(CNN) — A strong earthquake struck early Sunday in northern Italy, killing at least one person and knocking down a church bell in the region, authorities said.

The 6.0-magnitude quake occurred just after 4 a.m. (10 p.m. ET Saturday), 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) outside Camposanto, northwest of Bologna, according to the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Italy’s Civil Protection Office said one person died and two were wounded in Emilia Romagna, the region where Camposanto is located.

In the town of St. Agostino, the quake knocked down a church bell.

Authorities were still assessing damage in the region, the Civil Protection Office said.

In January, the same area was struck by a 5.3-magnitude quake.

In 2009, a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the central Italian city of L’Aquila, killing more than 300 people and causing widespread destruction.

CNN’s Joseph Netto contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: Heather A. Conley is director and senior fellow, Europe Program, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

(CNN) — Until the rerun of the Greek elections scheduled for June 17, we will witness an unprecedented game of brinkmanship. The game will be played along the following lines.

European political leaders will state unequivocally to the Greek electorate that it is time for them to make a stark choice: Vote for parties that will continue with the agreed reforms (the dreaded austerity) and stay within the European family or vote for parties opposed to the austerity measures and leave the euro and perhaps the European Union.

This clear and concise message was recently voiced by Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter. She declared that if Greece does not stick to the terms of its bailout program, it will not receive further aid from the EU or the International Monetary Fund.

“One cannot exit from the eurozone, one can only exit from the EU,” she said. She also noted that Greece would have to reapply for EU membership, with no guarantee of readmission.

CNNMoney: Greek banks strain for cash

Greek politicians, particularly Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, will probably respond to that message with a different one, which he will transmit back to Brussels, Paris, Berlin and Frankfurt (home of the European Central Bank): Europe cannot afford to let Greece fail and therefore, in the name of solidarity, Europe must continue to do whatever it takes to support Greece. But this time it should not require Greece to take such painful measures. Oh, and Europe will need to give Greece additional funds (in the name of “growth”) no matter what combination of political parties enters parliament and forms a new government.

Sounding like a blackmailer, Tsipras has said, “The eurozone is not in danger because of Greek resistance, but because of the bankrupt policies of the memorandum, of yesterday’s political system”; “if the disease of austerity destroys Greece, it will spread to the rest of Europe”; and “the European leadership and especially Mrs. Merkel need to stop playing poker with the lives of people.”

Perhaps it is fitting that a great test of democracy is taking place in democracy’s birthplace.

So, who blinks first? In the past three days, we have seen two actors blink immediately: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Greek and Spanish bank depositors.

The consummate political tactician, Merkel understood that with French President Francois Hollande’s electoral victory on Sunday, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti’s continued public pressure and her party’s recent electoral loss to the social democrats in the largest German state, the political winds were shifting at home and abroad on growth.

This week, Merkel confessed that she was in fact in favor of identifying additional growth measures when she said she was in a “high level of agreement” with Hollande. She noted that for “stimulus to be pursued for growth in the euro zone, which we could pursue in the interest of Greece, we’re open for this. Germany is open for this.” Of course, details and date of delivery of said growth remain a mystery.

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Greek and Spanish depositors were the second actor to blink when they removed approximately ?700 million (about $890 million U.S.) from Greek banks and ?1 billion (about $1.26 billion U.S.) from Spain’s third-largest and recently nationalized bank, Bankia.

Their actions were indicative of the fear that the game of chicken is getting out of hand. This sentiment was strengthened by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s decision to cut off certain Greek banks from receiving ECB funds and the IMF’s announcement, earlier Friday, that it would freeze contacts with Greece until the June 17 election.

The ultimate answer to “who blinks first” lies in understanding how this crisis has played out over the past two years.

The Greek bailout package has already been renegotiated twice, most recently in March of this year, to address deteriorating economic fundamentals and to force private bondholders to take losses. There have been no less than 17 European summits to “resolve” the crisis only to return to crisis shortly thereafter.

Three bailout packages (Greece, Ireland and Portugal); ?1.3 trillion ($1.65 trillion U.S.) in cheap, three-year loans to European banks; and a change in government in 10 out of the 17 eurozone countries — the art of the European muddle-through strategy has been perfected.

It is clear from Tuesday’s meeting between Merkel and Hollande that Europe will continue to actively pursue this muddle-through strategy until it is no longer able to pursue it.

The treaties, the summitry and the political volatility that define Europe are completely ill-equipped to handle the crisis as it enters a new and potentially determinate end state. Most important, the collateral damage that comes with muddling through for the past two years is taking a significant social and economic toll: Spanish unemployment is at almost 25%; Greek youth unemployment is at 51.5% and a third of the French electorate in the first round of its presidential elections voted for either an extreme left or right party. Is Europe willing to be home to a lost generation in the name of European solidarity?

No one knows how this brinkmanship will come to an end, or even if it will come to an end at all. And certainly no one knows whether it will result in economic Armageddon or a small blip on a trader’s computer screen. Actions or statements by either side are likely not to be conclusive.

It is more likely that a sudden, unanticipated shock created by either the markets or political actors before June 17 causes an unstoppable chain reaction. Should this be this outcome, in some way it may come as a relief as it is far easier to blame an event than to accept responsibility for Europe’s actions over the past two years.

This game of chicken is not unique to Europe. Washington had its own bout of brinkmanship last summer regarding the increase in America’s debt ceiling, and is likely to have it again in a few months. Europe has just upped the level of play.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Heather A. Conley.

Chicago (CNN) — The road map out of the war in Afghanistan is expected to be drawn up by U.S. President Barack Obama and other world leaders when they gather Sunday at the NATO summit in Chicago.

Against a backdrop of massive protests — and a foiled, homegrown terror plot that targeted Obama and others — the summit will open with NATO countries trying to figure out how to meet a 2014 withdrawal from an unpopular war while shoring up Afghanistan’s security forces.

Security is expected to be tight at the summit following the arrest of three men, described by authorities as anarchists who plotted to attack Obama’s Chicago campaign headquarters and lob Molotov cocktails at police during the summit.

Police insist there are no imminent threats to the leaders of more than 50 nations gathering at the summit.

The leaders are expected to formally adopt a timetable to transition security from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force to Afghan forces, senior administration officials told CNN.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity as a matter of practice, said the plan will also lay out NATO’s training and advisory role after 2014.

One of the key issues to be considered by the NATO leaders is who will pay for the buildup of Afghan forces as ISAF draws down its troops. Afghan security forces are expected to total 350,000 by 2015, according to CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is attending the summit along with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, can only afford to cover a fraction of the cost of building up his country’s forces. The cost of building up forces is expected to total roughly $4 billion annually by 2014, Bergen said.

France’s new president, Francois Hollande, is widely expected to announce the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan by year’s end.

Also, at issue at the NATO summit, is Islamabad’s continued blockade of much-needed NATO supplies shipped over Pakistani roads to Afghanistan.

Pakistan closed the ground routes after a NATO airstrike in November killed two dozen of its soldiers. NATO insists the incident was an accident.

The United States and NATO are unlikely to reach an agreement with Pakistan at the summit, according to two senior U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the subject.

“There is no deal, and there won’t be one until President Zardari returns” to Pakistan, one of the officials said. “And even that is not assured.”

The goal, says the official, “is to get a deal. It’s less important as to when.”

Without a deal, the officials said Obama would not meet with Zardari at the summit. The two are scheduled to hold trilateral talks with Karzai on political reconciliation in Afghanistan. Pakistan’s support in reaching a deal with the Taliban is seen as critical in ending the war in Afghanistan.

Outside the summit, Chicago authorities expect to have their hands full with protests.

On Saturday, the eve of the summit, Occupy Chicago protesters accused police of running down one of their own with a patrol van. A video, posted online by a protester and picked up by news organization, appeared to show the van bumping a protestor.

But a spokesman for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel said the driver of the van was responding to an attack by the protester.

“The individual was attacking the van and trying to slash tires on it with a knife as the van was moving slowly through a crowd,” spokesman Bill McCaffrey told CNN.

He said the person successfully slashed the tires, and then fled.

CNN’s Greg Morrison and Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.

Chicago (CNN) — An Illinois judge set bail at $1.5 million for each of the three suspects accused of traveling to Chicago “to commit acts of domestic terrorism” during the NATO summit.

In court, prosecutors accused the three men of “preparing for violence and destruction” such as stockpiling Molotov cocktails and other weapons and planning attacks on police.

But the defense called those accusations “propaganda” and contended authorities “infiltrated” a peaceful group and set up the three men.

Brian Church, Jared Chase and Brent Betterly — all described as “out-of-state men” — were charged with criminal acts relating to terrorism, conspiracy to commit terrorism and possession of explosives, the Cook County State’s Attorney office said in a statement Saturday.

The judge set the three defendants’ next court date for Tuesday.

On Sunday, NATO kicks off its two-day summit in Chicago, and the war in Afghanistan is expected to dominate discussions. Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Zardari are both expected to attend the meeting.

NATO leaders are currently on a timetable to withdraw all of the alliance’s combat troops from Afghanistan in 2014.

CNN’s Paul Vercammen and Michael Martinez contributed to this report.

(CNN) — After being photographed without makeup while in Vancouver last month, candid shots of AnnaLynne McCord hit the Web, with with one site noting: “Her facial blemishes were completely visible.”

“This is newsworthy? Me not wearing makeup,” the “90210″ recently actress told CNN. “The more I thought about it, the more upset I got.”

And so, one week later, in her New York hotel room, a barefaced McCord snapped a photo of herself and posted it on Twitter for her more than 140,000 followers to see.

In the past few months, stars such as Bethenny Frankel and Jennifer Love Hewitt have also shared fresh-faced pictures of themselves via their Twitter accounts. Meanwhile, actresses Zooey Deschanel and Paula Patton, among others, posed without makeup for People’s Most Beautiful issue.

And we can’t help but look.

