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Story highlightsJason Day wins World Cup of Golf in MelbourneEdges Thomas Bjorn of Denmark by two strokesLeads Australia to team title with Adam ScottFilipino-Australian Day lost eight relatives to Typhoon HaiyanJason Day nearly pulled out of the World Cup of Golf after learning he had lost eight relatives to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.Instead he completed an emotional double victory Sunday in Melbourne as he claimed the individual title and paired with Adam Scott to lead Australia to team honors.After finishing with a final round 70 for 10-under at Royal Melbourne, Day said his Filipino mother Dening and his sisters had been in this thoughts throughout the event.They were in the gallery to watch the 24-year-old hold off Thomas Bjorn of Denmark by two shots in a tense final round."I am just happy that she is here and I get to hug her," he said. Read: Death toll rises from Typhoon Haiyan "It would have been the easiest thing for me to just go ahead and pull out of the tournament with what has been going on over the last week, just to be up there with my mum and support her," he added.Day lost his grandmother, an uncle and six cousins in the November 8 tragedy and he said that both he and World No.2 Scott would assist with the relief program."We will definitely be giving some money or raising money and trying to raise awareness to what has really happened over there. "To have that lead going into Sunday with all that stuff going on, to finally finish off and hit a great shot into 18 like I did and to win like that was a very big move in my golfing career."Scott, who has won the Australia PGA and Australia Masters title in the past month, continued his superb form by taking third in the individual standings.Their combined score left them 10 shots clear of the United States in the team category, Australia's first success for 24 years in the annual competition.Read: Golfer gets hole in one at World CupBjorn, who led after two rounds and trailed Day by just one shot heading into the last day, paid tribute to the winner."I couldn't be happier for Jason. He has gone through a rough time of late and for him to even be here is a big thing and then to go and go and win the golf tournament, and for him to also win the team event, is fantastic," he said.Scott will head to the Australian Open in Sydney this week, bidding a triple of the three main tournaments held in his country, only the second man in history to achieve the feat if he does emerge the winner.Day will also be competing at Royal Sydney. | 5sport
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Story highlightsAmnesty International said its locks and alarm system had been removedNotice on sealed front door warned people not to enter (CNN)Authorities have sealed off Amnesty International's office in Moscow, the human rights group said Wednesday, adding it did not know why Russian officials would take such a step.Staffers arrived at the office Wednesday morning to find it sealed with a notice from municipal authorities warning people not to enter, according to an Amnesty International statement.The locks and an alarm system had been removed, and the electricity supply appeared to have been cut off, the group said. "We do not know what prompted Moscow authorities to prevent our staff from accessing our offices -- an unwelcome surprise for which we received no prior warning," said Amnesty International's Europe Director John Dalhuisen."Given the current climate for civil society work in Russia, there are clearly any number of plausible explanations, but it's too early to draw any conclusions," he said, adding he hoped there had been a "simple administrative explanation" for it. Read More"We are 100% confident that we fulfilled all our obligations as tenants."Amnesty International said the locks on its office in Moscow were removed.Russian state-owned news agency RIA later reported the Department of Urban Property of Moscow changed the locks because Amnesty International was in arrears in paying its rent.Responding to that allegation, Dalhuisen said, "This bizarre claim is simply not true. Amnesty International received no advance notice about this and we have documents proving our rent for the property has been paid, up to and including October."He added that the Moscow office staff are seeking a meeting with municipal property officials Thursday to clarify the situation."We very much hope it can be resolved so we can get on with our pressing human rights work," he added.Amnesty International spokesman Conor Fortune told CNN the group rents its office directly from municipal authorities and has been a tenant there for more than 20 years. The Moscow office was searched in 2013, but this is the first time staff have been unable to access it, he said. Sergei Nikitin, head of Amnesty's office in Moscow, posted photos on social media of the notice affixed to the door. The notice said the building was "property of a city of the Russian Federation" and that nobody could enter without being accompanied by a municipal official. Amnesty International has been critical of Russian authorities on a wide range of human rights violations, including the government's role in the Ukraine and Syria armed conflicts.On Tuesday, the group called for an investigation into allegations of torture in detention made by Russian activist Ildar Dadin. In a letter to Russian-language news site Meduza, Dadin said he was beaten at a Russian prison colony, hung up by handcuffs and threatened with rape.Amnesty is also due to launch a report later this month on the repercussions of Russia's "foreign agents" law, Fortune said. Human rights activists claim the Russian government has used the law to demonize independent groups such as Amnesty that accept foreign funding and challenge government actions.CNN's Sebastian Shukla also contributed to this report | 3news
