Saturday, 22 February 2014

Ukraine President flees Kiev; rival freed from prison





  • Russia's U.N. ambassador says the West doesn't understand what's at stake

  • President Viktor Yanukovych tries to leave the country, official says

  • Opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko released from prison




Are you in Ukraine? Send us your photos and experiences but please stay safe.


Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- A tidal wave of change has washed over Ukraine, sweeping away its president, setting free a beloved opposition leader, and leaving an altered political landscape.


Saturday was a day of dizzying developments. Sunday brings a host of questions: Who's in charge? Where's ousted President Viktor Yanukovych? And most importantly, with the Sochi Winter Olympics ending, how will Russia -- Yanukovych's ally -- respond?


Here's where things stand in Ukraine:


Will a return to the old constition appease protesters?


The series of concessions started Friday with parliament overwhelmingly approving the return of the nation's 2004 constitution. Reinstating it gives the President less power -- a key demand of protesters who'd taken over the Kiev City Hal for weeks -- and paves the way for lawmakers to appoint key ministers.


A few days before the vote, the opposition had sought to introduce amendments in parliament that would have limited the President's powers, but the speaker of parliament refused to allow it. Bloody clashes followed.


With the old constitution now getting the greenlight, and Yanukovych gone, will protesters who'd taken to the streets for weeks on end feel their goals have been met?


Ex-Prime Minister freed. Will she become the opposition leader?


Just like everything else in Ukraine, there are no clear answers.


Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was freed after two-and-a-half years in prison, and returned to the capital Saturday.


And she had strong words for the President.


"Today, Ukraine has finished with this terrible dictator," Tymoshenko told a cheering crowd at Kiev's Independence Square, the scene of deadly demonstrations.


She served as prime minister from 2007 and was forced out of office in 2010 after losing the election to Yanukovych.


A year later, she was sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of abuse of authority over a natural gas deal negotiated with Russia.


The West considers her case politically motivated, and has called her "a political prisoner."


Who's in control until May elections?


The Parliament's voted to oust the President and hold new elections on May 25. Does this mean there's a power vacuum until then?


Again, we're in murky waters. The President insists he's still in power and the opposition coalition is a chaotic mix of voices, each working to assert dominance.


Former world champion boxer Vitali Klitschko has been the most well-known opposition figure during the crisis. He heads the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reforms party. But the opposition bloc goes well beyond Klitschko and his party.


Then there's Arseniy Yatsenyuk, another opposition figure and former foreign minister.


Last month, the President offered a package of concessions under which Yatsenyuk would have become the prime minister and Klitschko deputy prime minister on humanitarian issues. The opposition refused.


The President's missing. Where is he?


Last we heard, Yanukovych was in Kharkiv, a pro-Russian stronghold near Ukraine's border with that nation.


He tried to leave the country by plane, but was turned away, authorities said.


The President and his entourage attempted to board a charter flight Saturday without proper documentation in the eastern city of Donetsk, according to the head of Ukraine's Border Guard Service, Sergei Astakov.


He was on the tarmac when he was turned back by security forces, Astakov told CNN.


But the President took to television airwaves, saying he was still the legitimate leader.


"I don't plan to leave the country. I don't plan to resign. I am the legitimate President," he said in an interview from Kharkiv, a pro-Russian stronghold near Ukraine's border with that nation.


How will Russia respond?


Close ally Russia has been busy hosting the Winter Olympics, which end Sunday.


But it's closely linked to the crisis, which started in November, when Yanukovych scrapped a European Union trade deal and turned toward Russia.


Russia offered to lend money to Ukraine in a deal worth billions of dollars and lower its gas prices.


The deal sent protesters took to the streets as Russia pressured Yanukovych to crack down on demonstrators.


On Saturday, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, condemned what he called Western attempts to influence the outcome of the tumult in Ukraine.


"Either they don't understand the consequences of what they're doing, or they're engaged in a very provocative game of destabilizing Ukraine and therefore Eastern Europe," Churkin said in a post on his official Twitter account.


A day earlier, Churkin accused the opposition of wanting to take power by force.


"If those so-called democratic opposition leaders come to power on the shoulders of thugs that will not produce democracy in Ukraine," he said.


Explainer: What and who are behind Ukraine's political crisis?


iReport: Protester describes bloodied people being rushed to medics


U.S. talks tough, but options limited in Ukraine


CNN's Victoria Butenko, Phil Black and Ingrid Formanek reported from Kiev, and Faith Karimi reported and wrote from Atlanta.



Cartel kingpin cultivated image





  • Drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has been arrested

  • He evaded authorities for more than a decade

  • The stories surrounding him were almost mythical

  • He's the epitome of the drug problem, author says




(CNN) -- Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman eluded arrest for so long that the stories about him veered closer and closer to the stuff of legend.


