The Atlanta Hawks ownership group is working to finalize the sale of the team to a group led by billionaire equity and investment fund manager Antony Ressler, three people familiar with the process told USA TODAY Sports. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly until the sale is complete. Ressler's group, which includes former NBA player Grant Hill and Jesse Itzler, the co-founder of Marquis Jet, will buy the Hawks from Bruce Levenson, Michael Gearon Jr., and other investors for $850 million. Itzler's wfie, Spanx founder Sara Blakely, and Clayton Dubilier & Rice partner Rick Schnall and BTIG co-founder Steven Starker are also part of Ressler's group. NBA owners must approve the sale of the team, but that is expected.

Known for pounding opponents inside with Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph, the Memphis Grizzlies are showing they can be just as effective outside the paint. Hey, they can even shoot 3-pointers. Mike Conley and Courtney Lee each scored 18 points, and the Grizzlies beat Portland 97-82 Wednesday night to grab the franchise's first 2-0 lead in a playoff series. The Grizzlies took full advantage of starting the playoffs at home for only the second time in their short postseason history. They had only won their playoff opener once before, and that was on the road in San Antonio in 2011. "All we did is just take care of home court, which we were supposed to do," Lee said. "We didn't want those guys to come in here and get one and switch home-court advantage in their favor." Gasol had 15 points, and Randolph and Beno Udrih added 10 apiece.

The Hawks are now up 2-0 in the series. That is a numerical fact. The Hawks are still heavy favorites to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. That is a logical conclusion based on the fact they need to beat Brooklyn just two more times and then likely the Washington Wizards, another team they handled during the regular season. Still, it is not hard to see that the playoffs have been different – even weird – for Atlanta so far. The beautiful offensive flow from the regular season isn't quite there. A bench that has been so productive all season is struggling to churn out baskets. Shots that normally go down are spinning out. A team that was almost automatic when it got a 10-point lead at any point from Oct. 29 to April 15, losing just a handful of times all season, has been in very real danger of blowing double-digit leads the past two fourth quarters. And yet, for anyone to draw big conclusions about Atlanta at this juncture would be to overlook the bottom line. Even though the Hawks haven't played to the standard they set in the regular season, they are still right on course to get through this series without too much stress and have plenty of room to improve.

"It's what you expect in the playoffs," Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. "They're a very good team. They kept coming back and there were big possessions late in the game, and we feel fortunate we made just enough plays and got just enough stops. I think defensively we got a little bit better tonight, but we need to play better going forward and play better for longer stretches." Atlanta got to a franchise record 60-22 by doing one of two things night in and night out. If the Hawks didn't dominate someone from start-to-finish, they usually took control of a game with one killer stretch where their offense and defense fed off each other and opposing teams just got buried under the pressure of trying to guard all that ball movement backed up by waves and waves of shooters. So for Atlanta to make just 43% of its field goals in Game 1, then dip to 38.9% in Game 2 is unusual. It's disconcerting. It's not what the Hawks are supposed to do. "We had a lot of good looks," said guard Kyle Korver, who scored 17 points. "I thought we had a couple stretches where we got a little stagnant and too 1-on-1, but overall we just didn't shoot the ball that well for awhile." The Hawks' most stagnant stretch occurred in the second quarter when they missed nine straight shots and briefly fell behind 43-40, which was also right about the time the organization officially announced that an agreement had been reached to sell the team to a group led by Los Angeles-based billionaire Tony Ressler. At any other moment, this would have been big news in Atlanta, an organization that for years has dealt with ownership strife through warring factions of a group called, ironically, the "Atlanta Spirit." The Hawks' record this year has largely served as cover for much of that ugliness, which came spilling out to some degree when a 2012 e-mail with inappropriate, racially-charged sentiments from owner Bruce Levenson were discovered during an NBA investigation. General manager Danny Ferry, who put together this roster, has also been in limbo since comments from a scouting report about Luol Deng during a conference call with owners were made public. The Hawks weren't really interested in talking about the looming ownership change before Game 2, which is understandable. Budenholzer essentially cut off any questions about it, saying he was aware of the reports but that all the focus should be on the playoffs.

The 22-year-old son of Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul is facing a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol following a collision in Kentucky last weekend. Authorities in Lexington, Ky., said William Hilton Paul crashed a maroon 2006 Honda Ridgeline truck into an unoccupied car at 11:24 a.m. Sunday. Police spokeswoman Sherelle Roberts said Paul was treated at the University of Kentucky hospital for minor injuries to his face. She said Paul was cited for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and failure to maintain insurance. 

