"It's very scary, especially when he used to be talking to my daughter. But I told him he was too old to be talking to my daughter because she was only 19. When I found out how old he was, I said, 'You need to move on, she's too young.'" ? Nathenia Crosby on Michael Madison, arrested in the discovery of three bodies found wrapped in plastic bags in East Cleveland, Ohio.
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"I'm sure there's no safety bar that is broken." ? Tobias Lindnar, project manager for German-based Gerstlauer Amusement Rides, after a woman was killed on a roller coaster they manufactured at Six Flags Over Texas.
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"This is such an accomplishment for me because I just never knew if I'd be able to develop the game to play links golf effectively. To play the best round arguably of my career, to putt better than I've ever putted, to shoot the round of my life ... it feels amazing to win the claret jug." ? Phil Mickelson after winning his first British Open title and his fifth major championship.
Climate change could ensure the wipe out of the Iberian Lynx, considered the world's most endangered cat, new research from Spain suggests.
Currently, about 300 of these adorable, pointy-eared, shaggy-bearded cats live in Spain and Portugal, dining mostly on rabbits. But according to a study publishing today (July 21) in the journal Nature Climate Change, warming temperatures and an increasingly dry local climate could kill off their staple food, making their extinction certain.
Reintroducing the animals farther north could spare the population and even help it rebound, said study co-author Miguel Bustos Ara?jo, a biogeographer at the National Museum of Natural Sciences, in Madrid.
"If you do what you're currently doing, you'd end up with an extinct animal in the wild by the end of the century," Ara?jo said. "If you take climate change into account, the population increases from 300 to 800 by the end of the century."
One-ingredient diet
The Iberian lynx, a predator about four times the size of the average housecat, once roamed throughout Spain and Portugal. But because 90 percent of the lynx's diet comes from rabbits, two diseases that decimated rabbit populations in the 20th century also took their toll on the lynx. Poaching and habitat loss also contributed to the lynx population's plummet.
Now, the lynx is the world's most endangered cat and its range is confined to two small regions of Andalusia in southwestern Spain. ?Conservation programs have spent nearly $123 million trying to reintroduce the cats into native habitats in the southern Iberian Peninsula. [Images: Endangered Species of the Red List]
Climate stress
But Ara?jo and his colleagues aren't convinced that those programs could work.
The researchers used climate change models to predict how the rabbit population could fare, and then integrated that with population models relating the Iberian lynx population to its main prey.
In its current enclaves, hotter temperatures and less rainfall are predicted to reduce the amount of herbs available for rabbits to eat, Ara?jo said. That would reduce the rabbit population, which would drive down the lynx population down as well. By the end of the century, the lynx could be extinct, the researchers said.
But there is a bright spot: By shifting reintroduction programs further north, the endangered species could not only survive climate change, but rebound, the researchers found.
This suggests that that conservation programs in general should account for climate change, Ara?jo said.
"One the one hand, conservation is demanding changes in the whole economy, less carbon emissions," Ara?jo said. "But when they have a program, they usually forget about climate change."
Follow Tia Ghose on Twitterand Google+.?Follow?LiveScience @livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on?LiveScience.com ?.
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Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby speaks to the media Monday at the Omni Dallas Hotel. Bowlsby called for a reconfiguration of NCAA governance to better group schools of like resources.(Photo: Kevin Jairaj, USA TODAY Sports)
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Secession from the NCAA isn't on the way ? but a so-called "super division" might be.
Suggesting a special convention might need to be called to achieve "transformational change" in the NCAA, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby suggested Monday it's time to consider a new "federation" of schools with like resources ? and perhaps separation by sport.
"It's probably unrealistic to think that we can manage football and field hockey by the same set of rules," Bowlsby said. "I think some kind of reconfiguration of how we govern is in order."
His remarks, made Monday morning during an annual state of the Big 12 address, followed strong comments last week from SEC commissioner Mike Slive, who said of the NCAA: "Moving forward, there are important questions that must be answered." Also Monday, ACC commissioner John Swofford told USA TODAY Sports significant structural and governance changes could come in January. Swofford suggested a separate division for the five power conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC).
Bowlsby went further than Slive did last week. But Bowlsby said commissioners of the five power conferences have "unanimity" on the subject, and said, "I don't think anything I said was inconsistent with what (Slive) said."
"When I think about John Swofford and (Pac-12 commissioner) Larry Scott and beyond that as well, I think we all have a sense that transformative change is going to have to happen," Bowlsby added. "This is not a time when trimming around the edges is going to make very much difference."