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Story highlightsPolice alleged to have detained hundreds of men while implementing strict security measures in CologneAuthorities facing claims of racial profiling after using term "Nafri" to describe those checked (CNN)Cologne's chief of police has rejected criticism over accusations that officers used racial profiling while conducting identification checks on New Year's Eve. Authorities in the city had stepped up security measures for revelers after last year's spate of sexual assaults which were blamed on refugees of North African descent.More than 1,500 officers were deployed to the inner city, with additional support of several hundred federal police present at railway stations. Officers screened around 650 "primarily Arab-looking" men as they traveled through Cologne's main train station, a spokesperson told CNN. Six were formally arrested, three of whom already faced warrants for their arrest. Authorities provided no details as to the nationalities of those in custody. A further 300 young people were stopped in Deutz, the station before Cologne's main terminus, due to overcrowding, police added. Read MoreJUST WATCHEDRefugees in Germany fear deportationReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRefugees in Germany fear deportation 04:09Speaking to the press, Cologne's police chief, Jurgen Mathies, admitted officers had specifically targeted men who appeared to be North African to undergo checks, but defended their actions."I reject this negative criticism. We have decided to take these measures as we had insights. We have observed the situation. Together with the federal state police we have seen a highly aggressive group of men out of nowhere and this is why we have decided to implement our security concept as previously decided.Related: How populism could shake up Europe"Our experiences, from last New Year's Eve and previous raids that took place, showed we needed to check those people. They were not gray haired older men nor blonde young women," he added. Police have also faced a public backlash after using describing those detained as "hundreds of Nafris" in an update to their social media channels. #PolizeiNRW #Silvester2016 #SicherInKöln: Hundreds of Nafris screened at main railway station. Details follow. https://t.co/VYMQuT6B7u pic.twitter.com/LWrtAXAouq— Polizei NRW K (@polizei_nrw_k) December 31, 2016
"Nafri" is a colloquial term used in Germany for North Africans, police told CNN. When asked about it by German media, Mathies said, "The term was used in a very unfortunate way. It is used within the police internally and also in the media. But again, it is very unfortunate it was used in the midst of this situation, I regret this very much and I cannot take it back."Some say the expression is free of any racial connotations, while others, including politicians from the left leaning SPD and the Greens, say it is highly dehumanizing.JUST WATCHEDRefugees react to Cologne attacksReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRefugees react to Cologne attacks 03:05The increased security operations also saw officers carrying out random ID checks throughout the night while two dozen police vehicles including armored personnel carriers, water cannons and concrete roadblocks were also in place to maintain peace throughout the festivities. "Thanks to the good collaboration of all security partners, the City of Cologne, the Cologne Police and the Federal Police, our New Year's Eve in Cologne was cheerful and safe," said Gergor Timmer, spokesman for Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker, who cited the enhanced security measures behind the city's safe holiday period. "This turned out to be a success. The citizens of Cologne and our guests from all over the world reclaimed the places and streets around the cathedral." Roughly half a million visitors attended the New Year's Eve celebrations in Cologne to watch a firework display, with an estimated 50,000 revelers around the Cologne Cathedral and another 10,000 partygoers in the old part of the city.Analysis: Why does Angela Merkel suddenly want to ban the veil?Last year's attacks fueled a political firestorm over immigration in Germany after police described the perpetrators as gangs of Arab or North African men. Over the last 12 months anti-refugee sentiment has increased in the country. A recent poll suggested 82% of Germans were unhappy with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's open door policy towards asylum seekers. This appeared to be confirmed by her party -- Christian Democratic Union -- suffering a slump in last year's Berlin election.Opinion: Merkel may be the biggest loser of 2017In an effort to court German voters ahead of the country's national election later in the year, Merkel has promised to stand by those seeking refuge in the country but has said she will ensure German security through the implementation of new tougher laws. CNN's Chris Burns contributed to this report from Berlin. | 3news
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Story highlightsDNA tests reveal long-lost King Richard III probably had blond hair, blue eyesScientists 99.999 percent certain remains found in parking lot are those of monarchExperts say chances are 6.7 million to one that skeleton belongs to last Plantagenet kingAttempts to trace male line through Y chromosome failed because of 'false paternity event'New DNA tests reveal Britain's long-lost King Richard III was blue-eyed and likely blond-haired, but they also raise intriguing questions over whether he -- and other monarchs before and since -- should have been on the throne at all.Experts researching the case of the "King in the car park" -- a set of remains dug up from beneath a parking lot in the central English city of Leicester in 2012 -- now say they are 99.999% positive that the bones are those of Richard III, who died at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.Genetic specialist Turi King, from the University of Leicester, said analysis of various genetic markers offered tantalizing clues to Richard III's appearance -- suggesting that he was not the dark-haired, steely-eyed monarch portrayed in well-known historical images."[There are] genes that we know are involved in coding for hair and eye color ... The genetic evidence shows he had a 96% probability of having blue eyes, and a 77% probability of having blond hair, though this can darken with age."While there are no contemporary portraits of Richard -- all known works post-date his death by at least 25 to 30 years, leaving the artists who painted them open to charges that they were influenced by propaganda -- the DNA findings suggest the arch-framed portrait of Richard, owned by the Society of Antiquaries of London, is the closest to his real appearance.Tests suggest Richard III had blue eyes and -- at least as a child -- blond hair; this portrait is likely to be most accurate. Photos: The remains of King Richard III Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIIn 2012, experts began digging away at the area and established that it was part of the friary and that a skeleton, hastily buried in an uneven grave, was that of King Richard III, who was killed in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field.Hide Caption 1 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIMitochondrial DNA extracted from the bones was matched to Michael Ibsen, a Canadian cabinetmaker and direct descendant of Richard III's sister, Anne of York. Hide Caption 2 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIScientists at the University of Leicester say their examination of the skeleton shows Richard met a violent death: They found evidence of 11 wounds -- nine to the head and two to the body -- that they believe were inflicted at or around the time of death. Here, the base of the skull shows one of the potentially fatal