6 Degrees: Sochi to the Super Bowl

• The opening ceremony for Sochi 2014 will take place on February 7


• The Super Bowl will be played at New Year’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday


• The Seattle Seahawks take on the Denver Broncos in New Jersey

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(CNN) — Six degrees of separation, that’s all there is between any two people on the planet. At least that’s what some would have you believe. Others would tell you that no person is ever more than six steps away from Kevin Bacon.

With two of the biggest sporting events on the planet set to get under way in New Jersey and Russia in the next few days, CNN has put that theory to the test — and bettered it.

Sadly there’s no Kevin Bacon (trust me, I tried) but above are some of the more obscure links between the National Football League’s biggest game and the Winter Olympics.

Click on the three chains we’ve put together which connect Russia to the showdown at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. From skier Julia Mancuso to cornerback Richard Sherman, the Seattle Seahawks to Cossacks and from snowboarder Shaun White to star quarterback Peyton Manning.

From Seattle to Sochi, it’s all connected.

Blog: Is Sochi the safest place in Russia?

Blog: Global domination — NFL vs. NBA

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'Exhausted' Wawrinka wins again

Stanislas Wawrinka claimed a four-set victory on his return to action after winning the Australian Open.

• Stanislas Wawrinka wins first match since claiming Australian Open


• Helps Switzerland to 2-0 lead over Serbia in Davis Cup first round tie


• Roger Federer wins opening rubber for Swiss against Serbia team without Novak Djokovic


• Maria Sharapova into semifinals of WTA tournament in Paris

(CNN) — Stanislas Wawrinka has had little time to rest on his laurels after winning his first grand slam title but the new Australian Open champion rounded off a superb day for Switzerland as they took a commanding 2-0 lead over Serbia in a Davis Cup tie in Novi Sad Friday.

Wawrinka battled jet leg after the long haul flight from Melbourne — where he had beaten Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s final — to see off Dusan Lajovic 6-4 4-6 6-1 7-6.

Earlier, former world number one Roger Federer, a late inclusion in a strong Swiss line-up, beat Ilija Bozoljac 6-4 7-5 6-2 to give them the advantage.

Read: Wawrinka stunned by grand slam triumph

Serbia, beaten in last year’s final by the Czech Republic, is fielding a much-weakened team with both world number two Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic sitting out the World Group match.

Wawrinka wins his first Grand Slam

Li Na wins ‘dream’ trophy

Tennis legends’ surprising comebacks

Federer came back from 5-2 down in the second set to snuff out any hopes Bozoljac might case an upset and he raced through the third set

“In the second set I was just glad to take advantage and fight back. The most important thing is that I won the match in straight sets,” Federer told the official Davis Cup website.

Wawrinka took the first set against world number 102 Lajovic, but was in trouble in the second as the Serbian leveled.

The new Swiss number one raced through the third set, but the fourth was again a struggle and he needed unforced errors from the inexperienced Lajovic in the tiebreak to close out the match.

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Soccer: Team banned for protest

Racing Santander’s players stand on the field refusing to play in a protest over unpaid wages.

• Racing Santander players stage boycott of Copa del Rey quarterfinal


• Angry about unpaid wages at cash-strapped club


• Real Sociedad led 3-1 after first leg on their home ground


• NEW: Spanish federation ban Racing from next season’s competition

(CNN) — Crisis club Racing Santander has been thrown out of next season’s Copa del Rey after its players staged a bizarre on-pitch boycott of a quarterfinal tie against Real Sociedad.

The protest Thursday saw Racing players link arms on the center circle and refuse to play the second leg.

They needed to pull back a two-goal deficit to earn a last four clash with Catalan giants Barcelona, but months of frustration over unpaid wages boiled over.

The match was quickly abandoned but the Spanish football federation (RFEF) reacted Friday by imposing the penalty and a fine of €3,000 ($ 4050) on the stricken Cantabrian club.

A statement on the federation’s official website said its competitions committee had awarded the tie to Basque side Real Sociedad, who had led 3-1 from their home leg.

