More than a million Brazilians poured into the streets of at least 80 cities Thursday in this week's largest anti-government demonstrations yet, protests that saw violent clashes break out in several cities as people demanding improved public services and an end to corruption faced tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets.

At least one protester was killed in Sao Paulo state after a car rammed into a crowd of demonstrators, the driver apparently angered about being unable to drive along a street.

In Rio de Janeiro, where an estimated 300,000 demonstrators swarmed into the seaside city's central area, running clashes played out between riot police and clusters of mostly young men, their T-shirts wrapped around their faces. But several peaceful protesters were up in the crackdown, too, as police fired tear gas canisters into their midst and at times indiscriminately used pepper spray.

Thundering booms echoed off stately colonial buildings as rubber bullets and the gas were fired at fleeing crowds.

At least 40 people were injured in Rio, including protesters like Michele Menezes, a wisp of a woman whose youthful face and braces belie her 26 years. Bleeding and with her hair singed from the explosion of a tear gas canister, she said that she and others took refuge from the violence in an open bar, only to have a police officer toss the canister inside.

It exploded on top of Menezes, tore through her jeans and dug out two quarter-sized holes on the back of her thighs while also perforating a rash of small holes in her upper arm.

"I was leaving a peaceful protest and it's not the thugs that attack me but the police themselves," said Menezes, removing her wire-rim glasses to wipe her bloodshot eyes.

She later took refuge in a hotel along with about two dozen youths, families and others said they had been repeatedly hit with pepper spray by motorcycle police as they too took refuge inside a bar.

Despite the crackdown, protesters said they would not back down.

"I saw some pretty scary things, but they're not going to shake me. There's another march on the 22nd and I'm going to be there," said 19-year-old university student Fernanda Szuster.

Asked whether her parents knew that she was taking part in the protests, Szuster said that "they know and they're proud. They also protested when they were young. So they think it's great."

She added, though, that she wouldn't tell her father the details of the police violence she was a victim of. "If he knew, he would never let me leave the house again."

In Brasilia, police struggled to keep hundreds of protesters from invading the Foreign Ministry, outside of which protesters lit a small fire. Other government buildings were attacked around the capital's central esplanade. There, too, police resorted to tear gas and rubber bullets in attempts to scatter the crowds.

Clashes were also reported in the Amazon jungle city of Belem, in Porto Alegre in the south, in the university town Campinas north of Sao Paulo and in the northeastern Brazilian city of Salvador.

"This was meant to be a peaceful demonstration and it is," said artist Wanderlei Costa, 33, in Brasilia. "It's a shame some people cause trouble when there is a much bigger message behind this movement. Brazil needs to change, not only on the government level, but also on the grass roots level. We have to learn to demonstrate without violence."

By Fairuz Taqi-Eddin, CARE's Regional Director of Partnerships in the Middle East, based in Jordan.

The Syrian crisis is different from all other humanitarian crises that I have known. In my 11 years as a fundraiser with CARE, I have been involved in humanitarian emergency responses of large magnitude, including the Tsunami, the Pakistan floods, the Haiti earthquake, and the Horn of Africa food crisis.

I have seen people suffering and their lives shattered but as a Syrian-American woman, this crisis is personal to me; it has made me much more aware of my Syrian roots. Both my paternal grandparents were born in Damascus and the majority of our extended family is still living in Syria. This crisis is affecting family members both in Syria and in Jordan directly. My relatives who are still back in Syria and those who have escaped the conflict and fled to Jordan have made this crisis real by bringing to my life the extent of pain and upheaval that they have been feeling. Several of my relatives lost their lives. Homes and businesses of relatives were destroyed. These are some examples of how one family −- my family -- is being affected.

In Jordan, through my work with CARE, I have visited the Zaatari refugee camp and met with countless Syrian refugee families living in Amman. I have seen the impact this crisis has been having on the Syrian women, men, mothers and children. As a mother, I can easily relate to a refugee mom who constantly worries how she will keep a roof over her family's head, how /when her children would go to school or how many meals she could secure for her kids. The list goes on.

There are good people and organizations on the ground like CARE doing their best to respond to this crisis. But it has just not been enough, and there is so much more that needs to be done, especially with no end in sight to this tragedy.

