Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was prevented by Chinese authorities from traveling to Venice for the opening of two new works of his on the sidelines of the Biennale contemporary art show, so his mother came in his stead.

Weiwei's elderly mother, Gao Yng, on Tuesday viewed for the first time a series of dioramas depicting six episodes of intense pressure during her son's 81 days in detention in 2011.

Gao walked quietly through the exhibit, peering through openings in the 1.5-meter (4 1/2-foot) high boxes inside which Weiwei reconstructed in great detail scenes of his captivity. His mother did not speak to journalists who documented the moment, but she was moved to tears as she left the exhibit in the church of Sant'Antonin.

The two events by Weiwei, both site-specific to the Venice spaces in which they were displayed, are emotionally linked.

Weiwei constructed the piece "Straight" to be installed in a former convent on Giudecca island in the Venetian lagoon. The piece is made up of 150 tons of steel rebar that was removed from the ruins of Chinese schools that collapsed in the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province that killed nearly 5,200 children. Many have blamed shoddy construction practices and outright building fraud for the children's quake deaths.

Weiwei and his team spent two years straightening the pieces of steel. He then arranged them lying flat, one on top of another, to create a new topography inside the Le Zitelle complex, a room where orphan girls once sewed.

Another version of the piece less than half the size of the one in Venice was presented at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. last year; this one will tour North America after leaving Venice.

"He is making something right that was wrong," said Maurizio Bortolotti, who curated the two collateral exhibits. "I think it is very symbolic. Every piece has seen a human and moral distortion."

It was Weiwei's political activism highlighting corruption in the aftermath of the 2008 quake that drew the ire of Chinese authorities and lead to his detention in April 2011. That included a project to gather the names of all the children who perished as a sort of memorial, said Greg Hilty, curatorial director of the Lisson Gallery in London that collaborated on the Venice projects and which has long worked with Weiwei.

Bortolotti said the first installation, called S.A.C.R.E.D., has its own iconography similar to of the Stations of the Cross, depicting the suffering of Jesus as he is led to be nailed on the cross.

"There is a sense of self-doubt. Weiwei didn't know if any moment could be the last. He wasn't tortured, but there was a process of trying to break him down psychologically," he said.

For the installation, Weiwei constructed six containers in half-scale, recreating scenes from his detention, each revealing the constant surveillance to which he was subjected.

Inside six metal boxes, which on their own are a form of minimalist sculpture, Weiwei created scenes showing himself carrying out the routines of prison life, often with two guards watching. Visitors peer inside through one small window fitted with a fan that he recreated from life, or from openings on the ceiling to provide visual access where none existed.

In one scene Weiwei sleeps with guards at his head and foot. In others, he sits on the toilet, he showers naked, he walks briskly for exercise and he eats. In the final box, he is handcuffed and being interrogated.

"The two projects are very connected. This is the consequence of the first," said Bortolotti.

It was Weiwei's heightened sense of perception, acquired under constant watch, along with his artist's eye that allowed him to recreate in painstaking detail his prison cell, down to the cracks on the walls, Bortolotti said. In the piece, there is a small bathroom with a stained sink and toilet and a spigot from the wall for a shower. Detergent and soap line the wall.

Depicting the cell, Weiwei built a bare mattress bed with a folded blanket, a table and two straight-back chairs and another with arms. In the closet, there are seven hangers with clothes, folded items and a spare pair of slippers.

The door has the number 1135, which he could see only after he left the cell, Bortolotti said.

Although free, Chinese authorities denied Weiwei a visa that would have allowed him to travel to Venice for this week's openings.

Dozens of illnesses have been reported, and federal officials have recalled a frozen berry mix sold by Costco and Harris Teeter in seven states.

Soza, a semi-retired contractor, was resting at his Encinitas home this week after an ordeal that threatened to put him on a liver transplant list.

He hadn't felt right in the weeks before leaving for Yellowstone on May 29 but his lack of appetite and disorientation didn't merit canceling the trip.

"I thought, 'I'm getting something. I'm coming down with something' and I thought I'd just ride it out and live with it," he said.

His wife, Rita, said he doesn't complain much as "a very active, tough kind of person," but he seemed lethargic when they flew to Salt Lake City and rented a car to drive to the park.

On the second night of their trip, the Sozas called paramedics who examined Geoff and recommended he visit St. John's Medical Center. They didn't think a medical evacuation was necessary.

