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So there was a rape in this small town?

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Well, it's not that simple, but allegedly yes: Two 16-year-old boys from Steubenville High are each facing a rape charge for the assault in August of a 16-year-old girl apparently from across the Ohio River in Weirton, West Virginia.

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How come we're only hearing about this now?

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Because on the case last month got lost in the spotlight on the Newtown school shootings, maybe, or becausethis week.

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But what makes this rape case different?

You see, Steubenville is the stuffof Friday Night Lights.The 19,000-person eastern Ohio town is a giant football community, and this alleged rape involves member of their storied Big Red team. "Everybody around here goes to games on Friday nights, and I mean everybody people come for miles," a local told the Times's Juliet Macur and Nate Schweber. "It's basically the small-town effect. People live and die based on Big Red because they usually win and it makes everybody feel good about themselves when times are tough."

So how did this assault take place?

Well, back on the night of August 11, the alleged victim was at an end-of-summer party and had a lot to drink, police said, whenTrent Mays and Malik Richmond allegedly approached her:"Richmond was behind her, with his hands between her legs, penetrating her with his fingers, a witness said," reported the The Times.

And how is that different from all the other assaults against young women in this country?

Here's the chilling part: the alleged victim didn't know she was assaulted until she started to find out about it on social media the next day.

Really? That's pretty gross. How did she find out?

Instagram, YouTube, and some pretty disgusting tweets. And the girl's mother told The Timesthat her daughter didn't even know the full extent of the attack until a local paper wrote about it the next day. On August 22, Mays and Richmond (right) were arrested on charges of rape and kidnapping.(Defense attorneys did not respond to requests for comment from The Atlantic Wire.)

Why only those two? They were at a party, right? And there were all those tweets?

Well, word spread among the students at or around the party quickly, and , "Before the 16-year-old girls parents reported the crime to Steubenville police, many of the online posts had been deleted or so students thought."

We live in an age when social media exists as evidence that can't just disappear, and Alexandria Goddard, who runs a crime blog called, turned up those deleted pictures from the night in question. Like this one:

What happened when that got out?

Goddard started posting on August 26, and attorneys for Mays and Richmond filed a defamation lawsuit October 25 it was dismissed on December 27. But the local press had already picked up the story, and Goddard's site now carries the student Instagram photographer's apology:

I deeply regret my actions on the night of August 11, 2012. While I wasnt at the home where the alleged assault took place, there is no doubt that I was wrong to post that picture from an earlier party and tweet those awful comments. Not a moment goes by that I dont wish I would have never posted that picture or tweeted those comments. I want to sincerely apologize to the victim and her family for these actions. I also want to acknowledge the work of several bloggers, especially Ms. Goddard at Prinniefied.com, in their efforts to make sure the full truth about that terrible night eventually comes out. At no time did my family mean to stop anyone from expressing themselves online we only wanted to correct what we believed were misstatements that appeared on Ms. Goddards blog. I am glad that we have resolved our differences with Ms. Goddard and that she and her contributors can continue theirwork. Cody Saltsman

How come the other kids at the party didn't get in trouble? Isn't that aiding and abetting?

It's not like the cops didn't try: "The thing I found most disturbing about this is that there were other people around when this was going on," Steubenville Police Chief William McCafferty told theTimes."Nobody had the morals to say, 'Hey, stop it, that isnt right.' ...If you could charge people for not being decent human beings, a lot of people could have been charged that night."

So what happened to the social media evidence? Isn't this supposed to be a case of our times?

That's where the investigation a preliminary trial is scheduled for February 13 runs into problems. Despite all the Instagramming and social media sharing, Chief McCaffertytold the Timesthatwitnesses failed to come forward:

The citys police chief begged for witnesses to come forward, but received little response. In time, the county prosecutor and the judge in charge of handling crimes by juveniles recused themselves from the case because they had ties to the football team.

And, well, some of the evidence went "missing":

That player told the police that he was in the back seat of his Volkswagen Jetta with Mays and the girl when Mays proceeded to flash the girls breasts and penetrate her with his fingers, while the player videotaped it on his phone. The player, who shared the video with at least one person, testified that he videotaped Mays and the girl because he was being stupid, not making the right choices. He said he later deleted the recording.

Is anyone questioning the two boys' guilt?

Yes. About half the town of Steubenville, actually. Five months later, local students are still blaming the alleged victim for bringing the attack upon herself she has been referred to on Facebook as "trainwhore":

And some, like one of Steubenville High's 19 football coaches, are blaming her for shaming the storied program:

"The rape was just an excuse, I think," said the 27-year-old Hubbard, who is No. 2 on the Big Reds career rushing list.

"What else are you going to tell your parents when you come home drunk like that and after a night like that? said Hubbard, who is one of the teams 19 coaches. "She had to make up something. Now people are trying to blow up our football program because of it."

If not everyone believes the rape happened, aren't the town's football allegiances going to get in the way of a fair trial?

