State radio said the trial had begun at a Beijing courthouse under heavy security. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty or life in jail.

Liu was formally charged in April with abuse of power, taking bribes and malpractice.

He took advantage of his position and helped 11 people to either get promotions or win contracts, accepting 64.6 million yuan ($10.53 million) in bribes from them in return between 1986 and 2011, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

While railways minister, Liu helped Ding Yuxin, the chairwoman of a Beijing investment company, and her relatives win cargo and railway construction contracts, "breaking regulations and playing favoritism" to allow Ding and her family to "reap huge profits", the report added.

"Liu's malpractices have led to huge losses of public assets and of the interests of the state and people, and he should be subject to criminal liabilities for bribe taking and abuse of power," Xinhua said.

State television showed pictures of a downcast Liu standing in the dock answering questions and looking at a screen upon which evidence against him was being displayed.

The trial may be over quite quickly, judging by similar graft cases in the past, and the verdict will likely come out within the next two weeks or so.

While Xi has said anti-corruption efforts should target low-ranking "flies" as well as powerful "tigers", few high-ranking violators have been probed since Xi became president in March.

China's railway system has faced numerous problems over the past few years, including heavy debts from funding new high-speed lines, waste and fraud.

The government has pledged to open the rail industry to private investment on an unprecedented scale.

The ministry suffered a big blow to its image when a crash in 2011 between two high-speed trains killed 40 people.

Liu was sacked in February last year and later expelled from the Communist Party. He had successfully resisted a merger with the Ministry of Transport six years ago, but the government announced in March that the two ministries would be merged.

While Liu's case attracted much attention when it first broke, it has been overshadowed by the much more sensational case of the former party chief of Chongqing, the ambitious Bo Xilai.

Bo's downfall last year amid lurid accusations of murder and diplomatic intrigue caused division and uncertainty as the party prepared a transfer of power to a new generation of leaders.

The government has yet to announce a trial date for Bo, or what charges he will face.

($1 = 6.1335 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Ron Popeski and Jeremy Laurence)

The Hall of Fame defensive end credited with terming the word sack for how he knocked down quarterbacks, was 74. The Washington Redskins said that Jones died of natural causes at his home in Southern California on Monday night.

"Deacon Jones was one of the greatest players in NFL history. Off the field, he was a true giant," said Redskins general manager Bruce Allen, whose father, George, coached Jones with the Los Angeles Rams. "His passion and spirit will continue to inspire those who knew him. He was a cherished member of the Allen family and I will always consider him my big brother."

Because sacks didn't become an official statistic until 1982, Jones' total is uncertain. His impact as a premier pass rusher and team leader is not.

Jones was the leader of the Rams' Fearsome Foursome unit from 1961-71 and then played for San Diego for two seasons before finishing his career with the Redskins in 1974. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and made the league's 75th anniversary all-time squad.

"Deacon Jones has been the most inspirational person in my football career," said former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Jack Youngblood.

Jones made the Pro Bowl every year from 1964-70 and played in eight overall. He combined with fellow Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen, Rosey Grier and Lamar Lundy on a defensive line that at times was unblockable.

George Allen, who coached the Fearsome Foursome, called Jones the "greatest defensive end of modern football." The Allen family had Jones present George Allen for his Hall of Fame induction in 2002.

The Rams' stats show Jones with 159 1/2 sacks for them and 173 1/2 for his career all unofficial, of course. Jones also was one of the most durable players, missing just five games in his 14 pro seasons.

A 14th-round draft pick in 1961 out of Mississippi Valley State, which later produced Jerry Rice, Jones was the first defensive lineman with 100 solo tackles, reaching that mark in 1967.

"The thing we've got to remember being players in this era is to really respect the game 'back when,' because those guys could really play," said Chris Long of the Rams, whose father, Howie, also is in the Hall of Fame. "Deacon Jones is a perfect example. This whole league and everybody in this game should honor the past and the players who played in that era. Those guys paved the way for us."