“It’s human nature,” said Brian Solis, a principle media analyst at Altimer Group. “There’s a level of mystique to celebrity, and social media can either add to it or take away from it.” More celebrities are realizing this and jumping on the au naturel-twitpic bandwagon, he added.

“A new generation of publicists are working with their (celebrity clients) to build this much more everyday relationship with fans, where social media is a channel that keeps them relevant in between the things they do that actually make them a celebrity,” Solis said. “(Publicists) will encourage celebrities to share more natural shots, but not completely unmade-up shots.”

For McCord, who said posting the photo was her reaction to society’s unrealistic standards of beauty, the act was just “spur of the moment. … I wasn’t even wearing Chapstick.”

“I was angry,” she said. “There are days where you just want to scream something to the world, and with social networking we can.”

But it’s not just the pictures celebrities share via social media that attract attention. On Tuesday, Us Weekly published the headline, “Beyonce Wears shorts, almost no makeup at Broadway show,” along with a picture of the fresh-faced singer.

Demi Lovato received similar attention last month when E! praised the 19-year-old for tweeting a photo along with the message: “No makeup.”

People are either looking to see a celebrity’s imperfections, to make them feel better about themselves, or because they’re a fan and they find it endearing, Solis said. But just like fans have different reasons for looking at such photos, he added, celebrities have different reasons for posting them.

While some people in the public eye might share a makeup-free photo to “build a more natural relationship with their community,” others might be blindly oversharing or merely pretending to foster a more organic relationship with fans, Solis said.

It loses something when the celebrity is posing in a beautiful setting with their hair done, and hoping it gets picked up by a magazine, he said, adding, “Like, ‘here’s a staged shot of me looking natural.’ “

McCord said she was on Skype when she decided to post a picture of herself without makeup.

“I was looking at (myself in the inset) and I was like, ‘You know what, I don’t care … that I have little dots on my face sometimes,’ ” she said.

Unsure, at the time, of how people would react to the photo, she added, “I thought, ‘You can excommunicate me from Hollywood if that’s what having blemishes does.’ “

Unlike the responses elicited by the candid photographs taken of McCord in Vancouver, fans and media outlets have praised the actress for her post.

“I was just reacting,” she said. “But because my reaction was to own what (the tabloids) were saying about me, I took the wind out of their sails, so to speak.”

McCord said many of her followers have thanked her via Twitter, and that one follower responded by posting her own makeup-free picture to the social networking site.

“I wake up and I go to work and I have a whole makeup and hair team make me up the way people usually see me,” McCord said. “I’m like a little doll. … I don’t try, in my personal life, to live up to that. … I’m very au naturel. I like to let my hair down. Let my skin breathe.”

And the actress hasn’t gone back.

Sporting only foundation and Burt’s Bees tinted lip color of late, she’s named her new makeup regime “the Dominic Purcell-look,” after her boyfriend, who she said encourages her to flaunt her natural beauty.

Whether more celebrities will follow suit in their daily lives remains to be seen. But, as Solis said, as long as people are receptive to such photos, you can bet the stars will be tweeting.

(CNN) — He has a long way to go to emulate the success of his father, who won five majors and thrilled the world of golf, but Javier Ballesteros is off to a promising start.

The 21-year-old made his debut on the professional golf circuit Thursday, 38 years after Severiano began his pro career on exactly the same course.

After starting at the Sant Cugat course in Catalunya, Spain, Seve went on to win three British Opens and two Masters titles and etch his name into the record books as one of the most entertaining and flamboyant players ever to pick up a club.

Seve died in May last year, at the age of 54, provoking an outpouring of grief from the world of golf. Many stars of the game attended his funeral in his home village of Pedrena.

Javier insists he doesn’t feel any weight of pressure being the son of one of golf’s most revered characters, but he offered a glimpse of his talent as he shot a five-under-par round to sit three shots off the lead after day one of the Peugeot Alps de Barcelona.

“My goal for this competition is enjoy it,” he said on the European Tour’s official website. “I don’t set goals when I play a tournament, especially being an amateur.

“What I have to do is enjoy and learn. I have no extra pressure being Seve’s son, I don’t really have anything to prove. I’m just going to be myself.

I have no extra pressure being Seve’s son, I don’t really have anything to prove. I’m just going to be myself
Javier Ballesteros

“When I registered for the Peugeot Tour event at Sant Cugat I didn’t know that my father played his first professional tournament here and now that I know, it’s double the excitement for me.”

Seve won 91 tournaments in a 33-year career and was a crucial part of Europe’s Ryder Cup team during much of the 1980s and 1990s, forming a formidable partnership with fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal.

Javier clearly has inherited a wealth of talent from Seve but says he is yet to decide if he will follow his father’s footsteps and become a golf professional once he has finished studying law in Madrid.

“I have always played golf,” he added. “I was on the national team when I was 14 to 16 years old, and being surrounded by golf at home always made me think about being a pro in the future.

“But I have to finish university first. It is something my parents have always told me to do, especially my father, and that is my priority. Then we will see.

“I have not made a schedule or set a time. It’s not just a case of turning professional as soon as I finish college. We will just see what happens.”

Editor’s note: Ingo Walter is the Seymour Milstein professor of finance, corporate governance and ethics, and Jennifer Carpenter is an associate professor of finance in the Stern School of Business at New York University.

(CNN) — Here we go again. The perennial question of: “Would you rather own shares in a major financial conglomerate or manage one?” comes up as JPMorgan Chase loses more than $2 billion in trading bets.

The answer seems clear. If you’re an executive who manages the money, you’re likely to get a large paycheck and bonus even if you’re responsible for the loss, directly or indirectly. Jamie Dimon is still getting his $23 million.

Shares of the major banks continue to trade well below book value and generate miserable performance metrics — and have over the years been very poor investments — while senior executives and key employees continue to walk away with vastly outsize earnings, even when they oversee massive losses.

Shareholders certainly have reasons to object to huge executive pay packages, especially ordinary people whose fund managers have put in stakes of the bank shares in their pension and mutual fund accounts.

But the level of executive compensation comes out of shareholders’ pockets. If shareholders are unhappy with the division of the spoils, they have no one to blame but themselves. After all, they can always take their money elsewhere if they don’t think their cut of bank profits is big enough.

The real concern for everyone — including regulators and taxpayers — is not the level of pay handed out to executives, nor how profits in a company are divided between employees and shareholders, but rather, the incentives for risk-taking that bank pay apparently continues to create.

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Regulators have called for deferred compensation to address the incentive problem. If deferred compensation presents employees with serious exposure to potentially big losses, they’ll have a major stake in the long-term solvency of the business and help spare taxpayers the cost of bailing out firms that have become too systemically important to fail.

But forcing employees to bear significant exposure to potentially big losses may come at a price. Employees may require higher salaries to compensate for increased risk. We’re seeing this reflected in recently announced pay packages. The price is paid primarily by shareholders while the benefits of any improvement in financial stability accrue to society as a whole.

Deferred cash compensation makes employees debt holders, so it ought to reduce risk-taking. So should compensation in a form that explicitly converts to equity when the firm gets into trouble and is bailout-proof.

Deferred stock compensation, however, may do just the opposite. As long as there are implicit government guarantees for financial institutions that are considered too big, too complex or too interconnected to fail, the value of those institutions’ stocks increases with risk-taking.

The more risk a bank takes, the greater the value of government guarantees and potential bailouts. This value gets passed on to the bank’s stock price. If employees are paid in deferred stock, the risk incentives are then passed on to them, encouraging them to speculate.

Rules that mandate more pay in the form of stock miss the point. It helps align the interests of employees and shareholders, but it fails to align their interests with those of taxpayers.

Ultimately, it’s the taxpayers who are held hostage. They care about the size of bailout necessitated by excessive risk-taking taken by banks, and about economic growth, but not about how bank profits are divided per se, since they don’t get a cut in any case.

Regulators are aware that bank stockholders have an overriding desire to take more risk than is good for society because chronic under-pricing of government guarantees makes it profitable for banks to seek risky assets and lever them as much as possible. This is the reason for capital requirements and the Volcker Rule, which tries to restrict risk-taking.

Recent attempts to reform compensation overlook how complicated the compensation process can be. Trying to discourage risky behavior is like fighting an uphill battle against shareholders who like risk. Moreover, risk incentives are harder to measure, and their regulation is easy to circumvent.

Criticizing the compensation packages of JPMorgan’s Dimon and his senior associates might be popular with voters, but regulators would be better off focusing on the source of the problem — the mispricing of government guarantees that create perverse risk incentives in the first place.

Pricing deposit insurance differently or banning activities such as proprietary trading would give shareholders and employees alike an incentive to rein in risk-taking. Employee compensation would then reform itself.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ingo Walter and Jennifer Carpenter.

Rome (CNN) — A blast outside a school in the southern Italian city of Brindisi Saturday left one girl dead and injured several other students, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The explosion occurred early Saturday as students were arriving at the school, which offers vocational training, the news agency reported.

Investigators told the news agency two gas cylinders were connected to make the explosive device, which was placed on a wall in front of the building.

It is not yet clear why the school was targeted or who carried out the attack.

The Francesca Morvillo Falcone school is named after the wife of a prominent anti-mafia judge, however, leading to speculation that the organized crime group might be behind it.

Asked if there was a mafia link to the attack, Brindisi Mayor Mimmo Consales replied that there “are too many coincidences in this story,” ANSA reports.

CNN’s Joseph Netto contributed to this report.

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Editor’s note: Each month, Inside the Middle East takes you behind the headlines to see a different side of this diverse region.

(CNN) — After five years of trying, an international group of authors have achieved their aim of taking their Palestine Festival of Literature to Gaza for the first time.

The annual traveling festival, known as PalFest, was set up in 2008 to bring book readings and cultural events to Palestinians who otherwise had little access to the outside world.

Each year the literary festival has visited several cities in the West Bank, but has been unable to gain permission from Israel to visit Gaza.

