Dr. Drew: McCready Was 'Fearful of Stigma'

Troubled country singer Mindy McCready was "devastated" after the January death of her boyfriend and "fearful of stigma and ridicule," according to Dr. Drew Pinsky, who treated her in 2009 on "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew."

McCready died Sunday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at her Arkansas home, police said. She was 37.

The country singer who soared to the top of the charts with her debut album, "Ten Thousand Angels," struggled with substance abuse, served time in jail and fought a lengthy battle with her mother over custody of her son.

The singer appeared on the third season of Dr. Drew's VH1 show. She is the fifth person who has appeared on the show to die.

"I am deeply saddened by this awful news," Dr. Drew said in a statement posted in a VH1 blog. "My heart goes out to Mindy's family and children. She is a lovely woman who will be missed by many."

Dr. Drew said that he had not treated McCready for a few years, but "reached out to her recently" after her boyfriend and father of one of her two children David Wilson, died in January of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

"She was devastated. Although she was fearful of stigma and ridicule she agreed with me that she needed to make her health and safety a priority," Dr. Drew said. "Unfortunately it seems that Mindy did not sustain her treatment."

SEE PHOTOS: Notable Deaths in 2013

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"Mental health issues can be life threatening and need to be treated with the same intensity and resources as any other dangerous potentially life threatening medical condition," the doctor's statement said. "Treatment is effective. If someone you know is suffering please be sure he or she gets help and maintains treatment."

Deputies from the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to a report of gun shots fired at McCready's Heber Springs, Ark., home at around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.

There they found McCready on the front porch. She was pronounced dead at the scene from what appeared to be a single self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to a statement from the sheriff's office.

When reached by phone today, the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office said the sheriff would be responding to questions later in the day.

RELATED: Mindy McCready: Police Take Son

McCready was ordered to enter rehab shortly after Wilson's death, and her two children, Zander, 6, and 9-month-old Zayne were taken from her. She was released after one day to undergo outpatient care.

McCready scored a number-one Billboard country hit in 1996 with "Guys Do It All the Time," but in recent years, the country crooner has received more media attention for her troubled personal life than her music.

McCready reportedly had a decade-long affair with baseball star Roger Clemens that began when she was a teen, the New York Daily News reported in 2008. Clemens' attorney at the time denied any improper relationship, but McCready discussed details of the relationship on television.

"This is sad news," Clemens said in a statement today, posted on the Houston Astros website. "I had heard over time that she was trying to get peace and direction in her life. The few times that I had met her and her manager/agent they were extremely nice."

She has been arrested multiple times on drug charges and probation violations and has been hospitalized for overdoses several times, including in 2010, when she was found unconscious at her mother's home after taking a painkiller and muscle relaxant.

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Pope, near abdication, says pray "for me and next pope"

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict asked the faithful to pray for him and for the next pope, in his penultimate Sunday address to a crowded St. Peter's Square before becoming the first pontiff in centuries to resign.

The crowd chanted "Long live the pope!," waved banners and broke into sustained applause as he spoke from his window. The 85-year-old Benedict, who will abdicate on February 28, thanked them in several languages.

Speaking in Spanish, he told the crowd which the Vatican said numbered more than 50,000: "I beg you to continue praying for me and for the next pope".

It was not clear why the pope chose Spanish to make the only specific reference to his upcoming resignation in his Sunday address.

A number of cardinals have said they would be open to the possibility of a pope from the developing world, be it Latin America, Africa or Asia, as opposed to another from Europe, where the Church is crisis and polarized.

"I can imagine taking a step towards a black pope, an African pope or a Latin American pope," Cardinal Kurt Koch, a Swiss Vatican official who will enter the conclave to choose the next pope, told Reuters in an interview.

After his address, the pope retired into the Vatican's Apostolic Palace for a scheduled, week-long spiritual retreat and will not make any more public appearances until next Sunday.

Speaking in Italian in part of his address about Lent, the period when Christians reflect on their failings and seek guidance in prayer, the pope spoke of the difficulty of making important decisions.

"In decisive moments of life, or, on closer inspection, at every moment in life, we are at a crossroads: do we want to follow the ‘I', or God? The individual interest, or the real good, that which is really good?" he said.

FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH

The pope has said his physical and spiritual forces are no longer strong enough to sustain him in the job of leading the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics at a time of crisis for the Church in a fast-changing world.

