have incentive to police the system and still have the comfort of the full faith and credit of the U.S. government via a guarantee.
"I think it's about jobs, about confidence, about feeling good about where things are going." 
At the macro level, Stumpf sees the housing market's recovery as a function of a healing jobs market. Because the purchase of a house is so expensive and is generally funded in part with borrowed money, it's logical that households with stable income (i.e,. a job) would be more likely to purchase.
The economics support Stumpf's view. The April jobs report was resoundingly positive, beating expectations by 25,000 jobs and also including robust upward revisions to the February and March reports.
Too often companies will publicly say one thing while doing something entirely different behind closed doors. This is not the case with Wells Fargo. Not only is it in the media talking about a housing recovery, but it's also putting dollars to work investing in one.

Wells Fargo's dedication to solid, conservative banking helped it vastly outperform its peers during the financial meltdown. Today, Wells is the same great bank as ever, but with its stock trading at a premium to the rest of the industry, is there still room to buy, or is it time to cash in your gains? To help figure out whether Wells Fargo is a buy today, I invite you to download our premium research report from one of The Motley Fool's top banking analysts. Click here now for instant access to this in-depth take on Wells Fargo.

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Apple vs. Microsoft vs. Google: Battle for the Living Room

It all comes down to the living room. The titans of tech have traded punches on PCs and are gaining ground in mobile, but the ultimate battle will take place inside the TV.
And why not? The TV is really just a full-blown monitor. With so many people wrapping up their days by spending their leisure time consuming prime-time programming, it was just a matter of time before the quest for eyeballs came to the battle to end all battles in your living room.
So let's look at how the biggest players in tech are jockeying for position to be at the heart of your home's heart.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT  )
The Xbox 360 isn't just about gaming, and that became apparent during last month's Xbox One media event, when the entire first half of the presentation was devoted to the new console's streaming and computing benefits. Game demos followed during the latter half of the reveal.
When the Xbox One hits the market in time for this year's holiday shopping season, buyers will be able to seamlessly shift from games to live TV to Internet Explorer.
Microsoft knows what it's doing. It was the first console maker to allow Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX  ) subscribers to stream through its console. Netflix was a lot smaller at the time, and streaming video was largely a novelty. However, with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sitting on Microsoft's board -- where he remained until stepping down last year -- no one has had to tell the software giant that Netflix is the leading source of bandwidth consumption during peak prime-time hours. Even without Hastings on the Microsoft board, Netflix will be a big part of the Xbox One experience.
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG  )
The world's leading online search provider fumbled Google TV with its launch three years ago.
Big G had best-of-class partners on the hardware end, but it failed to play nice with the programmers. Leading broadcasters and cable networks didn't buy in, and Google TV launched a Web-enabled platform where many of the more popular viewing options were blocked for Google TV viewing.
Third-party app developers showed reasonable support. Netflix was there, of course. However, Google's rush to launch a service before it was ready burned its hardware partners. Google TV lives on, but the only reason we can't write off the search star is the success of Android and YouTube. Google's open-source platform is the mobile operating system of choice in the smartphone space, and it's gaining ground in tablets. As far as YouTube goes, it's the top dog in video sharing.
So we can't dismiss Google, and later this year it will update the interface to run on its latest Android and Chrome platforms.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  )
The wild card here is Apple.
The Apple TV set-top box has gotten better with every generation, but it's still not the category killer that the consumer-tech leader has achieved with the iPod, iPad, and iPhone. Things can change with the long-rumored smart television, and CEO Tim Cook reiterated this past week that his company has "incredible interest" in this space. The only real question is whether we will be finally getting a full-blown premium HDTV this holiday shopping season.
There's plenty riding on this, especially if the Xbox One succeeds as a console that makes any TV a smart television. If so -- or if Google TV finally gains traction -- the appetite for a smart TV from Apple will diminish substantially. Apple knows its back is up against the wall, with margins on its existing products shrinking. Now it's merely a matter of beating the clock.
The tech battle will be televised
The next few months will be interesting, and couch potatoes will have the best seats in the house.

It's incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped and molded by just a handful of companies. Find out "Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks" in The Motley Fool's latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged among the five kings of tech

