Girl, 15, returns to find family bludgeoned to death

A 15-year-old Australian girl returned from studying abroad to learn that her entire family had been bludgeoned to death in their sleep, in what police on Monday call a targeted attack.

The girl's parents, two young brothers and her aunt died of wounds to the head and upper body late Friday or early Saturday, at home in the Sydney suburb of North Epping, police said.

Police did not find signs of forced entry and nothing was stolen from the house. Authorities think the family was killed in a "personal" attack, a police spokeswoman said.

Media reports said the father ran a convenience store and had given evidence to police about an armored car robbery outside his store earlier this year.

"I don't believe they have reached anything conclusive about the motive," said the spokeswoman, who did not give her name, in keeping with department policy. "They are keeping an open mind."

The 15-year-old returned from a study trip in the Pacific Island territory of New Caledonia on Sunday.

"I can't imagine what this young girl is going through," homicide Commander Geoff Beresford told Fairfax Radio on Monday. "It is certainly going to be a long and caring process for us to deal with her."

The police department said it had set up a task force to investigate the deaths of the family, whose names were not officially released.

A family member called police Saturday morning after discovering the bodies of the 45-year-old man, his 43-year-old wife and his wife's 39-year-old sister-in-law.

Second person dies after Madonna stage collapse

(CNN) -- A second person has died during construction for Madonna's upcoming concerts in Marseilles, France, authorities said Friday.

The second fatality was a 32-year-old British citizen, the British Foreign Office and a high-ranking police official said. It was not clear whether the person was a man or woman, but the next of kin had been informed, the Foreign Office said.

A 53-year-old French man was killed Thursday when a crane collapsed at the venue, a fire department spokesman in the southern French city said.

A third person was in critical condition, said Alexandre Lanzalavi, a spokesman for Marseille Hospital. Two other people were in hospital and required surgery, and seven others were treated and released, Lanzalavi said.

Madonna said Thursday that she was "devastated" to hear about the death.

"My prayers go out to those who were injured and their families, along with my deepest sympathy to all those affected by this heartbreaking news," Madonna said in a statement issued by her representative, Liz Rosenberg.

At least one Madonna show had been canceled, Rosenberg told CNN.

The accident happened when a crane collapsed while lifting a large metallic truss -- a structure from which lights hang -- into place, Lt. Thierry Delorme of the French Navy told CNN. In Marseille, the fire department is a part of the Navy.

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the collapse, he said.

Some 27 fire engines and 80 firefighters responded to the emergency when the accident occurred about 5:15 p.m. (11:15 a.m. ET).

Madonna was to play the first of five concerts for her "Sticky and Sweet" tour at the 60,000-seat Stade Velodrome on Sunday.

The singer was in Udine, Italy, when she heard the news, Rosenberg said.

Single black women choosing to adopt

Wendy Duren thought she did everything right.

She broke off relationships with men who didn't want to settle down. She refused to get pregnant out of wedlock. She prayed for a child.

Duren's yearning for motherhood was so palpable that her former fiancé once offered to father a child with her. But he warned her that he wasn't ready for marriage.

"I get bored in relationships after a couple of years," he told her, she recalls.

Those events could have caused some women to give up their dreams of motherhood. But Duren, a pharmaceutical saleswoman, didn't need a man to be a mom. At 37 years old, she decided to adopt.

"It's the best decision I could have made in my life," Duren says, two years later. She's now the mother of Madison, a 1-year-old daughter she raises in Canton, Michigan.

"People say I have never seen you so happy," she says, "but it's also the hardest thing I've ever done."

What's driving more single African-American women to adopt

Marriage and motherhood -- it's the dream that begins in childhood for many women. Yet more African-American women are deciding to adopt instead of waiting for a husband, says Mardie Caldwell, founder of Lifetime Adoption, an adoption referral and support group in Penn Valley, California.

We're seeing more and more single African-American women who are not finding men," Caldwell says. "There's a lack of qualified black men to get into relationships with."

