UNION, N.J. — A naked, malnourished 4-year-old boy found inside an apartment with the body of his mother, dead for days, had resorted to eating from a bag of sugar and weighed only 26 pounds, well below normal, police said Wednesday as adoption offers poured in from around the world.
The boy's first request after being examined, police said, was a grilled cheese sandwich and a juice.
His mother, identified Wednesday as Kiana Workman, 38, of New York City's Brooklyn borough, was discovered dead Tuesday on the floor of her bedroom after maintenance workers at the apartment complex in northern New Jersey reported a foul odor. Because the chain lock was on, police said, the toddler couldn't get out.
Officer Joseph Sauer said the boy was naked but coherent and not crying when he kicked in the door and his partner lifted the youngster up by the arms and pulled him out of the overheated apartment.
"The only way to describe the little boy was it was like a scene from World War II, from a concentration camp, he was that skinny. I mean, you could see all his bones," Sauer told The Associated Press.
The apartment in this city 15 miles west of New York belongs to Workman's mother, who is recuperating from surgery at a nursing center, said police, who could not track down any other relatives.
The boy, now in state custody, remained in a hospital where he was being treated for malnourishment and dehydration, police said.
"Physically, he's fine. Whether there are any mental problems later on ... I'm not a child expert," Police Director Daniel Zieser said.
The boy was not strong enough to open the refrigerator and was unable to open a can of soup. Police said he told them he had been eating from a bag of sugar.
The boy could not say how long his mother had been dead.
Police said he put lotion on his mother, leaving behind handprints, in an attempt to help her.
Officer Sylvia Dimenna, who traveled in the ambulance with the boy and stayed with him at the hospital, said he was very bright and articulate but tired.
"He said he missed his mommy," she said.
Police initially estimated she had been dead five days before the discovery was made, but Zieser said Wednesday it may have been two to three. Nobody had talked to her for about a week.
The boy weighed 26 pounds, but at the age of 4 1/2 should have weighed 40 pounds or more, Zieser said.
"It's possible he was improperly cared for before the mother's death; we just don't know yet," Zieser said.
Autopsy results that would help them better determine the time of death were pending. Police said they did not suspect foul play.
Police said they were getting calls from around the world from people offering to adopt the child or donate money or toys.
"It's overwhelming," Zieser said.
"I just hope everything works out for the child," the police director said. "We're just going to take it one step at a time and do the best that we can for the child."
Police said they were trying to find someone in the family capable of taking care of the boy, including a brother of Workman believed to live out West. But he said it would be up to the state's child welfare agency to determine where the child is placed.
Zieser described the apartment complex as a well-maintained property with few problems.
But he said everyone there "basically stays to themselves."
SEATTLE — Some residents evacuated from hillside homes on Washington state's Whidbey Island after a large landslide are being told they can return, now that geologists have taken a preliminary look at the area.
One house was knocked off its foundation and 33 others were evacuated after the slide hit early Wednesday. Central Whidbey Fire and Rescue Chief Ed Hartin says residents of 15 homes were told Wednesday evening they could return if they wished.
No injuries have been reported.
Hartin says emergency personnel evacuated a resident from the damaged home by all-terrain vehicle, reaching him by cutting across property owned by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. The chief says Ballmer's home and property are not threatened.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Residents of a hillside overlooking scenic Puget Sound heard the thunder of a large landslide early Wednesday that knocked one home off its foundation, and isolated or threatened more than two dozen others on Whidbey Island, about 50 miles north of Seattle.
A man who escaped from the damaged home was evacuated by rescuers in an all-terrain vehicle, Central Whidbey Fire and Rescue Chief Ed Hartin said. Some people are completely cut off from their properties.
Many of the homes are summer cabins or weekend getaways and were unoccupied. Some are larger, upscale properties and others are more modest dwellings.
Eleven people from 16 homes along a road close to the water were evacuated by boat because the road was blocked by the landslide, he said.
And, another 20 to 25 people were evacuated from 17 homes along a road higher up the hill that is being undermined by the slide. Land is falling away just 10 feet from one home.
No one was injured when the slide broke loose about 4 a.m. in the Ledgewood community. One person was taken to a hospital with a condition unrelated to the slide.
The cause of the slide is unknown.
Residents that heard the slide about eight miles south of Coupeville described it to KOMO-TV as sounding like thunder.
"It was a mix of rumbling and snapping trees," Hartin said. "We were hearing the same thing when we arrived."
On Wednesday afternoon the slide still showed signs of movement, Hartin said.
"It's possible more homes could be lost. We're trying to ensure the safety and awareness of people," Hartin said. "There's not anything we can do to stop the movement of the ground."
Whidbey Island is about 35 miles long, north to south, and just a mile or two wide in places east to west.
The slide area extends about 400 to 500 yards across the hillside and down 600 or 700 yards to the water, Hartin said.
There has been no significant rain in recent days so the immediate cause of the slide is unknown. But the area has been prone to slides in the past, Hartin said.
A geotechnical expert was being brought in to assess the slide and the danger to homes. If the slide stabilizes, some people might be allowed to return. But others have homes that are now unreachable.
"Being cut off from the road, water and power," residents had to leave, said Island County Sheriff Mark Brown. "It's a pretty massive mudslide."
A ferry ride from the Seattle area, the island offers picturesque farm and water views and has a population of about 60,000, mostly centered around Oak Harbor and the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station.
