Love me (legal) tender: Elvis ranch on market for $6.5 million

(CNN) -- It's arguably one of the largest pieces of Elvis Presley memorabilia ever: a 154.5-acre ranch in Horn Lake, Mississippi, once owned by the king of rock 'n' roll.

Elvis Presley bought the property in February 1967, three months before marrying Priscilla Beaulieu.

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And it's on the market, with an asking price of $6.5 million.

"It had a large cross there that Elvis really liked, and a concrete bridge over a 14-acre lake," real estate agent Rodger Motz told CNN.

The property, called the "Elvis Ranch" by locals, is just east of Highway 301 in Horn Lake, about 17 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee.

Presley purchased it in February 1967, three months before he married Priscilla Beaulieu, according to a Graceland spokeswoman. The deed on record was signed by Presley's longtime manager, Col. Tom Parker, said Parker Pickle, Desoto County tax assessor.

There is a small house known as the "Honeymoon Cottage" on the property. Graceland confirmed the newly married Presleys did spend time there following their honeymoon in Palm Springs, California.

The property has been on the market since last month. Its current owners are Dennis McLemore and his brothers.

McLemore said his parents bought the property in 1979 and turned it into a cattle ranch after previous owner-developers had failed to turn it into a resort.

McLemore said he met Priscilla Presley on a winter day in 1985. "I got a call one day that Priscilla was coming up for a visit," he said. "I'd been working on a cow's ear and was covered in blood when she came up. She told me Elvis would have been proud this was a working cattle ranch."

Tours occasionally have driven down from Memphis with passengers who took pictures of the pastures, he said.

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At one time, there was a 12-foot wooden fence around the compound with a half-dozen trailers on the grounds, where members of Presley's entourage, the "Memphis Mafia" were housed. "There's still a trailer pad behind the Honeymoon Cottage," McLemore said.

"I remember as a child when Elvis owned it," said Anita Rainey, planning director for the city of Horn Lake. "I had a friend he gave a horse to. She lived across the street to the ranch and woke up one day and they had a pony."

She said she remembers seeing Presley riding a horse along the highway. He was a quiet owner, she said, and the ranch is prime real estate.

"I've been getting a lot of calls from media," Motz said, "and the Europeans are really interested."

However, he said, he doesn't have a serious buyer on the hook and has yet to receive an offer.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/10/12/elvis.ranch.for.sale/index.html

'New' Jackson song more like '90s retread

(CNN) -- The Michael Jackson song "This Is It," released Monday, was co-written and recorded in 1983 with singer-songwriter Paul Anka, Anka and the Jackson estate confirmed Monday afternoon.

Interest has been running high in "This Is It" -- the song, the two-disc album and the movie.

Jackson's estate and Sony Music Entertainment did not realize this history when they picked the song out of boxes of tapes in their archives, leading to a big surprise Monday when Anka called them, Anka said.

Jackson, who became busy with the success of his "Thriller" album, never finished the duet recording that was intended for Anka's "Walk a Fine Line" album, Anka said.

Latin hip-hop singer Safire recorded and released the song in 1990 -- under the title "I Never Heard," Anka said.

"Somebody just innocently found this tape and did not know somebody recorded it with him," Anka said.

Estate spokesman James Bates acknowledged to CNN that the "song was written with the legendary Paul Anka."

"We picked the song because the lyrics were appropriate given the name Michael gave his tour," Bates said.

It was just a coincidence that the song's first words were the same as Jackson's last planned tour, Anka said.

Monday's release of the lilting love song was part of the promotion for the Sony movie "Michael Jackson's This Is It," which comes out in two weeks.

Anka said it was "an honest mistake" that the estate's special administrators quickly resolved Monday.

"They realized the mistake," Anka said "They apologized and they've given me rightfully what I own. It's 50-50, right down the middle."

Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony's Columbia/Epic Label Group, was quoted in The New York Times on Sunday as saying he did not know the origins of the song.

Anka, who is heard playing piano on the song, said producers did a beautiful job of completing it.

Backing vocals from Jackson's brothers and orchestration were added to the spare voice and piano track recorded 26 years ago in Anka's studio.

The original version, with just Jackson and Anka, will be included in the two-disc soundtrack, along with the orchestral version, Sony said.

The orchestral version will play at the close of the film, which will feature Jackson's career highlights and last rehearsals, Sony said.

The CD will be released on October 27, coincidental with the debut of the movie, Sony said.

"Disc one features the original album masters of some of Michael's biggest hits such as 'Billie Jean,' 'Smooth Criminal,' 'Human Nature,' and 'Thriller' arranged in the same sequence as they appear in the film," Sony said.

The second disc includes "early demo versions" of Jackson classics "She's Out Of My Life," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and "Beat It," Sony said.

"This disc also features a recently discovered spoken word poem from Michael Jackson entitled 'Planet Earth," the company said.

The just-released song got widespread airplay on radio shows across the United States Monday, according to Nielsen BDS, a company that tracks music airplay. It the 21st most-played song on the 1,300 stations monitored by Nielsen, with at least 680 "spins" by mid-afternoon, the company said.


http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/10/12/michael.jackson.song/index.html

Schwarzenegger signs bill honoring gay-rights activist

(CNN) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill commemorating Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician elected to public office in the state, a spokesman for the governor said Monday.

Stuart Milk, nephew of Harvey Milk, sits next to a photo of the gay rights activist in March.

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"He really saw this signing as a way to honor the gay community in California," spokesman Aaron McLear told CNN in a telephone interview.

Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill last year, saying he believed Milk should be recognized at the local level.

But since then, "Milk has become much more of a symbol of the gay community," McLear said, citing the eponymous movie starring Sean Penn, Milk's posthumous receipt of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and his induction into the California Hall of Fame.

Milk served briefly as San Francisco's supervisor before he and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in 1978 by Dan White, a city supervisor who had recently resigned but wanted his job back.

Under the measure, the governor each year would proclaim May 22 -- Milk's birthday -- as a day of significance across the state.

