UPDATE: Paula Deen has admitted to using the N-word while under oath. Click here to read a partial transcript of the deposition on TMZ.

It has been reported by the National Enquirer that Paula Deen is, in fact, a racist. However, it must be noted that using the National Enquirer as a valid source is certainly not recommended, as tabloid journalism tends to exaggerate realities and sensationalize in the name of maintaining readership.

However, the facts as dictated by the Enquirer and Salon are the following: Lisa Jackson, a former general manager of Deen’s Savannah, Ga. filed a $1.2-million lawsuit against Deen, claiming that the celebrity chef used the N-word and that Deen’s husband was physically abusive.

Gawker reports Lisa’s testimonies were as follows. This comment was in regards to what Deen would prefer at her brother’s wedding:

Well what I would really like is a bunch of little n***ers to wear long-sleeve white shirts, black shorts and black bow ties, you know in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around. Now, that would be a true Southern wedding wouldn’t it? But we can’t do that because the media would be on me about that.

If that comment is indeed real, Deen is about to incur the wrath of a country who, albeit shakily, has been trying to replace a history of hate with acceptance, equality and community. Words like these shatter any development, hurtling people back into a time of lampooning and degradation at the hands of others.

We can only shake our head and hold on to hope that the National Enquirer has exaggerated. We’d hate to think that kind of ignorance is even remotely entertained in any person, let alone by a person with a public platform — kitchen or otherwise.

RYOT NOTE: Our country’s history surely has its moments of tragedy. It is essential that we move forward in union, in equality and in dignity. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has been integral in this forward movement. From the ballot box to the classroom, the thousands of dedicated workers, organizers, leaders and members who make up the NAACP continue to fight for social justice for all Americans and have done so for decades. Their work has changed lives and minds, and continues to do so today. Click the gray box, donate and Become the News!

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — As the West battles one catastrophic wildfire after another, the federal government is spending less and less on its main program for preventing blazes in the first place.

A combination of government austerity and the ballooning cost of battling the ruinous fires has taken a bite out of federal efforts to remove the dead trees and flammable underbrush that clog Western forests. The U.S. Forest Service says that next year it expects to treat 1 million fewer acres than it did last year.

In real, inflation-adjusted dollars, the government is spending less on the Hazardous Fuels Reduction Program, run jointly by the Forest Service and the Interior Department, than it did in 2002. And President Barack Obama has proposed a 31 percent cut for the fiscal year that begins in the fall.

“Because the fires have gotten bigger and bigger, we’ve spent more of our money on suppression and less on fuel removal,” Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., said in an interview. “We’ve gotten behind the eight-ball on this.”

Federal firefighting officials say there is no question the program prevents some fires and makes others less dangerous to homeowners and firefighters alike. But they say they are caught in a bind.

“It’s a wicked public policy question,” said Tom Harbour, the Forest Service’s director offire and aviation management. “We’ve got to make trade-offs. We’re living in a time of constrained budgets.”

Je remy and Kelly Beach look into the remains of their home off Ravine Drive, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, in Colorado Springs, Colo. Residents were allowed back into the area for a short period of time to view the properties that sustained the most damage from the fire. The Black Forest Fire, the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history, has destroyed 502 homes and charred more than 22 square miles. It was 85 percent contained Tuesday. (AP Photo/The Colorado Springs Gazette, Michael Ciaglo)

Wildfires have grown in intensity and cost across the nation because of a combination of high temperatures, drought, an infestation of pine-killing beetles, and the rising number of people living close to nature. Since the 1990s, 15 million to 17 million new homes have been built in dangerous fire zones, according to a government report.

The Forest Service says it must clear flammable materials from at least 65 million acres to tamp down the danger. The federal government is the primary landlord in the western United States, with responsibility for maintaining much of the open lands that burn during fire season.

Eight of the nine worst fire seasons on record in the U.S., as measured in acres burned, have occurred since 2000, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Last year, 9.3 million acres burned, with 51 separate fires of more than 40,000 acres each. Colorado suffered its most destructive season in history as a blaze on the edge of Colorado Springs destroyed 347 homes. That record stood for less than a year: Last week, a wildfire just outside Colorado Springs devastated at least 502 homes and killed two people.

Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia New Mexico, Texas and Utah also have seen fires in the past six years that set records for size or destructiveness.

Meanwhile, the Hazardous Fuels Reduction Program has seen funding go from $421 million in 2002 to $500 million last year. When those numbers are adjusted for inflation, it is actually a slight decrease. This year’s automatic budget cuts have reduced the funding even further to $419 million. The Obama administration is proposing to slash the total to $292 million next year.

That’s frustrated Western lawmakers, who pushed to include an extra $200 million to clear downed trees and other potential fire fuels in the version of the farm bill that passed the Senate earlier this year. But it’s unclear whether the provision will clear the House.

Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell told the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee earlier this month that putting out fires is consuming an increasing share of his agency’s budget.

In 1991, fighting fires accounted for 13 percent of the Forest Service budget; last year it was 40 percent, Tidwell said. The number of staffers dedicated to firefighting has gone up 110 percent since 1998, while the rest of the staff has shrunk by 35 percent, he said. The agency’s overall budget, in inflation-adjusted dollars, is 10 percent lower than in 2001.

At the hearing, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., blamed the Obama administration’s budget office for not believing in the value of fire prevention.

“This waltz has gone on long enough,” Wyden said.

The government has other programs that lower fire danger, including letting ranchers graze their livestock on grassland and routine forest maintenance. But even those have become victims of the growing cost of fighting fires.

During last year’s tough fire season, the Forest Service overspent its firefighting budget by $440 million. To close the gap, it borrowed from other accounts, including $40 million in brush clearance funds, according to Forest Service documents.

Congress eventually replenished those funds, but by then it was long after the work should have been completed, said Christopher Topik of the Nature Conservancy. He noted that a 2004 congressional report found that borrowing money disrupted critical fire prevention programs.

Last year, the Forest Service treated or restored 4.4 million acres, according to agency records. Next year that is projected to drop to 3.5 million. The number of acres treated for hazardous fuels is projected to fall from 1.8 million last year to 685,000 next year. Harbour said the agency is focusing on heavily populated areas, which are more expensive to treat.

A study for the Interior Department found it is more cost-effective to try to prevent fires than to just extinguish them once they erupt.

In a 2010 blaze in Arizona, for example, researchers found that the fire cost about $135 million. They calculated that every dollar spent on basic prevention, such as trimming dead branches and carting out downed trees, could have saved $10 in firefighting costs.

