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Moshe Kai Cavalin, The 11-Year-Old College Graduate With 4.0 GPA (VIDEO) Top
Meet Moshe Kai Cavalin, the 11-year-old who just finished setting the bar impossibly high for college students everywhere . Not only did this youngster just graduate from college at the age of 11 , but he did so with honors, holding down a 4.0 GPA, and his favorite subject is astrophysics. He is also an accomplished martial artist, winning several national martial arts championships; his idols are Albert Einstein and Bruce Lee. He's going to use the next year to take up scuba diving, write a book for kids on how to succeed in school, and work on his martial arts skills. Moshe isn't into video games because "it's not helping humanity in any way." Read more about Moshe here . -Or- Watch a video report from CNN below. Embedded video from CNN Video
 
US Beats Honduras In World Cup Qualifier Top
CHICAGO — Carlos Bocanegra scored on a diving header off Landon Donovan's corner kick in the 68th minute, and the United States rallied to beat Honduras 2-1 in a World Cup qualifier Saturday night. Coming off a 3-1 loss at Costa Rica on Wednesday, the United States fell behind when Carlos Costly scored in the fifth minute. Donovan, the best U.S. player throughout the match, tied the score with a penalty kick in the 43rd minute after a needless handball by Mario Besta. Donovan then started the play for the go-ahead goal with a corner kick that was headed down by Clint Dempsey, who outjumped Hendry Thomas. Bocanegra charged in and, horizontal to the field, headed it in from about 3 yards for his 11th international goal. Bocanegra came out three minutes later, holding his right leg. A crowd of 55,647 attended the first-ever qualifier at Soldier Field, site of the 1994 World Cup opener. While the game was played on American soil, the dominant support was for Honduras, a Central American nation of about 7.6 million, Fans in blue and white appeared to outnumber red-clad American supporters by a 4-to-1 margin. In the final minutes, fans threw a few cups filled with liquid at U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard. Seeking its sixth straight World Cup berth, the United States (3-1-1) is second in the final round of North and Central American qualifying with 10 points, two behind Costa Rica (4-1), which won 3-2 at Trinidad and Tobago. Honduras (1-2-1) is third with four points, ahead of Mexico (1-0-2) and El Salvador (0-1-2), who played later Saturday. T&T (0-2-2) is last. The top three nations qualify for next year's 32-nation field in South Africa, and the No. 4 team goes to a playoff against the fifth-place team in South America for another berth. After going to the Confederations Cup, the U.S. resumes qualifying at Mexico on Aug. 12. The United States has lost just one home qualifier in 24 years, 3-2 to Honduras in September 2001 at Washington, D.C. The U.S. team is 16-0-1 at home in qualifying since that defeat. U.S. coach Bob Bradley changed four starters from Wednesday, inserting right back Jonathan Spector, left back Jonathan Bornstein, midfielder Ricardo Clark and forward Conor Casey. DaMarcus Beasley, Marvell Wynne Jr. and Jose Francisco Torres were benched, and Michael Bradley was suspended for getting his second yellow card of qualifying. The U.S. missed the steadying presence of Bradley, the movement in front of the goal of injured forward Brian Ching and the energy of injured right back Frankie Hejduk. Costly scored after a terrible giveaway by Dempsey in the middle of the U.S. half. Dempsey made a blind backheel that was picked up by Wilson Palacios. He dished off to Costly, whose left-footed shot beat Howard from 22 yards. Donovan tied the score after a hand ball on Besta, who batted a bounding ball in the area with his left hand. Donovan's penalty kick, to the upper left of goalkeeper Noel Valladares, was his American record 11th goal in qualifying and 39th in 110 international appearances. After Bocanegra's goal, second-half sub Danilo Turcios put a shot over the crossbar off a cross from Walter Martinez. Ricardo Clark saved a goal when he tipped the ball away from a Honduran in the 81st. More on Sports
 
Famous Men And Facial Hair: Love Them Or Shave Them? (PHOTOS, POLL) Top
Famous beards continue to grow out into new and odd facial hair, sometimes for roles and other times not. From Matthew Broderick's Broadway-required sideburns to Hugh Jackman's 'Wolverine' partial beard to the goatee of Brad Pitt and the full beard of Ben Affleck, what do you think? Click through the facial hair and cast your vote. PHOTOS: More on SNL
 
Brooke Shields Settles With National Enquirer Top
Actress Brooke Shields has come to an agreement with the National Enquirer after alleging the tabloid checked her mother out of a New Jersey nursing home last month.
 