Israel imposed an economic blockade of Gaza when Hamas took over in 2007, which it says is needed to stop the transit of weaponry to be used by militants in attacks on Israel

This year, the group of 37 writers, artists and community organizers applied instead to enter Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, which re-opened last year. After a two-week wait, they were granted permission from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enter Gaza.

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“We didn’t know if we would get in until the very last minute,” said Jamal Mahjoub, a British Sudanese author who traveled with PalFest. “We didn’t know if we would manage until we actually crossed the border.”

The group included Palestinians living in Jerusalem, West Bank and around the world, and prominent Arab authors including Egyptians Ahdaf Soueif and Khaled al Khamissi. None of them had been to Gaza before.

They spent five days in Gaza from May 5-9, running workshops for university students, free public events and visiting refugee camps.

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The 10-piece Egyptian band Eskenderella, which became well-known for playing in Tahrir Square during the Egyptian revolution, played its first concert in Gaza to a packed hall.

Omar Robert Hamilton, an independent filmmaker and founder of PalFest, said: “Coming to Gaza was a necessity. We have tried every year but always failed before. Everything was incomplete until we came.

“It was vital to come here because of the fact that it’s so divided and considered a separate entity, but at the same time totally connected to the West Bank.”

In total around 2,000 Gazans attended the PalFest events. In one event, each author had 10 minutes to give the message they had always wanted to say to Gazans.

Hamilton added: “It’s been pretty overwhelming. Everyone is so welcoming and pleased that we have managed to get there.

“They are very frustrated by the lack of access to the outside world. It’s been a very emotional trip, but overwhelmingly positive.

“We began PalFest as an attempt to help connect Palestine with the rest of the world. Lack of access to art, culture and education is a form of restriction.

“We wanted to do what we could to support cultural life in Palestine, and to put on a festival that would be taken for granted anywhere else.”

PalFest collected more than 1,500 books — including copies of an anthology of extracts from works by festival participants — which were distributed to cultural centers and university libraries.

Also on Inside the Middle East: Unspoiled island sanctuary caught on camera

Mahjoub said: “There was a real thirst for any books they could get their hands on: poetry, contemporary novels, books about history and politics. It’s hard for people and institutions to get enough books and resources.

“They are hungry for any kind of cultural life, as there are no cinemas and few concerts.”

He added: “The most important thing has been meeting people and talking on a cultural level, to hear about their experiences and their isolation.

“We have driven up and down the country and have tried to get as broad a picture as possible of what it’s like to live here. I didn’t come to lecture people about my literature, but to find out what their experiences are.”

PalFest organizers said that on Wednesday evening the closing event was shut down by the police, but added that police later apologized for the incident, saying it was an “individual error.”

PalFest is supported by organizations including the UK Arts Council and the British Council. Its patrons including Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, British author Philip Pullman and British actor Emma Thompson.

This year’s festival also included one event in Ramallah in the West Bank and one in Cairo, Egypt, on May 11.

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(CNN) — Every post you “like.” Every friend you add or fan page you join. Every place you check in, and every Web page you recommend.

To you, those are ways to enjoy, expand and improve your experience on Facebook. To Facebook, they’re the building blocks of a multibillion-dollar company.

In business, there’s a well-worn line that could apply to the social-networking behemoth: If you’re not paying for it, you’re not the customer. You’re the product.

In this case, you’re a product worth, to Facebook, an average $4.84 a year.

As Facebook hits Wall Street this week with a public stock offering that could value the company at more than $100 billion, investors appear dazzled by the company’s uncanny ability to put the right advertisements in front of its roughly 900 million users.

“The unique thing about these guys is the accuracy with which they can help advertisers and marketers understand who they’re getting,” said Arvind Bhatia, an analyst with Sterne Agee Financial Services. “On Facebook, your information is authentic; they are able to basically make the ads, and your experience, more relevant. I think that is unique. It’s unprecedented and the reach is unparalleled.”

In documents filed in relation to its stock offering, Facebook says that about 85% of its revenue comes from advertising. The other 15% comes from payments made within apps that run on the site (a head-turning 12% is from a single source — Zynga, makers of social games such as “FarmVille.”)

As Bhatia suggests, Facebook’s unprecedented advertising advantage is built upon the service it provides. As users interact with the site, they gradually build a fuller and fuller picture of themselves. That, in turn, lets Facebook sell advertisers on its ability to put their product in front of the people most likely to be interested.

CNNMoney: You’re only worth $1.21 (per quarter) to Facebook

How targeted ads work

For example, say a woman who has listed her hometown as New Orleans changes her relationship status from “single” to “engaged.” Facebook suddenly has a hot prospect to offer up to a bridal retailer or caterer in the Big Easy. To dig deeper, if she lists her MBA from Loyola and has “liked” pages for, say, Saks Fifth Avenue and Mercedes Benz, you get a fuller picture of how much she might be willing to spend.

“With a reported 901 million members, Facebook is a great test bed for understanding consumers and their purchasing interests,” said Jan Rezab, CEO of Socialbakers, a social-media analytics firm. “Before Facebook, marketers relied on online surveys or focus groups to determine customer interest. Now, they can reach the customer directly on their Facebook page.”

Facebook doesn’t publicly give away the details of how its system works. But as it has begun wooing potential investors, the company has been more willing to talk about its advertising approach.

Dan Rose, Facebook vice president of partnerships and platform marketing, discussed the appeal of its social ads at an event recently in Austin, Texas.

According to research from Pew, the average Facebook user has 229 friends. When that user likes a product or company’s ad, it serves as an endorsement to those friends from someone they know and, presumably, trust.

“When I raise my hand and say, I like Einstein (Bros.) bagels, and then one of my friends sees that ad, they’re going to see my name in that ad,” Rose said. Through Facebook’s partnership with the media-research firm Nielsen, “We found that when my friend’s name is in an ad, I’m over 60% more likely to remember the ad, and I’m over four times more likely to purchase the product,” he said.

“This is word of mouth. This is word of mouth at scale. This is what, as marketers, we’ve always been trying to bottle up and find a way to take advantage of. And the social Web is finally allowing us to do that.”

In his 2010 book, “The Facebook Effect,” David Kirkpatrick recounts chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg’s arrival in 2008, when she sharpened the company’s focus on what would become the current advertising model. CEO Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, remained focused on growing the site and improving user experience — a focus he reportedly maintains to this day.

Kirkpatrick writes of the level of detail a Facebook ad can reach:

“Anybody can pick through endless combinations on Facebook’s self-service ad page,” he wrote, referring to the tool advertisers use to target their ads. “You can show your ad only to married women aged 35 and up who live in northern Ohio. Or display an ad only to employees of one company in a certain city on a certain day. (Employers aiming to cherry-pick people from a competitor do this all the time).

“Customers for Facebook’s more expensive engagement ads can select from even more detailed choices — women who are parents, talk about diapers, listen to Coldplay and live in cities, for example.”

In its Wall Street filing, Facebook listed its Average Revenue Per User at $1.21 per quarter, or $4.84 a year. That’s less than rivals like Google and Yahoo and miniscule compared to companies with more traditional business models, like wireless providers and cable companies.

But, as Rose says, it’s all about scale for a company that will likely reach 1 billion user accounts by the end of the year.

Are you living without Facebook?

User data and privacy

Not that the model hasn’t made some folks antsy. Time and again, tweaks to Facebook’s privacy settings have prompted user backlash, occasionally to the point that the site has reversed or modified those changes.

According to a recent Associated Press/CNBC poll, three out of five users say they have little or no faith that the company will protect their personal information. Half of those who use the site daily say they wouldn’t make a purchase through it and 57% of all users claimed they never click on ads or other sponsored content.

On a page about its advertising approach, Facebook makes it clear that it never sells user data, saying that “if you don’t feel like you’re in control of who sees what you share, you probably won’t use Facebook as much, and you’ll share less with your friends.”

Facebook officials also emphasize that while advertisers can market to specific users, they don’t receive the data that was used to make the selection and never know the actual names of the people they’ve reached. Facebook’s policy is to not actually look at user data except to check whether someone is violating the site’s terms of service.

Doubling down on user satisfaction is the most important thing Facebook can do, Bhatia said, even if it occasionally means passing up chances to max out the amount it could earn on the data users provide.

“For them, the user experience does come first and I think that’s the right strategy for the long term,” he said. “Along the way, putting the user experience first makes a lot of longer-term business sense.”

As an analyst, Bhatia is bullish on Facebook, leading the pack with an early “buy” rating at the beginning of this month. With Facebook reportedly looking at expanding into China and at monetizing its mobile app (an untapped resource even though the majority of time on the site is now spent on mobile devices) he expects its data-driven model to keep making money well into the future.

“Facebook is going to become just like search, [which] disrupted online advertising,” he said. “What Google did eight years ago — that is what Facebook is doing now. The reach is unparalleled and they’re just scratching the surface.”

Editor’s note: Each month, Inside the Middle East takes you behind the headlines to see a different side of this diverse region. Follow us on on Twitter: Presenter Rima Maktabi: @rimamaktabi, producer Jon Jensen: @jonjensen and writer Cat Davies @catrionadavies

Doha, Qatar (CNN) — Bahiya Al-Hamad is a 19-year-old college student and air-rifle shooter who is about to make history for her country.

When she travels to London to take part in the Olympic Games this summer, she will be part of the first group of Qatari women ever to compete at the Olympics.

Qatar is one of only three countries — the others are Saudi Arabia and Brunei — which have never sent female athletes to an Olympics Games. This year, three women will represent Qatar at London 2012. The others are swimmer Nada Arkaji and sprinter Noor al-Malki.

All three women have been given wild cards, but there is still a weight of expectation that is not lost of Al-Hamad.

“It’s an accomplishment for every Qatari woman,” she said. “I hope I can live up to their expectation.”

Training at her shooting club outside Qatar’s capital Doha, Al-Hamad added: “Every athlete’s dream is to reach the Olympics.”

Competing in London in July and August will be a high point in her life as well as a historic moment for Qatar. “I will be very excited to go see the atmosphere there and it will sure be one the most special days of my life,” she said.