injuries. This shows clearly how a section of the skull had been sliced off.Hide Caption 3 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIThe lower jaw shows a cut mark caused by a knife or dagger. The archaeologists say the wounds to Richard's head could have been what killed him.Hide Caption 4 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIA wound to the cheek, possibly caused by a square-bladed dagger, can be seen here.Hide Caption 5 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIThis hole in the top of the skull represents a penetrating injury to the top of the head.Hide Caption 6 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIITwo flaps of bone, related to the penetrating injury to the top of the head, can clearly be seen on the interior of the skull. Hide Caption 7 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIThe image shows a blade wound to the pelvis, which has penetrated all the way through the bone.Hide Caption 8 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIHere, a cut mark on the right rib can be seen. Hide Caption 9 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIAs the skeleton was being excavated, a notable curve in the spine could be seen. (The width of the curve is correct, but the gaps between vertebrae have been increased to prevent damage from them touching one another.)Hide Caption 10 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIThe body was found in a roughly hewn grave that experts say was too small for the body, forcing it to be squeezed into an unusual position. The positioning also shows that his hands may have been tied.Hide Caption 11 of 11JUST WATCHEDChemical clues reveal Richard III's dietReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHChemical clues reveal Richard III's diet 01:48JUST WATCHEDCracking the genetic code of Richard IIIReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCracking the genetic code of Richard III 01:49King said the latest scientific evidence, combined with statistical analysis -- published in Nature Communications and funded by the Wellcome Trust and Leverhulme Trust -- provided "overwhelming" proof of the skeleton's identity: "At its most conservative, it's 99.999% certain," she explained. "The likelihood ratio is 6.7 million to one that these are Richard's remains."Richard III's bones reveal fatal blowsBut while detailed genetic testing and painstaking genealogical research helped confirm that one living relative on Richard's female line, Michael Ibsen, was an exact match to his mitochondrial DNA, and found a second, previously unknown but near-perfect mitochondrial match in New Zealand-born Londoner Wendy Duldig, scientists weren't able to trace a living relative on the male line, using the Y chromosome.And that has raised an intriguing possibility: that neither he, nor many other monarchs, actually had a cast-iron claim to the throne.Genealogy expert Kevin Shürer said it had been relatively straightforward to trace potential living relatives of Richard III along the male line, since records of the peerage -- Britain's "nobility" -- made it simple to follow such families back century after century.But once five potential living relatives from the male line, linking Richard III to his predecessor Edward III (because Richard himself had no surviving children) and back down the generations via John of Gaunt (1340-1399) and Henry Somerset, the fifth Duke of Beaufort (1744-1803), had been identified, things became more complicated.One of the five was quickly eliminated from the puzzle because his Y chromosome DNA did not match the other four, suggesting a relatively recent "false paternity event," and when King carried out checks on the Y chromosome DNA of the remaining four, she discovered there was no match there either, revealing at least one other case of "false paternity" in the generations of fathers and sons leading back to Edward III."We can't tell you where that break is, because we simply don't know -- it could be at any one of the 19 links in the chain between those two individuals," Shürer said, adding that while each link in that chain was equally likely to be the one which was "broken," if the break occurred in the first few generations, around Richard III, it could bring various monarchs' right to rule into question.JUST WATCHEDThe king in the parking lotReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHThe king in the parking lot 02:47JUST WATCHEDSkeletal remains are of Richard IIIReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSkeletal remains are of Richard III 01:40JUST WATCHEDTracking down Richard III's remainsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTracking down Richard III's remains 02:30"There are some well-known and important people on that chain," he said. "You have two monarchs, Richard and Edward III; if the break occurred on the Yorkist line ... then that might raise questions about the legitimacy of the Yorkists' claim to the throne. "The Lancastrian line comes through John of Gaunt's side of the family ... so if the break were on that side, it raises questions about the legitimacy of the Lancastrian monarchs, and because there was a Tudor link to that line as well, also the Tudors."But he said the Tudors also had another argument for their right to rule, since they "took the throne by force, at the Battle of Bosworth." And he was quick to point out that whatever the implications of the latest discovery, current monarch Queen Elizabeth II's position was secure."We're certainly not saying the House of Windsor has no legitimate claim to the throne, far from it," Shürer explained. "Royal succession doesn't work like that. There is no linear succession line between Edward III and Elizabeth II. Yes, they are related, but the whole point of monarchy is that over several centuries it takes various twists and turns."Monarchy is about opportunity and chance as much as it is about bloodline."Richard III's taste for luxury revealedScientists to sequence Richard III's genome | 3news
