Amazon to open market in second-hand MP3s and e-books

A new market for second-hand digital downloads could let us hold virtual yard sales of our ever-growing piles of intangible possessions

WHY buy second-hand? For physical goods, the appeal is in the price – you don't mind the creases in a book or rust spots on a car if it's a bargain. Although digital objects never lose their good-as-new lustre, their very nature means there is still uncertainty about whether we actually own them in the first place, making it tricky to set up a second-hand market. Now an Amazon patent for a system to support reselling digital purchases could change that.

Amazon's move comes after last year's European Union ruling that software vendors cannot stop customers from reselling their products. But without technical support, the ruling has had no impact. In Amazon's system, customers will keep their digital purchases – such as e-books or music – in a personal data store in the cloud that only they can access, allowing them to stream or download the content.

This part is like any cloud-based digital locker except that the customer can resell previous purchases by passing the access rights to another person. Once the transaction is complete, the seller will lose access to the content. Any system for reselling an e-book, for example, would have to ensure that it is not duplicated in the transaction. That means deleting any copies the seller may have lying around on hard drives, e-book readers, and other cloud services, since that would violate copyright.

Amazon may be the biggest company to consider a second-hand market, but it is not the first. ReDigi, based in Boston, has been running a resale market for digital goods since 2011. After downloading an app, users can buy a song on ReDigi for as little as 49 cents that would costs 99 cents new on iTunes.

When users want to sell an item, they upload it to ReDigi's servers via a mechanism that ensures no copy is made during the transfer. Software checks that the seller does not retain a copy. Once transferred, the item can be bought and downloaded by another customer. ReDigi is set to launch in Europe in a few months.

Digital items on ReDigi are cheaper because they are one-offs. If your hard drive crashes and you lose your iTunes collection you can download it again. But you can only download an item from ReDigi once – there is no other copy. That is the trade-off that makes a second-hand digital market work: the risk justifies the price. The idea has ruffled a few feathers – last year EMI sued ReDigi for infringement of copyright. A judge denied the claim, but the case continues.

Used digital goods can also come with added charm. ReDigi tracks the history of the items traded so when you buy something, you can see who has owned it and when. ReDigi's second-hand marketplace has grown into a social network. According to ReDigi founder John Ossenmacher, customers like seeing who has previously listened to a song. "It's got soul like an old guitar," he says. "We've introduced this whole feeling of connectedness."

It could be good for business too if the original vendors, such as iTunes, were to support resale and take a cut of the resell price. Nevertheless, Amazon's move bucks the industry trend. Microsoft's new Xbox, for example, is expected not to work with second-hand games.

But the market could change rapidly now that Amazon's weight is behind this, says Ossenmacher. "The industry is waking up."

This article appeared in print under the headline "Old MP3, one careful owner"

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Football: Singapore's Adam Swandi secures 2-year contract with FC Metz

SINGAPORE: Sixteen-year-old Adam Swandi has secured a two-year deal with French Football Club FC Metz.

He was the Most Valuable Player of the Singapore National Football Academy Under-16 team at the Lion City Cup tournament last June.

Adam Swandi, recently underwent training stints with top European clubs such as Newcastle United, Chelsea, FC Metz and Atletico Madrid.

His latest move to Metz sees him undergo training and compete for their U-19 team, while furthering his studies there.

The former U-16 captain said he chose the French club as he liked his experience there and the club is renowned for its youth academy.

The Football Association of Singapore was behind the partnership and is looking at sending more youths for such exposure.

- CNA/fa

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Storm moves east, could drop 'staggering' amounts of rain

Snowstorm hits the Plains

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The massive system sweeping the U.S. wraps up with a wet finale


• The far Northeast should see snow


• Slushy snow or rain should fall from Boston on down

(CNN) -- It will be a messy weekend in the Northeast and the Deep South as the massive weather system that walloped 20 states with a snowstorm rolls off toward the Atlantic Ocean.

A winter storm is expected to deposit up to 10 inches of snow in isolated pockets of western Massachusetts, and 6 inches to a foot in parts of southern Vermont and New Hampshire, and central Maine.

This is not the same storm that blanketed the Great Plains, said CNN Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, although it is part of the same overall system that spans the country from north to south.

It will be much less intense, he said, and it should not affect the places hardest hit by the blizzard that plastered the Northeast two weeks ago, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of customers.

Boston will likely see a slushy mix of rain and snow that could lead to downed branches and power lines, Javaheri said.

Track severe weather

Rain will continue to soak the eastern United States from Washington, D.C., on down, especially Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

"Across the Southeast, some of the rainfall totals are going to be staggering," said CNN Meteorologist Karen McGinnis. Parts of the central Southeast should get 4 -- 6 inches of rainfall.

Some snow records

The outgoing system will have made its mark on virtually the entire country from the southwest corner of California to central Maine, leaving its deepest imprint on Kansas.

Wichita saw its second-highest storm snowfall total on record with 14.2 inches over two days, the National Weather Service said.

The town of Russell in the state's middle lay under a 22 inch layer of white by the time the storm roared by.

Missouri was not far behind, with accumulations of around a foot in some places.

The snow set a record at Kansas City International Airport, with 9 inches falling in a single day. The old record was 5.1 inches set in 2010.

Some businesses and universities shut down Thursday as state officials urged residents to stay off the roads.

The white blanket emptied the streets of Kansas City.

Silver lining

The snowstorm turned out to be a welcome one to many Kansans and many others throughout the Great Plains, who have been suffering a drought for a third straight year.

Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and a host of other farm-heavy states have seen crop losses as a result.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture expects those conditions to continue into April, but near-record levels of snowfall will ease the problem and could accelerate the drought's end.

"It snows so infrequently here. Now we've been in a really bad drought for several years; really, really hot summer and just no moisture. So we're thrilled to see snow or ice -- whatever moisture we can get," Wichita resident Kristen Woodburn said.

Ranchers embraced the storm, even though bitter cold snow can be deadly during calving season.

Frank Harper, a Kansas rancher from Sedgwick and the immediate past president of the Kansas Livestock Association, said the storm caused more work for him because he had to bring his calves inside to warm them up.

But he called the snowstorm a blessing for bringing good moisture to the winter wheat.

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Pentagon grounds F-35 fleet after engine crack found

Updated 9:03 PM ET

WASHINGTON The Pentagon on Friday grounded its fleet of F-35 fighter jets after discovering a cracked engine blade in one plane.

The problem was discovered during what the Pentagon called a routine inspection at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., of an F-35A, the Air Force version of the sleek new plane. The Navy and the Marine Corps are buying other versions of the F-35, which is intended to replace older fighters like the Air Force F-16 and the Navy F/A-18.

All versions -- a total of 51 planes -- were grounded Friday pending a more in-depth evaluation of the problem discovered at Edwards. None of the planes have been fielded for combat operations; all are undergoing testing.

In a brief written statement, the Pentagon said it is too early to know the full impact of the newly discovered problem.

A watchdog group, the Project on Government Oversight, said the grounding is not likely to mean a significant delay in the effort to field the stealthy aircraft.

"The F-35 is a huge problem because of its growing, already unaffordable, cost and its gigantically disappointing performance," the group's Winslow Wheeler said. "That performance would be unacceptable even if the aircraft met its far-too-modest requirements, but it is not."

The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program at a total estimated cost of nearly $400 billion. The Pentagon envisions buying more than 2,400 F-35s, but some members of Congress are balking at the price tag.

Friday's suspension of flight operations will remain in effect until an investigation of the problem's root cause is determined.

The Pentagon said the engine in which the problem was discovered is being shipped to a Pratt & Whitney facility in Connecticut for more thorough evaluation.

