Jeffery Rodriguez/NYC SALT

Isora Lithgow/NYC SALT

Christian Rodriguez/NYC SALT

Christian Rodriguez/NYC SALT

Ruben Ramirez/NYC SALT

A North Carolina high school is ending the school year with controversy thanks to a photo in the school’s yearbook that is similar to the famous scene in the movie “Basic Instinct,” in which actress Sharon Stone bares her … well, essentials.

The group photo was taken at Lake Norman High School 2011′s graduation.  In the photo, one of the nine students is spreading her legs appeared not to be wearing any undergarments.  The photograph went largely unnoticed until the recent end-of-year publication of the school’s yearbook.

Word of the photo spread like any high-school gossip would. One parent told ABC station WSOC about the photo as soon as the annual school memoir was published. 

“People were texting each other to turn to page 14,” the parent said.

The girl in the photo has not been identified by the school, but district officials said they were investigating the incident and were in touch with the former student.  It was unclear if the provocative photo was a mistake or if the student intentionally orchestrated a barely-there senior prank.

School district official Dawn Creason said that the photo was not clear and the possible flash may have  been created by an optical illusion. 

“Really looking at the image, though, we’re not sure that’s what it is at all,” Creason said.  “We think, probably, it was the way she was sitting and the angle of her gown.  We’re not convinced, at all, that you’re seeing what you think you are.”

It’s unclear how the photo made it past the yearbook staff or the faculty member that oversees the group. 

School officials stressed the student was 18 at the time the photo was taken – ruling out any child pornography charges. 

The local sheriff’s office has not said what, if any, criminal charges the girl could face, and was waiting for the school district to perform its investigation  before launching one of its own.

The district has sent a letter to parents and has offered a refund on the $100 annual.

Skydiving image from video posted on TheChive.com. Used with permission.

A video of an elderly woman’s skydiving adventure gone horribly awry has gone viral, perhaps serving as a warning literally to look before you leap — or at least to mind your elders when it looks like they actually don’t want to jump out of the plane.

The video was created by The Parachute Center, a skydiving company in Acampo, Calif., as a memento for jumpers to take home after their airborne adventures.

But someone posted it on The Chive, a video site on which a counter said it has been viewed more than 170,000 times. It shows Laverne, an energetic woman who has just turned 80 and has rounded up a crew of female relatives to go skydiving with her. She tells the camera that she’s “real excited,” and that she has wanted to do this for “at least 10 years.”

Cut to the plane taking off to an upbeat rock tune by The Offspring. We see Laverne smiling, looking out the window, and putting on her safety goggles. A few jumpers dive from the open plane window and whoosh down toward the earth below. Looks like they’re all having fun.

But wait a second — something’s wrong. The Offspring song has been cranked up and it’s Laverne’s turn to jump with her towheaded tandem instructor, but it looks as if she’s having second thoughts. She’s no longer smiling and is instead clinging to the side of the open door. Then her legs buckle and she’s sitting down, refusing to move, and appears to mouth the word “No!”

Instead of letting the poor woman just sit it out — it’s not like they’re on an episode of “Fear Factor,” right? — the instructor scoops her up and they fall forward out of the plane.

The camera person has also jumped, so from his vantage point, we see that Laverne has evidently slipped out of her harness so that the straps are attaching her to her instructor from behind her knees. She’s also clinging to him with her arms. And her shirt has flown up, so we see part of Laverne’s torso. The instructor starts trying to pull her shirt down, which is the last thing we see before the camera cuts to the scenery thousands of feet below them.

The souvenir video from hell finishes from the ground, where we see the duo land in the distance and two employees run toward them. Laverne appears to be okay, but says something to the effect of “Let me get my clothes,” as she tugs at her blouse. The instructor seems shaken and one of the other employees is consoling him.

“This happened a long time ago and everything worked as advertised,” said Parachute Center owner Bill Dause in a statement to ABC News. “No one got hurt or injured.” In a separate call to the center, an employee who answered the phone said the video was a year old, but said he had no more information.