Samsung’s About to Announce a Whole Bunch of New Products

After releasing the Galaxy S4 smartphone in April, Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF) is getting ready to unveil several new products later in June. What can investors expect? And what does it mean for Samsung’s rivals?
Samsung’s June 20 event
After unveiling the Galaxy S4 at Radio City Music Hall in March, Samsung is heading over to London for its next unveiling. This time, the Korean tech giant will have multiple devices to showcase.
According to reports, those devices will include a miniature version of its flagship Galaxy S4 and several tablets -- some running Android, others Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows.
The Galaxy S4 Mini
The Galaxy S4 Mini should be on display at the London event, but Samsung has already put up the specs on its website. As its name literally suggests, it’s basically just a smaller version of the Galaxy S4.
But there are some other key differences. In addition to its 4.3-inch display (which is still larger than Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 5), the Galaxy S4 Mini has a processor with two fewer cores, and a camera with five less megapixels.
This seems to suggest that Samsung might discontinue its Galaxy S3, instead offering the S4 Mini as the cheaper alternative. That would stand in stark contrast to Apple, which has continued to produce older models of its phone (the iPhone 4 is almost 3 years old) for consumers on a budget.
It also serves to highlight the fundamental difference in product strategy. Although most reviewers seem to appreciate Samsung’s larger screens, the company isn't taking any chances. Five inches is too big? Ok, buy a Mini then.
Meanwhile, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has continued to insist that Apple has produced the phone with the best overall display, despite the chorus of critics clamouring for a larger iPhone.
ATIV
Just like Samsung isn't married to any particular screen size, it also isn’t content with just one operating system. Samsung’s Windows tablets are given the “ATIV” brand, while its Android tablets get the “Note” or “Tab” designations.
But from there, it gets even more complex. Samsung offers three different ATIV tablets: one sporting Windows RT, and two with full Windows 8.
The one with Windows RT has never made it to the US. The company’s executives have been critical of the mobile-only operating system, blaming Microsoft for failing to adequately explain Windows RT to the consumer.
That was probably a wise decision on Samsung’s part, as sales of the flagship RT device -- the Surface -- have been lackluster. Meanwhile, Dell just cut the price of its Windows RT tablet by 40%.
At this point, Windows RT is looking like a failure for Microsoft. Investors should watch to see if Samsung has changed its mind, or if it has decided to completely abandon Windows RT. As Samsung has become such an important company in the consumer electronics space, its take on Windows tablets should be seen as significant.
Samsung also makes ATIV phones which runs Windows Phone 8. So far, Verizon is the only major carrier to pick one up. Sprint is rumored to be getting the ATV S soon.
Like Windows RT, will Samsung stick it out with the Windows Phone operating system and announce a new ATIV phone? Or is it committing fully to Android? Windows Phone 8 has gained some modest market share in recent months, but remains a distant third behind Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.
Galaxy tablets
That leaves Samsung’s Galaxy tablets. The company launched the Galaxy Note 8.0 to little fanfare just a few weeks ago. But the Note 8.0 also has a 10.1-inch cousin -- will Samsung update this model as well?
With the Note category gaining steam, a revamped Note 10.1 could easily become the top, full-size Android tablet. Apple lost its dominant global market share position in terms of phones many months ago -- only recently did Android outpace Apple in terms of tablets. If Samsung is going to continue to compete with Apple, it must offer a compelling iPad alternative.
There’s also been rumors that Samsung could update its Galaxy Note lineup of phones. However, the Note 2 was released just last November, only seven months ago. Thus, it seems a little early for a Note refresh. But if one comes, it once again shows the stark difference between Apple and Samsung -- the former is content with one phone a year; the later, a major new phone almost every quarter.
Samsung: the next horseman?
Generally, Samsung isn't lumped in with the major tech companies (Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon). But perhaps that’s unfair. Although Samsung is not an American company and doesn't have its own operating system (at least not yet), its products are immensely important to the overall tech industry.
Tech investors should pay attention to what Samsung unveils, knowing that its products could have a direct effect on Apple, Google and Microsoft.

It's incredible to think just how much of our digital and technological lives are almost entirely shaped and molded by just a handful of companies. Find out "Who Will Win the War Between the 5 Biggest Tech Stocks?" in The Motley Fool's latest free report, which details the knock-down, drag-out battle being waged by the five kings of tech. Click here to keep reading.

Sean Parker Is Married! Facebook Billionaire Weds Alexandra Lenas

Sean Parker is a married man! The Napster founder and Facebook billionaire, 33, wed singer-songwriter Alexandra Lenas on Saturday, June 1, a rep confirms to Us Weekly.

The ceremony took place in Big Sur, Calif. at the Ventana Inn. According to the rep, the couple celebrated with 300 family members and friends "in a romantic, magical setting."
A source tells Us that money was certainly not an object at the nuptials, where Parker even hired Ngila Dickson, the designer from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, to style their guests and the groom's wardrobe. The couple's 6-month-old daughter, Winter Victoria, and the flower girls were also dressed by Dickson.
PHOTOS: TV wedding dresses
"He is having costumes made for each guest, spending millions of dollars," a source revealed to Us of the ceremony.
Parker confirmed in a tweet on April 1 that they were indeed costuming guests, but denied that it was a "theme" wedding.
"Academy award winning costume designer Ngila Dickson is creating gorgeous, inspiring, and unique designs that are both modern and whimsical," he wrote. "Sorry to disappoint, but the wardrobe we're giving wedding guests is essentially modern … There will be nothing medieval about it."
PHOTOS: Stars' stunning wedding gowns
According to the Associated Press, Parker had the venue decked out their special day, "building the equivalent of a movie set for the wedding."
At the wedding, a rep tells Us that guests were treated to music performances by The Good, The Bad & The Ginger and Loreena McKennitt.
The couple got engaged in Feb. 2011.
Parker, worth an estimated $2 billion, was portrayed in the 2008 movie The Social Network by Justin Timberlake. He founded Napster in 1999 when he just was just 19 years old. In 2004, he became the first president of Facebook before stepping down in 2005.
PHOTOS: Meet my on-screen twin
He's since been involved with the Founders Fund, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, and is currently a backer for the music-streaming service Spotify.

VIDEO: Cheerios Commercial Featuring Interracial Couple Causes Firestorm

A new Cheerios commercial featuring an interracial couple spawned so many racist comments on YouTube that the website was forced to disable comments on Thursday, AdWeek reports.
In the commercial, a young girl asks her Caucasian mother to confirm whether Cheerios are good for your heart. Her African-American father then awakens from a nap to find a huge pile of Cheerios resting on the left side of his chest where his heart is. Seemingly innocent enough, right? Apparently not.
24 not-so-guilty pleasures
The ad had received more than 700 dislikes (and more than 5000 likes) by late Friday. According to AdWeek, the comments section was filled with references to "Nazis, 'troglodytes' and 'racial genocide'" before it was shut down. Other viewers took to Cheerios' Facebook page to voice their support for the commercial.
Despite the mixed reaction, the company says it is standing by the video. "Consumers have responded positively to our new Cheerios ad. At Cheerios, we know there are many kinds of families and we celebrate them all," Cheerios vice president of marketing, Camille Gibson, told Gawker.

Khloe Kardashian: Kanye West Doesn't Want to Be the "Only Guy" at Kim's Baby Shower

Girls only? Not for the Kardashian clan! While talking to Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS-FM radio show on May 31, Khloe Kardashian and Kris Jenner revealed who's on the guest list for Kim's baby shower, planned for Sunday, June 2 in Beverly Hills.