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6 Leaking Tanks Are Wash. Nuke Site's Latest Woe

Federal and state officials say six underground tanks holding a brew of radioactive and toxic waste are leaking at the country's most contaminated nuclear site in south-central Washington, raising concerns about delays for emptying the aging tanks.

The leaking materials at Hanford Nuclear Reservation pose no immediate risk to public safety or the environment because it would take perhaps years for the chemicals to reach groundwater, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday.

But the news has renewed discussion over delays for emptying the tanks, which were installed decades ago and are long past their intended 20-year life span.

"None of these tanks would be acceptable for use today. They are all beyond their design life. None of them should be in service," said Tom Carpenter of Hanford Challenge, a Hanford watchdog group. "And yet, they're holding two-thirds of the nation's high-level nuclear waste."

Just last week, state officials announced that one of Hanford's 177 tanks was leaking 150 to 300 gallons a year, posing a risk to groundwater and rivers. So far, nearby monitoring wells haven't detected higher radioactivity levels.

Inslee then traveled to Washington, D.C., to discuss the problem with federal officials, learning in meetings Friday that six tanks are leaking.

AP Photo/Shannon Dininny, File

The declining waste levels in the six tanks were missed because only a narrow band of measurements was evaluated, rather than a wider band that would have shown the levels changing over time, Inslee said.

"It's like if you're trying to determine if climate change is happening, only looking at the data for today," he said. "Perhaps human error, the protocol did not call for it. But that's not the most important thing at the moment. The important thing now is to find and address the leakers."

Department of Energy spokeswoman Lindsey Geisler said there was no immediate health risk and that federal officials would work with Washington state to address the matter.

Regardless, Sen. Ron Wyden, the new chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, will ask the Government Accountability Office to investigate Hanford's tank monitoring and maintenance program, said his spokesman, Tom Towslee.

The federal government built the Hanford facility at the height of World War II as part of the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. The remote site produced plutonium for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, and continued supporting the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal for years.

Today, it is the most contaminated nuclear site in the country, still surrounded by sagebrush but with Washington's Tri-Cities of Richland, Kennewick and Pasco several miles downriver.

Several years ago, workers at Hanford completed two of three projects deemed urgent risks to the public and the environment, removing all weapons-grade plutonium from the site and emptying leaky pools that held spent nuclear fuel just 400 yards from the river.

But successes at the site often are overshadowed by delays, budget overruns and technological challenges. Nowhere have those challenges been more apparent than in Hanford's central plateau, home to the site's third most urgent project: emptying the tanks.

Hanford's tanks hold some 53 million gallons of highly radioactive waste — enough to fill dozens of Olympic-size swimming pools — and many of those tanks are known to have leaked in the past. An estimated 1 million gallons of radioactive liquid has already leaked there.

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First MRI movies capture fetal brain connecting up

Sandrine Ceurstemont, editor, New Scientist TV

It's the sequel to fertilisation:
the brains of unborn babies have now been imaged in action, showing how connections form.

This fMRI movie, produced by Moriah Thomason from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, shows a fly-through of several fetuses in their third trimester. By comparing the scans at slightly different stages of development, Thomason was able to pinpoint when different parts of the brain wire up. "The connection strength increases with fetal age," writes Thomason.

By identifying how brain connectivity normally develops, the scans could help diagnose and treat conditions like schizophrenia and autism before birth. For more on this research, read our full-length news story, "First snaps made of fetal brains wiring themselves up".

If you enjoyed this post, watch a baby's birth captured in an MRI machine for the first time
or see the first video MRI of unborn twins.

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Gossip scandal erupts in Vatican ahead of Pope's exit

VATICAN CITY: With just days to go before Pope Benedict XVI's resignation, the Vatican is battling persistent rumours that his decision was triggered by an explosive report on intrigue in its corridors of power.

The secret report compiled by a committee of three cardinals for the Pope's eyes only was the result of a wide-ranging investigation into leaks of confidential papers from the Vatican that caused huge embarrassment last year.

The cardinals questioned dozens of Vatican officials and presented the Pope with their final report in December 2012, just before Benedict pardoned his former butler Paolo Gabriele who had been convicted of leaking the papal memos.

The Panorama news weekly and the Repubblica daily said on Thursday that the report contained allegations of corruption and of blackmail attempts against gay Vatican clergymen, as well as favouritism based on gay relationships.

Both publications quoted a source with knowledge of the investigation saying that the cardinals' conclusions "revolve around the sixth and seventh commandments" -- "Thou shall not commit adultery" and "Thou shall not steal".

The Vatican has declined to comment on these two reports, with spokesman Federico Lombardi saying they were "conjectures, fictions and opinions."

The run-up to papal conclaves to elect a new Pope is often accompanied by rumours and gossip in Italian media, as rival factions battle for influence.

But there was a twist on Friday when Pope Benedict XVI replaced Monsignor Ettore Balestrero, a powerful behind-the-scenes figure in the Secretariat of State with a major role in handling the Vatican bank's foreign relations.

He is being sent as Vatican envoy to Colombia -- a serious demotion.

Balestrero has been a key figure in Vatican efforts to overhaul its scandal-tainted bank to comply with international anti-money laundering laws.

La Repubblica said Balestrero's name was mentioned in the cardinals' report.

A Vatican expert at Italian daily La Stampa said the Pope would likely meet with the three retired cardinals who authored the report before resigning.

The report could also be discussed during a series of meetings for cardinals beginning next Friday, a day after the Pope steps down, where priorities for the Catholic Church will be debated and potential papal candidates sussed out.

The "Vatileaks" scandal first exploded in January last year when Italian media published a series of letters to the Pope in which Carlo Maria Vigano, the head of the Vatican City's government denounced corruption and waste.

The following leaks pointed to divisions in the Vatican hierarchy including efforts to unseat Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, a divisive figure.

On May 23, Gabriele was arrested and his house inside the Vatican walls was raided by special gendarmes who found hundreds of sensitive documents.

A day later, the head of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was sacked, accused of mismanagement and indiscretions linked to the leaks.

Gabriele was convicted after a week-long trial in the Vatican in October.

The Pope asked cardinals to investigate last year, giving them free rein to interview anyone of the 2,843 people working in the Roman Curia and 2,001 people working for the governorate, the administration of the Vatican City.

The committee was also allowed to collect testimony from cardinals.

-AFP/fl

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Pistorius bail decision looms

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Bond decision expected soon for runner Oscar Pistorius


• He is accused of killing his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp


• Pistorius has pledged to stay in South Africa and fight the charges


• The sprinter is considered a national hero in South Africa

Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- South African prosecutors pushed Friday to keep Oscar Pistorius behind bars, painting the double-amputee track star as a killer offering an improbable defense in the shooting death of his model girlfriend.

The decision by Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair whether to release Pistorius or keep him jailed pending trial is expected Friday afternoon. It comes after a four-day bail hearing that has been remarkable for not only its length but its allegations of miscues by a lead police investigator who himself faces attempted murder charges.

Read more: What's life like in south African prison?

Pistorius is accused of premeditated murder in the February 14 shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp, 29. Authorities and Pistorius' team agree that he killed Steenkamp, but Pistorius says he mistook her for an intruder.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the judge in final arguments before a packed Pretoria courtroom that Pistorius doesn't deserve bail.

"He must realize that long-term imprisonment is almost guaranteed. He might think he'll be acquitted."

The prosecution had several notable missteps during the bail hearing, including the removal of the lead investigator, who had earlier acknowledged under questioning from defense attorney Barry Roux that police could have contaminated the crime scene and had failed to properly catalog evidence.