Al-Hamad has won several regional competitions in the 10-meter rifle shooting category, but missed out on automatically qualifying for London 2012 by half a point. She said she was asleep when she received a call to say she had been awarded a wild card.

“I wanted to scream,” she said. “I really loved it. I was optimistic, but never expected to reach the Olympics.

“My dream when it comes to shooting is to be the Olympic or world champion.”

See also: Will Saudi women make Olympics debut?

One of her shooting club colleagues, Ali Rashid al-Mohannadi, 21, Gulf and Arab champion, and a senior engineering student, said he has nothing but respect for Al-Hamad.

“I think women now are better than us,” he said. “I’m very happy, because she’s a talented shooter. I’m very happy for her, and I hope she does well in the Olympic Games.”

However, not everyone in his socially conservative country feel the same.

“I feel men don’t realize the idea yet, but it depends,” said Al-Hamad. “Some of them are OK with it, some are not. They say ‘you’re a girl and you shoot?’”

She added: “Before, shooting was only for guys but now it became normal for females to an extent. When they saw women emerging in shooting they became a little bit more accepting.”

Also on Inside the Middle East: Iraqi artist inspired by George W Bush shoe thrower

Al-Hamad, who is in her foundation year at Qatar University, is now training two hours a day, five days a week with her Uzbeki coach to be ready to compete alongside the world’s greatest 10-meter rifle shooters.

“We participated in the junior Olympic Games in Singapore two years back but the result was not good,” said her coach, Ivan Shahov. “But I hope with this Olympic Games we have a chance.”

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(CNN) — When one of the Titanic’s four giant funnels collapsed, Dick Williams saw his father Charles killed in front of him.

Grief stricken but with his survival instinct still intact, the 21-year-old dived into the icy waters of the Atlantic to take his chances and swim for his life.

The cold was almost paralyzing and many poor souls perished almost immediately, but Williams was made of stern stuff and managed to pull himself into a collapsible lifeboat.

With others desperately clamoring to get on board, it was almost waist deep in water and the cold proved almost unbearable for the occupants.

Many died before they were helped, initially by another more stable lifeboat and then by the liner RMS Carpathia, a haven for so many Titanic survivors.

A little distance away, Karl Behr sat shivering, huddled in one of the last lifeboats to leave the stricken super liner — which had been heralded as “unsinkable” ahead of her maiden voyage from the British port of Southampton on April 10, 1912.

Next to him was Helen Newsom, a fellow passenger on their first-class journey who was later to be his wife.

In the same lifeboat was the Titanic’s owner, Bruce Ismay, who had embarked on the journey with his reputation never higher, but was later to be vilified for allegedly deserting his ship.

Amputation threat

It took nearly six long hours for the lifeboats and the 706 survivors to be reached, by which time Williams had lost all feeling in his legs, which had turned purple with frostbite and lack of circulation.

The ship doctor on the Carpathia warned him that they were so far gone that amputation was the likely outcome.

But Williams could not conceive this possibility and took about literally walking his legs back to life, relentlessly pacing the decks on the journey to New York — two hours at a time, despite the intense discomfort.

It was during this time that he met Behr for the first time.

Little is recorded of their exchanges, but from memoirs it is reported that at 26, the elder man was “very helpful” to Williams.

Aside from their shared survival of one of the greatest maritime tragedies in history, where over 1,500 passengers and crew perished, they had one other thing in common.

Both were to become members in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, having been on-court rivals and later Davis Cup teammates for the United States.

And both were to be central figures in two books which have been published around the 100th anniversary of the 1912 tragedy.

Rival books

Like so much associated with the Titanic in the many books and films on the subject, controversy and disagreement over what actually happened is never far from the surface.

First came “Starboard at Midnight,” written by Behr’s granddaughter Helen Behr Sandford and published last year.

Former U.S. Davis Cup team press officer Randy Walker commissioned Hollywood screenwriter Lindsay Gibbs to write a “factional” account for his New Chapter Press publishing firm — “Titanic: The Tennis Story,” which came out this month.

Sanford, who is published by Darwin Press, stuck more or less strictly to memoirs and historical records, although a small passage in her book is also fictional.

Walker, who has published books on great players such as Rod Laver, believes the tale to be the “greatest story in the history of tennis” but allowed the 45-year-old Gibbs some leeway in developing characters and themes.

He compares the treatment to that of the Oscar winning film “Chariots of Fire” about British track and field runners Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell where fact merged with fiction to dramatize the story.

However, Sandford is aghast at the portrayal of her grandfather and Williams.

The 62-year-old, who is known as Lynn, is deeply protective of the memory of her forebear.

“The ‘other’ book is truly appalling,” she told CNN. “Dick Williams and Karl Behr were wonderful, dignified men, who would never have exhibited the characteristics that are displayed.

“If Karl and Dick were here right now they would be incensed and absolutely miserable at how they took their lives and created something out of fiction.”

Gibbs stands by her writings: “I’m proud of what I did, which was based around a lot of research by Randy Walker.”

“Lindsay Gibbs is a very good writer,” conceded Sanford. “But the saddest part is she didn’t honor the truth at all.”

With both books competing for sales, there is no sign the row will settle down, but what is not disputed is how the lives of the two men became intertwined in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Remarkable recovery

Williams made a remarkable recovery and less than three months later he faced the more experienced Behr in a tennis tournament on the lawns of Longwood Cricket Club in Boston.

Williams raced into a two-set lead, but the wily Behr prevailed in five sets. Legend has it that their shared experience on the Titanic was never mentioned by the two fellow Ivy Leaguers.

Williams was on the rise and won the 1914 U.S. National Championship (now known as the U.S. Open), beating Behr in the quarterfinals. Both were in the 1914 U.S. Davis Cup team, with Behr as a reserve.

Further success followed for Williams in the 1916 U.S. Nationals before serving in the United States army in World War One, being decorated for valor.

Resuming his career after the hostilities, Williams enjoyed major success in doubles competition in the Davis Cup and grand slams.

His crowning glory came aged 33 at the 1924 Paris Olympics, where he partnered Hazel Wightman to the gold medal in the mixed doubles — the last time the event was part of the Games.

The pair remain the reigning Olympic champions as mixed doubles will be reintroduced at London 2012, with the likes of Roger Federer and Victoria Azarenka coveting the gold.

Williams became a successful banker in Philadelphia and died aged 77 in 1968.

Behr’s story was more complex and the events of April 14, 1912 left an indelible mark on his psyche as he suffered from “survivor’s guilt.”

As both his granddaughter and Gibbs touch on in their accounts, the circumstances under which he ended in a lifeboat with women and children has come under scrutiny, particularly as the reviled Ismay was also an occupant.

Honor at stake

Sanford said that her grandfather was in the “right place at the right time” as the first-class passengers were shown to the lifeboats, at first more as precaution because it was widely believed that the Titanic was “unsinkable.”

Dick Williams and Karl Behr were wonderful dignified men, who would never have exhibited the characteristics that are displayed
Lynn Sanford

Walker concurs. “According to our research, Karl was very honorable,” he said.

As boat No. 5 was lowered, Ismay was imploring passengers into the craft and was asked by a lady passenger “if the men could join us.” He replied in the affirmative and Behr climbed aboard.

In Gibbs’ book, a smitten Behr proposes to Newsom while in the lifeboat — poetic license, indeed.

Sanford recounts that they actually waited eight months to announce their engagement. “They feared a backlash from being Titanic survivors,” she said.

Behr’s sense of duty intensified as World War One started in Europe and he became a leading campaigner for American involvement working alongside former president Theodore Roosevelt.

As Sanford recounts, Behr organized the Citizen Preparedness Parade in New York in 1916, with over 135,000 people taking part, which galvanized similar pro-war parades across the country.

When American finally entered the war in 1917, Behr was refused permission to enlist, perhaps because of his German background. Exhausted and demoralized, his health collapsed and he entered a sanitarium, but he was allowed to serve just as the war ended.

I’m proud of what I did, which was based around a lot of research by Randy Walker
Lindsay Gibbs

By then his tennis career was over and he spent the rest of his life in business, being on the board of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and other firms.

He died in 1949, aged 64. His wife Helen later remarried and died in Princeton, New Jersey in 1965.

As a small child, Sanford recalled asking her grandmother about the events of the fateful night.

“She just said, ‘I can’t answer you, but I can say the worst part of the experience was on the Carpathia.’ “

It was never mentioned again, but Sanford became determined to recount the events and spent many years researching before putting pen to paper.

She recently joined members of the Williams family at a special event organized by the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Its headquarters in Newport, Rhode Island has a special exhibition to honor both remarkable men and their remarkable story.

Toledo, Ohio (CNN) — Wanda Butts dropped the phone and screamed when she heard the news that her son was dead.

Josh had drowned while rafting on a lake with friends. The 16-year-old didn’t know how to swim, and he wasn’t wearing a life jacket.

“I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t want to believe it: that just like that, my son had drowned and he was gone,” she said, recalling the 2006 tragedy.

Butts had worried about her son’s safety when it came to street violence or driving, and she said she had always warned him of those dangers. But water accidents never crossed her mind.

“It did not occur to me that my son would drown because he didn’t know water safety,” she said. “Josh was never taught the basic life skill of learning how to swim.”

Josh was not alone in the black community. According to USA Swimming, 70% of African-American children cannot swim, compared with nearly 60% for Hispanic children and 42% for white children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, African-American children between the ages of 5 and 14 are three times more likely to drown than white children in the same age range.

As Butts tried to make sense of her son’s tragedy, she realized she had passed her own inexperience to her son. Her father had witnessed a drowning when he was young and instilled in her a fear of water.

“So as a child, I never went around water,” said Butts, 58. “I never went swimming. I didn’t know anything about water or life jackets and water safety.”

Because of this fear, Butts raised Josh without any exposure to water. But today, she is determined to prevent other mothers from doing the same. In 2007, she started the Josh Project, a nonprofit that provides low-cost swimming lessons for children in Toledo, Ohio.