The numbers are grim. According to the 2006 U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, 45 percent of African-American women have never been married, compared with 23 percent of white women. Sound Off: What are the biggest challenges for black families?

Yet the decision to adopt isn't just driven by the paucity of eligible African-American men, others say.

Toni Oliver, founder and CEO of Roots Adoption Agency in Atlanta, Georgia, says her agency sees more single African-American women adopting because of infertility issues.

Some of the infertility issues may be related to advancing age or health issues, she says. But the result of not being a mother for many older African-American women is the same: panic.

"Their doctors, friends and family are telling them the same thing: 'You're not getting younger; you better hurry up,' '' Oliver says.

The unfulfilled desire to be a mother can damage a woman emotionally, Oliver says. Her agency provides counseling to prospective mothers who have invested so much of their self-worth into being mothers.

"In many cases, it [the pressure to be a mother] begins to set up feelings of unworthiness, poor self-esteem and the feeling that 'I'm not fully a woman,' " Oliver says.

That pressure can cause some African-American women to rush into a marriage with a man they should not partner with, says Kenyatta Morrisey, a 34-year-old mother of three adopted children in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Morrisey wants to be married, but says she'd rather become a mother now and wait for God to guide her to the right man.

"I am not going to settle and get married just for the sake of being married," Morrisey says. "I'd rather trust God to fulfill all of my dreams instead of relying on a man to fulfill my dreams."

Some single African-American women deal with another challenge: criticism for bringing another African-American child into a single-parent household.

Kaydra Fleming, a 37-year-old social worker in Arlington, Texas, is the mother of Zoey, an adopted eight-month-old girl whose biological mother was young and poor.

"Zoey was going to be born to a single black mother anyway," Fleming says. "At least she's being raised by a single black parent who was ready financially and emotionally to take care of her."

Yet there are some single African-American women who are not emotionally ready to adopt an African-American child who is too dark, some adoption agency officials say.

Fair-skinned or biracial children stand a better chance of being adopted by single black women than darker-skinned children, some adoption officials say.

"They'll say, 'I want a baby to look like a Snickers bar, not dark chocolate,' " Caldwell, founder of Lifetime Adoption, says about some prospective parents.

"I had a family who turned a baby down because it was too dark," she says. "They said the baby wouldn't look good in family photographs."

'You have so much love to give'

Skin tone didn't matter to Duren, the pharmaceutical saleswoman. She says she just wanted a child to love.

She was so natural with children that all of her friends predicted that she would be the first to marry, she says. But adoption was "never an option" for her.

"I wanted my genes, my looks to be passed on," Duren says. "I wanted to see me."

The African-American men she dated, however, didn't want to marry, she says. She dated African-American professionals: engineers, attorneys and managers. But there were so many eligible African-American women, and they still wanted to play, she says.

Time was running out for her. At 37 years old, Duren had earned an MBA degree, a six-figure income and had traveled widely. But she couldn't find the right man to raise a family.

One man she thought she would marry broke off their relationship because he said he wasn't ready to be a father. Then he had a child out of wedlock with another woman, she says.

"He broke my heart," Duren says.

The persistent heartache ate away at her.

"I was struggling," Duren says. "I prayed: 'You know Lord, I worked so hard. I have my integrity, morals -- how did this happen?' ''

A turning point came when she was playing with her niece and nephews. Her brother, their father, asked her why she didn't adopt a child when there were so many black children who needed adopting.

"You have so much love to give," he told Duren.

Duren didn't have an answer. She then went online and learned about Lifetime Adoption, the agency based in California. The agency referred her to a married woman who already had five children, but says she couldn't afford to take care of another.

The woman put her through an interview process. She asked about her family history; how she would discipline her child; and what she would do if her baby woke up screaming in the middle of the night.

The woman eventually picked Duren. When the woman gave birth, she invited her to the hospital and handed Duren her daughter.

The adoption process -- from the beginning to receiving her child -- took eight months, Duren says. It cost about $15,000.

"It was so smooth," she says of the adoption process.

What single moms lose and what they gain

The adoption process will go smoothly if a prospective mother prepares well, Caldwell says.