So powerful is he, people said, that he can bribe anyone. He commands so much loyalty, the story goes, that he is always tipped off when the heat is close. He's so fearless that he can live his life without concern of being caught.


Of course, now we know his influence has its limits.


Guzman was arrested overnight in a hotel in the Pacific beach town of Mazatlan, in his home state of Sinaloa.


He had been on the lam since escaping from prison in 2001, and no one -- that we know of -- came close to catching the drug lord who regularly appears on Forbes magazine list of most powerful people.





Notorious Mexican drug lord arrested




2011: Aide to top drug lord arrested

The rumor was that with that kind of money, he could be hiding anywhere in the world.


In the end, he was caught just 140 miles from the city of Culiacan, the home base for his Sinaloa drug cartel.


Mexican Marines (touted by Mexico as the least susceptible to corruption) and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (who have a hand in nearly all major busts) carried out the joint operation.


This latest chapter in the drug lord's life will likely end up immortalized in lyrics, such as the corridos, or folk songs, sung about him in Mexico. And the idolization crossed the border north. Consider the lyrics of rapper Gucci Mane's 2012 song:


All I wanna be is El Chapo


Fully automatic slice your auto


All I wanna be is El Chapo


Three billion dollars in pesos


All I wanna be is El Chapo


And when I meet him I'mma tell him bravo


Guzman was born in Badiraguato, Sinaloa, at a time when the drug trade was evolving, and began his career in the drug trade working for powerful drug lord Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, according to a biography by Time.


He founded his own cartel in 1980, and quickly established outposts in a number of states, eventually inheriting some of his mentor's territory, according to Time.


His drug empire became Mexico's most powerful, the Sinaloa cartel. It also was deadly, authorities said. He surrounded himself with an army of ruthless guards and enforcers and reigned over a worldwide, multibillion-dollar drug empire that supplied much of the marijuana and cocaine peddled on the streets of U.S. cities.


In U.S. indictments, the organization was accused of using assassins and hit squads to maintain control.


In Mexico, the strength of his enterprise helped unleash an ongoing drug war that has left thousands of his countrymen dead.


Guzman was arrested in Guatemala in 1993 and extradited to Mexico, where he was convicted and sentenced to a maximum-security prison.


One of the most often retold stories about him is how he escaped from the prison in a laundry cart in 2001. The carefully planned escape required bribes and cooperation that allegedly cost him $2.5 million, according to Malcolm Beith's book "Last Narco."


"He's a fascinating character," Beith told CNN in an interview last year. "He's the epitome of the problem. He's a poor kid who had some family connections in the drug trade, no options, no real education...(and) becomes a big time drug lord."


Even during his time in prison, there was very little doubt that he lived like a king inside, Beith said.


And although he dislikes the title "world's most wanted drug lord," it is an accurate description of who Guzman is, he said.


"There's tons of other drug lords around. But I think the Sinaloa cartel, given its growth, given its influence... I think it puts him on the top," Beith said.


Guzman's legend only grew while he was on the run from authorities. Stories of him helping the poor, or taking everyone's cell phones at a restaurant while he ate and then footing everyone's bill for their inconvenience.


"I think probably a lot of them have some truth," Scott Stewart, vice president of analysis at Stratfor, told CNN last year. "He wants to try to foster that whole mystique."


The mystique of him being some sort of Robin Hood character helped Guzman as he tried to evade arrest, he said.


"I think there's a false narrative that says El Chapo is kind of this benevolent businessman," Stewart said.


In truth, Guzman is known for not hesitating to use force when he needs too, and for bribing officials who get in his way, he said.


His capture will shed some light on just how loyal his followers were, and how far his bribe money got him.


His legend stands tall, but the next images Mexico will see of him likely will be standing between federal police officers, handcuffed.


El Chapo will be reduced to the man, not the myth.


But on social media, however, many were betting that Guzman might escape again.


"Don't get so worked" about the arrest, one Twitter user wrote. "He's going to escape again in a cart of dirty laundry."



'Right to discriminate' bill: Shameful





  • Matthew Whitaker: Arizona legislature approved a bill that would allow discrimination

  • He says the bill shields those who show religion prompts their discrimination

  • He says bill aimed at LGTB community but could affect many groups

  • Whitaker: Arizona complicated, not as biased as often depicted




Editor's note: Matthew C. Whitaker is an ASU Foundation professor of history and founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at Arizona State University. He is the author of "Peace Be Still: Modern Black America From World War II to Barack Obama." He can be followed on Twitter at @Dr_Whitaker.