The FAA, reached by ABC News, said the video first came to its attention late Thursday.

An FAA safety inspector visited The Parachute Center today, according to FAA spokesman Ian Gregor. The inspector spoke with the company owner and employees about the incident and plans to do additional interviews and examine records next week, Gregor said.

Jim Crouch, director of safety and training for the U.S. Parachute Association, said he heard about the incident last June. He had not seen the video until it spread online this week.

Skydiving fatalities are on the decline these days, with some 21 deaths out of 3 million jumpers in 2010, a 0.007 chance of death, according to the association.

Nancy Koreen, a spokesperson for the association, said it looked as if Laverne’s harness wasn’t adjusted properly, and that she wasn’t positioned properly before the jump. “But that’s not at all a common occurrence,” she said. “It’s extremely, extremely rare.”

There have been two similar incidents of harness slippage, in which skydivers slipped out of their harnesses completely, said Koreen. Both happened about a decade ago, she said, and afterwards harness manufacturers modified them to have an extra strap across the skydiver’s back.

“The USPA does everything that we can to reinforce proper training for instructors, constantly issuing reminders to make sure that instructors are properly adjusting their student harnesses to avoid any kind of situation where the students isn’t situated properly or comes loose,” Koreen said.

Even so, Laverne will probably celebrate her next birthday on solid ground.

ABC News’ Brandon Bodow, Ross Eichenholz and Clayton Sandell contributed reporting for this story.

Indy Lights driver Esteban Guerrieri, of Argentina, celebrates winning the Freedom 100 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, May 25, 2012. (Darron Cummings/AP Photo)

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“All actions today will be shipped over to the federal government,” Marc Littman, an MTA spokesman, told ABC News on Thursday. “If all goes well, we can start a year from now.”

The second leg of the plan was approved after experts testified in a meeting today that it’s safe to build the tunnel despite pockets of methane gas underneath the school.

“We have some of the world’s tunneling experts who all rejected that,” Littman said.

However, parents argue the gas could cause explosions, and potentially lead to disaster.

The fight that has become heated over the past several months, generating two opposing videos on the Internet – one with an “Armageddon” feel vs. another invoking ”The Beverly Hillbillies”: a dramatic duel reminiscent of Hollywood movies.

“Methane gas, toxic chemicals and teenagers don’t mix,” says the narration of a video generated by Beverly Hills High School parents. “But this dangerous combination is on the verge of exploding at Beverly High.”

The video, titled “No Subway Under BHHS,” is equipped with images of students walking to class alongside dramatic images of flames and explosions, including video from a huge methane explosion in 1985.

Adding fuel to the fire, a satirical video called “The Hillfolks’ Lament” was uploaded to on the Internet in response, and mocks the residents of Beverly Hills for fear of progress. While MTA officials aren’t sure who produced the satire video, Littman said the accusations by Beverly Hills High School parents are untrue.

“We tunnel under schools elsewhere in Los Angeles, San Francisco, all around the world,” Littman told ABC News.  ”We have had nearly 20 years experience running the subway underground in Los Angles without incident. It is safe.”

Littman said the MTA expects to receive a lawsuit. Littman added officials had considered other routes, but said because of earthquake faults and too-sharp turning radii in other areas, the line must run under Beverly Hills High School. The project is expected to cost around $5.66 billion.

1) How many suicide bombers were involved in the Monday attack that killed 112 in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a?

2) What food product’s stocks were decimated by the 6.0 earthquake that struck Finale Emilia, Italy?

3) What does Iraq say it plans to do with American unarmed drone aircraft?

4) Whose death in Libya made headlines the world over?

5) What global landmark was home this week to what many called a “deadly traffic jam”?

6) Why did South African President Jacob Zuma go to court?

7) Why did the lemurs at a Japanese Zoo get confused?

8) What did Ryan Crocker do that made news?

9) What happened to the President of Mali?

10) What could a journalist buy for $3,190 at the Cannes Film Festival?

11) According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD), which country ranks happiest?

12) Who is Shakeel Afridi?