Most recently, Jones was the CEO of his own foundation, which he began in 1997. He also made several trips to visit troops on active duty in the Middle East.

To date, it's far from the mass defection that some conservatives had predicted before the vote by the BSA's National Council. But the exodus could soon swell, depending on the outcome of the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting next week in Houston.

Baptist leaders say the agenda is likely to include a resolution encouraging SBC-affiliated churches to phase out their sponsorships of Scout units.

"I would bet there would be a resolution expressing disappointment with the Boy Scouts' decision and calling on Southern Baptist churches to prepare for the need for alternatives," said the Rev. Russell Moore, president of the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

"How quickly that happens will probably differ from congregation to congregation," Moore said. "I do think most Southern Baptists see the Boy Scouts moving in a direction that's not going to be consistent with our beliefs."

The Southern Baptists the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. already have a youth program for boys, the Royal Ambassadors. SBC leaders have suggested it could expand to accommodate boys leaving the Scouts.

According to BSA figures, Baptist churches sponsor Scout units serving about 108,000 of the BSA's 2.6 million youth members.

While many Baptist churches may be awaiting the outcome of next week's meeting, some already have decided to break with the BSA.

In Marietta, Ga., pastor Ernest Easley said his Roswell Street Baptist Church is ending its affiliation with Boy Scout Troop 204 that dates back to 1945.

"I never dreamed I'd have to stand up publicly and say to parents: 'Pull your kids out of the Boy Scouts,'" Easley told Baptist Press, the SBC's official news agency.

Baptist churches in Elizabethtown and Rineyville, Ky., Helena and Pelham, Ala., and Jacksonville, Ark., also say they're cutting ties with the BSA.

Tim Reed, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Gravel Ridge in Jacksonville, said in an e-mail that his congregation including a 15-year-old boy on track to win the coveted Eagle Scout rank strongly backed the decision to end sponsorship of a Scout troop.

"He was set to be one of the youngest boys to make Eagle," Reed wrote. "He said that he must uphold God's word over the Boy Scouts' decision no matter what the personal cost."

Among the latest to cut ties was Candlelight Christian Fellowship, a nondenominational church in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which announced this week that it would end its charter of a Boy Scout troop at the end of this year.

"We're a Bible-believing church, and the Boy Scouts have opted to pursue a different moral path," said the associate pastor, Buck Storm. "It's a sad time for us."

In all, about 70 percent of the 116,000 Scout units in the United States are sponsored by religious organizations.

Some are liberal denominations that welcomed the change of policy on gay youths and want the Boy Scouts to go further by lifting the still-intact ban on gays serving as adult leaders. But some of the largest sponsors are relatively conservative churches that had long supported the Scouts' no-gays policy, and have been wrestling with how to respond to the May 23 vote.

To the relief of BSA leaders, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has said it accepts the new youth policy and will not cut ties. The Mormons sponsor more Scout units than any other organization, serving about 430,000 boys.

The United Methodist Church, the second-largest sponsor serving about 363,000 boys, has shied away from official endorsement or rejection of the BSA policy change. Some individual Methodist leaders have been critical, while the General Commission on United Methodist Men, which oversees the denomination's youth programs, says it will continue to support Scouting.

Similar divisions have surfaced within the Roman Catholic Church, the third-largest Scout sponsor serving about 273,000 youths.

A Catholic pastor in Bremerton, Wash., the Rev. Derek Lappe of Our Lady Star of the Sea, wrote an open letter to his parishioners announcing that the parish would cut its ties with the Scouts and develop new youth programs of its own.

"I am very aware that my objection to the change ... is increasingly considered bigoted and backward," Lappe wrote. "But I won't put public opinion ahead of the good of the boys and young men in my parish."

In the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake, the pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church notified local Scout leaders that the church would no longer sponsor a Cub Scout pack and Boy Scout troop. In a letter conveying the decision, the Rev. Brian Grady wrote that it would be "not only unjust, but immoral" for straight boys to have to share tents on camping trips with gay Scouts.