Benedict's papacy was rocked by crises over the sex abuse of children by priests in Europe and the United States, most of which preceded his time in office but came to light during it.

His reign also saw Muslim anger after he compared Islam to violence. Jews were upset over his rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier. During a scandal over the Church's business dealings, his butler was convicted of leaking his private papers.

Since his shock announcement last Monday, the pope has said several times that he made the difficult decision to become the first pope in more than six centuries to resign for the good of the Church. Aides said he was at peace with himself.

"In a funny way he is even more peaceful now with this decision, unlike the rest of us, he is not somebody who gets choked up really easily," said Greg Burke, a senior media advisor to the Vatican.

"I think that has a lot to do with his spiritual life and who he is and the fact he is such a prayerful man," Burke told Reuters Television.

People in the crowd said the pope was a shadow of the man he was when elected on April 19, 2005.

"Like always, recently, he seemed tired, moved, perplexed, uncertain and insecure," said Stefan Malabar, an Italian in St. Peter's Square.

"It's something that really has an effect on you because the pope should be a strong and authoritative figure but instead he seems very weak, and that really struck me," he said.

The Vatican has said the conclave to choose his successor could start earlier than originally expected, giving the Roman Catholic Church a new leader by mid-March.

Some 117 cardinals under the age of 80 will be eligible to enter the secretive conclave which, according to Church rules, has to start between 15 and 20 days after the papacy becomes vacant, which it will on February 28.

But since the Church is now dealing with an announced resignation and not a sudden death, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the Vatican would be "interpreting" the law to see if it could start earlier.

CONSULTATIONS BEGUN

Cardinals around the world have already begun informal consultations by phone and email to construct a profile of the man they think would be best suited to lead the Church in a period of continuing crisis.

The Vatican appears to be aiming to have a new pope elected and then formally installed before Palm Sunday on March 24 so he can preside at Holy Week services leading to Easter.

New details emerged at the weekend about Benedict's health.

Peter Seewald, a German journalist who wrote a book with the pope in 2010 in which Benedict first floated the possibility of resigning, visited him again about 10 weeks ago.

"His hearing had deteriorated. He couldn't see with his left eye. His body had become so thin that the tailors had difficulty in keeping up with newly fitted clothes ... I'd never seen him so exhausted-looking, so worn down," Seewald said.

The pope will say one more Sunday noon prayer on February 24 and hold a final general audience on February 27.

The next day he will take a helicopter to the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, where he will stay for around two months before moving to a convent inside the Vatican where he will live out his remaining years.

(Additional reporting by Hanna Rantala; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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Football: 10-man Real clinch fourth home win in row

MADRID: Real Madrid recorded their fourth consecutive home league victory with a 2-0 win over Rayo Vallecano on Sunday despite playing for 72 minutes with 10 men.

Alvaro Morata and Sergio Ramos got the goals in the opening 12 minutes but Ramos' night took a turn for the worse just six minutes later when he saw two harsh yellow cards in quick succession.

Despite their numerical advantage though Rayo failed to create too many clear-cut chances and their best effort was comically blocked by their own player as Leo Baptistao failed to evade Piti's driven shot towards goal.

Before the game much had been made of the fact that Rayo's Piti and Leo had scored more league goals than Madrid's two leading strikers Gonzalo Higuain and Karim Benzema.

With Higuain suspended, Jose Mourinho choose to start Morata and leave Benzema on the bench.

Three minutes in and the Portuguese was vindicated as Mesut Ozil's cut-back was turned in by the 20-year-old from close range.

Kaka then fired wide with a good opening but Rayo should also have been level inside seven minutes as Chori Dominguez was played in by Roberto Trashorras after Pepe had given the ball away and the Argentine's shot whistled just past Diego Lopez's far post.

Everything seemed to be going to plan for the hosts five minutes later though as Ramos outmuscled his marker to head home Ozil's free-kick.

However, Ramos then saw two yellow cards in barely 30 seconds as he first brought down Trashorras and then was harshly dismissed when a cross from the left struck his trailing arm.

Rayo almost took advantage straight away as Alejandro Galvez headed just over from the resulting free-kick.