The bill was one of 704 signed Sunday -- most of them near the midnight deadline -- by Schwarzenegger, said spokesman Aaron McLear.

The legislation passed the state Senate in May and the state Assembly last month.

The legislation has been divisive, with the governor's office receiving more than 100,000 phone calls and e-mails, most of them in opposition, spokeswoman Andrea McCarthy said last month.

But she added that most of the Twitter posts the governor received were in favor of the bill.

Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill last year, saying he believed Milk should be recognized at the local level.

Milk was a "unique" historical figure who led a civil rights movement and then was "assassinated in his public office for being who he was," State Sen. Mark Leno, a Democrat, told CNN last month.

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The day of significance would not close schools or state offices, according to its text.

However, Randy Thomasson, the president of SaveCalifornia.com, said the bill was vague and could allow for a number of things at schools, including gay pride parades or "mock gay weddings."

"Harvey Milk was a terrible role model for children," said Thomasson, whose organization opposed the bill.

"The reality is Harvey Milk is a hero to so many people and a great role model," said Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, the group that backed the bill introduced by Leno.

"It's very appropriate that the state he worked in and passed the first gay rights bill in the country should honor him."

He said the bill marks the first time any state has officially honored an openly gay person.

Leno said that claims that the bill would lead to schools holding gay-pride parades and similar activities were "hyperbole." The bill "mandates nothing," he said, although it "affords an educational opportunity."

President Obama posthumously honored Milk with a Presidential Medal of Freedom this year, and Sean Penn portrayed him in the 2008 film "Milk," for which he received an Oscar for best actor.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/12/harvey.milk/index.html

Pirates urge Spain to free pair

Somali pirates holding a Spanish fishing boat and its crew hostage have said they will only negotiate their release if colleagues are freed.

On Monday, two Somalis suspected of involvement in seizing the boat arrived in Madrid to face piracy charges.

The Alakrana vessel was seized in early October in the Indian Ocean and taken to the Somali port town of Harardere, the hub of piracy in the region.

The two Somali men were captured by the Spanish navy after they left the boat.

"Our friends must be freed for us to begin discussing the fate of the boat and the hostages," one of the pirates, Abdi Mohammed, told Agence-France Presse.

The crew - including members from Spain, Ghana, Indonesia, Madagascar, Senegal and the Seychelles - are reported to be in good health.

The two men seized by the navy are due to appear before a Spanish court on Tuesday.

Many pirates have escaped prosecution because of doubts about the borders of jurisdiction. In May, a court in Spain surrendered a group of Somali pirates to Kenya after trying to bring them to Spain.

Last year, the crew of another Spanish boat was freed by pirates in the same area after a ransom of a reported $1.2m (£750,000) was paid, according to Somali officials.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8303957.stm

Rates to rise under Senate health plan, industry group says

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Health insurance premiums for the typical American family would increase by another $4,000 by 2019 under a key Senate overhaul plan, according to an industry trade group analysis.

Sen. Max Baucus' Finance Committee is likely to vote Tuesday on an $829 billion bill to overhaul health care.

The report raised new questions about the political viability of the 10-year, $829 billion compromise bill drafted under the guidance of Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

The Finance Committee is expected to vote on the plan Tuesday. The vote represents a potential turning point in the health care debate. Baucus' committee is the last of five congressional panels to consider health care legislation before debate begins in the full House of Representatives and Senate.

The report from the group America's Health Insurance Plans concludes that, under the Baucus plan, the costs of private health insurance would rise by 111 percent over the next decade. Under the current system, costs would rise by 79 percent, the report said.

Premiums for individuals could rise by an extra $1,500 if the Baucus plan is implemented, the report said.

It said premiums will rise faster under the Baucus plan in part because it doesn't do enough to require individuals to purchase coverage. A failure to draw enough young, healthy people into the insurance system would drive up rates for everyone else, the report concluded.

Under the plan, individuals who did not buy coverage would face a fine of up to $750.

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At the same time, a proposed tax on employer-sponsored, high-cost "Cadillac" plans could result in higher premiums for many private consumers, the report said. It also highlighted likely cost-shifting due to Medicare cuts and an array of new taxes and fees on industries tied to the health care sector. Watch as the insurance industry issues a warning before a key vote »

The White House blasted the report Monday, calling it inaccurate and self-serving.

"This is a self-serving analysis from the insurance industry, one of the major opponents of health insurance reform," White House spokesman Reid Cherlin said.

"It comes on the eve of a vote that will reduce the industry's profits. It is hard to take it seriously. The analysis completely ignores critical policies [that] will lower costs for those that have insurance, expand coverage and provide affordable health insurance options to millions of Americans who are priced out of today's health insurance market or are locked out by unfair insurance company practices."

Finance Committee spokesman Scott Mulhauser called the analysis "a health insurance company hatchet job -- plain and simple."

The analysis from America's Health Insurance Plans, first reported by The Washington Post, was conducted by the firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

A separate analysis last week from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded that the Baucus bill would reduce the national deficit by slightly more than $80 billion over the next decade.

The office asserted the plan would provide insurance to an additional 29 million people and extend coverage to 94 percent of the country's nonelderly population.

The measure initially was drafted after months of negotiations among the Finance Committee's so-called Gang of Six, a group of three Republicans and three Democrats. It represents the only proposal so far with the potential to attract any Republican support.

The Baucus plan is also the only plan under serious consideration that excludes a government-run public health insurance option. Several top Democrats -- including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California -- have questioned whether it is possible contain costs without creating a public option to serve as a check on private insurers.

Republicans and some conservative Democrats oppose the government-run insurance option, saying it would drive private insurers from the market and eventually bring a government takeover of the health care system

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/12/health.care/index.html

Food production 'must rise 70%'

Food production will have to increase by 70% over the next 40 years to feed the world's growing population, the United Nations food agency predicts.

The Food and Agricultural Organisation says if more land is not used for food production now, 370 million people could be facing famine by 2050.

The world population is expected to increase from the current 6.7 billion to 9.1 billion by mid-century.

Climate change, involving floods and droughts, will affect food production.