(CNN) -- Arizona set itself up for yet another self-inflicted political wound, international humiliation, costly boycotts and historical shame now that its legislature has passed a bill giving people the right to discriminate.


The bill was written by the Center for Arizona Policy and a Christian legal organization called the Alliance Defending Freedom. They were inspired, in part, by the case of a New Mexico wedding photographer who was taken to court after refusing to shoot a gay commitment ceremony. The bill seeks to shield Christians from members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community who dare to seek equal protection under the law.



Matthew C. Whitaker


Specifically, the bill protects all individuals, businesses and religious institutions from discrimination lawsuits if they can show that their discriminatory actions were motivated by religious convictions.


Under the guise of religious freedom, however, the bill would enable businesses potentially to discriminate against virtually anyone -- not just Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, agnostics and atheists, but also unwed mothers, Rastafarians and Budweiser T-shirt wearers. This bill is arbitrary, capricious and antithetical to the spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood that inform our documents of freedom.


It will lead to marginalization and oppression by allowing bigots to deny gay people access to virtually any business or service. The road to Indian genocide, Jim Crow, Japanese-American internment, the Holocaust and other iterations of human persecution began with laws that isolated and dehumanized entire groups of people.





What's in Ariz.'s 'religious freedom' bill?




Arizona protesters: Stop 'anti-gay' bill




Arizona anti-gay bill sparks outrage

Arizona's race relations and cultural politics are often misunderstood by the rest of the country. Racial diversity and progressivism exist within the predominantly white and conservative power structure of the Grand Canyon State. This has created an interesting dynamic.


Arizona has sometimes made racial and cultural inroads ahead of the national curve, while fear of major demographic shifts, including a growing LGBTQ community, and the erosion of white privilege have unearthed racial stereotyping, homophobia and xenophobic policies. Many outside the state misunderstand this dynamic, assuming we are a wholly backward place without understanding that it is much more complicated than that.


Nevertheless, Arizona now has the dubious designation as the first state to pass an anti-gay bill that seeks to shun and segregate in the name of religion.


Similar legislation has been put forward in Idaho, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Tennessee. The Arizona measure is the only bill that has passed.


There is a saying: "history doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes." The rhythm of chauvinism and acrimony in Arizona endures. The state long resisted creating a holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., which it finally did in 1992. It is not too late to shift course, however. Gov. Jan Brewer has the power to put Arizona back on the right side of history. The "right to discriminate" bill now sits on her desk.


The bill passed Thursday, She has five days to reject it or sign it into law.


Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.


Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.


The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Matthew C. Whitaker.



Dakar rally vehicles used in drugs operation


Two Spaniards were arrested as they tried to smuggle almost 1.4 tons of cocaine into Europe.


The drugs, wrapped in triple layers of plastic, were hidden inside the spare tires of a support lorry for the Dakar rally , which this year was held in Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. The lorry and a second technical support lorry arrived by sea at Le Havre in northern France. Both Spanish drivers were later arrested in a motorway rest area in Normandy. Police are almost certain the cocaine was bound for Spain.


The 1.393tons of cocaine is the largest haul ever intercepted on the French mainland. The investigation by French, Spanish and Bulgarian police remains open. Police sources revealed an international network is behind the smuggling operation and more arrests are likely to happen in several countries including Spain.


The sources also emphasised that none of the four detainees are linked to ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation), the Dakar rally organisers.


Two more men, both Bulgarians and whom police regard as the organisers, were arrested in a similar swoop in Bulgaria.



Officials from U.S., Mexico get 'Shorty'





  • Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is longtime boss of powerful drug trafficking operations

  • Guzman has been included in Forbes' World's Most Powerful People list

  • DEA veteran: "It is a significant arrest provided he gets extradited immediately"




(CNN) -- Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the boss of one of Mexico's most powerful drug trafficking operations, was arrested in Mexico, a U.S. official told CNN Saturday.


The official said Guzman, accompanied by a female, was captured in a joint operation with Mexican marines and Drug Enforcement Administration authorities overnight at a hotel in the beach resort of Mazatlán.


The operation had been in the works for four or five weeks, the official said.


The drug war: What you need to know


Phil Jordan, who spent three decades with the DEA and headed the agency's El Paso Intelligence Center, said the arrest represents a huge blow to the world's most powerful drug boss.





2011: Aide to top drug lord arrested

"It is a significant arrest provided he gets extradited immediately to the United States," Jordan told CNN. "If he does not get extradited, then he will be allowed to escape within a period of time.


"When you arrest the most powerful man in the Americas and, in Mexico, if you talk to any cartel member they'll say that he's more powerful than Mexican President Pena Nieto. This would be a significant blow to the overall operations not only in the Americas, but Chapo Guzman had expanded to Europe. He was all over the place. If he is, in fact, incarcerated, until he gets extradited to the United States, it will be business as usual."


