Top stories:
  • Middle East unrest After revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, political upheaval roils countries across the Arab world Middle East unrest After revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, political upheaval roils countries across the Arab world
  • Animals From polar bears to missing snakes to endangered tigers, all the top critter news Animals From polar bears to missing snakes to endangered tigers, all the top critter news
  • Gotta Watch Check out the videos that are making news and igniting conversation today Gotta Watch Check out the videos that are making news and igniting conversation today
  • Attack on Libya A multinational coalition intervenes in the clash between forces for and against Moammar Gadhafi Attack on Libya A multinational coalition intervenes in the clash between forces for and against Moammar Gadhafi
  • Japan in crisis As radiation leaks and anger toward a nuclear utility grows, the search for bodies goes on Japan in crisis As radiation leaks and anger toward a nuclear utility grows, the search for bodies goes on
How some winning presidential campaigns started
CNN unlocks its video vault of presidential campaign announcements.

Take a peek inside CNN's massive library system and view archival video of winning U.S. presidential campaigns as they kicked off on television.

Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are among those featured in the video clip from CNN's video vault.

Obama is the first candidate to officially launch a campaign for the 2012 presidential election.

View his team's campaign message, released Monday, on BarackObama.com.

Post by:
Filed under: Barack Obama • Politics • U.S.
Overheard on CNN: Oil rig 'safety' pays off
Transocean declared 2010 "the best year in safety performance" in company history despite the Gulf oil spill.

Comment of the day: "This story shouldn't have been tucked into the sidebar! I truly want to know how to stick it to this company. I already boycott BP, but I don't feel I have any direct consumer contact with TransOcean. Are we supposed to boycott gas in general? Then I don't get to work and they still have a million-dollar salary. Being angry feels so hopeless." – mkegrl

Despite Gulf oil spill, rig owner executives get big bonuses

Top executives at Transocean Ltd., owner of the Gulf of Mexico oil rig that exploded, killing 11, have been awarded huge bonuses for 2010 . The company called 2010 “the best year in safety performance in our company’s history.” The president’s National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling earlier found the company among those to blame for the disaster.

Just about all of our readers were appalled. whynot21 said, “I am speechless, absolutely speechless.” BD70 said, “Nothing like rewarding bad behavior.” PSMorganJr asked, “So how many people do they kill in an average year?” and Stewart2012 added, “God help us if TransOcean ever has a bad year.”

Some of our readers wanted to take action. scion101 said, “I'm in the mood to take a morning stroll to Wall Street, meeting every CEO there is, and hanging them by their own 'boot straps' on the lamposts until all the money they've taken from the poor and middle class falls out of their gold-lined pockets. Enough is enough.”

FULL POST

Post by:
Filed under: iReport

[Updated at 4:49 p.m. ET] Thirty-two people died and just one survived when a United Nations plane crashed in the Congo on Monday, a U.N. spokesman said in New York.

The plane was trying to land in Kinshasa when the crash happened, and it was raining at the time, an official said.

The aircraft, which took off from Goma, belonged to the U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a Congo Transportation Ministry official.

[Updated at 1:13 p.m. ET] An official said it was raining when the plane attempted to land in Kinshasa.

The Kinshasa airport reported strong thunderstorms and sustained winds of 37 kph at the time.

[Posted at 11:48 a.m. ET] At least 10 people died in the crash of a United Nations plane as it attempted to land in Congo Monday, a U.N. official said.

The aircraft, which was carrying 32 people, belonged to the U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to a Congo Transportation Ministry official.

The flight began in Goma and was bound for Kinshasa, the official said.

Read CNN's full coverage of the U.N. plane crash in Congo
Post by:
Filed under: Air Travel • Congo
Tornado strikes Kentucky plant; other storms strike the South

[Updated at 4:35 p.m. ET] A tornado zeroed in Monday afternoon on a manufacturing plant in southwestern Kentucky, tossing pieces of the roof, collapsing part of the aluminum structure and injuring seven people, officials said.

Elsewhere in the South, thunderstorms caused damage, injuries and knocked out power.