Well, yes, there's this from the Timesreport:"the county prosecutor and the judge in charge of handling crimes by juveniles recused themselves from the case because they had ties to the football team."

Wait, is this some sort of cover-up?

Well, that's why the hacktivist collective known as Anonymous and, more specifically, one of its cells known as Knightsec . The hackers, and , are "giving a voice to the victim of this horrible crime" by rounding up new information that the police haven't been able to or at least that hasn't been made publicly available in advance of next month's trial. They seem to believe that there are more people involved, that there are more victims, that the accused are getting special treatment because they are football players, and that there's a bigger group of boys involved, which Anonymous has dubbed the "Rape Crew." Oh, andthey've set up Occupy Steubenville protests too.

Why do they think there's a cover-up, exactly?

For starters, Steubenville High head coach Reno Saccocciadidn't even bench the players involved.:

Saccoccia, pronounced SOCK-otch, told the principal and school superintendent that the players who posted online photographs and comments about the girl the night of the parties said they did not think they had done anything wrong. Because of that, he said, he had no basis for benching those players.

....

Approached in November to be interviewed about the case, Saccoccia said he did not "do the Internet," so he had not seen the comments and photographs posted online from that night. When asked again about the players involved and why he chose not to discipline them, he became agitated.

"You made me mad now," he said, throwing in several expletives as he walked from the high school to his car.

Nearly nose to nose with a reporter, he growled: "You're going to get yours. And if you don't get yours, somebody close to you will."

So is the country prosecutor trying to get her son and his teammates off the hook?

That's one of many new alleged details Anonymous and Local Leaks claim they have evidence of, in a document dump that started Wednesday, which they're calling . We , and we're not sure of their sourcing, but their leaks suggest thatthe football coach and the country Sheriff are friends. And even though the boys will now be tried as juveniles, they allege that Saccoccia has ties in the juvenile court system.

Wait, how many moer people are involved in the assault?

The hackers allege that there are more than two boys who perpetrated the alleged crime. They also suggest that one of the parties that the unconscious girl was dragged to actually took place at the county prosecutor's house. :

When the family of the victim went to file the charges, Jane Hanlin [the prosecutor] was present. She strongly discouraged them from filing. Hanlin frightened not only the victim, but the parents as well. Telling them that her name was going to be dragged through the mud, she will be in and out of court for well over two years, the press wouldnt leave any of the family alone once the crime was made public. Scared out of their wits, the parents said they didnt want that and Hanlin then said not to worry just leave it up to her and the detectives on the case.

And the hackers even dug up this video that had been deleted, which we showed and warned you about yesterday, of a former Steubenville student laughing about the attack:

Should we trust this new info?

Anonymous is notorious for doing borderline criminal fact-finding with good intentions. Just by bringing more Internet attention to the case, they've already pushed it forward. They continue to ask for the witness accounts that the town police chief has been asking for.

But the kid in that video up there will have his name attached to this case for years to come. And while he might deserve it, there's also a question of vigilanteism, since Anonymous has already published the personal information of certain other students it's convinced belong to this "Rape Crew":

How emotional should everyone get about all this before the trial?

Well, just this weekwhich is supposed to help protect women against assault and encourage them to come out in public when assaults do happen. The bill's failure, for the first time since 1994, is sort of poetic.

But they may be coincidence. What's not is that Anonymous is claiming that CNN is about to add a lot more national news presence, for the first time since the Times story:

@ is in fact launching an investigation into steubenville the rumors are true, they are on the ground there now.

CNN probably won't be the only major organizations booking flights to Ohio this week. Get ready for a lot more people to get emotionally invested in this case, and stay tuned as more details emerge.

They will be the rarities this weekend when three rookie quarterbacks, two in their second NFL seasons, and one veteran who has yet to appear in the postseason will lead the other teams in the wild-card round.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll is a fan of the trend toward younger quarterbacks.

"I think it's really exciting and the guys have done great," Carroll said. "They really have against all of the odds and history and stuff they've just been amazing to take their teams into the playoffs.

"It's a very exciting time for the league knowing there are other guys out there who are going to come up in the next couple of years, and there are stars in the making in the college ranks, and you don't have to wait years and years for those guys to show up and be a factor. "

Indeed, those days of letting young quarterbacks watch from the sideline before getting their chance has gone the way of the single wing. Rodgers was the last premier passer to undergo a lengthy apprenticeship, under Brett Favre in Green Bay.

On Saturday night, he leads the Packers against division rival Minnesota and second-year quarterback Christian Ponder. Earlier in the day, Cincinnati and its own second-year signal caller, Andy Dalton, is at Houston. The Texans' Matt Schaub is in his ninth pro season, but this will be his first playoff game.

On Sunday, the inexperience is even more pronounced. Three rookies who have completely belied any rawness Andrew Luck for Indianapolis, Robert Griffin III for Washington, Russell Wilson for Carroll's Seahawks will guide their teams in wild-card games.