In Washington a senior administration official described the arrest as "huge" and said it was "a Mexican-led operation, but one with very strong U.S. government support."


"This has been a long time coming, and hopefully puts a rest to the nonsense that this Mexican government isn't focusing on security and that the U.S. and Mexico aren't working well together," the official told CNN. "They are, and we do."


Guzman, who authorities say has eluded capture for years, is wanted in the United States on multiple federal drug trafficking charges and last year was named a Public Enemy No. 1 by the Chicago Crime Commission.


His nickname, which means "Shorty," matches his 5-foot-6 frame.


Guzman escaped from a high-security Mexican prison in 2001 and avoided being caught because of his enormous power to bribe corrupt local, state and federal Mexican officials.


Guzman has been included in Forbes' World's Most Powerful People list since 2009.


Guzman has been named in multiple federal drug trafficking indictments in the United States and has been on the Drug Enforcement Administration's most-wanted list. His drug enterprise stretches throughout North America and reaches as far away as Europe and Australia.


The Sinaloa cartel has been blamed for its role in the bloody drug war that has plagued Mexico in recent years.


Daughter of accused drug lord deported


Photos: Inside the drug war



Is designer baby within reach?







  • Robert Klitzman: Testing to screen embryos of gene mutations raises ethical issues

  • Klitzman: The upside is it can eliminate mutations that cause untreatable diseases

  • But this technology can be abused and some may use it for selective breeding, he says

  • Klitzman: We need to know where to draw the line and not cross over into eugenics




Editor's note: Robert Klitzman is a professor of psychiatry and director of the Masters of Bioethics Program at Columbia University. He is author of "Am I My Genes?: Confronting Fate and Family Secrets in the Age of Genetic Testing."


(CNN) -- "It's a miracle," she told me. "We can now have a baby that won't have Huntington's disease. I thought I'd never be able to have any kids -- because of the disease." Her father had died from this disorder, which results from a gene mutation. She feared that she might have the mutation, too. But she was too scared to undergo testing for it. She also worried that if she had it, she might pass it on to her children.


This disease causes severe neurological and psychiatric problems, and eventual death at around the same age as one's parent died of it -- usually in one's 40s or 50s. If a parent has the disease, each child has a 50% chance of inheriting it.


Woody Guthrie, the singer and songwriter, died of this illness. His children then had to debate whether they wanted to know if they, too, had the lethal mutation. His son, Arlo, for instance, decided not to find out. Many such offspring feel that to undergo this genetic test is to risk "getting a death sentence," i.e., while they may feel fine, they know they have a mutation that will kill them.



Robert Klitzman


The woman with whom I spoke was afraid to learn if she had this gene. But she wanted to make sure that her children did not get it.


Luckily, a relatively new procedure -- pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD -- allows doctors to test embryos before they are implanted into a woman's womb, to help ensure that certain gene mutations are not passed on. Using In Vitro Fertilization, sperm fertilize eggs outside the womb, creating embryos. When the embryos are a few days old, one cell is removed and can be tested for hundreds of genes.


This woman struggled with what to do. She feared she would be playing God. But she decided to undergo the procedure. The doctor told her that embryos without the mutation were implanted inside her. He did not tell her whether he had identified any embryos with the mutation. Thus, she was able to have a child free of the gene mutation that would cause Huntington's disease, tremendously relieving her and her husband of worries. She still does not know if she has the bad gene herself.


But this procedure is raising myriad complex ethical and social issues. It can eliminate gene mutations for untreatable diseases that kill infants and adults. But it can also be used to select embryos based on other genetic factors.


Many parents decide that they want to choose, for instance, their future child's gender, and many doctors now use this technology to do so. At some point in the future, tests will no doubt be marketed for genes that, companies will claim, are associated with behavioral traits such as intelligence, sexual orientation, possibly even perfect musical pitch, or physical characteristics like height, blond hair and blue eyes. Many of these claims will be highly questionable.


Among diseases, Huntington's is rare in that the gene mutation predicts the disorder. But for most people, common diseases and traits result from combinations of both nature and nurture -- multiple genes, along with various environmental and other factors. So, a particular mutation may contribute in some small way toward a disease or trait, but it would not be the sole determinant. A gene mutation might double your chance of getting a particular disease; say your risk may rise from 5% to 10%, but you would still have a 90% chance of never getting the disease.


Profound dilemmas emerge concerning for which genes doctors should use PGD, and who should decide. Most Western European countries ban or heavily restrict use of this technology to serious diseases like Huntington's -- not gender. In contrast, the United States doesn't have laws governing when it can or cannot be used.