She suggests that prospective single mothers prepare a notebook that will answer vital questions: Who is going to be the guardian of my child if I get sick? Who are the men in my life that could serve as good role models? Do I have life insurance?

Becoming a single mother means a "complete lifestyle change," Caldwell says.

"You might have to give up getting your nails done," she says.

But you gain something better in return, Duren says. Her life is tougher, but its purpose has shifted.

"Tired is my middle name now," she says. "I'm always tired. Naps don't exist anymore."

And at times, being a single mother can be scary, Duren says.

"When my daughter got sick in the middle of the night in the middle of a snow storm, I didn't have anyone to turn to," she says. "I had to do it. There was no one to talk to."

And at times, there is the temptation for an open-ended relationship with men to take away a little of the loneliness.

One ex-boyfriend came around one day with gifts for her daughter, Duren says. Duren told him to make it his last visit because he was still seeing another woman who had his child.

She told him she wasn't going to be his woman on the side.

"I refuse to be a woman with a man tip-toeing in the middle of my house late at night with toys for my daughter," she says. "No one is going to disrespect me."

Duren says she still wants to be married. But in the meantime, she can barely wait to get home to see Madison.

Her life is now shaped by purpose, not regret.

"I have someone to hang out with. I can never say I'm lonely," Duren says. "She lies across my stomach every night, and I just stare at her."

Key cleric wants Iran election prisoners freed

TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) -- One of Iran's most powerful clerics, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has called on the Iranian government to release those people arrested following last month's disputed presidential election.

"There is no need to have these numbers of people in prison," the former Iranian president said during his highly anticipated Friday sermon.

"Let them come back to their families. Let the enemy not laugh at us and criticize us. We must sympathize with those who have suffered damages. The system cannot lose them. If the system reapproaches them they will come back to us."

Tens of thousands of people gathered in and around Tehran University as Rafsanjani spoke for about an hour, according to witnesses at the speech. Iranian police used tear gas to disperse some of the crowds.

Rafsanjani backs reformist Mir Hossein Moussavi, the opposition candidate who challenged hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the disputed June 12 vote.

After weeks of silence, Rafsanjani has become increasingly vocal in opposing the brutal crackdown on demonstrators who protested election results. He was under pressure to publicly deliver support for the Iranian establishment in his upcoming remarks.

Earlier this month, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) quoted Rafsanjani as saying: "People from across the county participated in the elections with excitement. But unfortunately, the events that occurred after that, and the difficulties created for some, left a bitter taste, and I don't think any wakened consciousness would be satisfied with the resulting situation."

"After a monthlong silence, the position of Hashemi Rafsanjani will be very important for those of all political inclinations, particularly those who are aiming at the (destruction) of the unity of the system," lawmaker Mohammad Karim Shahrzad said in a recent interview with Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)

Shahrzad called on Rafsanjani -- head of the Assembly of Experts, the council responsible for appointing or removing the supreme leader -- to "announce the support of the Supreme Leadership as the highest authority" in his speech.

A member of parliament said Rafsanjani's sermon will be "historic."

"What is certain is that Ayatollah Hashemi holds dear the principles and values of the Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini] that are founded upon the people," said Ghodratollah AliKhani, quoted in Etemad-e Melli, a newspaper aligned with Karrubi.

"The principle weight of this system and revolution has been on the shoulders of the people, who are today the foundations of this system and Ayatollah Hashemi will certainly, in his speech, keep in mind the defense of the people and their rights," AliKhani said.

Moussavi's supporters took to the streets last month to protest the outcome of last month's election that gave Ahmadinejad an overwhelming victory.

Rafsanjani's daughter, Faezeh, and four other of his relatives were briefly detained for taking part in one of those rallies.

The widespread street protests and civil unrest led to the death of at least 20 demonstrators and the arrest of more than 1,000, according to Iran's state-run media. The numbers of casualties and arrests could not be independently verified by CNN because of restrictions on international journalists by the Iranian government.

