Boy bitten by jaguars improving

• NEW: Child now listed in stable condition, according to hospital


• Yellow jaguar "bit the clothing near the neck area"


• Witnesses say the little boy fell approximately 15-16 feet


• Zoo staff are trained to use fire extinguishers to ward off dangerous animals

(CNN) -- A child who fell into a jaguar exhibit at the Little Rock Zoo in Arkansas on Friday is now listed in stable condition, according to a hospital spokesman.

The 3-year-old boy's condition has been updated from critical to stable, according to a press release from Arkansas Children's Hospital obtained by CNN affiliate KARK.

The child, who is not being named, is expected to improve.

"We respect the wishes of the child's guardian, who asked that the child's name and any additional information not be shared at this time," said Dan McFadden, director of communications for the hospital.

Witnesses say screams for help rang out loudly after the 3-year-old boy slipped through the exhibit rail feet first, plummeting into the cat pit, according to a Little Rock police report.

The child was with his father and grandfather at the time of the incident. The father told Little Rock police he was leaning over the rail in an attempt to take a photograph of the animals and observed his son's feet go over the rail out of his peripheral vision. The child's grandfather says the little boy fell approximately 15-16 feet, police said.

Two jaguars in the enclosure attacked the toddler. "The black cat had bit the child on the foot area and the yellow jaguar had bit the clothing near the neck area," read the police report, quoting the grandfather.

Fire extinguishers were used to ward off the big cats in the exhibit, while a zookeeper lowered a ladder, climbed into the cat pit and retrieved the child, according to a statement released by the zoo.

Zookeepers said the rescued child was conscious and responding.

Though doctors said the wounds are not life-threatening, the toddler had an extensive scalp laceration, a depressed skull fracture and minor puncture wounds, according to the police report.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the child and the family. The safety of our citizens is of paramount value and our staff followed training procedures on rescuing the child and were able to respond quickly and efficiently and work with emergency personnel, said Bruce Moore, Little Rock city manager, in a statement.

City officials said a full investigation into the incident is being conducted.

Family settles lawsuit in mauling death of boy at Pittsburgh Zoo

CNN's Carma Hassan and Chandler Friedman contributed to this report.

Family mistakenly told son was dead

State and local police both told the parents of Justin Priest, right, that he had died -- only to later find out it was all a mistake.

• A young man is killed in a car crash late Wednesday in Juneau, Alaska


• State troopers, then Juneau police tell Justin Priest's parents he's dead


• News site: The parents go to their son's house, and he opens the door


• Juneau police chief: "It was our mistake, and we are sorry"

(CNN) -- You are told -- twice-- that your son has died, once by a state trooper and then again by a local police officer.

What do you do?

Express thanks, and perhaps frustration, that it's not true.

An Alaska family rode this emotional roller coaster earlier this week. And on Friday, Justin Priest -- the man whose parents believed had died -- said his family is "very private," but hopes some good comes from getting the story out so no one else has to endure a similar nightmare ride.

"We wanted to put a little pressure on the police department to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again," Priest said. "And I think we achieved our goal."

It is true that Justin D. Priest was pronounced dead at the scene late Wednesday after the car he was driving slammed into a tree in Juneau, police announced in a news release. Two other passengers in his vehicle were injured, including one "with apparent life-threatening injuries."

When something horrible like this happens, law enforcement officers have the unenviable job of notifying next of kin.

So, Juneau police reached out to the Alaska State Troopers, trying to get information on a Justin Priest from his parents in Palmer to determine if their son was in Juneau at the time of the accident.

"Instead, ... the communication got mixed up," Juneau Police Chief Bryce Johnson said. "We somehow communicated it wrong, and they thought that we wanted to tell the family that their son had died in the crash."

That's what troopers did, going to the Priest home in Palmer before dawn to relay the horrific news.

Then, Priest's father called Juneau police to verify it was his son who died in the accident. A Juneau officer said it was.

But a different Justin Priest had died, one who was 33, as police noted in their press release, and from Juneau.

The Justin Priest whose parents were contacted is 29, according to the Alaska Dispatch News, and from south Anchorage, about 570 miles away by air or boat and 850 miles by car from Juneau.

The parents of the 29-year-old thought their son was dead when they went to his house early Thursday morning.

They knocked on the door. And guess who answered, according to the Dispatch News?

Their son Justin, alive and well.

"Justin?" his father asked, the news website reported. "It's Justin! Praise Jesus, we thought you were dead."

The mixup got back to Juneau later Thursday. Police there issued an updated press release, apologizing "for our error" and "for any anguish our mistake has caused."

Johnson, Juneau's police chief, talked directly to the living Justin Priest's father by phone.

"He told me what they went through, and I was left speechless," said a choked up Johnson. "From my perspective, after hearing all that they did, I was talking to a great man. I was left with an immense amount of respect for him."

