FIFA election to go on despite scandal

Joseph S. Blatter, President of FIFA talks during the 61st FIFA Congress Opening Ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland, on May 31NEW: German football chief says the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar should be re-examinedFIFA president Sepp Blatter is the only candidate running in the electionSoccer associations urge the world football governing body to delay the vote FIFA chooses who hosts the World Cup every four years

(CNN) -- The election for the president of FIFA will go on as scheduled Wednesday despite calls from powerful football associations for a delay over a corruption scandal.

Incumbent FIFA President Sepp Blatter is the only one running to head the world football governing body.

Blatter said Monday night that the organization was not in crisis after two top officials were suspended amid ethics concerns.

One of the officials, Mohamed Bin Hammam, was the only contender against Blatter for the presidency.

Football associations urged FIFA on Tuesday to delay the vote.

"This has been a very damaging time for the reputation of FIFA and therefore the whole of football," said David Bernstein, chairman of the English Football Association

The Scottish Football Association echoed the call.

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"The events of the last two days, in particular, have made any election unworkable," SFA head Stewart Reagan said in a statement.

Sponsors of international soccer including Visa, Coca-Cola and Adidas have warned that the ethics scandal is hurting the sport.

"The current situation is clearly not good for the game," a Visa spokesman told CNN Tuesday, echoing comments from other companies that pay to have their logos at the World Cup and other major soccer events. The Visa spokesman declined to be named.

"The negative tenor of the public debate around FIFA at the moment is neither good for football nor for FIFA," Adidas chief communications officer Jan Runau said.

Sponsor Emirates airlines said it was "disappointed" by the "issues around the administration" of FIFA, and Coca-Cola said Monday that the ethics allegations were "distressing and bad for the sport."

The concerns came as Blatter shrugged off corruption allegations within FIFA and said he would press ahead with his bid to be re-elected as president for the fourth time.

The FIFA ethics committee on Sunday suspended Bin Hammam of Qatar, along with fellow leading official Jack Warner.

Bin Hammam was a major influence in Qatar's surprising victory in winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup finals.

He and Warner have been accused of offering cash gifts to national associations in return for pro-Bin Hammam votes in the presidential election.

Warner and Bin Hammam both deny wrongdoing.

FIFA is the body that decides where soccer's quadrennial World Cup will be held, among other responsibilities.

The head of the German Football Federation said the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar should be re-examined in the wake of the scandal.

"Especially regarding the awarding of the World Cup 2022 to Qatar, there has been repeated speculation and corruption allegations," Theo Zwanziger said in an interview posted on the league's website Wednesday.

"Even the FIFA secretary general had critical views of the financial possibilities of Qatar, which he noted in an e-mail, even though that may have been phrased in a very casual way. That is why I believe that the awarding of this World Cup should be re-examined."

CNN's David Wilkinson, Ben Wyatt, James Montague, Frederik Pleitgen and Aaron Akin c ontributed to this report.

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Facebook is Building a Desktop Software Team, Despite Lack of iPad App (PC Magazine)

Need a job? Give Facebook a call. The company is seeking engineers for a new desktop software team.

TechCrunch pointed out a posting on the jobs page titled "Software Engineer, Desktop Software" at Facebook's recently-opened Seattle office

The description reads: "The desktop software team is a new team at Facebook based out of Seattle, WA. We will be working on new products that we expect to deliver to millions of users' computers to help make their entire computing experience more social. Facebook is seeking experienced software engineers in Seattle to join this team."

The page says the other responsibilities of the job are to "create desktop applications for Mac and/or Windows, work closely with our product and design teams to define feature specifications, work closely with our Platform team to build server-side APIs and interfaces in support of these applications, [and] conduct design and code reviews."

Interestingly enough, Facebook is building this team for the desktop before it even has an iPad app. The lack of the iPad app is also curious considering Facebook's iPhone app is the most downloaded application of all time.