The South African Police Service pulled the investigator, Hilton Botha, from the case Thursday after prosecutors reinstated seven counts of attempted murder charges against him. Botha is accused of opening fire on a minibus full of people while allegedly drunk in 2011.

Read more: Nike's bullet ad with Pistorius backfires

Prosecutors allege that Pistorius, 26, killed his girlfriend after a heated argument in the early morning hours of Valentine's Day.

The sprinter, however, says he thought an intruder was hiding in a toilet room inside the bathroom of his Pretoria home. He says he fired into the room in a fit of terror before realizing Steenkamp was inside.

In full: Pistorius' affidavit to court

Prosecution plea

Nair questioned Nel over the prosecution's assertion that Pistorius was a flight risk.

What kind of life would he lead if he were to flee? the judge asked.

A life of freedom, the prosecutor said.

Ducking and diving every day with those prosthesis? Nair asked.

A life not in prison, Nel said.

The prosecutor implored the judge to deny Pistorius' bail request, saying courts cannot favor the famous or the disabled.

"We all know that a lot of important people were granted bail and they stayed in the country," Nel told the magistrate. "But lots of very important people have escaped."

Nel pointed to the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who fled to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over sex assault allegations.

Assange's face was well-known, the prosecutor said, but "it didn't stop him fleeing arrest."

Roux said the track star needs regular medical treatment for his stumps and his prostheses require routine maintenance.

"Mr. Pistorius cannot go unnoticed through an airport due to his legs," he told the judge.

Pistorius, eyes red, appeared emotional and drained.

At one point, he sat with his eyes closed and shoulders shaking as tears rolled down his face. At other times, he stared straight ahead.

In arguments wrapping up during Thursday's session, the prosecutor said Pistorius' defense team has failed to explain why investigators found two cell phones and the gun believed to have been used in the shooting in front of the shower.

That goes to the prosecution claim that Steenkamp didn't merely get up to relieve herself in the middle of the night, but in fact had locked herself in the bathroom with her cell phone to protect herself from Pistorius.

Earlier in the hearing, Nel argued that evidence showed Pistorius intentionally targeted Steenkamp. Ballistic evidence showed he had to aim at the toilet to hit her, Nel said, and how the bullets traveled through the door suggested he was standing on his prosthetic legs, not his stumps as he claimed.

Pistorius said in his statement that when he shot through the door, he was feeling vulnerable to an intruder because he was not wearing his legs and had limited mobility.

Defense argument

During the bail hearing, being held in a dark, stuffy Pretoria courtroom, Roux hammered away at the credibility of Botha and the entire police investigation. He argued Thursday that the state's case had suffered a "monumental collapse."

He said police had missed a bullet where Steenkamp was shot and may have contaminated the crime scene by failing to wear protective foot covers.

Botha said investigators didn't wear the booties because they'd run out.

Under questioning from Roux, Botha said police didn't have evidence to specifically contradict Pistorius' story.

Then, Botha was gone.

Officials in the case learned Thursday of the charges against Botha, and the South African Police Service moved quickly to take him off the investigation.

While police Commissioner Riah Phiyega praised Botha's work on the case, she removed him in favor of the department's most senior detective.

Accusations against the investigator would be little more than a "speed bump" in the Pistorius case, Bulelwa Makeke, the spokeswoman for South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority, said before Botha was removed.

"Blade Runner"

Pistorius made history last year as the first disabled athlete to compete in the able-bodied London Games. A few weeks after the Olympics, he smashed a record to win the men's 400-meter in the 2012 Paralympic Games.

When Pistorius was 11 months old, his legs were amputated below the knees because he was missing the fibulae.

He runs on special carbon fiber blades, earning the nickname "Blade Runner."

The case has roiled South Africa, where Pistorius is considered a national hero.

Following his arrest on Valentine's Day, Pistorius put his career on hold and pulled out of future races. Sponsors Nike and Oakley suspended their contracts with the runner.

CNN iReport: What my son taught me about Oscar Pistorius

Robyn Curnow reported from Pretoria, and Chelsea J. Carter reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Michael Pearson, Ben Brumfield, Kim Norgaard and Diane McCarthy contributed to this report.

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Georgia executes man lawyers claimed was mentally ill

JACKSON, Ga. A 38-year-old inmate convicted of killing two college students in 1995 was executed in Georgia on Thursday, apologizing to the families of both victims before being injected at a state prison.

Andrew Allen Cook was pronounced dead at 11:22 p.m., about 14 minutes after he was injected with the sedative pentobarbital. He was the first inmate to be executed since the state changed its procedure in July from a three-drug combination to a single dose.

With his last words, he apologized to the families of Mercer University students Grant Patrick Hendrickson, 22, and Michele Lee Cartagena, 19, who were shot several times as they sat in a car at Lake Juliette, which is about 75 miles south of Atlanta. He said what he did was senseless.

"I'm sorry," Cook said as he was strapped to a gurney. "I'm not going to ask you to forgive me. I can't even do it myself."

He also thanked his family for "their support, for being with me and I'm sorry I took so much from you all."

The Georgia Appeals Court on Wednesday temporarily stayed Cook's execution to consider a challenge to the state's lethal injection procedure. But the Georgia Supreme Court lifted the stay Thursday and all other appeals were exhausted.

Cook's lawyers have argued at various stages in their appeals of his death sentence that he suffered from mental illness and was being treated for depression up to the time of his death.

Mary Hendrickson, the mother of one of the victims, recently told television station WMAZ-TV in Macon she's been waiting 18 years for justice.

"I think that's what it was: the devil's work," she said. "When all that is going on, I was just thinking to myself, 'Well, the devil is not going to win. He's not going to win over my heart. He is not going to win."'

The single-drug injection began at about 11:08 p.m. Cook blinked his eyes a few times, and his eyes soon got heavy. His chest was heaving for about two or three minutes as his eyes closed. Not too long after, two doctors examined him and nodded and Carl Humphrey, warden of the state prison in Jackson, pronounced him dead.

Corrections officials said Thursday evening that Cook had received visits from family earlier in the day and ate the last meal he had requested -- steak, a baked potato, potato wedges, fried shrimp, lemon meringue pie and soda.

A jury sentenced Cook to death after he was convicted in the January 2, 1995 slayings at Lake Juliette. Cook wasn't charged until more than two years later. He confessed to his father, a Macon FBI agent who ended up testifying at his son's trial.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reached out to John Cook in December 1995 because they were interested in speaking to his son. When he called his then-22-year-old son to tell him the GBI wanted to talk to him, he had no idea the younger man was considered a suspect.

"I said, 'Andy, the GBI is looking for you concerning the Lake Juliette homicide. Do you know anything about it?"' John Cook testified at his son's trial in March 1998. "He said, 'Daddy, I can't tell you. You're one of them. ... You're a cop."'

Eventually, Andrew Cook told his father that he knew about the slayings, that he was there and that he knew who shot the couple, John Cook recalled.

"I just felt like the world was crashing in on me. But I felt maybe he was there and just saw what happened," he said. "I then asked, 'Did you shoot them?'

"After a pause on the phone, he said, 'Yes."'

As a law enforcement officer, John Cook said he was forced to call his supervisor and contacted the Monroe County sheriff.

At the trial, as he walked away from the stand, the distraught father mouthed "I'm sorry" to the victims' families who were sitting on the front row of the courtroom. Several members of both families acknowledged his apology.

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Oscar Pistorius Sobs as Bail Ruling Is Expected

The fourth and likely final day of the bail hearing for Oscar Pistorius, the Olympian accused of murdering his girlfriend Feb. 14, opened with arguments from the prosecution that the runner's version of events is improbable and the defense countering that Pistorius had no intent to kill the woman.