A spokesman for Rand Paul's presidential campaign said it had no comment. The charges mark the third time that William Paul has had a run-in with the law involving alcohol, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported on its site Kentucky.com. Paul, a senior majoring in communications at the University of Kentucky, was cited for possession of alcohol by a minor in October 2013 at the Keeneland horse racetrack. In January of that year, he was arrested at the airport in Charlotte, N.C., and charged with simple assault of a 22-year-old flight attendant, consuming beer or wine underage, disorderly conduct and being intoxicated and disruptive on a US Airways flight. 

The Charlotte charges were dismissed later under a deferred prosecution program for first time offenders, after William Paul completed alcohol education classes and 150 hours of community service, the newspaper reported. Paul is scheduled to be arraigned on the latest charges May 12 in Fayette District Court. According to the citation, Lexington police found Paul in the driver's seat of the truck after it collided with a parked vehicle. The report said Paul was "belligerent" and had "a strong odor of alcohol," bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, Kentucky.com reported. He failed a field sobriety test and refused to take a blood test, according to the citation. 

Contributing: Associated Press

BANDUNG - Dozens of world record-breaking event participants play angklung most Siliwangi Stadium, Bandung, fainted and had to leave the premises. Deputy Secretary PMI Bandung, Ace Kusnadi, say, the participants alleged exhaustion and heat given location filled by participants which amounted to 20 thousand people. "Earlier there were about 50 students who received treatment," he told reporters on Thursday (04/23/2015). Most, said Ace, the participants experienced shortness of breath. "Maybe they are tired because from the entry in the queue too full," he said. Even one of the participants should be rushed to a nearby hospital for acute asthma who suffered a sudden relapse. Seeing the number of participants who received treatment, Mayor of London, Ridwan Kamil, who was present at the site, too, encouraged the participants were mostly from students Bandung. "Let's keep the spirit. Follow the instructions. All here is part of history, "he said. The record-breaking event as a series of peaks show Asian-African Conference (KAA), the 60th to be held on Friday, April 24th tomorrow. In the event title, the committee took the theme 'Angklung for The World'.

Bandung preening welcome Warning 60th Asian-African Conference (KAA). For the sake of entertaining the heads of state in the Flower City, a spectacular show put up today. SONG creation with Lionel Richi Michael Jackson We Are The World will shake Siliwangi Stadium, Bandung, West Java, today (23/4). The song will be a witness roar Angklung music for The World. Momentum will be recorded in a new world record with 20,000 players. If Michael Jackson, the pop legend American world was still alive, maybe he will fly to Bandung to witness the spectacular event. "Frankly, I also cringe at the amount of angklung players that much. I'm more curious, what kind of sound effects generated in the colossal show. Definitely will be talks in the arena Warning 60th KAA, "said Minister of Tourism (Menpar) Arief Yahya, who is also chairman of the Side Events Warning Asian-African Conference, beginning April 19 to 24 it. The 20,000 figure is not arbitrary. Figures are difficult, coordination is also not easy. 

Tribune football field will be filled with flocks of angklung. As is known, a musical instrument made of bamboo that has been registered and listed as World Cultural Heritage or the Intangible Heritage of Humanity, UNESCO, since Thursday, November 18, 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya, Africa. It's been almost 15 years. The existence of angklung as cultural heritage and is recognized by the UN agencies operating in the fields of Education and Culture was followed after a dagger, puppets, and batik first designated as world cultural heritage of Indonesia. "We should be proud of the work of the original culture. Younger children can also play angklung beautifully, "said Arief Yahya. UNESCO assess angklung meets the criteria as objects of cultural heritage is not recognized internationally. Angklung is also considered to be an important part of the cultural identity of West Java and Banten. Art music contains basic values ​​of cooperation, mutual respect and social harmony. "Therefore, featuring angklung in the international arena as a side event of his warning KAA already fitted. There is a cultural force that can be displayed at a time when many foreigners who visit Bandung, "he explained. Make no mistake, angklung was already very popular on the world stage. 

