Cuba Sentences U.S. Aid Contractor to 15 Years
An American contractor accused of crimes against the Cuban state was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Cuba Saturday, government-run television reported. In a decision likely to set back Havana-Washington relations, a five-judge panel concluded that the contractor, Alan Phillip Gross, was involved in what the Cuban government described as a Washington-backed "subversive project" to "topple the Revolution," Reuters reported. Related Stories What Was Alan Gross Doing in Havana? Trial of U.S. Aid Contractor Alan Gross Ends in Havana White House Condemns ...
Trial of U.S. Aid Contractor Alan Gross Ends in Havana
The trial of a U.S. government contractor accused of trying to subvert Cuba's government ended on Saturday and a verdict was expected to come down at any time in the next few days. The Cuban government said at the close of the two-day trial that the contractor, Alan Phillip Gross, accepted some responsibility during the trial but had said he had been "used" and blamed the State Department-linked company that sent him to the island. Gross, a 61-year-old Maryland native, faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty. He has been detained for more than a year at Havana's maximum-security Villa ...
In Havana, Trial Opens for American Accused of Threatening Cuba's Independence
A U.S. government contractor charged with committing acts threatening Cuba's independence has gone on trial in Havana in a controversial case that has become a thorny political issue between the Castro regime and Washington. The contractor, Alan Phillip Gross, 61, is accused of illegally distributing sophisticated satellite communications equipment for Internet access under an American program that is outlawed and considered subversive by the Cuban government. He faces a possible 20-year sentence for "acts against the integrity and independence" of Cuba. Related ...
Why Charlie Sheen Got Away With Abusing Women -- but Galliano Didn't
NEW YORK -- For eight years as a major TV star and chief macho maniac, Charlie Sheen threatened, abused and scared women in his life, including two wives and numerous escorts, call girls and starlets. How did Sheen get away with it time and time again? Where was public opinion? Where were the female bloggers and columnists and the feminists groups who are usually ready to jump up and cry out against the smallest hint of sexism and abuse? Celebrity usually trumps all. Sports figures, movie stars, big financiers may get a pass and even forgiveness and adulation when most people might not. It's ...
The Oscars: 'The King's Speech' and Natalie Portman Reign
On an evening celebrating youth, when the parade of glamour on the red carpet at the Kodak Theatre gave off plenty of Hollywood sparkle, "The King's Speech," a traditional historical drama about George VI, who overcame a crippling stammer to lead England in World War II, dominated the top honors at the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony Sunday. So much for "The Social Network," which as the film about the creation of Facebook, represented the young and rising 21st century and had been the front-runner to win the best movie Oscar early on in the awards race. In its near sweep, "The King's Speech" ...
The Oscars: Young, Pretty, Snarky, So Who's Watching?
By now you've probably heard about that cute pair who will be hosting the Oscars -- James Franco and Anne Hathaway, he with his flirty eyes, she with her princess smile -- both pretty, lean, chirpy, young. They've dominated the entertainment and morning news shows, the celebrity magazines, and the Oscar chatter. There is, of course, a reason for that. They are supposed to be creating a new image for the 83-year-old Academy Awards ceremony: youthful, flippant. cute, but elegant, too, and supremely attractive. During this months-long Oscar season, which ends on Sunday night on ABC, one ...
'Parker Spitzer' TV Talk Show Breaks Up: She Goes, He Stays
NEW YORK – Kathleen Parker, a prominent political commentator, is leaving CNN's "Parker Spitzer," the much-ballyhooed prime-time talk show she co-hosted with Eliot Spitzer, the formerly disgraced governor of New York. Parker, 58, a Pulitzer Prize-winning opinion writer, said in a statement Friday night, "I have decided to return to a schedule that will allow me to focus more on my syndicated newspaper column and other writings." Parker writes a politically moderate op-ed column for The Washington Post that is syndicated nationally. Related Stories 'Parker ...
Hispanics Are Closer to Becoming the Majority in Texas
With an explosive population growth in Texas in the last decade, Hispanics are closer to reaching parity with whites in the second most-populous state and transforming its politics. Hispanics were at the leading edge of the state's population surge in the last decade, accounting for more than two-thirds of the growth, making up 38 percent of the state's 25.1 million people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's latest figures. The state's population growth was bigger than any other state, with only California having more people. Most remarkable, Texas' non-Hispanic whites – widely ...
Arizona's Stormy Senate Race: Why the National GOP Is Watching
When Rep. Jeff Flake, a pro-immigration-reform Arizona Republican, said earlier this week he would run for the U.S. Senate in 2012, he immediately set off a chain of political storms inside and outside his own party, both in his state and in Washington. His campaign is no home-state affair. It could be a barometer of GOP unity nationwide, illustrating how the party would navigate the divisions between its two major wings -- its hard-line tea party advocates and its traditional conservatives. Arizona already has been a player at the national presidential level, and Flake's candidacy may be ...
Sen. Scott Brown Says He Was Sexually and Physically Abused as a Child
In a stunning revelation, Sen. Scott Brown tells 60 Minutes he was sexually abused by a camp counselor as a child but never told anyone about the "traumatic" experience, not even his mother, because he didn't think anyone would believe him. "That's what happens when you're a victim. You're embarrassed, you're hurt," he said in an interview airing Sunday with CBS News' Leslie Stahl. "Fortunately, nothing was ever fully consummated, so to speak, but it was certainly back then, very traumatic." Brown, a Republican, gained the national spotlight when he won a special election in 2010 for the ...
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