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Maiduguri, Nigeria (CNN)They were stolen from their beds in a school dormitory -- hundreds of teenage girls kidnapped by gunmen. A few dozen escaped to tell of the night that Boko Haram militants brought terror to a Nigerian girls' school. From the rest, silence. No sign of where they had been taken or what could have happened to them for almost two years, even as the world screamed #BringBackOurGirls.JUST WATCHEDChibok kidnapping: New 'proof of life' videoReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHChibok kidnapping: New 'proof of life' video 00:54Hundreds of parents left, day after day, night after night, and then months with no information. Until now.Read MoreCNN has obtained a video of some of the "Chibok Girls" sent to negotiators by their captors as a "proof of life." The video had been seen by negotiators and some members of the government.But no one had shown the parents. Until now. Boko Haram victim: I cried for someone to help'Proof of life' recordingRifkatu Ayuba catches sight of her long-lost, desperately missed, now 17-year-old. "My Saratu!" she wails, reaching out to a laptop screen, the closest she's been to her child in two years. She is desperate to comfort her little girl, but helpless.Saratu Ayuba is one of 15 girls seen in the recording shown to some of the families for the first time at an emotional meeting this week. Wearing a purple abaya, with a patterned brown scarf covering her hair, Saratu stares directly into the camera."I felt like removing her from the screen," Ayuba tells us, desperate to pluck Saratu from the mysterious location where she is being held and bring her home. "If I could, I would have removed her from the screen."The video is believed to have been made last December as part of negotiations between the government and Boko Haram. It was released by someone keen to give the girls' parents hope that some of their daughters are still alive, and to motivate the government to help release them. The girls, their hair covered and wearing long, flowing robes, line up against a dirty yellow wall. They show no obvious signs of maltreatment.READ MORE: 800,000 kids displaced by Boko HaramScripted appealAs the camera focuses in on each of them, a man behind the camera fires off questions: "What's your name? Was that your name at school? Where were you taken from?"One by one, each girl calmly states her name and explains that she was taken from Chibok Government Secondary School. Only the occasional hesitation betrays a flicker of fear and emotion.As the two minute clip comes to an end, one of the girls, Naomi Zakaria, makes a final -- apparently scripted -- appeal to whoever is watching, urging the Nigerian authorities to help reunite the girls with their families."I am speaking on 25 December 2015, on behalf of the all the Chibok girls and we are all well," she says, stressing the word "all." Her intonation seems to imply that the 15 teens seen in the video have been chosen to represent the group as a whole. Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsIt's been three years since the "Chibok girls" were stolen from their families. For the first time, we see some of the girls alive in a video obtained by CNN. This is who they are.Hide Caption 1 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsMuwa DanielHide Caption 2 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsJuliana YakubuHide Caption 3 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsRamati YagaHide Caption 4 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsNaomi YagaHide Caption 5 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsSaratu AyubaHide Caption 6 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsNaomi ZakariaHide Caption 7 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsJummai Mutah Hide Caption 8 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsFalmata MusaHide Caption 9 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsMartha James Hide Caption 10 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsMaraima Yahaya Hide Caption 11 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsNaomi YahonaHide Caption 12 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsKwazuku HamanHide Caption 13 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsRifkatu Umar Hide Caption 14 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsHauwa Ishaya Hide Caption 15 of 16 Photos: A glimpse at the Chibok girlsRuth Amos Hide Caption 16 of 16The date given by Naomi matches information embedded in the video, suggesting it was filmed on Christmas Day, though whether that's true or whether the day was picked deliberately is unknown. Most of the 276 girls taken from Chibok on April 14, 2014 were Christian. They are believed to have been forced to convert to Islam by their terrorist captors.Their kidnapping -- and a lack of progress in tracking down and returning the girls -- sparked mass protests in Nigeria and across the world, with luminaries including Michelle Obama and Malala Yousafzai joining the social media campaign to #BringBackOurGirlsREAD MORE: Malala's letter to Chibok girls offers 'love, hope'
Classmate's lucky escapeThe Nigerian government says it has a copy of the "proof of life" video, and that it is in negotiations with those who supplied it to secure the girls' release, but says it remains unable to confirm or reject the recording's authenticity.Lai Mohammed, the country's Minister of Information, said there were concerns that the girls did not appear to have changed sufficiently, that they are not as different as one might expect, given the two years that have elapsed since their disappearance.JUST WATCHEDNigeria Senator: Chibok video obtained by CNN is credibleReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNigeria Senator: Chibok video obtained by CNN is credible 07:25CNN spoke to a classmate of the girls seen in the footage, who confirmed the identity of several of her friends. The soft-spoken teen, whose identity we will not reveal for her safety, was supposed to be at the school that Sunday night to sit exams along with the other girls, but made a last minute decision to go home, from where she could hear the school being attacked."We ran into the bush and stayed there for a month," she says.Watching the video, she becomes emotional, exclaiming 'Oh my God!' as she recognizes a close friend, points out another who was in the same hostel as her, and identifies one of the school's prefects, a leader in her class.While she considers herself one of the "lucky ones," the teenager says she still has nightmares about the experience."If I hear something on the news about them, it makes me have bad dreams and I cry," she confides.READ MORE: The women who escaped Boko HaramTwo years of painCrowded around, their eyes glued to the computer screen, three of the girls' mothers weep and hug each other.Rifkatu Ayuba, Yana Galang and Mary Ishaya made the 77 mile (125km) journey from Chibok to Maiduguri reluctantly, not knowing what was in store; accustomed to endless media requests and intrusions into their grief, they arrived world weary and impatient. Photos: In photos: Life after Boko Haram Photos: In photos: Life after Boko HaramAid worker and photographer Fati Abubakar captures the portraits and stories of those living in Nigeria's Maiduguri -- the heart of Boko Haram territory -- in her Instagram and Facebook series, "Bits of Borno." The city is also her home town."The Boko Haram insurgency has left a toll on our community, and the impact has been physical, psychological and economic," she explains. "There is a lot of trauma, but there is resilience as well. With this series I want to capture the strength, struggles, joy, sadness and the human spirit as the crisis abates and people move on." Click through the gallery to read more stories of Boko Haram's survivorsHide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: In photos: Life after Boko HaramIbrahim – "I don't know where my parents are. I don't know whether they died or are somewhere else after we all ran from our village. But some of my aunts are in another camp. I visit them occasionally. I live here in Kusheri (a new community that moved to Maiduguri). The Bulama (traditional leader) gave me a room. His family feeds me. I don't go to (formal) school but I have joined the other kids in the Islamic school in the neighborhood."Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: In photos: Life after Boko HaramSergeant Lawan – "I was an ex-soldier living in Bama when the Boko Haram terrorists came. They burned all of my property, my animals and killed my two sons. My son had married June 15th, 2013 and he was killed 1st September, two months after his wedding. We walked to Maiduguri and have been living here for some time now, but I struggle with food, clothing and a mattress to lay my head on. I still don't have food and I have a young 10-year-old and a wife to feed."Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: In photos: Life after Boko HaramKellu – "Myself, my sons, their wives, and their children ran to Maiduguri. It's 16 of us in four rooms. We've left everything behind. We don't have money anymore. Not even food. I want my sons to find jobs so the family can survive."Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: In photos: Life after Boko HaramBulama Mustapha – "I am the Bulama for the compound we live in. We are about a hundred in number. Since we moved to this neighborhood from Yimimi, Konduga Local Community, we haven't received help, be it clothing, food or anything. They (NGOs) wrote our names (down) 10 weeks ago but we haven't seen them again. We sell charcoal to help pay rent. Its 1,000 Naira ($5) a room per month and the landlord has started saying there will be an increase in rent to 3,000 Naira ($15). Most of us might end up being evicted. That is what we are worried about."Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: In photos: Life after Boko HaramHajia – "I come to the market at 6am and sit at my spot. I leave at 6pm. I check all of the women coming into Monday Market. We have to be strict. We have to ensure everyone passes by security checks. I'm dedicated to doing my job."Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: In photos: Life after Boko HaramYa Hajja – "Boko Haram attacked our village, Malari in Konduga Local Government, and killed my son. So my friend and I found a car and came to Maiduguri. We live with my other son, but he can't feed us all the time, so we beg on the street."Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: In photos: Life after Boko HaramMohammed – "I've a lot of problems with the university. It's seven of us in one room -- that's unhealthy. The water we fetch is also unhealthy. Then the mattresses we were given have all sorts of dirt on them. The toilet is terrible, it's a reservoir for infections. Lectures are 45 minutes per class because of the insurgency. Everyone wants to rush back home. We don't have even time with our tutors. And I'm a bookworm, I love studying, so that's an issue for me."Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: In photos: Life after Boko HaramBaana Hajja – "The Boko Haram terrorists went away with two of my siblings and my brother was shot on our way to Maiduguri. Even after finding safety here, we have lots of problems. Food, rent. We've too (many) issues. And there's not much trade. I sew caps but sometimes you can't even buy the thread because there's no money. The government and NGO food distribution is yet to reach our neighborhood."Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: In photos: Life after Boko HaramAnonymous – "She was so quiet it was disturbing," Abubakar recalls on meeting this anonymous subject. "I wonder what scars she came with. The mass relocation to Maiduguri during Boko Haram has brought a lot of the villagers to the town. And one wonders what they had to endure." Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: In photos: Life after Boko HaramFatime – "(Boko Haram) didn't touch me because they said I was old. So they left with the other women in the town, I heard the women screaming. I didn't sleep for days. But I continued living in the neighborhood, selling groundnut. The (Boko Haram) boys used to come and buy the peanuts as they passed. Day and night I thought of ways to leave the town. Eventually I ran. It took me a week to walk from the village in Baga to Maiduguri."Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: In photos: Life after Boko HaramBulama – "We used to live so peacefully with our elders, our neighbors, our families, before Boko Haram attacked our village. We had businesses and all of us were doing well, none of us had ever been idle. But then the terrorists chased us out and we ran to Maiduguri. We left with nothing but the clothes on our backs. We've lost everything and almost everyone: wives, children, parents. We don't know anyone, not a lot of people help with jobs. No one gives you a dime. We just sit under the tree, sew caps and go home. Occasionally we sell one and pay rent. We just hope to sell more caps to survive because all the (borders) for other businesses are closed and the terrorists will kill you at the borders if you attempt."Hide Caption 12 of 12But this time it was different: there was a rare of glimmer of hope.We told them we had important information to share with them about their daughters. Then we explained that we had a video of girls we believed to be their daughters and we wanted their help to verify it. Clad in boldly-printed headscarves and wrappers, the trio sat in the courtyard of a Maiduguri hotel, and watched intently as we hit "play." Within seconds, their worry-lined faces crumpled, the bottled-up pain of the past two years flowed freely. Hardly able to speak through the tears, Ayuba and Ishaya were able to point out their daughters, Saratu and Hauwa in the crowd of young women on the screen.READ MORE: Witness to terror: Nigeria's missing schoolgirlsPlea for negotiationsBut for Galang, there was no such reward for her journey: She looked and looked, but her daughter Rifqata was not among the captives shown in the video. JUST WATCHEDTaken girls of NigeriaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTaken girls of Nigeria 01:08Her heartrending sobs as she came to realize this were difficult to hear."We have seen enough," she says eventually. "We know that the girls are alive and they are hidden. We are not worried. Our daughters look well. "We have heard a lot of stories before but this video confirms that they are alive. The government should negotiate with Boko Haram."And there is comfort in this at least -- to know that, even after two years, there is still a chance the girls will be brought home to their families. "I didn't see my daughter but I now have more hope that she is alive," she tells us and her friends. "You can see what is yours on the screen but you can't get it."All we want is our daughters."READ MORE: Boko Haram escapees risking their lives to go to schoolREAD MORE: Kidnapped to kill - how Boko Haram turns girls into weaponsThis story was written by Bryony Jones in London, from reporting in Nigeria by Stephanie Busari, Nima Elbagir, Sebastiaan Knoops and Randy Haniel. | 3news