About 184 employees were inside TGASK, a plant that makes automotive parts, when the storm arrived shortly after 1 p.m. (2 p.m. ET), said Paul Ray, spokesman for the Hopkinsville Police Department. The manufacturing plant is between Hopkinsville and Pembroke.

None of the injured had life-threatening injuries, said spokeswoman Jessica Beckham of Jennie Stuart Medical Center. Ray said the injuries were mostly bumps and bruises.

Did you witness the severe weather? Send your stories, photo and video to iReport.

FULL STORY
Post by:
Filed under: Kentucky • Tornadoes
Three more bodies found on Long Island beach

[Updated at 5:24 p.m.] The remains of three additional people were discovered Monday morning near Gilgo Beach on Long Island, according to Richard Dormer, Suffolk County Police commissioner.

A total of eight sets of human remains have been found in the area since a missing New Jersey woman prompted the searches beginning in 2010.

Shannan Gilbert, 24, of Jersey City, New Jersey, was last seen alive on May 1. As authorities searched for clues about her disappearance last year, they uncovered the bodies of four prostitutes in various stages of decomposition.

Police say the hunt for a potential serial killer continues, as does the search for Gilbert.

FULL STORY
Post by:
Filed under: Crime • New York
Geithner: U.S. will reach debt limit by May 16

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders Monday that he now expects the United States to hit its $14.294 trillion debt ceiling "no later than May 16."

Earlier, the Treasury had estimated that the limit would be reached between April 15 and May 31.

If Congress doesn't raise the debt limit by May 16, the Treasury would employ a range of extraordinary measures to prevent the United States from defaulting on its obligations. But Geithner estimated that those measures could only buy roughly eight weeks.

Some Republicans say they will oppose raising the debt ceiling unless there are accompanying reforms intended to address long-term spending and national debt issues. Democrats have countered that such a move would amount to a default on paying some debt with dire economic consequences.

FULL STORY
Post by: ,
Filed under: Budget • Economy • Finance

Thirty-eight years ago Monday, the World Trade Center opened its doors.

At the time, the grandiose structures known as Building 1 and Building 2 were the tallest skyscrapers in the world.

New Yorkers' reaction to the towers were mixed. "Public sentiment ran from astonishment at the sheer size of the towers, to both thrill and dismay at their monolithic, modern design," according to WTC.com.

FULL POST

Post by:
Filed under: Architecture • New York • Technology
SI.com: Kemba Factor, Spurs snap winless streak, Earnhardt Jr. doesn't
Kemba Walker celebrates Saturday after the UConn Huskies beat the Kentucky Wildcats for a shot at the title.

After weeks of hard-fought battles, stunning upsets and unbelievable Cinderella stories, it all comes down to tonight’s NCAA Tournament championship.

Pitting Brad Stevens-led Butler against UConn, the title matchup rounds out a remarkable tournament that saw the impossible become possible. The Butler Bulldogs will be making their second consecutive title game appearance, after missing a shot in the last seconds against Duke in 2010.

The UConn Huskies will be returning for a shot at the title for the first time since their 2004 national championship. As SI.com’s Luke Winn points out, no matter the outcome, both of these teams have clawed their way to amazing tournament runs.

But despite the incredible skill and determination both teams showed, who is this year’s underdog?

FULL POST

Post by:
Filed under: College basketball • Connecticut • Indiana • Sports • U.S.
9/11 suspects will not face civilian trials, officials say
Alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is among the suspects expected to be tried at Gitmo.

Attorney General Eric Holder will announce this afternoon that the 9/11 suspects will not face federal civilian trials as the Obama administration wanted, two U.S. officials and a government source confirmed.

They instead will be tried before military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, the officials said.

The suspects include alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Monhammed.

Read CNN's full coverage of Holder's announcement on 9/11 suspects
Post by:
Filed under: Politics • Barack Obama • World • Terrorism • Al Qaeda • September 11
Protesters march in Toronto 'Slutwalk'
Demonstrators march in Toronto on Sunday as part of Slutwalk, an effort to call attention to sexual assault.

Women and men - dressed however they want, thank you - came out in force Sunday in Toronto to protest what they perceive as a callous attitude toward sexual assault by Toronto police.