Newt Gingrich: Americans "Are Surrounded By Paganism" Top
At an event in Virginia titled "Rediscovering God in America," Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee aimed to recapture lost political momentum for the Christian right with strong exhortations for members to involve themselves in politics in order to maintain and increase the presence of religion in the public square, the Virginia-Pilot reports . Both men railed against abortion rights, gay rights and the lack of religious influence in American public life, however Gingrich upped the ante in his attempt to stir up the crowd with this line: I think this is one of the most critical moments in American history. We are living in a period where we are surrounded by paganism. However, Huckabee was not to be outdone in the use of hyperbole. The former Republican presidential candidate called the United States a "blessed" nation whose victory against the British in the Revolutionary War was "a miracle from God's hand," indeed the same type of miracle that defeated the legalization of gay marriage in California. Another speaker at the event was Oliver North. (H/t Think Progress )
 
Italy Is Not A Meritocracy But A Highly-Evolved Feudal Society: New York Times Top
I got a call last week from an Italian friend, an investigative reporter. He had just spoken to an Italian magistrate who wanted to sound out a theory. The magistrate wondered -- in all seriousness -- if my recent article in The New York Times about Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's personal life could be evidence that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, envious of Mr. Berlusconi's media empire, was using me to take down the prime minister. More on Silvio Berlusconi
 
Obamas' Paris Date Night Top
PARIS — Ah, Paris. The city of love. And the city of this week's presidential date night. A week after flying to New York for dinner and a Broadway show, President Barack Obama and first lady, Michelle, dined at a cozy neighborhood bistro just a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower. The president and first lady were in France to join their counterparts from France, Canada and Britain to commemmorate the 65th anniversary of D-Day, the allied invasion of Normandy in World War II that led to victory in Europe. La Fontaine de Mars dates back to 1908 and specializes in rustic dishes from France's southwest region of Bordeaux Perigord and the Basque. Foie gras, duck and cassoulet are on the menu, although the White House has not said what the president and first lady chose. The Obamas shared the restaurant with other diners, and other restaurants on the winding Rue St. Dominique were filled. Police, some in riot gear, lined the street. Crowds pressed behind barriers at the end of the street to glimpse the first couple, and about 100 people gathered there burst into applause as the Obamas left the restaurant. Clusters of people at street corners held up cell phones and cameras to snap pictures. After dinner and a ride along the quai on the Left Bank of the Seine River, the Obamas returned to the U.S. ambassador's residence, where first daughters Sasha and Malia awaited them. Earlier in the day, Sasha and Malia joined their parents on a visit to Notre Dame Cathedral, where a children's choir sang and the president lit a candle. They climbed the stairs for a view of the city from the roof of the 12th century Gothic church. The cathedral was closed to the public during the first family's visit. The first family's motorcade traveled to the cathedral along the Boulevard St. Germain, where hundreds lined the street hoping to see them. More on Barack Obama
 