13) Having done a stint as weatherman earlier this month – what did Prince Charles try this week?

14) In the parliament of what country did lawmakers brawl over a Russian language law?

15) Mohammed Morsi may well be the next President of which country?

ANSWERS

1) One.

2) Parmesan cheese. Around 400,000 wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan) and Grana Padano cheese, worth more than 240 million euros (£194 million), were damaged when the powerful earthquake toppled them from the warehouse racks on which they are left to mature. At least 10 per cent of Parmesan production was affected.

3) The U.S. has agreed to sell unarmed drones to Iraq’s navy as part of an effort to help protect the nation’s oil exports – amid growing tensions in the Persian Gulf. The drones will allow Iraq’s military to keep a continuous watch over its oil terminals in the Persian Gulf.

4) Abdelbaset al Megrahi, the man believed to have been behind the bombing of the Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.

5) Mount Everest, where four climbers were reported dead following sudden storms that swept over the mountain. One official told the AP there was a “traffic jam” of climbers on the mountain.

6) Zuma was protesting after an artist exhibited a painting depicting Zuma with his genitals exposed. The painting is part of many in an exhibition titled “Hail to the Thief”. Zuma argued the painting violates his right of privacy.

7) As we wrote here – the lemurs had an “eclipse problem.” 20 lemurs at a Japanese zoo were fooled into getting ready for bed by the lunar eclipse. Instead of watching in awe and silence, the ring-tailed lemurs of the Japan Monkey Centre jumped up and down like crazy and then climbed up trees and poles. Actually, that’s typical of their evening ritual when it is believed that brisk exercise raises their body temperature. After the eclipse was over, the furry friends went back to their normal daytime routine.

8) Crocker announced he was stepping down from his post as U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, departing just as the United States negotiates a host of challenges in the long Afghan war. Health reasons were cited.

9) Interim Mali President Dioncounda Traore was taken to a hospital with a head wound, after being attacked by demonstrators during mass protests by supporters of March’s coup. They were angry about a deal arranged for Mr Traore, 70, to remain in office for a year.

10) An interview with Brad Pitt. Journalists were surprised to receive a price list from the distribution company Alliance Films – the first time in Cannes history that journalists have been charged fees for interviews with Hollywood celebrities.

11) Australia. The OECD’s “Better Life Index” rated it the happiest industrialized nation in the world based on criteria such as jobs, income and health.

12) Afridi was the surgeon who helped the U.S. with reconnaissance outside Osama Bin Laden’s compound – and who ran a vaccination program to help the CIA gather information on Bin Laden. He was sentenced by Pakistani authorities to 33 years for “high treason”.

13) Prince Charles took a turn spinning discs – playing DJ on a visit to a youth center’s music studio in Toronto.

14) Ukraine.

15.) Egypt. Morsi is the U.S.-educated candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood. Early results suggests he’ll face a runoff against former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq.

Our Bazi KANANI is just back from a tough trip into the parched Sahel region of West Africa – in particular, the desperately dry and hungry village of Maradi in Niger. That nation has recently been named the toughest place on earth to be a mother – and KANANI has seen why, first hand. Overall this is a crisis that affects eight African nations, with an estimated fifteen million people at risk – including one million children. Her broadcast reports begin next week – an early look here.

EUROPE’S CRISIS, GLOBAL FEARS

-EUROPE TODAY…While global investors worry about a looming “Grexit” (a Greek departure from the Euro), today’s angst is all about Spanish banks. Trading in shares in Bankia, Spain’s fourth largest bank, have been suspended in Madrid amid reports it’s going to ask for a $19billion government bailout. Bankia, battered by its exposure to the collapse of Spanish real estate market, will be revising its 2011 results – to show a big loss. Meanwhile, four of the largest and best-capitalized banks in Sweden and Norway have been downgraded by Moody’s in a stark warning of how contagion from the eurozone crisis may affect even supposed safe havens as well. Some of Europe’s biggest fund managers have confirmed they are dumping euro assets amid rising fears of a “Grexit”. European markets are down (no news there)…