For example, the procedure has been used to avoid embryos with the gene that increases the risk of breast cancer, though the disease wouldn't affect the child for perhaps 40 or 50 years. Individuals with one of the breast cancer mutations can have their breasts and ovaries removed to prevent disease. Also, by 2065, treatments may exist. And what about gene mutations that have, say, a 20% or 30% chance of causing disease when the child is in midlife? Should parents discard an embryo based on that percentage?


This technology is expensive -- about $20,000 for each cycle of IVF -- and many insurance companies do not cover most of the cost. Hence, wealthy parents can afford to eliminate certain diseases from their offspring, while poorer and middle-class parents will not be able to do so.


Consequently, over time, certain disease will become relegated to certain social groups, but not others. The gap between the wealthiest 1% and everyone else is already expanding. Should we allow this method to widen it more in the genetic pool? Some people argue yes: Wealthy parents can already afford to send their children to private schools, private tutors, SAT prep classes, while other parents cannot do so. But eliminating diseases is in some ways more extreme.


Others see this technology as raising troubling issues of eugenics, which had horrific results under the Nazis, who sought to "purify" the gene pool in Germany, and eliminate people whom they felt were genetically inferior. The film "Gattaca" and Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel, "Brave New World," depict the dark problems that can ensue.


So far, we have allowed parents to choose when to use this procedure. Government regulations might be cumbersome. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the professional organization for physicians working in this area, has issued some guidelines, permitting broad use, but these are not really enforced.


Yet many patients, and even doctors, know little about this technology. More education of both physicians and the public is critical. We also need broad discussion and debate about what is at stake, and where to draw the line.


"How beauteous mankind is," Shakespeare's Miranda exclaims optimistically in "The Tempest." "Oh brave new world, that has such people in it!" Huxley used these words ironically. Between her hope and his pessimism may lie the reality -- depending on how we all now respond.


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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Robert Klitzman.



Veteran newsman Garrick Utley dies






Click through to see<a href='http://ift.tt/1kIeaCS'> people who passed away</a> in 2014.Click through to see people who passed away in 2014.

Journalist Garrick Utley has died at age 74 following a long battle with cancer, according to NBC. Utley worked for CNN after his 30-year career at NBC News.Journalist Garrick Utley has died at age 74 following a long battle with cancer, according to NBC. Utley worked for CNN after his 30-year career at NBC News.

Devo guitarist <a href='http://ift.tt/1nKOlhA'>Bob Casale</a>, known by fans as "Bob 2," died Monday, February 17, his brother and band mate announced. Casale was 61.Devo guitarist Bob Casale, known by fans as "Bob 2," died Monday, February 17, his brother and band mate announced. Casale was 61.

<a href='http://ift.tt/1jpktqq'>John Henson</a>, son of Jim Henson, perhaps most notable for his portrayal of Sweetums, a large, gruff-looking, lovable character on "The Muppets," died after a "sudden, massive heart attack," his family's company said on February 15. John Henson, son of Jim Henson, perhaps most notable for his portrayal of Sweetums, a large, gruff-looking, lovable character on "The Muppets," died after a "sudden, massive heart attack," his family's company said on February 15.

Veteran actor <a href='http://ift.tt/1kGcvg5'>Ralph Waite</a> died at 85 on Thursday, February 13, according to an accountant for the Waite family and a church where the actor was a regular member. Waite was best known for his role as John Walton Sr. on 'The Waltons."Veteran actor Ralph Waite died at 85 on Thursday, February 13, according to an accountant for the Waite family and a church where the actor was a regular member. Waite was best known for his role as John Walton Sr. on 'The Waltons."

<a href='http://ift.tt/1omX64r'>Sid Caesar</a>, whose clever, anarchic comedy on such programs as "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour" helped define the 1950s "Golden Age of Television," died on February 12. He was 91.Sid Caesar, whose clever, anarchic comedy on such programs as "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour" helped define the 1950s "Golden Age of Television," died on February 12. He was 91.

Hollywood child star <a href='http://ift.tt/1h7jfD0'>Shirley Temple</a>, who became diplomat Shirley Temple Black, died February 10 at her Woodside, California, home. She was 85.Hollywood child star Shirley Temple, who became diplomat Shirley Temple Black, died February 10 at her Woodside, California, home. She was 85.

<a href='http://ift.tt/1fpGvXp'>Joan Mondale</a>, the wife of former Vice President Walter Mondale, died on February 3, according to a statement from the family's church.Joan Mondale, the wife of former Vice President Walter Mondale, died on February 3, according to a statement from the family's church.