RELATED: SEC's Slive subtlely targets NCAA
The gap in resources within college athletics has never been greater, and it's growing. An analysis by USA TODAY shows the average SEC public school's operational expenses in 2011-12 were $88.5 million, according to the most recently available information reported by the schools to the NCAA. The average Mountain West school spent $41.3 million. The divide is expected to grow dramatically with the advent of the College Football Playoff.
"Northern Iowa and Texas aren't much alike," said Bowlsby, formerly the athletic director at Northern Iowa, Iowa and Stanford before moving to the Big 12 a year ago.
Bowlsby said he did not see a complete separation from the NCAA as a viable option, but said the threat of secession must be retained as leverage "as a last resort."
"I really think that leadership and the rank and file believe that there's a solution within the NCAA, and it's been along those lines that we've had the conversations," he said. "Could that change to something that's a little more harsh down the road? Possibly could, sure."
The problem, as Bowlsby and his peers see it, is two-pronged. Initiatives proposed by larger schools ? the easiest example, he noted, is the idea of a stipend, or full cost-of-attendance scholarships ? have no chance of passing because schools with fewer resources vote them down.
PREVIOUSLY: Is next realignment an NCAA split?
"It's virtually impossible right now to configure legislative proposals that have any chance of getting through the system intact that would accomplish anything in the way of meaningful change," Bowlsby said. "I think all of us are feeling that."
At the same time, the NCAA's governance structure, with its emphasis on presidential control, is seen as out of touch. The people who work daily in college athletics "feel like they're on the outside looking in," Bowlsby said. Bowlsby said he wasn't directing criticism specifically at NCAA president Mark Emmert, but said "we need to reconfigure the leadership of the organization," with athletic directors and commissioners as voting members of the NCAA's board of directors, which is currently populated by presidents.
"We need to reengage the practitioners," Bowlsby said. "The athletic directors, commissioners, people that work in athletics every day. I think it's unrealistic to think that people that spend hours a month on athletics can come up with the right agenda and have the time to move it through the system."
George Schroeder, a national college football reporter for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @GeorgeSchroeder.
Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood went back and forth for 18 holes Saturday in a game of one-upmanship, as if their individual match was the only one being watched.
Paired together, Woods and Westwood began the third round one stroke off the leader, Miguel Angel Jimenez, but that quickly changed. Jimenez dropped, as did Henrik Stenson, and Muirfield evolved into the Lee and Tiger Show ? with Westwood of England seeking his first major title in front of a supportive crowd, and Woods, the 14-time major winner, looking to reclaim his dominance.
After a two-stroke swing on the 17th hole, Westwood stood atop the leader board at three under par. Woods, who bogeyed 17 after a misplayed second shot landed in a fairway bunker, finished tied for second with Hunter Mahan.
Conditions were tamer on the course Saturday, as the grounds crew did their best to keep the fairways moist against the heat and sun. Still, only three players remained under par for the tournament. Jimenez, who had played well on Thursday and Friday, shot a 77. Phil Mickelson remained on the fringe of the leader board at two over par.
The most interesting pairing Sunday will be Woods and Adam Scott, who has Woods?s former caddie, Steve Williams, on his bag.
The question, though, will be whether Westwood can ride Saturday?s momentum to win Sunday and follow in the footsteps of the Wimbledon winner Andy Murray of Britain to win one of golf?s most coveted prizes.
2:30 P.M.A Rough Round for Jimenez
The third round at Muirfield has finished. It was a rough day for Miguel Angel Jimenez, who shot a 77 to drop into a tie for 11th. His partner, Henrik Stenson, shot 74 to finish one over par.
Westwood and Hunter Mahan will be in the final pairing Sunday. Woods will play with Adam Scott.
2:25 P.M.Woods Reflects on Bogey
Woods said he didn?t make good contact on his second shot on the par-5 17th. It caught the fairway bunker and turned the tide on the round ? he bogeyed the hole and Westwood birdied it. After his round, Woods told Tom Rinaldi of ESPN: ?I needed a bullet to get over that bunker. I spun it.?
2:17 P.M.Par for Westwood and Woods on 18th
Both Westwood and Woods par the 18th hole. Westwood has a two-stroke lead over Woods and Hunter Mahan through 54 holes. Woods has never won a major when he was not at least tied for the lead entering Sunday.
2:01 P.M.Westwood Holds Lead as Woods Drops
A huge turn of events at the top of the leader board, as Woods bogeys the par-5 17th and Westwood birdies it. Westwood is three-under par and two strokes ahead of Woods, who is at one under, as both head to the 18th hole.
1:46 P.M.An Ugly Save by Westwood
Westwood made perhaps the putt of the day ? but it was for bogey on 16. Still, a great 15-foot save, after hitting his tee shot into the thick rough off the tee. Now he is back tied with Woods at two-under par.