Read: Messi going nowhere say Barca

“The non-appearing club will not be able to participate in the next edition of the Copa del Rey,” it read.

The Racing players, who were applauded by their home fans in the El Sardinero, had warned before the match that they would take action unless club president Angel Lavin and his board resigned.

Substitutes and staff — including coach Paco Fernandez — who has reportedly not been paid for sixth months — performed the same gesture of defiance on the touchline before the referee Gil Manzano called a halt to the proceedings after less than a minute.

Fernandez told a post-match press conference that he was proud of his players for the stance they had taken and the support they had received.

“We feel touched. We regret having to make this decision but we have done it out of respect to football, the sport that we love, and to ourselves,” he said.

“I want to thank my players for their bravery. Today was the biggest game of our lives and we have done it for our dignity. Without the fans’ support, today’s decision would have been very difficult to take.”

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China expels corrupt 'bulldozer' mayor

Old Nanjing neighborhood seen from above. The former mayor was said to have a penchant for demolition projects

• China’s ruling Communist Party expels former mayor of Nanjing for bribery, abuse of power


• Ji Jianye, known as “mayor bulldozer,” described as “morally corrupt”


• He is latest high-profile target of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive


• His case has now been transferred to prosecutors

Hong Kong (CNN) — China’s ruling Communist Party has expelled the former mayor of Nanjing for bribery and abuse of power, describing him as “morally corrupt.”

State news agency Xinhua said on Thursday that an investigation into Ji Jianye’s alleged transgressions found he took advantage of his position to seek benefits for others and accepted a huge amount of money and gifts personally or through family members.

The decision was made by the Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, which said that Ji’s case would now be handled by China’s judicial system.

Expulsion from the ruling party typically precedes criminal charges.

Ji, who was removed from his post in October, was known, according to local media, as “mayor bulldozer” for his fondness for demolition and reconstruction projects across the city — home to eight million and a former capital.

President Xi Jinping has embarked on an anti-corruption drive since taking office in March 2013, pledging to target both “flies and tigers” — both low- and high-ranking officials, sparing no one regardless of their position.

According to state media, some 108,000 officials were disciplined in the first nine months of 2013 and almost 20 minister-level senior officials have fallen from grace since late 2012.

READ: Xi Jinping: An identity crisis?

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Man dies after firefighters won't help

• NEW: Two employees have been suspended with pay, a spokesman says


• Three people tried to summon firefighters to help the collapsed man


• Mills’ daughter said she saw a firefighter at the station


• That firefighter, a new employee, apparently said he had to be dispatched to help

(CNN) — Marie Mills held her 77-year-old father, who had collapsed outside in a Washington street. She screamed for help.

A passerby rushed across the street to bang on the door of a fire station, knowing that firefighters are trained to provide emergency medical help.

But they wouldn’t leave the station.

The same thing happened when two more people tried to summon the firefighters for assistance, Mills says.

Daughter: Firemen didn’t help dying dad

“We looked across the street at the fire station. There was a firefighter that was actually standing against the fire apparatus,”

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Doctors try to wake Schumacher

• Doctors reduce Michael Schumacher’s sedation to start ‘waking up process’


• Former F1 world champion has been in a medically-induced coma for a month


• 45-year-old suffered a severe head injury when skiing in France in late December

(CNN) — He has been in a medically induced coma for over a month, but former Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher’s sedation is being reduced to start the “waking up process,” his agent said Thursday.

Schumacher suffered severe head trauma in a skiing accident at the French Alps resort of Meribel on December 29.

The announcement marks a key change to Schumacher’s condition, which has been routinely described as “stable” by agent Sabine Kehm in recent weeks.

“Michael’s sedation is being reduced in order to allow the start of the waking up process which may take a long time,” she said in a statement on Thursday.

Read: Mercedes and Ferrari support Schumacher

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Schumacher a global athlete

New video of Schumacher being airlifted

Schumacher injured in skiing accident

Schumacher to retire from F1

“For the protection of the family, it was originally agreed by the interested parties to communicate this information only once this process was consolidated.