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Story highlightsAfter the Paris attacks, sales surged for the French translation of Ernest Hemingway's memoir of the cityThe French title of the book, "Paris est une fête," translates as "Paris is a party" in EnglishParis (CNN)Ernest Hemingway might have been surprised to learn that his novel, "A Moveable Feast," quickly became a source of comfort for many Parisians in the wake of the deadliest attack the city had seen since World War II."Then there was the bad weather" -- the opening sentence of the American writer's memoir of life in Paris during the 1920s rings true nearly a century later. His description of the damp chill in the French capital matched the mood on a freezing, rain-soaked Saturday night as Parisians struggled to come to grips with the aftermath of a deadly terror attack."All of the sadness of the city came suddenly with the first cold rains of winter," Hemingway wrote. He could easily have been describing the scene as shivering Parisians lit candles in the rain at the makeshift memorial that stands across the street from the darkened Bataclan Theater. On the night of November 13, gunmen stormed in, massacring more than eighty concert-goers there.Hemingway's love letter to the City of Light has long been required reading for many foreign visitors to Paris. Copies of "A Moveable Feast" stand prominently on display in the venerable English-language bookstore Shakespeare and Company, which Hemingway is said to have frequented in the 1920s.Shortly after November 13, the French translation of the 51-year-old book leaped to the top of the bestseller list on the French version of online book dealer Amazon and remained there for days.Read MoreSales also spiked at many independent book stores across Paris. "No more. It's sold out," said David Rey, co-owner of the bookstore "A Tout Livre." He said Hemingway's book has been the store's top seller for the past week.Valerie Caffier saw the same trend this week at Le Divan bookshop, where customers bought at least 47 copies of the book in a single day on Saturday. "It's become a form of resistance for Parisians against what happened," she explained. "The terrorists attacked during a very festive moment and this book is a symbol of a festive way of life."JUST WATCHEDParis: A moveable feastReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHParis: A moveable feast 01:28Part of the attraction may stem from the French title of the book, "Paris est une fête." The title translates as "Paris is a party" in English. "This is a city of light that loves to party, which was clearly darkened by these awful attacks last week," said Jean-Francois Douine, a customer who just purchased his copy of the French version. "So I think that's the reason for the book's recent success." Sporting wire-rimmed spectacles, elegantly twirled whiskers and an olive newsboy cap, Douine, perhaps unintentionally, resembled some of the characters in Hemingway's novel. "We have to live. We have to continue to go out," he said, with a hint of Gallic defiance. "We have to go to the stores, do our Christmas shopping and stick our tongues out at the terrorists."Several book store owners said that since the attacks, they have also seen a surge of interest in books about Islamist radicalism, which they attributed to customers trying to understand the ideology behind the violence. But several stores reported that sales of books on al Qaeda and ISIS have not compared to the rediscovery of Hemingway's Paris memoir.Interest in "A Moveable Feast" has undoubtedly been boosted by the fact that #Parisestunefete has become a patriotic hashtag slogan on French social media. But some contrarian Parisians do not appreciate this Hemingway-inspired form of online activism. "Literature became a hashtag," complained David Rey, co-owner of the A Tout Libre bookshop. "It reduces literature to a slogan, a kind of caricature of Paris," he said. "Paris: it (is) not a party any more."In truth, many residents said the city felt more empty than usual these days. This weekend, many of the city's famous cafes appeared sparsely populated.But across the street from the Bataclan Theater on Saturday night, by the light of flickering candles, several dozen Parisians braved the wind and rain to gather around an upright piano."Don't worry, be happy," they sang, repeating the Bobby McFerrin ode to the simple, good things in life. Soon after, they performed a full-throated rendition of Leonard Cohen's moody ballad "Hallelujah." The singers appeared determined to live up to Hemingway's immortal words: "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."CNN's Bradley Olson, Tim Lister and Antonia Mortensen contributed to this report. | 3news
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Story highlightsManchester United defeat JuventusRonaldo opens scoring with wonder goalUnited strike twice in closing stages (CNN)Manchester United scored two late goals to trump Cristiano Ronaldo's wonder strike and claim a dramatic 2-1 victory over Juventus in Turin Wednesday.A Juan Mata free kick on 86 minutes followed by an Alex Sandro own goal as injury time approached gave Jose Mourinho's side a win that looked unlikely for most of the match.Juventus had hit the woodwork twice before Ronaldo opened the scoring with a spectacular volley in the 64th minute.And although Juve came close to extending their lead through Miralem Pjanic and Juan Cuadrado, they somehow contrived to throw away the lead in the closing stages.That was of little concern to Manchester United who move back into second place in Group H above Valencia who defeated Young Boys 3-1 earlier Wednesday.Read MoreUnited boss Mourinho stormed onto the pitch and cupped his ears on the full time whistle to the chagrin of the of the home crowd who jeered loudly.Jose Mourinho gestures to the crowd after Manchester United beat Juventus.Afterwards the Portuguese, who had to be escorted off the pitch, said he should not have reacted. "I didn't offend anyone at the end, I just made a gesture that I wanted to hear them louder," he told reporters. "I probably shouldn't have done it, and with a cool head I wouldn't have done it, but with my family insulted, including my Inter family, I reacted like this."Mata told UK broadcaster BT Sport that it was a "very good night for us.""To get the three points against Juventus in Italy is amazing," he added.Read: Barca held by Inter but through to last-16Read: Liverpool left red-faced by Red StarRead: Was Ronaldo's bicycle kick greatest goal ever?Juve's fortress breachedJuventus came into the game on the back of a remarkable run of games that had seen them play 14, win 13 and draw one this season.They also hadn't lost a Champions League game at home since 2009 when they were beaten by Bayern Munich.It looked like another victory was on the cards after Ronaldo opened the scoring.Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring against Manchester United.The Portuguese striker, the Champions League record goalscorer, smashed a spectacular volley past United keeper David de Gea after running onto Leonardo Bonucci's lofted pass.Ronaldo played for United between 2003 and 2009 winning three Premier League titles as well as the 2008-09 Champions League.His goal Wednesday also came at the same end of the ground where he scored a spectacular bicycle kick for Real Madrid, another of his former clubs, earlier this year.Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after opening the scoring against Manchester United.Juventus had had the better of the exchanges before opening the scoring and could have added to their advantage before United equalized.Cuadrado fired over after linking up with Ronaldo while a long-range Pjanic shot dipped just over.The Italian side would come to rue that profligacy, though, when United were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Juve penalty area.Mata stepped up and clipped the ball over the defensive wall and past the despairing Wojciech Szczesny.Within three minutes, United were ahead. Another free-kick, this time from close to the touch line was swung in by Ashley Young and allowed to bounce before glancing off Szczesny, Bonucci and then Sandro as it dropped into the Juve net.Second best for the majority of the match, United players could hardly believe their luck at securing such a dramatic win. Luke Shaw (L) Juan Cuadrado prepare to compete for the ball.Juventus would have qualified for the last-16 had they held on for the draw.As things stand, a victory at home over Valencia in their next Champions League match will still ensure their progress.Manchester United face Young Boys next and know that a victory coupled with a Juve win or draw against Valencia ensure they also escape the group stages. | 5sport
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Story highlightsSarkozy calls the allegation that he took campaign funds from Gadhafi "grotesque"He challenges Saif al-Islam Gadhafi to produce proof of donations in 2007Sarkozy is running for re-election as president of France, with voting on April 22French President Nicolas Sarkozy has denied taking money from the Gadhafi family during his 2007 run for France's highest office, calling the allegation "grotesque."He said the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was "known for talking nonsense," and challenged his son Saif al-Islam Gadhafi to produce records of the donations.Sarkozy was responding to allegations which surfaced on the Internet ahead of the French presidential election scheduled for April 22. "I am sorry that a big channel like TF1 is taking from information from the documents from Mr. Gadhafi or his son," Sarkozy said in the interview, which aired on Monday night on TF1."When one quotes Mr. Gadhafi, who is dead, or his son, who is standing trial, the credibility is zero. And when you drag up their accounts with these questions you are asking, you quite degrade this political debate," he said in an attack on interviewer Laurence Ferrari.JUST WATCHEDFrench president: 'Too many foreigners'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHFrench president: 'Too many foreigners' 02:31JUST WATCHEDNo shock in France: Sarkozy will runReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNo shock in France: Sarkozy will run 06:38Gadhafi was toppled in a civil war last year and killed after several months in hiding. His one-time heir apparent, Saif al-Islam was captured by Libya's new authorities and is awaiting trial.It's the second time in as many weeks that Sarkozy has made headlines with a nationally televised interview.Last week, he said France has too many foreigners and is not integrating them properly."Today we have a problem," Sarkozy said on France 2 TV on March 6."Our system of integration is working worse and worse, because we have too many foreigners on our territory and we can no longer manage to find them accommodation, a job, a school," he said.France places a premium on national identity, pressing the population to put "Frenchness" before religion or national background.Sarkozy is running for a second term in office. He faces a strong challenge from Francois Hollande of the Socialist party and a range of candidates from smaller parties, including the far-right Marine Le Pen.If no candidate wins a majority in the first round, there will be a second round on May 6, with the top two finishers facing off. | 3news
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Story highlightsEnglish team goes from vegetarian to veganSays it is the first club in the world to do soAgrees with WHO report about processed meat (CNN)The World Health Organization report has rocked meat lovers around the world -- but it could not have come at a better time for a soccer club that has championed the idea of vegetarianism.Follow @cnnsport
Forest Green Rovers will go one step further Saturday when the club goes exclusively vegan. The team, which this season is leading the English fifth tier, says the initiative will make it "the world's first vegan football club."Having already dropped meat from its menu in 2011, Forest Green is now doing away with fish and milk products to provide a totally vegan matchday experience for fans."We stopped serving meat to our players, fans and staff about four seasons ago," the club's owner, Dale Vince, a local businessman who made his fortune in green energy, told Rovers' website.Forest Green used to play in black and white but Vince changed the club's colors when he took over in 2010."We've been on a mission since then to introduce our fans to this new world. When you drop the 'meat and two veg' approach, a whole new world of food options opens up. Read More"The gap between vegetarian and vegan food is actually quite small; it's a step rather than a leap to take. A lot of our food has been vegan for some time now, and this season we've taken the last small step."This week, the WHO released a report which placed processed meats, including bacon and sausages, in the same category as smoking and asbestos for causing cancer.JUST WATCHEDExperts: Stop pigging out on baconReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHExperts: Stop pigging out on bacon 02:34According to the report, eating as little as two slices of bacon can increase the