-GLOBAL FEARS…As the Wall Street Journal and our Richard DAVIES report, Europe is just the worst of a bad batch of economic facts and figures. The U.S. reported Thursday that businesses were slowing orders of computers, aircraft, machinery and other long-lasting goods – while measures of business sentiment in Europe slipped, and reports from purchasing managers at manufacturers around the globe turned down. Among them, China, the world’s second-largest economy, registered its seventh straight drop in an important manufacturing index. Says the Journal: “A new economic threat is emerging: That activity is slowing in sync around the globe and not just in a few markets with their own isolated problems.” Europe may be the “epicenter” of crisis now – but reports of economic  trouble are turning up in China, India, South Africa, Brazil and elsewhere.

MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD LEADS EGYPTIAN VOTE

From Alex MARQUARDT in Cairo: The Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi is leading the early returns of Egypt’s presidential election, setting the stage for a runoff next month against former President Mubarak’s Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq. As MARQUARDT writes, it would be “a run-off between candidates from opposite ends of the spectrum, leaving the many liberals who participated in the revolution high and dry…So who do the revolutionary moderates now vote for? The islamist – or the Mubarak crony? They almost certainly hold their noses and vote for Morsi as an anti-Mubarak vote…The real stunner here was Shafiq’s late surge, proof that many Egyptians yearn for stability and an experienced military arnd political hand.” The runoff round is scheduled for June 16-17 – with the president named on June 21.

IRAN URANIUM: A GLITCH, OR A DANGER?

The AP carries this breaking item: Diplomats say the U.N. nuclear agency has found traces of uranium at Iran’s underground atomic site enriched to higher than previous levels and closer to what is needed for nuclear weapons. The diplomats say the finding by the International Atomic Energy Agency does not necessarily mean Iran is secretly raising its enrichment threshold – that the traces could be left during startup of enriching centrifuges until the desired level is reached. That would be a technical glitch only. But the IAEA is investigating the find because the higher the level of enrichment, the easier it is to turn uranium into nuclear warhead material.

SYRIA: RUMORS SWIRL OF POISONING DEATHS

The New York Times takes note of persistent rumors in Syria that President Assad’s brother-in-law and other senior officials have been fatally poisoned. The Assad regime denies it – interestingly, via a Facebook posting – but it has proven nearly impossible to confirm or refute.

HEADED FOR MEXICO: HURRICANE BUD

The storm season is getting an early start…and Mexico’s Pacific Coast sits in the cross-hairs. Hurricane Bud is now a Category 2 storm headed toward an area of beach resorts and small mountain villages along the coastal area stretching south from Puerto Vallarta.  As Sam CHAMPION reports, the U.S. National Hurricane Center says gradual weakening is expected Friday afternoon, but Bud is still expected to reach Mexico as a hurricane. A hurricane warning is in effect for Mexico’s Pacific coast from Manzanillo northwestward to Cabo Corrientes. A hurricane watch and tropical storm warning are in effect from Punta San Telmo westward to east of Manzanillo.

CHINA (1): CHEN’S FIRST U.S. INTERVIEW

Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng has given his first interview since arriving in the U.S. to CNN’s Anderson Cooper. He expressed concern over intensifying retribution against his family members who remain in China, especially his nephew, Chen Kegui, who has been jailed and faces charges of attempted murder. Kegui is accused of slashing at police officers when they burst into his house, looking for his uncle. Just yesterday’s Kegui’s father and Guangcheng’s brother escaped to Beijing to discuss his son’s imprisonment with lawyers there.

CHINA (2): BASHING FOREIGNERS

From the Washington Post: Faced with political turmoil at the top, a slowing economy, and a young and wired population restless for change, China’s Communist rulers appear to have dusted off a time-tested tactic: blaming foreigners for the country’s problems. This time, however, the technique does not seem to be working as well as it used to. Judging from a torrent of online criticism, it may even have backfired.