Rafsanjani remains an influential figure in Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's circle, but he has made "a real break with the supreme leader in this case," Iranian-American author Hooman Majd told CNN recently.

He was missing when Iran's power brokers assembled on June 19 at Friday prayers to hear Khamenei declare Ahmadinejad the winner.

Ahmadinejad is scheduled to be sworn in before parliament on July 26.

Manhattan City Councilman Miguel Martinez admits he stole tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars

Manhattan City Councilman Miguel Martinez

admitted Thursday he stole tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars from children's arts and low-income housing programs funded with a shadowy council slush fund.

The two-termer became the first council member to fall in a year-old investigation of misuse of the millions of taxpayer dollars the council doles out to pet projects.

In Manhattan Federal Court, Martinez admitted he had siphoned off $106,000 in public funds through several ruses, using fake invoices, shell corporations and bogus names on bank accounts.

"I received the monies as a direct result of the conspiracy," he said.

Martinez - who resigned suddenly on Tuesday - pleaded guilty to three federal conspiracy counts, including two involving mail fraud and one involving money laundering.

Under a plea agreement, he faces between 57 and 71 months in prison. He was released on $250,000 bond.

The disgraced pol admitted he was able to carry out the scheme "because I was a New York City councilman."

The plea follows a city Department of Investigation inquiry that followed the Daily News' revelation in April 2008 that Martinez was funneling money to a non-profit his sister helped run.

Today he admitted $40,000 of his ill-gotten gains came from that group, the Upper Manhattan Council Assisting Neighbors (U-CAN). In the last two years, Martinez has sponsored nearly $800,000 in public funds for U-CAN.

In 2004 and 2005 he launched a scheme to steal money through U-CAN's involvement in an affordable housing project in the Bronx.

At Martinez's directed the developer paid U-CAN $96,000 and received millions of dollars in tax credits in return. A cooperator who works for U-CAN funneled $40,000 of that through various bank accounts to Martinez.

The councilman even used fake names to conceal his corruption, controlling one account under the name Samajulis.

Martinez also stole from children, pocketing $15,000 in taxpayer money meant to tutor children in the arts through a non-profit called the Washington Heights Arts Center.

The center has received $163,000 between 2003 and 2005 from the council - the bulk of its funding.

And he even padded his council expense reimbursements. From October 2002 through May 2008, he regularly submitted fake invoices to collect $51,000 in bogus payments.

In one case, he funneled money to a shell corporation, the Greater Manhattan Group, he claimed was performing services for his office such as "media outreach" and "constituent workshops."

The long-running probe of the council's slush fund by DOI and Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office dates back to late 2007.

Two aides to Brooklyn Councilman Kendall Stewart have pleaded guilty to stealing thousands of dollars from a council-subsidized non-profit. Stewart has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged.

Bronx Councilwoman Maria del Carmen Arroyo's nephew was arrested last month on charges of misusing funds via the South Bronx Community Council, a non-profit Arroyo helps fund. She has declined to comment on the ongoing probe.

Lakers pull Odom offer

LAS VEGAS -- Lamar Odom and the Los Angeles Lakers had reached an agreement on annual salary before the Lakers pulled out of contract talks with their versatile sixth man, sources with knowledge of the talks said on Tuesday.

Sources told ESPN.com that Odom and the Lakers had reached an accord entering the weekend on a per-season wage of $9 million for the 29-year-old. But Odom balked at L.A.'s unwillingness to extend an offer spanning more than three years in length and spent the past few days weighing his options.

The Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site earlier Tuesday night that Lakers owner Jerry Buss, upset that he was still waiting for Odom's response, has decided to take the offer off the table. Yet one source told ESPN.com that Odom was never given a deadline to accept or pass on the Lakers' three-year, $27 million pitch.

Lakers spokesman John Black acknowledged to the Times that "talks have broken down for the time being" but conceded that a resumption in negotiations is "within the realm of possibility," which most rival teams would expect given Odom's importance during the Lakers' championship run last season and the fact that the only apparent issue between the sides is contract length.