Gilles Rousseau, father of Sandy Hook victim Lauren Rousseau, becomes emotional speaking about his daughter in new Mayors Against Illegal Guns ad.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, released a television ad on Thursday featuring family members of four victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting last December.
The ad features the families of two first-graders and two teachers killed at Sandy Hook, out of the total 20 children and six adult staffers killed that day. The family members in the ad are Neil Heslin, father of first-grader Jesse Lewis; Chris and Lynn McDonnell, parents of first-grader Grace McDonnell; Jillian Soto, sister of teacher Vicky Soto; and Terri and Gilles Rousseau, parents of teacher Lauren Rousseau.
"I want to prevent any other family from having to go through what we're going through," Chris McDonnell says in the ad.
"Don't let the memory of Newtown fade without doing something real," Terri Rousseau says next.
The ad displays the words "Connecticut can save lives" and calls for comprehensive background checks, a limit on high-capacity magazines and an assault weapons ban.
It is the first to include Newtown victims' family members in a call for universal background checks for gun sales, which will be a component of the gun control legislation being introduced in the Senate. The ads will air on cable and broadcast television in the Hartford, Conn., area and specifically target the state's legislature to enact better gun violence prevention.
More than 120 actions are planned around the United States on Thursday for a day of advocacy on gun violence, including one at the White House. Heslin, Rousseau and the McDonnells will attend the White House event.
SEOUL, South Korea -- The U.S military says two nuclear-capable B-2 bombers have completed a training mission in South Korea amid threats from North Korea that include nuclear strikes on Washington and Seoul.
The statement Thursday by U.S. Forces Korea is an unusual confirmation. It follows an earlier U.S. announcement that nuclear-capable B-52 bombers participated in ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills.
The U.S. says the B-2 stealth bombers flew from a U.S. air base and dropped munitions on a South Korean island range before returning home.
The announcement will likely draw a strong response from Pyongyang. North Korea sees the military drills as part of a U.S. plot to invade and becomes particularly upset about U.S. nuclear activities in the region.
Washington and Seoul say they the annual drills are routine and defensive.
U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber, left, flies over near Osan U.S. Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, March 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Lee Jung-hun, Yonhap)
San Rafael girl, 8, hit by arrow during Berkeley field trip
An 8-year-old San Rafael girl is "doing great" after being hit in the thigh with an arrow while sliding off a play structure during a field trip at the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley.
The girl, a third-grader at Mary E. Silveira School in Marinwood, was in good shape and "super spirits" following treatment after the bizarre incident at 10:10 a.m. Tuesday. She remained at Children's Hospital in Oakland overnight after surgeons removed the 2-foot-long, crossbow-style arrow.
"She's doing great," said the girl's mother, Alicia Hairston, adding she had no qualms about her daughter, Nadine, going on the school field trip because "she was in safe hands."
"I was scared when I got the call but when I got there" to the hospital "I saw she was OK," Hairston said.
Authorities speculated a wayward arrow might have come from a turkey or other small-game hunter in the hills above the area, or from a reckless backyard hobbyist.
"She was held overnight," said Bruce Abbott, vice president of the Dixie School District board. "She will be fine."
Abbott said school officials sent parents a letter outlining the situation. "It was a random act," he said of the incident. "We're not going to stop going on field trips."
A gruesome photo out of Mexico appears to show the bodies of seven men, propped up in plastic chairs on a busy traffic circle. All appear to have been executed.
Written messages were attached to two of the bodies, warning that would-be criminals would face more violence, but they did not identify those responsible for the killings.
SkyNews reported that themessages were nailed to the men's chests with ice picks. One of the threatening notes reportedly read: "Warning: This is going to happen to all muggers, pickpockets, kidnappers, rapists and extortionists."
Also this week, another seven people were found killed, this time in the neighboring state of Guerrero. The Associated Press reported thatfour civilians and three federal agents were shot deadwhen gunmen opened fire in a bar in Ciudad Altamirano on Friday.
More than 60,000 peopleare estimated to have lost their lives since the start of Mexico's war on drugs under former president Felipe Calderon. An official report released in February 2013 showed thatmore than 26,000 peoplewere reported missing in those six years.
ROME — It's not over yet for Amanda Knox.
Italy's top criminal court dealt a stunning setback Tuesday to the 25-year-old college student, overturning her acquittal in the grisly murder of her British roommate and ordering her to stand trial again.
"She thought that the nightmare was over," Knox's attorney, Carlo Dalla Vedova, told reporters minutes after conveying the unexpected turn of events to his client, who had stayed up to hear the ruling, which came shortly after 2 a.m. West Coast time. "But she's ready to fight."
Now a student at the University of Washington in Seattle, Knox called the decision by the Rome-based Court of Cassation "painful" but said she was confident that she would be exonerated.
The American left Italy a free woman after her October 2011 acquittal – but only after serving nearly four years of a 26-year prison sentence from a lower court that convicted her of murdering Meredith Kercher. The 21-year-old exchange student's body was found in a pool of blood, her throat slit, in a bedroom of the house the two shared in Perugia, a university town 100 miles north of Rome.
Raffaele Sollecito, Knox's Italian boyfriend at the time, was also convicted of the Nov. 1, 2007, murder, then later acquitted. His acquittal was also thrown out Tuesday and a new trial ordered.