The FAO said net investments of $83bn (£52.5bn) a year - an increase of 50% - had to be made in agriculture in developing countries if there was to be enough food by 2050.

Climate challenges

"The combined effect of population growth, strong income growth and urbanisation... is expected to result in almost the doubling of demand for food, feed and fibre," FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf told delegates at a forum entitled How to Feed the World 2050.

The FAO said that even if governments increased agricultural investments, there could still be 370 million people suffering from famine in 2050.

Difficulties ahead included a scarcity of natural resources such as land, water and biodiversity.

Food production would also have to deal with "the effects of climate change, notably higher temperatures, greater rainfall variability and more frequent extreme weather events such as floods and droughts," Mr Diouf warned.

Climate change would reduce water availability and lead to an increase in plant and animal pests and diseases, he said.

Mr Diouf said it was important to increase food production in areas where it was most needed, as climate change could reduce potential output by up to 30% in Africa and up to 21% in Asia.

"There should be a special focus on smallholder farmers, women and rural households and their access to land, water and high quality seeds... and other modern inputs," he said.

He added that the biofuel market also presented competition to food production.

Biofuel production is set to increase by nearly 90% over the next 10 years to reach 192 billion litres by 2018, the FAO said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8303434.stm

From an icy slope, a medical miracle emerges

NARVIK, Norway (CNN) -- Fresh from medical school, Anna Bågenholm chose to do her residency in the Norwegian city of Narvik because of its spectacular mountain slopes. An expert skier, Bågenholm had gone off the trail with two other young doctors on a warm spring afternoon when she fell.

Rescuers worked frantically to save Anna Bagenholm from a hole in the ice of a mountain stream.

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What happened that day in 1999 changed her life and has redefined what is possible in cases of accidental hypothermia.

Bågenholm slid down a steep, icy gully and ended up submerged head first in a hole in the ice in a mostly frozen stream. Only her skis and Telemark boots and bindings protruded from the thick, opaque ice. As the 29-year-old struggled, her friends Marie Falkenberg and Torvind Næsheim began a frantic effort to free her, made impossible by a torrent of frigid spring runoff pouring over them into the hole where their friend was submerged.

They called for help, starting a chain of events that is now part of medical literature and local lore.

Bård Mikkalsen, a police lieutenant in Narvik at the time, took the call.

"I realized this was really a serious case," said Mikkalsen, who has since retired. He scrambled a pair of rescue teams in Narvik, one from the top of the mountain, the other from the bottom. He also contacted the nearest rescue team in Bodø, nearly 200 miles away, but the Sea King helicopter had already left to transport a sick child.

"I told the operator, 'You must send the helicopter to here, and you have only one minute to decide it. You have to call me back. The time is running out.' " The dispatcher turned the helicopter around.

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Heading the rescue party from the top of the mountain, Ketil Singstad skied as fast as he could in the wet springtime snow to the spot where Bågenholm remained trapped under the ice.

Singstad said he and others tied a rope to her feet and tried unsuccessfully to pull her free, and the snow shovel and small saw they had brought were no match for the thick ice. Then he saw another rescuer heading up the mountain with a pointed gardening shovel.

Using that tool, rescuers cut a hole downhill from Bågenholm and pulled her through the opening. She had been under the ice for about 80 minutes.

"I thought we were taking a friend, dead, out of the water," Singstad recalled.

Bågenholm's ski companions, both doctors, began CPR and continued until the rescue helicopter arrived. The emergency crew winched Bågenholm up to the hovering chopper, giving her CPR and squeezing air into her sodden lungs as they made the hourlong flight to the University Hospital of North Norway in Tromsø.

Dr. Mads Gilbert, head of emergency medicine at the hospital, was waiting on the helipad.

"She has completely dilated pupils. She is ashen, flaxen white. She's wet. She's ice cold when I touch her skin, and she looks absolutely dead," Gilbert said. "On the ECG [electrocardiogram], which the doctor on the helicopter has connected her to, there is a completely flat line. Like you could have drawn it with a ruler. No signs of life whatsoever. And the decision was made. We will not declare her dead until she is warm and dead."

Health Library

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Gilbert and the waiting team at the hospital were hoping the CPR that Bågenholm received after being pulled from the stream had provided enough oxygen to her chilled brain. When it's cold, the brain needs far less oxygen than it does at normal temperature, 98.6 degrees (37 Celsius), and Bågenholm was definitely cold. Her body temperature was just 56 degrees Fahrenheit (13.7 degrees Celsius). No one had ever been that cold for that long and survived.

Rushed to Operating Room 11 at the hospital, surgeons rerouted Bågenholm's blood through a heart-lung machine and slowly warmed it. More than three hours after her heart stopped, Gilbert recalled watching the video probe of Bågenholm's heart.

"It was standing completely still. No movement. I just saw some little shivering. No fibrillation. And suddenly it contracted. Pssh," Gilbert said, squeezing his fists to mimic a beating heart. "And there was a pause and pssh. A second contraction." Gilbert tears up at the memory.

Bågenholm was alive, but months of recovery lay ahead. Paralyzed for almost a year until her damaged nerves healed, Bågenholm today is a radiologist at the hospital where she was saved. She has returned to skiing and other sports. She and Næsheim began dating in the years since the accident and now live together. Have you cheated death? Tweet your medical miracle and win a copy of "Cheating Death" by Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Bågenholm remembers nothing of the accident and adds that the event did not change her life.

"I'm not so emotional. I'm more practical, I think," she says.

Her case history made the prestigious British medical journal, The Lancet, and stands as a challenge to doctors confronted with victims of severe hypothermia.

Næsheim, who is an anesthesiologist at the University Hospital of North Norway and is on the helicopter emergency medical team there, says the lesson from Bågenholm's case is clear.

"It's the three important things about emergency medicine, which is never give up, never give up, never give up. Because there's always hope."

The shovel that broke through the ice remains on the mountainside in Narvik, hanging from a tree next to the stream as a testament to the possible

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/12/cheating.death.bagenholm/index.html

'Veggie' spider shuns meat diet

By Rebecca Morelle
Science reporter, BBC News

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The mainly vegetarian spider was caught on camera

A spider that dines almost exclusively on plants has been described by scientists.