Could Facebook be building a desktop app? Possibly, but TechCrunch notes that it "doesn't seem to make a lot of sense given their stated (over and over again) commitment to HTML5 and that being the key driver for why they don't have an iPad app."

Last fall, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed the absence of an iPad app.

"iPad's not mobile," he said. "I don't mean to be rude to Apple. iPad just isn't mobile in the same way [an iPhone] is."

It's unclear whether or not Facebook will eventually cave and build an official iPad app. For now it seems we might see an increased emphasis on the desktop.

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Despite better technology, 2011 set to be deadliest tornado year

A rescue team searches house to house for survivors Monday after a deadly tornado struck Joplin, Missouri.At least 483 people have died in U.S. tornadoes so far this yearThe deadliest tornado year on record is 1925, which had 794 deathsThe power and locations of 2011's twisters could help explain the high death tollPiers Morgan has more on the recovery efforts at 9 p.m ET Tuesday. At 10 ET on "AC360?," Anderson Cooper brings firsthand accounts of surviving the powerful tornado. Also, did you experience the tornado? Send your photos, videos or stories.

(CNN) -- The devastating tornado that killed more than 100 people in Missouri this week puts the United States on track for a record-breaking year -- despite improved forecasting, warning systems and public awareness, weather experts say.

By 11 a.m. Tuesday, the death toll in Joplin had reached 118, making it the single deadliest tornado since the National Weather Service began keeping such records 61 years ago.

The tornado in Joplin brought the number of people who have died in U.S. tornadoes to 483 so far this year. The figure could escalate as rescue workers continue digging through rubble from Sunday's tornado in Joplin, Missouri.

Missouri tornado deadliest in decades

The deadliest tornado year on record is 1925, which had 794 deaths, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The number of fatalities so far this year is more than eight times the average number for an entire year -- 56, according to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.

With all the advancements in storm technology, the question is simple: Why?

"That's the question of 2011," said Bob Henson of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. "Why have so many people died in these tornadoes? That's the open question. It's partly because of the strength of these tornadoes. Also because they've hit populated areas."

Myers said the brute force of some tornadoes might just be too severe for many structures.

"Some tornadoes, you just can't survive them," he said. "They're just too big."

'Tornado' once banned from forecasts

Since 1875, the average number of deaths from tornadoes has actually decreased -- from about 200 to 55 a year, Myers said. This year is a sharp anomaly.

In addition, the number of killer tornadoes is higher in 2011 -- 49 deadly tornadoes have touched down in the United States this year, compared to an average of 22 killer tornadoes in the past. And it's only May.

But early statistics on U.S. tornadoes have been spotty.

Because twisters were not measured the same way they are now, experts don't know whether the 1925 Tri-State tornado that killed about 695 people in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana was actually a single funnel or many -- which is why it's not officially considered the deadliest single tornado.

Stories from the storm

The weekend tornado in Joplin stirred memories of two fatal twisters that struck in Alabama last month. One tornado hit Hackleburg and Phil Campbell, killing 78 people, and another struck Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, killing 61.

Warnings' effectiveness questioned after deadly twister

While many cities in tornado-prone areas have tornado sirens, the alarms sometimes get ignored.

"The sirens always go off, so no one thought anything of it," Joplin resident Alexa Wattelet said. "Where we were, nobody really seemed like they were in much of a shock."

But Myers said even if people take all possible precautions, a tornado can still leave fatalities.

"If you get hit by something the size of a 225 mph storm, it is not survivable," he said. "And that is not to scare anyone. But the people that did it right are not to blame."

CNN's Sean Morris and Greg Botelho contributed to this report.