AFGHAN WAR

-MARINE COMMANDER:  NO MORE PHOTOS…Muhammad LILA reports: After the recent scandals involving pictures/video of U.S. troops posing with dead Afghans, marine commanders in Afghanistan have instituted a “no camera” policy while off base.  General Charles Gurganus, based in Helmand Province, tells The Marine Times that “heavy snaps,” or photos that troops take as souvenirs, will only be allowed on base and in between missions. It’s an effort to curtail any photos or video taken of marines behaving inappropriately.

-FRENCH PRESIDENT VISITS…Newly-minted French President Francois Hollande made a surprise trip to Afghanistan today to meet some of the 3,300 French troops stationed there – and to see Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The meeting comes just days after Hollande announced plans to pull French troops out of Afghanistan by the end of the year.

ANOTHER CROWDED WEEKEND ON EVEREST

After that dangerous weekend on Mount Everest that saw four climbers die, another dangerous weekend may be shaping up. As Gloria RIVIERA notes, more than 200 people are planning to climb to the summit this weekend. That many climbers makes it dangerous because they have to wait too long at high altitudes for fellow climbers to pass through before they can continue on. This weekend is considered the last opportunity to make the climb this season.

AUSTRALIA FINDS U.S. WORKERS WILLING TO TRAVEL DOWN UNDER

The Wall Street Journal reports the Australian government and a group of natural resource and mining firms are recruiting workers in the United States. And many Americans appear willing to head to Australia and earn six-figure salaries doing mostly blue-collar work. Australia chose Houston, TX for its inaugural U.S. job fair because it’s a labor market of 130,000 workers in sectors like construction, oil and gas.

ROCKET DOCKS AT INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

The SpaceX rocket is set to dock at the International Space Station this morning. It’s the first U.S. vessel to visit the space station since NASA’s shuttles retired last summer – and the first private spacecraft ever to attempt a delivery to the station.

GLOBAL MEDICINE

-ISRAELI SCIENTISTS MAKE BEATING HEART TISSUE FROM SKIN CELLS…The Telegraph reports Israeli scientists have been able to make beating heart tissue from skin cells. The skin cells were taken from patients with heart failure and transformed into healthy, beating heart tissue. The researchers said that while there are still many years of testing ahead, early results suggest they may be able to reprogram patients’ cells to repair their own damaged hearts in the future.

-GENE DISCOVERY MAY BE KEY TO MALE CONTRACEPTIVE PILL…The BBC reports it may be possible to develop a new male contraceptive pill after researchers in Edinburgh identified a gene critical for the production of healthy sperm. The authors of a study in PLos Genetics said a drug which interrupts Katnal1 could be a reversible contraceptive.

KENYA: U.K. ARISTOCRAT BEATEN TO DEATH

From Wilfred WAMBURA in Nairobi: The family of Alexander Monson, 28, claims he was beaten to his death after police arrested him Tuesday in the coastal town of Diani, Mombasa. The victim was allegedly arrested outside of a club when he went ahead and smoked “bhang” in public. Several hours later he was admitted to a nearby hospital with heavy police presence accompanying him. His family is blaming the police for his death; police saying his death was caused by a cardiac arrest.

BRAWL ERRUPTS IN UKRAINE PARLIAMENT

So – we were in the Ukranian parliament - and a hockey game broke out… This one really did turn the legislative chamber in Kiev into something more like a hockey rink. The video shows opposition and pro-president deputies fighting during a debate about a hotly contested bill that seeks to adopt Russian as an official language in the country.

“FUGITIVE PENGUIN” CAPTURED

From Akiko FUJITA: Japan’s most-wanted escapee is back behind bars. More than two months after it slipped out of an aquarium in Tokyo, Japan’s “fugitive penguin” is back in captivity following its capture in the capital on Thursday night. Two keepers picked up the Humboldt penguin after receiving reports that it had been seen swimming in a river earlier the same day day. The capture ended 82 days of freedom, during which it briefly achieved celebrity status around the world. The keepers, who seized the penguin after it ventured on to the riverbank, said the animal did not appear to have been harmed and had been eating enough to keep its weight stable.