Tongue-in-cheek and defiant in name, Slutwalk attracted about 1,000 people in Queen's Park and went off without a hitch, police said.

“It was very peaceful, and they got the message out that they wanted,” constable spokeswoman Wendy Drummond told CNN on Monday morning.

FULL POST

Post by:
Filed under: Canada • Crime • Protest
On the Radar: Wreckage found, jet cracks, radioactive water, Obama, basketball
Authorities found pieces of the Air France jet in 2009 but now say they have found the main wreckage.

Air France wreckage found – Bodies have been found from an Air France flight that went down in the Atlantic Ocean almost two years ago. They will be brought to the surface and identified. A French official said Monday that the main part of the wreckage had been found. Previously, only chunks of the plane had been recovered. It went down in a remote part of the ocean, an estimated two to four day’s travel by ship from the nearest Brazilian or Senegalese port.

Cracks in jets – Southwest Airlines canceled about 600 flights over the weekend to accommodate inspections after a hole opened in a plane on a Sacramento, California-bound flight. The Texas-based airline grounded 79 planes and expects to cancel about 100 flights Monday. Investigators have reportedly found cracks in three other aircraft. Southwest is advising passengers to check their flight status before going to the airport, and Boeing is sending out a service bulletin telling how to inspect planes for similar cracks.

FULL POST

Gotta Watch: Sheen's winning ways

He became a Twitter phenom overnight and added the phrases "tiger blood" and "winning" to the cultural lexicon. But the recent obsession with all-things Charlie Sheen couldn't save him from terrible reviews for his stage tour debut. Today's Gotta Watch focuses on how this A-list actor has reinvented himself into an internet sensation thanks to his rants and odd behavior. Watch the recent evolution of Charlie Sheen.

Sheen's losing debut - File this under #notwinning. Detroit fans booed and heckled Charlie Sheen during the opening of his "Violent Torpedo of Truth" tour. Even his "tiger blood" couldn't save Sheen from the critical audience. Was it the crack jokes about the Motor City or the circus-like atmosphere that got fans upset? Now you can judge for yourself.

FULL POST

Post by:
Filed under: Celebrity • Charlie Sheen • Drugs • Gotta Watch • Michigan • Showbiz • TV • TV-Piers Morgan
Monday's intriguing people
Butler head coach Brad Stevens, 34, and his Bulldogs take on UConn Monday night for the NCAA basketball title.

Brad Stevens

The head basketball coach of Butler University is preparing his team for the final game of the season. Not quite underdogs, the Bulldogs take on the University of Connecticut Huskies in Monday night's national championship game.  Just one year after the Bulldogs lost to Duke in the closing seconds of the 2010 championship game, the 34-year-old Stevens is taking his team to a second consecutive national championship game.

The Indiana native, who quit his corporate job in 2000 to take an unpaid coaching job at Butler, is in high demand at bigger schools, but told the Houston Chronicle, "I think you hear people say all the time that the grass is greener somewhere else. Well, I think we recognize the grass is very green at Butler."

FULL POST

Monday's live video events

Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the conflict in Libya and the nuclear crisis in Japan.

Today's programming highlights...

11:45 am ET - Biden speaks out on school violence - Vice President Joe Biden discusses violence against women at schools and college campuses during a visit to the University of New Hampshire.  He may also bring up President Obama's re-election announcement.

FULL POST


Filed under: 2011 tsunami • Barack Obama • Budget • Democratic Party • District of Columbia • Earthquake • Economy • Japan • Joe Biden • Libya • Natural Disasters • New Hampshire • On CNN.com today • Politics • Space • Tsunami • U.S. • War • World
Southwest Airlines to cancel more flights Monday
A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 made an emergency landing in Arizona Friday after a hole opened on top of the aircraft.

Southwest Airlines expects to cancel about 100 flights from its Monday schedule, the airline said.

A Boeing 737 in the airline's fleet made an emergency landing in Arizona after a hole opened on top of the aircraft during flight Friday.

As a result, the airline is inspecting other planes. It has found "small, subsurface cracks" or indications of cracks in three other aircraft.