Click through to see the damage from the deadliest U.S. twister since modern record-keeping began.A security camera records damage from a Kansas tornado. CNN affiliate KTKA-TV in Topeka has more.The warnings seem almost ubiquitous today, but the word "tornado" used to be banned in weather forecasts.Joplin High seniors were wrapping up their graduation ceremony as the devastating storm started to roll in to town.Click through to see the number of tornadoes by year since 1950 and how many deaths resulted from these twisters.Survivors of the Joplin, Missouri, tornado describe their experiences riding out the deadly twister.Hundreds of firefighters, police officers, medics and more head into Joplin, Missouri, to search for survivors.After surviving the deadly storm, residents in Joplin, Missouri, brace for the possibility of more tornadoes.Today's five most popular stories

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Spain protests continue despite ban

Madrid (CNN) -- Spanish youths on Saturday protested across the country for a seventh day over the economic crisis, in defiance of a 48-hour ban ahead of local elections.

Thousands of people crammed into the center of Madrid, as well as many other cities, angry over soaring unemployment rates.

"We intend to continue, because this is not about Sunday's elections it's about social cutbacks," Carmen Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the protesters in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square, told Agence-France Presse.

As a ban ordered by Spain's election commission took effect at the chimes of midnight, the protesters chanted: "Now we are all illegal" and "the people united will never be defeated," according to the agency.

The supreme court's decision to overturn an appeal against the ban came two days ahead of local and regional elections that are scheduled across the Iberian nation. The ruling meant no such protests could legally occur on Saturday.

This follows a ruling from late Thursday, when Spain's electoral board said the demonstrations, organized largely via social media networks, would be banned on Saturday. That day is supposed to be a "day of reflection" for voters -- the idea being that there should be no campaigning immediately preceding Sunday's balloting -- the board said.

The government of the ruling Socialist Party appear to have decided -- so far --that the police should keep a safe distance, as they did last Wednesday when a demonstration was banned but went ahead anyway. Socialist politicians are widely expected to suffer deep losses to the conservatives, according to recent polls.

Economist Fernando Fernandez of the IE Business School predicted that police would try to peacefully seal off Puerta del Sol plaza to prevent more demonstrators from arriving, and let those in the plaza eventually leave.

We intend to continue, because this is not about Sunday's elections it's about social cutbacks.
--Protest spokeswoman Carmen Sanchez

"The government does not want to have any sort of violence taking place the day prior to the elections. This would have a very large political cost and electoral cost," Fernandez told CNN.

"People want to participate. This is a fiesta of democracy," Sofia de Roa, another spokeswoman for the protesters, told CNN.

Demonstrators are protesting Spain's 21% unemployment rate, the highest in the euro zone, and a record 4.9 million people who are out of work. The jobless rate for youth -- those between ages 15 and 24 -- is 42%.

Protesters say that many temporary labor contracts offer few or no job benefits. In addition, some are protesting against the political and financial establishment that they say is to blame.

The protests appear to have gained momentum in the closing days of the campaign. They have captured considerable news media coverage, and all major parties have acknowledged them.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in an interview with SER radio on Friday that voters ultimately will decide whether and how much change will be made.

On Sunday, voters in Spain's 8,000 cities and towns will elect mayors, along with 13 out of 17 regional presidents and parliaments. The results are expected to be a bellwether for national elections, which must happen no later than March 2012.

De Roa, a journalist who works for a university communications office, said protester assemblies, their ad hoc decision-making bodies, have called for a demonstration on Saturday night despite the no-campaigning tradition on the eve of a Spanish election.

She said the protests also are expected to continue nightly, even after the elections.

"We're not leaving until there's a change," she said, standing amid thousands of protesters in Madrid's emblematic central square. "Until a politician commits to implementing the proposals here."

Beatriz Elosegui, a government worker, said Thursday she had been to several protests since they started on Sunday. Her husband, an advertising executive, is out of work and her son is about to finish his training to become an electrician but has few job prospects, she said.

Two young men who appeared to be the only ones wearing suits and ties in the crowd said they showed up Thursday for the first time. Both said they work as accountants, and one, Andres Maldonado, complained of tight credit that is squeezing homeowners and small businesses. He said government efforts to inject liquidity into the financial system are not working.

Besides Madrid, there were also protests in Barcelona, Valencia and other cities in Spain. Up to a few hundred protesters have camped out in central squares each night, but the main protests are in the evening.