It is the first-known predominantly vegetarian spider; all of the other known 40,000 spider species are thought to be mainly carnivorous.

Bagheera kiplingi, which is found in Central America and Mexico, bucks the meat-eating trend by feasting on acacia plants.

The research is published in the journal Current Biology.

The herbivorous spider was filmed on high-definition camera.

Running the gauntlet

The jumping arachnid, which is 5-6mm long, has developed a taste for the tips of the acacia plants - known as Beltian bodies - which are packed full of protein.

This is the only spider we know that deliberately only goes after plants. Professor Robert Curry

But to reach this leafy fare, the spider has to evade the attention of ants, which live in the hollow spines of the tree.

The ants and acacia trees have co-evolved to form a mutually beneficial relationship: the aggressive ants protect the trees from predators, swarming to attack any invaders; and in return for acting as bodyguards, the ants get to gorge on the acacias' Beltian bodies themselves.

But the crafty Bagheera kiplingi has found a way to exploit this symbiotic relationship.

The spiders have to dodge ants to get to the leaf tips

One of the study's authors, Professor Robert Curry, from Villanova University, Pennsylvania, told BBC News: "The spiders basically dodge the ants.

"The spiders live on the plants - but way out on the tips of the old leaves, where the ants don't spend a lot of time, because there isn't any food on those leaves."

But when they get hungry, the spiders head to the newer leaves, and get ready to run the ant gauntlet.

Professor Curry said: "And they wait for an opening - they watch the ants move around, and they watch to see that there are not any ants in the local area that they are going after.

"And then they zip in and grab one of these Beltian bodies and then clip it off, hold it in their mouths and run away.

"And then they retreat to one of the undefended parts of the plant to eat it."

Like other species of jumping spider, Bagheera kiplingi has keen eyesight, is especially fast and agile and is thought to have good cognitive skills, which allows it to "hunt" down this plant food.

Fierce competition

The spider's herbivorous diet was first discovered in Costa Rica in 2001 by Eric Olsen from Brandeis University, and was then independently observed again in 2007 by Christopher Meehan, at that time an undergraduate student at Villanova University.

Competition in the tropics is pretty fierce so there are always advantages to do what someone else isn't already doing Professor Curry

The team then collaborated to describe the spider for the first time in this Current Biology paper.

Professor Curry said he was extremely surprised when he found out about its unusual behaviour.

He said: "This is the only spider we know that deliberately only goes after plants."

While some spiders will occasionally supplement their diet with a little nectar or pollen, Bagheera kiplingi's diet is almost completely vegetarian - although occasionally topped up with a little ant larvae at times.

Professor Curry said there were numerous reasons why this spider might have turned away from meaty meals.

He said: "Competition in the tropics is pretty fierce so there are always advantages to doing what someone else isn't already doing.

"They are jumping spiders, so they don't build a web to catch food, so they have to catch their prey through pursuit. And the Beltian bodies are not moving - they are stuck - so it is a very predictable food supply."

Acacias also produce leaves throughout the year - even through the dry season - which would make them attractive.

And Professor Curry added: "Because the plants are protected by ants, they have none of their own chemical defences that other plants do."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8302535.stm

Soldier dies after receiving smoker's lungs in transplant

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A leading UK hospital has defended its practice of using organs donated by smokers after the death of a soldier who received the cancerous lungs of a heavy smoker.

A close up X-ray view of a cigarette smoker's lungs.

Corporal Matthew Millington, 31, died at his home in 2008, less than a year after receiving a transplant that was supposed to save his life at Papworth Hospital -- the UK's largest specialist cardiothoracic hospital, in Cambridgeshire, east England.

Papworth Hospital released a statement saying using donor lungs from smokers was not "unusual."

The statement added that the hospital had no option but to use lungs from smokers as "the number of lung transplants carried out would have been significantly lower," if they didn't.

Should hospitals use smokers' lungs in transplants?

An inquest held last week heard that Millington, who served in the Queen's Royal Lancers, was serving in Iraq in 2005 when he was diagnosed with an incurable condition that left him unable to breathe.

He was told he required a transplant and in April 2007 received a double lung transplant at Papworth Hospital.

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Less than a year later, doctors discovered a tumor in the new lungs. Despite radiotherapy, Millington died on February 8, 2008, at his family home near Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire.

The inquest found a radiographer failed to highlight the growth of a cancerous tumor on the donor lungs.

Tests found that he had received the lungs of a donor who smoked up to 50 cigarettes a day, the inquest at North Staffordshire coroner's court heard.

The hospital said in the statement: "This is an extremely rare case. Papworth Hospital has a very strong track record of high quality outcomes and this is an extremely rare case.

"Patients who are accepted on to the transplant waiting list have no other option open to them, however, we must stress that all donor organs are screened rigorously prior to transplantation.

"Using lungs from donors who have smoked in the past is not unusual. During 2008/09 146 lung transplants were carried out in the UK.

"During the same period 84 people died on the waiting list. If we had a policy that said we did not use the lungs of those who had smoked, then the number of lung transplants carried out would have been significantly lower."

The tumor's growth was accelerated by the immuno-suppressive drugs Millington was taking to prevent his body rejecting the transplanted lungs, the inquest heard.

North Staffordshire coroner Ian Smith recorded that Millington, had died of "complications of transplant surgery and immuno-suppressive drug treatment."

Brown to repay £12,415 expenses

Prime Minister Gordon Brown will repay £12,415 after an independent audit of all MPs' expenses claims since 2004.

Downing Street confirmed he would repay the money, largely for cleaning and gardening, even though the claims had been within the rules at the time.

It said auditor Sir Thomas Legg had "deemed" that any annual claims above £2,000 for cleaning and £1,000 for gardening should be repaid.

Some MPs are annoyed that new limits are being applied retrospectively.

Conservative leader David Cameron has been asked by Sir Thomas to provide more information about payments for which he over-claimed in 2006 when he changed his mortgage. He had already repaid £218.