Angklung it is worldwide. Angklung is often promoted and carried by the Indonesian delegation in various exhibition in many countries. "Breaking through this world and further strengthen the potential of our unique culture in the world tourism map," he explained. Previously, Guinness World of Records ever play angklung colossal record in Beijing, China. At that time the Embassy in Beijing with the Association of Friendship Indonesia China (PPIT) recorded 5,393 angklung players at the Beijing Workers' Stadium. There, angklung orchestra leader Udjo Daeng was played several songs, such as Manuk Dadali, Chinese song Wo De Xin Yueliang Daibiao, and the song together: We Are The World. Record that was recorded in China's capital city, has been aborted before the colossal record, which was held at the foot of Pride US National Monument in Washington DC. The concept of the show was designed by Dino Patti Djalal, a former Ambassador to the US. At that time, recorded 5102 people come into play, and singing again which is very popular in the US at that time, Take Me Home Country Road, and of course, We Are The World. In Adelaide, Australia, the largest angklung concert also never played in the Royal Adelaide Show 2014, on September 13, 2014. At the annual exhibition of the largest agricultural event in the land of kangaroos that host its South is the Royal Agriculture and Horticulture Society of South Australia. They claim there are 6,100 angklung (from 7000 brought from Indonesia), played together by the show visitors of all ages. Therefore, it is worth noting a number of winning a new record. For Tourism Minister Arief Yahya, anywhere, in any amount as well, ethnic music performances of angklung it should be appreciated. They helped popularize the work of native Indonesian culture that has long been entrenched.

Four in Hand Knot

Sony has bolstered its online gaming portfolio by acquiring OnLive cloud gaming service. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company announced today that Sony Computer Entertainment has bought "various assets of OnLive, including its U.S. and foreign patent portfolio covering its substantial innovations in cloud gaming." A message on OnLive.com says that the online gaming subscription service will close business on April 30. 

"After five years of uninterrupted service, the OnLive Game Service will be coming to an end. Sony is acquiring important parts of OnLive, and their plans don't include a continuation of the game service in its current form," the message says. "Your service should continue uninterrupted until April 30, 2015. No further subscription fees will be charged, and you can continue to play all of your games until that date." OnLive launched in 2010 as the first cloud gaming service and in 2012 was acquired by investment firm Lauder Partners. That year Sony also acquired online game company Gaikai.

Whether you've purchased a new computer to fulfil your gaming needs or would like to add some functionality to an aging PC, it's a good time to invest in a few fun accessories. Perhaps you're itching for a new controller, mouse or keyboard, or maybe a better monitor, wireless router or headset? Many hundreds of hardware add-ons exist for computer gamers -- each promising to enhance your interactive entertainment experience -- so how do you know which ones are worthy of your time and money? The following are a half-dozen gaming accessory recommendations for a laptop or desktop. And don't forget to suggest you own favorites in the Comments section. Not mousing around Turtle Beach may be best known for its headsets, but the gaming accessory giant is expanding into other categories, as well. Fans of first-person shooters, strategy and role-playing games might consider the Grip 500 Laser Gaming Mouse ($69.95), an ergonomically engineered and illuminated mouse with seven programmable buttons and a middle scroll-wheel. In fact, you can assigned up to 50 complex "macros" – each with up to 100 in-game commands – and then assign them to any button. The premium laser sensor yields instant response and precise tracking with up to 8200 dots-per-inch sensitivity.

Head of Operational Department of Transportation Bandung, IW Ginter explained that 20 of public transport in London which terkenda impact of the Asian-African Conference event 60th, April 24th, 2015. Path 20 public transport it should be transferred after the government shut down Jalan Asia Afrika from 06.00 Thursday, April 23, 2015. "But we make sure that their operations will not be closed," said Ginter, Tempo, Wednesday, April 22, 2015. He pointed out, the city's public transportation route (public transportation) department Gedebage-station thing, Cipagalo-Simple, and Cicadas-Eagle will be changed. In addition, bus lines Damri Cicaheum-Cibereum will be changed as a result of the closure of this road. Ginter said, the current transfer will have an impact on the traffic situation in the city of Bandung. 