Italian law cannot compel Knox to return for the new trial and Dalla Vedova said she had no plans to do so.
In any case, the judicial saga is likely to continue for years. It will be months before a date is set for the new trial, to be held in Florence instead of Perugia because the small town has only one appellate court, which already acquitted her.
Prosecution and defense teams must also await details of the ruling explaining why the high court concluded there were procedural errors in the trial that acquitted Knox and Sollecito. The court has 90 days to issue its explanation.
Another Knox defender, Luciano Ghirga, said she was gearing up psychologically for her third trial. Ghirga said he told Knox: "You have always been our strength. We rose up again after the first-level convictions. We'll have the same resoluteness, the same energy" in the new trial.
Still, it was a tough blow for the former exchange student, whose parents mortgaged both their homes to raise funds for her lengthy, expensive defense.
"It was painful to receive the news that the Italian Supreme Court decided to send my case back for revision when the prosecution's theory of my involvement in Meredith's murder has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair," Knox said in a statement.
She said the matter must now be examined by "an objective investigation and a capable prosecution."
"No matter what happens, my family and I will face this continuing legal battle as we always have, confident in the truth and with our heads held high in the face of wrongful accusations and unreasonable adversity," Knox said.
Prosecutors alleged that Kercher was the victim of a drug-fueled sex game gone awry. Knox, then 20, and Sollecito, then 24, denied wrongdoing and said they weren't even in the apartment that night, although they acknowledged they had smoked marijuana and their memories were clouded.
An Ivory Coast man, Rudy Guede, was convicted of the slaying in a separate trial and is serving a 16-year sentence.
Sollecito, whose 29th birthday was Tuesday, sounded shaken when a reporter reached him by phone.
"Now I can't say anything," said the Italian, who has been studying computer science in the northern city of Verona after finishing an earlier degree while in prison.
Later, Sollecito said in a statement that he was "saddened" by the high court decision and will "continue to fight for my innocence, hopeful and confident that truth will prevail."
A local Italian news report quoted Sollecito's current girlfriend as saying he and Knox spoke by phone and described him as being psychologically destroyed.
His lawyer, Luca Maori, said neither Sollecito nor Knox ran any danger of being arrested. "It's not as if the lower-court convictions are revived," he said, noting that the high court didn't determine "whether the two were innocent or guilty."
For those familiar with the U.S. legal principle of "double jeopardy" – which holds that no one acquitted of a crime can be tried again for it – the idea that the Italian justice system allows prosecutors to appeal acquittals is hard to absorb.
Knox attorney Dalla Vedova dismissed the "double jeopardy" concern, maintaining the high court ruling hadn't decided the defendants' guilt or innocence, but merely ordered a fresh appeals trial, which he said was unlikely to start before early 2014.
The appeals court that acquitted Knox and Sollecito had criticized virtually the entire prosecution case, especially the forensic evidence that helped clinch their 2009 convictions. It noted the murder weapon was never found, and said DNA tests were faulty and that prosecutors provided no murder motive.
In arguing for overturning the acquittals, prosecutors said the Perugia appellate court was too dismissive of DNA tests on a knife they maintained could have been used to slash Kercher's throat as well as DNA traces on a bra belonging to the victim and tests done on blood stains in the bedroom and bathroom.
The court on Tuesday also upheld a slander conviction against Knox. During a 14-hour police interrogation, she had accused a local Perugia pub owner of carrying out the killing. The man was held for two weeks, based on her allegations, before being released for lack of evidence.
Her defense lawyers say Knox felt pressured by police to name a suspect so her own interrogation could end.
Because of the time she served in prison before the acquittal, Knox didn't have to serve the three-year sentence for the slander conviction. The court on Tuesday ordered her to pay 4,000 euros ($5,500) to the man, as well as the cost of the lost appeal.
Whether Knox ever returns to Italy to serve more prison time depends on a string of ifs and unknowns.
"Questions of extradition are not in the legal landscape at this point," another Knox attorney, Theodore Simon, said on NBC TV.
If she is convicted by the Florence court, Knox could appeal that verdict to the Cassation Court. Should that appeal fail, Italy could seek her extradition from the United States.
Whether Italy actually requests extradition will be a political decision made by a future Italian government. It would then be up to U.S. officials to decide whether they will send Knox to Italy, and Dalla Vedova said U.S. authorities would carefully study all the case's documentation to decide whether she had received fair trials.
U.S. and Italian authorities could also come to a deal that would keep Knox in the U.S.
For now, Knox has a memoir, "Waiting to Be Heard," coming out April 30, for which publisher HarperCollins reportedly paid her $4 million. She still plans to appear in a prime-time special with Diane Sawyer to promote the book, according to ABC News.
In her statement, Knox took the Perugia prosecutors to task, saying they "must be made to answer" for the discrepancies in the case. She also said "my heart goes out to" Kercher's family.
The Kercher family's attorney, Francesco Maresca, called Tuesday's ruling "what we wanted" and relayed a message from the late woman's sister, Stephanie.
"To understand the truth about what happened that night is all we can do for her now," the family's message said.
This CCTV shows the dramatic moment a gang of youths "steamed" high street mobile phone stores in broad daylight in front of frightened shoppers.
Innocent customers and members of staff are seen caught up in the melee as the gang members violently wrench stock from display stands.
