NATO Convoy Attacked in Afghanistan, Killing 17 Including Americans

A Taliban suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into an armored NATO bus Saturday, killing 17 people, including 12 Americans and a Canadian in the deadliest attack on the U.S.-led coalition in Kabul since the war began.
It was a major setback for the alliance as it begins to draw down combat troops.
The explosion sparked a fireball and littered the street with shrapnel and twisted metal hulks. Heavy black smoke poured from burning wreckage at the site along the four-lane highway frequently used by foreign military trainers in the southwestern section of the city.

Underscoring the difficulties ahead, the brazen assault occurred on the same day that top NATO and Afghan officials were meeting elsewhere in Kabul to discuss the second phase of shifting security responsibilities to Afghan forces in all or part of 17 of the country's 34 provinces.
It also was a blow to efforts by the U.S. and President Hamid Karzai to forge peace with the fundamentalist Taliban movement as NATO plans to withdraw all its combat troops from the country by the end of 2014, with support for the costly war reaching new lows in the West.
NATO said five coalition service members and eight civilian contractors working for the coalition died in the explosion.
A U.S. official said all were Americans, but Canadian defense spokesman, Lt. Col. Christian Lemay, told The Associated Press that a Canadian soldier was among the troopers killed.
The Afghan Ministry of Interior said three Afghan civilians and one policeman also died in the attack. Eight other Afghans, including two children, were wounded, said Kabir Amiri, head of Kabul hospitals.
Kabul has increasingly been targeted by attacks in recent years, with many blamed on the Haqqani network, an al-Qaida and Taliban-linked movement that operates out of Pakistan. But NATO already has shifted security responsibilities for the capital to the Afghans and foreign forces have little presence on the streets.
A similar Taliban attack targeted a NATO convoy on the same road in May 2010, when a suicide bomber struck a convoy, killing 18 people. Among the dead were five American troops and a Canadian colonel. But Saturday's strike was the deadliest since the decade-long war began.
The Taliban said the bomber, Abdul Rahman, was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV containing 1,540 pounds (700 kilograms) of explosives and targeting foreigners providing training for Afghan police. The Taliban, who frequently exaggerate casualty claims, said that 25 people were killed by the blast.
The Taliban also claimed responsibility for another suicide bombing outside a government intelligence office in the northwest province of Kunar in which only the bomber was killed. In all, there were three attacks against NATO and Afghan forces, killing at least 21 people.
Elsewhere, a man wearing an Afghan military uniform opened fire on a joint NATO-Afghan base, killing three Australian service members in Uruzgan province, an area in the restive south that is traditionally viewed as the Taliban's stronghold, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi said officials were investigating whether the shooter, who was killed in the incident, was a member of the Afghan army or a militant wearing an army uniform.
In Kabul, the armored personnel carrier, known as a Rhino, was sandwiched between of a convoy of mine-resistant military vehicles traveling on the road, a major artery leading to the landmark Darulaman Palace, the bombed-out seat of former Afghan kings. The attack occurred near the entrance of the American University.
NATO and Afghan forces sealed off the area as fire trucks and ambulances rushed in. An AP reporter at the scene saw two NATO helicopters landing to airlift casualties, while coalition troops using loudspeakers ordered bystanders to evacuate the area.
One witness, Noor Ahmad, said he saw a coalition soldier choking inside the burned bus.
"The bottom half of his body was burned," Ahmad said.
Coalition troops were seen carrying three black body bags from the burned wreckage and one charred body on a stretcher toward the waiting helicopters.
It was the deadliest single attack against the U.S.-led coalition across the country since the Taliban shot down a NATO helicopter on Aug. 6 in an eastern Afghan province, killing 30 U.S. troops, most elite Navy SEALs, and eight Afghans.
The most recent attack in Kabul occurred on Sept. 20, when an insurgent with a bomb hidden in his turban assassinated former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani. The insurgent was posing as a peace emissary coming to meet Rabbani, who was leading a government effort to broker peace with the Taliban. Afghan officials blame the Haqqani for that incident.
Earlier Saturday, a female suicide bomber blew herself up as she tried to attack a local government office in the capital of Kunar province, a hotbed of militancy in northeast Afghanistan along the Pakistan border.
Abdul Sabor Allayar, deputy provincial police chief, said the guards outside the government's intelligence office in Asad Abad became suspicious of the woman and started shooting, at which point she detonated her explosives.
Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces conducted operations earlier this month, killing more than 100 insurgents in an effort to curb violence in rugged areas of Kunar where the coalition and Afghan government have a light footprint.