“Please note that no further updates will be given.”

Kehm went on to repeat previous requests for the media to respect the privacy of Schumacher’s family.

“The family of Michael Schumacher is again requesting to respect its privacy and the medical secret, and to not disturb the doctors treating Michael in their work. At the same time, the family wishes to express sincere appreciation for the worldwide sympathy.”

A seven-time world champion whose F1 career ended in 2012, Schumacher has been treated in Grenoble since his accident.

Neurosurgeons there operated twice to remove blood clots on the brain and reduce swelling, the reason he has been kept asleep since the surgery.

The German has been inundated with support from around the world during his stay, with his former stable Mercedes running the message “Keep Fighting Michael” on its silver livery when they revealed their new car for testing on Monday.

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Hollande affair 'like skyscraper fall'

• Valerie Trierweiler tells Paris Match of impact of learning of her partner’s alleged affair


• French President Francois Hollande announced the couple’s split over the weekend


• Hollande is allegedly having an affair with French actress Julie Gayet


• Trierweiler says she will continue charity work even though she’s no longer first lady

(CNN) — The former partner of French President Francois Hollande said she felt like she “was falling from a skyscraper” when she learned about his alleged affair with an actress, Paris Match magazine said Thursday.

Trierweiler gave an interview to the magazine, where she’s worked for years, during a visit to Mumbai, India. She was in the nation to support the work of a charity fighting hunger.

Valerie Trierweiler, here on a visit to Mumbai on January 28

Love triangle made salacious headlines

The trip came two days after Hollande announced their split.

“It’s not because I’m no longer the first lady that life has to stop,” Trierweiler told Paris Match in an interview published Thursday, adding that she will continue her charity work with various organizations.

Don’t worry about me, I’m fine, says France’s former first lady

When she learned about the alleged affair, there was already a “detachment” from Hollande, but the media coverage made the breakup harder, Trierweiler said.

She also told Paris Match she had heard rumors about the alleged affair, but did not pay attention to them.

Hollande’s private life has been the subject of global headlines since the French magazine Closer claimed this month he’d been having an affair with actress Julie Gayet for two years.

The President, who has not confirmed or denied the claim announced Saturday that his relationship with Trierweiler was over.

“I wish to make it known that I have ended my shared life (partnership) with Valerie Trierweiler,” Hollande told the Agence France-Presse news agency.

Trierweiler sent a goodbye message Saturday via Twitter to the staff at the presidential palace.

“All my gratitude goes to the extraordinary people at the Elysee. I will never forget the devotion or emotion at the time of leaving,” she wrote.

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Russia IDs bomb suspects

• Police says alleged suicide bombers from Dagestan militant group — state news agency


• Two brothers, suspected accomplices, have been detained, report says


• Russia has been trying to address security concerns before the Winter Olympics


• Security fears have been heightened since Volgograd bombings last month

(CNN) — Russian police have identified two people they believe are the suicide bombers responsible for deadly bombings in Volgograd and detained two suspected accomplices, anti-terrorism officials said Thursday, according to Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.

The National Anti-Terrorism Committee identified the suspected suicide bombers as Asker Samedov and Suleiman Magomedov. It said they belong to the Buinaksk militant group, based in the volatile southern Russian province of Dagestan, according to Ria Novosti.

The two accomplices who are detained are brothers, both from Dagestan, and they are held on suspicion of assisting the suicide bombers in traveling to Volgograd, it said.

The Volgograd twin bombings, which took place in December, killed 34 people and injured many others, heightening concerns about security in Russia before it hosts the Winter Olympics, which open in just over a week.

King: Odds for attack in Russia too high

Huge security operation

The Games are set to begin on February 7 in Sochi, and a huge security operation is under way around the Black Sea resort.

Russia is pouring resources into ensuring that the Olympic Games, seen as a flagship project of President Vladimir Putin, go off without problems.

A bitter battle for an independent Chechnya, lasting almost two decades, spawned an insurgency that has spilled into neighboring republics in the North Caucasus region, including Dagestan.