One of the study’s co-authors, Diane Vosick of Northern Arizona University’s Ecological Restoration Institute, likened the removal of old and easily ignitable trees — whether by prescribed burns or mechanical harvesting — to vaccinating people against a deadly disease.

“We know what to do and the investment up front is much easier than the aftermath, which the poor people of Colorado are dealing with right now,” Vosick said.

RYOT NOTE: The U.S. has never been good at addressing problems preemptively, preferring to deal retroactively with the consequences of inaction. While this approach may produce acceptable results in some areas, environmentally it’s horrible, because negative changes are often irreversible. Fortunately, The Nature Conservancy is working hard to stop environmental disasters before they can happen — doing things like orchestrating controlled burns that revitalize forests and prevent forest fires. You can help them in their work by clicking on the gray box alongside this story to learn more, donate, and Become the News!

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BEIRUT (AP) — Hezbollah fighters joined Syrian forces in battling rebels in a Damascus suburb that is home to a revered Shiite Muslim shrine, in a push to secure the area around the ornate, golden domed mosque.

Protection of the Sayida Zeinab shrine has become a rallying cry for Shiite fighters backing President Bashar Assad, raising the stakes in a conflict that is increasingly being fought along sectarian lines.

The fighting in the area south of the capital is part of a wider military offensive by Assad’s forces to recapture suburbs held by rebels and areas in the country’s strategic heartland. Activists said violent clashes coupled with heavy artillery bombardment of the southern suburbs reverberated in the capital.

In this Thursday, June 14, 2012 file photo, Syrian security forces at the site where a car bomb exploded near the shrine of Sayyida Zeinab, background, in a suburb of Damascus, Syria. Hezbollah fighters join Syrian forces in battling rebels in a Damascus suburb that is home to a revered Shiite Muslim shrine, in a push to secure the area around the golden domed mosque. Protection of the Sayida Zeinab shrine has become a rallying cry for Shiite fighters backing President Bashar Assad, raising the stakes in a conflict that is increasingly being fought along sectarian lines. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)

The main Western-backed opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, warned of an impending humanitarian disaster. It said regime forces, backed by Hezbollah and Iraqi Shiite fighters and dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, were besieging the area, trapping tens of thousands of civilians under heavy bombardment.

“Civilians in this area live in grim fear and anxiety, with no electricity and no way to escape from the anticipated large scale massacre that often follows these types of regime attacks,” a statement issued by the group said.

The international community has been largely unable to end the Syrian civil war, now in its third year, which has killed 93,000 people, and likely many more, according to the United Nations.

President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders of the Group of Eight industrial economies meeting in Northern Ireland this week tried to narrow sharp differences between Russia, a key Assad backer, and Western leaders who support the rebels, but could not agree on whether Assad must go.

Obama last week authorized supplying rebel groups with weapons but has refused to describe the type of military support the U.S. will give the opposition. A French diplomat said Wednesday that officials from the United States and other countries in the so-called Friends of Syria group will meet in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday to respond to requests from rebel commander Gen. Salim Idris, who has outlined urgent needs, including sophisticated weapons, the diplomat said.

Speaking in Berlin on Wednesday, Obama refused to be drawn about how the U.S. might supply the rebels.

“I cannot and will not comment on specifics around our programs related to the Syrian opposition,” he said. “We want a Syria that is peaceful, non-sectarian, democratic, legitimate, tolerant. … We want to make sure that chemical weapons are not used, and that chemical weapons do not fall into the hands of people who would be willing to use them.”

He said there is a need for a policy that “isolates extremists who have incorporated themselves into the opposition forces inside of Syria,” an apparent reference to the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front, one of the rebels’ most effective fighting units.

Obama said some of his critics have become “over-cranked” about the U.S. getting involved in another war. “What we want to do is end a war,” he said, through a political transition.

The Syrian war is increasingly pitting Sunni against Shiite Muslims and threatening the stability of Syria’s neighbors.

Assad draws his support largely from Syria’s minorities, including fellow Alawites, or followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam, as well as Christians and Shiites. He is backed by Shiite Iran and Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group based in neighboring Lebanon. Most rebels are Sunni, as are their patrons Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey. They have been joined by thousands of Sunni foreign fighters from the Muslim world.

The area surrounding the Sayida Zeinab suburb, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) south of Damascus, has seen fighting before. But the regime forces and Hezbollah fighters launched an intensified assault there on Monday, according to Rami Abdul-Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The assault appears aimed at decisively pushing rebels back and securing the suburb, home to the shrine of Sayida Zeinab, the Prophet Muhammad’s granddaughter. Before the war, the shrine attracted tens of thousands of Shiite pilgrims from around the world. Last year, rebels kidnapped Iranian pilgrims visiting the area, accusing them of being spies. The pilgrims were later released.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah has called it “a duty” to protect the shrine, saying that its destruction by extremists among Syrian rebel ranks would ignite a sectarian war with no end.

State TV said government forces were able to clear rebels out of one adjacent neighborhood, al-Bahdaliya. Meanwhile, rebel forces claimed they took control of the Khomeini hospital in a village south of the shrine, from which they were battling regime forces and allied militias. They said they inflicted losses among the ranks of Hezbollah fighters and regime troops in the area.

Opposition fighters control several suburbs of the capital, threatening the heart of the city, the seat of Assad’s power. But the regime has largely been able to keep them at bay.

The Syrian uprising began in March 2011 with peaceful protests against Assad, but later grew into a civil war in response to a brutal military crackdown.

U.S. officials estimate that 5,000 Hezbollah militiamen are fighting alongside the regime, while thousands of Sunni foreign fighters are also believed to be in Syria — including members of Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaida affiliate that is believed to be among the most effective rebel factions,

Hezbollah fighters were instrumental in a recent victory for regime forces, regaining control of the strategic town of Qusair in central Homs province after it was in rebel hands for more than a year.

Buoyed by that victory, regime forces have been on an offensive to dislodge rebel fighters from areas they hold on the edge of Damascus and surrounding areas, as well as other towns in Homs and the northern province of Aleppo. That would enable Assad’s regime to secure a corridor leading to the coastal Alawite enclave that is home to the country’s two main seaports, Latakia and Tartus.

RYOT NOTE: As the fighting continues to take lives in Syria, we continue to support humanitarian efforts that help restore the dignity of those displaced and forced to flee their homes. Mercy Corps has been consistently instrumental since the beginning, focusing on helping people survive and thrive after conflict, crisis and natural disaster. They have helped refugees and displaced persons worldwide by providing basic human needs like water, shelter and security in addition to education and psychological services. Help them help the global community. Click the gray box, donate and Become the News!