On the 7th of June the UN launched a $4.4 billion humanitarian appeal -- the largest aid request in the organization's history -- in order to be able to assist the growing number of people suffering the effects of the crisis in Syria. The UN estimates that 6.8 million people need urgent help inside of Syria whilst more than 1.6 million Syrians -- the latter is twice the population of San Francisco where I used to live and work -- need urgent help in the neighbouring countries where they have been taking refuge and continue arriving. I feel the responsibility and the commitment to do my part and fundraise for this crisis of unprecedented scale.

Unlike with other crises, the political aspect of this emergency has overshadowed the humanitarian aspect, and raising funds and having the focus on the continuous and increasing humanitarian needs of both people within Syria and Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries have been challenging. Also, due to the multitude of forces with different allegiances in Syria, raising funds is complex. In my role, I am constantly working on finding ways to help people affected by this huge crisis and assure donors that their funding reaches those who have been most affected, and is allocated to respond to the humanitarian needs created by the conflict.

The 20th June, this week, marks World Refugee Day, a day established by the UN to recognize and honor the strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homes to escape persecution, conflict, natural disasters and violence. An increasing number of the world's refugees today are from Syria, with the number of Syrian refugees continuing sadly to grow fast and steadily.

On this important day, I urge that we don't forget the plight of the Syrian people who have already suffered so much, and help those most in need: over 1.6 million Syrian refugees as well as nearly seven million Syrians who are not refugees but are in urgent need of help inside Syria. This crisis is a clear case where aid will bring solace to uprooted refugee families forced to live in increasingly difficult conditions, and will alleviate the suffering of countless families.

CARE is working to help refugees meet their most urgent needs and protect their dignity. While our efforts to help Syrian refugees and host communities began in Jordan -- where we have reached more than 110,000 refugees -- we are also on the ground in Egypt and Lebanon, working with a range of partners to help refugees and host communities. To find out more or to donate, please visit: http://care-international.org

Bio: In her role, Fairuz manages and develops partnerships and donor relations for CARE in the Middle East region. Fairuz joined CARE in 2002. Prior to her move to the Middle East in spring 2008, Fairuz was a major gift fundraiser for CARE in San Francisco and Silicon Valley and worked with key corporations and Foundation such as CISCO, GOOGLE, GAP Foundation and Visa. She has ten years of experience in fundraising, media and communication work. Fairuz is passionate and committed towards women empowerment work and promoting cultural understanding. A volunteer for several philanthropic organizations, Fairuz was instrumental in the setting up of Spark, a San Francisco based organization that engages young professionals around women issues around the globe.

This might be the strangest way of keeping aggressive men at bay, but we have to give it major points for being clever.

"Super sexy, summertime anti-pervert full-leg-of-hair stockings, essential for all young girls going out," @HappyZhangJiang describes the item on China's popular microblogging service, Sina Weibo.

They remind us somewhat of the less playful, more functional "anti-rape" lingerie developed recently by three engineering students in India. That garment is wired to deliver an electric shock to sexual attackers and can send an alert message, with GPS coordinates, to the attacked woman's friends and family.

The idea behind the hair stockings, we're guessing, is that lewd gropers wouldn't come anywhere near you. Tongue-in-cheek, but inventive nonetheless.

The Benghazi Report has condemned the State Department for “systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies.” Four officials have resigned, and a few more lesser heads are likely to roll.  Secretary Clinton may have said she takes full responsibility, but she has successfully managed to avoid taking the blame. With the holidays fast approaching, she and senior White House officials can now wash their hands of the matter.

But the Benghazi report misses the point.  The events of September 11 are a symptom of a much larger problem -- the Obama administration’s entire Middle East policy has failed. And the problem is about to get much worse as the as yet unpunished but ascendant Al Qaeda and its affiliates contemplate what they might do next to attack Americans.

Less than two years ago, the entire region was at peace. Granted, it was an uneasy peace, but it’s a region where for thousands of years an uneasy peace was as good as it gets.  Granted, many countries were governed by dictators, but at least they were pro-American dictators.  Granted, some countries continually railed against Israel, but none of them were actually in a fighting war with Israel.