And in Arlington, Va., Catholic Bishop Paul Loverde issued a statement saying the new membership policy "forces us to prayerfully reconsider whether a continued partnership with the BSA will be possible."

"It is highly disappointing to see the Boy Scouts of America succumb to external pressures and political causes at the cost of its moral integrity," said Loverde, who predicted the policy change will bring "continuing controversy, policy fights and discord."

However, the National Catholic Committee on Scouting which works with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to coordinate the church's involvement in Scouting has taken a more positive view of the policy change.

"We should be encouraged that the change in BSA's youth membership standard is not in conflict with Catholic teaching," Edward Martin, the committee's chairman, wrote last week in an open letter to Catholics involved in Scouting.

Martin, an Eagle Scout with five children who've been Scouts, said his committee would form a task force to work with Catholic dioceses and parishes on how best to go forward in light of the change.

"Our youth don't want to leave Scouting. Scouting is still the best program around," Martin wrote. "Let's continue this important journey together."

Another conservative denomination, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, says it is "deeply concerned" by the policy change, and continues to deliberate on how it will respond.

From its headquarters in Texas, the BSA has formed a task force to smooth the path of implementing the new policy, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2014.

Meanwhile, the BSA says it is reaching out to the organizations that sponsor Scout troops, including those which oppose the policy change.

"We're finding that for many people, when they read the new policy they see it is reflective of the beliefs of most of Scouting's major religious chartered organizations," said BSA spokesman Deron Smith.

Russell Moore, the Southern Baptist official, said he doubted the Scouts' outreach would succeed in overcoming his denomination's opposition to the policy change, in part because of a sense that the BSA will eventually lift the ban on gay adults serving as leaders.

"Most Southern Baptists are seeing a trajectory that we've seen before in other cultural institutions," Moore said. "We know how this movie ends."

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Online:

Boy Scouts: http://www.scouting.org/

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Follow David Crary on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/craryap

Now that Nelly has entered the picture and "Cruise" is rocketing up the pop charts, Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley have discovered like Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum and a few other country acts over the years that there's nothing like the ride of a crossover hit.

"I think it's kind of like pouring gas on a fire," Hubbard said. "It's been wild."

They hold a coveted headliner's spot during the Country Music Association Festival's nightly concerts this weekend, a sure sign you've made it in the world of rhinestone twang.

A year ago they played a small stage outside LP Field promoting promising acts as fans streamed in to watch the top stars later that night at the four-day festival.

Since then, "Cruise" went No. 1 on the country charts, they won the Academy of Country Music's best new artist award, scored coveted opening slots on tour with country's hottest acts Swift and Luke Bryan, and met Nelly.

Their remix is currently No. 5 on Billboard's Hot 100 songs chart. Because of it, they had a starring role at the CMT Music Awards, where they won a leading two trophies Wednesday night. They're one of the most visible acts in Nashville in a week when every star is in town.

"I don't think it gets any better," Kelley said while standing in an arena hallway after CMT Music Awards rehearsals Monday night. "It's been crazy to see this ride take off."

Few artists have risen so quickly in the fairly stagnant world of country music. Fans are loyal, but they aren't always quick to adapt. Top stars like Jason Aldean and Eric Church, for instance, were at it for a decade before hitting the top reaches of country music.

Hubbard and Kelley started playing the game in earnest in 2009 after meeting at Belmont University, the private school near Music Row that's been the starting point for many musicians and music business employees in town. Unlike that legion of aspiring artists, managers and publicists, neither Hubbard nor Kelley came to town with designs on the spotlight.

Kelley a hunky 27-year-old blond with short-cropped hair from Ormond Beach, Fla. was a college baseball player with a guitar hobby on the side who'd bounced around a bit before landing at Belmont. Hubbard a hunky 26-year-old with longer hair and an edgier vibe from Monroe, Ga. wanted a business degree and liked Nashville. He also played guitar and figured he'd go for a music business degree.