Chechen warlord Doku Umarov, leader of the Islamist group Caucasus Emirate, last summer called on his followers to do what they could to disrupt the Games. He has said they will be held on the graves of Muslim occupants of Sochi, who he says were driven out by Russian imperial forces in the 19th century.

Despite the shock waves from the Volgograd attack, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said he was confident that Russia would keep the Winter Olympics safe.

READ: Sochi Winter Olympics: Video threat emerges amid security concerns

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Child executed in alleged mob hit

Nicola “Coco” Campolongo, 3, was shot in the head along with his grandfather, Giuseppe Iannicelli, and his grandfather’s 27-year-old companion — victims of an apparent mob hit over money.

• Nicola “Coco” Campolongo was shot and killed last week


• His grandfather and grandfather’s companion were also killed


• The boy’s death has shocked the country, even catching the attention of Pope Francis

Rome (CNN) — Mafia killings don’t typically shock Italians — as disturbing as the occasional hit may be, the tragedy usually affects only friends and families of the victims.

But a coldblooded, point-blank killing this month in southern Italy has a nation grieving — for a 3-year-old child.

Nicola “Coco” Campolongo was shot in the head along with his grandfather, Giuseppe Iannicelli, and his grandfather’s 27-year-old companion — victims of an apparent mob hit over money.

Their bodies were found January 19 in a burned-out Fiat Punto on the outskirts of Cosenza, in southern Italy’s Calabria region. Iannicelli, who was serving a drug-related sentence on house arrest, appeared to be the target of the hit.

“In all my years investigating organized crime murders, none has been as horrific as this one,” lead prosecutor Franco Giacomantonio told CNN. “It is unimaginable that a child can be made to pay for the crimes of his parents.”

The killing even caught the attention of Pope Francis, who called Coco’s death “unprecedented.” He asked worshippers at his Sunday address to say a prayer for Coco and called on the boy’s killers to repent for their crimes.

Coco’s 24-year-old mother, Antonia Iannicelli, didn’t attend her son’s funeral. She’s serving a four-year jail sentence for the possession and sale of drugs. Police feared members of the powerful ‘Ndrangheta crime organization — believed to be behind the killings — would target Iannicelli if she attended.

Her two other children, ages 4 and 5, were moved to protective custody in another region of Italy. Iannicelli will be allowed to serve out the rest of her sentence on house arrest with her surviving children.

The killing of such a young child has sparked debate in Italy about how to protect children growing up in the shadow of the country’s crime syndicates in the impoverished south. Coco was just an infant when his mother began serving her jail sentence.

On Tuesday, Francesco Talarico, head of the regional government in Calabria, wrote a letter to the president of Italy’s national observatory of the rights of minors, urging the group to “lift the veil of silence” that often accompanies mafia crimes, and to “seriously investigate what can be done to protect the future of at-risk children like Coco.”

Coco’s mother was already serving her second prison term for drug crimes tied to ‘Ndrangheta — one of the most powerful organized crime syndicates in the world, according to Francesco Forgione, head of Italy’s Parliamentary anti-Mafia Commission.

“Coco’s mother is the first victim of the system,” Talarico told CNN. “Her son had little chance to escape that life.”

In the wake of Coco’s killing, Interior Minister Alfano Angelino and National Police Chief Alessandro Pansa signed an emergency protocol in the child’s name to ensure the protection of children’s rights.

“We need … to make sure the protocol does not forget children who are growing up in vulnerable situations outside the law, who may be victims or witnesses to crimes. We need to make sure Coco is the last child ever killed like this,” Pansa said.

No suspects have been named in the triple homicide, but Giacomantonio believes it is likely connected to the region’s drug trade.

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Shell shelves Arctic drill plan

• Shell says it lacks “a clear path forward” for drilling off Alaska


• A court ruling last week set back the project


• Shell began drilling in 2012 but skipped 2013 after several snags


• Environmentalists cheered Thursday’s ruling

(CNN) — Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has canceled plans to drill in the Arctic waters off Alaska this year after a federal court ruling put the company’s multibillion-dollar project on hold, the company said Thursday.