U.S. Drone Involved in Final Qaddafi Strike, as Obama Heralds Regime's 'End'

A U.S. Predator drone was involved in the airstrike on Muammar Qaddafi's convoy Thursday in the moments before his death, a U.S. defense official told Fox News.
The official said the drone, along with a French fighter jet, fired on the "large convoy" leaving Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte. A French defense official earlier said about 80 vehicles were in the convoy -- the official said the strike did not destroy the convoy but that fighters on the ground afterward intercepted the vehicle carrying Qaddafi. He was later killed.

President Obama and other officials would not elaborate on the circumstances of Qaddafi's death. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said only that U.S. and NATO actions helped Libyans reach this point.
But as some lawmakers continued to criticize the administration for its handling of the Libya operation, Obama pointed to the end of the Qaddafi regime as the close of a "long and painful chapter" for Libyans and defended the multilateral mission which began in March.
"Today we can definitively say that the Qaddafi regime has come to an end," Obama said. "This is a momentous day in the history of Libya."
Obama, speaking in the Rose Garden, said of Libyans, "You have won your revolution."
Obama said the NATO mission would soon be over; if so, the use of a Predator drone Thursday would mark a fitting end for U.S. involvement.
U.S. engagement in Libya consisted mostly of aerial missions. More than 70 U.S. aircraft were involved in the Libya operation -- throughout, the U.S. conducted a total of 145 Predator strikes in the country, in addition to thousands of other aerial missions. The United States has stepped up the use of Predator drones in several other countries, including Pakistan and Yemen. A drone was credited with killing American-born radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in September.
Though the attack Thursday started with an aerial strike, Qaddafi died of wounds suffered during his capture near Sirte, according to a spokesman for the National Transitional Council in Libya.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle hailed the news as a milestone, while turning their attention to the next step of helping Libyans form a new democratic government and ensure stability in a post-Qaddafi nation.
House Speaker John Boehner, in a written statement, called Qaddafi's death a "turning point in the Libyan people's pursuit of freedom."
Some lawmakers, though, continued to criticize Obama for his handling of the mission.
"He did the right things, he just took too long to do it," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told Fox News. He later suggested that the operation would not have lasted as long as it did if the administration had gotten involved earlier and acted more decisively.
Throughout the mission, some lawmakers criticized Obama for letting NATO take the reins, while others complained that the president was moving forward without initially seeking permission from Congress.
But Obama on Thursday lauded the "unprecedented global response."
"Without putting a single U.S. servicemember on the ground, we achieved our objectives," Obama said. "We've demonstrated what collective action can achieve."
Asked Thursday if the president views Qaddafi's death as vindication for his approach, Carney said Obama "views this as a victory for the Libyan people."
Carney said the president made the "right decision" to work with U.S. allies. "I think this is a day not to engage in politics," he added.
Meanwhile, Obama and other officials cautioned that there will be "difficult days ahead" for Libya. Obama called on the new government to build an "inclusive and tolerant and democratic Libya that stands as the ultimate rebuke to Qaddafi's dictatorship."
He also called on Libyans to work with the international community to secure the "dangerous materials" left behind by the Qaddafi regime, a reference to the potentially thousands of weapons that are not yet accounted for.

Scotty McCreery Sets Records "Happy Birthday"

Reigning American Idol and Mercury Nashville/19 Recordings/Interscope artist Scotty McCreery debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and Top Country Albums charts with Clear As Day, making him the youngest male in history to open at the top of the all-genre chart with a debut release. This is also the highest first-week album sales of any solo country artist in 2011.

With first-week sales totaling 196,739, he is the first new country artist this year to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Scotty has the second-highest debut week for a new artist in all genres in 2011, behind rapper J.Cole. He is the first American Idol winner in eight years to land his debut album atop the Billboard 200 and the first country male singer from the show to do so. This is the first debut by a new country artist to top 100,000 in first-week sales since Carrie Underwood’s in 2005.
“My hopes were just to go out there and have fun and let people know that the album was out there. Everybody hopes for the number one, but you never really expect it. To see it up there is pretty incredible,” says Scotty, who turned 18 on Sunday. “It’s a very good birthday present! I can’t think of anything to top it!”