Pistorius, who gained global acclaim for racing at the 2012 London Olympics, shot his model-girlfriend through a closed bathroom. He says he killed Reeva Steenkamp accidentally, but prosecutors allege that he took a moment to put on his prosthetic legs, indicating that he thought out and planned to kill Steenkamp when he shot her three times through the bathroom door.

Pistorius sobbed today in court. Barry Roux, his defense attorney, said the prosecution has misinterpreted the assigning of intent, meaning that the runner's intent to shoot at a supposed intruder in his home cannot be transferred to someone else who was shot -- in this case, Steenkamp.

"He did not want to kill Reeva," Roux told the court.

PHOTOS: Paralympics Champion Charged in Killing

When Magistrate Desmond Nair, who has been overhearing the bail hearing, asked Roux what the charges should be if Pistorius intended to kill an intruder, the defense attorney responded that he should be charged with culpable homicide.

Culpable homicide is defined in South Africa as "the unlawful negligent killing of a human being."

Oscar Pistorius: Detective Facing Attempted Murder Charges Watch Video

Oscar Pistorius: Investigator Faces Attempted Murder Charges Watch Video

Oscar Pistorius's Bail Hearing: Prosecutors Argue Premeditated Murder Watch Video

Roux also made light of the prosecution's argument that Pistorius is a flight risk, saying that every time the double-amputee goes through airport security, it causes a commotion. He said that Pistorius' legs need constant maintenance and he needs medical attention for his stumps.

The prosecution argued today that the onus is on Pistorius to provide his version of events, and his version is improbable.

Prosecutor Gerrie Nel also spoke of Pistorius' fame and his disability, even relating him to Wikipedia founder Julian Assange, who is now confined to Ecuador's London Embassy, where he has been granted political asylum.
"[Assange's] facial features are as well known as Mr. Pistorius' prostheses," Nel said.

Nel argued that Pistorius' prostheses do not set him apart, stating that it's no different to any other feature, and the court cannot be seen to treat people with disabilities accused of a crime, or famous people accused of crime, any differently.

Pistorius has said that in the early hours of Feb. 14 he was closing his balcony doors when he heard a noise from the bathroom. Fearing an intruder, and without his prosthetic legs on, he grabbed a gun from under his bed and fired through the closed bathroom door, he told the court.

But prosecutors say that's implausible, that the gun's holster was found under the side of the bed where Steenkamp slept, and that Pistorius would have seen she wasn't there. Prosecutors also say the angle at which the shots were fired shows Pistorius was already wearing his prosthetics when he fired.

Meanwhile, Lt. General Vinesh Moonoo was named Thursday the new chief investigator to the murder case after the surprise revelation that the former head detective and the prosecution's key witness, Hilton Botha, was charged with seven counts of attempted murder in connection to a 2011 shooting. The charges against Botha amount to an significant oversight by the state, which could sway the court's opinion.

Prosecutors maintain that Pistorius was out to kill on the night of Valentine's Day, prompting him to fire four shots into the locked bathroom door that Steenkamp was behind.

Friends of the couple say they were happy, and there is no reason why Pistorius would intentionally hurt Steenkamp.

"If Oscar was to ask her to get married, she would have said yes," friend Kevin Lerena said. "That's how happy and joyful their relationship was."

Ampie Louw, Pistorius' trainer, spoke with reporters outside the courthouse today, saying that he hopes Pistorius gets bail and can start training again, but that he won't push it.

"I'm not the legal side of it. But I'm ready," he said. "We can start training Monday if he's out."

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Sharing and streaming at heart of new PlayStation 4

Douglas Heaven, reporter

Sony's Andrew House introduces the PlayStation 4 at a news conference yesterday (Image: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)

It's typically only spoilt children and brilliant eccentrics that get away with not turning up to their own party. Sony's long-awaited announcement last night of the PlayStation 4 games console - its successor to the seven-year-old and 70-million-selling PS3 - put an end to speculation, but was most notable for the no-show of the console itself. Was this meant to prolong the hype until the "Holiday 2013" launch, as Sony claims, or because the company hasn't yet solved cooling problems, as cynics have suggested?

What we do have is an official spec sheet which reads more like one for a supercharged PC. The PS4 specs certainly carry enough punch to support spectacular graphics by today's standards, and a large part of last night's show was devoted to showing this off. But will it still feel fresh in seven years when PC architecture has moved on?

The key new technology in this console generation is likely to be the live streaming of games. After acquiring Gakai - one of the pioneers of game-streaming technology - Sony is leading the way and making live streaming a big part of the player experience.

This has let Sony build game spectating into the hardware: the console will continuously encode a video stream of your game footage while you play. A "share" button on the new controller will then let you immediately start streaming video of your in-game play to friends.

Friends may even be able to jump in remotely and lend a hand if you get stuck, either by taking temporary control for that infuriating boss fight or by acting as a game director who drops helpful items into your game.

Streaming tech will also let you jump in and play demos of games in the online PlayStation Store, something that's only possible now by waiting out a lengthy download. Personalisation is also getting a big push: The PlayStation Store will learn what type of games you like, and possibly even take the liberty of pre-empting a purchase by downloading games it thinks you might want to buy to your console's hard disc.

Backwards compatibility with PS3 games isn't clear. Older games - including titles from the original PlayStation and PS2 - will be available via streaming, but Sony hasn't yet said whether this will require repurchasing an entire games collection. However, physical copies of second-hand games may well be supported, according to Eurogamer, which apparently puts Sony at odds with Microsoft.

Finally, Sony says it wants all PS4 games to be playable on mobile devices - the PlayStation Vita and possibly certain phones and tablets - again by streaming directly from the PS4 via Wi-Fi. This could be handy if you want to play while someone else hogs the widescreen TV.

The take-home message is that Sony's new console wants to be the centre of a new kind of gaming experience - one that's more social, more flexible, more mobile. Pity it's still stage-shy.

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Genting Singapore's Q4 net profit drops 38%

SINGAPORE: Casino operator Genting Singapore's fourth quarter net profit fell 38 per cent to S$162.2 million, due mainly to one-time property write-offs.

Its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization slipped 6 per cent to S$369.3 million.

The group reported a revenue of S$792 million in the October to December period, up from S$786 million from a year ago.

Gaming revenue from Resorts World Sentosa fell 3 per cent to S$627 million.

The casino operator is fighting a slowing market and tighter local regulations.

In a filing with the Singapore Exchange, Genting Singapore warned that margins will be under pressure for the first half of this year.

But the group said the global economic outlook appears more positive this year and it remains cautiously optimistic of its performance.

- CNA/al

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Pistorius case investigator accused of attempted murder

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Defense says prosecutors didn't prove that Pistorius committed murder


• Nike suspends its contract with Pistorius


• A decision in the bail hearing could come as soon as Thursday


• Charges against investigator stem from 2009 incident, spokesman says

(CNN) -- As Oscar Pistorius returned to court Thursday to seek bail, the sensational case took a new turn when police said the lead investigator is facing seven counts of attempted murder stemming from an incident four years ago.

That investigator, Hilton Botha, and several other police officers apparently fired at a minibus they were chasing in late 2009, spokesman Neville Malila told CNN affiliate eNCA.

The officers were allegedly drunk at the time, the spokesman said.

They were arrested on seven counts of attempted murder -- one for each occupant in the minibus, the spokesman said. They were also charged with using firearms under the influence of alcohol, and all of them appeared in court.

The charges were provisionally withdrawn, but the Director of Public Prosecution reinstated them Wednesday and plans to move ahead on the charges later this year, the spokesman said.

In court Thursday, the prosecutors said neither the state, nor Botha, was aware that he might face attempted murder charges, thinking the case had been dropped.