They stole handsets and tablets worth around £150,000 during raids across London and surrounding areas over a six-month period.
In one clip a frightened mother is shown rushing to pick up her son before he is caught up in the gang's dash for the exit.
The males, aged 15 to 22 years old, targeted 42 Carphone Warehouse stores and caused over £50,000 worth of damage between July and December last year.
They typically operated in a large group, travelling together to the shop they planned to steal from.
They were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday after admitting conspiracy to commit burglary.
Detective Inspector Mark Loving, from the the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU), said: "This case should act as a warning to anyone involved in this type of activity that the Met and NMPCU will robustly and swiftly deal with those who use intimidation to fulfil their greed."
Jahreau Shepherd, 22, of Orsett Street, Lambeth and 21-year-old Ugo Wilson, of Aviation Drive, Barnet, were jailed for four years and 27 months respectively.
Perry Hedges, 18, of Howard Road, Kingston, was sentenced to 26 months' detention in a young offenders' institution.
Emmanuel Kakala, 18, of Cargreen Road, Croydon was given a suspended 18-month prison sentence and ordered to do 80 hours of community service, while 20-year-old Samuel Warnes, of Egleston Road, Merton, received a suspended 12-month prison sentence and one year's supervision.
Three boys, aged 15, 16 and 17, were all sentenced to detention and training for 10, 18 and 12 months respectively.
TAIPEI, Taiwan — A strong earthquake struck a rural township in central Taiwan on Wednesday, swaying buildings, sending school children to seek cover and injuring at least one office worker, officials said.
The Central Weather Bureau said the magnitude-6.1 earthquake was felt throughout the island. The quake, which hit at a depth of 15 kilometers (9 miles), swayed buildings in the capital of Taipei, and officials said sections of the high-speed rail were temporarily suspended from service for damage inspection.
Near the epicenter in Nantou County, a section of a ceiling fell from a government office, injuring one worker, officials said.
Nantou government official Chen Min-hui said tiles fell from a few school buildings and minor cracks appeared on walls, but all structures remained intact.
Nantou is a rural county about 250 kilometers (about 155 miles) south of Taipei. It is near the epicenter of a magnitude-7.6 earthquake that killed more than 2,300 people in 1999.
Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage.
A bus driver in China is being hailed as a hero after he narrowly escaped death during a head-on collision and then brushed off his injuries to help the 26 other passengers, local media report.
Captured on closed circuit television, the bus driver, Mao Zhihao, barely dodged a pole that smashed through the vehicle's windshield. The crash occurred on Sunday afternoon in Jiangshan, a city in China's eastern Zhejiang province.
According to a Huffington Post translation of Zhejiang Online, Chinese netizens on microblogging sites have praised Mao for being an exceptional driver.
During a video interview from a local hospital, where Mao is being treated for a ruptured spleen, he described his initial reaction after the crash.
I was pinned down by the lamppost and put the bus into gear instinctively. I had no idea which gear it was exactly, I just wanted to slow the bus down. I couldn't see the road, and tried to drive it to one side of the road. The bus hit the guardrails and finally stopped.
In a similar incident in June, another Chinese bus driver was praised for his quick-thinking actions during a freak accident in Beijing. The driver, Wu Bin, managed to maintain control of the vehicle after a piece of flying metal struck the windshield.
A man and woman from coastal North Carolina were charged with multiple counts after a road rage incident involving them instigating a fight was caught on video.
The video was first obtained by CBS affiliate WNCT in Greenville, which reports the couple turned themselves in.
Bradley Turner is charged with discharging a weapon into occupied property, two counts of assault by pointing a gun, assault and battery, going armed to the terror of the public and injury to personal property, reports CBS affiliate WRAL in Raleigh. Christy Marie Turner was charged with two counts of assault by pointing a gun.
In the video, Bradley Turner is shown approaching a vehicle, asking why his SUV was run off the road, then throwing a punch at the driver. Turner is then beaten and thrown to the ground by the driver and a passenger.
The two men stop the beating when Turner's wife, Christy Marie Turner, exits their vehicle with a gun and hands it to her husband, who then allegedly fired shots into the other car. The shooting was not caught on tape.
Antonio Suban, whose home was hit by the gunfire, told WNCT: "That's a big concern, because you never know what will come up next."
There was allegedly a toddler in Turner's SUV at the time of the incident, WRAL reports. No bystanders were injured.
Authorities in Fairmont, N.C., say Christopher Stanlane, Jr., 10, was killed when he was shot by his father while the parent cleaned a shotgun.
FAIRMONT, N.C. -- Authorities say a 10-year-old boy was killed in North Carolina when he was shot by his father while the parent cleaned a shotgun.
Robeson County deputies say 34-year-old Christopher Stanlane was on the couch in his Fairmont home wiping down the gun around 4 p.m. Sunday when it fired.
Investigators say the boy was sitting in front of his father watching television and was struck in the head. Paramedic declared him dead at the home.
No charges have been filed, and deputies are still investigating the shooting
A new sinkhole has opened in the very same central Florida town where a man was swallowed and killed in February.
According to Fox News, an 8-foot-wide, 10-foot-deep hole was discovered between two houses in Seffner, Fla., this weekend.