"You know there's going to be a lot of people talking about playoff football and how it's ratcheted up a notch, which may be true," said Flacco, who will become the first quarterback to start a playoff game in his first five NFL seasons in the Super Bowl era. He's also won at least one postseason game each year. "But the bottom line is, my advice would be go about your business as you always would on a normal week. It's obviously gotten you to the point that you're in the playoffs and playing to get to another week. If it got you that far, then you're obviously doing something right, so you should try to continue that. You shouldn't try anything crazy just because it's playoff time."

Getting to the playoffs with rookie QBs was a crazy idea for decades. That changed permanently when Ben Roethlisberger led Pittsburgh to a 15-1 record in 2004, losing in the AFC title game.

Carroll points to even more recent times: 2008.

"I always go back to Flacco and Matt Ryan, those guys, when they jumped in and did really well as rookies, I think that was the start of the big turn," he said.

Still, there's never been anythinglike this season, when Luck, Griffin and Wilson combined for 31 wins, eight more than the previous record total for all rookie QBs in one season, which happened in 2011.

Some credit should go to the coaches who turned over their teams to the kids. Of course, when the Colts grabbed Luck atop the draft and the Redskins traded up to take RG3 at the second spot, it was presumed they would move directly into the lineup.

It took plenty of foresight and not a little courage for Carroll to go with Wilson, particularly after Seattle signed free agent Matt Flynn to a huge deal. But he saw something special in the third-round pick from Wisconsin by way of North Carolina State. And he sees that in all the rookie QBs.

"Maybe this is just the class of classes, too," he said. "Maybe this isn't as much of a trend, but it looks like it's kind of turning. "

It's not just the rookies who are making their playoff debuts, either. Schaub was injured when the Texans made their first trip to the postseason a year ago and T.J. Yates yes, a rookie led them to a victory over Dalton and the Bengals. Houston then lost to Flacco and the Ravens.

"I'm definitely looking forward to it," said Schaub, whose Texans have sputtered into the playoffs, dropping three of four to lose a bye. "But the thing that's going to help us win the game are the same whenever you're playing, wherever you're playing. That's playing smart, clean, good football."

That's exactly what the youngsters have done in key situations, even Ponder, who at times has looked overwhelmed. But he was solid the last two weeks when the Vikings beat Houston and Green Bay to secure their place in the Super Bowl chase.

"Balancing being conservative, making good decisions and taking chances, that's something you need to continue to learn as a quarterback and growing up," Ponder said. "I think that's the biggest difference for me. "

No matter how they fare this weekend, it's been a successful two years for young quarterbacks. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan expects it to continue because of the emphasis on passing in college.

"They're throwing the football a little bit more now than they have in the past," Shanahan said. "I think that gives them a big advantage. I think they have the ability to come in and go through OTAs and really learn the system in the offseason. I know 20 years ago, you never had an opportunity like that. Going through a system again, you have a lot of hours in the classroom as a quarterback that you never had 10 years ago, a chance to learn the system. And a lot of these guys are coming out ready to go."

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AP Sports Writers Tim Booth in Seattle, Howard Fendrich in Washington, and Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this story.

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Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

While the deal could bring long-term benefits to Sun Life, whose earnings have been derailed by wild market swings during recent years, investors pulled the company's shares down by nearly 4 percent as the financial terms fell short of initial expectations.

"The stock's sort of correcting back because the deal isn't quite as big a windfall as I think the market was anticipating," said National Bank financial analyst Peter Routledge.

Delaware Life Holdings, owned by certain Guggenheim clients and shareholders, will rename itself Delaware Life Insurance Co following the cash purchase. Guggenheim will provide investment management services to the new company.

Sun Life, Canada's No. 3 insurer, said last year it would stop selling variable annuities and individual life products in the United States to focus more on group insurance and voluntary benefits.

Variable annuities - retirement products that guarantee the investor a minimum monthly payment - became a source of earnings volatility for Sun Life in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. That is because low interest rates and Canadian accounting rules force insurers to take upfront losses on products that will not come due for years.

"The business makes money, but not enough," said Routledge.

Weak equity markets and low bond yields sent Sun Life's profit down 87.5 percent during the second quarter of 2012 and caused losses during the third and fourth quarters of 2011.

EARNINGS HIT

The deal will cut Sun Life's profit by 22 Canadian cents a share annually and reduce book value by C$950 million ($965 million), the company said in a statement. According to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, Sun Life was expected to earn C$2.53 a share on a net basis in 2013.

The deal has also prompted Sun Life to take a second look at its 2015 financial targets, which include a goal of C$2 billion in operating profit.

In an interview, Sun Life Chief Executive Dean Connor said he would update the market on the targets after the deal closes, which is expected during the second quarter next year.

"I'm not saying we will necessarily reduce them. I'm not saying we will necessarily leave them as they are, because we don't know yet," he said.

The deal is also expected to reduce the company's earnings sensitivity to equity markets by 50 percent and its sensitivity to interest rates by 35 percent, compared with estimates on September 30.