Some in the crowd said they would vote on Sunday, including de Roa. But she said she would change her vote from the Communist-led United Left to an even more leftist party, which she hadn't chosen yet. Elosegui said she would vote for the Humanist Party.

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Despite siege, Syrians vow to keep protesting

CAIRO (AP) — The Syrian military intensified its vigorous assault on the besieged city at the center of the country's uprising Sunday as defiant residents who have been pinned down in their homes for nearly a week struggled to find food, pass along information and bury their dead.

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In this citizen journalism image acquired by the AP, Syrian anti-government protesters carry candles during a night gathering in the coastal city of Banias, Syria.

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In this citizen journalism image acquired by the AP, Syrian anti-government protesters carry candles during a night gathering in the coastal city of Banias, Syria.

President Bashar Assad is determined to crush the six-week-old revolt, which began in the southern city of Daraa but quickly spread across the nation of some 23 million people.

Now, the once-unthinkable protests are posing the most serious challenge to four decades of rule by the Assad family in one of the most repressive and tightly controlled countries in the Middle East.

"The security solution isn't working. People are still demonstrating," Damascus-based human rights activist Razan Zaitouneh told The Associated Press by telephone. "They can't stop these (protests) now."

A drought-plagued city near the Jordanian border, Daraa has been without water, fuel or electricity since Monday, when the regime sent in troops backed by tanks and snipers to crush protests seeking the ouster of Assad. The 45-year-old, British-trained eye doctor inherited power from his father 11 years ago but failed to fulfill early promises of reform.

He has portrayed the unrest as a foreign conspiracy by extremists and armed thugs, not true reform-seekers.

The death toll has soared to 545 nationwide from government forces firing on demonstrators ? action that has drawn international condemnation and U.S. financial penalties on top figures in his regime.

Syrian army tanks shelled the old quarter of Daraa on Sunday and rolled in six armored vehicles, flanked on either side by two buses packed with more security forces, residents said. Snipers nesting on rooftops and hiding in high mosque minarets have kept people cowering in fear inside their homes.

But residents remained defiant and resourceful, using battery-powered computers and satellite telephones to communicate with the outside world, and sneaking through alleyways to share information. With soldiers stationed at cemeteries ? apparently an attempt to pinpoint the families of protesters ? many were hiding corpses in refrigerated trucks.

Unable to leave their homes, Daraa residents chant "God is Great!" to each other from their windows in the evenings, infuriating security forces and raising each other's spirits.

"Our houses are close to each other, so even though we can't go outside, we stand by the windows and chant," said a Daraa resident, speaking to the AP by satellite phone. "Our neighbors can hear us and they respond."

Syrian troops opened fire above their heads to silence them, the resident said.

Other areas of the country also have come under military control, but Daraa has faced the most serious stranglehold. It was in Daraa that the protest movement kicked off six weeks ago, sparked by the arrest of a group of teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a wall in Daraa. Now, the city has become a symbol of the uprising.

The witness' accounts of the siege on Daraa could not be independently verified. Syria has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted access to trouble spots, making it almost impossible to confirm the dramatic events shaking one of the most authoritarian regimes in the Arab world.

In a posting on a Syrian revolution website, one activist joked that if the newly married royals Prince William and Kate Middleton wanted to honeymoon somewhere away from media attention, Syria would be an excellent location.

The Obama administration hit three top Syrian officials as well as Syria's intelligence agency and Iran's Revolutionary Guard with sanctions over the crackdown.

"I think it's clear that (Assad) is willing to slaughter his own people," Arizona Sen. John McCain told the CBS show "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "The question is, what can we do to affect the outcome? And frankly, I don't see a military option. Libya, they had a group of people who at least were semi-organized that we could support."

The unrest in Syria has international repercussions because of the country's alliances with militant groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah and with Shiite powerhouse Iran. If the regime in Syria falls, the instability has the potential to upend the regional power balance in a part of the world that already is riven with strife.