PHOTOS: Kim and Kanye's romance
Although the party will be an-all girls brunch, towards the end of the party, Kim's boyfriend, Kanye West, will indeed be making an appearance.
"It’s girls, but Kanye will come at the end,” Khloe explained. “I said I want Rob [Kardashian] to be there the whole time because I feel bad he’s like left out of all this stuff. So I said come the whole time, but I don’t know if he is."
In true Kardashian family fashion, West, 35, won't be arriving alone -- he'll be joined by Kourtney's boyfriend, Scott Disick, and Khloe's husband, Lamar Odom.
"I think Scott and Lamar might bring Kanye at the end, because Kanye feels it’s a little weird if he’s the only guy," Khloe said.
PHOTOS: Kardashian family vacation album
As Us Weekly previously reported, Beyonce and Fergie were also among the list of shower invitees, with guests receiving music boxes with twirling ballerinas as the invitations.
While a source told Us that "Kim is not scared at all and has no fears" about giving birth, Jenner told Seacrest that she's feeling anxiety for her daughter.
"I’m really, truthfully nervous about Kim giving birth and getting through this whole baby thing," she revealed. "That, for me, I’m excited and anxious at the same time … but all the stuff that’s been going through our lives … there’s so much going on. It’s so layered and complicated."
PHOTOS: Kim Kardashian's Greece getaway
Viewers will find out the gender of Kim, 32, and West's baby on the Keeping Up With the Kardashians premiere, which airs Sunday, June 2, at 9 p.m. EST on E!
This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: Khloe Kardashian: Kanye West Doesn't Want to Be the "Only Guy" at Kim's Baby Shower

Katie Couric and Jeff Probst Reveal That They Once Dated

It wasn't exactly a match made in heaven for talk show hosts Katie Couric and Jeff Probst, who both admitted that they once went on a date.
"I went out with Jeff Probst once," Couric told Howard Stern earlier this week. "I think he had puka shells on -- that was kind of a weird thing."
Celeb couples: Can you believe they dated?!
Shortly after Couric spilled about the date, Probst revealed the backstory to Us Weekly.
"Katie and I were set up by a mutual friend several years ago," he told the magazine. "What I remember most about the date is how nervous I was and how little I offered to the conversation. It was like I forgot how to go on a date. Like I was 14. We talked a bit about her kids and the challenges of being a parent to teenagers, and we talked a bit about our careers and lifestyles but we never got much beyond the surface."
So was there a second date?
"[I] would have definitely asked for a second date [but] the only reason I didn't call back was the date was set up through her assistant and I never got her number!" he says. "It felt weird to call her assistant for a second date," he said. "So it never had a chance to be a romance. Who knows what might have been? But it's a date I definitely remember! I mean, come on, it's Katie Couric!"
Couric, whose husband died of colon cancer in 1998, has not been shy about her dating history. In February, she told Jimmy Kimmel she had been out with Larry King on the most awkward date ever. (Watch her tell the story here.)
Fortunately for Couric, she's now happily dating financier John Molner. Probst, meanwhile, married Lisa Ann Russell in 2011.

List of 11 who disappeared from Mexico City bar

Eleven young people were brazenly kidnapped May 26 from an after-hours bar in Mexico City's Zona Rosa, a normally calm district of offices, restaurants, drinking spots and dance clubs, according to their relatives. Here are the names The Associated Press has confirmed:

1. Eulogio Fonseca Arreola, 26, a street vendor who sells cell-phone accessories with his sister and family. "They went out to have fun. They are not criminals," sister Isabel Fonseca said.

2. Jennifer Robles Gonzalez, 23, a single mother of a 6-year-old boy. Her family said she posted a message on Facebook after 8:30 a.m. Sunday saying she was dancing at the bar less than two hours before the kidnapping allegedly took place.

3. Josue Piedra Moreno, 29, street food vendor who told his mother, Leticia Moreno, he was going out to a club with his brother, Aaron Piedra Moreno.

4. Aaron Piedra Moreno, 20, street food vendor

5. Guadalupe Karen Morales Vargas, 24

6. Alan Omar Athiencia Barranco, 26

7. Said Sanchez Garcia, 19, who helped his mom sell purses and cleaning items in a street market. He was last seen late Saturday when he came home for a sweater before going out to another nightclub and then the bar.
8. Jerzy Ortiz Ponce, 16, went to the party with his friend, Said Sanchez.
9. Gabriela Tellez Zamudio, 34,
10. Rafael Rojas, no age available, married and a merchant in Tepito.
11. Victim unidentified

Heat's Andersen accepts ban, won't change style

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Miami forward Chris Andersen grudgingly accepted his punishment from the NBA on Saturday morning.

He's not about to let Saturday night's suspension change him - or the way he plays.
Less than 24 hours after league officials upgraded Thursday night's flagrant one foul call to a flagrant two and suspended him for Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, the guy better known in basketball circles as the ''Birdman'' told reporters he doesn't regret what happened.
''It doesn't matter at this point,'' Andersen said when asked what led to the first-half skirmish in Game 5. ''It was the heat of the moment. A guy pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I let it get to me. I can't regret anything. It is what it is, bro. At the time it was a flagrant one, now it's a flagrant two.''
Andersen was called for a foul after knocking Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough to the floor with a blind-side body check. When Hansbrough got up, Andersen shoved him in the chest. Following a replay review, both players were called for technical fouls and Andersen drew the flagrant one.
But when league officials took another look, they rescinded Hansbrough's technical and upgraded Andersen's flagrant foul to what would have been an ejection had it been called that way on the floor. The body check and shove even had David Stern saying ''I don't know what he was doing.''
Hansbrough is still befuddled, too.
''There's nothing I do differently against this team, I just come out and play my style,'' he said after the Pacers' shootaround. ''This one, I'm not sure what happened. It's just playoff intensity, I guess.''
The loss of Andersen could have a major impact Saturday night.
Miami won Game 5 thanks in part to Andersen's presence inside, which helped the Heat get Indiana's dominant inside game under control. Miami leads 3-2 and can clinch a third straight trip to the NBA Finals with a win Saturday in Indy where they're 1-3 this season.
Without Andersen, the Heat loses one of their more physical players. Miami coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters that backup forward Joel Anthony will get some of the minutes usually reserved for Andersen.
What else will the Heat be missing? A player who has made his last 17 shots and all 15 in this best-of-seven series.
''I'd say maybe finishing around the rim,'' Pacers coach Frank Vogel said when asked about the difference between Anthony and Andersen. ''Obviously, anything less than 100 percent is less than Chris Andersen.''
Vogel said he also expects Miami to make other adjustments such as using Chris Bosh inside more and giving Udonis Haslem more minutes. Haslem has gone 8 of 9 from the field in each of Miami's last two wins.
As for Andersen, Spoelstra said the two discussed the play and the punishment Friday after the ruling was handed down. When asked about details of the discussion, Spoelstra said he was keeping that private.
''We've moved on and anything now is about getting this done tonight,'' he said.
Vogel has his own concern.
Team doctors have diagnosed starting forward David West with an upper respiratory infection. West missed Saturday morning's film session and after watching the first portion of the shootaround, Vogel said he sent West home early to get some additional rest.
West has had a major role in the Pacers success all season and particularly in this series, in which he has averaged 18.2 points and 8.4 rebounds and if he's not at 100 percent, it could be problematic as the Pacers attempt to send this series back to Miami for Game 7 on Monday night.
''Any time, you've got a guy who is not 100 percent, it's a concern,'' Vogel said. ''But he'll get rested this afternoon and he'll be ready to go.''
The Heat won't have that luxury with Andersen -- until next week.
''I'll deal with the repercussions of it and miss this game, but I know my guys are going to go out there and take care of it,'' Andersen said.