It will raise Sun Life's cash position to C$1.9 billion.

"Over time, we'll redeploy that cash to fund growth," said Connor. He said the growth could include acquisitions on the "smaller end of the spectrum."

Sun Life, which also owns U.S. asset manager MFS Investment Management, is targeting growth in its Asian business.

SHARES DOWN

Sun Life shares, which have outperformed its rivals with a 47 percent year-to-date rise coming into Monday's session, ended down 3.9 percent at C$26.74 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Despite the strong rise this year, the stock still trades at less than half its all-time high set in 2007.

Robert Sedran, an analyst at CIBC World Markets, said in a research note that the earnings and book value reductions were worse than he had expected.

"Moreover, while the decline in the earnings sensitivity to market variables improves the risk-reward profile, we did not view those sensitivities as excessive to begin with," he said.

However, he said the deal will free up time and capital that would otherwise have been engaged in what is essentially a closed business, which is a positive.

Morgan Stanley & Co advised Sun Life on the transaction financials.

Law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP was legal adviser to Sun Life, while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom advised Guggenheim Partners.

($1 = 0.9845 Canadian dollars)

(Additional reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; editing by Frank McGurty, Matthew Lewis and Dan Grebler)

It was the stock's biggest, single-day, percentage price drop since September 2008. But shares were still nearly 80 percent above the year's low, which was reached in September. They started to rally in November as investors began to bet that RIM's long-awaited new BlackBerry 10 phones, which will be unveiled in January, would turn the company around.

The services segment has long been RIM's most profitable and accounts for about a third of total revenue. Some analysts said there was a risk that the fee changes could endanger its service ecosystem and leave the Canadian company as just another handset maker.

The fee changes, which RIM announced on Thursday after market close, overshadowed stronger-than-expected quarterly results. The company said the new pricing structure would be introduced with the BlackBerry 10 launch, expected on January 30.

RIM said some subscribers would continue to pay for enhanced services such as advanced security. But under the new structure, some other services would account for less revenue, or even none at all.

Chief Executive Thorsten Heins tried to reassure investors in a television interview with CNBC on Friday, saying RIM's "service revenue isn't going away".

He added: "We're not stopping. We're not halting. We're transitioning."

Since taking over at RIM in January, Heins has focused on shrinking the company and getting it ready to introduce its new BB10 devices, which RIM says will help it claw back ground it has lost to competitors such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics.

But the new services pricing strategy came as a shock to markets, and some analysts cut their price targets on RIM stock.

RIM will not be able to sustain profitability by relying on its hardware business alone, said National Bank Financial analyst Kris Thompson, whom Thomson Reuters StarMine has rated the top RIM analyst based on the accuracy of his estimates of the company's earnings.

Thompson downgraded RIM's stock to "underperform" from "sector perform" and cut his price target to $10 from $15.

Forrester Research analyst Charles Golvin said the move was likely about stabilizing market share: "At the moment, they need to stem the bleeding."

He said the tiered pricing might line up better with RIM's subscriber base as it expands in emerging economies.

RIM's Nasdaq-listed shares closed down 22.7 percent at $10.91 on Friday. The stock fell 22.2 percent to C$10.86 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

COUNTDOWN TO LAUNCH

The success of the BB10 will be crucial to the future of RIM, which on Thursday posted its first-ever decline in total subscribers. Heins said on CNBC that the company expected to ship millions of the new devices.

He cautioned that this will require heavy investment, which will reduce RIM's cash position in its fourth and first quarters from $2.9 billion in its fiscal third quarter. He said, however, it would not go below $2 billion.

Still, doubts remain about whether RIM can pull off the transformation. Needham analyst Charlie Wolf said the BB10 would have to look meaningfully superior to its competitors for RIM to stage a comeback.

Canaccord Genuity analyst Michael Walkley said it was highly unlikely that the market would support RIM's new mobile computing ecosystem, and he remained skeptical about the company's ability to survive on its own.

"We believe RIM will eventually need to sell the company," said Walkley, who cut his price target on RIM shares to $9 from $10.

Baird Equity Research analysts said BB10 faced a daunting uphill battle against products from Apple, as well as those using Google Inc's Android operating system, and, increasingly, phones with Microsoft Corp's Windows 8 operating system.

Baird maintained its "underperform" rating on the stock, while Paradigm Capital downgraded the shares to "hold" from "buy" on uncertainty around the services revenue model.

"RIM has gone from having one major aspect of uncertainty - BlackBerry 10 adoption - to two, given an uncertain floor on services revenue," William Blair analyst Anil Doradla said.

RIM will have to discount BB10 devices significantly to maintain demand, Bernstein analyst Pierre Ferragu said.

The BlackBerry, however, still offers the security features that helped it build its reputation with big business and government, a selling point with some key customers.

Credit Suisse maintained its "neutral" rating on the stock, but not because it expected BB10 to be a big success.