Madrid were soon back on the attack and Cristiano Ronaldo uncharacteristically missed a great chance to make it three as he latched onto another fine Ozil through ball but just left himself too tight an angle after rounding Ruben in the Rayo goal and could only find the side-netting.

Rayo had plenty of possession as they tried to make their man advantage count but the best chance they carved out before the break fell to Trashorras and he blasted over from the edge of the area.

Jordi Figueras also fired over from a corner at the start of the second period but the visitors were still struggling to make their possession count and it was Madrid who were next to threaten as Kaka pulled a shot wide and Sami Khedira also saw an effort comfortably held by Ruben.

Lass Bangoura fired into the side-netting as Rayo continued to probe, but their evening in front of goal was summed up when Piti's goal-bound effort was blocked by his own man Leo.

The home fans were then incensed when Lass wasn't shown a second yellow card for handling in a similar manner to Ramos and referee Jose Luis Paradas Romero's decision not to sent the Guinean off nearly became even more controversial as his cross was almost converted by Leo at the back post with 12 minutes remaining.

Try as they might though Rayo couldn't find a way through as Real held on to cut the gap on Atletico Madrid in second to four points with Barcelona a further 12 clear at the top of the table.

Atletico Madrid moved back to within 12 points of Barcelona a comfortable 3-0 win over Valladolid.

Radamel Falcao got the visitors off to the perfect start with his 20th league goal of the season as he pounced from a yard after Dani Hernandez had made a fine save to deny Diego Godin.

Diego Costa then made it 2-0 seven minutes into the second-half as he smashed home Koke's knockdown and Cristian Rodriguez rounded off a first away win in six league games for Diego Simeone's men in stoppage time.

-AFP/ac

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Shinde's daughter traces brother-in-law's SUV

MUMBAI: Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter tracked down her brother-in-law's vehicle on Saturday night, within 48 hours of it being stolen from Lower Parel on Thursday.

A large posse of cops, including those from the crime branch, had been assigned to find the missing SUV, but before they could make a headway, Shinde's daughter, Praniti, suddenly spotted the vehicle in Bandra; following a chase and high drama, the thieves abandoned the SUV near a slum in Bandra (W) from where it has been recovered.

Praniti, however, denied her presence during the chase. "Only my driver was there," she said. But the police claimed otherwise.

The Pajero belongs to Raj Shroff, a businessman and general secretary of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee, who is married to Preeti, one of the daughters of Shinde. On Thursday night, the family's driver, Vijay Kharat, parked the vehicle near his home at Bawala Compound, Lower Parel. He had intended to drive it back to his employer's residence, but the next morning, he found it missing. Kharat lodged a theft complaint with the N M Joshi Marg police on Friday, following which all control rooms in the city were alerted with the missing vehicle's registration number.

While the cops hunted high and low for the SUV, Praniti, who is an MLA from Solapur, spotted it at the Lilavati Hospital signal on Saturday night. "Around 11pm, Praniti left the Shinde residence at Pali Hill in Bandra in her CRV. She was headed to Worli for some work and was accompanied by her police security officer, Abhang; the vehicle was driven by Kharat. As they reached the Lilavati Hospital signal, Praniti suddenly spotted the stolen Pajero a little ahead. Confirmed by Kharat that it was indeed their missing vehicle, Praniti decided that she and her security officer would confront the person driving it," a police officer said.

Praniti's SUV chased the Pajero, overtook it and blocked its path; Abhang knocked on the rolled-up windowpane. "The two men inside the SUV panicked and put the vehcile in reverse gear, heading back towards north. Praniti's vehicle also turned around and started chasing it," the officer said. Meanwhile, Abhang called up the police control room and informed them about the incident. Shortly, Praniti reportedly noticed a patrol van in the Bandra locality and alerted the policemen who also joined in the search.

A few minutes later, they found the Pajero abandoned near Lal Maati slums, but its occupants had vanished, said the police, adding that slippers, likely to belong to the accused, were found inside.

No CCTV camera covers the stretch but Abhang had had a look at the suspects. The NM Joshi Marg police, to whom the recovered vehicle has been handed over, will prepare identity sketches of the accused. Experts have found some fingerprints in the vehicle.

Police said the car could be traced easily as the accused hadn't changed its numberplate.

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UN warns risk of hepatitis E in S. Sudan grows

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations says an outbreak of hepatitis E has killed 111 refugees in camps in South Sudan since July, and has become endemic in the region.