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A heat wave hitting Alaska may not rival the blazing heat of Phoenix or Las Vegas, but to residents of the 49th state, the days of hot weather feel like a stifling oven — or a tropical paradise.

With temperatures topping 80 degrees in Anchorage, and higher in other parts of the state, people have been sweltering in a place where few homes have air conditioning.

They’re sunbathing and swimming at local lakes, hosing down their dogs and cleaning out supplies of fans in at least one local hardware store. Mid-June normally brings high temperatures in the 60s in Anchorage, and just a month ago, it was still snowing.

The weather feels like anywhere but Alaska to 18-year-old Jordan Rollison, who was sunbathing with three friends and several hundred others lolling at the beach of Anchorage’s Goose Lake.

“I love it, I love it,” Rollison said. “I’ve never seen a summer like this, ever.”

Liz Gobeski soaks up the sun on the beach at Point Woronzof as a Polar Air Cargo jet comes in for a landing at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport as the temperature reached into the 80′s in Anchorage, Ak., on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. A heat wave is hitting Alaska , and to residents of the 49th state, the days of hot weather feel like a stifling oven — or a tropical paradise. (AP Photo/Anchorage Daily News, Bob Hallinen)

State health officials even took the unusual step of posting a Facebook message reminding people to slather on the sunscreen.

Some people aren’t so thrilled, complaining that it’s just too hot.

“It’s almost unbearable to me,” said Lorraine Roehl, who has lived in Anchorage for two years after moving here from the community of Sand Point in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. “I don’t like being hot. I’m used to cool ocean breeze.”

On Tuesday, the official afternoon high in Anchorage was 81 degrees, breaking the city’s record of 80 set in 1926 for that date.

Other smaller communities throughout a wide swath of the state are seeing even higher temperatures.

All-time highs were recorded elsewhere, including 96 degrees on Monday 80 miles to the north in the small community of Talkeetna, purported to be the inspiration for the town in the TV series, “Northern Exposure” and the last stop for climbers heading to Mount McKinley, North America’s tallest mountain. One unofficial reading taken at a lodge near Talkeetna even measured 98 degrees, which would tie the highest undisputed temperature recorded in Alaska.

That record was set in 1969, according to Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the online forecasting service Weather Underground.

“This is the hottest heat wave in Alaska since ’69,” he said. “You’re way, way from normal.”

It’s also been really hot for a while. The city had six days over 70 degrees, then hit a high of 68 last Thursday, followed by five more days of 70 degrees and up.

The city’s record of consecutive days with temperatures of 70 or above was 13 days recorded in 1953, said Eddie Zingone, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service who has lived in Anchorage for 17 years.

The heat wave also comes after a few cooler summers — the last time it officially hit the 80 mark in Anchorage was 2009. Plus, Tuesday marked exactly one month that the city’s last snow of the season fell, Zingone said.

“Within a month you have that big of a change, it definitely seems very, very hot,” he said. “It was a very quick warm-up.”

With the heat comes an invasion of mosquitoes many are calling the worst they’ve ever seen. At the True Value Hardware store, people have grabbed up five times the usual amount of mosquito warfare supplies, said store owner Tim Craig. The store shelves also are bare of fans, which is unusual, he said.

“Those are two hot items, so to speak,” he said.

Greg Wilkinson, a spokesman with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, said it’s gotten up to 84 degrees at his home in the Anchorage suburb of Eagle River, where a tall glass front lets the sunlight filter through.

“And that’s with all the windows open and a fan going,” he said. “We’re just not used to it. Our homes aren’t built for it.”

Love or hate the unusual heat, it’ll all be over soon.

Weather forecasters say a high pressure system that has locked the region in clear skies and baking temperatures has shifted and Wednesday should be the start of a cooling trend, although slightly lower temperatures in the 70s are still expected to loiter into the weekend.

RYOT NOTE: If we don’t start to do something about climate change, Alaska — and the rest of the world — is only going to get hotter and hotter during the summers. That’s why Ian Somerhalder Foundation is funding global conservation and green energy development efforts. Click on the gray box to the right to learn more about the organization.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kris Jenner says her daughter Kim Kardashian is thrilled to have a new baby girl.

Kardashian and her rapper boyfriend Kanye West were keeping silent in the wake of multiple reports that Kardashian gave birth over the weekend — about a month premature.

But Jenner told E! at the Daytime Emmys on Sunday that Kim is “extremely happy and thrilled for the new baby and she’s doing great and she’s beautiful.”

Kardashian’s sister Khloe appeared to have let a rather cryptic cat out of the bag on Twitter.

“I can not even begin 2describe the miracle that is now apart of our family. Mommy/baby are healthy &resting. We appreciate all of the love,” she tweeted Sunday.

She quickly followed with a second tweet: “More info will come when the time is right! Thank you all for understanding! We love you all dearly! Overwhelmed with love right now.”

Jenner linked to both tweets on her Twitter account, then wished West a Happy Father’s Day.

Asked for comment on the red carpet at the Daytime Emmys, where she was a presenter, Jenner said, “She’s in charge,” pointing at her publicist who whisked her away from print reporters after doing TV interviews.

The reality TV star’s pregnancy was almost as anticipated as the royal pregnancy of Kate Middleton, who is due in mid-July. That’s about the time the Kardashian baby had been due.

The 32-year-old has often been photographed since announcing she was pregnant, opting to continue to wear designer clothing. She told The Associated Press in April that she eventually embraced being an expecting mom after getting past “the awkward phases and stages.”

The couple had initially kept the baby’s gender a secret, but the sex was revealed earlier this month during one of Kardashian’s doctor appointments on “Keeping up with the Kardashians.”

When asked about how much the baby might be featured in the E! series, the channel said Monday it was “thrilled for Kim and Kanye and out of respect for their privacy won’t be offering any further comment.”

News of the birth has been swaddled in secrecy. Representatives for West and Kim Kardashian didn’t respond to emails and calls from The Associated Press, nor did any representatives for family members, friends and professional associates. And all of the weekend media reports on the birth were attributed to anonymous sources.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, West said he didn’t like talking about his family or the arrival of his child.

“Like, this is my baby. This isn’t America’s baby,” he said.