Rockets from Syria hit Hezbollah stronghold

BEIRUT (AP) — Eighteen rockets and mortars rounds from Syria slammed into Lebanon on Saturday, the largest cross-border salvo to hit a Hezbollah stronghold since Syrian rebels threatened to retaliate for the Lebanese militant group's armed support of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The rockets targeted the Baalbek region, the latest sign that Syria's civil war is increasingly destabilizing Lebanon. On Friday, the Lebanese parliament decided to put off general elections, originally scheduled for June, by 17 months, blaming a deteriorating security situation in the country.

In Qatar, an influential Sunni Muslim cleric whose TV show is watched by millions across the region, fanned the sectarian flames ignited by the Syria conflict and urged Sunnis everywhere to join the fight against Assad.
"I call on Muslims everywhere to help their brothers be victorious," Yusuf al-Qaradawi said in his Friday sermon in the Qatari capital of Doha. "If I had the ability I would go and fight with them."
"Everyone who has the ability and has training to kill ... is required to go," said al-Qaradawi, who is in his 80s. "We cannot ask our brothers to be killed while we watch."

He denounced Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, as "more infidel than Christians and Jews" and Shiite Muslim Hezbollah as "the party of the devil."

He said there is no more common ground between Shiites and Sunnis, alleging that Shiite Iran — a longtime Syria ally that has supplied the regime with cash and weapons — is trying to "devour" Sunnis.
The Syrian conflict, now in its third year, has taken on dark sectarian overtones. It has escalated from a local uprising into a civil war and is not increasingly shifting into a proxy war.
Predominantly Sunni rebels backed by Sunni states Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are fighting against a regime that relies on support from Alawites, Shiites and Christians at home, and is aided by Iran and Hezbollah. The Syria conflict is also part of a wider battle between Saudi Arabia and Iran for regional influence.
Sunni fighters from Iraq and Lebanon have crossed into Syria to help those fighting Assad, while Shiites from Iraq have joined the battle on the regime's side.
Sectarian tensions rose sharply when Hezbollah stepped up its involvement in the war in mid-May by joining a regime offensive against the rebel-held Syrian town of Qusair, about 10 kilometers (six miles) from Lebanon. The town has since become one of the war's major military and political flashpoints, with international concern growing over civilians believed to be trapped there.
On Saturday, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nation's two top officials dealing with human rights and humanitarian issues said they were alarmed by reports that thousands of civilians are trapped in Qusair and that hundreds of wounded people are in urgent need of medical care.
The U.N. officials called for a cease-fire to allow the wounded to be evacuated. They said more than 10,000 people have fled to two nearby towns and need food, bedding, water and medical care.
The Red Cross said it has requested access to Qusair and is prepared to enter the city immediately to help the civilians there.
Syria's political opposition cited Hezbollah's role in the war and the dire situation in Qusair as reasons for not attending peace talks with the regime in Geneva, which the U.S. and Russia had hoped could be launched at an international conference this month.
Qusair has also become a rallying cry for rebels demanding Western weapons shipments, with the commander of the main Western-backed rebel group warning this week the town could fall soon if such arms are not delivered.
A regime victory in Qusair would deal a demoralizing blow to the rebels and solidify Assad's control over the central province of Homs, the linchpin linking the capital Damascus with the Alawite strongholds on the Mediterranean cost.
For the rebels, holding the town means protecting their supply line to Lebanon. Rebels have sent reinforcements to the town to try to stem the regime advances. Both sides have suffered heavy casualties.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah's role in Syria set off a mounting backlash from the rebels who threatened to target the militia's bases in Lebanon if the militant group does not withdraw its fighters.

Over the past week, Syrian rebels have fired dozens of rockets on Lebanon's northeastern region of Hermel, across the border from Qusair, but Saturday's attack was the first on the Baalbek region, a Hezbollah stronghold.
Sixteen rockets and mortar rounds hit Baalbek early Saturday, igniting fires in fields but causing no casualties. Lebanese security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the villages of Yanta, Brital and Saraeen were among the areas struck. Lebanon's National News Agency said two more rockets hit the Baalbek area on Saturday evening.
Also Saturday, gunmen opened fire on a Shiite shrine in the town of Baalbek in an attack that could worsen frictions between Lebanon's Shiites and Sunnis. The shrine of Sayida Khawla, a great granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad, was attacked shortly after midnight, a security official said.
Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries that are easily enflamed. Lebanon, itself plagued by decades of strife, has been on edge since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, which began as mostly peaceful protests against Assad's regime but later degenerated into all-out civil war.
Some Lebanese Sunnis support the Syrian rebels, while some Shiites back Assad's regime. In the majority Sunni city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon, Sunnis backing the rebels and Alawites supporting Assad have repeatedly fought each other with rockets and grenades.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has firmly linked the militia's fate with that of the Assad regime, but in a speech last week also pledged to keep the fighting out of Lebanon.