Chest of drawers

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg is to repay £910 of the £3,900 he claimed for gardening between 2006 and 2009.

SNP leader Alex Salmond is repaying £710.88 for removal costs, which he claimed when he gave up his rented flat in London in 2007. He has also been asked to supply more information on £2,610 claimed for hotel stays.

Chancellor Alistair Darling is to repay £554 he claimed towards a chest of drawers to furnish his second home. He claimed £1,104, but Sir Thomas has imposed a limit of £550 for such items.

Meanwhile, shadow chancellor George Osborne has been asked to provide copies of his mortgage interest statements. It is understood that he has not been asked to repay any money.

Sir Thomas, a former civil servant, was asked to scrutinise all MPs' claims after the furore when details were leaked to the Daily Telegraph in May.

THE STORY SO FAR MPs are allowed to claim expenses for running a second home but there was much uproar in May when receipts and details of what they had been claiming for were leaked to a newspaper. Among them were claims for expensive TVs and furniture, MPs who claimed for more than one property by "flipping" the designated second home and others who over-claimed for mortgages or services. Many MPs have announced they will be standing down, some have already repaid claims in response to constituents' anger. Party leaders pledged to change the system and an independent review is due to make its recommendations this month. The PM also asked an independent auditor to go over past claims again, to ensure money had been paid out properly. Q&A: MP expenses row explained Send us your comments

Some MPs will be told their expenses presented no issues. Others will be asked for more information and many are expected to be asked to repay money.

Sir Thomas has applied new limits to categories like gardening and cleaning.

Downing Street said the cleaning limit of £2,000 a year covered domestic cleaning, window cleaning, dry cleaning and laundry.

In Mr Brown's case the £12,415 ($19,614) is made up of £10,716 for cleaning claims above Sir Thomas's £2,000 annual limit, £302 spent on gardening above the annual £1,000 limit recommended and a £1,396 decorating bill that was "inadvertently assigned by error to two quarters".

A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Brown had "always supported this process and will cooperate fully and make the necessary repayment".

He added: "Mr Brown's expenses have always been cleared by the House authorities as entirely consistent with the rules. He has not claimed the maximum level of expenses. The review says its findings 'carry no implication about the conduct or motives of the MPs concerned'."

The prime minister has written to all ministers urging them "to respond promptly and in full" to Sir Thomas's findings.

He adds that they should "make appropriate repayments" where they are asked to do so.

Mortgage statement

Mr Cameron said everyone should comply with "what the authorities are asking" and added that he had received a letter from Sir Thomas.

He added: "It doesn't raise any new issues. It asks for one particular mortgage statement which of course I will provide about a particular period of time but it doesn't ask for any money to be paid back. But of course if any further request is made I will obviously meet it and meet it straight away."

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Commons Speaker John Bercow has written to all MPs urging them to co-operate fully, amid reports many MPs plan to defy recommendations to repay claims that were cleared at the time.

Sir Thomas, whose final report is expected in December, does not have the power to demand that they repay money.

His report will go to the Commons' Members Estimate Committee which will decide whether to order its recommendations be carried out.

But Sir Stuart Bell, who sits on the estimate committee, told the BBC on Sunday that Sir Thomas had been asked to carry out a review "in accordance with the rules at the time and the standards that applied at the time".

"I think many MPs, if they read the newspapers, may feel [Sir Thomas] is not staying within that remit," he added.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said "on one level" he could understand the reaction as MPs had "honestly and fairly" made claims within the rules as they existed at the time.

"For somebody who they thought was being appointed as an auditor but is in a sense rewriting the rules... many MPs will feel today [that it is] desperately unfair," he said.

"But I think they also have to understand where public opinion is on this and, in order to bring closure to this, I think MPs will need to bite on this particular bullet, however painful."

Expenses approved by the Fees Office have been questioned since details of the claims broke and the old system is widely agreed to have been discredited.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8303312.stm

Fake veteran faces 'stolen valor' charge

(CNN) -- Richard Strandlof said he survived the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon. He said he survived again when a roadside bomb went off in Iraq, killing four fellow Marines. He'd point to his head and tell people he had a metal plate, collateral damage from the explosion.

Richard Strandlof says he didn't mean to cause harm when he lied about being a military veteran.

None of it was true. On Friday, the FBI arrested him on the rare charge of "stolen valor."

Strandlof, 32, was held "for false claims about receipt of military decorations or medals," an FBI news release said. Charges had been filed in Denver, Colorado, the week before, the bureau said.

"The penalty for his crime is up to one year incarceration and a $100,000 fine," it said.

Before his deception was revealed, crowds ate up his story. He canvassed Colorado appearing at the sides of politicians. Inspiring and seemingly authentic, he spoke on behalf of veterans at the state Capitol.

He formed a group called the Colorado Veterans Alliance.

The whole thing was a lie, he admitted to CNN's Anderson Cooper earlier this year. Watch Strandlof discuss case in June. »

He wasn't at the Pentagon. He was never a Marine. He never served his country. He never graduated from the Naval Academy. He claimed his real name was Rick Duncan.

Where was he on 9/11, the day he said he witnessed heroism firsthand?

"I was in San Jose, California, watching it in horror on TV with a few other people," Strandlof told CNN.

He was at a homeless shelter at the time.

Strandlof denies being a pathological liar. He says he suffered from "some severely underdiagnosed mental illness" and he got caught up in the moment around "people who are passionate and loved what they did."

He told CNN he had put on a "production, which I'm sorry for."

"Hopefully the people that I hurt can in some way gain closure from that, and I myself don't know what I can do, short of leaving them alone and not being in their lives, to make that happen," Strandlof said.

He said he's not sure exactly how he's hurt people. "It's not for me to say, and time will tell," he said.

Hal Bidlack, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel, is one of those people. He ran for Congress as a Democrat and had Strandlof appear with him. Bidlack -- who lost to incumbent Republican Doug Lamborn -- isn't too happy.

"Once one lie fell apart, the whole series of things ... just cascaded into an ocean of lies," he said.