“After losing my son, I wanted to do something to help other people, to help another mother not have to suffer the way I do every day from the loss of a child drowning,” she said.

To date, the Josh Project has helped more than 1,000 children learn how to swim.

“All children are at risk of drowning, but the majority of the children that the Josh Project serves are minority children, who we have found are more at risk,” Butts said.

Several cultural and historical factors can help explain why that is. One is the segregation of swimming pools during the 20th century, according to Jeff Wiltse, author of “Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America.” Relatively few swimming pools were built to serve the black community back then, so much of a generation was denied the opportunity to swim, Wiltse told the BBC.

Also, if parents can’t swim, their children are far less likely to learn how, according to a recent study conducted by the University of Memphis. The study, sponsored by USA Swimming, found that a fear of drowning and a fear of injury prevent many African-American parents from putting their children in swimming lessons. It also found that many avoid swimming for cosmetic reasons, such as the effect chlorinated water has on their hair.

Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2012 CNN Heroes

For some families today, it’s still tough to find an accessible pool.

“The public pools near our home have been closed in the past, and other places were not affordable,” said Lisa Haynes, whose 14-year-old son, Joshua, is one of 60-plus students in the Josh Project this season.

The swimming lessons take place at a local high school over four Saturdays for a total cost of $10.

“I am less worried if (Joshua) is near water because he has the basics of how to swim,” Haynes said. “And we’re thankful for that.”

Butts is doing much more, however, than just providing swimming lessons.

“She ups the awareness, and that is half the battle,” said Shaun Anderson, a swimming coach who was so inspired by her story that he created a Josh Project swimming program at Norfolk State University in Virginia. “Once these communities learn how to swim, they will pass it down, which results in future generations that know how to swim.”

Butts said she has two goals for the future: One is to change the drowning statistics of minority children, and the other is to have an aquatic center where the children can swim daily instead of just once a week.

“The joy on the faces of those children — when they see that they can learn, once they get it — they are so happy with themselves,” she said. “And it’s like all of them are my children. It’s like I didn’t lose my son.”

Want to get involved? Check out the Josh Project website at www.joshproject.org and see how to help.

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Editor’s note: Part culture show, part travel show, over six weeks Fusion Journeys takes six stars of the creative world to a location of their choice. There, they will create something new inspired by their experience.

(CNN) — With a star-studded client list that includes Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lindsay Lohan, Julia Roberts and Michelle Pfeiffer, Trelise Cooper is an internationally known fashion designer.

Starting out with a boutique store in Auckland, New Zealand, during the mid-1980s, Cooper’s ascent onto the fashion stage — and the front covers of Vogue and Marie Claire — is made more remarkable by the fact that she never received any formal training as either a designer or seamstress.

Instead, Cooper relied on her self-confessed “obsession” for detail, as well as a natural eye for fashion. “I was born a fashion designer” she says, and soon after she set up shop, her clothes acquired a reputation for their bold use of pattern and intricate stitching.

Cooper took up the “Fusion Journey” challenge to travel from New Zealand to New Delhi, India’s capital. Although it’s a city she had been to on business many times before, she says that she’d never allowed herself the time to study its traditional dress in earnest.

See more Fusion Journeys

There she was tasked with creating a new fashion line that would combine her own sophisticated modern style with the vibrant, brightly colored traditions of Indian dress-making.

In her own words, Cooper retraces the footsteps of her Fusion Journey.

Trelise Cooper: I absolutely adore the historical aspect of clothing. My ranges are full of influences from 19th-century French, English, even American vintage styles. So it’s no surprise I have always enjoyed combing through flea markets in small towns and finding rare antique gems to steal some inspiration.

I’m also obsessed with detail, so when I find a Victorian gown or a 50s bridal slip that I like, then it’s important for me to be able to emulate the exact stitching, embroidery or beading used at the time. In the West, unfortunately, most of our expert hand-stitching traditions have been lost — the skills have not been passed on and the seamstress geniuses from the couture houses of Europe have not been replaced.

That is why I’m often traveling to India. It’s one of the very best places in the world to find that expertise still thriving. From one village to the next you find whole families, generations, that have their own specialties of stitch work.

Honestly, I can give them any old historical piece that I’ve found and they will either take it away and recreate it almost perfectly, or they’ll say “hmmm … I don’t know this stitching, but I know a place nearby that does.” It’s a fashion designer’s dream!

So in one sense, I’ve been fusing my clothes with Indian influences for a while. However, I think this was the first time I’ve traveled to India with a conscious intention to create a fusion of styles: their own traditional dress with my more modern, western creations.

I just love the color and the vibrancy that is India. New Delhi is exciting and chaotic and noisy and dusty and smoky and hot. Everything is so full of intense color and I realized that, on a subconscious level at least, I’ve been influenced by Indian style … In fact, when it comes to bold use of colors and the use of these rich, deep dyes, how can anyone deny the huge influence of India on fashion around the world?

Read related: Dancing to the music of love in Buenos Aires

Walking through the streets, you see color combinations that you’d never imagine would work. I recall a beautiful woman wearing a sari in bright, radiant pink mixed with a lime green print. I mean, lime and pink! It sounds garish, but on her, with the quality of the dye and the way the colors had been combined it looked absolutely stunning.

We made our way to a shop that I can only describe as a treasure trove of fabrics and other goodies. This was the place to find all the accessories, textiles, ribbons, bows, buttons, and beads that I could take back to my studio in Auckland to use as inspiration for the final creations.

There were ideas there, old and new, that I’d never thought about. Already I could envisage opportunities to use all sorts of different laces and braids, detailed examples of hand stitching, with some other antique dresses we’d picked up from a local supplier.

Much as I love them personally, I don’t sell things like saris — and I never would — it’s not a style that would appeal to the tastes of my particular customers. However, what I took back to New Zealand, was their techniques, their intense celebratory colors, their detailed embellishments, their expert use of beads and sequins.

I worked on the new line for many months, and these are the elements I hope I managed to incorporate into them. I think they’ve added an opulence, a romance. But I’ll only know I have finished the creative process when someone comes in and says that, no matter what, they have to have it.

The garment takes them on a journey, and so my journey with the garment has finished.

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(CNN) — When Arnold Palmer drove up Magnolia Lane on the eve of the 1962 Masters, he was in a confident mood. He’d already won it twice, as well as the U.S. and British Opens, but this was to be his “Annus Mirabilis” — the year he cemented his reputation as a global sporting superstar.

“I was having some of my best times on the golf course,” he told CNN, in trademark understated fashion, ahead of this week’s Masters. “I felt confident about myself and the way I was playing, and it worked out very well.”

As the first major tournament of the golf year, the Masters is a springboard to some of the most magical moments in the sport’s history.

Victory at the prestigious and highly exclusive Augusta National Golf Club would be a career highlight for most players, but for a select few it is often just one jewel in an era-defining crown.

Palmer had been determined to erase memories of the 1961 Masters, where he double-bogeyed the final hole to hand victory to South African rival Gary Player, the first international golfer to claim the coveted Green Jacket.

The following year Palmer led going into the final round, but needed two late birdies to go into a playoff with Dow Finsterwald and Player — “two of my very best friends in golf.”

He started badly in the 18-hole contest on Monday but staged a remarkable late surge.

Fifty years on, Palmer’s memories of his eventual triumph are still sharp. “I had a pretty good back nine, that was the reason for my victory.”

For “pretty good” read “stunning” — Palmer conjured up birdies at 10, 12, 13, 14 and 16 for a 68 to better Player by three shots and don the famous Green Jacket for the third time — he would again wear it in 1964.

Palmer’s caddy, Nathaniel “Iron Man” Avery, summed it up perfectly.

“He just jerks at his glove, tugs at his trouser belt and starts walking fast,” he told reporters after the round. “When Mr. Arnold does that, everybody better watch out. He’s going to stampede anything in his way.”

That year Palmer went on to claim his second British Open title at Royal Troon — “certainly one of my best Opens” — as he finished 12 under par on the seaside links to win by six from Kel Nagle.

His only setback came at the U.S. Open at Oakmont, in his home state of Pennsylvania, despite going into the tournament as a heavy favorite.

I felt confident about myself and the way I was playing and it worked out very well
Arnold Palmer

An eventual loss in an 18-hole play off to the 22-year-old Jack Nicklaus was “very disappointing,” said Palmer — who three-putted 10 times in five days to undermine his fine play from tee to green.

But victories in six other PGA Tour events, as well as winning the Vardon Trophy (named after the famous English golfer Harry Vardon) for the U.S. circuit’s low scoring average, rounded off an incredible year.

Golf’s greatest years

By dominating golf as he did that season, Palmer continued a trend started by Vardon in the first year of the 20th century — following in the footsteps of golf legends such as Bobby Jones and blazing a trail for the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.

Vardon, known as “Mr. Golf,” set the ball rolling.

Born in the British isle of Jersey, he left an indelible mark on the game by inventing the Vardon Grip — the overlapping of the small finger over the other when holding a club — which is used by the majority of the top players in the world today.

In 1900 he crossed the Atlantic and became the first player to win both the U.S. Open and the British Open. Overall, he captured a record six majors in his homeland. In 1920, at the age of 50 and having suffered from tuberculosis, he still managed second place in the U.S. Open — a true measure of his greatness.

Paving the way for professionals

I watched him and admired he very much. He was one of the greatest players of all time
Arnold Palmer on Byron Nelson

That decade, another golfing superstar emerged in the form of Walter Hagen, who like Palmer helped to popularize the sport with his attacking play and flamboyant lifestyle.

The American was the first golfer to win $1 million in his career, claiming 11 major titles plus five victories at the Western Open — which in his era was one of golf’s leading events.

In 1924, Hagen was at the peak of his powers and won the British Open as well as the U.S. PGA Championship (then a matchplay tournament). He also won three other PGA Tour events plus the Belgian Open.

While Hagen helped the acceptance of professional players in a sport that had been mainly amateur, in 1930 another man became a worldwide name despite refusing to accept a cent for his many triumphs.