Scotty appeared on Today, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Ellen during release week, while the Oct. 3 premiere of GAC’s Introducing: Scotty McCreery earned high ratings. An estimated 15,000 people attended his Album Release Party Homecoming Concert and Birthday Celebration that was held at the Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek in Raleigh, N.C. He was presented with a gold record by Mercury Nashville and Interscope staffers during the event to celebrate achieving a gold certification in digital sales for “I Love You This Big.”

“We are proud to be part of this project,” says Luke Lewis, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group Nashville, which includes Mercury Nashville. “It couldn’t have happened to a nicer young man.”

Says American Idol Season 10 mentor Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M, "It's rare that someone with a truly honest voice has a first album that debuts at number one. It's an exciting thing to be a part of."

In May, Scotty won Season 10 of American Idol, becoming the youngest male winner in the show’s history. A record-breaking 122.4 million votes were cast for the finale. The final show garnered 29.3 million viewers and 38.6 million people tuned in to see the winner’s name announced.

He continues the success that began with Season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson, who premiered at No. 1 in 2003. For ten seasons, American Idol winners and finalists have steadily topped the Billboard charts. "What a fantastic few days this has been for Scotty," says Simon Fuller, creator and executive producer of American Idol, CEO/Founder of XIX Entertainment and Manager of Scotty McCreery. "He turned 18 on Sunday and now he has the number one-selling album in America, an incredible achievement for someone so young. Scotty is a true talent; he will stand the test of time and I am honored to be helping guide his career."

People magazine says, “From the moment the American Idol finalists first squared off last season, it was as clear as his baby blues that Scotty McCreery was a natural-born country star. After taking the title in May, the North Carolina native, who turns 18 on Oct. 9, brings his old soul, easy charm and—his killer weapon—that preternaturally deep voice to winning debut. Producer Mark Bright—whose credits include another American Idol, Carrie Underwood—wisely plays up McCreery’s traditional sensibility and rounds up some good tunes.”

Scotty will sing the national anthem at Game One of the World Series on Oct. 19.

Apple to Launch 'iPad Mini' in Early 2012?

Apple may be working on a new entry-level tablet scheduled to launch early next year.
In a note to investors on Wednesday, Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White recounted numerous meetings with technology supply chain companies at a trade show in China this week. White noted a general ominous environment, with the majority of the companies he met with commenting on weakening demand across the industry.
“The whole world is shrinking,” one company representative told the analyst.
White’s meetings with Apple suppliers has turned up an interesting note, however.
“Our research is pointing to the unveiling of a lower priced iPad in the first few months of 2012 that is aimed at expanding the company’s market potential by tapping into a more price sensitive consumer segment,” the analyst wrote. “Essentially, this ‘iPad mini’ will also fend off the recently announced Amazon Kindle Fire that addresses the low-end tablet market with a $199 price tag but could lead to bigger tablet ambitions from the online retailer in the future.”
White noted that the “mini” moniker refers to the tablet’s lower price and not necessarily a smaller screen size.
“We believe this lower priced iPad could be priced in the mid-to-high-$200 range,” White said. “We expect this will be followed by a much more powerful, feature rich standard-priced iPad 3 in 2Q12.”

Apple's Guru - Steve Jobs leaves us at 56

Steven Paul Jobs, co-founder, chairman and former chief executive of Apple Inc., passed away Wednesday.

A visionary inventor and entrepreneur, it would be impossible to overstate Steve Jobs’ impact on technology and how we use it. Apple’s mercurial, mysterious leader did more than reshape his entire industry: he completely changed how we interact with technology. He made gadgets easy to use, gorgeous to behold and essential to own. He made things we absolutely wanted, long before we even knew we wanted them. Jobs’ utter dedication to how people think, touch, feel and interact with machines dictated even the smallest detail of the computers Apple built and the software it wrote.

Jobs was born in San Francisco on Feb. 24, 1955, and adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs of Mountain View, California. He was a techie from a young age, often sitting in on lectures at Hewlett-Packard in Palo Alto while attending Homestead High School in Cupertino. He eventually landed a summer job there, working alongside Steve Wozniak.

Jobs enrolled in Reed College in Portland, Ore. in 1972, but dropped out after six months – he later said he “didn’t see the value in it.” He eventually returned home to California. He got a job at Atari, renewed his friendship with Wozniak and started hanging out with the Homebrew Computer Club. After trekking to India in 1974 — a trip he, like so many others, made to find enlightenment – Jobs returned home and looked up Woz.
The two of them launched Apple in 1976. Their first project, the Apple I, wasn’t much to look at — just an assembled circuit board. Anyone who bought it had to add the case and keyboard. But it was enough for Jobs to convince Mike Markkula, a semi-retired Intel engineer and product marketing manager, that personal computing was the future. Markkula invested $250,000 in the fledgling enterprise.