A friend introduced them and they found they had similar backgrounds and interests. More important, they meshed perfectly when they picked up their guitars to write together that first time.

"We wrote our song and thought, 'This is pretty cool,'" Kelley said. "'We've got something special here.'"

Nelly heard that something special from his labelmates when the duo's management pointed out the then-countrified version of "Cruise." Asked why he got involved, he smiled and said, "I love hits."

"They're great kids," he said later. "They're great guys. They're young. They have energy. They're excited. I told them, 'Enjoy being the new guys because you only get to be the new guy once.'"

They're trying to take that message to heart while ensuring they progress past that new guy phase. But every once in a while, the distance they've traveled at light speed over the past few years catches up with them. Not so long ago they lived together frat-style with three other people. They awoke in the morning and wrote songs, then would head off to paint houses or wash cars before returning to the house to write more.

Saturday night they'll play those songs for 65,000 people at one of country music's signature events.

"It's definitely a God thing," Hubbard said. "We've definitely been blessed the last few years."

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http://floridageorgialine.com

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Follow AP Music Writer Chris Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott.

The fossil of Aurornis xui was found last year in a museum at the Fossil and Geology Park in Yizhou, China, long after a farmer first dug it up in the Liaoning Province. The feathery specimen represents the most ancient of the avialans, the group that includes birds and their relatives since their split from nonavian dinosaurs.

The research also reconfirms the birdlike fossilas an avialan, a classification that was challenged by some recent research. []

Not everyone agrees that the new specimen is strictly a bird. "In my opinion, it's a bird," study author Pascal Godefroit, a paleontologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels, told . Even so, he added, "The differences between birds and [nonavian] dinosaurs are very thin."

"Traditionally, we have defined birds as things like Archaeopteryx and closer to things like modern birds," vertebrate paleontologist Luis Chiappe of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, who was not involved in the study, told LiveScience. "If you stick to the definition, this thing is not earliest known bird," Chiappe said, but that's missing the point, he said. What matters, is that it's a very interesting animal that "still helps us understand better the origin of birds," he said.

Aurornis xui was a feathered dinosaur that lived during the Middle Jurassic period about 150 million years ago, analysis shows. It was about 1.6 feet (0.5 meter) from beak tip to tail tip, and possessed small, sharp teeth and long forelimbs.

The creature probably couldn't fly, Godefroit said, but may have used its wings to glide between trees. The fossil's feathers aren't well-preserved, but the hip bones and other features strongly suggest it was a relative of modern birds, he said.

The researchers assert that Aurornis displaces Archaeopteryx as the , placing Archaeopteryx further along in the avialan lineage. Since Archaeopteryx was a flying creature, its placement among avialans means dinosaurs would have only had toonce during evolutionary history.

The new findings also classify another family of birdlike dinosaurs, known as Troodontidae, as a sister group to the avialans. This reshuffling of the bird-dinosaur family tree suggests birds and nonavian dinosaurs diverged in Asia during the Middle to Late Jurassic.

The findings are detailed in the May 30 issue of the journal Nature.

Follow Tanya Lewis on  and . Follow us ,  & . Original article on .

Winger Adrien Plante, 28, is also set to make his debut for France, who have mainly relied on the squad that finished bottom of this year's Six Nations with Thierry Dusautoir to captain the team in place of injured lock Pascal Pape.

Experienced flyhalf Frederic Michalak has been dropped to the bench and Lopez will form a 24-year-old halfback combination with Machenaud who earned his first international cap last year and now has eight.

South Africa-born prop Daniel Kotze and lock Alexandre Franquart have also been named in the 23-man squad and should earn their first France caps.