Father of the Masters

When the world’s elite play at Augusta this week, they owe their participation to the foresight and vision of Bobby Jones, who co-designed the course with Alister MacKenzie and co-founded the Masters Tournament with Clifford Roberts.

It was easy to see that Jack would become a great player
Arnold Palmer on Jack Nicklaus

Competing on an equal footing with Hagen and the top professionals, Jones had already won three U.S. Opens and two British Opens plus four U.S. Amateur crowns. But his feats of 1930 will surely remain unmatched.

He claimed his own grand slam of the two pro and two unpaid majors on both sides of the Atlantic before promptly retiring at the tender age of 28 to practice law at the Georgia bar.

Lord Byron

The Second World War brought an end to international competition, but that era saw the emergence of one of Palmer’s heroes — the great Byron Nelson.

“I watched him and admired him very much. He was one of the greatest players of all time,” Palmer told CNN as he recalled the Texan’s feats.

Nelson’s greatest year was 1945, near the end of the war, when he set a record on the PGA Tour which will surely remain unbroken.

The Texan won 11 successive tournaments, beating the likes of Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. His 18 victories out of 35 starts included the PGA championship, and his scoring average of 68.33 stood until it was broken by Woods in 2000.

Nelson retired the following year aged 34 to become a rancher but was the host of a PGA event which bore his name until his death in 2006.

Hogan the hero

As the U.S. economy started booming in the post-war years, golf’s profile was further boosted by the exploits of a player who bounced back from life-threatening adversity.

Ben Hogan took determination and will to win to new levels in 1953 when he won all three majors he was able to contest, and five of six tournaments overall. Badly injured in a car crash in 1949 which nearly claimed his life, Hogan had to limit his schedule to prevent strain on his body.

H won the Masters by five shots and was six clear in the U.S. Open at Oakmont, while he conquered the field at Carnoustie in the British Open by four strokes to be the only man under par on the tough Scottish links.

Hogan was unable to play in the PGA Championships because it overlapped the British Open, but he would have chosen not to compete because he was unable to cope with the 36 holes per day expected of the players in the match play format.

The “Golden Bear”

A decade after Palmer’s great year, one of his arch-rivals bestrode the game like a giant.

Nicklaus, who had denied Palmer victory at the 1962 U.S. Open, was at the peak of his powers. “It was easy to see that Jack would become a great player,” said Palmer.

Nicklaus won two majors in 1972, the Masters and the U.S. Open, and was second to Lee Trevino at the British Open. Seven victories came on the PGA Tour and, like Palmer in ’62, he won the money list and the Vardon Trophy.

Nicklaus would eventually set an all-time record of 18 majors, the final triumph coming at the Masters in 1986 with a famous final-round charge.

Champions duel

The “Golden Bear” would next be challenged by Tom Watson, nine years his junior.

Watson’s win in their famous ‘”duel in the sun’”at Turnberry in 1977 will go down in golf history, but five years later his emergence was complete.

Watson denied Nicklaus victory again at the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach with a miracle chip from the rough on the short 17th hole. The pair were tied for the lead with Watson looking certain to drop a shot when his effort hit the flag and went in for the most unlikely of birdies.

It helped seal a two-shot victory, which the American followed up by winning his fourth British Open title at Troon before being named the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year for the fifth of six times overall.

Ice-cool Englishman

The balance of power in world golf shifted away from the United States in the 1990s, with England’s Nick Faldo taking over as the No.1 as the decade started.

With an attention to detail and competitive edge modeled on Hogan, Faldo claimed the Masters for the second time in 1990 after a playoff with Raymond Floyd. At the home of golf St. Andrews, he dominated the British Open from the start to win by five shots with a record 18-under aggregate.

Faldo also finished tied for third, one shot back, in the U.S. Open at Medinah and was named golfer of the year on both sides of the Atlantic.

Tiger on the prowl

However, golf had to wait another decade before the astonishing feats of a player who has become one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet, and certainly one of the richest.

Tiger Woods could manage only fifth place at the 2000 Masters at Augusta, but it was to prove just about his only disappointment in a record-breaking year.

His 15-stroke victory in the U.S Open at Pebble Beach was “the greatest performance in golf history” according Sports Illustrated magazine. The American broke Faldo’s British Open record with an eight-shot win at St. Andrews and made it three majors for the year by beating Bob May in a playoff at the PGA Championship.

Woods won nine of 20 PGA Tour events that year, with the lowest scoring average in history. He then won the 2001 Masters to hold all four of golf’s major titles — the first player to do so in the modern era.

Palmer believes the 36-year-old, who won his invitational tournament at Bay Hill last month to end a PGA Tour title drought dating back to 2009, “can return to his best” in 2012.

The world of golf is waiting to see.

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London (CNN) — Manchester City won the English league title for the first time in 44 years to deny rivals Manchester United a 20th domestic championship in a gripping conclusion to the Premier League season.

Defending champions United had looked on course to win the title after winning 1-0 at Sunderland thanks to Wayne Rooney’s first-half effort, but City scored two remarkable stoppage-time goals to fashion an improbable 3-2 home victory against Queens Park Rangers.

City had led the table on goal difference at the start of Sunday and Pablo Zabaleta’s first-half goal suggested Roberto Mancini’s side would comfortably win their first title since 1968.

But a mistake by Joleon Lescott allowed Djibril Cisse to level and following a red card for QPR midfielder Joey Barton, Jamie Mackie popped up to head in the visitors’ second goal to give United fans hope that their team might yet snatch the title from their city rivals.

City bombarded the QPR penalty area and in stoppage time Edin Dzeko headed home to give their fans hope, before Sergio Aguero scored a stunning individual winner in a finale that no script writer would have dared pen.

It was a goal that ensured City won the title on goal difference in the Premier League’s 20th season, arguably the most dramatic finish in its history given it was decided in the last three minutes.

“To win it like this is incredible,” Mancini, who at times during the second half gave the impression he could barely believe his side appeared to be doing all they could to throw away the title, told Sky Sports. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a finale like this.

“We didn’t deserve to lose, we had a lot of chances and we deserved to win the game and championship.

“It’s fantastic for the club and the supporters after 44 years. It’s been a crazy season and a crazy last minute.”

In 1999 United won the Champions League final with two stoppage-time goals against Bayern Munich in Barcelona and Sunday’s epic events bore parallel, though this time the Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson had to suffer as victory was snatched away from him in those heart-palpitating final moments.

“I would like to say on behalf of Manchester United congratulations to our neighbors,” said Ferguson. “It’s a fantastic achievement to win the Premier League. It’s the hardest league in the world and anyone who wins it deserves it.”

The rollercoaster game at the Eithad Stadium that wrung every ounce of emotion out of both City and QPR fans had consequences at the other end of the table given a Rangers defeat would have condemned them to relegation if Bolton Wanderers had beaten Stoke City away — and at one stage Owen Coyle’s side led 2-1 at the Britannia Stadium.

But a 77th-minute Jonathan Walters goal earned Stoke a 2-2 draw to relegate Bolton to the Championship and allow QPR — managed by former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes — to stay up in the Premier League.

Arsenal finished third after a 3-2 win at West Brom to secure their Champions League place, while north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur beat Fulham 2-0 to take fourth.

Premier League’s expansion over 20 years

Spurs will join Arsenal in the Champions League only if Chelsea lose to Bayern Munich in the European Cup final on May 19.

Newcastle’s hopes of a Champions League place evaporated after a 3-1 defeat at Everton, though Alan Pardew’s team have the consolation of a Europa League place.

It is estimated that Manchester City’s owner Sheikh Mansour from the ruling family of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates has invested close to $1.6 billion in securing this Premier League title.

The title gives City’s owners huge kudos, though not necessarily immediate financial benefits.

“It should be remembered that there is a price of success, namely bonus payments to players and managers,” financial blogger Kieron O’Connor, who writes the Swiss Ramble blog, told CNN.

“In fact, it is entirely possible that the net financial result might be negative for a direct comparison between finishing first or second, though it might be different if the comparison is against coming, say, sixth the previous season.”

It is a title that City probably should have wrapped up a long time ago.

At one stage in December after their barnstorming start to the season — notably a 6-1 win over the defending champions at Old Trafford — City were eight points of United after beating Norwich 5-1.

However, a combination of Carlos Tevez going AWOL after falling out with Mancini, Yaya Toure’s absence as he played for the Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations, David Silva’s dip in form and Mario Balotelli’s ill-disciplined antics allowed the defending champions to claw back that deficit and go eight points clear.

But a disastrous April for United — including a 1-0 defeat by City at the Eithad Stadium — enabled Mancini’s team to move top on goal difference going into the final round of matches.

Sunday’s games were broadcast to 211 countries around the world — testament to the Premier League’s global appeal.

The remarkable end to the season could not have come at a better time for the league given it has recently announced the new tender for its next three-year broadcasting rights starting from the 2013-14 season.

“Games going down to the last game of the season will certainly increase interest and may in turn show the league as more valuable because of the unresolved title, Champions League and relegation issues,” said lawyer Daniel Geey of Field Fisher Waterhouse.

Sunday’s 10 games also ensured this was the most prolific Premier League season ever with 1,066 goals, beating last season’s record total of 1,063.

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(CNN) — He predicted it would be an emotional occasion, and so it proved.

Ivan Ljubicic could have chosen to bow out from tennis on a grander stage, but the Monte Carlo Masters was the perfect place for him.

“I picked this one as my last because in 1999 I beat (Russia’s Yevgeny) Kafelnikov, which was my first big victory, my breakthrough. So I felt like it was the right moment, the right place to finish it off,” the 33-year-old told CNN.

His first round defeat to fellow Croatian Ivan Dodig this month brought the curtain down on a stellar career which took him from his war-torn homeland to the international stage, becoming one of the game’s most polished performers, on and off the court.