RYOT NOTE: Whether or not you really care about Kimye’s baby, it is a great time to discuss caring about the millions of mamas out there. That is why we love the work of the Million Mamas Movement. Alliteration aside, this global movement seeks to empower women and children. A grassroots, global organization, it educates and empowers mothers and others to unify and exercise their innate maternal power through advocacy to create policies and programs that provide freedom and safety for women and children. Click the gray box, donate and Become the News!

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Danny MacAskill is usually performing death defying stunts on his bike, but for his Imaginate video, he took his anti-gravity antics inside … his head. Imaginate is MacAskill’s boyhood dreams turned into reality in such a creative way that it almost doesn’t seem real — the perfect blend of creativity and high-risk bike riding. Amazing stuff.

RYOT NOTE: If you’ve ever participated in action sports, you know why people do crazy stuff like this — even though it can hurt like crazy, the pay off is a massive stoke that fuels your life. That’s what the team at STOKED mentoring is achieving everyday with their amazing programs for at risk kids. They use sports like skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding to give kids a new lease on life. Check them out and consider making a donation to Become the News!

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CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s top Muslim cleric declared Wednesday that peaceful protests against the president are permitted, dismissing declarations by Islamist hard-liners that those behind protests planned for June 30 are heretics.

Sheik Ahmed el-Tayeb, the grand imam of the Al-Azhar mosque, said in a statement that “peaceful opposition to the legitimate leader is religiously permissible and accepted.”

He said the view expressed by some backers of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi that those who rebel against a “legitimate” leader are “kuffar,” or non-believers, and “hypocrites” — and thus punishable by death — is a “deviant” view.

Cairo’s Al-Azhar is the Sunni Muslim world’s foremost seat of learning. The views of its imam are taken seriously and widely interpreted to be the moderate voice of Islam.

Morsi’s opponents are planning mass protests on June 30 calling on him to step down a year after he narrowly won the presidency in a run-off against the last prime minister to serve under his ousted predecessor Hosni Mubarak.

Morsi has said that while he has nothing but respect for the “honorable” protesters, he accused Mubarak loyalists of being behind the planned demonstrations and vowed to deal with them decisively.

El-Tayeb’s statement, posted on Al-Azhar’s official website, came one day after he and the patriarch of Egypt’s Coptic Christians, Pope Tawadros II, met Morsi. The timing of the meeting suggested that Morsi wanted the public backing of the two religious leaders ahead of the June 30 protests. An official statement issued by Morsi’s office appeared to back this interpretation.

Morsi, it said, “expressed his appreciation … to how they can contribute to bolstering national unity and maintaining the nation’s supreme interests, along with safeguarding the nation’s security and stability.” The meeting also dealt with “current conditions and challenges facing the nation,” the statement said.

Morsi supporters earlier this year stormed el-Tayeb’s office to protest an outbreak of food poisoning in a dormitory belonging to Al-Azhar University. The rare protest led to speculations that Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood wanted to remove el-Tayeb and replace him with a loyal cleric. The Brotherhood denied that.

Relations between Tawadros and Morsi have not been smooth. The pope accused Morsi of doing nothing when his patriarchal seat, the Cathedral of St. Mark in Cairo, came under attack by rocks and firebombs in April, while security forces looked on.

Wednesday’s statement by el-Tayeb pointed to the gap between the cleric and Morsi’s allies at a time when much of the country is seething with anger and frustration over the perceived failure of the Egyptian leader to effectively tackle any of the country’s pressing problems, including surging crime, high unemployment, electricity outages, fuel shortages and rising prices.

“Al-Azhar … has found itself in a position where it had to comment on what is published of comments and fatwas (religious edicts) attributed to random arrivals in the field of edicts and jurisprudence,” said the statement, indicating ridicule of Morsi backers who issued fatwas declaring that the organizers of the June 30 protesters are infidels who should be killed.

“While calling for conciliation and warning against sedition and violence, the honorable Al-Azhar also warns against declaring opponents non-believers and questioning their faith,” the statement said.

RYOT NOTE: Permitting peaceful protest is a huge step in the movement towards a democratic state. because it allows citizens to speak out against their leaders, thus establishing a direct line of contact that ultimately demands leadership to act on the behalf of the people. We believe in this forward movement and believe in the work of the National Democratic Institute in ensuring that democratic institutions continue to be built and supported throughout the world. All of our voices should be heard. Click the gray box, donate and Become the News!

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Don’t let your calf muscles see this video — they might rip themselves out of your legs and run away in fear! The Red Bull 400 Planica is an almost vertical race up the face of a ski-jump slope in Slovenia, which had more than 300 male and female contestants straining to compete in what has to be one of the gnarliest, leg-killing events ever.

RYOT NOTE: If you’ve ever participated in action sports, you know why people do crazy stuff like this — even though it can hurt like crazy, the pay off is a massive stoke that fuels your life. That’s what the team at STOKED mentoring is achieving everyday with their amazing programs for at risk kids. They use sports like skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding to give kids a new lease on life. Check them out and consider making a donation to Become the News!

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LOURDES, France (AP) — Heavy floods in southwest France have left two dead and forced the closure of the Catholic pilgrimage site in Lourdes and the evacuation of pilgrims from nearby hotels.

Muddy floodwaters swirled Wednesday in the grotto where nearly 6 million believers from around the world, many gravely ill, come every year seeking miracles and healing. It has been a major pilgrimage site since a French girl’s vision of the Virgin Mary there in 1858.

Heavy rains around the region inundated town centers and swelled the Gave de Pau river, forcing road closures.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls said on BFM television that a man in his seventies died Wednesday, swept away by the river. The Interior Ministry says it is the second person who has died in this week’s rains.

The sanctuary of Lourdes flooded, in Lourdes, southwestern France, Tuesday, June 18, 2013. French rescue services and police are evacuating hundreds of pilgrims from hotels threatened by floodwaters from a rain-swollen river in the Roman Catholic shrine town of Lourdes. (AP Photo/Bob Edme)

The spokesman for the Lourdes pilgrimage complex, Mathias Terrier said that the site in the foothills of the Pyrenees wasn’t likely to reopen before the end of the week.

Rescue services evacuated hundreds of people from nearby hotels. Authorities were particularly concerned with bringing weak and sick pilgrims to safety.

“We need more reinforcements in the area to face these floods, which are really exceptional,” Valls said while visiting Lourdes on Wednesday. He said days of sustained rains and sudden snowmelt made the flooding worse, and left some villages isolated.

The website for the pilgrimage complex, which includes several buildings and a sanctuary nestled beneath a rocky hillside, carried a dramatic rundown of the rising waters.