The Apple I begat the Apple II in 1977. It was the first successful mass-market computer, and easy to use, too. That would become a hallmark of Apple under Jobs.

The Apple II had a huge impact on the tech business, but cheaper alternatives, like the Commodore 64 and the VIC-20, quickly eroded Apple’s market share. IBM’s open PC platform eventually won out over Apple’s closed approach, and the die was cast. The PC dominated the market.

Still, Apple was by any measure a success. By the time Jobs was 25 in 1980, he was worth more than $100 million. Not that it mattered to him.

“It wasn’t that important because I never did it for the money,” he once said.

Apple once again shook up the industry with the Macintosh, announced in 1984 with a now-iconic Super Bowl ad challenging IBM. The Mac was a revolutionary step forward for personal computing — the first mass market computer to use a mouse-driven, user-friendly graphical interface. It was influenced by – critics would argue lifted from — technology Jobs saw a few years earlier at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. It irreversibly changed how we interact with computers.

But then Jobs fell from grace. One year after the Mac’s introduction, Jobs was fired in a power struggle with CEO John Sculley. Jobs was devastated. He felt he’d let those who came before him – pioneers like David Packard and Bob Noyce – down, and he wanted to apologize.

“It was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the Valley,” he admitted in a 2005 speech.

But Jobs realized he loved what he did, and wanted to keep doing it. So he founded NeXT, a computer company, and a computer animation outfit that he renamed Pixar. As for Apple, it faltered in his absence. The company’s stock plummeted 68 percent, pushing Apple to the brink of bankruptcy.

But in 1996, Apple purchased NeXT and Jobs returned to the company he founded. It wasn’t long before he was once again back at the helm, and Apple’s ascent began.

One of Jobs’ first moves was to make peace with arch-rival Microsoft. That led to a $150 million investment from Microsoft, breathing new life into the moribund Apple. Jobs was once again firmly in control, and this time he would make sure he didn’t lose it.

He ran Apple with a firm hand, enforcing a policy of secrecy, while instilling an unrivaled dedication to design and an unwavering commitment to quality. These things mattered so deeply to Jobs that he became a micromanager, one said to have put as much thought into the boxes holding Apple’s products as the products themselves.

Apple’s incredible string of hits started with the iMac and continued with iTunes and the iPod in 2001, the iPhone in 2007 and 2010’s iPad. There were some misses along the way – Mobile Me and Apple TV – but Jobs, working with lieutenants like Tim Cook, made Apple one of the biggest companies in the world.

Jobs had always been the public face of Apple, but he began retreating from the spotlight in 2004 when doctors diagnosed him with pancreatic cancer. It was a rare form of the disease, one that could be treated, and Jobs survived. His health, though, continued to deteriorate. His liver failed in 2009, and Jobs took a six-month medical leave. He returned, but was rarely seen. He announced he was resigning as CEO in August, and Tim Cook replaced him as the head the company.

At a 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, Jobs shared the philosophy that drove him.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life,” Jobs said. “Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Auto Owners Beware -- D.C. Cops Throw Drivers in Jail for Expired Tags, AAA Cries Foul

In a city that hosts its fair share of murders and terror plots, Washington, D.C., police are cracking down on another threat to the nation's capital -- expired vehicle registrations.
To the frustration of forgetful drivers, Metropolitan Police Department officers are throwing people in jail for letting their tag renewals lapse. The practice provoked somewhat of a backlash last year after a local mother from Maryland was jailed for what in many places would be a routine traffic offense punishable by fine. But the department continues to reserve and exercise the right to throw drivers in the clink for missing the DMV deadline, no matter where they're from.