"Only the potential for an outright sale of the company or a breakup keeps us at a neutral," Credit Suisse analysts said.

Separately on Friday, ailing Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia said it had settled its patent dispute with RIM in return for payments.

($1=$0.98 Canadian)

(Reporting by Chandni Doulatramani in Bangalore and Allison Martell in Toronto. Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York; Editing by Ted Kerr, Dale Hudson, Janet Guttsman,; Lisa Von Ahn, Peter Galloway and Leslie Gevirtz)

The film explores the social impact of hydraulic fracturing drilling technique, or "fracking," which has sparked nation-wide environmental and political battles over its impact on drinking water, U.S. energy use, seismic activity and other areas.

"Promised Land" will see Damon, 42, reunite with director Gus Van Sant for the third time, following their success with 1997 film "Good Will Hunting and 2002's "Gerry."

In their latest film, Damon plays a corporate salesman who goes to a rural U.S. town to buy or lease land on behalf of a gas company looking to drill for oil. He soon faces opposition from a slick environmentalist, played by Krasinski.

In real life, Damon hasn't shied away from getting involved in political and social issues, working with charities and organizations to eradicate AIDS in developing countries, bringing attention to atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region, providing safe drinking water and stopping trees from being chopped and used for junk mail.

Yet "Promised Land," which Damon also co-wrote and produced, doesn't take a noticeable stance on "fracking." The actor would not publicly state his own views, telling Reuters that he didn't think his opinion had "any bearing" on the film.

"The point is that the movie should start a conversation. It's certainly not a pro-fracking movie, but we didn't want to tell people what to think," Damon said.

The actor said he and Krasinski never set out to make a socially conscious film, and "fracking" was added in later, as a backdrop to the story.

"It wasn't that we said we wanted to make a movie about 'fracking' as much as we wanted to make a movie about American identity, about real people. We wanted to make a movie about the country today, where we came from, where we are and where we are headed," Damon said.

"'Fracking' was perfect because the stakes are so incredibly high and people are so divided. It asks all the questions about short-term thinking versus long-term thinking."

Hydraulic fracturing entails pumping water laced with chemicals and sand at high pressure into shale rock formations to break them up and unleash hydrocarbons. Critics worry that "fracking" fluids or hydrocarbons can still leak into water tables from wells, or above ground.

FROM 'ADJUSTMENT BUREAU' TO 'PROMISED LAND'

At first glance, the pairing of Damon with Krasinski may not come across as the perfect fit, as Damon has primarily been associated with longtime friend and collaborator Ben Affleck, both of whom won Oscars for writing "Good Will Hunting."

Damon later become a colleague and friend to a number of key Hollywood players, including George Clooney and Brad Pitt, with whom he co-starred in the "Ocean's Eleven" franchise.

Krasinski, 33, is best known for playing sardonic Jim Halpert on NBC's long-running television series, "The Office," and has had occasional supporting roles in films such as 2008's "Leatherheads."

Damon and Krasinski came together after meeting through Krasinski's wife, Emily Blunt, who co-starred with Damon in the 2011 film "The Adjustment Bureau." Damon said he and his wife started double-dating with Krasinski and Blunt, through which their collaboration on "Promised Land" came about.

The duo's busy work schedules forced them to moonlight on weekends to make "Promised Land."

"John showed up at my house every Saturday at breakfast and we would write all day until dinner," Damon said. "Then we'd do it again on Sunday. I have four kids so he would come to me."

But Damon's determination to make the film his feature directorial debut fell through when his acting schedule changed, making it impossible to direct "Promised Land," so he turned to Van Sant.

"My first inclination was to send the script to somebody I'd worked with before," he said. "Gus seemed like the most obvious choice and I realized later that I'd never written anything that anyone else had directed, except Gus. I have a real comfort level with him."

Damon said he has not given up on his dream of directing movies and has his eye on a project at movie studio Warner Bros., which has a deal with Damon and Affleck's joint production company, Pearl Street Films.

With Affleck's third directorial effort "Argo" becoming an awards contender, Damon joked that the film's success can only be a good thing for his own budding directing career.

"I now happen to be partnered with the hottest director in Hollywood!" he said, laughing.

(Reporting By Zorianna Kit, Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Paul Simao)

Reviewers panned a production loosely based on the band's meteoric rise to fame in the 1990s, complaining that its "charmless" script failed even as a basic invention for folding nostalgic pop hits into a West End stage show.

Independent newspaper critic Paul Taylor said the show "only achieves the kind of deliriously silly and joyous lift-off" at its encore and blamed scriptwriter Jennifer Saunders.

"Not only does her script rarely give you that necessary gleeful sense of expectancy about where the songs are going to be shoe-horned in, but it's embarrassingly derivative of 'Mamma Mia!' and looks way past its sell-by date in its utterly surprise-free satiric swipe at X Factor."

"Viva Forever!" was the brainchild of producer Judy Craymer, whose Mamma Mia! musical based on the hits of ABBA has earned nearly $2 billion worldwide and spawned a hit movie starring Meryl Streep.