The revelation comes as final arguments began in the bail hearing of the Olympian charged with premeditated murder in the killing of his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, in the early hours of Valentine's Day. A ruling in the hearing could come as soon as Thursday.

At the start of closing arguments, his defense team said that if he wanted to kill his girlfriend, he could have done it in the bedroom. His lawyers challenged the case prosecutors presented, saying they didn't offer any evidence showing Pistorius committed murder.

Pistorius, 26, has rejected the murder allegation "in the strongest terms," his agent said in a statement. He has said he thought he was shooting at an intruder.

Also Thursday, Nike announced it has suspended its contract with Pistorius.

"We believe Oscar Pistorius should be afforded due process and we will continue to monitor the situation closely," the apparel company said in a statement.

Nike had already pulled a TV ad featuring the sports star.

Nike's bullet ad with Pistorius backfires

Would he run?

In a statement Thursday, Pistorius' family said he is an international icon, which makes it highly unlikely that he'd be a flight risk if granted bail.

The family posted the statement on OscarPistorius.com and said it would use the site to disseminate information about the case.

Botha told Magistrate Desmond Nair that investigators believe Pistorius is violent and might flee if released from jail.

Prosecutors said Pistorius owns a home in Italy, using a Sarie magazine article that quotes him as saying the mayor built him a house in a small Italian town. The defense said he owns no such property.

He described two police encounters with Pistorius, one in which Botha said the track star asked someone else to take the blame when a gun went off at a Johannesburg restaurant.

Police said the second incident took place at a racetrack, where Pistorius allegedly threatened to assault someone.

Authorities said they also have responded to previous domestic incidents at Pistorius' home but have not elaborated.

In a statement read by his attorney Tuesday, Pistorius said he and Steenkamp were deeply in love and that he was "mortified" over her death.

Gallery: Athletes charged with murder

Special treatment?

The women's branch of South Africa's ruling party issued a statement asking why Pistorius was being detained in a holding cell at the Brooklyn Police Station -- and not at Central Prison or Newlock, where other defendants awaiting trial are kept.

"If there is some special circumstance that permits this, authorities must share this with the public as they are setting a bad precedent," the statement from the African National Congress Women's League said. "All should be treated equally before the law no matter your standing in society."

The group said Pistorius is getting special treatment, adding that his family can visit him even outside visiting hours -- unlike families of other inmates.

Pistorius' lawyers requested Brooklyn last week so they could have access to their client over the weekend. The state did not object.

What's life like in a South African prison?

Bail hearing

Prosecutors spent much of the hearing Wednesday focused on the bathroom of Pistorius' Pretoria home, where authorities say the track star shot Steenkamp three times, in the hip, elbow and ear.

Bullet trajectories show that Pistorius had to turn left and fire at an angle to aim at the toilet, Botha testified. Had he fired head-on into the door, he would have missed her, Botha said.

Defense attorney Barry Roux disputed that, saying the evidence does not show there was an effort to aim at the toilet.

Prosecutors are trying to prove Pistorius intentionally fired on Steenkamp, 29, in a premeditated attempt to kill her. Pistorius and his lawyers argue he mistook her for an intruder and killed her accidentally.

Pistorius said in his statement Tuesday that he believes Steenkamp went into the bathroom when he got up to close the balcony door in his bedroom in the early hours of February 14.

Hearing noises and gripped with fear that someone had broken into his home, Pistorius said he grabbed his gun, yelled for the intruder to leave and shot through the toilet-room door before realizing the person inside might have been Steenkamp.

Roux said Wednesday that the defense team believes Steenkamp locked the door when she heard Pistorius yelling for the intruder to leave. He also said Steenkamp's bladder was empty, suggesting she had gone to the bathroom as Pistorius claimed.

Botha agreed with the defense contention that, other than the bullet wounds, her body showed no sign of an assault or efforts to defend herself.

But prosecutors and Pistorius' defense battled over allegations that testosterone and needles were found at the home, as well as the quality of the police investigation.

In full: Pistorius' affidavit to court

Did investigators make errors?

Amid speculation by outsiders to the case that steroids or other drugs could have somehow played a role in the shooting, Botha testified that investigators found two boxes of testosterone and needles at Pistorius' home.

Under questioning by Roux, however, Botha said he hadn't read the full name of the substance -- which Roux said was an herbal remedy called testoconpasupium coenzyme -- when investigators took the materials into evidence.

The Mayo Clinic website says coenzyme is produced by the human body and is necessary for the basic functioning of cells. Coenzyme can be taken in supplement form to boost levels of it in the body.

A quick Internet search on the full name of the substance yielded no results.

Roux said the defense forensics team found a bullet in the toilet that police had missed and noted police had failed to find out who owned ammunition found at the home or photograph it.

Roux questioned police arguments that a witness heard sounds of an argument before the shooting. The witness, Roux said, lives 600 meters (more than a third of a mile) from Pistorius' home. Prosecutor Gerrie Nel countered that the witness lives 300 meters away.

Defense tactics

The tactics used by Pistorius' defense team caught the attention of U.S. defense attorney Alan Dershowitz.

"The thing that gives me some level of confidence that he may well be innocent is ... his lawyer did something that no reasonable lawyer would ever do unless he was absolutely certain of his client's innocence -- put his story in an affidavit," Dershowitz said.

"Because if there's anything in that affidavit that is contradicted by one single bit of forensic evidence, the case is over."

Defense attorneys are trying to overcome South African law, which makes it difficult for defendants accused of premeditated murder to get out on bail. The law requires evidence of "exceptional circumstances" to justify release.

The judge upgraded the charge against Pistorius to premeditated murder Tuesday, saying he could not rule out the possibility that the track star planned Steenkamp's death. But Nair said he would consider downgrading the charge later.

In his statement Tuesday, Pistorius said he would not try to flee or influence any witnesses if he is allowed out on bail, and he said his release wouldn't be a danger to public order.

Still, Steenkamp's half-brother Adam doesn't see Pistorius getting out.

"Under the circumstances, I think it would be rather strange if someone who quite clearly did something like this were to get bail," he said. "It wouldn't make sense to me, but I don't know whether that would be right or wrong."

Steenkamp's family mourns

In the midst of the drama in the courtroom, Steenkamp's family is still coming to terms with her tragic death.

Her cousin Kim Martin called her exceptional.

"From a young age there was something magical about her. She had this kind, nurturing soul. ... She continuously gave me advice for life. ... There was something really, really special about Reeva."

Adam Steenkamp said it's going to take some time for things to sink in, just a week after her death.

"We are all holding up very well considering the circumstances," he said. "We're doing OK."

CNN's Marilia Brocchetto contributed to this report.

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Worst winter storm in two years feared in Midwest

Updated at 8:47 a.m. ET

ST. LOUIS Parts of the nation's heartland awoke Thursday to more than half a foot of snow, as a large storm made its way eastward out of the Rockies, snarling traffic for morning commuters and allowing an army of children to trade pen and paper for shovel and sled, at least for a day.

Winter storm warnings were issued from Colorado through Illinois, and many school districts cancelled classes ahead of time, in anticipation of the more than a foot of snow expected to fall in some places.

CBS News weather consultant David Bernard reported on "CBS This Morning" Thursday that very heavy snow squalls were moving across Wichita, Kan., and further north into Kansas City, Mo., where it looks like it's going to snow hard for about the entire day.

Forecast models show the snowstorm pivoting from the southwest to the northeast throughout the morning and afternoon hours, so Wichita would see improvement late Thursday, but northeastern Kansas and most of Missouri would be looking at heavy snowfall until at least Thursday night, Bernard reports.