Throughout Tuesday, masses were gradually cancelled. One by one, entrances to the sanctuary were cordoned off. The live video feed of the grotto went down. Then the electricity was cut off, and then phones.

“A vision of the apocalypse in the Sainte Bernadette Church, where the big movable partition is threatening to fall. The water has risen above the stairs of the choir,” read one announcement.

Terrier said waters reached 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) in the grotto. A group of 3,000 children scheduled to come for the day Wednesday were told to stay away. Volunteers offered to help clean up the site when the waters recede.

RYOT NOTE: Whether it’s God or random particle interaction that caused these floods, they’re another testament to nature’s sheer power. When crises hit, people are suddenly left without food, water and shelter. Fortunately, Operation Blessing is on the ground all over the world, providing crucial support to victims of natural disasters. Join them in their efforts by clicking the gray box alongside this story to learn more, donate and Become the News!

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WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Robert Mueller says the law enforcement agency uses drones for surveillance but does so rarely.

It is first time the FBI’s has admitted to using domestic drones for surveillance, according to Mashable.

In an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mueller says the bureau is developing guidelines for drones and that the privacy implications of using drones are, in Mueller’s words, worthy of debate and legislation down the road.

The aerospace industry forecasts a worldwide deployment of almost 30,000 drones by 2018, with the United States accounting for half of them.

RYOT NOTE: As tens of thousands of drones are incorporated into our domestic airspace in the coming decade, it will be critical to craft legislation that distinguishes between appropriate municipal uses, and those that violate American’s privacy. In an impending era of widespread drone use, you can help the ACLU to make sure our 4th amendment rights aren’t further eroded by police and intelligence drones by clicking on the gray box alongside this story to learn more, donate, and Become the News.

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With the NSA scandal in full swing and Edward Snowden still on the run, we thought we’d see what Instagram users have to say about the topic:

Instagram user @vera_on_a_mission

Instagram user @vera_on_a_mission

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RYOT NOTE: If you need a quick barometer on the public opinion of young Americans for certain issues, then Instagram is an interesting place to look. Based on the memes we found, there is a heightened air of distrust with our government, even if much of it is tongue-in-cheek. If you feel passionate about government transparency and our constitutional rights, click on the gray box alongside this story to sign petitions to pardon Edward Snowden and help him find asylum in Iceland.

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STOCKHOLM (AP) — A WikiLeaks spokesman who claims to represent Edward Snowden has reached out to government officials in Iceland about the potential of the NSA leaker applying for asylum in the Nordic country, officials there said Wednesday.

Johannes Skulason, an Icelandic government official, told The Associated Press that WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson had held informal talks with assistants at the Interior Ministry and the prime minister’s office.

Skulason said Hrafnsson “presented his case that he was in contact with Snowden and wanted to see what the legal framework was like.”

Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson earlier Wednesday told reporters in Sweden that there had been no formal discussions on the matter. To apply for asylum, Snowden must be on Icelandic soil.

Hrafnsson told the AP he had talked to an intermediary that he was “100 percent sure represents Mr. Snowden,” but declined to identify the intermediary.

Hrafnsson said he had met with people at the Icelandic ministries and reported back to his contact, but couldn’t give any more details about when or how Snowden would possibly travel to Iceland.

In an interview published shortly after he outed himself as the source behind stories about the U.S. spy agency’s online surveillance programs, Snowden floated the idea of heading to Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland. He told the Guardian newspaper that he was inclined to seek asylum in a country that shared his values — and “the nation that most encompasses this is Iceland.”

Snowden, who used to live in Hawaii, initially fled to Hong Kong and is now in hiding.

It’s not clear whether Iceland could protect a leaker like Snowden from American demands for his return. Iceland has a longstanding extradition treaty with the U.S., though it has never been used to deport an American citizen.

Instead, the small island nation has a tradition of providing a haven for the outspoken and the outcast, and has previously welcomed eccentric chess master Bobby Fischer and WikiLeaks secret-spiller Julian Assange.

RYOT NOTE: With the full wrath of the United States focused on Snowden, we don’t blame him for his unwillingness to return to home, where he could very well spend the rest of his life water-boarded and in solitary confinement. Instead, why not hole up in a Scandinavian paradise with an incredibly strong social support system and some of the most attractive women on Earth? We respect the bravery Snowden showed by sacrificing any semblance of a normal life to expose an intrusive, constitutionally-inconsistent surveillance program. If you feel passionate about government transparency and our constitutional rights, click on the gray link alongside this story to sign petitions to pardon Edward Snowden and help him find asylum in Iceland.

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Is this a radioactive sinkhole? Will the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles jump out of it? Has the creature from the black lagoon moved to more urban environs and gone green like everybody else?

We suspect those are some of the questions filling the minds of people strolling pat this sinkhole filled with green goo in Philadelphia. Steven Reitz posted the photo of the sinkhole on Reddit last week and got hundreds of responses. The sinkhole has since been boarded up, according to Reitz.

So what exactly is that green goo? The Philadelphia Water Department has shattered everyone’s dream and debunked all Ninja Turtle theories, Fallout 4 theories and government conspiracy theories, instead providing NBC10.com the lamest of lame explanations:

“Since most of our infrastructure is outside, we mainly use the green dye as it is the most visible and can be seen at the greatest distance in our infrastructure,” Philadelphia Water Department spokeswoman Laura Copeland told NBC10.com. It’s only water everybody … water with green dye that workers use to identify the causes of sinkholes and cave-ins.

RYOT NOTE: While our Ninja-Turtle-loving dreams may have been crushed, we just want to remind everyone that sinkholes can happen anywhere. And it’s all because of the awesome power of nature. We can’t continue to take land from the planet without any repercussions. That’s why we love The Nature Conservancy. They are an amazing organization fighting to keep our wild lands wild, and encouraging everyone to respect the planet. Click on the gray box alongside the story to learn more, donate and Become the News!

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ISSAQUAH, Wash. — He’s not exactly a wild creature, but he’s too independent to be considered a farm animal or a pet.

He’s a free-range kind of guy.

Since the bantam rooster known as McNugget first showed up in a downtown Issaquah parking lot 11 years ago, he’s stuck around and brought smiles to shoppers and passers-by.

Michelle Schneider, owner of the Your Espresso stand on Front Street North, was terrified when the black-feathered bird suddenly appeared one day at her window.

After calming down, she learned he had escaped from a customer of the nearby Grange Supply store. A Grange employee captured him, but he escaped again, and at that point, attempts to catch and return him to his owner ended.