Bidlack was at the Pentagon when it came under attack on September 11, 2001. He now realizes that Strandlof stole portions of his own story.

"Now that we know he's a lying fraud," Bidlack said, "I think he was just parroting my own story back to me."

"There are an awful lot of things that he kept straight to try to fool an awful lot of people for an awful long time."

Doug Sterner has catalogued hundreds of people claiming to be military veterans who never served in the military. He says it's typical for those perpetuating the hoaxes to claim mental illness.

"I don't buy that," Sterner said. "What he was doing was looking for a cause to promote himself. I see this repeatedly. I've had a hundred cases just this year like Rick Strandlof's. ... What they're doing is building a kingdom of self and feeding their own ego."

Sterner has pushed for a federal database listing the names and citations of all decorated military veterans to help put an end to such cases. He said Strandlof has robbed true veterans of their veracity.

"Doing good does not take away from the bad that he did," he said. "Because of Rick Strandlof, the next global war on terrorism veteran that speaks in a school or talks to the media or gets involved in politics is going to be questioned."

Ryan Gallucci, a spokesman for AMVETS, agreed.

"Strandlof's actions dishonor the actual sacrifices of veterans," he told CNN Monday.

"Second, by commissioning his own advocacy group, Strandlof diverted philanthropy dollars for legitimate causes within the veterans community," Gallucci said.

"Personally, it just sickens me," Gallucci added. "As a veteran of the war in Iraq, it's unfathomable that someone would propagate such a lie at a time when American men and women are actually putting their lives on the line, and American families are coping with the loss of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice."

According to the Denver Post, Strandlof came to authorities' attention first in 1997, when he was sentenced to five years on forgery and bad-check charges.

The FBI was investigating him for fraud when he spoke to CNN -- a charge he denied.

"We did not take money to use on non-veterans projects. I did not enrich myself on this. I did not gain any money from this," he said.

He has not been charged with fraud.

That's not the point, said Sterner. "The one thing he robbed from every veteran that comes out now is credibility."

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/12/fake.veteran/index.html

Surprise hit 'Paranormal Activity' scares money out of moviegoers

(CNN) -- The new horror movie "Paranormal Activity" could be filling movie studio marketing departments with fear.

"Paranormal Activity" tells the story of a couple determined to discover if their house is haunted.

Using a campaign of limited showings, social media and word-of-mouth fan buzz, the film has managed to become a breakout hit without the aid of a glitzy marketing campaign -- or even a traditional movie trailer.

According to Variety, the very low-budget film (it reportedly cost $11,000), which played in fewer than 200 theaters, raked in $7.1 million over the weekend -- a record for a limited-release film. The film had an impressive $44,163 per-screen average and placement in the top five of the box office ratings over the weekend.

"We think it's exciting that they are taking this grassroots approach to independent film because sometimes independent films do get lost in the shuffle," said Kevin Carr, a writer/reviewer for the site Film School Rejects. "It's a unique test to see if people can demand things outside of standard marketing campaigns."

"Paranormal Activity" bills itself as "the first-ever major film release demanded by you."

The movie, which was an audience favorite at the alternative Slamdance festival in early 2008, was acquired by Dreamworks (then a part of Paramount Pictures) two years ago.

The studio initially planned to remake it using better-known actors. But after studio executives, including Steven Spielberg, viewed it, they decided the film could stand more or less as it was (though director Oren Peli did shorten the film and shoot a new ending).

The movie gained buzz after Paramount began late-night screenings in college towns, and fans took to Twitter and other sites to hail the scary flick, which centers on a young couple who believe their house may be haunted.

Paramount increased the interest by urging fans to sign on to ParanormalMovie.com and demand theaters in their locations show the film.

Peli posted a video on YouTube expressing gratitude to the fans and urging them to continue rooting for the movie.

"I just wanted to take this opportunity to speak directly to the fans and thank you all for the amazing support," Peli said on the video. "It's just been overwhelming especially considering the long road this film had for three years and the studio wanting to do a remake."

More than a million people have heeded the call. The result has been a groundswell of interest rivaling that of big-budget films.

Megan Colligan, co-president of marketing for Paramount, said the studio had a limited budget for advertising the film, so its marketing had to be tightly targeted.

Moreover, condensing its atmosphere into a 30-second TV spot was a challenge, so executives opted to produce a trailer showing fans waiting in line for the movie and their reaction to the film, said Josh Greenstein, who also serves as co-president of marketing for Paramount.

"It was very important that we sold this as an experience and rather than just a movie," he said. "When people saw the movie they loved it so much and there is such a slow build of terror that you have to sit through to experience the full effect of the movie, so we changed the marketing techniques in advertising and online to make it more experiential."

The unique marketing campaign appears to have paid off.

"The fans have really made this their film and they are doing the bulk of the work [to market the film]," Colligan said.

"The film is selling itself," Greenstein added.

Critics have also taken notice, and have showered the film with good reviews.

In giving the movie an A-minus grade, Entertainment Weekly film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote "With its this-is-really-happening vibe, 'Paranormal Activity' scrapes away 30 years of encrusted nightmare clichés. The fear is real, all right, because the fear is really in you."

Overall, the film has earned a strong 85 percent approval rating at review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

Moviegoers agree. Rajiim Gross, an iReporter who posted a review of the film, said he found "Paranormal Activity" to be much better than "Blair Witch Project," another indie-horror film to which it is being compared. Check out Rajiim Gross' iReport

"It actually scared the hell out of me," Gross said. "I saw it during the day and I would hate to be someone who went home after seeing it late at night."

Gross said he believed the studio was smart to leverage the Internet to spread the word. Watch Rajiim Gross' review of 'Paranormal Activity' »

"The best advertising is word of mouth," Gross said. "People tell 10 friends, they go see it and they tell 10 more friends and soon you have an entire community who wants to see it."

Carr, whose Film School Rejects site has been following the frenzy, said the movie "gets inside of your head" and benefits from the traditional fan support that horror films often enjoy.

That, coupled with the big cinema thrills and chills, should add up to continued box office success, Carr said.