“As impressive as his achievements were on the court, Ivan will also be remembered for the way he carried himself away from the court,” the head of the ATP Tour Brad Drewett said after the former world No. 3′s tearful exit in his adopted home — a haven for the rich and famous, and a far cry from his birthplace in the former Yugoslavia.

“A true gentleman and ever popular amongst his peers, we thank Ivan for his first-rate contributions to the sport throughout his career, and wish him the very best for the future,” Drewett added of Ljubicic, who will now spend more time with his wife and two young kids.

Federer hails ‘wonderful friend’ Ljubicic

Ljubicic bagged 10 ATP Tour titles during a 14-year career, his last coming in 2010 at the Indian Wells Masters in California when he beat American former world No. 1 Andy Roddick in the final.

It was a deeply satisfying result for Ljubicic who, at the age of 31, became the oldest first-time winner of an ATP Tour Masters 1000 title in history.

But his success wasn’t limited to individual events.

Together with Mario Ancic, Goran Ivanisevic and Ivo Karlovic, Ljubicic was part of Croatia’s victorious 2005 Davis Cup team, becoming the only unseeded country to win the event.

The dramatic 3-2 victory over Slovakia sparked wild celebrations in Zagreb’s main square and followed on from a bronze medal he and Ancic won in the doubles at the Athens Olympics the previous summer.

Both occasions were proud moments for Ljubicic who was forced to flee his home as a 13-year-old in May 1992 as Croatia battled to maintain the independence it declared the previous year.

“I was living in the Serbian part of Bosnia, so it wasn’t a pleasant place to be at that moment,” he recalls.

“I left with my mother and my brother. My father stayed, but he managed to get out in November the same year.”

It was during this time that Ljubicic was invited to attend a tennis club in Moncalieri, a town near Turin in northern Italy.

“It was the beginning of my tennis career,” he says. “My parents thought it was a good idea, so I left Bosnia in 1993 and stayed for three years and in 1996 I started to have some good results.”

An appearance in the Wimbledon juniors’ final the same year was followed by his first sponsorship deal, marking his arrival in the professional ranks.

A decade later, Ljubicic would reach the pinnacle of his career, rising to third in the world rankings behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal — an achievement which remains a tremendous source of pride.

“I felt like I was No. 1 because at the time it was impossible to get to these guys. It is something I am really proud of. I felt like the No. 1 of normal people,” he said.

With their opposing personalities and playing styles, he says Federer and Nadal have created a unique era in tennis which will be difficult for a new generation to repeat.

“In the past we had a little bit of that with Agassi and Sampras but they were both American. Now we have a Swiss guy and a Spanish guy,” Ljubicic said.

And with current No. 1 Djokovic “coming from another world at the moment” — these are great times for tennis, he thinks.

Ljubicic recalls practicing with an 18-year-old Djokovic back in 2005 and wasn’t immediately struck by the Serbian’s game technically.

But what he did observe, even at that young age, was a steely determination.

“Mentally he was ready. You could see it when you met him. He was so ready to be the best player that you could see it was going to happen, one way or the other,” Ljubicic said.

He predicts the top three will continue to dominate for another couple of seasons but with youngsters like Canada’s Milos Raonic, Australia’s Bernard Tomic and American Ryan Harrison coming through, a more varied set of grand slam champions looks set to emerge.

For Ljubicic, the labors of the tennis court may now be over, but family responsibilities at his home in Monte Carlo will more than fill that void.

“I have two kids now — a three-and-a-half-year-old boy and a girl who is four months,” he said.

“We’re going to spend a lot of time together. This period before they go to school is special and I want to spend as much time as possible with them.”

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(CNN) — No one used the word reward, but the subtext was clear for all to see.

In April 2007, when Poland and Ukraine were surprisingly awarded the right to co-host the 2012 European Championship — one of international football’s top tournaments after the World Cup — both countries’ delegations exploded with joy.

For the Ukrainians it was especially poignant. At the center of the celebrations was President Viktor Yushchenko, who had come to power leading the 2004 Orange Revolution, ignited when the election battle between him and the then Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was allegedly riddled with fraud.

Massive street protests swept away the old regime, whose last desperate attempt to cling on to power, according to supporters of Yushchenko, was a plot to poison the challenger. Yushchenko barely survived.

But survive he did, and the chance to host Euro 2012 was redemption. Ukraine was finally, post communism, moving towards democracy and the rule of law. Euro 2012 represented a chance, as the Olympics did in Seoul and Tokyo decades before, for sport to welcome Ukraine into the club of free nations.

“We will be able to show millions of fans the unforgettable charm of our cities and the history they have preserved so beautifully,” Yushchenko said when Ukraine’s joint bid was selected to host the tournament.

“And put on display of Slav hospitality and culture.”

A coronation

The final in Kiev on July 1, 2012, was to be the coronation. But with a month to go until Ukraine was to enjoy its moment in the sun, Yushchenko’s words ring hollow. He was voted out of power in 2010, his Orange Revolution unraveling as, according to his supporters, the new president Yanukovych — ironically the man he defeated in 2004 — tries to roll back the gains made eight years ago.

And far from highlighting Ukraine’s development, Euro 2012 has done the opposite. Instead European statesmen and women are boycotting the event as the blond heroine of the Orange Revolution, former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, languishes in a prison cell thanks to what her supporters claim are spurious political charges.

Last week her family released pictures of what they say is proof that Tymoshenko was beaten up in prison, which the Ukrainian government denies.

“Her condition is worsening, her physical condition,” her daughter Eugenia Tymoshenko told CNN.

“That was after eight days of hunger strike. She was already much weaker because of the attacks when they beat her on April 20. Because of her protest her morale is very strong (but) we have asked her to stop her hunger strike.”

Tymoshenko has been in prison since October last year. She received a seven-year sentence for abuse of power over the signing of a gas deal with Russia that the current president deemed detrimental to the national interest. But few outside of Ukraine saw it as anything other than the persecution of a political rival.

“Once she was arrested, there was a whole machine that started working,” said Eugenia.

“They wanted to keep her in jail as her popularity was growing. She is now more popular. It is mostly fear that moved him and his people to keep her there until the (parliamentary) elections in October this year.”

“It’s just political repression and they have moved to physical destruction. That has become critical. My mother is now on hunger strike because other political prisoners are suffering in jail with no medical help.”

Political controversy

The pictures of Tymoshenko, baring her bruises to the camera, have created a firestorm in Europe’s corridors of power. When it emerged that Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel was considering a boycott of the event to protest Tymoshenko’s treatment, other EU leaders followed suit.

EU president Herman Van Rompuy has said he won’t attend — as has Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, who less than 12 months ago had met with President Yanukovych and was presented with an official Euro 2012 match ball. The governments of Austria and Belgium have all said they will not be attending. Poland’s opposition, who were in power when the Euros were awarded, has called for Ukraine’s matches to be moved to Warsaw. The British and German governments are re-evaluating their positions.

Even some of the players have spoken out. Germany captain Philipp Lahm told newspaper Der Spiegel that he did not find his “views of democratic fundamental rights, human rights, personal freedom or press freedom to be reflected in the present political situation in Ukraine.”

While Russian premier Vladimir Putin has criticized the boycotts — stating that “you can’t mix politics, business and other issues with sport” — and the Ukrainian foreign ministry has condemned the outcry for causing “damage to the interests of millions of ordinary Ukrainians that vote for various political parties or are not interested in politics at all,” others point the finger of blame for the crisis at the Ukrainian government.

“There has been progress in many ways and the last round of elections that elected Yanukovych was largely free and fair,” admitted Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director of Human Rights Watch.

“But we have particular concerns about what Yanukovych has done in prosecuting his political opponents. Few (Ukrainian government figures) have spoken out about her (Tymoshenko’s) mistreatment and there’s clear evidence that the charges against her are politically motivated.”

Should fans boycott?

While Human Rights Watch stops short of calling for a fan boycott of the tournament, it does support moves by political leaders to make a stand.

We will be able to show millions of fans the unforgettable charm of our cities
Former president Viktor Yushchenko

“Should politicians watch matches? We think they should speak out clearly. If they decide to not see a match … we welcome that that is a clear signal,” Williamson said.

“One could see a more extreme case with China and the (2008) Olympics. There’s a clear risk that by allowing such countries to host such sporting contests, it legitimizes their actions.”

Yet the scandal has highlighted a much more fundamental tension at the heart of Ukrainian society: whether, as those that led the Orange Revolution contest, Ukraine’s future lays westwards, towards the EU; or whether its future is in the east and with Russia, the direction in which the current president is moving.

“The story of the European Championships was supposed to be bridge building between the two different Europes, cooperation across borders between east and west,” argued Dr. Andrew Wilson, an expert in Ukrainian politics at Britain’s University College London.

“But no, the story now is the good performance of Poland. Their success is in stark contrast with the problems in Ukraine.”

He also suggested that the criticism that has followed the Tymoshenko case could push many Ukrainians away from EU integration, and towards the Kremlin’s sphere of influence.

“Yes the boycott will have an effect,” Wilson said.

“Prestige matters to this guy Yanukovych. They hoped the Euros would give them prestige. The argument that Ukrainians will turn to Russia is one made by Ukrainians. They say: ‘Criticize us after we’ve made it, not before.’ “

Not everyone is sympathetic to Tymoshenko’s plight in Ukraine. President Yanukovych has repeatedly said that there was a criminal case to answer for. “If Tymoshenko were looking for a compromise she would tell the truth to the Ukrainian people about why she broke the law,” he told British newspaper The Times in a bellicose interview last year.

It’s just political repression and they have moved to physical destruction
Yulia Tymoshenko’s daughter Eugenia

Orange fatigue

And others point to Tymoshenko’s poor political performance while prime minister for the lack of sympathy she has received in Ukraine.

“The Orange Revolution was a huge disappointment,” explained Wilson.

“Media improved, civil society is stronger, but the Orange leaders fought like rats in a sack, especially Tymoshenko and former President Yushchenko. After five years of infighting, there was Orange fatigue.”