Oscar-winning actor <a href='http://ift.tt/1bRFzsA'>Philip Seymour Hoffman</a> was found dead in his Manhattan apartment of an apparent drug overdose, law enforcement sources said February 2.Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his Manhattan apartment of an apparent drug overdose, law enforcement sources said February 2.

<a href='http://ift.tt/1dUyOWx'>Maximilian Schell</a> died on February 1 in a Austrian hospital with his wife by his side, his agent Patricia Baumbauer said. He was 83. Schell was nominated for an Oscar three times. He won in 1962 for "Judgment at Nuremberg."Maximilian Schell died on February 1 in a Austrian hospital with his wife by his side, his agent Patricia Baumbauer said. He was 83. Schell was nominated for an Oscar three times. He won in 1962 for "Judgment at Nuremberg."

Legendary folk singer <a href='http://ift.tt/1aGBooS' target='_blank'>Pete Seeger</a>, known for classics such as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)," died of natural causes in New York on January 27, his grandson told CNN. He was 94.Legendary folk singer Pete Seeger, known for classics such as "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)," died of natural causes in New York on January 27, his grandson told CNN. He was 94.

<a href='http://ift.tt/1jaSvPv' target='_blank'>Ruth Robinson Duccini</a>, who played one of the Munchkins in the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz," died on January 16. She was 95. Ruth Robinson Duccini, who played one of the Munchkins in the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz," died on January 16. She was 95.

Former Playboy centerfold <a href='http://ift.tt/1aw5INe'>Cassandra Lynn Hensley </a>was found dead at a friend's home in Los Angeles, the coroner there said on January 17. Hensley was 34. Her cause of death was not immediately known.Former Playboy centerfold Cassandra Lynn Hensley was found dead at a friend's home in Los Angeles, the coroner there said on January 17. Hensley was 34. Her cause of death was not immediately known.

<a href='http://ift.tt/1kG57lD'>Hiroo Onoda</a>, center, salutes after handing over his military sword on Lubang Island in the Philippines in March 1974. Onoda, a former intelligence officer in the Japanese army, had remained on the island for nearly 30 years, refusing to believe his country had surrendered in World War II. He died at a Tokyo hospital on January 16. He was 91.Hiroo Onoda, center, salutes after handing over his military sword on Lubang Island in the Philippines in March 1974. Onoda, a former intelligence officer in the Japanese army, had remained on the island for nearly 30 years, refusing to believe his country had surrendered in World War II. He died at a Tokyo hospital on January 16. He was 91.

<a href='http://ift.tt/1djazVb'>Russell Johnson</a>, center, stands with Alan Hale Jr., left, and Bob Denver in an episode of "Gilligan's Island" in 1966. Johnson, who played "the professor" Roy Hinkley in the hit television show, passed away January 16 at his home in Washington state, according to his agent, Mike Eisenstadt. Johnson was 89.Russell Johnson, center, stands with Alan Hale Jr., left, and Bob Denver in an episode of "Gilligan's Island" in 1966. Johnson, who played "the professor" Roy Hinkley in the hit television show, passed away January 16 at his home in Washington state, according to his agent, Mike Eisenstadt. Johnson was 89.

<a href='http://ift.tt/JPyD7Z'>Ariel Sharon, </a>whose half century as a military and political leader in Israel was marked with victories and controversies, died on January 11 after eight years in a coma, Israeli Army Radio reported. Sharon was 85.Ariel Sharon, whose half century as a military and political leader in Israel was marked with victories and controversies, died on January 11 after eight years in a coma, Israeli Army Radio reported. Sharon was 85.

<a href='http://ift.tt/1c2hG0z' target='_blank'>Franklin McCain</a>, seen center wearing glasses, one of the "Greensboro Four," who made history for their 1960 sit-in at a Greensboro Woolworth's lunch counter, died on January 10 after a brief illness, according to his alma mater, North Carolina A&amp;T State University. Franklin McCain, seen center wearing glasses, one of the "Greensboro Four," who made history for their 1960 sit-in at a Greensboro Woolworth's lunch counter, died on January 10 after a brief illness, according to his alma mater, North Carolina A&T State University.

<a href='http://ift.tt/1h12OVu' target='_blank'>Larry Speakes</a>, who served as President Ronald Reagan's press secretary, died January 10 at his home in Cleveland, Mississippi, following a lengthy illness, according to Bolivar County Coroner Nate Brown. He was 74.Larry Speakes, who served as President Ronald Reagan's press secretary, died January 10 at his home in Cleveland, Mississippi, following a lengthy illness, according to Bolivar County Coroner Nate Brown. He was 74.

