A series of portraits of American soldiers set to adorn roadside billboards in Minneapolis, site of next week's Republican convention, was abruptly cancelled by the billboards' owners, which feared they would be deemed disrespectful to the US military.
The shots of troops in between deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan by a New York City artist were to run in five US cities.
But CBS Outdoor abruptly changed course and has refused to post the billboards in Minneapolis, Miami, Florida; and Houston, Texas. A separate company has agreed to display the images on billboards in Atlanta. Curiously for the artists, the images remain up in Denver, site of this week's Democratic national convention.
One of America's biggest military contractors is being sued by a Nepali labourer and the families of a dozen other employees who say they were taken against their will to work in Iraq. All but one of the Nepalese workers were subsequently kidnapped and murdered. 
As Adam Boesel pedals an exercise bike, he sends power to a generator that converts his workout calories into electricity. Across the room in his small eco-friendly gym are half a dozen energy-efficient treadmills. On the roof, solar arrays gather more natural energy.