Fast forward to today. Everything has changed. The entire region is in upheaval.  With our help, Egypt has replaced a pro-American dictator with what promises to be an anti-American Muslim Brotherhood dictator and Islamist constitution. We helped Libyan rebels topple their dictator, yet their new government is has failed to consolidate control. They are cowed by Al Qaeda affiliated militias and couldn’t - or wouldn’t - prevent the Benghazi attack and assassinations of our diplomats.  Syria’s vicious civil war threatens to go from horrific to hellish as Al Qaeda sympathizers and Islamic extremists take over the rebel cause, chemical weapons go missing, and the ethno-sectarian violence spills over to infect Syria’s neighbors and threaten our NATO ally Turkey.  Iran is on the cusp of becoming a nuclear power and the dominant power in the region.  Any hopes that a post-Saddam Iraq would be a pro-American ally have vanished as Iraq falls increasingly into the Iranian orbit.  We will end up fighting our way out of Afghanistan, as it descends into multiparty civil war once the last American soldier takes the last helicopter out.   At best, countries will be governed by the anti-American Muslim Brotherhood.  At worst, chaos will ensue. Political and economic chaos  are waiting in the wings, and radical Islamists, terrorists and Al Qaeda expand their influence throughout the region.

Warren Salter's yard had yielded more problems than dandelions. Just inches below the surface, he's dug up glass, spark plugs, even the hood to an old truck.

Salter bought his house in Havelock, N.C., in 2001, but by 2003 he realized that something was wrong.

"Everybody's yard is dropping," Salter told ABC News. "What used to be flat land for the kids to play football in is now big sunken areas."

"Trees I planted about five years ago, now you look at them and they're tilted down hill toward where everything is sinking," he said.

The reason, he said, is because the neighborhood was built on an old landfill, one that Salter said was last used in the 1940s and 1950s. The city of Havelock began building out in the 1960s and Salter's home was constructed in 1973.

"My neighbor knew of the dump before this area was built out. He actually remembers where an old school bus is buried," said Salter. That bus in now believed to be under someone's backyard.

Salter told ABC News that he only has to dig inches in his yard to find traces of the dump like steel, glass or the truck hood.

Salter put a call in to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2003 after he realized there was a problem, and they directed him to the North Carolina Division of Waste Management. He said the state conducted studies on the neighborhood around 2005. It was discovered during these inspections that some cavities, or land voids, are a mere two feet below the soil, believed to be caused by now decomposed garbage, he said.

"I get the feeling that it won't be long before I'm coming home, driving my truck up to my driveway and will sink right through," he said.

Neighbor Shannon Richards moved into her 1975 house in 2001 and learned about the landfill a year later.

"My problem is with my house settling. I have cracks in my drywall. I even have some doors that won't close anymore. A couple of years ago, I had a pipe that snapped. That was before we knew of the landfill...now I realize that was probably due to that," Richards said.

"My dog has pulled glass out of the backyard," she said.

Richards said the city of Havelock should be held somewhat responsible.

"[The city] issued the permits to the builders. We'd like for them to come in and properly clean it up. If they can't do that, we'd like for them to buy us out," she said.

Havelock city attorney Warden Smith told ABC News that a city meeting is scheduled for June 10, but Salter and his neighbors may find it a bit "anticlimactic."

"As a practical matter, the meeting on the 10th is simply for our office to report the board of commissioners our findings...for these citizens, it may be a fairly disappointing meeting," Smith said.

"My answer as the city attorney is that the city of Havelock has no liability at all," Smith said. "It wasn't done on their watch."

Smith explained that the landfill and the dumping predated the establishment of the city. He said, "Private property owners will have to deal with it themselves."

The powerful amberjack was so massive it might have been a world record.

But the fisherman who battled the monstrous fish, and the Mexican crew that helped deliver it from the Sea of Cortez to a remote Baja California beach, were not thinking about records.

They marveled at the size of the fish and hefted their great prize as if to see if it could, indeed, be hefted—then carved it up for fish tacos and fillets for the grill.
amberjack

Capt. Raymundo “Mundo” Lucero Geraldo poses with giant amberjack. Top photo shows another captain hefting the prized game fish. Photos by Esteban Romero

The International Game Fish Association lists a 156-pound amberjack caught off Japan in 2010 as the all-tackle world record. The fish caught last week by Kevin Shiotani was conservatively estimated to weigh at least 135 pounds.