Brandon Patch reports that Hillsborough County Fire Rescue and code enforcement officials set up a perimeter between 1425 and 1427 Lake Shore Ranch Drive in Seffner, less than two miles from where resident Jeff Bush was swallowed and killed when a sinkhole opened up under his bed Feb. 28.
Officials told WTSP that the new sinkhole does not pose a threat to the homes but said residents were evacuated as a precaution.
So far this year, three sinkholes have been reported in Seffner alone. State geologist Jonathan Arthur told the Associated Press that many more could be on the way, since what is unofficially known as "sinkhole season" has only just begun in Florida.
Sinkholes are made over time as acidic rainwater eats away at underground limestone, forming cavities. According to WTSP, Florida's "unique subsurface structure of limestone, mineral deposits and flowing water underground" make it particularly susceptible to sinkhole formation.
Earlier in March, CNN aired a segment in which reporter David Mattingly explored a vast underground sinkhole. Mattingly reported that thousands of sinkholes "pop up" throughout Florida every year.
Tragedy struck "Survivor's" French adaptation "Koh Lanta" Friday, March 22 when 25-year-old contestant Gerald Babin died after suffering a heart attack during "shipwreck" challenge that also included a tug of war in Cambodia.
The show was immediately canceled for the season as Channel TF1 and Adventure Line Productions flew the contestants back from Cambodia to Paris over the weekend. Neither the network nor the production company has yet said whether they plan to continue "Koh Lanta" for future seasons. According to THR, Babin began to complain about pain in his arms after the contestants jumped out of a boat, swam to shore and engaged in a tug-of-war. He received medical attention from the show's doctor on the scene and was airlifted to a hospital, but suffered a series of cardiac arrests in the helicopter before they could get there.
The network and production company released a joint statement reacting to the sad news. “Adventure Line Productions, TF1 and [host] Denis Broginart are devastated and join in the profound sadness of Gerald’s family.”
SEOUL — North Korea's military put its "strategic" rocket units on a war footing Tuesday, with a fresh threat to strike targets on the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam, as well as South Korea.
The move came as South Korea marked the third anniversary of the sinking of its naval vessel "Cheonan" by what Seoul insists was a North Korean submarine.
"All artillery troops including strategic rocket units and long-range artillery units are to be placed under class-A combat readiness," the Korean People's Army (KPA) supreme command said in a statement. The units should be prepared to attack "all US military bases in the Asia-Pacific region, including the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam" and South Korea, said the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
Despite a successful long-range rocket launch in December, most experts believe North Korea is years from developing a genuine inter-continental ballistic missile that could strike the mainland United States.
Hawaii and Guam would also be outside the range of its medium-range missiles, which would be capable, however, of striking US bases in South Korea and Japan.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has spent the past few weeks touring frontline military units, monitoring live fire artillery drills and making inflammatory speeches about wiping out the enemy.
Sabre-rattling and displays of brinkmanship are nothing new in the region, but there are concerns that the current situation is so volatile that one accidental step could escalate into serious conflict.
"We are closely monitoring the situation. So far there has been no particular North Korean troop movement," a South Korean defence ministry spokesman said.
Addressing a ceremony for the 46 sailors who died in the 2010 "Cheonan" incident, South Korean President Park Geun-Hye warned Pyongyang that its only "path to survival" lay in abandoning its nuclear and missile programs.
The North has always denied sinking the Cheonan, but a few months later it launched an artillery attack on a South Korean border island, killing four people.
North Korea's patron and sole major ally China was quick to urge calm from all sides Tuesday.
"We hope that relevant parties will exercise restraint so as to ease the tension," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. Military tensions on the Korean peninsula have been at an elevated level for months, following December's rocket launch and the North's third nuclear test which it carried out last month.
Both events triggered UN sanctions that infuriated the North, which has spent the past month issuing increasingly threatening statements about unleashing an "all-out war" backed by nuclear weapons.
It was particularly incensed that nuclear-capable US B-52 bombers flying out of Andersen Air base on Guam took part in recent joint South Korea-US military exercises.
"We will demonstrate the firm resolution of our people and military to protect our sovereignty and dignity through real military action," the KPA statement warned.
The latest threat came days after the South Korean and US militaries signed a new pact, envisaging a joint military response to even low-level provocation by North Korea.
While existing agreements provide for US engagement in the event of a full-scale conflict, the new protocol addresses the response to a limited provocation such as an isolated incident of cross-border shelling. It guarantees US support for any South Korean retaliation and allows Seoul to request any additional US military force it deems necessary.
In an open letter to troops published to mark the Cheonan anniversary, South Korea's hawkish defence minister, Kim Kwan-Jin, said there was a "high possibility" the North's threats might be translated into action.
He also reiterated that South Korea's response to any provocation would not only target the origin of the attack, "but also its supporting and commanding forces".
Late last year, South Korea deployed cruise missiles it said were capable of carrying out high-precision strikes on targets anywhere in North Korea.
MOAB, Utah – A 22-year-old Utah man was killed while swinging from a rock arch in a stunt made popular by YouTube.
Grand County sheriff's officials say Kyle Lee Stocking, of West Jordan, died about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, after hitting the ground below the 140-foot-tall Corona Arch near Moab.
Sheriff's Lt. Kim Neal tells The Salt Lake Tribune the length of rope from the arch was miscalculated and sent Stocking swinging into the ground as he went under the red sandstone formation.
Rescuers say he was dead at the scene.