"Watching it with 250 strangers in a movie theater and getting everybody to jump at the same time definitely has an effect," he said. "It's the event film right now of the year, which is something that needs to be experienced

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/12/paranormal.activity.movie/index.html

Death sentences for China rioters

A Chinese court has sentenced six people to death for murder and other crimes during ethnic riots in Xinjiang region in July, state media have said.

Nearly 200 people were killed during the riots between ethnic Uighurs and members of China's dominant Han group.

A seventh person received a life sentence, the official Xinhua news agency said.

These are the first convictions relating to the riots - the worst ethnic clashes in China for decades.

The six sentenced to death at the Intermediate People's Court in Urumqi - Xinjiang's capital - were reported to be Abdukerim Abduwayit, Gheni Yusup, Abdulla Mettohti, Adil Rozi, Nureli Wuxiu'er, and Alim Metyusup.

As well as murder, state media reported that they were convicted of other crimes ranging from arson, leading mobs and causing "economic loss".

Rising tensions

Tayirejan Abulimit was given the lesser punishment of life imprisonment because he admitted to charges of murder and robbery and helped the police capture Alim Metyusup.

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Footage of the rioting between Uighurs and Han in July

The government says most of those killed in the riots were Han Chinese, but the exile activist group the World Uighur Congress (WUC) claims many Uighurs were also killed.

Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the WUC, said the trial had been a sham.

"The whole process lacked transparency and was unfair. They were not given any kind of legal aid," he told Reuters news agency.

"Uighurs have no protection under the law."

A protest by Uighurs in Urumqi erupted into violence on 5 July, leaving at least 197 people killed and another 1,700 injured.

Shops were smashed and vehicles set alight and passers-by set upon by rioters.

'Heavy police presence'

Hundreds of people were detained after the violence and, according to Xinhua, 21 people have been charged.

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville says 14 people are still waiting to be tried.

"It is a very long way from Beijing but it is one of the most heavily policed parts of the country," our correspondent says.

"The security forces are really keeping the peace between these two ethnic populations in that part of China."

Further ethnic unrest in Xinjiang was provoked in August by a wave of attacks with hypodermic syringes that many Han blamed on Uighurs.

Growing tensions

The initial protest in July was over an earlier fight in a toy factory in Guangdong province - on the other side of China - that left two Uighurs dead and 14 others seriously injured.

On Saturday a court in Guangdong sentenced Xiao Jianhua to death and Xu Qiqi to a life sentence for their roles in the factory brawl.

The riots broke out in the western region of Xinjiang in July

Nine others were jailed for sentences of between five to eight years for the violence at the Xuri Toy Factory.

Tensions between the mainly-Muslim Uighurs of Xinjiang and Han have been growing in recent years. Millions of Han have moved to the region in recent decades.

Many Uighurs want more autonomy and rights for their culture and religion - Islam - than is allowed by China's strict centrist rule.

According to a government white paper on Xinjiang, released last month, the July riots were caused by Uighur separatists promoting an independent "East Turkestan".

It also noted that during the violence 331 shops and 1,325 motor vehicles were destroyed or burned with many public facilities also attacked.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8302140.stm

At least 75 people are dead and thousands are trapped under rubble after a strong earthquake shook western Indonesia, officials say.

Buildings, including at least two hospitals, were brought down by the 7.6 magnitude quake, centred about 50km (30 miles) off the coast of Sumatra.

Officials say the death toll is expected to rise.

It comes hours after a tsunami from a separate quake killed more than 100 people in the South Pacific.

A tsunami watch issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in the wake of the Indonesian quake has been lifted.

Aid 'on the way'

The coastal city of Padang, capital of West Sumatra province, is among the areas hardest hit.


ANALYSIS
Karishma Vaswani
Karishma Vaswani, BBC News, Jakarta

We've heard that some of the roads to these areas have been cut off and there are concerns about communications - phone lines and electricity have also been cut off.

Indonesia is no stranger to disasters of this sort - the ability to reach people is often criticised and one of the hospitals nearest the epicentre has also collapsed, so there are real concerns about how to get to the places most affected.

At least six disaster management teams are on their way to the city of Padang. We've been told it will take up to 10 hours to get to the areas most affected.

Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said the death toll was likely to continue to rise sharply, as so many buildings including schools, shops and hotels had collapsed.

"We don't know the identity of the victims yet, it's night-time now so it's dark. People are trapped, hotels have collapsed, schools have collapsed, houses have collapsed and electricity has been cut off," he said, quoted by AFP news agency.

Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said the quake was one of the biggest in Indonesia in recent years.

"This is a high-scale disaster, more powerful than the earthquake in Yogyakarta in 2006 when more than 3,000 people died," he said.

Rustam Pakaya, head of the health ministry's crisis centre, said a major city hospital was among the collapsed buildings.

At least six rescue teams were on their way to Padang from neighbouring provinces, he said, but would not arrive for at least 10 hours.

Local media reported the roof of the city's airport had also collapsed.

Mukhlis Rahman, mayor of the Pariaman District, one of the worst hit areas, said the weather was hindering efforts to clear up after the disaster.

''The quake was followed by a very heavy rain. Many houses and some building are flattened in my area. But I cannot yet verify too much. We will try to compile the data and distribute aid once the rain subsides,'' he told the BBC.

'Extreme panic'


MAJOR INDONESIAN QUAKES
Map of earthquake off the coast of Sumatra
26 Dec 2004: Asian tsunami kills 170,000 in Indonesia alone
28 March 2005: About 1,300 killed after a magnitude 8.7 quake hits the coast of Sumatra
27 May 2006: Quake hits ancient city of Yogyakarta, killing 5,000
17 July 2006: A tsunami after a 7.7 magnitude quake in West Java province kills 550 people

In pictures: Sumatra earthquake
Animated guide: Earthquakes

Witnesses said residents ran out of buildings in Padang - which has a population of 900,000 - and surrounding cities.

"A number of hotels in Padang have been destroyed," Rahmat Triyono, from the Indonesian geophysics and meteorology agency, told AFP news agency.