McNugget, who was named in a poll of Your Espresso customers, hasn’t left since.

He sleeps in a maple tree next to the espresso stand and splits his days between the coffee shop, a Staples office-supply store and Issaquah Creek.

Baristas and a neighbor feed him chicken feed and mealworms. Customers and other admirers bring him treats.

When he’s hungry, he flies up to a serving window.

“If I say, … ˜Down!’ ”—Schneider snaps her fingers—“he gets down. He’s like a dog.”

Issaquah’s land-use code prohibits keeping roosters in residential areas, but there’s no prohibition in the commercially zoned parking lot where McNugget roosts.

Charming though he can be, the rooster does have a cantankerous streak, known on occasion to attack people in wheelchairs and on bicycles and motorcycles. And—since being clamped in the jaws of a pit bull—he refuses to be intimidated by curious canines.

Kristin Parshall, an animal-rights advocate who gave McNugget a doghouse, isn’t happy that he lives with no other protection against cold weather or predators. “If he was a white fluffy dog,” she says, “people would not be OK with it, but because he’s a chicken he’s devalued.”

A King County Regional Animal Services supervisor found no records of complaints about McNugget from 2009 on, and Issaquah has received no requests for a ban on roosters downtown.

“There are people on occasion who find him to be a nuisance,” said Mayor Ava Frisinger. “But I think most people, to the extent they notice McNugget, are happy to see McNugget.”

He’s become a senior citizen. Chickens often die by the time they’re 8, and rarely live beyond 15, said Michelle Boman, a chicken owner and operations manager of the Grange Supply.

As a “flock animal,” Boman said, McNugget seems to have adopted the neighborhood pigeons as his flock.

On one recent afternoon, the rooster was on the grass outside the shop when barista Candice Mercado called out to him just as Issaquah resident Pat McGrath got out of a car and threw him some Ritz crackers.

“If they’re good enough for me, they’re probably good enough for him,” said McGrath. “He’s an independent chap, so he’s a good ad for freedom.”

Jene Kramer, owner of The Boarding House restaurant at Gilman Village, smiles when she sees the rooster peering in fascination at Staples’ reflective-glass windows.

“I just think he is in love with himself,” Kramer says. “He’s handsome and he’s hilarious.”

Perhaps his biggest fan is Schneider: “Oh, yeah, I love the little guy. He makes my day.”

RYOT NOTE: McNugget seems to have found his place in the world, but many farm animals are stuck on factory farms with awful conditions. Farm Sanctuary is trying to remedy this with their farm animal rescue and protection program with sanctuaries on both coasts. Click on the gray box alongside this article to find out more about the organization!

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SLAUGHTER BEACH, Del. — In years past, tens of thousands of red knots crowded the sandy beaches of Mispillion Harbor in Delaware Bay, gorging on fresh horseshoe crab eggs spawned in such abundance they turned the shoreline a gelatinous green.

Smaller than a gull but larger than a robin, the shorebirds have one of the longest-distance migrations known in the animal kingdom. Each year, the ruddy-breasted birds fly to the Canadian Arctic from their winter home in Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America. And each year, there are fewer and fewer.

Red knots, elite athletes of the bird world, stop briefly in Delaware Bay in the spring, when the horseshoe crabs lay their eggs. They feast until they’ve doubled their weight, then they resume their flight to the Arctic to breed young of their own.

“It’s one of the world’s most dramatic migrants,” said Nigel Clark, who heads projects for the British Trust for Ornithology. Clark, who helped set up a program in Delaware 15 years ago to tag and monitor red knots, returns on vacation from the United Kingdom each year to volunteer with the scientific teams that are counting the birds and studying why they’re in decline.

Each May, as the red knots fuel up on horseshoe crab eggs, scientists and volunteer bird-watchers from around the world also flock to Delaware Bay, to count and tag red knots and other shorebirds. Their work, which requires patience and painstaking attention to detail, will be crucial as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decides later this year whether to list the red knot as a threatened or endangered species.

There are many threats that could warrant listing red knots, but climate change is one of the most challenging. As the Earth warms, the climate is changing at an accelerated pace in the polar regions. That’s where red knots spend much of their time, yet it’s also the area where they’ve been studied the least.

“Climate change affects just about all of those stopover places, those really important places, in one way or another,” said Phillip Hoose, the author of “Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95.” Hoose’s book follows one red knot in particular: a male tagged with a leg band in 1995 and known as “Moonbird.” The nickname comes from the two decades B95 has spent flying, enough air time to make it to the moon and part of the way back.

“Hurricane Sandy accelerated the concern for this in Delaware Bay, but the time’s going to come where there just won’t be beaches for horseshoe crabs to lay their eggs in the sand on,” Hoose said. “In the Arctic, climate change could very well take away the tundra habitat that they lay their little speckled eggs in.”

Biologist Greg Breese, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, tags types of Sandpipers that they trapped on the beach at Port Mahon, Delaware, May 15, 2013. (Mary F. Calvert/MCT)

Red knots are beloved by bird-watchers and scientists alike, who marvel at their good looks, their stamina and the interconnected nature of their existence across a sweeping range. There’s even a statue honoring Moonbird in front of the DuPont Nature Center at Mispillion Harbor — one of the best places for people to spot red knots through a scope. Researchers spotted Moonbird there again May 16.

It’s difficult to know how many red knots once made up the population that stops in Delaware Bay — perhaps more than 150,000, said Gregory Breese, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service. But their numbers have dwindled since the mid-1990s, and there may be as few as 20,000 now.

The arrival of the red knot can be unpredictable. So when they haven’t shown up yet, scientists and volunteers capture and tag other, smaller shorebirds whose habits and range are similar and therefore could provide clues to changes in the red knot’s population. On a recent May day, they looked for ruddy turnstones that previously had been fitted with bands known as “flags.” That process, known as re-sighting, allows researchers to track the larger shorebirds over time without recapturing them.

They also put new tags on smaller birds, including semipalmated sandpipers. Researchers set up small wire traps near the birds and waited for them to enter. The traps themselves are harmless, little more than a chicken-wire maze the sandpipers can’t exit.

The volunteers and researchers weighed and measured the birds they trapped, and noted where the birds were tagged and when, along with other facts. Holding a wild bird is like capturing a fragile handful of downy wind for just a moment. Delicate and twitchy, its heart beats like the sweeping second hand on an old stopwatch. When freed, it doesn’t look back.