After this incident, Johnson said Juneau police would review its dispatch recordings, talk to officers about following procedures, and possibly change protocols if it makes sense.

What the police chief is not doing is shirking blame for what happened.

"It was our case, our responsibility," Johnson said. "...The family deserves for us to acknowledge that it was our mistake, and we are sorry."

Century-old time capsule found

A time capsule from 1901 was sealed inside a statue of a lion that sits atop the Old Massachusetts State House in Boston.

The Old Massachusetts State House, built in 1713, is maintained by the Bostonian Society, which opened the time capsule on Friday.

The capsule was placed inside during renovations in 1901 by local coppersmith Samuel Rogers.

The Bostonian Society said the process of extracting documents "that are old and probably fragile will need to be slow and careful."

A 1901 Boston Globe article predicted the time capsule, which included photographs and news clippings from the day, would "prove interesting when the box is opened many years hence."

None of the current staff at the Old Massachusetts State House knew about the capsule until they were made aware by a descendent of Rogers.

• Time capsule hidden since 1901 in Boston is discovered


• It holds photographs, campaign buttons and news clippings from the day


• The copper box is found in a statue atop the State House

(CNN) -- A time capsule hidden for more than a hundred years at one of Boston's most popular tourist attractions was opened on Friday in Boston.

According to the Bostonian Society, which maintains the 1713-built Old Massachusetts State House, the rectangular copper box containing a variety of artifacts from 1901 was sealed inside one of two iconic statues -- a lion and a unicorn -- that have been a familiar site atop the Old State House for a couple of centuries.

The Bostonian Society didn't -- or couldn't -- fully divulge the 113-year-old time capsule's contents, explaining that "the process of extracting documents that are old and probably fragile will need to be slow and careful." But a Boston Globe article from February 24, 1901, detailed what went into the box, which the story predicted would "prove interesting when the box is opened many years hence."

According to the Globe, the box included the photographs and autographs of local statesmen such as Massachusetts Gov. Winthrop M. Crane and Boston Mayor Thomas Norton Hart, as well as news clippings of the day from several city newspapers and even a "letter to posterity from the reporters of the Boston Daily newspapers assigned to City Hall."

It also included a photograph of the "5th Massachusetts Regiment on its way to Framingham to be mustered in as U.S. volunteers for service in the war against Spain," as well as "campaign buttons for McKinley, Roosevelt and John D. Long for vice president."

The box was sealed inside the lion's head by Samuel Rogers, a local coppersmith who was part of the crew renovating the nearly 200-year-old State House. Although the occasion was detailed in the city's largest newspaper, the Bostonian Society said its current staff was unaware of the time capsule until they received a letter from a descendent of Rogers alerting them to it.

Riding down a volcano at 95 kph

Careening down an active volcano at 95 kph on a narrow board? It happens only at Cerro Negro in Nicaragua.

Neither too large nor too small for sliding down (roughly 1,500 feet from peak to base), the smooth, denuded conditions on Cerro Negro make it the ideal place for such madness.

With mostly your feet for brakes, it's pretty easy to eat dirt and rocks on the way down.

The boards are plywood reinforced with Formica with metal mounted on the bottom. There's a rope to hold. Variations are constructed by companies operating out of Leon, Nicaragua.

The hike to the top of Cerro Negro takes about an hour.

The surrounding landscape exhibits a bleak beauty.

Volcano boarding was invented in 2004 when a genius named Daryn Webb decided to ride down the mountain on a small refrigerator removed from a hotel minibar.

Excursions from Leon cost about $30, including transportation and use of that all-important safety suit.

"To our knowledge, volcano boarding is only possible on Cerro Negro," says Timothy Brauning of Bigfoot tour company. "In parts of South America, and other parts of the world, there is something called 'sand boarding,' but this is nothing like volcano boarding."

Cerro Negro is the youngest volcano in Central America. Since its birth in 1850 it has erupted 23 times, the last in 1999 just before the sport of volcano boarding took hold.

• Tourist daredevils career down Nicaragua's Cerro Negro on thin boards at speeds up to 95 kph


• Cerro Negro is the world's only "volcano boarding" venue


• Various small companies lead volcano boarding excursions out of the city of Leon


• The sport was invented in 2004 when Daryn Webb rode a small refrigerator down the hill

(CNN) -- On some forgotten day in 2004, Cerro Negro, a soot-colored volcano in Nicaragua, was host to an unusual visitor.

On the steep flank of the mountain, a man was bent low to the basalt scree, laboring upward.

On his back teetered a small refrigerator, recently removed from a hotel minibar.

Daryn Webb had a plan, and for someone intent on "riding" a fridge down the side of an active volcano, a great deal of optimism might be assumed too.

What happened when Webb reached a suitably daring altitude, jumped aboard his fridge and set to his ambitious plummet isn't recorded, though he did survive to concoct more hair-brained schemes.