The practice has drawn the attention of AAA, the nation's largest motor club and travel organization, which is calling on the D.C. Council to review the policy.
"This is ridiculous," AAA spokesman John Townsend said, noting that surrounding jurisdictions would not arrest for the same offense.
Accounts from those who've been locked up suggest it is not just a tactic designed to give police an opening to hassle and root out bona-fide criminals. Townsend said in one case, police arrested a mother on her way to pick up her child from school, with her younger child in the car. In another incident, a D.C. resident on his way to meet up with his girlfriend was arrested and forced to spend the night in a series of holding cells.
A spokeswoman with the city's police said officers generally issue a $100 fine for registrations that have been expired for fewer than 30 days. But spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump noted that D.C. Code provides the authority to arrest for more egregious offenses.
"It is prohibited in the district to operate a motor vehicle that is unregistered. This is a crime that can result in arrest and a traffic citation," she said in an email.
According to D.C. Code, it is illegal to drive a vehicle without proper registration, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and/or imprisonment of up to 30 days.
But some of those taken into custody are puzzled. They say the district has bigger problems on its hands than delinquent registrations, and are hoping the city takes a second look at the practice.
"Of all places, D.C. could be using its time more prudently," said the D.C. resident who was arrested for registration violation in August 2010. The resident asked not to be identified because he doesn't want his online reputation ruined by being linked to criminal wrongdoing.
The individual detailed his experience in an interview with FoxNews.com, describing a roller coaster night that started when an officer pulled him over on his way to meet up with his girlfriend on U Street, a popular nighttime haunt for jazz lovers and revelers. He had recently moved from Maryland to D.C., and his registration was 10 days overdue.
He said he found it "a bit odd" when he was told to get out of the car, and handcuffed for the offense.
At first, it appeared the incident would be quickly resolved. His girlfriend was told to come to the precinct with $100 in order to get him out, he said.
She did that, but he wasn't released.
Instead, the traffic offender said he was transported from the precinct to another holding cell in the basement of a separate courthouse. His detainment lasted hours. Confused, at one point he asked an official whether the department processes a lot of people for registration violations.
According to his account, after the official replied yes, he made a crack about "hardened criminals." The official then snapped that he wouldn't be saying that if someone he loved got hit by someone else with an expired registration.
"That argument really does not make much sense to me," he told FoxNews.com. "An expired registration really has no bearing whatsoever on your ability to drive a car."
At about eight hours of detainment, the resident was released. When he finally returned to his car, he realized the police officer who moved it left it illegally parked with all the doors unlocked. On the car was a fresh $50 ticket.
"It's a nice cherry on top of the story," he said, noting the ticket was later thrown out. He accepted fault for the expired registration but questioned why that was an arrestable offense.
Days earlier, Maryland mother Nycci Nellis had a similar experience. Her registration was three months expired. She acknowledged being completely in the wrong, but said it had slipped her mind.
"I'm a mother of five and a business owner, it fell off my plate," said Nellis, a D.C. food and wine writer.
She spent the night in two jails, until her husband picked her up six hours later.
"They didn't make a single dollar off of me," she said. "I just don't understand."
D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh, whom AAA asked to investigate the matter, said the authority to arrest has been on the books for awhile but questioned whether the practice is prudent.
"I think it is an invitation to misuse," she told FoxNews.com. "I would want to know what the justification is."
She said an expired registration is not comparable to driving without a license.
"It doesn't speak to whether you're a danger," she said. "It might speak to your absent-mindedness."
Townsend claimed the policy of handing out fines for registrations expired for fewer than 30 days was implemented recently. D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said in an interview last year that the authority to arrest is "discretionary."
Perhaps demonstrating this policy, the D.C. resident who was arrested last year said he was pulled over again this past summer for a registration two weeks overdue. He received only a warning -- and acknowledged he's got to get better about renewing his tags.
But Townsend expressed concern with the current policy, and relayed the case of a woman who was arrested this past May for having a registration expired by 36 days. In that case, she had a three-year-old child in the car and was on the way to pick up her older child from school.
According to AAA, the arresting officer informed her the children would have to go to social services if she couldn't find someone to watch them while she was driven to jail. The mother, though, was able to convince a teacher to watch the children.
"There have been a number of other situations like this," AAA wrote in an email to Cheh Friday requesting the council take a closer look at the policy.

Italian Court Acquits, Frees Amanda Knox

An Italian appeals court Monday overturned American student Amanda Knox's conviction in the murder and rape of a fellow student, freeing her from prison and allowing her to return to the United States.
Knox collapsed in tears after the verdict was read. Her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, also was cleared of killing 21-year-old Meredith Kercher in 2007.

