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Big Money
Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP Photo
1. Obama Raises $43.6M in April
The Obama campaign is out with a new video in which manager Jim Messina touts the president’s recent fundraising accomplishments, like taking in $43.6 million in the month of April, as outside groups pour millions into Romney’s campaign. While April’s large loot was less than Obama raised in March, he’s still been able to fundraise more successfully than Romney, and that’s not including big fundraisers like the one at George Clooney’s house last week or the recent uptick in gay donors since his endorsement of same-sex marriage.
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SOCIAL NETWORK
Timur Emek, dapd / AP Photo
2. Facebook IPO Could Top $16B
Facebook will increase the size of its initial public offering by 25 percent, a source told Reuters on Wednesday—meaning the company could raise as much as $16 billion before its shares go public on Friday. If the IPO is increased, it will be the third-largest initial share sale in history, after Visa and General Motors. According to the source, Facebook will add about 85 million shares, for a total of 422 million expected to be floated in the public offering. The news about the shares came just one day after GM announced it would be pulling its ads from Facebook, saying the ads are ineffective.
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ANTICIPATION
Petros Giannakouris / AP Photo
3. Greece Sets June 17 for Vote
Greek political leaders set June 17 as the date of the next election, although no official announcement has been made. Earlier Wednesday, Greek officials expressed concern that citizens are withdrawing euros from banks over fear of the country exiting the single currency and the rapid devaluation they would suffer as a result. In a meeting between Greek President Karolos Papoulias and political leaders, Papoulias spoke of the “fear that could develop into panic” at the country’s banks as the political parties failed to form a coalition government and a new election was announced. Central bank head George Provopoulos said Greeks had withdrawn at least €700 million ($894 million) on Monday. Meanwhile, the London stock exchange, the FTSE, was down Wednesday on the news from Greece.
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JUSTICE
Toussaint Kluiters, Pool / AP Photo
4. Mladic War Crimes Trial Begins
The trial of Ratko Mladic, the man accused of being responsible for the bloodiest genocide in Europe since World War II, began on Wednesday at The Hague, 17 years after the Bosnian conflict ended. Mladic is charged with 11 counts, including two counts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity during the Bosnian conflict, including the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica. Family members of his victims and survivors packed the courtroom to see Mladic, who reportedly gave them a sarcastic hand clap and wave. Mladic gestured he needed a bathroom break by sliding his finger across his throat, causing consternation from his victims. Mladic, 70, had eluded authorities for 16 years until his capture in May 2011.
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TRIAL
5. Edwards Defense Rests
Defense attorneys for John Edwards wrapped up their case Wednesday without calling their client to the stand, and his mistress, Rielle Hunter, will not testify in the trial. Some watchers expected Hunter to testify since she could back up that Edwards had no direct knowledge of a secret effort to take care of her and keep her out of the public eye. However, an appearance from her would have posed a problem since she also serves as a reminder of his lies in their affair. Edwards faces six counts of campaign-finance violations, and he is accused of using campaign donations from two wealthy donors to hide his affair with Hunter and their daughter.
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VEEP STAKES
Julio Cortez / AP Photo
6. Christie on VP: ‘I Got This’
At least there are some things Chris Christie and Cory Booker agree on. The Republican governor of New Jersey and the Democratic mayor of Newark teamed up for a Web video released on Tuesday. In the video created for the New Jersey Press Association Legislative Correspondents Club, Booker pretends to field a call from Romney where he is asked to consider a spot on Romney’s ticket. Booker says, “Yes, yes that was me running into the fire” and admits to shoveling snow. But then says he’s not a “back-up singer” and “you need a big …,” and then Christie jumps in and says, “Excuse me, Mayor, I got this.” Christie also released a video Tuesday lamenting the amount of times he’s been asked to join Romney’s ticket.
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PLUGGED IN
Max Nash, AFP / Getty Images
7. Virgin Launches In-Flight Cell Use
Call it the new mile-high club. Virgin Atlantic announced Monday that it will soon allow passengers to make in-flight calls, send and receive text messages, and surf the Internet on its A330 Airbus flights between New York and London. The airline says it expects the service will be available on 20 planes by the end of 2012, but the privilege of playing Words With Friends in-flight comes at a high price. The airline will charge roughly $1.20 per minute for the service, and only six passengers will be allowed to make calls at once. Cellphone use will still be prohibited during takeoffs and landings. The service is currently available on British Airways and several other Middle Eastern airlines.
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ROLLER-COASTER
UTMB-Galveston / AP Photo
8. Flesh-Eating Victim Improves
Doctors for Aimee Copeland, the Georgia woman who fell victim to a rare flesh-eating bacterial disease after a ziplining accident, say she has been improving, although she will suffer from a “roller-coaster ride of ups and lows” in the coming weeks and months. Copeland’s father, Aaron Copeland, who has been blogging about his daughter’s disease, wrote on Tuesday that “every day we claim a small victory” and “we don’t have to see physical progress, we seem to take comfort in simple words, silly actions and quiet moments.” As a result of the infection, doctors have removed Copeland’s abdomen and amputated a leg and expect to remove her fingers, her father said.
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MAVERICK
Evan Agostini / AP Photo
9. Tom Cruise: My Phone Was Hacked!
They got me, too! Tom Cruise has claimed that he may be one of a handful of celebrities whose cell phones have been hacked by News of the World journalists. When asked during an interview with Playboy magazine if he had ever been hacked, the Mission Impossible star replied, “Maybe.” Cruise, 49, implied he wouldn’t hesitate to take action if his privacy was invaded by Rupert Murdoch’s media company. “There’s one thing you know with a bully. I don’t care how big or mean they are … but sometimes just confronting them works.” If Cruise was indeed hacked, he would be the highest profile celebrity victim yet—a case that would be a PR disaster for Murdoch’s News Corp.