Government of Bandung with West Java Regional Police and Military Area Command III Siiwangi this afternoon held a rehearsal. The rehearsal was conducted as well as disseminating road closures. For security reasons, since 06.00 Thursday, April 23, 2015 until Friday, April 24th, 2015 at 17:00, police shut down Jalan Asia Afrika. With the closure of the road, a traffic flow was diverted. So that all vehicles either private or public, are not allowed to pass on Jalan Asia Afrika. Apart from the obvious, the transfer current government decided after considering the congestion that often occurs in the center of Bandung. Congestion was feared impede the passage of the head of state while in Bandung. Mayor of London Ridwan Kamil said the head of state KAA participants will get Husein Sastranegara Airport, London, on 24 April 2015 at 08.00. They would travel over an hour from the airport Halim. The heads of state will be divided into four groups, and delivered directly by bus to the Hotel Savoy Homan. To get to the hotel, they will go through the Way of Padjadjaran, Jalan Cihampelas bottom, Wastukencana Road, Jalan Merdeka, Lembong Road, and ends at Jalan Asia Afrika. At the Savoy Homann, the head of the country will rest for a moment, then continued their activities by listening to the president's speech at Gedung Merdeka, Bandung. After the event, the head of the Muslim countries will undergo Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque of Bandung.

It’s a simple truth. The world around us is always changing. Today, that change comes in the form of competing trends. As the world’s population grows and the global middle class expands, we see a move from rural and suburban living back to cities. From Jakarta to Chicago, urbanization is a particularly strong trend. Nowhere is it more prevalent than China, home to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and, in total, a quarter of the world’s 100 largest cities. 

In fact, Chinese cities alone will contribute nearly 40 percent of global growth in residential and commercial floor space demand by 2025.  But it’s not just China. In India, the population today will move from 30 percent urban today to nearly 80 percent urban in the next five decades. Cities like Kolkata, Lagos and Rio de Janeiro are breeding grounds for astonishing growth.  These “megacities” in emerging markets all face challenges in areas of transportation, pollution, connectivity and availability of health care.

At the same time that people are migrating to be physically much closer together, the systems that support our populations are becoming more fragmented. From online shopping sites such as Amazon.com to distributed rooftop solar panels in the energy industry, businesses are experiencing their own fragmentations and creative disruptions. Decision making is shifting to be increasingly spread throughout our economy, rather than consolidated.  This will require the right technology and solutions to support the changes in cities.

With so much change, one constant remains: our global economy needs reliable, clean energy to continue growing and improving lives. What we need are practical solutions that can be implemented immediately. Renewables such as wind and solar are becoming increasingly competitive with fossil fuels, but the reality is that widespread adoption and implementation of other emerging clean energy technologies are still years away and will require policy mandates from all levels of government to emerge into the mainstream.

Simply producing more fossil-based power isn't a viable option; it is too expensive and polluting. Fortunately, this is the gap that energy efficiency can help close in our global energy mix. The fact is, energy efficiency remains the lowest cost and cleanest energy source. 

it’s a message discussed with business leaders and policy makers at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Alex Molinaroli, CEO of Johnson Controls, explained that technology advances are driving down the costs of renewable and other clean energy technologies. In fact, the cost of solar PV, wind and storage energy are decreasingly rapidly with distributed generation systems achieving cost parity with traditional fossil fuel-based energy generation in many locations. 

The results are clear, investment in energy efficiency is a “no-regrets” strategy that reduces the need for additional energy supply capacity, reduces carbon emissions, reduces consumer costs, creates jobs and improves comfort.

As more people move to urban centers, either for the first time as in China, or as part of the re-urbanization underway in major urban areas of the United States and elsewhere, it is increasingly important to meet increased population density and energy demands with realistic, everyday solutions that improve energy efficiency. Those solutions include things that can be implemented today: Advanced battery technologies in vehicles, automated and efficient smart systems that integrate technology systems in buildings and street lighting, district energy systems and micro grids in communities. At the local policy level, building codes and financial incentives can be leveraged to encourage greater efficiency in both new and existing buildings.

Energy efficiency is a megatrend in its own right. In fact, energy use has declined almost 40 percent in per unit GDP in the member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development between 1980 and 2010. That includes not only recession years in the early 1980s, 1990s and, of course, the late 2000s, but also historically strong periods of economic integration, liberalization and growth.

Efficiency can be a big part of the answer to our energy challenges. The regulatory and financial communities that decide the fate of our energy future should embrace with this common sense, everyday approach to efficient, clean and reliable economic growth.

Wednesday, April 22 is Earth Day. To hear the experts like Usher and Al Gore tell the story, the planet is in a miserable state. We're running out of our natural resources, we're overpopulating the globe and running out of room, the air that we breathe is becoming toxic, the oceans are rising and soon major coastal cities will be underwater, and the Earth is, of course, heating up, except when it is cooling down.

This is perhaps the single greatest misinformation campaign in world history. Virtually none of these claims are even close to the truth -- except for the fact that our climate is always changing as it has for hundreds of thousands of years.