Neither Odom nor agent Jeff Schwartz could be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Yet it's believed that Odom has indeed received offers from the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks that -- because neither Florida nor Texas imposes state taxes -- are not as far away in value from the Lakers' presentation as it would seem.

Odom would have the ability with either the Heat or the Mavericks to sign a three-year, $19 million contract and negotiate a new deal with full Larry Bird rights in the summer of 2012 or take a five-year deal worth $34 million to bank more overall money, along with the state-tax benefits, than he could in a new three-year deal with the Lakers.

Odom, though, has made it clear over the past several months that he has no desire to leave the Lakers, whom he joined in the summer of 2004 when L.A. broke up its three-peat duo of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant by trading O'Neal to Miami for Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant. He made $14.1 million last season to complete the six-year, $63 million contract he received from Miami in the summer of 2003, but one source close to the process says he has accepted the $5 million pay cut without fuss.

Although he initially chafed at his move to the bench, Odom ultimately flourished as a sixth man, averaging 12.3 points, 9.1 rebounds and 32 minutes per game during the playoffs, when he frequently wound up partnering with Pau Gasol in the Lakers' frontcourt since young center Andrew Bynum was still developing.

Replacing Trevor Ariza with the more physical Ron Artest this offseason has given the Lakers someone to absorb at least some of Odom's minutes and responsibilities if he does leave. But Odom's departure would be undoubtedly celebrated by other playoff contenders in the West, since it's the luxury of having three long-limbed big men to flank Kobe Bryant -- Odom, Gasol and Bynum -- that makes L.A. so unique. Odom also ranks as one of Artest's closest friends in the game, so his continued presence would theoretically help Lakers coach Phil Jackson and Bryant manage the mercurial Artest.

Asked in a Monday telephone interview with the L.A. Times why a deal was not yet done, Odom said: "I don't know. That's why there are negotiations. I don't know. Of course I hope they can get it done. It's negotiations. Both sides are going to give and take. That's part of it. I don't know how long it's going to take. ... The Lakers have been too good to me to rub people over there the wrong way. The Lakers have been nothing but great to me, and I want to keep the relationship great."

In the event that the talks are not resuscitated, L.A. would have to count on the unpredictable Artest and the up-and-down Bynum to fill the void.

One source close to the process said Odom, in that scenario, would likely favor a return to the Heat, which would be a strong statement by Miami management to 2010 free agent-to-be Dwyane Wade. The Heat could theoretically sign Odom, trade for Utah's Carlos Boozer and then re-sign Boozer in the summer of 2010 without needing salary-cap space because Miami would own Boozer's Bird rights. Those moves would set Wade up to be flanked by two quality forwards and almost certainly enhance the Heat's chances of convincing their star to stay.

Suggs Agrees To 6-Year Deal

Terrell Suggs, who never minded playing under one-year franchise tags, found the financial security he had been seeking when he agreed to a six-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens.

The contract is worth $63 million, according to a source.

A news release from the team said the agreement, reached late Tuesday night, would be completed Wednesday afternoon.

"I wanted to stay in purple and black, the Ravens wanted to keep me in purple in black, and they stepped up and showed me that," Suggs said. "This means a lot to me and my family. Now I can be a Raven for the better part of my career."

The key to the contract was the structure. Suggs will receive signing-bonus and option-bonus money that will total $33.1 million in 2009 and 2010, according to a source.

That is believed to be second only to Peyton Manning, who received a $34 million signing bonus.

Defensive end Dwight Freeney received $31.5 million in signing- and option-bonus money during the first two years of his contract with the Colts. Freeney and Suggs were both represented by Gary Wichard.

"Getting a deal done with Terrell is consistent with our history of retaining our best Pro Bowl players, like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Jonathan Ogden, Todd Heap and Jamal Lewis," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "Securing Terrell for six seasons gives us a premier pass-rusher whose ability to stop the run does not get enough credit.

"This is a good day for the Ravens franchise."