Team: 15-Yoann Huget; 14-Adrien Plante, 13-Florian Fritz, 12-Wesley Fofana, 11-Maxime Medard; 10-Camille Lopez, 9-Maxime Machenaud; 8-Louis Picamoles, 7-Fulgence Ouedraogo, 6-Thierry Dusautoir; 5-Yoann Maestri, 4-Sebastien Vahaamahina; 3-Luc Ducalcon, 2-Dimitri Szarzewski, 1-Thomas Domingo

Replacements: 16-Guilhem Guirado, 17-Vincent Debaty, 18-Daniel Kotze, 19-Alexandre Flanquart, 20-Yannick Nyanga, 21-Jean-Marc Doussain, 22-Frederic Michalak, 23-Maxime Mermoz

(Reporting by Gregory Blachier, editing by Ed Osmond)

"The Voice" judge Shelton, a native of Ada, Oklahoma, which is 75 miles northwest of Moore, said he would have more information on the NBC concert in the next 24 hours.

"I'm hoping it will raise a lot of money. Obviously it will be televised and will happen really quickly," Shelton told Billboard after the conclusion of Tuesday's "The Voice."

Representatives for NBC and Shelton did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The singer opened Tuesday's reality singing competition show with his ballad "Over You," which he sang with wife Miranda Lambert as a tribute to the tornado's victims.

Shelton, who serves as a judge along with Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, R&B star Usher and pop singer Shakira, said he hoped to "call in some really big favors" for the benefit.

The huge tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb on Monday, ripping apart two elementary schools and a hospital and killing 24 people, including nine school children.

Country singer Toby Keith, a native of Moore, appeared on CNN on Tuesday night as he returned to his hometown

"Always when these things happen, music people get together. I've had 500 text messages from people all over the music world saying 'What are we going to do? We want to help...'" a visibly shaken Keith said on the "Piers Morgan Live" program.

"I'm in and Moore knows I'm going to be here, hopefully in the next couple days we can sort it out," he added.

Celebrities have been quick to take to social media to voice their support for tornado victims, urging people to donate to the American Red Cross and Salvation Army.

Basketball player Kevin Durant, one of the stars of the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team, has pledged $1 million for tornado relief through his family foundation and encouraged his 4.1 million Twitter followers to help raise relief funds.

NBC's star-studded telethon with Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel for the victims of Superstorm Sandy in November 2012 helped raise more than $23 million, while ABC's "Day of Giving" event raised more than $10 million for the American Red Cross.

NBC is a unit of Comcast Corp.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; editing by Eric Kelsey and Doina Chiacu)

And according to that affidavit, Dye's explanation is simple. He claims he said what the NCAA told him in 2011 was necessary to preserve his career.

Dye's attorney, Darren Heitner, said Saturday that his client stands by what he wrote, which has been obtained by The Associated Press. The NCAA has told Miami that it wants to interview Dye as soon it can, even over Memorial Day weekend, amid "Bylaw 10.1 concerns" the rule covering unethical conduct by those involved in collegiate athletics.

"My client stands behind the statements he made in his affidavit, which we understand is supported by affidavits signed by other former players," Heitner said. "Nevertheless, we will cooperate with the NCAA and comply with its request for a third interview."

Dye has already been sanctioned once for his involvement with the scandal that has dogged the Hurricanes for more than two years and was sparked by claims made by former booster Nevin Shapiro, a convicted felon who is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme.

After the scandal broke in 2011, Dye had to sit out four games and repay $738 because the NCAA found primarily through his own acknowledgement that he accepted impermissible benefits from Shapiro, who was linked to dozens of Miami athletes, recruits and coaches over about a decade.

The stakes are higher this time. If the NCAA successfully pursues a 10.1 charge against Dye, his remaining eligibility would almost certainly be gone.

"I feel that it is unfair that the NCAA has twisted my testimony," Dye wrote in his statement, filed on behalf of former Hurricanes assistant coach Aubrey Hill, who faces one of the unethical conduct charges the 10.1 that the NCAA included in the notice of allegations it sent to Miami in February.

Former Miami quarterback Jacory Harris echoed Dye's claim of NCAA intimidation in another affidavit on Hill's behalf, and it's now expected that more former players involved in the Hurricanes case will say the same thing happened to them during their interviews related to the investigation.