It’s the second year Shell has postponed its push to drill in the Chukchi Sea, where it began exploratory drilling in 2012. The effort caused widespread concern among environmentalists and native Alaskan communities, who have taken the company and the U.S. government to court to stop it.

“The lack of a clear path forward and an associated timeline makes it impossible to commit the resources needed to explore safely in 2014,” Shell spokesman Curtis Smith said.

A federal appeals court ruled last week that federal regulators used “an unrealistically low estimate” of the amount of oil Shell might be able to produce when calculating the project’s impact on the Arctic environment.

Environmental groups cheered the company’s decision to sit out the year.

“Arctic offshore drilling is fraught with dangers that defy rational economic development,” Margaret Williams, the head of the World Wildlife Fund’s Arctic programs, said in a written statement. “Shell’s decision to abandon efforts to drill in this remote and extreme environment in 2014 means that Alaskan communities and wildlife will be able to go at least another year without the added threat of spills from exploratory drilling.”

Shell began exploration in summer 2012. But it skipped 2013 after some high-profile snags, including the grounding of a drill barge that was being towed back to the continental U.S. at the end of the 2012 season.

Smith said the company is frustrated by the obstacles it has faced but will continue working with the Department of the Interior while it reviews its options.

“Every year we are delayed from understanding the oil and gas resources under the Chukchi Sea only further delays the potential creation of tens of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in tax revenue and much-needed new oil for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline,” he said.

The shrinking of Arctic sea ice, which hit record summer lows in 2012, has created new opportunities for energy exploration in the region. Climate researchers say that decrease is a symptom of a warming climate, caused largely by the combustion of carbon-rich fossil fuels like oil — a conclusion that’s politically controversial but accepted as fact by most scientists.

Shell’s plans also were delayed by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 rig workers and unleashed an undersea gusher in the Gulf of Mexico that took three months to cap. The company says it’s working at far less depth and lower pressures than those involved in that accident.

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Heroin in McDonald's Happy Meals

• A McDonald’s worker in Pittsburgh sold heroin at the drive-through, authorities say


• Customers would receive the drug in Happy Meal boxes, a criminal complaint says


• Shantia Dennis is charged with possession, criminal use of a communication facility

(CNN) — A McDonald’s employee in Pittsburgh was arrested Wednesday after undercover police officers said they discovered her selling heroin in Happy Meal boxes, according to a criminal complaint.

Shantia Dennis, 26, was arrested after undercover law enforcement officials conducted a drug buy, according to a statement from Mike Manko, communications director for the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office.

Customers looking for heroin were instructed to go through the drive-through and say, “I’d like to order a toy.” The customer would then be told to proceed to the first window, where they would be handed a Happy Meal box containing heroin, Manko said.

During the drug buy, the undercover officers recovered 10 stamp bags of heroin inside of a Happy Meal box, according to the statement.

Officers immediately arrested Dennis and recovered an additional 50 bags of heroin, as well as a small amount of marijuana, according to the complaint.

The sales of heroin do not appear to be related to the potentially lethal batches of heroin being sold in Western Pennsylvania, according to the statement.

Dennis is charged with two counts of possession, one count of criminal use of a communication facility, one count of prohibited acts of delivery and one count of possession with intent to deliver.

Attorney information for Dennis was not immediately available Wednesday.

The McDonald’s location declined to comment to CNN.

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'Super Bowl prostitution' ring busted

• Operators accused of selling “party packs” of cocaine and sex


• Ring allegedly laundered money through front businesses


• Wealthy customers in town for the Super Bowl were targets

(CNN) — The 18 operators of a high-end escort service allegedly banking on

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U.S. warns of al Qaeda 'franchises'

An image of Edward Snowden on a banner is seen in front of the US Capitol on October 26, 2013 in Washington, DC.