They thought they could wait until morning, but after a few hours, Rita drove three hours on dark rural roads to Jackson, Wyo.

Doctors initially thought Geoff Soza's gall bladder needed to be removed after finding signs of inflammation and stones.

But general surgeon Dr. Michael Rosenberg halted the surgery, scheduled for June 1, because of Soza's elevated liver enzymes.

After more tests, Soza was diagnosed with hepatitis A, Rosenberg said.

Soza could have suffered liver damage or excessive bleeding if the surgery had gone ahead as planned, Rosenberg said.

Doctors told Soza they could treat him, but if it didn't go well, they would have him taken to a regional liver transplant center in Utah.

"That's when it really struck me, like, 'Really? Liver transplant?' " Geoff Soza said.

Luckily, such measures are rarely, if ever, necessary for hepatitis A, Rosenberg said.

Hepatitis A can be spread by the ingestion of a microscopic amount of fecal matter from an infected person, typically a food worker who hasn't washed their hands.

Symptoms include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, abdominal pain and jaundice a yellowing of the skin or eyes. There is no specific treatment. The ill can feel sick for weeks or up to six months as their body heals itself.

Healthy and health-conscious, the Sozas always inspect their foods and select organic produce. They were surprised to learn that some of the fruit from Townsend Farms of Fairview, Ore., was from outside the United States.

The Centers for Disease Control said the recalled berries included products from Argentina, Turkey and Chile, in addition to the United States.

But the packaging convinced the Sozas the fruit was all-American because it bears the slogans "Grower. Processor. Distributor." and "Field to Farm to Family, since 1906."

"It was our distinct impression that these are raised under U.S. standards, especially organic food standards," Rita Soza said.

Geoff Soza said he chose the berries to have for breakfast for about 6 months. The Sozas are fairly adventurous eaters who like to experiment with new foods. Frozen berries were the last thing he thought would make him sick.

"I would have thought it would be from fish or something like that, but not ever from fruit, especially berries," Soza said.

Rita Soza said after she learned of the berries, she was upset by Costco's response, saying she unsuccessfully tried to call the number on her membership card for information but she couldn't get a live person on the phone. She returned home to find a message on her answering machine Tuesday.

Costco Vice President for food safety Craig Wilson said the company contacted 240,000 members with information about the outbreak and received more than 10,000 calls over the weekend.

Some of those sickened by the berries have filed lawsuits seeking medical costs and damages, and at least one suit filed in Los Angeles this week seeks class action status. The Sozas say they haven't decided to take legal action.

___

Tayefe Mohajer reported from Los Angeles.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement the enquiry was "in pursuance of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary rules" and followed a stewards' report submitted after last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.

A spokesman for the governing body said the two teams had been asked to reply to a list of questions and had not yet been summoned to any formal hearing.

Ferrari and champions Red Bull submitted protests in Monaco after discovering Mercedes carried out a test for Pirelli with their current car in Spain this month in an apparent breach of a testing ban during the season.

It has subsequently emerged from media reports that Ferrari also tested, albeit with an older car, for Pirelli earlier in the season. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Tony Jimenez)

When thelaunched on Nov. 26, 2011, it began a 350-million-mile (560 million kilometers) trip to the surface of the Red Planet. During its voyage, a group of researchers, including Southwest Research Institute scientist Cary Zeitlin, monitored exactly how much radiation a piece of science hardware on the was exposed to over the 253-day journey from Earth to Mars.

"In space, it's between a 100 and 1,000 times higher dose rate [of radiation] than on Earth," Zeitlin told SPACE.com. "It's highly uncertain what the health risk is from these exposures." []

Zeitlin, whose study is detailed in the journal Science this week, collected the data with his team by turning on the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) instrument while Curiosity was in flight. The instrument was active from 10 days after launch until about three weeks before landing.

Shielding from cosmic rays

By monitoring the variety and strength of each of the energetic particles entering the Mars Science Laboratory's hull, Zeitlin and his team were able to accurately track which particles of radiation got through and which were blocked by the ship's shielding.

If they were to travel to Mars, astronauts would be exposed to two forms of that don't pose a serious risk on Earth. One of those sources of radiation galactic cosmic rays are difficult to shield against and regularly fly through space-faring vessels. On the other hand, the second source of radiation solar energetic particles can be at least partially blocked by robust shielding used to protect spaceflyers.