Kelly Sugden, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Dodge City, Kan., said early Thursday that the storm that had already dumped heavy snow on Colorado.

"It's very active," Sugden said, noting the snowfall was mixed with lightning and sleet showers.

Kansas' capital, Topeka, had little more than a dusting of snow after dawn, but in the town of Rozel, roughly 210 miles west, 6 1/2 inches had already been reported fallen.

Sugden said that while forecasters weren't expecting blizzard conditions to develop in Kansas, the Interstate 70 corridor could get as much as 13 inches of snow, and large drifts would make driving very dangerous.

In Oklahoma on Wednesday, roads were covered with a slushy mix of snow and ice that officials said caused a crash that killed an 18-year-old driver, Cody Alexander.

Alexander, of Alex, Okla., skidded in his pickup truck into oncoming traffic on State Highway 19 and was hit by a truck and killed, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. The other driver wasn't seriously injured.

In northern Arkansas, a school bus crashed Wednesday on a steep, snowy country road, leaving three students and the driver with minor injuries. Pope County Sheriff Aaron Duval said the bus slid off a road on Crow Mountain, nearly flipping before it was stopped by trees at the roadside.

The weather service warned that freezing rain could lead to a half-inch or more of ice accumulating Thursday in central and northern Arkansas, making travelling particularly dangerous.

Officials said the storm could be the Midwest's worst since a two-day storm that began Feb. 1, 2011. That storm was blamed for about two dozen deaths and left hundreds of thousands without power, some for several days. At its peak, the storm created white-out conditions so intense that Interstate 70 was shut down across the entire state of Missouri.

Tim Chojnacki, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said it planned to have salt trucks on the roads before the storm arrived in the Show-Me State in hopes that the precipitation would largely melt upon impact.

Much of Kansas was expected to get up to a foot of snow, which many rural residents welcomed after nearly a year of drought.

Jerry and Diane McReynolds spent part of Wednesday putting out more hay and straw for newborn calves at their farm near Woodston in north central Kansas. The storm made extra work, but Diane McReynolds said it would help their winter wheat, pastures and dried-up ponds.

"In the city you hear they don't want the snow and that sort of thing, and I am thinking, 'Yes, we do,' and they don't realize that we need it," she said. "We have to have it or their food cost in the grocery store is going to go very high. We have to have this. We pray a lot for it."

Meanwhile, a separate snow storm caught many drivers by surprise in California, leaving hundreds stranded on mountain highways. A 35-mile stretch of Highway 58 between Mojave and Bakersfield was closed Wednesday, and several school districts closed. No injuries were reported.

Schools also were closed in northern Arizona and Colorado with snow there. Mindy Crane, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said hundreds of plows had been deployed for what was expected to be one of the most significant snow storms of the season.

Just the threat of snow led to a series of shutdowns in the middle of the country. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback closed state government from Thursday morning through Friday morning and urged residents to stay off the roads.

Lawmakers in Nebraska and Iowa cancelled committee meetings and hearings, and the Arkansas Senate voted to recess until Monday so lawmakers could make it home before the worst of the storm hit. University of Nebraska officials moved a Big Ten men's basketball game against Iowa from Thursday to Saturday.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said precipitation is generally expected to drop off as the storm makes its way east. Chicago and parts of Indiana, he said, could get about 2 inches of snow and some sleet.

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Lead Pistorius Cop Facing Attempted Murder Charge

Hilton Botha, the detective at the center of the Oscar Pistorius murder case, is facing his own attempted murder charges in connection with a 2011 shooting in which he and other police officers allegedly fired a gun at passengers in a vehicle.

Botha is scheduled to appear in court in May on seven counts of attempted murder in connection to the October 2011 incident in which he and two other officers allegedly fired shots at a minibus they were attempting to stop. It's unclear whether any of the passengers were injured.

Botha has been outlining details this week at the Olympic runner's bail hearing of his investigation into the Feb. 14 shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp at Pistorius' home in Pretoria, South Africa. Botha was one of the first officers to arrive at the scene, where Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, was found fatally shot three times.

PHOTOS: Paralympic Champion Charged in Killing

Pistorius, a double-amputee who walks on carbon fiber blades, says he killed his girlfriend accidentally.

Prosecutors say they were unaware of the charges against the detective when he took the stand this week, according to The Associated Press.

Oscar Pistorius: Investigator Faces Attempted Murder Charges Watch Video

Oscar Pistorius's Bail Hearing: Prosecutors Argue Premeditated Murder Watch Video

Oscar Pistorius Bail Hearing: New Evidence Revealed Watch Video

"The prosecutors were not aware of those charges [against Botha]," Medupe Simasiku of the National Prosecution Agency said. "We are calling up the information so we can get the details of the case. From there, we can take action and see if we remove him from the investigation or if he stays."

FULL COVERAGE: Oscar Pistorius Case

Botha muddled testimony and eventually admitted Wednesday at Pistorius' bail hearing that the suspect's account of the Valentine's Day shooting did not contradict the police's version of events.

A spokesman for the NPA admitted today that charges pending against Botha were not helpful for the credibility of the prosecution's case, but that the case would hinge on forensic evidence, not the testimony of a police officer.

Pistorius has argued in court that he was closing his balcony doors when he heard a noise from the bathroom. Fearing an intruder, and without his prosthetic legs on, he grabbed a gun from under his bed and fired through the closed bathroom door, he told the court.

But prosecutors say that's implausible, that the gun's holster was found under the side of the bed where Steenkamp slept, and that Pistorius would have seen she wasn't there. Prosecutors also say the angle at which the shots were fired shows Pistorius was already wearing his prosthetics when he fired.

Defense attorneys representing Pistorius tore into investigators Wednesday, accusing them of sloppy police work and saying the substance that police identified as testosterone, which they found in his bathroom, was an herbal supplement.

In a statement overnight, Pistorius' family said the new testimony brought "more clarity" to the hearing.

Meanwhile, Steenkamp's cousin told CNN that she wants to believe Pistorius' story.

"That is what in my heart, I hope and wish is the truth, because I would not like to think my cousin suffered," Kim Martin, Steenkamp's cousin, told CNN's Piers Morgan. "I would not like to think that she was scared."

Steenkamp's brother Adam Steenkamp said the family is trying to focus on better days.

"We're remembering the positive," he said. "We're remembering the good."

Pistorius today was dropped by two of his sponsors, Nike and Thierry Mugler.

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Today on New Scientist: 19 February 2013

Doctors would tax sugary drinks to combat obesity

Hiking the price of fizzy drinks would cut consumption and so help fight obesity, urges the British Academy of Medical Royal Colleges

Space station's dark matter hunter coy about findings

Researchers on the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which sits above the International Space Station, have collected their first results - but won't reveal them for two weeks

Huge telescopes could spy alien oxygen

Hunting for oxygen in the atmospheres of distant exoplanets is a tough job, but a new wave of giant telescopes should be up to the task

Evolution's detectives: Closing in on missing links

Technology is taking the guesswork out of finding evolution's turning points, from the first fish with legs to our own recent forebears, says Jeff Hecht

Moody Mercury shows its hidden colours

False-colour pictures let us see the chemical and physical landscape of the normally beige planet closest to the sun

LHC shuts down to prepare for peak energy in 2015

Over the next two years, engineers will be giving the Large Hadron Collider the makeover it needs to reach its maximum design energy

Insert real news events into your mobile game

From meteor airbursts to footballing fracas, mobile games could soon be brimming with news events that lend them more currency

3D-printing pen turns doodles into sculptures

The 3Doodle, which launched on Kickstarter today, lets users draw 3D structures in the air which solidify almost instantly

We need to rethink how we name exoplanets

Fed up with dull names for exoplanets, Alan Stern and his company Uwingu have asked the public for help. Will it be so long 2M 0746+20b, hello Obama?