• NEW: Clapper says North Korea has stepped up activities at its main nuclear complex


• Intelligence chiefs give a Senate panel the annual assessment of global threats


• DNI Clapper: Terrorists, foes “going to school” on classified leaks


• Military intelligence director Flynn says Snowden leaks caused “grave damage”

Washington (CNN) — If classified leaker Edward Snowden claims victory for disclosing details of U.S. surveillance programs, he should return all the other documents he has yet to to make public, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Wednesday.

Terrorists and other foes were “going to school” on information revealed by Snowden so far, Clapper told the Senate Intelligence Committee, adding the disclosures put from disclosures put U.S. intelligence operations and citizens at risk.

“What Snowden has stolen and exposed has gone way, way beyond his professed concerns with so-called domestic surveillance programs,” Clapper said. “As a result, we’ve lost critical foreign intelligence collection sources, including some shared with us by valued partners.”

Terrorists “going to school”

Atty Gen. Holder discusses Snowden case

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A DOJ deal for Edward Snowden?

Terrorists and other adversaries of America were “going to school on U.S. intelligence sources’ methods and trade craft, and the insights that they are gaining are making our job much, much harder, he continued.

“Snowden claims that he’s won and that his mission is accomplished,” Clapper also noted. “If that is so, I call on him and his accomplices to facilitate the return of the remaining stolen documents that have not yet been exposed to prevent even more damage to U.S. security.”

A former National Security Agency contractor, Snowden is in Russia seeking permanent asylum to avoid U.S. criminal charges over the leaking of classified documents that exposed surveillance programs, including the collection of phone records for possible use in terrorism investigations.

Asked about the impact of the Snowden leaks at the hearing, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn told the panel the disclosures have caused “grave damage” to U.S. national security.

“The greatest cost that is unknown today but that we will likely face is the cost of human lives on tomorrow’s battlefield or in some place where we will put our military forces when we ask them to go into harm’s way,” Flynn said.

Proposed surveillance changes

President Barack Obama has proposed modest reforms to the surveillance programs disclosed by Snowden, but it remains unclear if a divided Congress will come to any agreement on changes intended to balance privacy concerns with national security needs.

Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia criticized Obama’s idea of having third party organizations or phone companies keep the metadata records, rather than the NSA.

“The collection and querying of this metadata is not a private sector responsibility,” Rockefeller said, adding that “going down this path will threaten, not strengthen, our ability to protect this country and the American people from a terrorist attack and massive invasions of their privacy.”

Wednesday’s committee hearing focused on the intelligence community’s annual report of worldwide threats, and Clapper’s opening statement outlined a series of crises and challenges amounted to a bleak outlook on the state of global affairs.

“Looking back over my more than half a century in intelligence, I have not experienced a time when we’ve been beset by more crises and threats around the globe,” he said.

He provided an overview that read like a compilation of cheap thriller novels — dispersed terrorist networks that led to last year’s Boston Marathon bombing; Syria’s civil war that he said created a “growing center of radical extremism”; that conflict’s destabilizing impact on neighboring Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Turkey; increased foreign cyber capabilities; a “dangerous, unpredictable North Korea”; “perpetual conflict and extremism in Africa,” and increased stress of growing populations that creates competition for energy, food and water.

Al Qaeda in 12 countries

Asked about al Qaeda, Clapper said it had spawned five different franchises operating in 12 countries including Yemen, Somalia, Syria and elsewhere.

He was especially concerned about Syria, saying it had become “a huge magnet for extremists” with an estimated 26,000 of them among 1,600 groups in the war-torn Middle East nation.

“We estimate, at this point, in excess of 7,000 foreign fighters have been attracted from some 50 countries, many of them in Europe and the Mideast,” Clapper added.

The foreign extremists “engage in combat, get training, and we’re seeing now the appearance of training complexes in Syria to train people to go back to their countries, and, of course, conduct more terrorist acts,” he said, calling it a “huge concern.”

North Korea nuclear program

Regarding the often unnerving actions of North Korea, Clapper said Kim Jong Un’s regime appeared to have gone ahead with plans it announced last spring to step up activities at its nuclear facilities.