Image Credit: Getty Images

An estimated 200 mountaineers will attempt the summit of Mt. Everest today and Saturday. But veteran climbers fear overcrowding will create treacherous circumstances that could lead to more deaths.

The warning comes one week after four climbers died on the world’s tallest peak.  They died as more than 200 climbers surged toward the top, creating delays that proved lethal as people suffered prolonged exposure to the extreme conditions. They died of altitude sickness and exhaustion and it was one of the deadliest days on the mountain.

Veteran American climber Jon Kedrowski, 33, will make his attempt this week after deciding to forgo the summit last weekend in order to help others who were struggling to survive.

Pemba Dorje Sherpa, who holds the eight-year record for the fastest ascent of Everest, told the AFP, “Two hundred people climbing the mountain is too many for one weekend. Twenty-five to 30 a day is okay, but 200 is too many.”

This weekend could be the last window for a successful summit attempt. Bottlenecking leads to unanticipated wait time as oxygen runs out and frostbite sets in. But clients pay between $35,000 and $50,000 for the chance to climb Everest. The mountain is a massive money maker for the government in Nepal and officials in Kathmandu are downplaying concerns, saying they will not put a limit on the number of clients that pay to go.

More than 220 climbers have died on Everest, half of those in the last 20 years when climbing Everest has exploded as a commercial pursuit.

“It’s sad that the mountain and the Sherpa people are so exploited just for bragging rights,” said Peggy Luce, the second American woman to climb Everest. “Many people are there for the wrong reason. They are not climbing because they love the sport. They are there because they want to be able to say they climbed Mt. Everest.”

Colin Powell at Northeastern University
 

Jane Lynch at Smith College
 

Aaron Sorkin at Syracuse University


Adam Savage at Sarah Lawrence College

Bob Woodruff at Boston College

Cory Booker at Hampton University

Oprah Winfrey at Spelman College

Sonia Sotomayor at New York University

Michael Bloomberg at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Condoleezza Rice at Southern Methodist University
 

President Obama at Barnard College

Katie Couric at the University of Virginia

Mitt Romney at Liberty University
 

Michelle Obama at Virginia Tech

Andy Samberg at Harvard

Barbara Walters at Yale

Salman Khan at Rice University

Maria Shriver at the University of Southern California

Image Credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images

John Edwards

Here’s a riddle:   What comes in group of four and is the color of French’s Mustard?

After a week of deliberations, the four alternate jurors have become the prime distraction for the assembled press corps and spectators in the courtroom.

Today, the judge cleared the court room to discuss what was described as a juror issue.  When court resumed, the judge did not indicate what the problem was.

But on Thursday the alternates – three women and one man – caused something of a stir when they showed up in matching bright yellow shirts, hardly bothering to suppress their snickering as the judge addressed the main panel of jurors. Today they are all wearing red.

For nearly four weeks, 16 jurors heard all the evidence in Edwards’ case.    After the closing arguments, Judge Catherine Eagles made the unorthodox decision to extend the service of the four alternate jurors, while the primary panel of 12 deliberated the six felony charges.      So for the last five days of deliberations, the gang of four alternates has been required to show up at court each day, sent to a holding room with instructions to avoid talking about the case.

Anytime the jurors are in the courtroom, the judge calls the alternates down to keep them apprised of the status of deliberations.   And the alternates are also sent to lunch every afternoon with the rest of the jurors.

Since the alternates were identified last Thursday, it has been impossible to ignore the dynamic between Edwards and one of the female alternates, an attractive young woman with jet-black hair, who seems to have been flirting with Edwards for days.

The juror clearly instigated the exchanges. She smiles at him.   He smiles  politely back at her.    She giggles.     He blushes.

The flirtation has become so obvious that even Edwards’ attorneys have to work to suppress their laughter at the absurdity of it all.

The jury returns today to resume deliberations for a sixth day. Edwards is accused of using nearly $1 million in campaign donations to hide his affair with his mistress Rielle Hunter. If convicted, he could be sentenced to as much as 30 years in prison and fined as much as $1.5 million.