She teamed up with British comedian Saunders of "Absolutely Fabulous" fame to create a story about the central character, Viva, a sprightly teenager who, along with her friends, gets into the final stages of a TV singing contest closely resembling Britain's "The X Factor".

To boost flagging audience figures - a nod to "The X Factor"s real-life ratings woes in Britain this season - their mentor springs a surprise and throws out three members of the band to leave Viva on her own.

What follows is part morality tale examining what is more important - friends, family or fame - and part satire on reality television, including a callous producer bearing an uncanny resemblance to X-Factor's Simon Cowell.

EMPOWERMENT

Both the Mirror and the Daily Mail delivered damning criticism of a production, which the Mirror's Alun Palmer said particularly failed to deliver on the grand message that formed a key part of every Spice Girl's identity: "girl power".

"There is more female empowerment at a Taliban finishing school than in this show," Palmer wrote.

The Spice Girls, Geri Halliwell, Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton and Melanie Chisholm, who together stormed the charts in the 1990s and put girl power on the map were all on hand at the Piccadilly Theatre for the London premiere.

British tabloids made a good deal of noise out of the fact that Beckham arrived after her ex-bandmates and sat with her soccer star husband David and three sons, who clapped along to the music during the final medley.

Now all young mothers in their late 30s and early 40s, The Spice Girls are still affectionately known by their nicknames they adopted in the band - Posh (Beckham), Scary (Brown), Baby (Bunton), Sporty (Chisholm) and Ginger (Halliwell).

They were hailed as modern-day feminists by some and dismissed as vacuous pop princesses by others, but their success is beyond doubt. They sold 55 million records, had nine British No. 1 singles and three back-to-back Christmas No. 1s.

Unabashed fan Poppy Cosyns, was one of the few critics to gush enthusiastically about the show in her review for the Sun.

"As a true fan, I was worried that the jukebox musical formula might not work with their songs but Jennifer Saunders has done a great job with the script and the show flows really well," she wrote.

The band broke up around 12 years ago, their bickering eagerly chronicled by Britain's celebrity-obsessed tabloids.

Perhaps surprisingly, given the bust-ups and hissy fits, the group has been united in its backing of the new musical, and underlining the Spice Girls' lasting popularity, they played a major part in the closing ceremony at the London Olympics.

The Guardian's Alexis Petridis compared it favorably only to the "baleful shadow" of Ben Elton's Queen-themed "We Will Rock You" musical.

"It would be nice if, metaphorically speaking, it pinched Prince Charles's bum a few more times," he wrote. "Still, it zips along cheerily enough, and compared with We Will Rock You, it's a work of untrammeled genius."

Despite its flaws, Petridis said the show's success will lie in the hands of the legions of fans who propelled the Spice Girls to the top of the charts in the first place.

"Faint praise perhaps, but never mind: judging by the crowds of thirty-something ladies leaving the theatre singing 'Stop and Say You'll Be There', Viva Forever! is critic-proof."

(Editing by Stephen Addison)

Klugman, whose pairing with Tony Randall on "The Odd Couple" created one of television's most memorable duos, died at his home in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles following a period of declining health, according to his son, Adam Klugman.

"He went very suddenly and peacefully ... he was there one minute and gone the next," the actor's son told Reuters, adding that the elder Klugman had "been in convalescent mode for awhile."

He said his father had lost his ability to walk and spent much of his time in bed. His wife of four and a half years, Peggy Crosby, former daughter-in-law of the late singer Bing Crosby, was with him when he died, his son said.

In addition to his TV success, Klugman enjoyed a healthy career on the stage as well as in movies and made successful forays into horse breeding and political activism. Not even the loss of a vocal cord to cancer in 1989 could silence him for long.

Klugman gained fame for playing slovenly sports writer Oscar Madison in the sitcom "The Odd Couple" - a role he also had played on Broadway - and then as a crusading coroner in the crime drama "Quincy, M.E."

"The Odd Couple," based on Neil Simon's play about two disparate divorced men forced to share an apartment, ran for five years on the ABC network, starting in 1970, but was never a hit during that time. Only through reruns did Klugman and co-star Randall, who played neat-freak Felix Unger, leave their mark as one of U.S. television's great sitcom teams.

"We had wonderful respect for one another, we liked working together but we never became friends," Klugman told the Miami Herald in 2005. "I think that was on account of me. I was withdrawn. I never let anybody get too close."

It was not until Klugman's cancer surgery, following years of heavy smoking and throat problems, that a friendship developed with Randall. Klugman had no voice and was glumly resigned to the end of his acting career, but with Randall's encouragement, he returned to the stage.

They resurrected their "Odd Couple" roles in a 1993 TV movie, and Klugman paid tribute to Randall, who died in 2004, in the memoir "Tony and Me: A Story of Friendship."