Why Cuban Spies Are So Difficult To Find Top
WASHINGTON — Hunting spies is difficult, but Cuban spies are notoriously hard to detect, former senior intelligence officials said a day after an American husband and wife were indicted on charges of spying for Cuba. Walter Kendall Myers and his wife Gwendolyn of Washington were arrested Thursday after a three-year investigation that began before Myers' retirement from the State Department in 2007. They had been spying for Havana for 30 years, according to the U.S. government. Investigations like this typically take years to come together because they usually turn on small pieces of information, and Cuban spies often leave few traces. Cuban intelligence specializes in recruiting "true believers" rather than agents who are out to make money, these officals said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Myers appears to be one of the true believers. He praised Cuban leader Fidel Castro in a personal journal he wrote in 1978 as a "brilliant and charismatic leader" who is "one of the great political leaders of our time." And he called the United States government "exploiters" who regularly murdered Cuban revolutionary leaders. Castro called the case of two Americans accused of spying for Cuba "strange" Saturday and questioned whether the timing of their arrests was politically motivated. "Doesn't the story of Cuban spying seem really ridiculous to everyone?" Castro asked, without commenting on its validity. Castro said he doesn't recall meeting them when he was still president. "I met during this time with thousands of Americans for various reasons, individually or in groups, on occasion with gatherings of several hundred of them," said the 82-year-old, who ceded power to his brother Raul when he fell ill nearly three years ago and has not been seen in public since. Politically motivated spies don't leave a money trail or engage in conspicuous consumption that might attract attention, a common way spies are first identified. The former officials said the Cuban intelligence service is willing to wait years, even decades, for a recruit to work him or herself into a useful position. Cuba is content to have midlevel officials who have access to information but no policymaking power. For these reasons, Cuban agents are notoriously difficult to detect unless a pattern of unusual inquiries eventually attracts attention, they said. According to court documents, Myers thought he had been put on a watch list by his State Department boss in 1995, meaning he was under suspicion. The FBI investigation didn't start until 2006, after his boss raised fresh suspicions when he returned from a trip to China. In his last year alone at the State Department, Myers accessed over 200 sensitive documents related to Cuba, according to court documents. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has ordered a damage assessment of what the couple may have revealed. David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security, described the couple's alleged spying for the communist government as "incredibly serious." A formal assessment of the damage the pair may have caused will likely not begin until after a trial, or if the two disclose the information they passed as part of a plea agreement, said one former senior U.S. intelligence official. But already individual U.S. intelligence agencies are scrambling to figure out whether U.S. spies in Cuba or elsewhere were identified by the pair. The government-wide assessment is expected to be headed by National Counterintelligence Executive Joel F. Brenner. Obama administration officials say Kendall Myers had access to highly sensitive material while working for the State Department's intelligence arm, which receives intelligence reports from all agencies. "Given where he worked, his value to the Cubans would be both in terms of 'gossip' about U.S. officials_ who is being assigned to Cuba, what White House officials are asking for info, etc._ and, of course the raw data that comes across his desk," said Amb. Dennis Hays, the State Department's Coordinator for Cuban Affairs from 1993 to 1995. Hays said because Myers didn't directly work on Cuban issues he didn't have the same opportunities to affect U.S. policy on Cuba that Ana Montes did, the senior Cuban spy convicted by the United States in 2002. But someone with top secret clearance can do a lot of damage because he would have had broad access to intelligence material and a license to search for what he wanted, said the former senior intelligence official. One key question to be answered will be whether the Cubans were using Myers to produce information for other countries, like Russia, Venezuela, Iran or China. Like Montes _ whom he admired _ Myers memorized most of the information he passed to his Cuban handlers rather than take classified documents home, an effort to avoid detection. He did hide some papers in bookends at his house, holding onto them for no longer than a day, according to court documents unsealed Friday. Myers received his orders by Morse code, and he and his wife usually hand-delivered intelligence, sometimes in the grocery store. Myers was familiar with spy tradecraft, like using water-soluble paper to take notes, according to court documents. Chris Simmons, a former counterintelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency who worked on the Montes case, said Myers' role as an instructor at the Foreign Service Institute posed a real threat because he would be able to provide dossiers and personal observations on his students to the Cuban government. The institute trains officers in regional specialties from all corners of the U.S. government, not just the State Department. When those students go abroad for State, the U.S. military, or undercover as CIA officers, foreign intelligence services may already have files on them to attempt recruitment. It was at the institute that Myers first met the Cuban official who recruited him into spying in 1978. The former intelligence officer who worked on spy cases said Myer's would be valuable to the Cuban government for his ability to spot potential recruits among the students. Myers could also have provided leads and files on students from the prestigious Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. Myers has been an adjunct professor there since the late 1980s, said Felisa Neuringer Klubes, a spokeswoman for the school. He taught most recently this spring semester. Many U.S. government employees get advanced degrees there or go on to teach there. It is where Myers earned his doctorate. Myers usually taught British politics and general international relations. His expertise is European studies, specifically Britain, said Klubes. He is one of at least 130 adjunct professors at the school at any given academic year, she said. Mitchell Orenstein, an associate professor of European studies, has known Myers for about two years and said he was surprised at the charges. "He's been a fantastic colleague, a great guy," Orenstein said. "He was in a happy retirement and planning on doing some sailing with his wife." In fact, Myers and his wife told the undercover FBI agent that they had been planning to sail to Cuba and live on their boat. They considered Cuba their home, though they had only visited it. Orenstein said he never heard Myers talk about Latin American relations. He didn't hear him mention Fidel Castro or speak about American politics. He said Myers was "a smart person who we thought had done a good job at the State Department." "The students love him," he said. An undercover FBI agent posing as a Cuban handler approached Myers outside Johns Hopkins on April 15, according to a law enforcement official speaking on a condition of anonymity about the ongoing investigation. That began a series of meetings that resulted in the couple's indictment this week. ___ Associated Press writers Anita Snow in Havana and Christine Simmons in Washington contributed to this report. (This version CORRECTS in paragraph 10 that Myers 'thought he' had been put on watch list.) More on Cuba
 

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