A shocking cure: Plug in for the ultimate recharge

An electrical cure for ageing attracted the ire of the medical establishment. But could the jazz-age inventor have stumbled upon a genuine therapy?

Biofuel rush is wiping out unique American grasslands

Planting more crops to meet the biofuel demand is destroying grasslands and pastures in the central US, threatening wildlife

Read More..

China octogenarian on trial for four decade-old murder

BEIJING: A man in his eighties has gone on trial in a Chinese court for a murder he allegedly committed during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution over four decades ago, state media reported Wednesday.

A court in the eastern province of Zhejiang this week tried the man for the 1967 murder of a doctor suspected of being a spy, the state-run China News Service reported.

It said the defendant surnamed Qiu is accused of strangling his victim, surnamed Hong, with a rope before cutting off his legs and burying him.

Qiu was a member of a member of "an armed group" during the decade of upheaval known as the Cultural Revolution, the report said, adding that he was arrested last July.

The Cultural Revolution was launched in 1966 by then-leader Mao Zedong, who called on ordinary citizens to struggle against the privileged, resulting in attacks on government officials, intellectuals and other groups.

The period, which still stirs emotions in China, saw young people form "Red Guard" units which engaged in mass violence, destroyed cultural relics and sometimes obtained weapons.

China has never publicly estimated how many died during the period, which saw citizens turn on their neighbours. Half a million died in 1967 alone, according to British historian Roderick MacFarquhar.

The verdict in the trial is yet to be announced.

-AFP/fl

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Police: No way Pistorius acted in self-defense

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Defense challenges police allegations against Oscar Pistorius


• Police said he had testosterone in his house, but defense says it's a legal herbal medicine


• Police say he once discharged a gun at a restaurant


• Prosecutors call Oscar Pistorius a flight risk

Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- Sounds of arguing for an hour before the shooting. Blood stains on a cell phone and cricket bat. Boxes of testosterone and needles. Angles of gunfire.

The shape of prosecutors' case against Oscar Pistorius began to come into focus Wednesday as they argued the Olympian charged with killing his girlfriend is a flight risk who should be denied bail.

Police investigator Hilton Botha told the court there's no way Pistorius was acting in self-defense when he shot through the door of a toilet room in the bathroom of his home and killed Reeva Steenkamp.

Pistorius has said he thought he was shooting at an intruder in the early hours of Valentine's Day, but Botha said he believes Pistorius knew Steenkamp was on the other side of the door.

Photos: 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius

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Prosecutors tried to poke holes in Pistorius' story, and defense lawyers fired back:

The witness who heard sounds of arguing lives 600 meters (more than 650 yards) away, Botha testified under cross-examination. Pistorius had a legal herbal medicine, not testosterone, defense attorney Barry Roux said. Steenkamp locked the toilet room door when she heard Pistorius screaming for help, Roux said.

Bail hearing

Pistorius is charged with premeditated murder in the killing of his girlfriend. The hearing will determine if he can be released on bail.

Prosecutors set the scene in the bathroom as Botha said investigators found a firearm on the bathroom mat and two cell phones in the bathroom; neither phone had been used to make a call. There was blood on one of the phones.

Botha said police believe a blood-splattered cricket bat found in the bathroom was used to break down the locked door to the toilet; part of the door was lying in the bathroom.

The defense argued that Steenkamp locked the toilet room door when she heard Pistorius screaming for help, something he said in his affidavit a day earlier. Roux also said her bladder was empty, which was consistent with going to the bathroom.

Botha agreed with the defense contention that her body showed signs of an assault or of trying to defend herself. He also said nothing in the evidence contradicts Pistorius' version of events.

When police entered the house, Steenkamp was dressed, wearing white shorts and a black vest.

Botha described two past police encounters involving Pistorius, suggesting he is prone to violence.

The first involved an incident at a Johannesburg restaurant in which a gun was discharged. Botha said Pistorius asked someone else to take the blame for it.

Police said the second incident took place at a racetrack where Pistorius threatened to assault someone.

Pistorius' girlfriend dies on Valentine's Day

HIDE CAPTION

The charge of premeditation makes it more difficult for Pistorius' attorneys to argue he should be released pending trial. To win bail, the defense must argue that "exceptional circumstances" exist that would justify Pistorius' release.

In a statement read by his lawyer Tuesday, Pistorius said he would not try to flee or influence any witnesses if he is allowed out on bail, and he said his release wouldn't be a danger to public order.

Magistrate Desmond Nair upgraded the charge against Pistorius to premeditated murder Tuesday, saying he could not rule out the possibility that the track star planned Steenkamp's death. But Nair said he would consider downgrading the charge later.

Pistorius' affidavit in alleged murder of girlfriend

A tragic mistake?

While prosecutors and defense lawyers agree Pistorius shot Steenkamp, the track star denied intentionally killing her.

"I fail to understand how I could be charged with murder, let alone premeditated murder because I had no intention to kill my girlfriend," Pistorius said in his statement.

"We were deeply in love and couldn't be happier," he said. "I loved her and I know she felt the same way."

In his statement, Pistorius said Steenkamp came to his home on February 13 for a quiet dinner. They wrapped up the night with a bit of television in bed for him, some yoga for her. She had brought him a Valentine's Day present to open the next day.

After the couple had gone to bed, he said, he got up in the early hours of February 14 to close the balcony door in his bedroom when he heard a sound in the bathroom.

Pistorius said he'd been a victim of violence and burglary in the past, and realized with terror that contractors who worked at the house had left ladders outside.

Fearing someone had entered the home through an open bathroom window, Pistorius grabbed his 9 mm pistol from under the bed, moved in the dark on the stumps of his amputated legs and yelled at what he thought was the intruder to get out.

"I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to phone the police. She did not respond and I moved backwards out of the bathroom, keeping my eye on the bathroom entrance," he said in his statement.

"Everything was pitch-dark in the bedroom and I was still too scared to switch on a light."

"When I reached the bed, I realized that Reeva was not in bed. That is when it dawned on me that it could have been Reeva who was in the toilet. I returned to the bathroom calling her name," he said.

He said he threw open the balcony door and screamed for help, put on his prosthetic legs and tried to kick in the door to the separate room inside the bathroom containing the toilet. Then, he said, he picked up a cricket bat, smashing panels out of the door before finding a key and unlocking it.

"Reeva was slumped over but alive," he said.

Pistorius said he called for help and was told to take her to the hospital himself.

He carried her downstairs and tried to help her, but she died.

A premeditated murder?

Prosecutors, however, painted a different picture.

They rejected Pistorius' claim that he mistook Steenkamp for a burglar, saying it would make no sense for an intruder to hide behind a locked bathroom door.

Instead, they say, Pistorius armed himself, attached his prosthetic legs and walked 7 meters (23 feet) to shoot her through a bathroom door after a heated argument.

Roux, the defense attorney, questioned the state's argument, asking how prosecutors would know Pistorius had put on his prosthetic legs and walked to the bathroom before shooting his girlfriend.

Police were alerted to the shooting by neighbors, and residents had "heard things earlier," police spokeswoman Denise Beukes said.

Authorities said there had been "previous incidents" at the home, including "allegations of a domestic nature," but did not provide details.

Case rivets fans and friends alike

The case of the global sports hero known as the Blade Runner has riveted stunned fans around the world.

Social media reaction to the case appeared to come down against the sports star, but was still noticeably mixed on CNN's Facebook page.

"There's no amount of tears that will save you," said Anthonia Nneka Nwabueze. "Pistorius must face the law for brutally killing an innocent girl -- Reeva."