Nobody I've met is sure about the fridge.

Perhaps it wasn't sturdy enough for high-velocity volcano travel, or perhaps there was a disappointing, crawling end to the journey.

Undeterred, Webb's next experiment on Cerro Negro involved a mattress, and, later, his front door.

Perhaps because his home was getting a little breezy and running low on appliances, he eventually gathered some tools and wood and knocked up the world's very first volcano board, later to belt down the same volcano with more success.

Unique conditions for fun

Almost a decade on and a successor to Webb's prototype is wedged under my arm as I plod through the sun-washed scrub beneath the cone of Cerro Negro, aka The Black Hill.

Ahead, a 20-strong scrambling chain of fellow volcano boarders heading to the summit is a shock of orange against the dark basalt -- we're all donned in convict-style luminous jump suits.

As I clamber up (the hike to the top takes about an hour), crunching the brittle rock formed by cooled lava under-boot, a thin breeze blunts the formidable heat.

The sun is high, and the sky unmarred by clouds.

It's tough to think of a more dramatic place to play in, and it's about to get more so.

"Check this out guys!" hollers Jessie, our dreadlocked guide from Quebec, as she motions to a mass of pale rocks, beneath which steam leaks out into the thick air.

Not far beneath our feet, the world burns.

Cerro Negro is a baby in geological terms, the youngest volcano, in fact, in all of Central America -- some boast in an area with such a fund of them.

Since its birth in 1850 it has erupted 23 times, the last in 1999 just before the sport of volcano boarding took hold.

Jessie reminds us that The Black Hill doesn't just appear menacing, it really is.

Another eruption is overdue.

This is probably the only place in the world you can book a tour to go volcano boarding. There are a few reports of people trying something similar in Vanuatu, but the sport hasn't taken hold there.

Neither too large nor too small for careering down (roughly 1,500 feet from peak to base), the smooth, denuded conditions on Cerro Negro make it the ideal place for such madness.

The boards have evolved from the mini-fridge first used to slide down the hill.

"To our knowledge, volcano boarding is only possible on Cerro Negro," says Timothy Brauning of the Bigfoot tour company, which leads volcano boarding trips. "In parts of South America, and other parts of the world, there is something called 'sand boarding,' but this is nothing like volcano boarding.

"Because of the surface of the volcano and the weather conditions constant at this volcano, we are able to slide down at speeds up to 95 kph.

"When the volcano erupts, the prevailing winds push all of the ash and small pebbles to one side of the volcano, while the actual eruption happens on the other side of the volcano causing a smooth surface on the west side of the volcano."

"Three-two-one, go!"

We all eventually heave ourselves to the top of a ridge, which curves around to the launching point.

To the east rise other peaks in the Los Maribios volcanic chain, and beyond them, the Pacific glimmers.

A smudge, jet black, covers the eastern side of the mountain -- a cooled lava flow from the 1999 eruption -- while most of the surrounding land is a sultry and baked expanse, so hot it dances.

The city of Leon is below too, the country's largest after the capital, and launching point for tours like this by Bigfoot.

From our vantage point, the angle of the slope looks too wild to be rideable, though Eric Barone might argue otherwise.

The landscape around Cerro Negro exhibits an austere beauty.

The Frenchman descended the slope on a bicycle in 2002, achieving a world record of 172 kph on gravel, before wiping out and breaking, according to Jessie, "pretty much everything you can break." Meaning bones.

"Who's up?" Jessie asks.

Our silence is fractured by a few nervous giggles

Then a girl strides forward to claim pole position, goggles up and sits down on the board, which is rectangular and made of plywood reinforced with Formica and with metal mounted on the bottom.

There's a rope to hold in your hands.

Variations on the theme are constructed by individual tour companies operating out of Leon.

Instructions are terse and delivered by Jessie with mock gravity: "Elbows in, feet forward, good to go."

The girl and board crawl off with a sound of wood crunching rock, then momentum builds and she's soon just a soft orange mote chased by a smoky scar, like a jet trail.

Then I'm up.

"Ready?"

"Yep"

"Three-two-one, go!"

Scattering gravel

The board edges forward and scatters gravel, the world tilts downward, air whistles by.

I realize early that I'm close to sliding off, but I'm too committed now so I don't bother to brake by tapping my feet, and instead let the blurry landscape whip by with gathering pace.

Then, at what will prove my terminal velocity, the board slips sideways.

Basalt has little in common with other surfaces where you might encounter a board with a thrill-seeker on top -- snow and sand, for example.

It's hard, abrasive and plunging face down into it will spoil the rest of your vacation photos.

I see the spill coming in plenty of time though, and I pull the volcano boarding equivalent of the ejector seat, hurling myself sideways.

When I hit the hard stuff I've managed to scrunch into a ball, and it only takes me a second to realize I haven't broken "everything you can break."

In fact, I'm fine.