Still, a senior Hezbollah commander, Nabil Kaouk, said Saturday that "we will not be silent and will not stand idle" in the wake of Syrian rebel attacks on Hezbollah targets. He spoke during a memorial service for a slain Hezbollah fighter and his comments were carried on the website of Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar TV.
Fawaz A. Gerges, director of the Middle East Center at the London School of Economics, said he believes Hezbollah has made a strategic decision that the battle is in Syria, not Lebanon. "If Hezbollah is provoked, I don't expect it to allow itself to fall into the trap" of responding, he said.
At the same time, the al-Qaradawi comments "are pouring fuel on a raging fire," Gerges said.
The cleric is "putting a sectarian stamp on an essentially geostrategic struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran," he said.

7 Things Pet Owners Do that Drive Veterinarians Crazy

It's a tough subject to tackle. After all, veterinarians do plenty of annoying things, too. But this particular post is all about you - well, not you, but the annoying yous among you. Not that most of you deserve this, but some of you just might! So without any further hedging, let me launch into the most annoying things pet owners do. 1. Answer Their Cells
Need I say more? Is there anything more annoying and disrespectful than answering a phone call while your vet is delivering her state-of-your-pet's-health address? OK, it might be worse if you dug out your phone to initiate a call midexam, but only by a smidge. They're both just plain rude.
[See Also: 10 Things to NOT Say to Your Vet]
2. Bring Their Kids I dearly love children (mine mostly, but yours can also be cool), but very young or badly behaved children are an unnecessary liability in a veterinary environment. It's hard enough to keep pets safe - much less kids. So unless your children are old enough and/or chill enough to hang out in a vet setting, they should probably stay home.
One exception: If your pet has an emergency and you have no one to care for your kids, you are most definitely excused. We'll understand. Call ahead and we may even assign an employee to keep tabs on them so you can concentrate on what's wrong with your pet.
3. Let Their Dogs Run Amok This is not the dog park. And, for the record, retractable leads should remain in the shortest, locked position for the duration of your visit. After watching an innocent human get taken down in the lobby by an overlong retractable line, I decided there should be a law against these in vet hospitals.
[See Also: 20 Dog Breeds That Are Sadly Losing Popularity]
4. Carry Their Cat I've never been able to fathom why some owners insist upon bringing their cats to the vet hospital without carriers. Some will use harnesses, which won't help them when faced with a truly motivated dog. And, honestly, I'd never blame a dog for attacking a cat in a veterinary hospital environment. After all, these cats are probably giving off cornered prey vibes that some dogs can't ignore.
Remember my post on cats in carriers? Cats are more comfortable in uncertain environments when they're enclosed.
5. Deny, Deny, Deny It drives us crazy. These clients effectively employ us to be their experts, then they put up roadblock after roadblock: No, my pet is not fat. No, my pet's teeth are not rotting. No, he's too old for surgery. No, her claws are not too long. It's exasperating!
I can understand why you might (and should!) question your veterinarian about health care issues that are important to you, but why come to the vet if you're unwilling to have an open dialogue about what your pet needs and doesn't need?
6. Refuse to Pay It happens more often than you'd think. Pet owners agree to hospitalization and procedures - and later refuse to pay. Sometimes they say that they forgot their checkbooks. Other times they claim to have misunderstood the payment policy, even though there's a sign in almost every veterinary hospital in the United States that explains payment is expected when services are rendered. I even had a client cancel her Amex payment after we saved her anemic cat's life with a blood transfusion.
[See Also: 10 Truly Embarassing Vet Moments]
7. Don't Follow Through There's no shame in admitting that you can't medicate your difficult cat or trim your unruly dog's toenails. Veterinarians are pet owners, too. We absolutely understand why you might not be able to manage these not-so-simple tasks.
But you've got to let us know if you can't, don't or won't do what we say. After all, we have plenty of alternatives to offer. And there are few things more frustrating to a veterinarian than failing to treat a patient who could have been helped if only the vet were able to employ some ingenuity.
Want to give your veterinarian the best holiday gift ever? Resolve to be a more honest, open, conscientious, cat box-carrying, child care-finding, cell phone-shirking client. For my part, I promise to offer you a New Year's post on my personal mea culpa. It's a fair trade, don't you think? That is, as long as I do as I say and follow through.

Keeping Up with Beyoncé: Kim Kardashian and Kanye West Spending $1 Million on Baby’s Birth

You better believe that when high profile celebrities give birth, they don't hail a cab to the hospital and hope for the best. It's a whole orchestrated plan, and we've seen stars like Beyoncé and Jay-Z shell out more than $3,200 a night for a lavish birthing suite (which they then proceeded to renovate) so their child could be born in peace-without the pesky media interfering.

Now, it's rumored that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are following suit, and taking things to another level (naturally). Reportedly the pair is shelling out close to $1 million for the birth their first child. The National Enquirer is reporting (yes, we know-it's not The New York Times, but we believe this story) that the fashion-obsessed duo have booked a massive suite at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles that rents for $4,000 a day. It features amenities like two beds, a full-sized tub, and a separate living room with a dining table and a large flat screen TV.

They've also spent thousands on custom catering from her favorite restaurants, which ensures that they won't be chowing down on green Jello. In lieu of a hospital gown, West has reportedly spent $25,000 on custom lingerie. Oh, and in case it couldn't get any more ridiculous, a private photographer has been employed with the hefty rate of $1,000 a day to appropriately document the baby's first week.

Well, if their goal was to one up Bey and Jay (which wouldn't surprise us, frankly), they certainly have.
How much is too much to spend on your baby's birth? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

More From The Vivant:
Justin Bieber's At It Again: Wealthy Neighbors Complain About His Reckless Behavior in $230,000 Ferrari
Rich, Famous, and Behind on Their Taxes: 10 Biggest Celeb Tax Cheats
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Student says his tip led to Ore. bomb plot arrest

ALBANY, Ore. (AP) — When 17-year-old Truman Templeton didn't want to go to an assembly at his Oregon high school, his mother knew something was wrong.