"Quincy, M.E.," which ran on NBC from 1976 to 1983, saw Klugman assume a heavy behind-the-scenes role. He recalled that he spent 20 hours a day working on the series, and he twice sued its producer, Universal Studios, for a share of the net profits he claimed were owed to him.

LOVE OF HORSES

Horses were perhaps Klugman's first love - both as a keen gambler starting in his teens and later as a breeder. One of his horses, Jaklin Klugman, finished third in the 1980 Kentucky Derby and earned millions as a stud.

Born Jacob Joachim Klugman on April 27, 1922, he grew up in a tough Philadelphia neighborhood. In 1945 a loan shark was after him due to gambling losses so he fled to Pittsburgh, where he studied drama at Carnegie Tech and worked several jobs to settle his debts.

Two years later in New York, Klugman appeared opposite Henry Fonda in the national stage production of "Mr. Roberts." In 1960, Klugman received a Tony nomination for his supporting role in the musical "Gypsy."

In Hollywood, Klugman had notable supporting roles in such films as "12 Angry Men" (1957), "Days of Wine and Roses" (1962) and "Goodbye, Columbus" (1969).

He won the first of three Emmys in 1964 for an appearance on the legal drama "The Defenders." Klugman and Randall each received Emmy nominations for each of the "Odd Couple" seasons, with Klugman winning in 1971 and 1973 and Randall in 1975.

Klugman also earned four Emmy nominations for NBC's "Quincy, M.E." His character, who stepped out of his role as medical examiner to solve murders that flummoxed the Los Angeles police, never had a first name.

Klugman is survived by Crosby, his second wife, whom he married in 2008 after a 20-year courtship; and two sons, Adam and David, from his first marriage to late "Match Game" panelist Brett Somers. Klugman and Somers were separated for more than 30 years of their 54-year marriage, which ended with her death in 2007.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; additional reporting and writing by Dean Goodman; Editing by Steve Gorman and Paul Simao)

Keller is the only American chef who owns two three-Michelin-star restaurants - Per Se in New York City and The French Laundry in the Napa Valley wine region in California.

Earlier this year, Britain's Restaurant Magazine named Per Se, which opened in 2004, the world's sixth best restaurant. Keller also earned the magazine's lifetime achievement award.

Like his four other books, his latest effort is a collaboration. He co-wrote it with his top pastry chefs Sebastien Rouxel and Matthew McDonald along with food writers Susie Heller, Michael Ruhlman and Amy Vogler.

The 57-year-old spoke to Reuters about the book, his pastry chefs and his place in the culinary world.

Q: Why did you collaborate with the leaders of your pastry team with this book?

A: "If you look at my other cookbooks, it's always been a point with me to share these opportunities with those who share their skills and expertise with the general public. That was the reason why I did the book. Sebastien is one of the best pastry chefs in America. His techniques are unparalleled. I'm not trying to pretend that I'm a pastry chef by writing a book about baking and pastries. Nor am I trying to be a bread baker. I have Matthew McDonald, who is one of the best bakers in America. To be able to highlight his skills in the bread section was very important as well."

Q: How did your time in France change your view about pastry and bread-making?

A: "When you are in France, especially in Paris, there were three or four boulangeries of different significance just on the block where I lived because they had pastry chefs with different levels of skills. You went to different ones for different things. To have a fresh baked baguette everyday was extraordinary. Anyone who lived in Paris for any length of time would say eating a fresh baguette is pretty special. Bread plays a real important part in the experience of the diners. To make sure we have the opportunity to significantly impact the experience by controlling the production and style of the bread was very important to me."

Q: Do you have a favorite dessert?

A: "It depends on the day ... There are so many things I love. I think anything that's done really, really well. For me, that's really something I really appreciate. I think one of the things that really resonate with the individual is that idea that eating, and eating through that experience, they have a memory. We are always trying to do something that's good. Why put something on the menu that's not very good?"

Q: The book emphasizes weighing ingredients over measuring with cups and spoons. Could that be difficult for home cooks?

A: "One of the things about pastry ... it's such an exact process. The most exact thing you practice is with weighing. There is an exactness to the execution, which gives you every opportunity to be successful."

Q: French Laundry and Per Se are among two of the best restaurants in the country. Bouchon Bakery is a success. What more would you like to accomplish in the culinary world?

A: "I have accomplished today everything I wanted to accomplish, more than I ever dreamed was possible. Right now, I'm just focused on the restaurants we have and the book I just wrote. Let me enjoy this moment before you ask me what I'll be doing tomorrow."

Pecan Sandies for my mom (Makes 1-1/2 dozen cookies)

1 cups + 1 teaspoons all-purpose flour (250 grams)

cup coarsely chopped pecans (80 grams)

4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature (170 grams)

cup + 1 teaspoons powdered sugar (90 grams)

Additional powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

1. Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 325F (convection) or 350F (standard). Line two sheet pans with Silpats or parchment paper.