I rejoin the board, take a second to drink in the vista from a new level, halfway down, and push off for a second time.

Speed records

Back at the truck I watch the others descend.

A few crash, but nobody stays a crumpled heap or shouts in anything but elation.

Several local companies offer volcano boarding excursions, which cost about $30.

Nearby I spot our driver wielding a police-style speed gun, and when we're all reunited in the truck the top speeds are disclosed.

"First place: Stephen 65 kmh."

I'm first!

An Australian guy, who claims second place, looks crushed.

I win a paltry orange wristband, but it's the prestige that counts.

It lasts until someone reminds us of the course record: 97 kmh (60 mph).

On the ride back to Leon I give silent thanks to the inspired people of the world: the ones whose minds run off on all manner of daring tangents, like the flanks of Cerro Negro.

The ones who admire not just the aesthetics of the wilds, but the possibilities too.

And most of all the ones who stare up at active volcanoes and think: "I wonder if I could ride my fridge down that?"

Volcano boarding can be booked through various local companies including Bigfoot based in Leon. Cost of $29 includes transportation, safety equipment and board.

Park admission is an additional $5. Tours run most days, year round, weather permitting.

Stephen Fabes is a British medical doctor and freelance writer specializing in adventure travel. He's currently cycling across six of the earth's continents and blogs at cyclingthe6.com.

Attack ads, but limited TV time

• Bill Clinton plans two trips back to Arkansas before midterms


• Obama's strategy is to avoid the "wartime President" label


• Latinos see LGBT advances as an example worth following

Washington (CNN) -- CNN's John King and other top political reporters empty out their notebooks each Sunday on "Inside Politics" to reveal five things that will be in the headlines in the days, weeks and months ahead.

Insights on the reluctant "wartime President" and a concerned former President were part of a trip around the "Inside Politics" table that also highlighted an effort to leverage Latino political might, Rand Paul's minority outreach and a dilemma as GOP groups try to undermine potential Libertarian spoilers.

1. Back to the future: Bill Clinton adopts Arkansas as a 2014 project

For political junkies of any ideological persuasion, watching Bill Clinton on the stump is a treat, and it's an added bonus when he is back home in Arkansas.

Bill Clinton: There's no place like home

This past week, he was in fine form as he tried to give a boost to embattled Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor and other Arkansas Democrats, including gubernatorial candidate Mike Ross.

Missed it? Not to worry. Jonathan Martin of The New York Times tells us you will get another chance. Maybe two.

"I'm told he's not just going back once, he's going to go back two more times to Arkansas: when early voting begins later this month, John, and then right before Election Day," said Martin. "As one longtime friend of Bill Clinton told me -- who knows him better than anybody -- said if he could, he'd be doing direct-mail pieces."

While the former President does know several of the candidates on the ballot in Arkansas, Martin notes this involvement isn't motivated just by his friendships.

"He also cares about retaining some kind of Democratic strength in a state that has gone to the right, and I think he wants to try and make it at least potentially viable for his wife in 2016," said Martin.

2. The current commander in chief bemoans 'wartime' label

President Obama was first elected on a promise to get U.S. troops out of the Middle East, but he will wind down the final two years of his term directing a sustained military campaign against the terror group ISIS.

And unlike George W. Bush, who embraced the "wartime President" label after the September 11, 2001, attacks, this commander in chief prefers not to be characterized that way.

Obama's optics on ISIS

Julie Pace of The Associated Press took us inside the White House debate over how to handle the balancing act.

"One of the concerns is that they don't want to present him as a wartime President, because he was campaigning as a person who got the U.S. out of wars, but they also want to make sure that he looks like he is managing the situation," said Pace.

"So while you're not going to see the President making trips to war zones overseas, you are going to see more pictures of him meeting with commanders at the Pentagon, perhaps traveling to bases around the country. The whole idea is to show that even though he'd rather be talking about other things, he's still on top of this."

3. Latinos see LGBT advances as an example worth following

As Latinos look to maximize their political clout, Ed O'Keefe of The Washington Post says some key activists have an example of steady, if sometimes slow, progress.

O'Keefe shared reporting about a recent Arizona summit of Latino, legal and labor activists, which took place just as the Supreme Court declined to hear challenges to several state laws allowing same-sex marriages.

For Latinos who at times are frustrated with both political parties, and other obstacles, O'Keefe said the big week for LGBT rights was not unnoticed.

"They are modeling this a lot on what the gay rights movement has done over the past two decades," said O'Keefe. "Obviously they had a very good week. The hope is to accelerate that and potentially make some gains in the next few cycles."

4. Rand Paul goes to Ferguson and promises he is a different kind of Republican

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul spends a lot of time and energy promising to expand the Republican tent, and trying to prove wrong skeptics in the African-American community who cite, among other things, past statements questioning provisions of the landmark Civil Rights Act.