North Korea has restarted a plutonium production reactor and expanded a uranium enrichment plant at Yongbyon, its main nuclear complex, he said in his written testimony to the committee.

His assessment tallies with

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Hacking trial: 'Office cat' knew about it

Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson arrives at the phone-hacking trial in London on January 27, 2014.

• Reporter tells court he was hired for his phone hacking skills at now-defunct tabloid


• Reporter has confessed to hacking into actor Daniel Craig’s voice mail


• Ex-tabloid editor among seven on trial accused of phone hacking crimes


• Phone hacking trial of former News of the World editors under way in London

London (CNN) — Even “the office cat” knew about phone hacking at News of the World, a former journalist at the tabloid insisted in court Wednesday, testifying that his phone hacking skills were the main reason former Editor Andy Coulson hired him.

“Coulson knew it,” said Dan Evans, who confessed on the stand this week to hacking into actor Daniel Craig’s voice mail and finding out that actress Sienna Miller was having an affair with the James Bond star. She was seeing actor Jude Law at the time.

Coulson, who became British Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman after resigning from the tabloid over an earlier hacking scandal, is one of seven people on trial accused ofphone hacking and related crimesin London. He denies the charges.

News of the World owner Rupert Murdoch shut the paper down in the summer of 2011 in the face of public fury over its journalists listening to private voice mails, including those of a missing teenager Milly Dowler. Dowler later was found to have been murdered.

Details of royal messages revealed

Phone hacking trial has UK media buzzing

Prosecutors: Defendants having an affair

Police investigations suggest that thousands of people, from celebrities and politicians to crime and terror victims, were targeted by News of the World phone hacking.

Testy exchanges

Coulson’s attorney, Timothy Langdale, spent Wednesday grilling Evans about subjects from the mechanics of phone hacking to his efforts to get immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony.

The exchanges got testy at times, such as when Langdale said there was nothing to stop Evans from looking for another job if he was unhappy at News of the World.

“There was nothing to stop me jumping off a bridge either, but I didn’t do that,” Evans shot back.

Langdale pressed Evans on why he left the Sunday Mirror for the News of the World, questioning Evans’ explanation that he wanted to stop hacking phones.

Evans said he was so unhappy at the paper that he turned to alcohol and cocaine.

“Was all that because of the hacking you had to do?” Langdale asked.

“Carrying an enormous secret made me unhappy, and delving into the lives of people who didn’t deserve it made me unhappy,” Evans testified.

But he continued hacking phones at News of the World, he testified, saying it was “absolutely” the reason Coulson hired him.

Craig’s phone hacked

On Tuesday, Evans said he had played Coulson a voice mail left by Miller for Craig while she was at a club with Law, and that Coulson had said: “Brilliant!”

Langdale pressed him Wednesday on whether Coulson had said that.

“The exact word ‘brilliant’ may have been paraphrasing,” Evans said.

“You’ve gotten into the habit of paraphrasing, haven’t you?” Langdale shot back.

A similar exchange came later Wednesday morning when Langdale attacked Evans’ assertion that phone hacking was discussed at the main weekly News of the World news meeting.

Evans conceded that his account was based on hearsay from a colleague.

“You’re prone to making sweeping assertions which are not based in fact, aren’t you?” the defense lawyer demanded.

“That is not correct, sir, although I understand why you might want people to think that,” Evans said.

Coulson was editor of the paper in 2006 when its royal correspondent was arrested for conspiracy to hack phones. The correspondent, Clive Goodman, later pleaded guilty. Coulson then resigned, always denying he knew of the hacking.

Then Cameron, the British Conservative party leader, hired Coulson to be his top communications adviser. Cameron became Prime Minister in 2010.

At the height of the phone hacking furor in July 2011, Cameron said he would make a profound apology if it turned out that Coulson had lied about his knowledge of phone hacking.

The hacking allegations prompted Cameron to set up an independent inquiry, led by Lord Justice Leveson, to make recommendations on journalistic ethics and examine the relationship of the media with the public, police and politicians.