She asked, and he said that a classmate had started talking about making bombs and had brought diagrams to West Albany High School.

His mother turned to a family friend, who told her, "I know exactly who to call."

Shannon Lewis, a juvenile probation officer for Linn County, told the Albany Democrat-Herald (http://bit.ly/15j6CLo ) she relayed the mother's information to the Albany Police Department's tip line, and an officer put her in touch with the 911 dispatch center.

Grant Acord, 17, was arrested that night at his father's house in North Albany. Investigators found evidence of bomb-making and two bombs at his mother's home.

Acord is charged with attempted aggravated murder and possession and manufacture of explosive devices. He is to be tried as an adult. He has not yet entered a plea.

Templeton told KATU-TV (http://bit.ly/12MQfop ) that Acord bragged he could make bombs, raising suspicions in the past few months. He said another friend saw a bomb or bomb components at Acord's house, and Acord brought books about bomb-making to school.

"The tipping point for me when I was just worried about being in school," Templeton said. "OK, school is supposed to be a safe and secure environment. I should not have to worry about this kind of stuff."
Templeton said he hadn't known what police would find, if anything, at Acord's home.
"When I saw video of bomb squads and people in hazmat suits putting evidence in these bags and dumping chemicals, I realized this was a serious operation," he said. "If I hadn't come forward with the information I had, this could have been a lot worse."

Netflix Doesn't Need to Care About Bad 'Arrested Development' Reviews

Ted Sarandos, the chief content guy at Netflix, doesn't care about all the horrible early reviews of his pseudo-network's Arrested Development release, which reports suggested had pushed down company stock earlier this week. As far as Netflix is concerned, they're not a network — and they've got a huge hit on their hands.

RELATED: 'Recurring Developments' Is the Ultimate Inside-Joke Machine for 'Arrested' Fans

"I hope you guys are not really trading on New York Times reviews," Sarandos said in response to a question about the stock at a conference Thursday, according to The Los Angeles Times, referring to Mike Hale's savaging of the fourth-season episode dump without exactly denying that the (very) poor reception had to do with the dip in Netflix stock, which has since recovered. It's just that reviews aren't the point of the original series business, least of all if you're in the streaming business: "It's not a Broadway show. It’s not going to close because of a bad review," Sarandos said. Arrested Development indeed got some stinkers, mixed in with some more positive ones — it gets better, seems to be the conventional wisdom at this point. But the masses of people who watched and continue to watch the 15 new episodes are a lot more important to Netflix's bottom line than some snobbish opinions. And preliminary data show success. 

RELATED: To Binge or Not to Binge: The 'Arrested Development' Dilemma, from TV Experts
Indeed, Arrested Development appears to have done very well in terms of "ratings." Netflix doesn't release actual streaming figures, but in addition to positive numbers from third party metrics, Netflix CEO Reid Hastings referred to the premiere weekend (which actually was only half of a long weekend) as "huge" — and presumably more users will get around to watching the full season as the summer presses on. Plus, only a "small percentage of people burned through all of them," Sarandos added, so the numbers only look to get more than "huge."
RELATED: How Netflix Built the New Couch Potato
Sure, some disappointed fans who signed up for Netflix just to get their AD fix might not stick around as subscribers forever, even though Hastings said Netflix is "willing" to do a fifth season. But people who found this comeback season even a little satisfying will likely either stick with Netflix until then — or sign back up the next time a big original show comes around. Netflix has said previously unannounced original content is on the way next year, in addition to a slate that includes new programming from the Wachowskis. Even if Sarandos's push only results in a must-see show every year or two, Netflix is doing something right. And, besides, you can't judge a disrupter by its Bluths. "It's a really rare bird," Sarandos said of Arrested Development at the Nomura's Media & Telecom Summit today. "TV cults get more intense but typically smaller over time. Arrested Development was unique because the audience grew dramatically when it was off the air." And Netflix is now a specialist in dramatic audience growth.

Tale of 2 converts shows Egypt's sectarian divide

ASSIUT, Egypt (AP) — In one case, an Egyptian Christian man stabs his wife after she converts to Islam with the support of hard-line Islamists. Then after surrendering to police, he dies in mysterious circumstances, falling from a court building window.

At about the same time, a Muslim woman in another small village converts to Christianity and elopes with a Christian man. A crowd of Muslims attacks the local church in outrage. None of the attackers are prosecuted, but police arrest the Christian man's family.

The case is elevated to a national issue as angry Islamist lawmakers in parliament dedicate a whole committee session to demanding the conversion be stopped and decrying an alleged foreign plot to convert Muslims.

The two recent instances that took place in southern Egypt illustrate the deep sensitivities surrounding conversions in Egypt's conservative society.

But they also demonstrate the discrepancies in how the cases are treated. Christians say politically powerful Islamist hard-liners have stepped up efforts to encourage Christians to embrace Islam. Meanwhile, the rare cases of Muslims turning to Christianity often bring violence against the community. In either case, authorities tend to turn a blind eye.

That has heightened Christians' sense of siege amid the increasing influence of Islamists since the 2011 ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Under Mubarak, there were two or three cases a month nationwide of Christians converting to Islam, says Ibram Louiz, an activist who tracks conversions and disappearances of Christian women.
"But now I hear at times up to 15 cases coming from just one province," he said.
He estimated some 500 conversions since Mubarak's fall, 25 percent of them involving underage Christian girls, some as young as 15, who end up being married off to older Muslim men.
Public conversions to Christianity are far rarer. Technically, it is not illegal for a Muslim to become Christian — though under Islamic law it can be punishable by death. But in the handful of cases the past decade, converts were imprisoned for insulting religion, threatening national security or other charges.
With communal feeling strong in Egypt, conversions are rarely seen as simply a matter of personal choice. Among Christians and Muslims alike, families are outraged when a loved one switches religion and often react violently. Questions of honor become mixed in when it involves a daughter or wife.
What begin as domestic family dramas easily spin into wider sectarian tensions as each community tries to punish converts or "defend its own." In 2011, for example, a Cairo church was burned by Islamists determined to protect a woman they believed was being held there to force her to renounce her conversion to Islam.
President Mohammed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, frequently declares that Muslims and Christians are equal before the law, and the Brotherhood is not known to be involved in conversions. But hard-line Islamists known as Salafis, allied to the Brotherhood, prominently defend converts to Islam, and they have a powerful presence in parliament. The Christian minority, about 10 percent of the population, has far less political power.