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REINCARNATION
Danny Moloshok / AP Photo
10. J-Lo Tops Forbes Celebrity List
And with this victory, Jennifer Lopez drifted further and further away from “the block” from which she once came. The actress, singer, and host of American Idol dazzled her way to the top of the Forbes Celebrity 100 list—based on both money and fame—bumping Lady Gaga, last year’s winner, from the top. Banking a cool $42 million last year, J-Lo’s successful comeback was fueled by her $20 million Idol gig, a much-publicized split from Marc Anthony, L’Oreal and Gillette endorsements, a snazzy Kohl’s clothing line, her very own fragrance, 6.6 million Twitter followers, and 12 million fans on Facebook. It’s unclear whether 2001’s The Wedding Planner factored into the ranking.
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Gaining Steam
Jae C. Hong / AP Photo
11. Romney Wins NE, OR Primaries
And the winner is … Mitt Romney! The former Massachusetts governor had no problem running to victory in both Nebraska and Oregon on Tuesday night, winning nearly 70 percent of the vote in the Cornhusker State with three quarters of precincts reporting. The Associated Press called the race for Romney in Oregon, projecting him the winner of a distant second-placer Ron Paul. Rick Santorum placed second in Nebraska, though neither he nor Paul could get within 60 percentage points of Romney. Romney is set to gain 57 total delegates from Tuesday’s wins, 32 from Nebraska which will be added during the state’s convention in July, and 25 from Oregon to come when the win is made official. Former senator Bob Kerrey won the Democratic primary in Nebraska, setting up what promises to be a tight race with Republican state Sen. Deb Fischer, who won a three-way primary over Attorney General Jon Bruning.
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OPPOSITION
STR / AFP / Getty Images
12. U.S. Helps Syrian Rebels
The Syrian rebels have become better armed in the past few weeks, apparently receiving weapons that have been paid for by its Gulf neighbors and coordinated in part by the U.S., say opposition activists as well as U.S. and foreign officials. The Obama administration has insisted the U.S. is not providing any lethal material, and a senior State Department official said the U.S. is increasing its “nonlethal assistance” to the Syrian opposition. Material is reportedly being stockpiled in Damascus and in the border towns of Idlib and Zabadani. Opposition activists said two months ago that the rebels were running out of ammunition, but they said this week that the flow of weapons has significantly increased since Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf states agreed to provide millions of dollars in funding to the rebels.
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DEADLY
Burbank Police Department / AP Photo
13. Groom Wanted for Murder
An arrest warrant was issued on Wednesday for a Chicago man charged in the murder of his new wife, who was found slain in her wedding dress a day after the two were married. Arnoldo Jimenez, 30, and Estrella Carrera, 26, were married Friday in Chicago’s City Hall, and the couple then had dinner with friends and family and boarded a rented limousine before partying at a nightclub on Chicago’s North Side. On Sunday, Carrera was found stabbed to death in her bathtub. Jimenez is the father of Carrera’s youngest child, a 2-year-old boy.
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BORN THIS WAY
Oscar Siagian, AFP / Getty Images
14. Indonesians Rally for Gaga Show
Lady Gaga’s Indonesian promoters said Wednesday that they will fight to save her upcoming concert, which was canceled after police denied it a permit and Islamic hardliners threatened “chaos” if she comes to the country. Production company Big Daddy reached out to Lady Gaga’s famous “little monsters” on Twitter, saying they still hoped the June 3 concert would take place—especially since 50,000 tickets had already been sold. But the Islamic Defenders Front has promised to wreak chaos on the country if Gaga performs, calling her the “devil’s messenger” who wears only a “bra and panties” on the stage.
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LIBEL
15. Syracuse Coach’s Wife to Sue ESPN
Laurie Fine, the wife of former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine, has announced plans to sue ESPN for libel, claiming false reporting of child-sex-abuse allegations against her husband ruined her reputation. The suit alleges ESPN falsely portrayed Laurie Fine as consciously turning a blind eye while her husband sexually molested children in her own home. "I have never engaged in or condone despicable conduct falsely reported by ESPN," she said in a press conference Wednesday. "They should apologize and retract these horrible lies.” She did not say anything to indicate whether her husband was innocent or guilty. Bernie Fine, who was fired in November after several boys claimed he molested them, has not been charged.
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Do svidaniya
Alexei Nikolayev / AP Photo
16. Russian Cops Break Up Protest Camp
Russian police ousted political protesters from a campsite in Moscow early Wednesday morning, a day after a judge ordered the site be cleared because of complaints from neighborhood residents. Police had initially said they wouldn’t move in until noon against “OccupyAbai,” named after the statue of a 19th-century Kazakh writer in Chistye Prudy park, but instead swooped at 5:30 a.m. Protesters offered no resistance; police said 23 people were detained, mainly for public intoxication. Protesters then moved to a small park near the Barrikadnaya metro station, so-called for the barricades in the 1905 revolution, after word spread on Twitter that the gathering had moved.
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ROCK THE VOTE
Pool / AP Photo ; Matt Sayles / AP Photo
17. MTV Awards Conflict With DNC
Will President Obama win the award for best nomination? The MTV Music Video Awards and Obama’s acceptance speech are both scheduled for Sept. 6. A source told CNN that MTV will air the awards show an hour earlier than planned—from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST—to “avoid conflict with the Democratic National Convention that evening.”