Viral videos have bolstered the activity, which involves using rock climbing ropes and jumping from near the top of the arch. One titled "World's Largest Rope Swing" has racked up more than 17 million views on YouTube since it was posted in February.
The Rock Church in Birmingham, Ala., says its unusual billboard is serving its purpose, grabbing people's attention and making patrons of a local strip club think twice about how they spend their money, MyFoxAl.com reported.
The church's sign quotes Jesus from Hebrews, saying simply, "Strip for me." The message: Instead of spending money in a strip club, spend it in a way that will better your family and yourself.
Even more powerful, perhaps, is the location of the sign, which can be seen just behind The Palace Gentlemen's Club sign on 3rd Avenue West in the city's downtown.
Pastor Mike McClure, Jr., expected some negativity in response to the billboard but he said he doesn't mind. He says his church is out to change lives of Magic City men.
"We strategically picked the strip club because we want the brothers who are walking in...to know God has a greater cause for your life," he said.
McClure says the religious message is clear in the scripture on the billboard.
"The scripture says...slows down, maybe your life is slow because of stuff you need to strip off. When you begin to strip watch how fast your life goes," he said.
McClure wants to hold men accountable and encourage them to stay out of strip clubs and spend more time being good fathers and family members. He says the big picture is making Birmingham better.
"It all starts with a good man in the house," he said
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – The winner of a $338 million Powerball jackpot told several media outlets Monday that his first priority will be helping his family.
Pedro Quezada, 44, entered Eagle Liquors store, where the ticket was sold, late Monday afternoon. The Passaic store owner ran Quezada's ticket through the lottery machine to validate that it was a winner as a newspaper and television outlets recorded the moment.
The New Jersey Lottery confirmed that the winning ticket was validated at the store at 4:30 p.m. Monday, but officials said they didn't yet know the winner's name.
Quezada told reporters in Spanish that he was "very happy" and that he intends to help his family.
His wife, Ines Sanchez, told the Bergen Record that Quezada called her with the news Monday afternoon.
"I still can't believe it," she said. "We never expected it but thank God."
The numbers drawn Saturday were 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31. A lump sum payout would be $221 million, or about $152 million after taxes. It's the fourth-largest jackpot in Powerball history.
The family's apartment sits at the end of a short dead end block that abuts a highway in Passaic, 15 miles northwest of New York City. Neighbors stood out in the rain Monday night and spoke with pride that one of their own had struck it rich.
Eladia Vazquez has lived across the street from Quezada's building for the past 25 years. The block has a half-dozen three-story brick apartment buildings on each side, and Vazquez says it's a neighborhood where everyone knows everyone, including what car they drive and what parking space they use.
Vazquez described Quezada and his wife as "quiet and not overly talkative" but sensed that they seemed to be working all the time.
"This is super for all of us on this block," she said. "They deserve it because they are hardworking people."
Richard Delgado, who lives down the block from Quezada's building, said the man was "a hard worker, like all of us here. We all get up in the morning and go to work."
Delgado said he got up Sunday morning and was going to take his dog for a walk when he heard the radio announce the Powerball results.
"When I heard there was one winner and it was in New Jersey, I immediately went and checked my tickets," Delgado said. "I wanted to be that guy."
When asked what it would be like to suddenly win such a large amount, Delgado said a person would have to set priorities.
"No. 1 is your health, because if you don't have that, the rest doesn't matter," he said. "No. 2 is your family. You take care of your own and live the rest of your life in peace. That's all anyone can do."
No one had won the Powerball jackpot since early February, when Dave Honeywell in Virginia bought the winning ticket and elected a cash lump sum for his $217 million jackpot.
The largest Powerball jackpot ever came in at $587.5 million in November. The winning numbers were picked on two different tickets -- one by a couple in Missouri and the other by an Arizona man -- and the jackpot was split.
Nebraska still holds the record for the largest Powerball jackpot won on a single ticket -- $365 million -- by eight workers at a Lincoln meatpacking plant in February 2006.
Powerball is played in 42 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The chance of matching all five numbers and the Powerball number is about 1 in 175 million.
A California man and his dog are being credited with saving a man who was trapped for days in a hole on a mountain.
Ramon Llamas says he and his dog, a mixed breed named Mole, were hiking as they often do on a trail in Riverside, Calif. when Mole suddenly stopped.
"He kept on tugging at my pant and whining, pulling me," Llamas told MyFoxLA.com.
Mole led Llamas to a hole about the size of a plate, and Llamas says when he looked in he saw eyes staring back. Llamas says he originally thought there was an animal trapped inside the hole, but then heard a voice calling softly for water.
Llamas called over other hikers, who called 911, and gave water bottles to the man until paramedics arrived. Llamas told MyFoxLA.com the man, who is believed to be homeless, told him his name was Paul and he had become trapped while looking for shade.
Officials say the man was hospitalized, but is expected to make a full recovery.
"He'd be dead if it wasn't for that dog," one paramedic told MyFoxLA.com.
Llamas says Mole's heroic actions haven't really sunk in yet.
"...It hasn't really hit me yet," Llamas said. "Although he is a tough, good dog."
A bankruptcy lawyer and turnaround expert tasked with reviving Detroit's beleaguered finances could be greeted by a crowd of protesters as he arrives at work Monday, then plans to spend his first day meeting with some city officials who for months fought against creating his job at all.