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Spy laws hit China's tourist-onauts

Sorry, thumbs down to a space flight if you’re from the PRC.

• U.S. anti-espionage laws bar Chinese nationals from Virgin space flights


• Chinese offers to buy $ 260,000 tickets “rejected”


• Multiple passport holders may be allowed


• Trips criticized as too short and too expensive

(CNN) — Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, has barred Chinese nationals from applying for spots on its first commercial flights.

Cashed-up People’s Republic of China passport holders have reportedly been willing to pay the $ 260,000 fare for a spot on the inaugural Virgin Galactic space flight scheduled for later this year, but have been turned down in order to comply with United States anti-espionage laws, the South China Morning Post reports.

Rocket engines on the Virgin Galactic craft — named SpaceShip Two and WhiteKnight Two — are reportedly considered military grade technology under Cold War U.S. arms trafficking laws.

The legislation was designed to prevent foreign powers, such as China, from getting hold of U.S. military tech secrets.

“Both SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnight Two are U.S. technology and are therefore subject to U.S. regulations,” said Winnie Chan, a spokesperson for a Virgin Galactic accredited partner in Asia.

Chinese nationals with multiple passports or U.S. residency might be considered for a place on the space trips, Virgin Galactic said.

Short — but sweet?

Virgin Galactic has already accrued almost $ 70 million in deposits for spots on its space flights, according to the SCMP, the first of which is due to take place later this year.

A ticket gets you a 110-kilometer trip into the atmosphere and six minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth.

The cost of the tickets has been criticized as excessive for such relatively brief excursions.

Virgin Galactic will be headquartered and launching its flights from Spaceport America, a planned epicenter of space tourism near the New Mexico town of Truth or Consequences.

“Come visit us!” says the Spaceport America website.

No mention of nationality.

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Don't politicize the honoring of a vet

• David Heath, a war veteran, says celebrating veterans shouldn’t be about politics


• Heath has been in a similar spotlight and felt uncomfortable


• He says honoring troops is more important than where other vets stand on issues

Editor’s note: David Heath served in the U.S. Army infantry for seven years as a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2007, he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal with Valor for actions during a firefight in Sara Kohleh, a remote valley in northeast Afghanistan. He is working for the Army in Italy and is the writer and creator of an online comic series called “Bilateral Comics.”

(CNN) — In what should have been one of the more emotional and poignant moments of the president’s State of the Union address, I’m left with just one feeling after watching the recognition of Sgt. 1st Class Cory Remsburg, who was wounded in an IED explosion in Afghanistan.

Frustration.

That might seem like a harsh critique, and it’s not directed at either the president or Remsburg. It’s pointed squarely at some of my fellow veterans and commentators and their reactions to this event, turning the appearance into political theater.

A bipartisan outpouring for wounded war hero

David Heath served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As I watched the address Tuesday night, I could feel the emotions of Remsburg. I’ve felt the same thing.

At the All-American Bowl in San Antonio in 2011, I stood in front of thousands of people in a packed football stadium full of cheering fans, on a field with other wounded warriors and heroes. We waited anxiously, appreciative of the people cheering us, but we were also confused.

What we did, while viewed as heroic by others, was simply our job. It might be hard to imagine, but the recognition felt misplaced. I understood that thousands of other troops have sacrificed as well, along with our nation’s firefighters, police and other first responders.

I asked myself, “Why me? What did I do that was different?” I bet Remsburg, the Army Ranger, may have felt the same way in front of all those cameras Tuesday night.

He said what? Obama’s speech explained

That being said, the recognition by President Barack Obama at the end of the State of the Union address was appropriate. He shared a personal anecdote about their previous interactions together, a history of Remsburg’s service. Then the President expressed gratitude, saluting in the direction of the soldier being honored.

War hero honored at State of the Union

The State of the Union in 2 minutes

Obama: End ‘Mad Men’ workplace policies

All that was fine. My frustration stems from the public response to that last part of the State of the Union address. Many friends, both veterans and non-veterans alike, are using Remsburg’s appearance to further their political or ideological agenda.

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