It would seem to be something you'd see only in a cartoon or at a Phish concert, but according to park rangers in New South Wales, Australia, dozens of giant, fluorescent pink slugs have been popping up on a mountaintop there.

"As bright pink as you can imagine, that's how pink they are," Michael Murphy, a ranger with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, . "On a good morning, you can walk around and see hundreds of them."

The eight-inch creatures have been spotted only on Mount Kaputar, a 5,000-foot peak in the Nandewar Range in northern New South Wales.

Scientists believe the eye-catching organisms are survivors from an era when Australia was home to rainforests. A series of volcanoes, millions of years of erosion and other geological changes "have carved a dramatic landscape at Mount Kaputar," the , and unique arid conditions spared the slugs from extinction.

They "probably would have long since vanished, if a volcano had not erupted at Mount Kaputar about 17 million years ago," Ben Cubby . "The result of that eruption is a high-altitude haven for invertebrates and plant species that have been isolated for millions of years, after Australia dried out and the rainforests receded."

And they're not the only unusual inhabitants on the mountain.

"We've actually got three species of cannibal snail on Mount Kaputar, and they're voracious little fellas," Murphy said. "They hunt around on the forest floor to pick up the slime trail of another snail, then hunt it down and gobble it up."

If you're not into pink slugs - check out other pink creatures:

Lew told the Senate Banking Committee that he has also asked acting director Daniel Werfel to fix any flaws in management of the IRS to make sure there is no recurrence of the problems.

An inspector general's report released May 15 found that IRS employees had inappropriately targeted conservative political groups.

Lew says he first learned about the inspector general's investigation in March but that he was unaware of the findings until they became public this month.

Top-ranked Tiger Woods will be back to defend the title he claimed by two shots last year while Rory McIlroy (second), Adam Scott (third), 2010 champion Justin Rose (fourth), Brandt Snedeker (fifth) and Luke Donald (sixth) will also be competing.

Apart from five-times winner Woods and Rose, seven other former champions will be returning - K.J. Choi (2007), Fred Couples (1998), Ernie Els (2004), Jim Furyk (2002), Kenny Perry (2008), Carl Pettersson (2006) and Vijay Singh (1997).

"We are always extremely proud of the fields we are able to assemble ... and this year's stands as one of our finest," tournament founder Nicklaus said in a statement on Friday after the 120-strong field was set for the May 30-June 2 event.

"We have the top five players in the world, and almost the entire top 10 from the FedEx Cup and money lists. We are delighted that world No. 1 Tiger Woods is returning to defend his victory from 2012, and that recent world No. 1s Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood have joined him."

Also taking part next week will be Chinese sensation Guan Tianlang who became the youngest player to make the cut in a major championship at the Masters last month.

The surprisingly mature 14-year-old will make his fourth start in a PGA Tour event when he tees off in Thursday's opening round, having been given a sponsor's exemption for the Memorial tournament.

"It is Jack Nicklaus' event, and the same as all the golf fans out there I have very high respect to Mr. Nicklaus, not just as a golf legend, but also as a great person," Guan said in a statement.

"He has been actively involved in the development of golf in China, and junior golf development worldwide, and as a junior golfer myself I appreciate what he has done to help us grow.

"My parents and I got the chance to meet him in person at the Masters, and that was one of the highlights of my week at Augusta National."

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Orders for durable goods, items expected to last at least three years, rose 3.3 percent last month from March, the Commerce Department said Friday. That followed a 5.9 decline in March.

A measure of business investment plans increased 1.2 percent. And the government revised the March figure to show a 0.9 percent gain, instead of a slight decrease.

Companies ordered more machinery and electronic products last month, typically signs of confidence. More spending by businesses could ease fears that manufacturing could drag on the economy later this year.

Factories had been seeing fewer orders at the start of the year, in part because slower global growth had reduced demand for U.S. exports. Economists had also worried that across-the-board federal spending cuts and higher taxes might prompt businesses to cut back on orders.

Paul Ashworth, an economist with Capital Economics, said the April report suggests economic growth is holding up. He predicts growth in the April-June quarter will be at a rate of 2 percent to 2.5 percent. That's not much lower than the 2.5 percent rate reported for the January-March quarter.

Still, the payoff from the pickup in business investment may not come until the end of the quarter. That's because the government looks at shipments when it measures the gross domestic product, not orders. And shipments of goods that signal investment plans fell in April, reflecting weaker demand at the start of the year.