U.N. refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says the influx of people to the camps from neighboring Sudan is believed to be one of the factors in the rapid spread of the contagious, life-threatening inflammatory viral disease of the liver.

Edwards said Friday that the camps have been hit by 6,017 cases of hepatitis E, which is spread through contaminated food and water.

He says the largest number of cases and suspected cases is in the Yusuf Batil camp in Upper Nile state, which houses 37,229 refugees fleeing fighting between rebels and the Sudanese government.

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White House: Leaked Immigration Bill Draft Is Plan B

Feb 17, 2013 11:48am

Leaked draft legislation reportedly authored by the White House would be used as a backup proposal should negotiations fail in Congress over comprehensive immigration reform, administration officials said today.

White House Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough was asked about the USA Today story on political talk shows this morning. On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” host David Gregory asked him whether it signaled President Obama would drive any potential reform, over ongoing bipartisan work on Capitol Hill.

“The fact of this report, David, I think all it says to me is that we’re doing exactly what we said we’d do,” McDonough replied. “Which is that we’ll be prepared, in the event that the bipartisan talks going on on the Hill — which by the way we are very aggressively supporting — if those do not work then we’ll have an option that we are ready to put out there, as the president said in Las Vegas.”

The president has previously stated that his administration would be prepared to offer their own bill should Congress fail to reach consensus. Some details of the draft, which has not been finalized or released to Congress, match previous White House proposals including a 2011 immigration blueprint.

On ABC’s “This Week,” McDonough told Jonathan Karl lawmakers would have to “make sure that it doesn’t have to be proposed.”

“Let’s make sure that that group up there, the ‘Gang of Eight,’ makes the good progress on these efforts as much as they say they want to,” McDonough said, referring to efforts of the Senate’s bi-partisan working group.

The newspaper says it obtained the unfinished bill from an anonymous administration official, one not authorized to disclose the information.

Among its particulars, if passed, would be the creation of a “Lawful Prospective Immigrant” status, that could be applied for by the nation’s estimated 11 million undocumented residents. The new visa would allow its holders to legally live and work in the United States, as well as leave the country for short periods of time. After eight years visa holders who passed the program would be allowed to apply for full citizenship.

Earlier this month Democratic Gang of Eight members Sen. Richard Durbin and Sen Bob Menendez indicated the group was weighing similar a proposal that would extend the wait to 10 years. But Saturday a leading Republican in the group, Sen. Marco Rubio, immediately lambasted the White House version as “dead on arrival” in Congress.

“This legislation is half baked and seriously flawed,” he said in a statement last night. “It would actually make our immigration problems worse.  If actually proposed, the president’s bill would be dead on arrival in Congress, leaving us with unsecured borders and a broken legal immigration system for years to come.”

Rubio said Republicans had not been consulted regarding the hypothetical legislation. On ABC, McDonough denied the claim.

“We’ve been working with all the members up there [of the Gang of Eight.] We have our staff working this very aggressively with their staffs and with the members, and we’re working this very aggressively, as you think we would with such a high priority for the country,” he said.

USA Today’s article states that immigrants who seek citizenship under the White House draft would first have to submit to biometric screening, pass a criminal background check, and pay fees for the visa. Successful bids could still be disqualified for crimes, including those that would equal one year in prison, or three separate 90-day sentences.

Also included in the document are undisclosed increases to the Border Patrol, expansion of Homeland Security technologies along the border, and the hiring of an additional 140 judges to handle immigration violations.

As of press time White House officials have refused to comment directly on the specifics of the report. On NBC another Republican on the Gang of Eight, Sen. John McCain, suggested the leak might have been planned as a bargaining position.

“I believe we are making progress on a bipartisan basis. I believe we can come up with a product,” McCain said. “Leaks don’t happen in Washington on accident. This raises the question many of us continue to worry about. Does the president want a result? Or does he want another cudgel to beat up Republicans so that he can get political advantage in the next election?”

ABC-Univision’s Jordan Fabian contributed to this report.

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Bomb kills 64 in Pakistan's Quetta

QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Sixty-four people including school children died on Saturday in a bomb attack carried out by extremists from Pakistan's Sunni Muslim majority, police said.

A spokesman for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni group, claimed responsibility for the bomb in Quetta, which caused casualties in the town's main bazaar, a school and a computer center. Police said most of the victims were Shi'ites.