In recent weeks, there have been small signs that cracks are developing in the regime.

Hundreds of members of Assad's ruling Baath Party have resigned over the crackdown.

Human rights activists uploaded a video to YouTube on Sunday that they say showed another 200 party members publicly stepping down in Rasten, where protests turned violent on Friday.

"Our martyrs don't just deserve that we resign from the party. They deserve that we step on this party!" said one man speaking into a microphone as a few thousand residents crowded before an open stage.

The president has responded with overtures of reform coupled with a crackdown, but the rising death toll has enraged protesters to the extent that they are now demanding nothing less than the downfall of the regime.

On Saturday, Syrian Prime Minister Adel Safar said the government is preparing a "comprehensive plan for the aspired reforms" in the coming weeks "in response to the citizens' demands and needs."

But previous overtures have failed to dampen the protests, and Safar's announcement ? which once would have been considered a leap forward for reform ? barely registered with those at the heart of the rebellion.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Poll: U.S. economy improving despite global events

said Shawn DuBravac, an economist with the Consumer Electronics Association, who analyzed the findings.

The outlook for employment rose slightly, reaching a 12-year high. No firms reported significant layoffs, with the only reductions coming from already planned cuts.

Sales increased for the third consecutive quarter, profit margins continued to improve and the number of economists whose firms increased spending over the previous quarter held steady. Nearly all of the 72 economists surveyed, about 94%, now expect the economy to grow at least 2% in 2011.

The quarterly survey includes the views of economists for private companies and trade groups who are NABE members. The data are reported by broad industry groupings. Many results in the survey are expressed through the Net Rising Index, or NRI

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Obama Keeps 'Czars' Despite Budget Deal That Eliminated Them

President Barack Obama is interviewed by The Associated Press, Friday, April 15, 2011, in Chicago.(AP)

President Obama may have never met a "czar" he didn't like and he's not about to bid farewell to any of them now, despite a budget deal he struck with Republican leaders last week that eliminated four of these positions.

The budget compromise that Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reached in the final moments before the government shut down last Friday included language effectively eliminating the czar positions overseeing health care, climate change, the auto industry and urban affairs

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U.S. Gives $126.8 Million to U.N. Refugee Agency Despite Cuts in Foreign Aid

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The United States announced on Friday that it was giving $126.8 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) despite making $377 million in cuts to various other U.N. payments as part of the $38 billion reductions for the 2011 budget.

The funding comes from the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration and will support the panel's programs, which helps refugees return to places such as Afghanistan and Sudan, and provide them with basic needs, like water, food, health care and education.

Of that amount, nearly $50 million will go to the Middle East, $40 million to Africa and $23 million to Asia. The U.S. has provided more than $285 million to the agency this year. 

The latest contribution comes on the heels of news that the U.S., the top contributor to the U.N., overpaid its share of the U.N. peacekeeping budget for 2010-2011. The peacekeeping savings, including the overpayments, amount to $286.7 million -- more than three-quarters of the $377 million in U.N. cuts.

But that pales in comparison to the $6.35 billion that the U.S.sent to the U.N. in 2009, according to the latest available data compiled by the Obama administration.

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House passes budget despite GOP defections

House passes 2011 budget dealSTORY HIGHLIGHTSThe House has approved a deal covering the rest of the FY2011 budgetA report on when the new budget cuts will take effect is causing "concern" on Capitol HillDemocrats and Republicans remain at sharp odds over the fiscal year 2012 budgetThe two parties also have to reach an agreement over raising the debt ceiling Washington (CNN) -- The struggle to control America's skyrocketing debt took center stage in the House of Representatives on Thursday as members approved a fiscal year 2011 budget deal reached last week by President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.

The measure, which also is expected to be taken up by the Senate Thursday, passed the Republican-controlled chamber in a 260-167 vote. The bill would not have passed without support from members of both parties.