2. Toss the flour and pecans together in a medium bowl.

3. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium-low speed until smooth. Add the 90 grams/ cup plus 1 teaspoons powdered sugar and mix for about 2 minutes, until fluffy. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, until just combined. Scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate any dry ingredients that have settled there.

4. Divide the dough into 30-gram/1-tablespoon portions, roll into balls, and arrange on the sheet pans, leaving about 1 inches between them. Press the cookies into 2-inch disks.

5. Bake until pale golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes if using a convection oven, 22 to 25 minutes if using a standard oven, reversing the positions of the pans halfway through. (Sandies baked in a convection oven will not spread as much as those baked in a standard oven and will have a more even color.)

6. Set the pans on a cooling rack and cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely. If desired, dust with powdered sugar.

Note: The cookies can be stored in a covered container for up to 3 days.

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Patricia Reaney and James Dalgleish)

Landing on his feet in the New Mexico desert, the man known as "Fearless Felix" lifted his arms in victory to the cheers of onlookers and friends.

"When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble, you do not think about breaking records anymore, you do not think about gaining scientific data," he said after the jump. "The only thing you want is to come back alive."

"Sometimes we have to get really high to see how small we are," an exuberant Baumgartner told reporters outside mission control after safely returning to Earth.

Here's a gallery of photos from Baumgartner's leap into the record books.

It's a testament to the teachers who sprang into action when a gunman broke into Sandy Hook Elementary School and opened fire. They hid students in closets and bathrooms, and even threw themselves in the line of fire. Some paid with their lives.

Their sacrifice was selfless and heroic, and most teachers say they would do exactly the same if they ever came face to face with a gunman in the classroom. At schools last week, many teachers got extra thanks from parents and students who were reminded in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., massacre of just how much they give.

"I really hope a lot of parents see teachers in a little bit of a different light about all that we do," said Hal Krantz, a teacher at Coral Springs Middle School, about 20 miles north of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

That gratitude for teachers is a respite from recent years in which politicians and the public have viewed them as anything but heroes. Instead, teachers have been the focus of increased scrutiny, criticized for what is perceived as having generous and unwarranted benefits and job security.

"I think a moment like this makes us appreciate and understand the degree to which we are dependent on our teachers to take care of our children in all kinds of ways, not just in what they learn in the classroom," said Paula Fass, a history professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Over the last four years, a wave of reforms, prompted largely by the U.S. Department of Education and its $4.35 billion Race to the Top competition, has led states to strip teachers of tenure and institute tougher evaluations based in considerable part on student scores on standardized tests. The heavier emphasis on testing has led to a narrowing of what is perceived as the teacher's role in the classroom.

"Most of the talk about teachers lately has been, 'Should we judge teachers simply by children's performance on standardized tests?'" said Patricia Albjerg Graham, a professor of the history of education at Harvard University. "And while it's very important that teachers assist children in learning, it's also true that they help them get in the mood for learning and protect them and care for them while they're in school."

Graham began teaching at a rural school in southern Virginia in 1955 and said even then teachers viewed protecting students as part of their job. During the Cold War, teachers led students through drills in the event of a nuclear bomb attack. Today, they lead them through the halls on fire drills and even have to take threats like shootings into account.

"I'm certainly proud of those teachers that lost their lives or got injured," Krantz said. "It always makes you feel proud to be part of that whole society."

While teachers in the United States have seen their responsibilities increase, their salaries have remained relatively flat at about $55,000 after adjustment for inflation over the last two decades, and salaries for starting teachers are usually lower. And while teachers in countries that outperform U.S. students on international tests tend to be held in the highest esteem, in the U.S., teaching is often derided as a job of last resort.

President Obama addressed the need to elevate the status of teachers in his State of the Union address last year.

"In South Korea, teachers are known as 'nation builders,'" he said. "Here in America, it's time we treated the people who educate our children with the same level of respect."

His next line, however, suggested not all merited that status: "We want to reward good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones."

Parents may like their own child's teacher, but their overall confidence in U.S. schools appears to have reached a low point. A Gallup poll released earlier this year found that just 29 percent had a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in public schools the lowest level in nearly four decades.

"I think there has been a fairly concerted attack on teachers and teaching, specifically focusing on unionized teachers," said Jeffrey Mirel, an education professor at the University of Michigan.

Indeed, much of the criticism about education in the United States has centered on teachers and firing or weakening their benefits as part of the solution. When a board of trustees needed to come up with ways to improve one of the state's worst-performing schools in 2010, it decided to fire all of the teachers there a decision that Obama said was an example of why accountability is needed in the most troubled schools.

The teachers were eventually allowed to keep their jobs, but in some ways the damage had already been done.

Whether the courageous actions in Newtown, Conn., lead to anything more than a temporary shift in the tone of how the nation talks about teachers remains to be seen.

But for the moment, teachers are grateful.

"When situations like that occur, teachers basically have a disregard for their own safety and put their own bodies between whatever might be happening to keep their kids safe," Krantz said. "I think we're always conscious of the fact that something like that could really happen."

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