Suggs had until 4 p.m. ET Wednesday to sign a long-term deal. Had he not, he would have played this season at $10.17 million and become a free agent next season. Now, on a long-term deal, Suggs becomes the highest-paid linebacker in NFL history.

The payout of the contract was the reason for the signing. In the first two years of the contract, Suggs will make $40 million. In the first three years, he will make $43.4 million. And in the first four years, he will make $48.3 million.

"You guys know that he energizes our practices. He brings that vitality to the game, and he makes the locker room fun," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "He's a foundation for our defense to stay at the highest level. Having him in training camp will take him to higher levels."

Suggs, who will turn 27 in October, has been the Ravens' franchise player for the past two seasons. He has 53 sacks during the first six years of his career and is considered one of the best pass-rushers in the league.

The 6-foot-3, 260-pound Suggs came out of Arizona State in 2003 as a first-round pick. He played defensive end until the Ravens started using more 3-4 schemes.

In some seasons, he played more at defensive end than linebacker, but the position didn't matter. Suggs' job was to get to the quarterback for sacks. Now, he has sacked the contract of a lifetime.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warns Iran, calls behavior 'deplorable and unacceptable'

Washington-Secretary of State Clinton burst back onto the international stage Wednesday with a salvo of warnings and condemnations for the mullahs of Iran.

Clinton calls the bloody suppression of democracy demonstrators in Tehran "deplorable and unacceptable," demanding that Iran deal with the U.S. on disarming nukes or face tougher sanctions.

Clinton took on Iran in prepared remarks for what aides billed as a "major" address to the wonky Council on Foreign Relations. The speech is part of a public relations effort to demonstrate she's ready to take on the world after being sidelined by a fractured right elbow suffered last month.

Clinton says the clock is ticking for Iran on the face-to-face "engagement" offered by President Obama, warning: "The opportunity will not remain open indefinitely."

"Neither the President nor I have any illusions that direct dialogue with the Islamic Republic will guarantee success," Clinton says. "But we also understand the importance of trying to engage Iran and offering its leaders a clear choice: whether to join the international community as a responsible member or to continue down a path to further isolation."

Six months into the job, Clinton felt the need to put out a global reminder she's the go-to foreign policy architect of the U.S. and has an agenda calling for a "smart power" blend of diplomacy and aid backed up by military might.

The speech also comes after a bit of venting by Clinton earlier this week about White House foot-dragging on pulling her team together at State.

The elbow problem kept her on the bench for Obama's trip to Europe and Africa last week, but she's jumping back on her plane Friday for a six-day trip to India and Thailand, where she is looking for regional backing to confront North Korea.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/07/15/2009-07-15_hillary_clinton_warns_iran.html#ixzz0LLJzG8Vm&D

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor: President Obama didn't ask me about abortion

WASHINGTON - Judge Sonia Sotomayor said Wednesday neither President Obama nor anyone else in the administration asked her views on abortion rights before she was nominated for the Supreme Court.

"I was asked no question by anyone including the president about my views on any specific legal issue," she said at the outset of a second day of questioning by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

She made her remark after Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked about a published report that administration officials had sought to reassure abortion rights groups concerned about her position on the issue.

Sotomayor, 55, is in line to become the first Hispanic to sit on the Supreme Court. Even Republicans concede she is on the way toward confirmation, barring a major gaffe.

Sotomayor sidestepped when Cornyn asked whether she stood by or disavowed a controversial 2001 remark that a "wise Latina" judge would often make better decisions than a white male.

She said she stood by her statement on Tuesday that the comment was a rhetorical flourish gone awry.

"I stand by the words 'It fell flat,'" she told Cornyn. She said of the 2001 remarks, "And I understand that some people have understood them in a way that I never intended. And I would hope that, in the context of the speech, that they would be understood."

Cornyn persisted, asking whether she would regret if her audience of students understood her to be saying that the quality of a judge depended on race, gender or ethnicity.

"I would regret that," she said.

Her response was essentially similar to remarks she made Tuesday when first asked about the issue that has caused more pre-confirmation controversy than any other.