RYOT NOTE: The life of these birds is incredible. Like so many species, they’re struggling to survive the pressures of human-induced climate change. You can help 350.org in their global campaign to mitigate climate change by fighting against oil companies by clicking on the gray box alongside this story.

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Scientists in Michigan and Louisiana are predicting a big summer “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico unless a tropical storm hits the area shortly before or during the annual measurement. In the Chesapeake Bay, scientists expect a smaller-than-average area where there’s too little oxygen to support fish, shellfish and other aquatic life.

The hypoxic zone in the Gulf is likely to be the largest since annual measurements began in 1985, covering 8,561 square miles — about the size of New Jersey, according to scientists from Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium.

University of Michigan scientists predict that it will be smaller but still sizeable: the seventh-largest ever, at 7,286 square miles. That would be about the area of Connecticut, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia combined, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which released those estimates and the one for the Chesapeake Bay on Tuesday.

Low- and no-oxygen areas in the Chesapeake Bay, the nation’s largest estuary, aren’t measured in square miles because so much of the bay is shallow. Instead, they’re measured in cubic miles and water volume. This year’s low-oxygen zone is expected to affect 1.46 cubic miles in midsummer, with no measurable oxygen in 0.26 to 0.38 cubic miles, according to researchers at the University of Michigan and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. That is smaller than average, NOAA researchers said in news release.

The Gulf dead zone affects nationally important commercial and recreational fisheries and threatens the region’s economy, according to NOAA. It said the Chesapeake dead zones, which have been highly variable in recent years, threaten a multi-year effort to restore the Bay’s water quality and enhance its production of crabs, oysters and other important fisheries.

“Coastal hypoxia is proliferating around the world,” said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. “It is important that we have excellent abilities to predict and control the largest dead zones in the United States. The whole world is watching.”

All the forecasts are based on nutrient runoff and river stream data from the U.S. Geological Survey. The nutrients are largely nitrogen and phosphorus, much of them from farms upriver.

Since 1995, the Gulf dead zone has averaged 5,960 square miles, an area roughly the size of Connecticut. In 2001 and 2008, state, federal and tribal agencies in the Mississippi River watershed — about 40 percent of the country — set a goal to reduce the size of the Gulf hypoxic zone to an average of 1,950 square miles by 2015.

There has been little progress getting there, said Donald Scavia, a University of Michigan aquatic ecologist who contributes to both forecasts.

“The size of the Gulf dead zone goes up and down depending on that particular year’s weather patterns. But the bottom line is that we will never reach the action plan’s goal of 1,950 square miles until more serious actions are taken to reduce the loss of Midwest fertilizers to the Mississippi River system, regardless of the weather,” Scavia said.

Last year, drought upriver cut runoff so drastically that the Gulf of Mexico dead zone was the fourth-smallest on record, less than 2,900 square miles. Michigan scientists had predicted it would cover just under 1,200 square miles while Louisiana, scientists predicted about 6,200 square miles.

Both groups said they refined their techniques this year.

Scientists will measure this year’s Gulf dead zone July 21-28, LUMCON director Nancy Rabalais said.

A tropical storm during or within two weeks of that period would reduce its size to as little as 5,344 square miles by mixing oxygen at the surface deep into the water.

The Chesapeake Bay measurements will be made public in October after surveys by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

RYOT NOTE: Our oceans contain an abundance of life, but there are parts of the ocean that are virtually aquatic deserts because of the terrible things we’ve done to our environment. Although there are natural factors to be considered, dead zones are mostly caused by fertilizer and animal waste that come from intensive farming practices. Oceana is the leading nonprofit working on marine issues in the U.S. They work in coastal and offshore waters where conservation can make the biggest difference. Click on the gray box alongside this story to learn more, donate and Become the News!

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MILAN (AP) — A Milan court on Wednesday convicted the designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of tax evasion.

They were found guilty of failing to declare 200 million euros ($268 million) through a Luxembourg company to authorities and given a one year and eight months suspended jail sentence. They were ordered to pay a penalty of 500,000 euros (about $670,000) to tax authorities.

The court, however, acquitted them of misrepresenting income of 416 million euros (around $560 million) each, even though the statute of limitations had expired on the charge.

The designers have denied the charges. Defense lawyer Massimo Dinoia pledged to appeal the ruling, saying the fact the court issued an acquittal on a charge that had expired, instead of just letting it fall to the statute of limitations, “means the proof of their innocence is evident.”

Two years ago, a judge threw out a tax evasion and fraud case against the pair, whose label Dolce&Gabbana is a Milan fashion mainstay. Italy’s high court later ruled the designers could be prosecuted for tax evasion, though not for fraud.

Three other defendants, including two managers, were also convicted in the scheme and given suspended sentences of one year and four months. A sixth defendant was acquitted.

RYOT NOTE: We don’t know why or what Dolce and Gabbana were thinking when they decided not to pay their taxes. But what we do know is that there are people around the world that can barely generate enough income to feed their families, let alone pay taxes. That’s why we love the Grameen Foundation. They help the world’s poorest to improve their lives and escape poverty by providing them with access to appropriate financial services, life-changing information and unique income-generating opportunities. Click on the gray box along side the story to learn more, donate and Become the News!

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Celebrities and journalists alike show their support for Pfc. Bradley Manning in the video above, released from the Bradley Manning Supp0rt website. According to CBS DC, Oliver Stone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard and Russell Brand were among those that took part in the “I Am Bradley Manning” video.

Just to give you a background: on May 29, 2010, U.S. Army officials arrested Pfc. Bradley Manning after he allegedly reported leaking the Apache video and hundred of thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks.

He is charged under federal espionage and computer fraud laws, in addition to the most serious offense of aiding the enemy, which carries a life sentence. The celebrities and journalists who support his cause believe the “aiding the enemy” cause should be dropped, arguing it criminalizes what should be recognized as whistleblowing.

You can hear his opening statement in the trial here, which was released online by Freedom of the Press Foundation. You can also leave your photo on the ‘I am Bradley Manning‘ website which calls for a fair and just trial for Bradley and promotes the solidarity of his support network.

RYOT NOTE: Whether or not you support Bradley Manning’s cause, his work was a catalyst for pro-democracy movement. It has shed light on the mired transparency at hand and served as a call to action. He is noted as saying he wanted to “spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general as well as it related to Iraq and Afghanistan.” What he represents is far more than a conversation, but rather, the right to have it. Amnesty International has been following the Bradley Manning case since the beginning, and fighting for his rights. You can become part of this story and support their mission by clicking on the gray box to donate and Become the News!