Poet<a href='http://ift.tt/1mfhyAy' target='_blank'> Amiri Baraka</a>, who lost his post as New Jersey's poet laureate because of a controversial poem about the 9/11 terror attacks, died on January 9, his agent said. Baraka was 79.Poet Amiri Baraka, who lost his post as New Jersey's poet laureate because of a controversial poem about the 9/11 terror attacks, died on January 9, his agent said. Baraka was 79.

<a href='http://ift.tt/1mnywzx' target='_blank'>Sir Run Run Shaw</a>, the media tycoon who helped bring Chinese martial arts films to an international audience, died at his home in Hong Kong on January 7 at age 106, the television station he founded said.Sir Run Run Shaw, the media tycoon who helped bring Chinese martial arts films to an international audience, died at his home in Hong Kong on January 7 at age 106, the television station he founded said.

Stage, TV and film actress<a href='http://ift.tt/1mnywPS'> Carmen Zapata</a>, who founded the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts as a means of of introducing "the rich and eloquent history of the diverse Hispanic culture to English-speaking audiences," died on January 5 at her Los Angeles home. She was 86.Stage, TV and film actress Carmen Zapata, who founded the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts as a means of of introducing "the rich and eloquent history of the diverse Hispanic culture to English-speaking audiences," died on January 5 at her Los Angeles home. She was 86.

Portugal football legend <a href='http://ift.tt/1dDrq63'>Eusebio</a>, who was top scorer at the 1966 World Cup, died from a heart attack on January 5 at age 71, said his former club, Benfica.Portugal football legend Eusebio, who was top scorer at the 1966 World Cup, died from a heart attack on January 5 at age 71, said his former club, Benfica.

<a href='http://ift.tt/1g7aHYk'>Alicia Rhett</a>, who had been one of the oldest surviving cast members of the classic film "Gone With the Wind," died on January 3 in her longtime hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, a retirement community spokeswoman said. She was 98.Alicia Rhett, who had been one of the oldest surviving cast members of the classic film "Gone With the Wind," died on January 3 in her longtime hometown of Charleston, South Carolina, a retirement community spokeswoman said. She was 98.

Singer <a href='http://ift.tt/1dvvG7p'>Phil Everly</a>, left -- one half of the groundbreaking, smooth-sounding, record-setting duo the Everly Brothers -- died on January 3, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was 74.Singer Phil Everly, left -- one half of the groundbreaking, smooth-sounding, record-setting duo the Everly Brothers -- died on January 3, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was 74.








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  • "He was the old kind of trenchcoat-clad journalist," his widow says

  • Utley reported from more than 75 countries during a career spent mostly at NBC News

  • He opened NBC's bureau in Vietnam in 1964




(CNN) -- Garrick Utley, who worked as a globetrotting foreign correspondent during the flush decades of network news, has died at age 74 of prostate cancer, his wife of 40 years said Friday.


"He has been fighting -- as you always call it -- prostate cancer for two years," Gertje Utley said. "He had a very, very rare, very aggressive kind."


He died Thursday night at his home in New York overlooking Central Park, she said.


"He was really the old kind of journalist," she said of her husband, who reported from more than 75 countries. "He was the old kind of trenchcoat-clad journalist who wrote his own copy -- always wrote his own copy."


During his early years at NBC, the network did not scrimp on devoting resources to newsgathering, she said. "That's what he always talked about: The early days were the lucky days."


Born in Chicago in 1939 to a radio and television news couple, Clifton and Frayn Utley, Garrick graduated from Carleton College and studied at the Army Language School in Monterey, California, before winning a Fulbright Scholarship and moving to Berlin to study East-West relations, she said.


In 1963, NBC's John Chancellor -- who had worked for Utley's father -- hired him as an office assistant in the network's bureau in Brussels, Belgium, she said.


After NBC News's "Huntley-Brinkley Report" expanded that year from 15 minutes to half an hour, the network was looking for more material, and Utley caught the eye of the brass. "He covered a couple of stories for the Common Market, as it was called then," she said of what is now the European Economic Community, and did some work in London.


"But mainly, within the year, there was this little war going on, and they didn't have a journalist there. So Garrick started the NBC office in Vietnam."


When he arrived in Saigon, the newsman was the bureau's sole occupant. By the time he left a few years later to report from capitals around the world, 20 people were staffing it, Gertje Utley said.


He went on to serve as bureau chief in Berlin from 1966-68 and then in Paris, where he met his wife in 1971. From 1973-79, he was chief foreign correspondent for Europe and the British Isles.


But he returned several times to Vietnam for such key events as the 1968 Tet Offensive and the pullout of U.S. troops in 1973.


They were heady days for foreign correspondents. It was not unusual for NBC to send Utley for three weeks to report a story in China or for two weeks to cover a story in Zimbabwe, his wife said. "It was still the journalism where you actually had to have the knowledge and explain a situation."