Others in Ukraine point to the the failure of arguably the most infamous sporting boycott in history: the decision by the U.S. to snub the 1980 Moscow Olympics in protest at the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviets returned the favor four years after for the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

“The experience of boycotting the Olympic Games of 1980 in Moscow by the West and the counter strike (by the) Socialist camp of the Games in Los Angeles did not influence political events too much but spoiled the careers of some great athletes,” says Oleg Zadernovsky, a Ukrainian sports journalist who writes for World Soccer magazine.

“The whole country expects something similar to a game of football with two halves.

The issue of moving the tournament [to Poland] was not considered even theoretically
Markiyan Lubkivskyi

“At first Ukrainians would like to host with honor and dignity the biggest ever sporting event on its territory, while the second half will start in October this year when many of them will go to the ballot boxes to support opposition parties who promise to free Yulia Tymoshenko.”

Yet for all the pressure, the tournament is unlikely to be moved. In a statement, the head of Ukraine’s Euro 2012 organizing committee Markiyan Lubkivskyi admitted that while “there are certain appeals by European politicians to UEFA” over the issue of Tymoshenko as well as a myriad of other security concerns, “the issue of moving the tournament (to Poland) was not considered even theoretically. It is impossible from a technical point of view or otherwise.”

But as the political row rages, Tymoshenko remains in jail on hunger strike as Ukraine’s reputation crumbles. What once seemed like a reward now looks like a curse. Eugenia Tymoshenko believes that the blame rests with one man.

“The political boycott is the result of the government and the actions of President Yanukovych that are against European standards that the EU wants to see,” she said.

“The previous government had given (Ukraine) this wondrous opportunity for this celebration of sport with the European Championships.

“And I think European leaders do not want to be see (the president) use this politically, using repression and torture against political opponents.”

(CNN) — For the last decade, Carolyn LeCroy has been helping children stay connected to their incarcerated parents through video messages.

LeCroy was honored as a CNN Hero in 2008, and has since expanded her Messages Project to prisons in five states.

Her story inspired actress Holly Robinson Peete, who recently joined LeCroy on a visit to a maximum security prison.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper spoke with Peete about her experience.

Anderson Cooper: What was it about Carolyn’s efforts that first sparked your interest?

Holly Robinson Peete: I learned about a subset of the population that I never thought of before, which are the children of incarcerated parents.

There was something about how hard of a sell it is; anytime you are talking about inmates or people in prison, people automatically — there’s some pushback. But with Carolyn’s brand of philanthropy, I just found myself intrigued, and I had to help her out.

Read the 2008 story: Ex-con’s videos keep inmates, kids in touch

Cooper: How does the Messages Project work?

Peete: The Messages Project goes into prisons across the country and films messages of incarcerated parents who are either reading a book, a bedtime story, giving a very positive message, giving love to the caregiver watching these children.

Something so simple you would think wouldn’t be a big deal, but to a child who’s lost their parent to incarceration, they watch these videos over and over again. It has a really positive effect on them. So many times, a lot of these children end up in prisons themselves, and this is something that might be able to stop that chain.

I think about watching my father’s video. My father’s been deceased for many years. When he was at my wedding, he just said, “I love you.” I watch it over and over and over again, and it just lifts me up. To these children, these are not hardened criminals. Oftentimes they are just looked at as Mommy or Daddy. So, it’s very important that the children know it’s not their fault and that they know they’re loved.

More: CNN Heroes

Cooper: How did you get involved with the program?

Peete: I met Carolyn in 2008 and we’ve been trying to get together. … The Messages Project is now in Oklahoma, in Nebraska, in Virginia.

And we kept talking about California. It’s the most incarcerated state in the country. And that’s where I live. So I said, “We’ve got to get in there.” And we finally made it in. It … was a lot of pressure; I wanted it to go well.

Cooper: What did that day involve?

Peete: It involved me driving for hours and hours and hours to the middle of the desert, to the middle of nowhere California. … It involved meeting five inmates who, most of them, may never come out of that prison. And they really didn’t strike me as people who had done anything except that they were dads in that moment and they wanted to get messages to their children.

Cooper: What’s it like seeing someone who is incarcerated and you know why they are there, and yet you see them in kind of a different light when they are trying to get a message to their child?

Peete: Apparently these are hardened criminals, people who are doing time for very, very serious offenses, often murder and armed robbery. I personally didn’t want to know until I left what they did. I just wanted to appeal to them as a mom and as a parent.

I think we don’t think about the impact of what the children of incarcerated parents have to go through. Sometimes their parents are just yanked, right in front of their eyes in some very difficult situations with policemen and guns. So, it’s a mind-boggling situation for children, and these tiny messages are so impactful.

Cooper: It’s an incredibly intimate act, the making of these videos.

Peete: Even being there and watching some of these men, I was moved to tears because I saw how gut-wrenching it was for them to say, “I’m sorry. This is not your fault. Daddy loves you and I just want you to be the best person you can be.” Those little anecdotal things sound very cliché. We take it for granted if we’ve got a parent in the home, but hearing that for a child can make all the difference in the world.

I felt like I was doing something not necessarily for the inmates, but for their children. I was impacted by it for the rest of the day, and still am.

Cooper: You were recognized by a couple of the prisoners. What was that like?

Peete: We walked into the cell block, and … two gentlemen that came out looked at me. One of them said, “Hey, Holly. What’s going on? Remember you met me in Vancouver, and it was 1980. You were shooting ’21 Jump Street.’” He said, “I’ve been trying to get a script to your agent.” … (laughs) Even in jail somebody has a script for you, Anderson. …

I was just very blown away at his resourcefulness, because sure enough, three days later my agent said, “Did you meet a screenwriter in jail?”

Cooper: What is it about the CNN Heroes project that really caught your interest?

Peete: I’m a CNN Heroes groupie. … The Heroes just use whatever it is that is at their disposal, and I’m always blown away by what they are able to accomplish with so little. And for no other reason than it is their calling, it is something they are drawn to.

Nominations for 2012 CNN Heroes are being accepted online through August 31.

(CNN) — It’s often said that just one person can make a difference, and CNN Heroes — everyday people changing the world — are evidence of that.

But these outstanding men and women would not have received this honor without someone taking the time to nominate them.

Tell us about individuals who are giving back in your community, people whose selflessness and personal stories inspire you. Your efforts could have a big impact.

Appreccia Faulkner nominated her mother, Diane Latiker, who opened her home to youth in a gang-ridden neighborhood.

Jack Harvey nominated someone he met at a conference: Derreck Kayongo, who recycles partially used hotel soap and distributes it to developing countries.

Marlene Jones nominated her real estate broker, Sal Dimiceli, who helps 500 people a year with food, rent and other necessities.

Latiker, Kayongo and Dimiceli all became Top 10 CNN Heroes in 2011, and the global recognition brought $50,000 to each honoree. Seeing them acknowledged on the world stage was rewarding to those who nominated them.

“Sal makes such a difference to people in this community, I wanted someone to know about him,” Jones said. When Dimiceli was honored as a CNN Hero, “I said: ‘Wow! I made a difference!’ “

Do you know an everyday person changing the world? It’s easy to nominate them as a CNN Hero. Here are some suggestions we hope will help you in crafting your nomination.

? Think about what makes your hero special. Ask yourself: What makes my nominee unique? What specific accomplishment has he or she achieved that is truly remarkable? What impact has his or her work had on others? We encourage you to watch videos of previous CNN Heroes to familiarize yourself with the achievements of the inspiring individuals we honor as “everyday people changing the world.”

? Take a look at our nomination form. We suggest you review the information requested about yourself, your nominee and his or her work before filling out your submission.

? Tell us about your hero. Take your time and write from the heart. Remember: What you share — in your own words — is the most important factor in advancing a nomination for further consideration. You can enter your answers to the essay questions directly on the form, or write them first in a word-processing document and “cut and paste” them into each answer field. Please note the information you provide will be used in accordance with our privacy policy.

? Click “Submit.” If your nomination has been successfully transmitted, you’ll see a “thank you” message on your screen. If you provided us with your e-mail address, we’ll also send a confirmation your nomination has been received. And yes, we read each and every one.

That’s it. Nominations for 2012 CNN Heroes remain open through August 31.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who is eligible to be considered as a CNN Hero?
A: Nominations must be in the name of a single individual, at least 13 years of age, whose accomplishment occurred (or continued) after September 1, 2011. Nominees in the “Young Wonder” category must be 25 or younger. Groups and organizations are ineligible for consideration. Self-nominations will not be accepted. Citizens of voided countries are also ineligible. For complete details on eligibility requirements and other rules governing selection of CNN Heroes, please read our legal disclosures.

Q: How will I know if my hero is selected?
A: Because of the high volume of nominations received, we cannot respond individually to each submission. However, if your nomination advances, we will contact you and your nominee through the contact information you provide.

Q: What if I don’t know my nominee’s address, e-mail and telephone number?
A: Please make every effort to provide as much contact information as possible. We require either an e-mail address or telephone number so we may quickly contact your nominee to obtain permission for consideration as a CNN Hero.

Q: May I submit additional supportive information about my nominee?
A: There’s space at the end of the form to provide links to articles or websites with more information about your hero. Please do not send additional material unless requested.

Q: May I mail or fax my nomination?
A: No. All nominations must be submitted online through our website.

Q: What if my nomination form is rejected?
A: When filling out your form, please note that certain information is required. Those fields are marked with an asterisk (*). If you are not certain of your hero’s nationality, select “Other” from the country drop-down menu. Likewise, if you’re unsure which category his or her cause belongs in, just click “Other.”

CNN is not responsible for technical problems that may prevent your submission from being successfully transmitted. You may wish to first write and save the answers to essay questions in a word-processing document. That way, if you need to resubmit your nomination, you can “cut and paste” those answers into the form without rewriting them.

Q: Can I buy tickets to “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute”?
A: Unfortunately, seating is limited and by invitation only. Air dates and times for the global broadcast of “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” will be announced later this year.

Have other questions or comments about CNN Heroes? Contact us.