The court, however, upheld Knox's slander conviction for accusing bar owner Diya "Patrick" Lumumba of carrying out the killing. The sentence was set at three years, or time served, since Knox has been in prison since Nov. 6, 2007.
The Kercher family looked on grimly as the verdict was read after 11 hours of deliberations by the eight-member jury. Outside the courthouse, some of the hundreds of observers shouted, "Shame, shame!"
Yet inside the frescoed courtroom, Knox's parents, who have regularly traveled from their home in Seattle to Perugia to visit the 24-year-old over the past four years, hugged their lawyers and cried with joy.
"We've been waiting for this for four years," said one of Sollecito's lawyers, Giulia Bongiorno.
Hours later, Knox again was a free woman.
Corrado Maria Daclon, the secretary general of a foundation that has championed Knox's cause, said Knox told him as she left prison that she just "wanted to go home, reconnect with her family, take possession of her life and win back her happiness."
Daclon was in the car with Knox as she left Perugia's Campanne. Italian lawmaker Rocco Girlanda, who is close to the American, says she and her family will leave Italy on Tuesday aboard a commercial flight from Rome.
Prosecutors can appeal the acquittal to Italy's highest court. There was no word late Monday if they planned to do so.
Earlier Monday, Knox delivered a tearful 10-minute address in Italian to the packed courtroom asking them to allow her to return to the U.S. and saying she did not kill her British roommate.
"I did not kill. I did not rape. I did not steal. I wasn't there," Knox said.
"I've lost a friend in the worst, most brutal, most inexplicable way possible," she said of the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old Briton who shared an apartment with Knox when they were both students in Perugia. "I'm paying with my life for things that I didn't do."

Knox and Sollecito, Knox's former boyfriend from Italy, were convicted in 2009 of sexually assaulting and murdering Kercher, who was stabbed to death in her bedroom. Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison, Sollecito to 25. They both deny wrongdoing.
"I never hurt anyone, never in my life," Sollecito said Monday in his own speech to the jury.
Hundreds of eager observers gathered outside the courthouse ahead of the highly anticipated announcement, joining television vans that have been camped out for more than a week. One hundred reporters were being allowed into the subterranean courtroom.
Observers lined the street leading to the courthouse, taking pictures as the two vans carrying Knox and Sollecito from the prison to the court passed by.
Kercher's mother, sister and a brother traveled to Perugia for the verdict. They had expressed worry over the possibility of an acquittal but told reporters as deliberations were under way that they hoped the jury would do the right thing and not be influenced by the media's focus on the case.
"As long as they decide today based purely on the information available to them and they don't look into the media hype, I think justice will be found," the victim's sister, Stephanie Kercher, told reporters. She said the family was satisfied with the original verdicts.
She lamented that Meredith had been "most forgotten" in the media circus surrounding the case, with news photos more frequently showing Knox and Sollecito than "Mez" -- the victim's nickname. "It's very difficult to keep her memory alive in all of this," she said.
The family, however, said it could understand the Knox family's media campaign.
"They fully believe in her innocence. You can't blame them for that," said Lyle Kercher, the victim's brother. "But it's obviously hard for us."
As the verdict was broadcast live, hundreds of reporters and camera crews filled the underground, frescoed courtroom before Knox's address, while police outside cordoned off the entrance to the tribunal.
The trial has captivated audiences worldwide: Knox and Sollecito had been convicted of murdering Meredith in what the lower court said had begun as a drug-fueled sexual assault.
Also convicted in separate proceedings was Rudy Hermann Guede, a small-time drug dealer and drifter who spent most of his life in Italy after arriving here from his native Ivory Coast. Guede was convicted in a separate fast-track procedure and saw his sentence cut to 16 years in his final appeal.
Lawyers for Knox and Sollecito believe Guede was the sole killer, but the prosecution and a lawyer for the Kercher family say that bruises and a lack of defensive wounds on Kercher's body prove that there was more than one aggressor holding her into submission.
Knox said she had nothing more than a passing acquaintance with Guede, who played basketball at a court near the house, and didn't even know his name. Sollecito, who addressed the court before Knox, told jurors that he did not know Guede at all.
Sollecito was anxious as he addressed the court, shifting as he spoke and stopping to sip water. He said prior to the Nov. 1, 2007 murder was a happy time for him, he was close to defending his thesis to graduate from university and had just met Knox.
The weekend Kercher was murdered was the first the pair planned to spend together "in tenderness and cuddles," he said.
At the end of his 17-minute address, Sollecito took off a white rubber bracelet emblazoned with "Free Amanda and Raffaele" that he said he has been wearing for four years.
"I have never taken it off. Many emotions are concentrated in this bracelet," he said. "Now I want to pay homage to the court. The moment to take it off has arrived."