This past week, he was off to Ferguson, Missouri, and Nia-Malika Henderson of The Washington Post reported on why Paul wanted to make the trip and how it fit into his larger strategy.

"What's going to be interesting to see from Rand Paul is if these are conversations that he continues," said Henderson. "Part of it is he obviously wants to expand the Republican Party, but he's also got the challenge of whether or not he's going to be a leader in his own party on moving that party, not only in talking about criminal justice reform, but also in talking about race and racism and discrimination."

5. TV time scarce, so GOP allies look for digital ad platforms to target Libertarians

Pro-Republican super PACs are nervous that several Libertarian candidates in key Senate races are shaping up as spoilers, and they are looking to find ways to peel off some of their support.

But they are also encountering a problem: TV ad time is scarce in the final three weeks of the campaign, especially in the big battleground states.

North Carolina is one of the biggest concerns. Most GOP strategists believe that if the election were held today, Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan would win, in part because of support for Libertarian candidate Sean Haugh.

So the Chamber of Commerce and other groups are looking for ways to try to boost Republican Thom Tillis by taking after Haugh. But with TV time so scarce, the effort has forced a search for digital advertising platforms.

And more old-school tactics also are likely to be added to the mix: phone banks and direct mail.

Football players charged in sex abuse

• New: Seventh suspect surrenders to police on Saturday


• An alleged hazing ritual results in charges against seven high school football players


• Upperclassmen allegedly turned off the locker room lights, howled and abused freshmen


• Superintendent: "Incidents of harassment, intimidation"

(CNN) -- It may have been endured as an ugly rite of passage for rookie football players to ascend to the ranks of gridiron warriors, but when upperclassmen allegedly sexually hazed freshmen in a New Jersey high school locker room, it crossed a legal line.

Seven of them faced charges as of Friday, and police had taken six into custody. A seventh surrendered to police on Saturday. Prosecutors are not naming them because they're juveniles.

At Sayreville War Memorial High School, proud of its state champion team's years of gridiron triumphs, shame has emptied the bleachers, silenced the cheers and snuffed out the floodlights. The superintendent has halted this year's football season because of the allegations.

"There were incidents of harassment, intimidation that took place on a pervasive level, in which the players knew, tolerated and in general accepted," Superintendent Richard Labbe said.

In a statement, Labbe said the board of education "takes this matter extremely seriously and thus will continue to make the safety and welfare of our students, particularly the victims of these horrendous alleged acts, our highest priority."

Jeers, harassment, attacks

Cloistered in the dressing room, older players allegedly flipped off the lights and filled the room with jeers as they accosted and sexually harassed four of their younger targets in four separate incidents.

The complaints allege that between September 19 and September 29, one or more of the teens "held the victims against their will, while other juvenile defendants improperly touched the juvenile victims in a sexual manner," Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey and Sayreville Police Chief John Zebrowski said in a statement.

They penetrated at least one of them, prosecutors allege.

Officials have not disclosed details, but a Sports Illustrated article indicated that it likely did not involve intercourse.

Three are accused of aggravated sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, conspiracy to commit aggravated criminal sexual contact, criminal restraint, and hazing for engaging in an act of sexual penetration.

Four more players, plus one of the first three, face counts of aggravated assault, conspiracy, aggravated criminal sexual contact, hazing and riot for allegedly participating in the attack, Middlesex County prosecutors said.

Disappointment, division

The Sayreville Bombers, who took the state championship three out of the past four years, had launched into a promising season this year.

Now parents used to applauding their sons' conquests on the field are upset they have been benched for the duration.

"I've never seen so much dedication out of my son, and I want him to play the rest of this season," a mother said at a school meeting to the roar of applause. Despondent players vented frustration over not being able to finish what they so confidently started.

They are at odds with parents and players who broke the allegations. That group is less vocal and has declined to be interviewed on camera, afraid to voice grievances out loud.

On Saturday, Mayor Kennedy O'Brien announced the creation of the Sayreville Coalition of Community Leadership, a group that includes clergymen and former mayors, "to help in the healing process."

"Over the past few days, Sayreville has been hurt, has been embarrassed and has many, many questions about what has happened," the group said. "We leave those questions to the Sayreville Police Department and the board of education, which we salute for their professionalism and direction through these difficult times. Our group is focused on healing."

Coalition members will attend an anti-bullying community event Sunday night that was organized after the hazing scandal broke.

"What has made Sayreville such a special place is the people," the coalition statement said. "We love Sayreville. It is a wonderful community of people who are dedicated to one another. This is a time to come together and to pray, as we rebuild and focus on the future."

The despair haunting school hallways has infected the surrounding working-class neighborhood, turning into the fear of jail time.

CNN's Ray Sanchez, Ben Brumfield, Miguel Marquez and Kristina Sgueglina contributed to this report.

Did Wendy Davis ad go too far?