Romani Farhan Amir, an impoverished Christian day laborer, had little choice but to accept when his wife marched into a police station in the southern city of Assiut, accompanied by members of the hard-line Gamaa Islamiya group, and registered her conversion to Islam in February, his family says. Amir just told police that he did not want her anywhere near their four children, they say.

On May 11, when she showed up at the school of one of their sons, he believed she was trying to snatch the boy — something she denies. He stabbed her in the principal's office, leaving her wounded.
Amir surrendered to police, and while he was at a court complex waiting to be questioned, he fell from a fourth-story window. Police say he committed suicide and deny any foul play.
The provincial security chief acknowledges that, while tragic, Amir's death averted Christian-Muslim violence. If the wife had died "there would have been grave consequences," Abul-Qassim Deif said. "So in the end, that he died and she lived quickly ended the whole affair."
His family is convinced he was killed in retaliation for attacking a Muslim, though they balk at accusing anyone specifically.
At a memorial prayer for him in the family's tiny apartment in Assiut, his mother argued with one of his six sisters whether to speak out. The sister tried to silence her, fearing retaliation from Islamists. Even the priest who led the memorial prayer advised them to lay low and avoid trouble.
But the mother, Maria Sourial, screamed, "Romani went into the building walking on his own two feet but came out dead. My son never committed suicide. How could he with so many policemen and suspects around him?"
The Gamaa Islamiya, which waged an armed insurgency in the 1990s but has since forsworn violence, has championed the cause of Amir's ex-wife, Azza William — now called by her Muslim name Habibah Shaaban.

A local Gamaa leader, Shaaban Ibrahim Ali, denied his group pushes Christians to convert.

"They keep coming and we keep telling them to go back and consider the consequences," he told AP.
But he said if someone is determined to become Muslim, the group is morally obliged to protect them. He said Christians converting is a source of "happiness" for him and that his dream is to see Egypt's entire Christian population turn to Islam.
William disappeared from her husband's home in January and took refuge with the Gamaa, according to the Assiut security chief. Three weeks later, Ali and other Gamaa members accompanied her to the police station, where she registered her new Muslim name and sought a restraining order against Amir.
Speaking in her hospital room, recovering from stab wounds to the chest, arms and thighs, she told AP her husband first found her praying as a Muslim a year ago. He beat her, then got her a job as a cleaner at a church nursery, hoping that would dissuade her from becoming a Muslim.
"It didn't," she said, with Ali standing near her during the brief interview.
When her husband attacked her May 11, "I did not duck to avoid his stabs, I stood still in front of him when all the other women at the room were screaming," she said, with drips connected to both arms and her entire body — except her eyes — cloaked in a dark brown veil and robes.
Now, with Amir's death, she now gets custody of her four children. "May God show them the way to Islam while they are with me," she said.
The other conversion story, in Beni Suef province north of Assiut, provides a telling contrast.

In this case, a 22-year-old Muslim woman Rana el-Shenawi disappeared and is believed to have converted and fled abroad with a Coptic Christian she fell in love with.

In retaliation, Muslim mobs hurling rocks and firebombs attacked the Mar Girgis Church in her hometown of Wasta in late April after her father accused a local priest of using witchcraft to convert her. A priest's car was set on fire. Islamist hard-liners forced Christian businesses to shut down for more than a week.
"We want to raise the banner of Islam and not sit and watch our Muslim daughters getting kidnapped and converted to Christianity," said a leaflet distributed in Wasta by Islamists.
Ten people were initially detained for the church attack but were later released. The church is now guarded by police.
Police detained the father, mother and cousin of Ibram Andrews, the Christian with whom el-Shenawi allegedly eloped. They are under investigation on suspicion of helping her disappearance, inciting sectarian tensions, disturbing security and blasphemy.
Salafi groups, meanwhile, drummed up a nationwide uproar, warning of a foreign plot to convert Muslims. Even parliament took an interest. A committee held a hearing April 30, with Islamist lawmakers demanding action to retrieve el-Shenawi. The session devolved into furious arguments between Christian and Islamist lawmakers.
The el-Shenawi family's lawyer — a member of the Salafi Watan Party — was granted meetings with senior aides at the presidency to discuss efforts to retrieve the woman and investigate alleged foreign proselytizing.
The lawyer, Ashraf el-Sissi, told the AP he doesn't want the case to fuel sectarian tensions. But "what I am concerned with is whether there are foreign groups trying to undermine our nation."
In Wasta, the priest of Mar Girgis church, Father Angelos, said he didn't understand why his church was blamed for el-Shenawi's disappearance. Andrews never attended services there and lived in the city of Beni Suef, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.
"Here, rumors swiftly get treated as facts," said Angelos. Mar Girgis is separated by a narrow alley from a mosque from which Salafis have launched protests against the church.
"Attacks on churches continue to happen because the culprits act with impunity, knowing that there is no law and there is no punishment," he said. "Generally, we suffered as Christians under Mubarak but nowhere near what is happening to us now."

TNT to give fans a backstage pass for 6 races

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The TNT portion of the NASCAR television schedule begins next week at Pocono and the network will attempt to give fans a backstage pass during its six-race run.