The cavernous Senate hearing room was filled for the third straight day, and tourists waited in line outside for their few moments as witnesses to history.

Inside, if there was little suspense about the ultimate outcome, senators pressed Sotomayor closely in their 30-minute turns questioning her about her rulings and her views.

Obama nominated the appeals court judge to replace Justice David Souter, who retired last month.

Over a career spanning nearly two decades, Souter emerged as a reliable member of the high court's liberal bloc on issues such as abortion and affirmative action. Because Sotomayor is widely seen as sharing his general views on those and other issues, her confirmation is not deemed likely to alter the balance of power on the court.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/07/15/2009-07-15_sotomayor_asked_about_abortion.html#ixzz0LLJDp7Nr&D

Hip-hop artist calls flash jewellery 'cheap'

Pharrell Williams thinks only "cheap-minded" people wear flash jewellery.

The 36-year-old hip-hop artist - who has clothing labels Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Footwear and has designed glasses and jewellery for Louis Vuitton - hates the large, gaudy accessories other rap stars are famous for sporting.

He said: "I don't understand bling - I never wore any. To me, it's cheap jewellery for the cheap-minded. I don't associate myself with the hip-hop fraternity. Pieces that I design are only of the best quality."

Despite his hatred of diamond-laden jewellery, Pharrell does like some aspects of hip-hop style.

He explained to Britain's Sunday Times Style magazine: "If I'm photographed wearing sunglasses indoors, it's probably because I really like their fashion sensibility, or the brand. Or when a camera is going off."

Pharrell calls himself a 'workaholic' and credits the way he was brought up with making him thankful for his achievements.

He said: "My upbringing was humble and modest. Not to say that I ended up humble. But over time, I have calmed down and become more appreciative.

"Coming from nothing can inspire one to do great things."

'Wire' actor Jamie Hector denies link to fatal gunplay at wife's Brooklyn baby shower

His HBO character might have a taste for violence but a star of the crime show "The Wire" said he had nothing to do with gunplay that erupted outside his wife's baby shower.

One man was killed and two others wounded in a gunfight outside the Brooklyn bash hosted by actor Jamie Hector - who played drug dealer Marlo Stanfield on the former hit show.

Hector said in a statement released Monday that his " heartfelt prayers and condolences" went out to the victims' families.

"I would like to make it clear that the shooting incident [Sunday] did not take place at my home, nor did it involve me, my wife, nor any of the invited guests," the actor said.

Local residents, though said two of the young men injured in Sunday's 1:20 a.m. East Flatbush shootout had attended the baby shower.

Linton Williams, 17, and Walter Parker, 22, had just left the party, neighbors said, when a car drove up and opened fire on the men. Williams died at the scene. Parker survived with a leg wound.Alison Gendar

Sotomayor calls 'wise Latina' remark a bad choice of words

WASHINGTON --Under tough questioning from Republicans, U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor conceded Tuesday she made a bad play on words in her controversial statement that a "wise Latina woman" could reach a better conclusion than a white man.

"I want to state up front, unequivocally and without doubt: I do not believe that any ethnic, racial or gender group has an advantage in sound judging," Sotomayor said on the second day of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on her nomination by President Obama to be the first Hispanic justice on the the nation's highest court.

Facing direct questioning for the first time, Sotomayor remained calm as Democrats and Republicans asked her about past cases and speeches that have been publicized since Obama nominated her in May to become the 111th person to sit on the Supreme Court.

She gave careful answers on two politically sensitive issues -- gun control and abortion -- saying that the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion ruling was settled law and that she supports the Second Amendment right to bear arms. And on the issue of presidential "signing statements," she said their validity must be considered case by case.

If approved by the committee and confirmed by the full Senate, she would be the third woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, chairman of the committee, gave Sotomayor the opportunity to comment on criticism over her past statements that she hoped "a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

"No words I have ever spoken or written have received so much attention," Sotomayor said of the statement from past speeches to law students, particularly Hispanic students.