It canceled approximately 300 flights on Saturday and 300 flights on Sunday in order to conduct the inspections, Southwest said.

The airline asked customers to check its website before heading to the airport.

Post by:
Filed under: Air Travel • Arizona • Latest news
Defiant al Fayed puts Michael Jackson statue outside soccer stadium
Fulham Football Club owner Mohamed al Fayed says fans who don't like his statue of Michael Jackson can start cheering for a different team.

London’s Fulham Football Club is now home to a 15-foot-tall memorial to Michael Jackson. And soccer fans who don’t like it can "go to hell," the club's owner said Sunday.

Fulham owner Mohamed al Fayed on Sunday unveiled a statue of the King of Pop on the grounds of the soccer club’s Craven Cottage stadium in London before Fulham’s English Premier League match against Blackpool, the Daily Mail reported.

Al Fayed, an Egyptian businessman who once owned London’s famed Harrods department store, counted Jackson as a friend. He was going to put the statue at Harrods until he sold the store in 2010, according to The Sun.

Sensing criticism for erecting a statue of a man who had little discernible connection to the club - Jackson once attended a match in 1999, according to The Sun - he essentially told critics to beat it.

FULL POST

Post by:
Filed under: Celebrity • Michael Jackson • Soccer • Sports • United Kingdom
Ahead of the curve: The next 7 days

U.S. lawmakers this week will be in the curious position of sparring not only over a new 2012 budget proposal - Republicans are set to propose dramatic changes to Medicaid and Medicare - but also over a plan for 2011 spending, which was never settled. If a 2011 plan isn't agreed to by the end of the week, a partial government shutdown could ensue. Here is a look at this and some of the other stories CNN plans to follow this week:

Friday is deadline for 2011 spending plan

Less than six months remain in the U.S. government's fiscal year 2011, and Congress still hasn't passed a spending measure that would cover the whole thing.  That could change by Friday, when the most recent temporary measure expires.

Republicans have long been pushing to cut spending by $61 billion, but Democrats generally wanted only a fraction of that. Negotiators agreed tentatively last week on a compromise to slash $33 billion in federal spending, but there were disagreements over where to cut, and some House Republicans indicated they wouldn't go along, arguing $33 billion isn’t enough. If a full 2011 plan (or another temporary spending measure) isn't passed by Friday, some government services and offices could shut down until a plan is agreed upon.

FULL POST

Post by:
Filed under: Ahead of the curve
Investigators find debris from 2009 Air France crash

French investigators said Sunday that they have found pieces of the Air France jet that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing all 228 people on board.

Air France Flight 447 disappeared after taking off from Rio de Janeiro on its way to Paris.

France's air accident investigation agency, the BEA, said that a team - led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - discovered parts of the aircraft during an underwater search operation conducted within the past 24 hours.

The agency did not immediately say what parts of the jet the team found.

FULL STORY
Post by:
Filed under: Air Travel • Brazil • France • Missing plane • Travel
6.7 magnitude quake strikes off Indonesia's coast

A magnitude-6.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia early Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

No widespread, destructive tsunami is expected, but there is a small possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts less than 100 kilometers from the quake's epicenter, the U.S. National Weather Service's Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Post by:
Filed under: Earthquake • Indonesia • Natural Disasters

[10:40 a.m. ET] A suicide bombing inside a Sufi shrine in central Pakistan's Punjab province on Sunday killed at least 25 people and wounded dozens of others, a senior government official told CNN.

A suicide bombing inside a Sunni shrine in central Pakistan on Sunday killed at least eight people and wounded 25 others, a senior government official told CNN.

Read the complete story on CNN.com

Post by:
Filed under: Pakistan • Terrorism
 
Subscribe RSS Icon
About this blog

“This Just In” is CNN's news blog. This is where you will find the latest news and information from CNN’s correspondents and sources around the world. We’ll cover fresh stories big and small – stories that are breaking, developing or otherwise driving the collective daily conversation, along with some items we find interesting and worth sharing. Our main blogger is Mallory Simon of CNN.com, with major assists from the staff of the CNN Wire and colleagues around the network.