"My favorite athlete but what he did is grave and must be punished," Carlos Alvarez Ochoa said.

But another person who posted called for patience.

"(N)one of us were in the house when his girlfriend was murdered, let's hold off on casting stones at Oscar Pistorius," said Adrian van Liere Since. "Just like anyone else, he deserves a just trial, and in my eyes remains innocent until proven guilty."

Coming to his defense were two acquaintances.

"I've never seen him show an angry side. I've never seen him lose his temper," Vanessa Haywood, a model and longtime friend, told CNN. "He's an incredibly kind and gentle human being."

Another endorsement came from a former girlfriend.

"I would just like to say, I have dated Oscar on off for 5 YEARS," Jenna Edkins said on Twitter. "NOT ONCE has he EVER lifted a finger to me, made me fear for my life."

Robyn Curnow and Kim Norgaard reported from South Africa, and Ed Payne reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Nkepile Mabuse also contributed to this report.

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McCain gets an earful on immigration in Arizona

PHOENIX Arizona took center stage in the national immigration debate Tuesday as Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano toured the state's border with Mexico and Sen. John McCain defended his proposed immigration overhaul to an angry crowd in suburban Phoenix.

The presence of the top officials is the latest sign that Arizona will play a prominent role in the immigration debate as President Obama looks to make it a signature issue of his second term.

Napolitano toured the border near Nogales with the highest-ranking official at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the incoming chairman of the Senate's homeland security committee and an Arizona congressman. Napolitano, Arizona's former governor, said afterward that comprehensive immigration reform will strengthen the nation's border against criminals and other threats.

Also Tuesday, McCain hosted two town hall meetings in Arizona, during which he defended his immigration plan to upset residents concerned about border security. A bipartisan group of senators — including Arizona Republicans McCain and Jeff Flake — want assurances on border security as Congress weighs what could be the biggest changes to immigration law in nearly 30 years. Arizona is the only state with both of its senators working on immigration reform in Congress, a sign of the state's widely debated border security issues.

Immigration activists and elected officials say it's only natural for Arizona to continue to take the forefront in the national conversation on immigration after years of internal debate on the topic.

"No state in this country has had more experience with enforcement-only immigration laws than Arizona," said Todd Landfried, executive director of Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform, which opposes the state's tough immigration laws.

During a heated town hall gathering in the Phoenix suburb of Sun Lakes, McCain said the border near Yuma is largely secure, but he said smugglers are using the border near Tucson to pump drugs into Phoenix. He said immigration reform should be contingent on better border security that must rely largely on technology able to detect border crossings.

McCain said a tamper-proof Social Security card would help combat identity fraud, and noted any path to citizenship must require immigrants to learn English, cover back taxes and pay fines for breaking immigration laws.

"There are 11 million people living here illegally," he said. "We are not going to get enough buses to deport them."

Some audience members shouted out their disapproval.

One man yelled that only guns would discourage illegal immigration. Another man complained that illegal immigrants should never be able to become citizens or vote. A third man said illegal immigrants were illiterate invaders who wanted free government benefits.

McCain urged compassion. "We are a Judeo-Christian nation," he said. McCain's other town hall meeting took place in Green Valley, south of Tucson.

Arizona gained international recognition as an epicenter of the U.S. immigration debate when it passed its tough anti-immigrant law in 2010. A handful of other states — including Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Utah — have since adopted variations of Arizona's law.

Arizona has the nation's eighth-highest population of illegal immigrants, according to the Pew Research Hispanic Center. In 2010, illegal immigrants represented roughly 6 percent of the state's population.

Activists said Arizona's anti-immigrant laws inspired many illegal immigrants to demand more rights. Last week, some college students rallied outside Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's office for driver's licenses for illegal immigrants.

"They no longer are afraid to come and say, 'I am not able to vote, but I can make my voice heard, and they have to listen to me,"' said community organizer Abril Gallardo.

A report released in January showed the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson sector remains the busiest along the U.S.-Mexico border. The Tucson sector accounted for 38 percent of all drug seizures and 37 percent of all apprehensions along the border.

Brewer said last week the border cannot be declared safe until the people living near it feel secure from drug and human trafficking.

But Democratic Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona told Latino and black community leaders at a Phoenix luncheon Tuesday that Arizonans need to spread the word on how much more secure the border has become.

"There are lots of folks who don't live in Arizona who have no idea what the border is like," Sinema said.

Napolitano toured the border Tuesday afternoon with U.S. Customs and Border Protection Deputy Commissioner David Aguilar, Democratic Rep. Ron Barber of Arizona and Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware. Carper is the incoming chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

She said in a statement after the tour that border crossings are down 50 percent since 2008 and 78 percent since their peak in 2000.

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Pistorius Shots Said to Come From High Angle

At the second day of a bail hearing for Olympian Oscar Pistorius, a South African investigator who arrived at the scene of the Feb. 14 fatal shooting said that Reeva Steenkamp was shot from a high angle, which prosecutors say contradicts the runner's account that he was not wearing his prosthetics when he shot his girlfriend to death.

Pistorius, a double-amputee who runs on carbon-fiber blades, appeared in court for the second day in a row after his arrest in the death of girlfriend Steenkamp at his gated home in Pretoria, South Africa.

Read Oscar Pistorius' Full Statement to the Court

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Arresting officer Hilton Botha told the court today that the 26-year-old was standing in the master bathroom when he shot the supermodel, who was crouched in a defensive position behind a locked door in a smaller powder room. He also said that the bullets that were fired had been fired from high up, and the bullets seemed to be coming in a downward direction.

"[The angle] seems to me down. Fired down," Botha told the court.

Pistorius said Tuesday that he went to the bathroom and fired through the door before putting on his prosthetic legs.

Oscar Pistorius: Defense Presents New Evidence Watch Video

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He said he mistakenly shot his girlfriend, thinking she was an intruder.

Prosecutors also said that they found two boxes of testosterone in the bedroom, although the defense disputes that, saying it's just herbal supplements.

The court also heard that a witness, someone about 2,000 feet away from Pistorius' home, heard nonstop fighting the morning of the shooting.

"We have a witness who says she heard non-stop shouting and fighting between 2 and 3 a.m.," said prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who added that another witness saw lights on at the time of the gunshots.

Pistorius says he spent a quiet night with Steenkamp before the shooting.

Nel said that Pistorius' actions and phone calls on the night indicate pre-planning, and that there was a "deliberate aiming of shots at the toilet from about 1.5 meters [about 5 feet]."

He says Steenkamp was shot on the right side of her body.

Officer Botha also said Pistorius should be considered a flight risk because investigators discovered that he has offshore bank accounts and a house in Italy.

"I think it would be hard to get him back," Botha told the court. "This is a very serious crime, shooting an unarmed woman behind closed door."

Prosecutors also say they may file more charges for unlicensed ammunition, after a special-caliber .38 round was found in a safe in Pistorius' home.

Botha told the court today that he arrived at Pistorius' home at 4:15 a.m. Valentine's Day to find Steenkamp already dead, dressed in a white shorts and a black vest, and covered in towels. The only thing that Pistorius said was, 'I thought it was a burglar,'" according to Botha.

The 26-year-old sprinter Tuesday denied that he willfully killed Steenkamp, telling the court that he shot the woman through his bathroom door because he believed she was an intruder.

Botha said today that he attended Steenkamp's postmortem, and that she had three entrance wounds: one on the head, one in the elbow and one in the hip.

Describing the scene to the court, Botha said that the shots fired into the bathroom were aimed at the toilet bowl.

The shooter "would have to walk into the bathroom and turn directly at the door to shoot at the toilet the way the bullets went," he said.

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