Since the first Earth Day back in the 1970s, the environmentalists -- those who worship the creation rather than the Creator have issued one false prediction of Armageddon after another and yet despite the fact that their batting average is zero, the media and our schools keep parroting their declinism as if they were oracles not shysters.

Here are the factual realities we should be celebrating on Earth Day.

1. Natural resources are more abundant and affordable today than ever before in history. ‎Short term (sometimes decades-long) the price of most natural resources -- from cocoa to cotton to coal -- is cheaper today in real terms than 50, 100, or 500 years ago. This has happened even as the world's population has nearly tripled. Technology has far outpaced depletion of the earth's resources.

2. Energy -- the master resource -- is super-abundant. Remember when people like Stanford biologist Paul R. Ehrlich warned nearly 50 years ago (and Barack Obama just three years ago) that we were running out of oil and gas? Today, thanks to fracking ushering in a new age of oil and gas, the United States has hundreds of years of petroleum at its disposal and at least an estimated 290 years of coal. Keep in mind, this may be a low-ball estimate; since 2000, the Energy Information Administration's estimates of recoverable reserves have actually increased by more than 7 percent.

We're not running out of energy, we are running into it.

3. Our air and water are cleaner. Since the late 1970s, pollutants in the air have plunged. Lead pollution plunged by more than 90 percent, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide by more than 50 percent, with ozone and nitrogen dioxide declining as well. This means that emissions per capita have declined even as the economy in terms of real GDP nearly tripled. By nearly every standard measure, it is much, much, much cleaner today in the United States than 50 or even 100 years ago. The air is so clean now that the EPA worries about carbon dioxide -- which isn't even a pollutant. ‎(And, by the way, carbon emissions are falling too, thanks to fracking.). One hundred years ago, about one in four deaths in the U.S. was due to contaminants in drinking water. But from 1971-2002, fewer than 3 people per year in the U.S. were documented to have died from water contamination.

4. There is no Malthusian nightmare of overpopulation. Birth rates have fallen by about  one-half around the world over the last 50 years. ‎ Developed countries are having too few kids, not too many. Even with a population of 7.3 billion people, average incomes, especially in poor countries, have surged over the last forty years. The number of people in abject poverty fell by almost one billion from 1981 to 2011, even as global population increased by more than 1.5 billion.

5. Global per capita food production is 40 percent higher today than as recently as 1950. In most nations the nutrition problem today is obesity -- too many calories consumed -- not hunger. The number of famines and related deaths over the last 100 years has fallen in half. More than 12 million lives on average were lost each decade from the 1920s-1960s to famine. Since then, fewer than 4 million lives on average per decade were lost. Tragically, these famines are often caused by political corruption -- not nature. Furthermore, the price of food has fallen steadily in the U.S. And most nations steadily for 200 years.

6. The rate of death and physical destruction from natural disasters or severe weather changes has plummeted over the last 50 to 100 years. Loss of life from hurricanes, floods, hurricanes, heat, droughts, and so on is at or near record lows. This is because we have much better advance warning systems, our infrastructure is much more durable, and we have inventions like air conditioning, to adapt to weather changes. ‎We are constantly discovering new ways to harness and even tame nature.

Earth Day should be a day of joy and celebration that life on this bountiful planet is better than anytime in human history.

The state of the planet has never been in such fine shape by almost every objective measure. The Chicken Littles are as wrong today as they were 50 years ago. This is very good news for those who believe that one of our primary missions as human beings is to make life better over time and to leave our planet better off for future generations.

Happy Earth Day.

The Army Ranger School instructor stood at the center of the sawdust pit, shouting instructions. Around him, dozens of soldiers low-crawled around the pit in a dirty, sweaty mass of bodies. The soldiers weren't showing enough enthusiasm. "Louder, Rangers," the instructor yelled. "Some of you don't want to be here." The students shouted louder, the pain and exhaustion etched on their faces. It looked like a typically grueling class to earn elite Ranger status. It was anything but. For the first time in more than six decades, Ranger School — the Army's toughest course — has opened to women. It is a one-time "assessment" to see whether women can handle the physically demanding course as well as the fittest male soldiers trying to become Rangers. This test is part of a broader step by the Pentagon to remove its historic ban on women serving in "ground combat" jobs throughout the military by the end of this year. It is highly controversial because critics worry the move will lead to lower standards for training, less unit cohesion and reduced combat effectiveness in the field. The Marines have embarked on a similar test, but no woman has completed the Infantry Officers Course. 