1:15 P.M.Westwood Back on Top
Westwood (three under) has retaken the outright lead with a birdie on the 14th hole, after a beautiful second shot left him four feet from the hole. Woods parred to remain at two under.
1:06 P.M.Mickelson Is Not Happy
Mickelson, at two over, was not too pleased with his 72 in the third round, considering he thought the conditions Saturday afternoon were better than they were Friday. When Tom Rinaldi of ESPN went over the highlights with him, Mickelson joked, ?Were there highlights??
12:55 P.M.Former U.N.L.V. Star Moves Up
Ryan Moore, a former amateur champion at Nevada-Las Vegas, has quietly moved up the leader board to even par and two shots off the lead. Moore?s best major finish? He tied for ninth at the P.G.A. in 2006.
12:44 P.M.Schwartzel?s Club Remains in One Piece
12:41 P.M.Mickelson Still in It, Barely
Phil Mickelson heads to the 18th hole at two-over par after bogeying 15 and 16. He is not out of it by any stretch but he?ll likely need to post at least another 69 on Sunday to be in contention.
12:25 P.M.Woods and Westwood Share Lead
Woods and Westwood make the turn to the back nine tied for the lead at two under. Woods leads the tournament in driving accuracy (83.3 percent fairways hit).
11:46 A.M.No Clear Front-Runner
In 2002, Ernie Els won the Open at Muirfield at six-under par. Today? There are currently only five players under par for the tournament. Nine players are within three shots of the lead held by Lee Westwood.
11:33 A.M.An Eagle for Westwood
After an eagle on the fifth hole, Westwood (three under) has grabbed the lead from Woods. With Andy Murray?s win at Wimbledon, it?s been a good summer for Britain.
11:07 A.M.Laird Drops Off Leader Board
How rough is that rough? Just ask Martin Laird, who found himself in the thick stuff on the third hole and, after half a dozen hacks, ended up with a 9 to drop him off the leader board.
11:01 A.M.Woods Grabs Lead
Well it didn?t take long for Tiger Woods to grab sole possession of the lead at Muirfield. A long birdie putt on the second hole to drop to three under. Jimenez bogeyed the second hole to drop to two under and a tie with Lee Westwood, Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson.
MOSCOW - Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny told cheering supporters on Saturday he wants to contest and win an election to become Moscow mayor after being freed on bail while he fights a five-year jail sentence.
Hundreds of people, some waving white roses, gave one of President Vladimir Putin?s biggest critics a hero?s welcome when he arrived in Moscow on the overnight train from Kirov, the industrial city where he was convicted of theft on Thursday.
The crowd applauded the tired-looking anti-corruption campaigner as he stepped off the train and chanted: ?Navalny is our mayor? and ?We represent power?.
?We have a big and difficult election campaign ahead of us. Seven weeks of work non-stop. And that is only the beginning,? Navalny told the crowd through a megaphone. ?Let?s fight for political power in the country right now.?
Punching the air with his fist, his wife Yulia at his side, he said: ?We will certainly win! Let?s get to work! We are going for elections and we will win.?
Navalny, 37, can run for mayor on Sept. 8 if he can string out his appeal until then. Winning would hand him a propaganda victory and give him of the most influential jobs in the country, with offices a few hundred metres from the Kremlin.
But opinion polls show Navalny trailing far behind Sergei Sobyanin, who is seeking a new term as mayor, and suggest he has little chance of defeating a Putin ally who has state media behind him and the levers of power at his disposal.
Navalny, who says he would one day like to be president, must bank on his support being boosted by public indignation over the toughness of his sentence - on charges he says were invented and intended to sideline him as a rival to Putin.
More than 3,000 people protested close to the red walls of the Kremlin to demand his release on Thursday and thousands more staged rallies in other cities to show solidarity with him. More than 200 people were detained.
PEOPLE POWER
Under the watchful eye of police, Navalny told his supporters at Moscow?s Yaroslavl Station that it was thanks to their pressure that he had been released.
?You have made it possible to release these men the next day,? he said, referring to himself and Pyotr Ofitserov, who was sentenced to four years as his accomplice. ?Compared to that, it is easy to win elections.?
Navalny, who led protests in Moscow that began against Putin in December 2011, was convicted of stealing at least 16 million roubles ($494,000) from a timber firm when he was advising the Kirov regional governor in 2009.
The sentence was unexpectedly tough and was seen by Putin?s opponents as part of a wider clampdown on dissent since the president began a six-year third term in May, 2012.
But it was followed by an equally surprising move on Friday when a judge approved a prosecution request to free Navalny pending an appeal so that he could run in the Moscow election.
