7.0 Magnitude Earthquake hits New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands

A powerful 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck off New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands in the South Pacific, the US Geological Survey said Friday, but there was no tsunami warning in effect.

There were no immediate reports of damage from the quake, which hit at 3.16 am (1616 GMT Thursday).

In a revised statement the USGS said the quake hit at a shallow depth of 4.6 kilometres (2.9 miles), 125 kilometers (80 miles) northeast of Tadine in the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, and 135 kilometres southwest of Vanuatu.

The USGS lowered the magnitude from 7.3 after seismologists reviewed the event.

A series of aftershocks, the most powerful measuring 5.9-magnitude, rumbled through the area after the quake.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no warnings or advisories in effect following the quake.

The area has been hit by a series of powerful earthquakes and aftershocks since December 26 last year when a 7.3-magnitude quake which struck near Vanuatu.

The Loyalty Islands, part of the French territory of New Calendonia, are in the "Pacific Ring of Fire" known for its seismic and volcanic activity caused by friction between moving plates in the Earth's crust.

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Eric Mangini Is Fired

The Cleveland Browns announced on Monday that head coach Eric Mangini has been fired which didn't some as a huge surprise as speculation on Mangini's future had been rampant for several weeks. Now that he has been dismissed, the Browns turn to finding their next head coach -- a search that will not include Mike Holmgren.

Holmgren moved into a front office role with the Browns earlier this year and there was some speculation that he could hire himself as the head coach. He says that won't be happening -- at least not this year.

"I was hired to be the president of the Cleveland Browns. I think this year I've grown into the job. Having said that, I am also a coach and will always be a coach. To tell you right now that I would never coach again -- here or any place -- wouldn't be honest. But as of right now, my job is to find the best coach available for this job. That's what I'm trying to do. And that does not include me right now. I probably won't coach again. But I won't rule anything out."

It's interesting that Holmgren left the door open for a possible return to coaching at some point. Frankly, he's as qualified as anyone to lead the Browns but it doesn't sound like he'll be taking the job.

Early names on the Browns possible replacement for Mangini include John Fox, Jon Gruden and Marty Mornhinweg.

Kristi Cornwell: Remains Identified as Missing Georgian Woman

Investigators have positively identified bones found in a wooded area in northern Georgia as those of Kristi Cornwell, a woman who has been missing since 2009.

Cornwell's identity was confirmed through dental records, a spokesman with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said today, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The skeletal remains were discovered Saturday by a passer-by in Union County. The location is about nine miles from where Cornwell, 38, disappeared 18 months ago, police said.

Police believe Cornwell was abducted on Aug. 11, 2009, as she walked along a rural road in Blairsville, Ga., while talking to her boyfriend on her cell phone. He told authorities she said a car was pulling up, and then she screamed, "Don't take me!" and the phone went dead, police said.

Authorities later found Cornwell's personal effects along the side of the road. A weeklong search, conducted by multiple law enforcement agencies, failed to uncover any sign of the missing woman.

Roughly one week before Cornwell's disappearance, a man had tried to abduct a woman who was walking in nearby Ranger, N.C. Authorities suspect the two cases are connected and have released a vehicle description and a suspect sketch.

In January 2010, authorities received a letter, purported to be from "a concerned grandmother." The anonymous sender said the suspect looked like her grandson. The writer also said the vehicle description matched a vehicle owned by her grandson.

"I was horrified to see a newspaper photo of a man that looks like my 27-year-old grandson," the letter stated, according to the Gainesville Times. "He drives a white Nissan Xterra with black bars on the front."

The author of the letter did not identify her grandson and concluded by saying she wanted to "give my grandson the benefit of doubt until proven otherwise."

Authorities released copies of the letter to the media, but they have been unable to identify the sender. However, they have an unnamed person of interest in Cornwell's disappearance, CNN reported.

The GBI did not immediately return calls for comment from AOL News today. Cornwell's family members have been instructed not to speak with the media, according to published reports.

A news conference has been scheduled for 2 p.m. today, Atlanta's WSB-TV reported.

ESPN NEWS Anchor Will Selva gets Suspended after Plagiarising Orange County Register Column

ESPN has suspended Will Selva for an indefinite period according to AOL's Fanhouse following Tuesday's show after Selva used words from a newspaper column without attributing them to the author of the original story.
Selva, an anchor for the overnight "Highlight Express" show on ESPN NEWS, took words directly from Kevin Ding's column in the Orange Country Register to set up game highlights for Tuesday's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs.
In an initial statement released from ESPN, Selva said he cut and pasted Ding's words into his script, but forgot to write his own words.
Selva, who has held an anchor position at ESPN for three years, apologized Wednesday for his plagiarism mistake.
"I made a horrible mistake and I'm deeply sorry. I did not live up to my high standards or ESPN's," Selva admitted in the statement. "I sincerely apologize for my sloppiness, especially to Kevin Ding, viewers and colleagues. In my 15 years in broadcast journalism, nothing like this has ever happened and I will make every effort to ensure it won't happen again."
According to ESPN's statement, Selva had been researching stories to prepare his script for the broadcast and came across Ding's column.
"This is something we take extremely seriously and we've taken appropriate action," said Josh Krulewitz, an ESPN spokesman. "We looked into how it happened and found that this very bad mistake was made because he should have been more thorough, even on deadline, not because he was intentionally trying to claim someone else's work as his own."
As for Selva's suspension, a network source said the length of the punishment is for an undisclosed period of time.
Ding heard the broadcast after returning to his hotel room Tuesday night. He responsed on his blog::
"Hey, Will Selva of ESPNNEWS. Glad you liked my last column so much. Try not to plagiarize it next time. ... Honestly, it wasn't my best lead, come to think of it. Sorry about that, Will. Unbelievable."