Kevyn Orr is under no illusions that he'll be treated as a hero when he begins his duties as the Motor City's emergency manager, an appointment that makes Detroit the largest city in the U.S. ever put under state control. But while there are plenty of sacrifices -- including Orr's resignation from a powerful law firm where he was a partner -- Orr says he is motivated by the opportunity to engineer one of the greatest fiscal turnarounds in U.S. history.
"I'm a worker bee. I'm not a honey bee," Orr, 54, told The Associated Press in an interview. "My set-in-stone plan is to get to the office ... and start meeting folks."
A review team spent two months scrutinizing Detroit's books and reported to Gov. Rick Snyder that the city was in a financial emergency, citing its long-term debt of more than $14 billion and $327 million budget deficit.
Snyder agreed and earlier this month announced Orr, a Washington attorney who represented automaker Chrysler LLC during its successful restructuring, as the man for an even larger fix-it task. State law allows emergency managers to negotiate labor contracts and deals with vendors. He can sell off city assets to raise money and cut the salaries of elected officials to save money.
Opponents, led by a vocal group of Detroit clergy and residents say the law snatches power from elected officials. Detroit is a heavily Democratic city with a predominantly black population Snyder is a Republican. A prominent national civil rights leader, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, has called for mass demonstrations and protests outside City Hall.
Orr insists he has no immediate plan of action other than getting a sense of the city's priorities.
"You really want to look into the swimming pool to see if there is water in there before you dive in," said James Spiotto, a municipal bankruptcy expert at the Chicago-based Chapman and Cutler law firm.
But turnaround specialist James McTevia said he finds it hard to believe that Orr enters the job without any idea about what he intends to do. McTevia, who has closely followed the Detroit situation, suggests that one of his first steps should be an immediate freeze on debt spending.
"The first step in resolving a serious financial problem is to stop fueling the fire by spending money you don't have," McTevia said.
Early success could be crucial for Orr to win over citizens who are skeptical about whether an emergency manager really is needed, bankruptcy expert Doug Bernstein said. Such victories can be as simple as getting "street lights on and get police on the street," he said.
"Public safety is paramount," said Bernstein, managing partner of the Banking, Bankruptcy and Creditors' Rights Practice Group for the Michigan-based Plunkett Cooney law firm. "This is such a hot area where people are passionate about whether there should or not be an emergency manager. It would likely go a long way to convince those who are against, or otherwise opposed to the concept, that this can lead to something good or rehabilitation for the city."
Beyond public safety, a host of other problems await Orr -- including health care costs, pension concessions, privatizing services if necessary and, finally, weighing whether the only real solution is municipal bankruptcy.
"Maybe he means he doesn't have the details of it yet, but I hope he has some idea what the major issues are," Wayne State University law professor Peter Henning said of Orr. "Mr. Orr has to deal with the threat of bankruptcy. This is a more immediate issue and he has to make a decision fairly quickly whether to put the city into bankruptcy or not."
Then he has to match revenue and spending.
"This is the idea of downsizing the city so that the costs more closely match the amount Detroit brings in," Henning said. "On the revenue side, something has to be done to stabilize the tax base. That's all easier said than done and will take years, probably well beyond Mr. Orr's term."
Pamela Amato, a former emergency financial manager for tiny Three Oaks in southwestern Michigan, said when she took the job in 2009, she did not jump straight into the finances. Three Oaks had a $600,000 deficit and was nearly devoid of cash. It took less than a year to turn the village around. Amato says listening to officials and residents was the key.
"I wanted to get a sense from the people who lived there and who were in governance as to what was going on and used that information to chart my own course," she said. "I let them know that we either succeeded together or we failed together."
Orr has met with people in Detroit's business and foundation communities, attending some dinners and receptions. He plans to commute between Detroit and his home in the Washington, D.C., area during the time it takes to fix Detroit.
"I was very comfortably placed in my private law practice at my firm that I adored," Orr said, pointing out that he had been picked to go to open a Miami office before the offer to become Detroit's emergency manager came from "out of the blue."
Jevonsha Johnson, 28, said she wants Orr to keep in place efforts under Mayor Dave Bing to level as many of the city's 30,000 or more vacant houses as funds allow. There are two adjacent to Johnson's newer wood-framed bungalow in the city's north end and another across the street.
"It don't make you feel safe," Johnson said. "The other new houses over here have been broken into several times. My neighbor next door told me a couple times that they broke in while his wife and daughter were there."
Although Orr said he likes what he has seen in parts of the city -- downtown, resurgent Midtown, the strong cultural and central business districts -- he acknowledges other neighborhoods are "in need of some TLC (tender loving care)."
Amid all these problems, he acknowledges there's a risk of being unable to solve them, though he insists he will within the 18 months dictated under Michigan's emergency manager law.
"Failure is not an option," Orr said. "It's just a question of designing the architecture around what can be creating a future -- and a sustainable future -- for the city."
A Mississippi state lawmaker was found dead in an apparent suicide Sunday, authorities say.
Simpson County Sheriff Kenneth Lewis tells MSNewsNow.com Rep. Jessica Upshaw appears to have shot herself in the head at a home in Mendenhall on Sunday. The lawmaker was 53.