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According to the AP report, the zoo in Novosibirsk, Russia’s third-largest city, is home to a unique animal — the liliger. This breed is composed of the father, who is a lion and the mother, who is a lion-tiger hybrid, called a liger.

Their mother, Zita, was born in the zoo in 2004. Their father, Sam, is an African lion. The first liliger was born in the zoo last year and now there’s a second litter of three females.

So, these little African-Russian gems are growing, bopping around and generally looking too cute. Look through these photos without a swelling love growing in your heart, I dare you.

Life through the eyes of a little mythical creature. The opportunities are endless, the adventures boundless.

 That is, until Mom intervenes with her helicopter parent tendencies.

But, this provides opportunities for little liliger love. I can’t take the cuteness/alliteration.

Less loving but I get the whole necessity of transport thing.

I leave you with this image.

RYOT NOTE: Animals are a wonderful and integral part of our world. They should be treated as such. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is working to ensure that animals are treated with dignity, respect and love. They are proactive in working to rescue animals from abuse, pass humane laws and share resources with shelters nationwide, keeping our little critters safe and housed. Click the gray box, donate and Become the News!

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SANDY, Utah (AP) — As goaltender Tim Howard looks out from in front of the U.S. net, he likes what he sees: the scoring of striker Jozy Altidore, the ball control of the midfielders and the steadiness of the defense.

Oh, yeah, and like the rest of his teammates, he also can see a spot in next year’s World Cup there for the taking.

Altidore scored a goal in his fourth consecutive international match, and it was enough for the United States to edge Honduras 1-0 in a World Cup qualifying match Tuesday night.

Before 20,250 fans at Rio Tinto Stadium, the Americans remained atop the six-team CONCACAF group. The U.S. (4-1-1) has won three straight games this month, all since a 0-0 draw at Mexico gave it a boost toward the top.

Honduras (2-3-1, 7 points) did little to threaten the Americans offensively before and after the game’s only goal in the 73rd minute. It marked the fourth time in six games the U.S. earned a shutout.

“Every time we get a clean sheet, we feel like the best players in the world,” Howard said. “We’ve been on a roll. It’s good for the young guys in the back. It gets us feeling good about ourselves. Every time we have a good performance, we put it in our back pocket and save it.”

With four games remaining, the Americans are in excellent shape to qualify for their seventh successive World Cup. They have road games at Costa Rica and Panama, and home games with Mexico and Jamaica.

The top three teams in CONCACAF qualifying move directly to Brazil 2014, and the fourth-place team will face a playoff against New Zealand.

“We’re trying to keep our feet on the ground, of course,” Howard said. “But going back over the last 15-20 years, we know what points total gets you to the World Cup. So it’s been a hugely successful summer.”

And summer hasn’t even begun.

Honduras was the last team to win at the United States in a World Cup qualifying match, back in 2001. The Americans have won or drawn 25 straight at home since then.

The visitors made it difficult on the Americans for much of the game, slowing the pace before Altidore broke through.

After several second-half near misses, the U.S. got its goal when Altidore took a cross by Fabian Johnson from near the end line and put it past goalkeeper Noel Valladares inside the right post.

It was Altidore’s ninth goal in a qualifier as he finally develops into the scoring threat the United States has hoped for.

“We always told him from a coaching perspective that it takes a lot of hard work, it takes a lot of adjustment, it takes the right moment to be there, it takes the hunger,” U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann said. “The energy he has put in the last four or five games has been tremendous. It’s not only that he scored those goals, the work he does for the team is awesome.”

United States’ Jozy Altidore (17) heads the ball as Honduras’ goalie Noel Valladares (18) and teammate Jose Velasquez (5) defend in the second half during a World Cup qualifying soccer match at Rio Tinto Stadium on Tuesday, June 18, 2013, in Sandy, Utah. The United States defeated Honduras 1-0. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Both teams played physical soccer in the first half, leading to an emphasis on defense and a limited number of scoring chances on either side of the field.

Just before the first period ended, though, Howard was forced to make a difficult save when Andy Najar launched a running right-footer from the right side of the box. He met the ball in the center of the box and deflected it outside the right post.

Eddie Johnson had a chance in the 17th minute when he latched onto a cross from Fabian Johnson, but his left-footed shot from the center of the box was knocked away by Valladares.

Klinsmann expected Honduras, even with a depleted roster, to force his players to slog through a tough first half. Their ability to be patient and grind down the Honduras defense offered an example of how much the Americans have grown in 2013.

“The team now understands it’s not only a physical grind you put into these games,” Klinsmann said. “It’s a mental one. Mentally we’re getting stronger. We’re getting tougher. We are now prepared to go through the games.”

When the U.S. stepped up the offensive pressure early in the second half, it put Honduras on its heels. Altidore, who did not speak to reporters, had the finishing touch to make the aggressive push count.

He even appeared to score earlier in the half. Moments after Graham Zusi sent a free kick into a crowd of players just outside the 6-yard box in the 56th minute, only to see Brad Evans’ header go right into Valladares’ gloves, Altidore got behind the defense. Clint Dempsey sent a through ball ahead to Altidore, who was ruled offside and his score was negated.

His teammates knew Altidore couldn’t be denied forever.

“As long as we do our job in the back, they get the opportunity to score goals,” defender Omar Gonzalez said. “Jozy is on fire right now. He keeps on scoring. Man, I love Jozy up top. He’s doing great.”

Valladares came up with another clutch save in the 69th minute. Zusi, who was particularly active all night after sitting out the win over Panama because of yellow card accumulation, sent a ball into Dempsey in the center of the box and he leaned into a point-blank header. The ball bounced off of Valladares’ hands and Michael Bradley sent a follow-up shot too high.

NOTES: The U.S. improved to 5-2-1 all-time vs. Honduras. The Americans also improved to 3-0 in games played in Utah … Altidore is the sixth American to score in four straight matches, equaling Landon Donovan (twice), Eddie Johnson, Brian McBride, Eric Wynalda and William Looby … Dempsey’s next U.S. appearance will be his 100th … Howard has 26 shutouts for the national team.

RYOT NOTE: That was excellent work by the U.S. MNT. They now have won three consecutive World Cup qualifiers. If you appreciate the beauty of soccer check out Soccer Without Borders. This wonderful organization uses soccer as a vehicle for positive change, providing under-served youth a toolkit to overcome obstacles to growth, inclusion, and personal success. Support their work by clicking on the gray box alongside this story, donate and Become The News!

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