• Wendy Davis attacks her GOP opponent with an ad featuring an empty wheelchair


• Her opponent, Greg Abbott, is partially paralyzed and uses a wheelchair


• It's a Hail Mary by a candidate who polls show trailing badly in the race's final weeks

Washington (CNN) -- Wendy Davis is attacking her partially paralyzed Republican opponent Greg Abbott in the Texas governor's race -- with an ad that features an empty wheelchair.

"A tree fell on Greg Abbott. He sued and got millions. Since then, he's spent his career working against other victims," a narrator says of the wheelchair-bound Abbott.

The spot is a Hail Mary from the Democratic state senator who is badly trailing in the race. Abbott led Davis 54% to 40% in a recent CBS/New York Times/YouGov poll, and there are few signs she's likely to close that gap before the November 4 election.

The ad argues that Abbott successfully sued for his 1984 injury, but later as a Texas Supreme Court justice and state attorney general opposed similar efforts from other people suing hospitals and corporations.

"Abbott argued a woman whose leg was amputated was not disabled because she had an artificial limb," the narrator says. "He ruled against a rape victim who sued a corporation for failing to do a background check on a sexual predator. He sided with a hospital that failed to stop a dangerous surgeon who paralyzed patients."

Abbott's use of a wheelchair has been featured prominently in some of his own ads -- including a biographical spot where he says he rolled up a parking garage's ramps to strengthen his arm after a tree fell on him in 1984, leaving him partially paralyzed. In another, he says, "a guy in a wheelchair can move faster than traffic on some roads in Texas" as he touts a transportation funding plan.

Abbott spokeswoman Amelia Chasse blasted the Davis ad, saying it "completely disqualifies" Davis -- hinting that it could hurt her in future campaigns, too.

"It is challenging to find language strong enough to condemn Sen. Davis' disgusting television ad, which represents a historic low for someone seeking to represent Texans," she said. "Sen. Davis' ad shows a disturbing lack of judgment from a desperate politician, and completely disqualifies her from seeking higher office in Texas."

Wendy Davis violated Texas election law, GOP opponent alleges

First lady botches name at rally 7 times

• First lady Michelle Obama mispronounces Iowa Senate candidate's name seven times


• Former President Bill Clinton made the same mistake a few weeks ago


• Obama also confused Braley and his father, calling him a Marine Corps veteran

Washington (CNN) -- The next time Michelle Obama goes to rally for a candidate at a campaign event, she might want to take a good look at the sign pasted on the front of her podium.

Speaking at an event for Iowa Senate candidate Bruce Braley, the first lady mispronounced the Democratic hopeful's name not once, not twice, but seven times in front of a crowd of supporters.

"I'm very excited to be here to support your next Senator from Iowa, our friend Bruce Bailey," the first lady said commencing her speech on Friday.

"Iowa, if you want a leader that shares your values and will stand up for your families out in Washington, then you need to elect Bruce Bailey to the U.S. Senate," she said again a few sentences later.

Obama continued to mispronounce the Braley's name five more times until she was interrupted by an audience member, who made her aware of her continued slip-up.

"Braley?" she asked, looking quizzical. "What did I say? I'm losing it," she laughed. "I'm getting old."

"Vote dot Bruce Braley dot com," she finally said, correcting herself, to some very loud applause.

"I know where I am. I know what I'm doing," she reassured the crowd.

Republicans were quick to criticize the first lady for her mistake.

First lady botches name of Dem Senate candidate at rally via @thehill @JTSTheHill -- http://t.co/VpzTNrmP9n #iasen http://t.co/cDdstY8VH6

— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) October 11, 2014

WH Legal Counsel might want to prepare for a call from Bruce Braley, gotta avoid a "litigious situation" over mispronouncing name #IAsen

— Brad Dayspring (@BDayspring) October 10, 2014

If a conservative Republican made the mistake that Mrs. Obama just made by calling Braley by the wrong name, it would be the biggest story!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2014

"First lady botches name of Dem Senate candidate at rally," Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer tweeted.

"WH Legal Counsel might want to prepare for a call from Bruce Braley, gotta avoid a "litigious situation" over mispronouncing name #IAsen," National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Brad Dayspring tweeted.

Donald Trump also weighed in.

"If a conservative Republican made the mistake that Mrs. Obama just made by calling Braley by the wrong name, it would be the biggest story!"

Key Midterm races to watch

At least the first lady wasn't the first high-profile Democrat to make this exact same blunder.

At the Harkin Steak Fry just a few weeks ago in Iowa, former President Bill Clinton also botched Braley's last name.

"You know what you ought to do to honor the Harkin legacy -- and that is to elect Bruce Bailey," Clinton said.

Later, in what could have simply been the case of a tangled tongue, the first lady also made an incorrect comment about Braley's past.

"As the son of a schoolteacher -- and I love his mom too -- As a Marine Corps Veteran, Bruce worked his way through college, waiting tables, working at a grain elevator, building bridges with a county roads department," Obama said.