Fifty-nine Republicans voted no on the measure -- raising questions about Boehner's ability to keep his conservative Tea Party-infused caucus unified in the face of politically perilous tax and spending negotiations with the Democrats.

The vote also reflected growing liberal angst and anger over the impending spending reductions. Only 81 Democrats backed the measure; House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, voted no.

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Civil War anniversary events go forward despite lack of funds

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The firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C., is considered by historians to be the first cannon fire of the Civil War. The city is planning commemoration events that span several days.

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The firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C., is considered by historians to be the first cannon fire of the Civil War. The city is planning commemoration events that span several days.

Efforts to provide federal funding for Civil War commemorations have thus far been unsuccessful. The Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission Act, a bill introduced by Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., died in committee last year. Andrew Wilson, Jackson's spokesman, says the congressman is working on updating the legislation and reintroducing the bill, which could provide grants for programs and activities.

LIST OF EVENTS: States remember Civil WarCIVIL WAR: More stories, videos, profilesDESCENDANTS: Ancestors of Civil War leaders deal with legacy of famous forebearsIn light of this economic challenge, the Civil War Trust, a non-profit dedicated to preserving battlefields, views connecting local, regional and state organizations not just as an opportunity, but as an obligation, says spokeswoman Mary Koik. The trust's website, www.civilwar.org, links sesquicentennial events going on across the country.

"You can read all you want in a book, but for a lot of people, it never quite clicks until you see it," she says.

Programs and events are ratcheting up — and in some cases have already begun — ahead of the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston, S.C., on April 12, considered the first cannon fire of the war by historians.

Charleston is planning a program that spans several days and includes lectures, re-enactments, movies, music and a solemn display of lights at the fort, says Robert Rosen, president of the Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie Historic Trust. That's despite receiving no funds from the state, Rosen says.

One of the few to receive state money is the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission, which has secured a $2 million annual appropriation since 2008, says Cheryl Jackson, the commission's executive director. Such funds have let the state provide a mobile history tour that will crisscross Virginia, as well as free educational programs for teachers, she says.

Despite being the site of one of the war's iconic battles and a well-known tourist attraction, Gettysburg wasn't as lucky. It received no state funds. But that's not stopping the Gettysburg Convention and Visitors Bureau from pulling together five years' worth of plans, which will center around the 2013 anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Address, says Carl Whitehill, the bureau's spokesman.

"There's a real interest in the human toll and the fact that when both troops left, 25,000 wounded and dead soldiers were still here. … It took months and months to clean up this town," Whitehill said.

The planning committee for Pennsylvania Civil War 150, which was able to secure some national grants, is organizing a Civil War road show with a mobile museum traveling to all 67 counties in the state over the course of four years, says Barbara Franco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.

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Despite Gulf oil spill, rig owner executives get big bonuses

Transocean declared 2010 "the best year in safety performance" in company history despite the Gulf oil spill. STORY HIGHLIGHTSTransocean executives get pay raises, bonuses, SEC filing saysCash awards based in part on company safety recordDespite Gulf oil spill, company claims 2010 "best year in safety" (CNN) -- Declaring 2010 "the best year in safety performance in our company's history," Transocean Ltd., owner of the Gulf of Mexico oil rig that exploded, killing 11 workers, has awarded its top executives hefty bonuses and raises, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

That includes a $200,000 salary increase for Transocean president and chief executive officer Steven L. Newman, whose base salary will increase from $900,000 to $1.1 million, according to the SEC report. Newman's bonus was $374,062, the report states.

Newman also has a $5.4 million long-term compensation package the company awarded him upon his appointment as CEO in March 2010, according to the SEC filing.

The latest cash awards are based in part on the company's "performance under safety," the Transocean filing states.

"Notwithstanding the tragic loss of life in the Gulf of Mexico, we achieved an exemplary statistical safety record as measured by our total recordable incident rate and total potential severity rate," the SEC statement reads. "As measured by these standards, we recorded the best year in safety performance in our Company's history."

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