"I was trying to inspire them to believe that their life experiences would enrich the legal system, because different life experiences and backgrounds always do," she said. "I don't think that there is a quarrel with that in our society." iReport.com: Share your thoughts on the Sotomayor hearings

Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the committee, pushed further on the matter, noting that Sotomayor made the statement several times in past speeches.

Sotomayor said she did a bad job of trying to express a similar opinion as former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor -- the first woman on the nation's highest court -- that "both men and women were equally capable of being wise and fair judges."

Sotomayor said she knew that O'Connor wasn't commenting on the ability of men or women to make wiser decisions. Judges disagree all the time, she said, but that doesn't mean that one is necessarily wiser than another.

"I was trying to play on her words," she said. "My play fell flat. It was bad." Watch Sotomayor talk about the comment »

On another controversial comment -- a 2005 remark at Duke University that the Court of Appeals is where "policy is made [and] where ... the law is percolating" -- Sotomayor said her words have been taken out of context.

Shown in proper context, she said Tuesday, the comment "made very clear that I wasn't talking about the policy reflected in the law that Congress makes." She was, she said, merely focusing on the fact that appellate judges establish precedent. They decide what the law means in certain circumstances, and those decisions "can be binding."

Sotomayor said her record in 17 years as a federal judge shows she fully believes "that judges must apply the law and not make the law."

In every case, she said, "I have done what the law requires," adding that personal biases and prejudices of a judge should not affect a case. However, "life experiences have to influence you," she said.

Judges have to recognize their feelings and then "set them aside," Sotomayor said.

Also on Tuesday, Sotomayor defended her ruling in a hotly contested 2008 case in which she backed the city of New Haven, Connecticut's, decision to reject results of a firefighter promotion exam because few minorities qualified for promotions.

She said the case -- Ricci v. DeStefano -- was based strictly on well-established legal precedent. She said the case was decided on the basis of "a very thorough, 78-page decision by the district court" and followed an "established precedent." Watch Sotomayor comment on the New Haven case »

"This was not a quota case or [an] affirmative action case," she said. The case was a challenge to a firefighter test that had a wide range of difference between the pass and failure rate of different groups. New Haven, she noted, was at risk of being sued by employees who could show they were "disparately impacted" by the test.

After days of hearings, New Haven city officials decided they wouldn't certify the test, but would instead attempt to develop a test of equal value in measuring a candidate's qualifications without having a disparate impact, she said.

The question before the 2nd Circuit, Sotomayor said, was whether the city's decision was based on race or its understanding of what the law required it to do. The court ruled that it was based on the latter.

The hearings, which are expected to last all week, gave the committee and the nation the chance to hear Sotomayor, a federal appellate judge, speak of her experiences and address issues raised by conservatives who fear she will be an activist judge for liberal causes. See what a former Supreme Court nominee has to say about Sotomayor »

Asked about gun control, Sotomayor said she recognizes an individual right to bear arms as recently identified by the Supreme Court.

"I have friends who hunt" and "understand fully" the Second Amendment right identified in the ruling District of Columbia v. Heller, she said. The recent 5-4 Supreme Court ruling concluded that a sweeping handgun ban in the nation's capital violated Americans' constitutional right to "keep and bear arms." Watch Sotomayor talk about fundamental rights »

On abortion, Sotomayor called the constitutional right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade a matter of settled law. While refusing to offer her personal view of the decision, she noted that the core holding in Roe was reaffirmed in the 1992 ruling Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

On another controversial subject, Sotomayor gave her opinion about the legality of presidential "signing statements."

She weighed in on issue after Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, criticized former President Bush's decision to sign a 2005 bill banning torture only after attaching several caveats.

Asked if the Constitution authorizes the president "to not follow parts of laws duly passed by the Congress that he is willing to sign," Sotomayor would only say that "the factual scenario before the court" must be considered in each particular situation.

She cited a framework set by Justice Robert Jackson during President Harry Truman's seizure of several steel factories during the Korean War in order to prevent a strike.

According to Jackson, Sotomayor said, "you always have to look at an assertion by the president that he or she is acting within executive power in the context of what Congress has done or not done."