Experts said it was unprecedented for the prosecution to seek bail on such terms after sentencing, and political experts said it pointed to differences in the Kremlin over how to handle Navalny and unease over the renewed protests.
Navalny?s supporters say the decision to release him could also be an effort by Russian authorities to legitimise the election and Sobyanin?s likely victory.
Navalny?s support is mostly limited to the urban middle-class and youth, and anti-Putin protests last year failed to take off in the provinces. The president remains Russia?s most popular politician, polls show.
There is no indication that Navalny?s release from custody will affect the court?s ruling on his planned appeal.
The acquittal rate in Russia is about 0.5%, or one in 200, and has declined in recent years, said Pavel Chikov, a human rights lawyer and head of legal rights group Agora.
BAGHDAD (AP) ? A bomb hidden in an air conditioner that ripped through a Sunni mosque during midday prayers and other attacks killed at least 26 in Iraq on Friday, extending a wave of violence targeting worshippers during the holy month of Ramadan.
Suicide attacks, car bombings and other violence have killed more than 200 people since the Islamic holy month of daytime fasting and charity began last week, according to an Associated Press count.
The violence is an extension of a surge of attacks that has roiled Iraq for months, reviving fears of a return to the widespread sectarian bloodshed that pushed the country to the brink of civil war after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
Most of those killed Friday were slain while performing midday prayers in the packed Abu Bakir al-Sideeq mosque in the town of Wijaihiya, which is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad.
Worshippers and other eyewitnesses said the bomb apparently was planted inside a wall-mounted air conditioning unit to the left of the pulpit. AP television footage of the aftermath showed the interior of the mosque near the bomb site charred black and shrapnel damage peppering the walls. Glass, shoes and other debris littered the blood-soaked red prayer rugs lining the floor.
One of those praying inside, 30-year-old Mohammed Faleh, said the blast struck as male worshippers, including children, were kneeling during communal prayers.
"I stood up to find blood-stained bodies lying on the ground. The Friday prayer turned into a disaster. Whoever left these bombs has no religion," he said.
Faleh said security forces found a second bomb left near the mosque that they rendered safe with a controlled detonation.
Between 250 to 300 people were inside the mosque when the bombing happened, said Sami Dawoud Salman, a member of the local Sahwa, a group of anti-al-Qaida Sunni militiaman that work alongside government security forces. He said the mosque was unguarded and that the local imam had been unsuccessful in getting increased protection.
"I'm asking the government for a solution. There's no security," survivor Jassim Dawoud said. "It's a disastrous situation."
Diyala province, where the attack occurred, was once the site of some of the fiercest fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents in Iraq. It remains a hotbed for terrorist attacks. The area is religiously mixed and witnessed some of the worst atrocities as Shiite militias battled Sunni insurgents for control in the years after the invasion.
"Terrorism is targeting all sects in Diyala mainly by attacking Sunni and Shiite mosques, funerals and football fields to draw the province into a sectarian conflict. All the victims were civilians," said Diyala provincial councilman Sadiq al-Husseini, appealing for calm. "I call on all Diyala residents to show self-restraint."
Police and hospital officials said that at least 22 people were killed and more than 50 were wounded in the mosque blast.
The U.S. Embassy condemned the mosque attack, saying that the fact it struck a place of worship during Ramadan "is especially despicable and cowardly and exposes the nature of those perpetrating these attacks."
Attacks outside the restive city of Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, claimed four more lives. Two women died when mortar shells landed outside their house in nearby village, and a roadside bomb killed a father and son when it struck their car, authorities said.
The officials provided details of the attacks on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information to media.
The attacks struck as Iran's outgoing president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wrapped up a two-day trip to Iraq with visits to Shiite Muslim holy cities of Najaf and Karbala south of Baghdad. There was no indication the attacks were related to his trip.
Violence across Iraq has risen sharply since a heavy-handed crackdown by security forces on a Sunni protest camp in the northern town of Hawija on April 23. That raid followed months of rallies by Iraq's minority Sunnis against the Shiite-led government over what they contend is second-class treatment and the unfair use of tough anti-terrorism measures against their sect.
The surge in bloodshed has left more than 2,800 people dead and many more wounded since the start of April.
Attacks on Sunni mosques, for years a relatively rare target in Iraq, have picked up significantly in recent months.
There has been no claim of responsibility for Friday's bombing or many of the other recent attacks.
Sunni extremists such as al-Qaida's Iraq arm that seek to undermine the Shiite-led government are frequently blamed for bombing attacks targeting civilians. They could be behind the Sunni mosque bombings too, hoping to incite a sectarian backlash against Shiites. So could Shiite militias that have been remobilizing following years of relative quiet.
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Associated Press writers Adam Schreck, Sinan Salaheddin and Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.