Braley is not a Marine Corps veteran, although his father, Byard Braley, was. The first lady was referencing Braley's parents in the beginning part of the sentence.

Opinion: Turkey's tough choice

• Gönül Tol: Turkey may be joining the anti-ISIS coalition to suppress Kurdish separatists


• The vote does not signal intervention against ISIS any time soon, she says


• Tol: The PKK has effectively become the West's best hope for on-the-ground troops


• The fight against ISIS has also empowered the PKK militarily, she writes

Editor's note: Gönül Tol is the founding director of The Middle East Institute's Center for Turkish Studies and an adjunct professor at George Washington University's Institute for Middle East Studies. The views expressed in this commentary are entirely those of the author.

(CNN) -- Turkey is in a tough spot. It has ISIS militants threatening the Syrian border town of Kobani, inching ever closer to confronting Turkish security forces. In addition thousands of Syrian Kurds, fleeing ISIS attacks, have massed along its border, adding further to Ankara's troubles.

Amid mounting pressure to become more active in the U.S.-led international coalition against ISIS, the Turkish parliament last week overwhelmingly authorized its military to make incursions into Syria and Iraq; also to allow foreign troops to operate out of Turkish bases. The move has been greeted in Western capitals as a welcome sign that Turkey is finally fully on board with the anti-ISIS coalition.

Yet the Turkish parliament's actions herald neither a complete about-face in policy toward Syria nor immediate military action against ISIS. Indeed, Turkey's reasons for joining the war may be more to do with suppressing Kurdish separatists and removing the al-Assad regime than with destroying the jihadist group.

Toppling the leadership in Damascus and keeping in check the Syrian Kurds who are closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, have long been Ankara's priorities in Syria.

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The wording of last week's parliamentary resolution -- which states that "the terrorist elements of the outlawed PKK still exist in northern Iraq" -- suggests that Kurdish separatists still remain the Turkish government's top concern.

The vote does not signal intervention against ISIS any time soon: despite thousands of Syrian Kurdish refugees and ISIS's fast advance towards Turkey's southern border, Ankara seems unwilling to act. Turkey's defense minister Ismet Yilmaz said: "Don't expect an imminent step after the approval of the authorization request."

Rather, the Turkish government is likely to give its full cooperation to the campaign against ISIS so that it can secure agreement of a U.S.-backed no-fly zone in Syria: this, Ankara believes, would address both concerns.

Turkey thinks that Assad regime's ability to attack mainstream opposition forces from the air has strengthened ISIS, causing the Free Syrian Army to flee and allowing the Islamic militants to capture the vacant territory. Enforcing a no-fly zone over Syria would ground al-Assad's air force and boost rebels fighting to topple him: it could also establish a Turkish military presence, ridding northern Syria of Kurdish fighters linked to the PKK and smothering the autonomous Kurdish region. Turkey has become increasingly uneasy about the emergence of yet another Kurdish entity on its frontier after the PKK-affiliated Syrian Kurdish groups established autonomy in northern Syria.

The military and diplomatic boost that the PKK has received through its effective fight against ISIS has also worsened the situation for Ankara. In response to the growing ISIS threat, the PKK, the Peshmerga, and the People's Protection Unit (the PKK-linked Kurdish militia group fighting in Syria), have established a united Kurdish front, with the PKK militants coming to the aid of Peshmerga fighters and halting the jihadi group's advance into the autonomous region of northern Iraq. The People's Protection Unit was the main force battling ISIS, and it helped thousands of Yazidis escape from the western part of the region as ISIS attacked.

The PKK has effectively become the West's best hope for on-the-ground troops

Gönül Tol

The PKK has effectively become the West's best hope for on-the-ground troops, winning the group positive reviews in Western media. Since the group started its assault against ISIS in northern Iraq, there has been a lot of talk in Western capitals about removing the PKK from the terror list.

READ: Who is doing what in the coalition battle against ISIS?

The fight against ISIS has also empowered the PKK militarily: Turkey is concerned that that weapons sent to the Peshmerga might ultimately end up in the hands of the PKK at a time when Ankara is moving forward with a deal that would disarm its group. The Turkish government puts the blame for this on the West but Ankara's overtures towards its own Kurdish minority have been mostly strained by its own short-sighted Syria policy.

The ongoing conflict around Kobani has underscored the many challenges the Syrian war poses for the peace process Ankara launched in 2012 in an effort to end the 30-year old Kurdish insurgency. The intensified shelling in Kobani has angered Kurds on the Turkish side of the border, who have blamed the Turkish government for allowing ISIS to fester and not doing enough to stop its assault against Kurds.

Turkey's reluctance to get involved for fear of empowering Kurdish militants in Turkey is now contributing to the growing discord between Kurds and the government. Last week, after reports that Turkey closed the border gates to impede the flight of Kurds from Kobani, Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK's imprisoned leader, warned that if ISIS carried out a "massacre" in Kobani then the peace process with the PKK could end.