Women have been exposed to plenty of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, but some specialties are off limits, such as infantry. Army leaders say they are taking pains to ensure Ranger School will remain as challenging as it has always been despite the presence of women. This week, they invited reporters from a small group of news outlets, including USA TODAY, to observe the first days of training. The women are housed in the same open barracks because unit cohesion is as important as physical strength in the combat units, such as infantry, which requires great physical strength and living under primitive conditions for long periods in the field. Their hair is cut to the minimum allowed for women under Army regulations, ¼ inch, only slightly longer than the men's, who sport buzz cuts. Otherwise they look the same in the loose sweat-stained uniforms. When students are ordered to carry their Ranger buddy over their shoulders, the women often end up carrying men who weigh significantly more. After the first couple of days of training, three women out of 19 who started the course were dropped for not meeting the initial physical test. In the same course, 78 men from the class were dropped, a slightly higher percentage for them. The attrition rate at the school is about 50%. "The standards are not negotiable," said Lt. Col. Rob Robinson, executive officer of the 6th Ranger Training Battalion. The Army said updated attrition statistics would be released Thursday. The 19 women are part of a group of 113 who volunteered to be among the first women to try Ranger School. Only 20 passed a two-week preliminary course that allowed them to take the full course. One apparently chose not to enroll. Jim Lechner, a retired Army officer and former Ranger, said skills required in infantry and other combat arms can't be measured by push-ups and pull-ups alone. They involve trekking over long distances day after day and carrying heavy weapons such as machine guns and mortars. Marine Staff Sgt. Cliff Wooldridge said most of his colleagues in the infantry oppose allowing women into the field, expecting it would lead to a lessening of physical standards. Wooldridge earned a Navy Cross, the nation's second-highest award for heroism, in hand-to-hand combat with a Taliban fighter in 2010. "There is no pressure to change the standards," said Maj. Gen. Scott Miller, who commands the Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence, which includes the Ranger School. Monday, soldiers went through a battery of physical fitness tests. Then they headed to a water survival course, where they climbed a ladder and edged carefully across a 70-foot-long log stretched over the water. A slip would mean a 35-foot plunge into the water. From there, they crawled along a rope and dropped the 35 feet into the water, when the order was given. Any sign of hesitation or fear attracted the attention of instructors, who watched carefully from below. Later that night, they were put through sessions of calisthenics and classes in close-combat skills. 

The following day, after only a few hours' sleep, they were up well before dawn to take a land navigation test, which required trudging miles through dense woods using only a map and compass to find boxes scattered among the pines. Students were staggering back after the sun rose, many covered in mud or soaked from falling into the creeks that crisscross the training area. A failure to find four out of five boxes would mean taking the test again the following day. The course is broken up into several phases, including training in mountains in Georgia and the swamps of Florida. During much of the time, participants will be forced to survive on two meals a day and get little sleep. They will carry equipment weighing up to 100 pounds. Students lose on average 15 to 20 pounds by the end of the two-month class, said Col. William Butler, deputy commandant of the Infantry School. They are graded on their performance almost every step of the way. "It is a grueling course," said 1st Lt. Alessandra Kirby, part of a group of women brought in to observe the class and provide advice to the staff. "You starve, and you can't sleep." Ranger School is not a requirement for infantry jobs, but it is important for career advancement in combat fields because it is among the best training for small-unit leaders. Opening the infantry without allowing women to attend Ranger School would put commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers at a disadvantage. Ranger School confers "instant credibility," Butler said. "They've been through a tough, arduous course and come out the other side." U.S. Army soldiers including women, center, train April 20, 2015, during the Ranger Course at Ft. Benning, Ga. Soldiers attend Ranger School to learn additional leadership and small-unit technical and tactical skills in a physically and mentally demanding, combat-stimulated environment. (Photo: Spc. Dacotah Lane, U.S Army)

A cruel middle finger to America? Or simply a crude gesture from a kid? The image of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with his middle finger up for a security camera in 2013 became a flash point today in the Boston Marathon bomber's sentencing trial. Jurors saw video of the incident, during which he paces in his cell, looks into the lens and fixes his hair in the reflection. Tsarnaev then briefly makes what the defense called a "V sign," followed by the middle finger and walks away. Prosecutors characterized the photo as encapsulating Tsarnaev's "callous" character. The defense said he was just a teenager looking at himself in a mirror. What do you think? Tweet us using #TheShortList. Here's what else happened in court today.