TNT will showcase one driver per week in an ''All Access'' segment during its pre-race coverage. First up will be Denny Hamlin, who will be followed by the network from the time Sunday's race at Dover concludes all the way through next Friday's qualifying at Pocono.
TNT will follow Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing team through their weekly preparations.
''We're hoping fans get a deeper, insightful look at the driver, the teams and what goes on week-to-week,'' said Craig Barry, senior vice president and executive creative director, Turner Sports. ''I think that this type of television, this all-access, fly-on-the-wall type television is becoming more and more prevalent in what we do.''
TNT will then do the same thing with Brad Keselowski leading into Michigan, Juan Pablo Montoya before Sonoma and Kurt Busch before Kentucky.
It could make for compelling television as teams are generally hesitant to give too much of a glimpse of their preparations for risk of revealing strategy. Barry said TNT is aware teams could find the process invasive as cameras follow them for a week, but ''we were very forthcoming in telling them what we expected, and giving them examples of what we were looking for'' in recruiting participants.
The network also plans to televise one feature each week highlighting a driver away from the track. The spotlight will be on Dale Earnhardt Jr. before Pocono as reporter Ralph Sheheen visits NASCAR's most popular driver at his ''Whisky River'' property and ''Car Graveyard.''
The network will use analysts Kyle Petty, Wally Dallenbach and Larry McReynolds in the booth with play-by-play announcer Adam Alexander, who will also host the 60-minute ''Countdown to Green'' pre-race show. Reporters Sheheen, Marty Snider, Matt Yocum and Chris Neville will patrol pit road before and during each race.
''These guys have worked together for us for a long time - that is a really important aspect,'' Barry said. ''We take a lot of time to create a situation that the announcers and the talent can play off each other and build their chemistry.''
Indeed, Turner is entering its 31st consecutive year of NASCAR coverage. The network's ''Summer Series'' of six races is part of a television package shared between Fox and ESPN. The current contracts all run through the 2014 season, but Fox has already renegotiated its extension.
NASCAR chairman Brian France last week said ''there's a lot of interest, that's a very good thing,'' about the remaining portion of NASCAR's 36-race schedule. But France also indicated he'd like NASCAR to stay where it is on the television guide.
''My hope is to renew with the incumbents,'' France said. ''But that's why you have negotiations and discussions. We'll have to see how that plays out.''
TNT declined to comment on its position regarding upcoming NASCAR negotiations.
The network also declined to discuss fan criticism over the amount of commercials packed into a NASCAR broadcast. Fans have grown increasingly frustrated with all three networks, arguing too much time is spent on advertising at the expense of at-track action.
TNT was the first network to adopt side-by-side coverage by going ''Wide Open'' during its July race at Daytona and splitting the screen between the commercial and the on-track action. It's not known if the network will use the feature this year.
''I feel like we really haven't completely decided on that,'' Barry said. ''We are looking at a bunch of different scenarios.''
TNT will not use an overhead camera in its coverage, but made that decision before a cable from Fox's ''CAMCAT'' camera snapped during last Sunday's race at Charlotte. Several cars suffered heavy damage and 10 fans were injured when a part of the rope landed in the grandstand.

Miley Cyrus Poses in Wedding-Like Dress

Miley Cyrus tweeted a picture of herself wearing what looks suspiciously like a wedding gown amid rumors that she has split with fiance Liam Hemsworth.
The ultra-glam shot showed the “Can’t Be Tamed” singer with her hair slicked back and scarlet red lipstick.
Perhaps the pose is Cyrus’s way of telling fans, Don’t believe everything you hear.
The current issue of Us Weekly quotes a source saying the couple is “definitely over.”
But E! reported that the couple is still “hanging in there,” despite hitting a rocky patch.
Reps for Cyrus and Hemsworth did not respond to ABCNews.com when asked if the couple had split.

Activists criticize reported NKorean repatriation

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Human rights groups have demanded that North Korea guarantee the safety of nine of its citizens who reportedly fled to Laos, only to be apprehended and sent back home.

Seven males and two females were flown home Tuesday via China despite a request from South Korea that Beijing not repatriate them, the Chosun Ilbo daily newspaper in Seoul reported Thursday, citing unidentified South Korean government officials. The Yonhap news agency cited a Foreign Ministry official in Seoul in its report that said the nine are aged 15 to 23.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry has declined to confirm the reports.

The Geneva-based U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Thursday in a statement that it is trying to locate the defectors and expressed concern that they did not receive a chance to have their asylum claims assessed.
"UNHCR is deeply concerned about the safety and fundamental human rights of these individuals if they are returned" to North Korea, High Commissioner António Guterres said.
On Friday, activists criticized Laos during a rally outside its embassy in Seoul.

"We are here to call on Laos not to deport North Korean defectors because there is concern they may be tortured when sent back," said Lee Ho-taek, head of a group that provides refugees with support.

Close to 25,000 North Koreans have come to South Korea since the end of the Korean War. The vast majority of them hid in China and Southeast Asian countries including Laos, Thailand and Vietnam before flying to Seoul.

China, North Korea's foremost ally, does not recognize defectors as asylum seekers and has been known to return them to Pyongyang.
Under North Korean law, defectors face a minimum of five years of hard labor and as much as life in prison or the death penalty in cases deemed particularly serious. Activists say they could face torture.
"North Korea has to come clean on where these nine refugees are and publicly guarantee that they will not be harmed or retaliated against for having fled the country," said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch. "As a result of their return, they are at dire risk."
The Yonhap report said the defectors entered Laos through China on May 9 and were caught by Laotian authorities May 16. Several attempts to contact officials in Laos, a secretive and strict socialist regime in Southeast Asia, were unsuccessful.
"It's tragic and disappointing," Kim Eun-young, an activist with the Seoul-based Citizens' Alliance for North Korean Human Rights, said Thursday of the reported repatriation. "We fear defectors will now feel more intimidated about trying to come to South Korea through Laos or other Southeast Asian countries."
The number of North Koreans who settle in South Korea had been rising over several years before peaking in 2009 with nearly 3,000 arrivals. The South Korean constitution guarantees North Koreans citizenship after the government can establish that they are not spies.
Flows have slowed significantly since then. Last year, just over 1,500 arrived in South Korea, according to the government in Seoul.
There are unconfirmed reports that North Korea has boosted security at the Chinese border in recent years to slow the flow of defectors. Over the past year, North Korea has publicized the return of some defectors to North Korea.
The Korean Peninsula has been divided by a 4-kilometer-wide (2.5-mile-wide) Demilitarized Zone since the Korean War ended with an armistice in 1953.