The NCAA has not commented about the affidavit from Dye, who played tight end last year and was planning to switch to defensive line for his final collegiate season. He is recovering from surgery needed after he got hurt on the final day of Miami's spring practice season, but remains hopeful that he will be able to play in 2013.

Dye appears several times in the notice of allegations, which is what Miami will be facing when it appears before the NCAA's Committee on Infractions for a hearing scheduled to begin June 13 in Indianapolis.

Dye, the AP has learned, was one of at least 38 football players who the NCAA said was entertained at Shapiro's home. The NCAA also said Dye, Ray-Ray Armstrong and Andre Dubose were provided "impermissible transportation and benefits" such as a strip-club trip during an unofficial recruiting visit. Dye also allegedly was allowed to stay at the homes of two former football assistant coaches Hill and Clint Hurtt for no cost during unofficial visits.

The NCAA said Dye stayed at Hurtt's home at least two nights, and at Hill's for at least two other nights.

More allegations involving Dye included that he, Debose and Armstrong were picked up by Hill about halfway between Miami and Orlando and driven by the then-assistant to South Florida for a visit; that Hurtt arranged a trip to a gathering with Miami players at Shapiro's home; that he played in a pool tournament at Shapiro's where the booster was offering a cash prize; and that he dined at an Italian restaurant with Hill and others, with Shapiro paying.

In his affidavit, Dye denied many of those allegations, including that he stayed at Hill's home, that he got transportation from Hill for an unofficial visit, and that he did not dine with a group that included Hill at the Italian restaurant.

With regard to one of his previous interviews with the NCAA, conducted Aug. 16, 2011, Dye said now-retired investigator Rich Johanningmeier threatened his scholarships and remaining eligibility, according to the documents obtained by AP.

"I felt compelled to testify in a manner that would be consistent with the manner in which Mr. Johanningmeier was directing me in order to keep my eligibility," Dye wrote.

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I thought I was going to die, . I fell to the ground."

Doctors expect Sarah to make a full recovery, but the circumstances of the shooting are disturbingly familiar. Over the weekend, New York City witnessed 25 shootings, resulting in six fatalities. On Sunday alone, three people were killed and eight others wounded by gunfire from Brooklyn to the Bronx.

The rash of weekend shootings comes against a backdrop of major gun control efforts by both New York City and state officials. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has emerged as one of the nations strongest advocates for stricter firearm regulations, and has long touted the citys strict gun control rules as helping to bring about a significant drop in crime over the last decade. (The mayors office declined to comment on the weekends shootings.)

New York recently became the first state to pass major gun control legislation since the Dec. 14 shootings in Newtown, Conn. The bill that Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law in January both strengthens the states existing assault weapons ban and introduces new mental health regulations for potential gun owners.

None of that did much to help Sarah, a seventh-grader at Middle School 302 in the Bronx and one of three girls to be caught in the line of fire over the last few weeks.

On May 18, Daja Robinson, 14, was shot and killed on her way to a Sweet 16 party when a gunman fired off nine rounds into the side of a Queens bus.

Last Friday, 11-year-old Tayloni Mazyck was shot by a stray bullet outside her apartment in Brooklyns Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood when a teenage boy opened fire on rival gang members. Tayloni, who survived the gunshot, lost feeling in her legs and may never walk again.

We should have more gun control, Sarahs mother, Jacqueline Franco, told the Daily News. I wish they could just make guns extinct, period.

While the weekends heinous gun violence might suggest the ineffectiveness of such measures, this years numbers are notably better than the last. , the 440 shootings so far this year represent a 23 percent drop from the 574 victims in 2012.

And while some have described this weekends figures asthe Windy City still leads the Big Apple in gun violence. Chicago, a city with just one-third of New Yorks population, witnessed over 500 homicides last year compared with New Yorks 414. This weekend, Chicago saw 12 people wounded by shootings and one fatality.