"Business investment appears to have started the second quarter on a weak note but should rebound over the final two months of the quarter," he said.

The April increase pushed total orders to $222.6 billion on a seasonally adjusted basis. That is 6.5 percent above the level of a year ago.

Orders for transportation goods gained 8.1 percent, reflecting a 16.1 percent jump in demand for commercial aircraft and a 53.3 percent increase in orders for military aircraft. Orders for motor vehicles increased 1.9 percent.

Excluding the volatile transportation category, orders rose 1.3 percent in April. That followed a 1.7 percent decline in March.

Still, other reports showed that factories continued to struggle in April.

The Institute for Supply Management reported factory activity barely expanded in April, held back by weaker hiring and less company stockpiling.

And manufacturing output dropped 0.4 percent last month, the Federal Reserve reported earlier this month. Auto companies cranked out fewer cars, factories made fewer consumer goods and most other industries reduced output.

One bright spot for the economy has been the American consumer, who has shown surprising resilience this year despite paying higher Social Security taxes.

Consumer spending rose from January through March at the fastest pace in more than two years. Auto sales have been rising over the past year. And Americans boosted their spending at retailers in April, from cars and clothes to electronics and appliances.

A better job market and a sustained recovery in housing have helped soften some of the impact of the tax increase. Since November, employers have added an average 208,000 jobs a month. That's up from just 138,000 jobs a month during the previous six months.

The overall economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the January-March quarter, buoyed by the fastest rise in consumer spending in more than two years. Many economists believe growth is slowing to around 2 percent in the current April-June quarter and could stay near or slightly above that level for the rest of the year.

LONDON (Reuters) - A retired British politician sued the wife of the House of Commons Speaker for defamation on Thursday, accusing her of implying in a tweet that he was a pedophile guilty of sexually abusing boys living in a care home.

Alistair McAlpine, an associate of the late former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, is seeking damages from Sally Bercow in Britain's most high-profile Twitter defamation case to date.

Bercow tweeted "Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *Innocent face*" on November 4 last year, two days after a BBC report accused an unnamed "leading Conservative politician from the Thatcher years" of sexually abusing boys in the 1970s and 80s.

McAlpine was widely named on the Internet as the subject of the report, which the BBC later admitted was wrong. It paid 185,000 pounds ($281,700) in damages to McAlpine, who also received damages from others who had reported the story.

A trial at London's High Court to determine whether Bercow's tweet was defamatory began on Thursday morning. The judge is expected to reserve judgment to a later date.

If he rules that the tweet was defamatory, there will be a separate trial in July to determine the amount of damages Bercow should pay.

McAlpine's lawyer Edward Garnier, also a Conservative member of parliament, told the court Bercow's tweet was defamatory because many of her nearly 60,000 Twitter followers would have been aware of the media frenzy sparked by the BBC report.

"There was a prominent and salacious story in the media, and what was missing was the name of the abuser at its centre," Garnier said in a written argument.

"(Bercow's) tweet, by asking why he was 'trending' on Twitter combined with the coy sign-off of *innocent face*, identified (McAlpine) as the unnamed leading Conservative politician from the Thatcher years," Garnier said.

After it emerged that the BBC story was wrong and McAlpine was publicly vindicated, Bercow tweeted again on November 9: "Final on McAlpine: am VERY sorry for inadvertently fanning the flames. But I tweet as me, forgetting that to some of u I am Mrs bloody Speaker".

Bercow's husband John, as Speaker of the lower house of parliament, adjudicates the often noisy and fractious debates between Britain's rival parties who face each other across the floor of the House of Commons.

Sally Bercow's lawyer argued the tweet was not defamatory because it merely posed a question and made no statement of fact.

Bercow has frequently made the front pages of the British press. She took part in the reality TV program "Celebrity Big Brother" in 2011 and was widely criticized that year for posing wearing nothing but a bedsheet, with the House of Commons in the background, for a magazine interview.

(Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

Francis urged special prayers Wednesday for China's faithful that they may "live their daily lives in service to their country and their fellow citizens in a way consistent with the faith they profess."

The occasion was a feast day that is celebrated in particular in Shanghai.

China has an estimated 8 million to 12 million Catholics. Despite official requirements, around half worship in congregations outside the control of the officially sanctioned church.

The Communist Party ordered Catholics to cut ties with the Holy See in the 1950s, and persecuted the church for years until restoring a degree of religious freedom. Tensions remain, however, over appointments of bishops.