"Up to now we haven't been able to reach Padang, communications have been cut," Mr Triyono added.

An unnamed witness told Reuters there was "extreme panic" in the city, with bridges down and flooding caused by broken water pipes.

The earthquake struck at 1716 local time (1016 GMT) some 85km under the sea, north-west of Padang, the US Geological Survey said.

Reports said the shaking could be felt in high buildings in the capital, Jakarta, and was also felt in Singapore and Malaysia.

The quake was along the same fault line that spawned the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries.

That much more powerful earthquake struck roughly 600km north-west of Padang.

Geologists have long warned that Padang could one day be completely destroyed by an earthquake because of its location.

Western Sumatra is a mainly rural area with dense tropical forest.

It has several national parks and many of its beaches are popular with surfers.

Are you in the area? Have you been affected by the earthquake?CLICK HERE

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8282670.stm

Life on planet hip-hop

Thirty years after the Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight became the first mainstream rap song to hit the US charts, how and why has hip-hop spread to different parts of the world?

Public Enemy rapper Chuck D famously once said rap was "CNN for black people".

In the years following its emergence in 1970s New York, hip-hop culture has manifested itself around the world - most notably in the many rap acts that now exist across the globe.

Ben Herson is founder of the Nomadic Wax record label

Ben Herson is the founder of fair trade record label Nomadic Wax, which is committed to bringing acts from developing countries into the wider public consciousness by distributing music online, pressing records and making documentaries.

He argues that Africa is the true "birthplace of hip-hop".

"It travelled through the transatlantic slave trade to the US, via the Caribbean - that's what created this culture," he says.

"Hip-hop is the missing connection between the US and Africa. It's about a conversation within the African diaspora. There was Creole culture, the blues, jazz, rock'n'roll and it has become hip-hop."

Hip-hop around the world Most recent 250 comments Most recent 500 comments (May slow your computer down) Audio (7) Video (5) Close 3000 miles 3000 miles © 2009 Microsoft Corporation © 2009 NAVTEQ © 2009 Microsoft Corporation © 2009 NAVTEQ 2D 3D Road Aerial Bird's eye Labels See this location in bird's eye view Bing Maps 3D has finished updating Mr Herson is particularly interested in the "CNN" factor, whereby "music affects politics and affects social change", meaning that people from all around the world can relate to rap. "Hip-hop, at its most basic form, reminds people across the world of a poetic culture. Most cultures have an oral poetic tradition." But Mr Herson is right to point out that it has taken off across Africa in particular, in many styles. Sudanese rapper Emmanuel Jal, for example, has risen to prominence in world music for work that draws on his experiences as a former child soldier. In Ghana, hiplife - a blend of west African highlife and hip-hop - is ubiquitous in nightclubs and bars, while Senegal's rappers have a reputation for political commentary. Rap has been used as a powerful political weapon by Senegalese youth - most notably in 2000 when politically charged songs that were highly critical of the government received regular airplay on a popular radio station. These protest songs are thought to have played a part in the then ruling party losing that year's national election. "In 2000, rappers spoke about how we could change the nation. People understood and we changed the government. Until we spoke people didn't believe this could happen," says Baay Bia, a 32-year-old award-winning rapper from Dakar. The artist, who has had three albums and largely focuses on what he sees as the repeated failings of African governments, says he wants to "inspire" people. "I chose hip-hop to express myself - it gives me more detail in my music and message. If I was just singing I wouldn't be able to share all I wanted to say." It's one of the most important tools in music nowadays because it's the only type of music talking about reality and connected to the people Mahmoud Jreri Rapper The rapper, whose real name is Birane Diouf, raps in Wolof and says this style of music is so popular in his country because it is "something familiar", since it chimes with the griot tradition of storytellers and praise-singers in the country. Using rap to carry political and social messages is not a uniquely Senegalese, or even African, phenomenon. DAM, a Palestinian hip-hop group consisting of three members, rap in Arabic, Hebrew and English and have been active since 1999. And they're just one group in the Middle East's burgeoning hip-hop scene. Group member Mahmoud Jreri recalls there being no hip-hop scene in Israel when he was growing up. He says he "felt connected" with American rappers like Tupac and Nas, who he saw in music videos of the late 90s, because "they were talking about social and political problems" and, like him, seemed to live in poverty. Now the group says there's a big hip-hop scene in the West Bank and Gaza. DAM's lyrics touch on issues from the Palestinian situation to women's rights in Arabic society. The theme of rap as a medium for protest recurs again in France, where hip-hop is seen as one way that the immigrant population in the suburbs express discontent. But, just as US rappers often court controversy, rap in France - has its critics. Nineties rappers like Tupac Shakur influenced artists worldwide In 2005, about 200 MPs urged the country's justice ministry to prosecute seven rap groups over allegedly provocative lyrics, following claims by some political figures that rap music fuelled suburban rioting in France. In one particularly controversial song, entitled FranSSe, rapper Monsieur R called France a prostitute. The artist said it was a diatribe against French leaders who had neglected ethnic minorities, not an attack on France in general. And earlier this year Orelsan, a 27-year-old rapper from Normandy, saw 10 of his concerts cancelled after former Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal and other politicians complained that his lyrics encouraged violence against women. A political row over censorship ensued after Ms Royal threatened to withdraw the public subsidy from a prestigious festival, Les Francofolies in La Rochelle, in her capacity as head of Poitou-Charentes regional council. But why has this style of music, and the culture it engenders, taken off all over the world? "It's one of the most important tools in music nowadays because it's the only type of music talking about reality and connected to the people," says Jreri. The Palestinian rapper thinks the music's appeal is that it gives a voice to outsiders. "It has started to be one language of the minorities. One language of the people who wanted to express themselves and describe the situation that they are living in - talking about political, social and personal issues." Meanwhile, Herson says rap's simplicity is the key. "It's the most basic form of music. All you need is a beat and a voice. "If you want rock and roll, you need money for instruments. With hip-hop you can bang on a table and rap. In its rawest form it's very easy to make." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8286310.stm