Utley prepared to be a man of the world, becoming fluent in German and French and developing a working knowledge of Russian and Spanish, she said.


He was a ubiquitous presence on the network, serving as a weekend anchor of "NBC Nightly News" and a moderator of "Meet the Press," in addition to his work as a correspondent.


But over the years, the network cut its newsgathering resources, she said. "Today, journalism is somebody telling you what you see behind them," she said. "Garrick still gave the background of the political situation and why it is that way. I'm sorry, this is a proud widow talking."


After GE bought NBC in 1986, "he really witnessed the decline," and Utley went briefly to ABC as its chief foreign correspondent, but left after it was bought by Disney in 1996, when its news division endured similar cuts. In 1997, he moved to CNN as a contributor.


"And what a presence he was," CNN Editorial Director Richard T. Griffiths said in an e-mail to colleagues on Friday. "In his calm, measured, voice anchoring on 9/11 and in countless pieces, Garrick delivered thoughtful analysis that always raised the bar.


"Garrick was the consummate gentleman in every encounter. He was relentlessly curious, passionate about storytelling, and unafraid to take on the controversial topics.


"Those here in those days learned so much from Garrick. ... He left a mark. We can all hope to do the same."


But the network did not embrace Utley's tone, his widow said. "He actually was reprimanded for it: 'Garrick, why do you have to be so serious?' "


He carried a serious demeanor throughout his life, said his sister-in-law Carol Marin, a Chicago journalist who is married to Utley's brother Jonathan.


"He was always kind of the grownup in the room, even when he as much younger," she said. "I really think he had a kind of dignity. We saw it in his death, and we knew it in his life."


When he left CNN in 2002, Utley's farewell note cited advice he had received more than four decades before from Chancellor. "Keep your voice low and your sentences short."


"I am not sure how much of a place there is for low, quiet voices in our chosen field today, but brevity is still a virtue," Utley wrote.


"For a journalist, there are few joys greater than the opportunity to craft and contribute reports on subjects ranging from the weighty, to the ephemera of a changing culture. CNN has offered me the opportunity to do so, and for that I am grateful. I will continue in various guises.


"I could go on, but I won't."


Utley's producer at CNN recalled him as a mentor. "He was a journalistic giant, who took me under his wing as a researcher and producer when I first started with CNN," Alex Walker said in a Facebook posting. "Garrick taught me how to write for television and helped me develop an eye for pictures ... My fondest memories are chats we had in his office late in the day. I would pick his brain about his long, storied career."


Walker noted Utley's love for his wife, who called him "Big Man," and for the opera broadcasts he hosted for PBS, but he said it was something else that most impressed him. "Garrick loved to laugh, and that's what I will miss most. Sometimes he would laugh so long and hard and start shaking. It was just the funniest thing in the world. I will miss that man. Such a tremendous loss today for journalism and for me personally. Rest in peace, Big Man."


After departing CNN, Utley went into academia, helping create the Levin Institute for International Relations and Commerce at the State University of New York and serving as professor of broadcasting and journalism at SUNY Oswego.


During his career, he received a number of honors, including an Edward R. Murrow Award and a George Foster Peabody Award.


He also served on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, Carleton College and Public Radio International, the board of advisers of Medecins Sans Frontieres and as chairman of the American Council on Germany.


The couple had no children. "I always thought it was because Garrick traveled so much," Gertje Utley said. But they were "blessed with" several godchildren and found happiness in other ways, she said. "If you never become parents, you remain lovers," she said.


Utley's 2000 memoir, "You Should Have Been Here Yesterday: A Life Story in Television News," was described by the New York Times as "a moving account of Utley's experiences in the business" and a history of television news.


"He openly acknowledges his frustrations at both the limitations of reporting and television's corporate parents' squeezing of foreign news in the name of profits," it says. "Still, he chooses to see the positive. And while he regrets the decline of traditional foreign news reporting, he remains optimistic about new media taking up the slack, writing that all the new sources will offer 'more in both breadth and depth. That is what makes the future in electronic and digital journalism so exciting.'"


"He was a big, big guy," NBC's Matt Lauer said on Friday's "Today" of the 6-foot-6-inch man. "He was an imposing figure physically, but also intellectually. He was a smart man."


During a 2012 reunion of NBC hosts, Utley said of his work as a foreign correspondent, "It was wonderful to have this platform and the wherewithal and the budgets to go out into the world."


NBC meteorologist Al Roker said Utley had always wanted to be a country singer. "He had a great voice," Roker said.


His widow said she had not heard that, but "I know that he loved country music when he was young."


Utley's other brother, David, lives in Madison, Wisconsin.