Burned school bags and books were strewn around.

"The explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device fitted to a motorcycle," said Wazir Khan Nasir, deputy inspector general of police in Quetta.

"This is a continuation of terrorism against Shi'ites."

"I saw many bodies of women and children," said an eyewitness at a hospital. "At least a dozen people were burned to death by the blast."

Most Western intelligence agencies have regarded the Pakistani Taliban and al Qaeda as the gravest threat to nuclear-armed Pakistan, a strategic U.S. ally.

But Pakistani law enforcement officials say Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has become a formidable force.

TENSIONS

Last month the group said it carried out a bombing in Quetta that killed nearly 100 people, one of Pakistan's worst sectarian attacks. Thousands of Shi'ites protested in several cities after that attack.

Pakistani intelligence officials say extremist groups, led by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, have escalated their bombings and shootings of Shi'ites to trigger violence that would pave the way for a Sunni theocracy in U.S.-allied Pakistan.

More than 400 Shi'ites were killed in Pakistan last year, many by hitmen or bombs, and the perpetrators are almost never caught. Some hardline Shi'ite groups have hit back by killing Sunni clerics.

The growing sectarian violence has hurt the credibility of the government, which has already faced criticism ahead of elections due in May for its inability to tackle corruption and economic stagnation.

The schism between Sunnis and Shi'ites developed after the Prophet Muhammad died in 632 when his followers could not agree on a successor.

Emotions over the issue are highly potent even today, pushing some countries, including Iraq five years ago, to the brink of civil war.

Pakistan is nowhere near that stage but officials worry that Sunni extremist groups have succeeded in dramatically ratcheting up tensions and provoking revenge attacks in their bid to destabilize the country.

(Reporting by Jibran Ahmed; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Stephen Powell)

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Quake shakes central Italy, spooking residents

ROME: A 4.8-magnitude quake hit central Italy late Saturday, shaking apartment buildings in the centre of Rome and spooking citizens in the region of Abruzzo, struck by a killer quake in 2009.

The quake hit Frosinone, between the capital and the southern city of Naples, at a depth of 10.7 kilometres (6.6 miles) according to Italy's Geophysics Institute. No injuries or damage to buildings were reported.

The tremors sparked panicked calls in the Abruzzo region to the emergency services. The medieval town of L'Aquila was hit in 2009 by a 6.3-magnitude quake which killed 309 people, and ruined buildings still scar the landscape.

Inhabitants in villages in the national park in Abruzzo raced out of their houses in panic, according to Italian media reports.

Earlier Saturday, three Italian builders and a technician were found guilty of multiple manslaughter after a dormitory they had restored and safety approved collapsed during the L'Aquila quake, killing eight students.

- AFP/fa

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J&K govt forwards Guru’s family request for return of his body to Centre

SRINAGAR: The Jammu & Kashmir government has forwarded the request of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's family to the Centre seeking the return of his body for burial in their village near Sopore in north Kashmir.

Sources said that the Centre may consider the request. They said chief minister Omar Abdullah, who had made a similar request earlier, would be called for consultations with Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and other top officials over the matter in New Delhi next week.

J&K commissioner (home) Suresh Kumar told TOI that the state government had forwarded the Guru family's request to Union home secretary R K Singh.

Guru's widow, Tabbasum, had written to Baramulla deputy commissioner Ghulam Mohammad Khawaja seeking the state government help for the return of the body a day after he was executed and buried inside New Delhi's Tihar jail.

His cousin Yousuf Guru said Tabbasum has received her request's acknowledgement.

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UN warns risk of hepatitis E in S. Sudan grows

GENEVA (AP) — The United Nations says an outbreak of hepatitis E has killed 111 refugees in camps in South Sudan since July, and has become endemic in the region.

U.N. refugee agency spokesman Adrian Edwards says the influx of people to the camps from neighboring Sudan is believed to be one of the factors in the rapid spread of the contagious, life-threatening inflammatory viral disease of the liver.

Edwards said Friday that the camps have been hit by 6,017 cases of hepatitis E, which is spread through contaminated food and water.

He says the largest number of cases and suspected cases is in the Yusuf Batil camp in Upper Nile state, which houses 37,229 refugees fleeing fighting between rebels and the Sudanese government.

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