MSNewsNow.com reports Upshaw's body was found at the home of former state Rep. Clint Rotenberry. He has not been arrested in the case and did not return requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Lewis says authorities are waiting for an autopsy to confirm Upshaw's official cause of death.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation was also investigating, said spokesman Warren Strain. He would say only that the death did not appear to be natural. Simpson County Coroner Terry Tutor also would not comment on the cause of death.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant released a statement on Upshaw's death late Sunday, saying he and his wife Deborah were saddened by the news.
"I have known Jessica for many years as an unselfish and dedicated public servant. This is a tragic loss for her family and all Mississippians, and our thoughts and prayers go out to her family during this difficult time," Bryant said.
Upshaw was an attorney who had been a lawmaker since 2004. She was a Republican from Diamondhead along the state's coast. Mendenhall is about 110 miles away from her hometown.
Upshaw was the fifth legislator to die in as many months. The other four -- two representatives and two senators -- died of natural causes.
"Once again this session, the House has been touched by tragedy," House Speaker Philip Gunn said in a statement. "Rep. Jessica Upshaw was an outstanding legislator and friend. She was one of the brightest and most competent members of the House."
Upshaw graduated from the University of Mississippi and its law school. She had represented Hancock and Harrison counties since 2004, according to her biography on the Legislature's website.
She chaired the House Conservation and Water Resources Committee and was a member of the Mississippi Legislative Conservative Coalition and American Legislative Exchange Council.
Outside the Legislature, she was affiliated with the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Colonial Dames and the Orange Grove/Lyman Chamber of Commerce.
Rep. Bobby Moak, the House minority leader, described her as a passionate champion of causes for her district and the state.
"This is an instance where replacement is not possible. Jessica will be sorely missed," he said.
JERUSALEM -- Israel's army said it fired a guided missile into Syria on Sunday, destroying a military post after gunfire flew across the border and struck an Israeli vehicle.
The shooting along the frontier in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was one of the most serious incidents between the countries since Syria's civil war erupted two years ago. Israel has carefully watched the violence from the sidelines, but has returned fire on several occasions.
It was not immediately clear whether the Syrian troops had fired into the Golan intentionally or whether the vehicle had been hit by stray gunfire. In either case, Israel said it held Syrian President Bashar Assad's government responsible.
"The Syrian regime is responsible for every breach of sovereignty. We will not allow the Syrian army or any other groups to violate Israel's sovereignty in any way," Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said.
Israel's military said soldiers were on routine patrol in the Golan when they were fired upon early Sunday, hours after a military vehicle driving along the frontier between the two countries was hit and lightly damaged Saturday evening. It said Israel responded early Sunday with a Tamuz guided missile.
"We were forced to act in a targeted way and to attack and destroy the post from which this (gunfire) took place," Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said Sunday. "We will continue to operate in the Golan Heights with reason and caution, but where determination and assertive and offensive action is needed, that will also take place."
Israel captured the Golan in the 1967 Mideast war and subsequently annexed the territory in a move that has not been internationally recognized.
Since Syria's civil war broke out in March 2011, errant mortar shells or machine gun fire have landed in the Golan a number of times. Israel believes most of the cases have been accidental, but it has responded on several occasions.
Israel is worried that the embattled Assad regime may try to draw the Jewish state into the fighting in an attempt to divert attention from the civil war. Gantz has also warned that Syrian rebels, who have captured a number of villages on the Syrian side of the Golan, could turn their attention to Israel if they defeat Assad.
Sunday's violence comes days after Israel restored ties with Turkey. Relations between the countries, once close allies, had steadily deteriorated following a 2010 Israeli naval raid on a Turkish ship trying to break Israel's blockade on Gaza. Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish activists in the operation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that concerns over the crisis in Syria, which borders both Israel and Turkey, led to the reconciliation.
He said Israel and Turkey would need to communicate over the worsening situation, noting fears that Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons could reach militant groups bordering the two countries.
Israel has expressed concern that Syria's chemical arsenal could fall into the hands of militants like Lebanon's Hezbollah, an Assad ally, or Islamic extremists fighting among the rebels battling Assad.
Earlier this year, the U.S. said Israel carried out an airstrike in Syria on a convoy believed to be transporting sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah. Israel has all but admitted to carrying out the airstrike, but never formally confirmed it.
On Friday night around 8 p.m. EDT, Twitter lit up with multiple accounts of a bright object, possibly a meteor, shooting across the skies of the northeast United States. Many of the spectators appear to be in the Washington D.C. area, but The Huffington Post has received reports of sightings from South Carolina to Connecticut.
Bill Cooke of NASA'S Meteoroid Environmental Office said it appeared to be a"a single meteor event."Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, told AP the flash was likely one meteor or a "space rock." Pitts also added it is difficult to be "100 percent certain of what it was," but that the given descriptions seemed consistent with a meteor.
Above, footage captured by security cameras atHopkins Automotivein Salisbury, Md. The footage has not been confirmed, but could plausibly depict the meteor due to factors such as timing, location and relative positioning of the company on its block.
The object was described as bright green in color and visible for about 40 seconds. It was also described in multiple accounts as "sparking" or "flashing."
So far, there are no conclusively confirmed photos of the event. Several photos have circulated Twitter and Facebook, purporting to depict tonight's event, but at least two of the most widely shared of these depict earlier events (seehereandhere).
In addition, reports of an impact in Delaware have circulated. However, these may also be false.