If engaged by Ankara, the PKK-linked groups in Syria could be integrated into the moderate Syrian opposition and become an effective fighting force against the al-Assad regime. But the Turkish government's increasingly harsh rhetoric against the group signals that such a shift in Ankara's thinking is not in the works. Last week, Erdogan said "While the ISIS terror organization is causing turmoil in the Middle East, there has been ongoing PKK terror in my country for the last 32 years, and yet the world was never troubled by it. Why? Because this terror organization did not carry the name 'Islam.'"

If Turkey keeps seeing the PKK a bigger threat than ISIS activities in Syria, then the legislation passed last week is unlikely to lead to a deeper involvement of Turkey in the fight against the jihadist group.

READ: Exclusive: From school teacher to ISIS member

The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of Gönül Tol.

Woman boss says sorry in sexism row

A WOMAN business leader has had to backtrack over controversial comments she made about not employing women of child-bearing age.

President of the Entrepreneurs’ Association (Circulo de Empresarios) Monica de Oriol apologised a week after saying she preferred hiring women older than 45 or younger than 25 to avoid dealing with pregnancies and legislation protecting mothers. “I have been a victim of myself. I apologise,” she said.

Men and women are equal, said Oriol during an interview with Cadena Ser.radio station. “We are equal to men: we work just as hard and produce just as much. Most of the people working in my company are women. We were the first ones to introduce the cheque guarderia (financial aid to help parents whose children go to a nursery school),” said the mother of six.

Oriol made her controversial statements at the 25^th Plenary Session of the Latin American Entrepreneurial Council held in Madrid. She said: “If a woman gets pregnant and she cannot be fired until her child is 11 years old, who will the entrepreneur hire?” She answered her own question saying she was in favour of hiring women younger than 25 and older than 45.

Shortly thereafter, she released a statement saying her words had been misunderstood. “If they are not hired is because of barriers that were established with the good intention of making it easier for people to get a job, but they have had the opposite effect,” she said in her statement.

This not the first time that Oriol’s statements spark controversy. In April she proposed lowering the minimum wage of less qualified workers, maintaining it was wrong for regulations to require companies to pay minimum wage to workers “even if they are worthless.” She later admitted to having made a mistake and apologised.

Schumacher slowly waking up

LEGENDARY F1 driver Michael Schumacher is slowly waking up from his coma according to his son.

The 45-year-old seven time world champion suffered serious brain injuries in a ski-ing accident in French resort Meribel in December 2013.

Since then he has been hospitalised and then cared for in a specially built medical suite at his Swiss mansion and his progress has been agonisingly slow.

Speaking to commentator Jean-Louis Moncet Mick Schumacher said that it was not the 'hit' he took when he fell and struck a rock that caused the damage, but rather the mounting of a camera on his helmet.

Moncet told Europe 1 radio station: "I saw his son and he told me that Schumi is waking up very slowly; very slowly.

He added: " Although things are going at a slow pace, he has a lot of time, I would say he has his whole life in front of him to get back on track.'

Last month Schumacher's former boss at Ferrari, Jean Todt, visited him, and afterwards said: "'What's important is that he lives and that his family is with him. We really believe that things will get better. He needs time and to be left alone."

Denia sees 11.1 per cent homes price rise

THE price of re-sale homes rose 0.3 per cent in the third quarter in the Valencia Region with Denia seeing an 11.1 per cent increase.

The average price of re-sale property stood at €1,309 per square metre in the third quarter, representing an increase of 0.3 percent from the previous quarter. This value remains 20.6 per cent below the Spanish average which was €1,647 per square metre, a fall of the previous quarter by 0.5 per cent. This was the lowest drop in prices in the last four years according to the report by Fotocasa.es

In Alicante province, prices rose 1.6 per cent with the largest increase recorded in Denia of 11.1 per cent. The average price in Alicante province is €1,333 per square metre, compared to €1,327 per square metre in Valencia and €1,146 in Castellon.

For those looking to buy, Valencia Region remains amongst the cheapest for property, coming in fourth in the country with Murcia, Extremadura and Castilla La Mancha being the only regions with cheaper prices.

Madrid says no to Uber ride-share

MADRID’S regional government has joined Cataluña in pursuing ridesharing service Uber.

The company uses a smartphone application to connect passengers with drivers in an ostensibly private arrangement that licensed taxi-drivers condemn as unfair competition.

The scheme launched last April in Barcelona, where new regional laws will protect cabdrivers and fine Uber drivers. The service reached Madrid some weeks ago and Uber predictably failed to present an administrative licence within the time limit stipulated by autonomous government.

At present Uber users do not risk being sanctioned but both the company and drivers face fines of between €4,000 and €6,000, with €18,000 for repeat offenders.