As anyone who has done a lot of weight-guessing knows, however, estimates can be wildly inaccurate.

Regardless of a possible record lost, Shiotani’s amberjack is one of the largest ever caught, although it’s likely that larger specimens have been hooked and lost in the rocks.

The catch was made after a 25-minute struggle near Cerralvo Island, the southern-most island in the Sea of Cortez.

Shiotani is a regular customer of Tailhunter International Sportfishing, a La Paz-based charter business that trucks clients to a remote beach to fish Cerralvo and offshore waters out of pangas, or large skiffs.

Jonathan Roldan, who owns Tailhunter International and Tailhunter Restaurant, explained the catch to Phil Friedman Outdoors Radio.

“Kevin fought the fish for 25 minutes to a half-hour and got it to the boat and, of course, blew everyone away,” he said. “They stuck a gaff in it, got it back to the beach, and started taking pictures. It’s a magnificent fish.”

Roldan said there was no scale on the beach and that he was not present when the fish was brought ashore. Had he been, he would have been sure to get the behemoth weighed on a certified scale.

He said that because amberjacks are so powerful and always lurk near structure, the larger fish are incredibly difficult to land.

“The largest we’ve put on a scale is 110 pounds, and 60- to 70-pounders have taken an hour or two hours to put on the boat, so this is just a fish that [Shiotani] happened to turn and put the wood to it, and got it back out of the rocks and got it to the boat.

Maria Sharapova hasn't been too keen on letting the press into her relationship with fellow pro Grigor Dimitrov, but in a surprisingly open interview with USA Today, she uncharacteristically gushes about Dimitrov -- and says dating a younger man (Dimitrov is 22 years old) is "refreshing."

"Maybe it makes me really young, too, inside, which is good," Sharapova, 26, told the newspaper.

As for what she's looking for in a man, she says: "It's about finding the person where you can be yourself all the time, where you're comfortable with being younger girl, the older girl, the mature girl, and the person that understands you and look at you and say you're completely off your rocker!

"I have so many things going on in my life and I really love them. Of course I want someone to be by my side to enjoy them. You know, I can jump on a plane tomorrow and go somewhere because I want to do it. And it's really important that that person respects me for the decisions that I make and the things that I do in my life."

She did not, however, offer any of her tips about outrunning the paparazzi.

The two were first spotted cozying up on a Madrid street earlier this month. Sharapova ended her engagement to basketball player Sasha Vujacic last year.

The death certificate for Boston bombings suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who died April 19 after a shootout with police, says he died of "gunshot wounds of torso and extremities" and "blunt trauma to head and torso," according to the owner of the funeral parlor that currently holds Tsarnaev's body.

Peter Stefan, owner of Graham Putnam & Mahoney Funeral Parlors in Worcester, Massachusetts, read the death certificate to CNN over the phone Friday evening. He said it has yet to be filed with the city of Boston.

There is no gravesite chosen yet for the 26-year-old Tsarnaev, Stefan said. He said that if he can't find a cemetery plot, he plans to ask the government to find a grave.

"Everyone deserves to be buried," Stefan said.

Tsarnaev's uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, claimed his nephew's body, according to family spokeswoman Heda Saratova. The family plans an independent autopsy before burying the body somewhere in Massachusetts, she said.

Stefan acknowledged plans for a second autopsy.

Authorities say Tsarnaev and his younger brother, Dzhokhar, carried out the April 15 bombings at the Boston Marathon. The attacks killed three people and wounded more than 260 others.

The brothers later killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer, authorities say.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, is being held at a federal Bureau of Prisons medical facility in Devens, Massachusetts, charged with using a weapon of mass destruction, a charge that carries the death penalty.

He is being treated for gunshot wounds to the head, neck, legs and hands that he received in the April 19 shootout with police that led to his brother's death. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was shot in the gunbattle, and Dzhokhar apparently ran over his brother as he tried to flee in a car, authorities have said.

It is not known whether the "blunt trauma" listed on Tamerlan Tsarnaev's death certificate relates to injuries from the car.

As part of their continuing investigation, investigators have found explosives residue in the apartment that the elder Tsarnaev shared with his wife and young daughter, a source briefed on the investigation said Friday.

The residue turned up in at least three places at the apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the source said: the kitchen table, the kitchen sink and the bathtub.