risk of bowel cancer by 18%.It says around 34,000 cancer deaths per year have been attributed to diets high in processed meats.Vince, meanwhile, has used his environmental experience to change the way Forest Green operates.His company, Ecotricity, based in Stroud in the west of England, is reportedly worth around $154 million and has helped transformed the local area.In 2012, Forest Green achieved the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) gold standard for environmental performance.The club boasts an organic field, collects water under the pitch to use for irrigation purposes and became the first football club in the UK to go meat-free.Forest Green lost out in the playoffs last season to local rival Bristol RoversIt also uses a "mow-bot" which uses GPS technology to cut the playing surface without needing any human intervention -- and it even sends the groundsman text messages if it needs help.The buildings are fitted with recycled carpet and have been decorated with organic paint.While meat pies have a long association with British football in satisfying fans' hunger pangs, Rovers' partnership with Quorn, which specializes in vegetarian and vegan foods, has served up a menu to supporters of sweet potato burgers, fajitas and pizza.There's also vegan beer and cider on offer, as the club goes all out to promote its message."The meat and dairy industry is responsible for more emissions than all the world's planes, trains, cars and boats put together," Vince added.The club uses an irrigation system which collects water from beneath the playing field"It involves incredible animal cruelty and staggering numbers: in Britain alone, over one billion animals are eaten each year -- three million per day -- and that's not even counting fish. Each of these animals lives a short and awful life, and each of them consumes more food than their bodies provide us with. "Cows, for example, can take up to 10 times more high-quality plant protein -- grains and soya -- than they produce: 10 kg goes in, 1kg comes out, which is madness. And, of course, as the WHO report this week makes plain, meat is bad for human health, being a major cause of cancer. "Making these facts plain and demonstrating what a plant based diet looks, and tastes like, is an important part of our work."Meat industry groups have slammed the WHO report as biased and misleading."They tortured the data to ensure a specific outcome," said Betsy Booren, vice-president of scientific affairs at the North American Meat Institute.Would you support a vegan club? Tell us on CNN FC's Facebook page | 5sport
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Kingman, Arizona (CNN)A Christmas tree full of ornaments inside Lt. Brian Zach's office tells you Christmas is his favorite time of year. But the police officer knows presents aren't always perfectly wrapped under the tree. Zach, 40, met one of life's greatest gifts during a welfare check four years ago in Kingman, Arizona. Brian Zach was responding to a police call when he first saw the girl who'd become his daughter.The town is known as being the "heart" of historic Route 66 and most police calls concern theft or drugs or domestic violence. This time Zach was being asked to help on a case of child abuse. Waiting for him was a two-year-old girl named Kaila. Read More"My heart felt for this little girl who was covered in bruises. She just had a very strong spirit," Zach told CNN. "She had a skull fracture, brain bleed and a dislocated elbow." Kaila was taken from an abusive situation when she was just two years old.It wasn't the first time Zach had seen a child in need during his work. "I had a 13-month-old die. That was hard. It is something that is emotionally scarring that I relive every time I talk about it," Zach said. "Look, Kaila could be that little girl but God had a different plan." He made friends with Kaila as they first waited for social workers. And his kindness was remembered when authorities started looking for a foster family."The question that changed our life forever was, 'Would you actually consider being a placement home?' And we immediately said, 'Yes.'" Zach said.Kaila was embraced by the whole Zach family, and now has a big brother and a big sister.Kaila was only supposed to be with Zach and his wife and their two older children, Raina and Trevin, for a short time. "They said it would only be a couple weeks to a month until they could find a placement home for her. We played it week by week, month by month, court date by court date not knowing how long we would really have," Zach said. Police officer adopts homeless mother's opioid-addicted newborn While waiting, Zach often thought about where Kaila would live long-term. "If I stopped and thought about it, it would make me sick to my stomach not knowing what this girl's future would be if she left," he said, swallowing tears. "Having seen what happens when children are in the system ... it made me worry a lot more."The family started creating memories with Kaila, including trips to Disneyland and Hawaii. Now, four years later, Zach and his wife are her adoptive parents. Kingman, Arizona, is known as the heart of the historic Route 66.Detective Heath Mosby attended the same high school as Zach and they became closer friends on the force."We started out rookies together," he said. And though they knew each other well, Mosby had no idea what was coming for Zach. "I was awestruck! I never heard of any of our officers doing that," he said. "When it came down to adoption, it was like 'Wow!' ... Especially after the journey she went through. Brian Zach and Kaila share a father-daughter moment.Zach is of great value to the Kingman community, Mosby said. He's following in the footsteps of his forebears and mentors -- his father was a state trooper and his grandfather was one of the first motorcycle officers for the same agency where Zach is now a lieutenant. Their badges are displayed on a shelf in Zach's office. "It is very much in my blood. I feel very fortunate to have the career I've had and help the people that I've helped. You get to see the difference you make, you get to know the people you help and there are very, very kind people here," Zach said. Kaila is thriving in her new family.And for those who are on the fence about fostering or adopting, Zach says it's one of the best decisions he and his family have made. "Just do it. The process isn't as harsh or overburdened as we thought," Zach said. | 3news
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Story highlightsThe Irish government will look into conditions inside Ireland's mother-and-baby homesA historian claims Tuam registry office revealed death records of 796 children at one homeCatherine Corless says she asked for burial records but was told none existedBut Corless now believes she knows where the children may be buriedAs a little girl, Catherine Corless was always curious about the St. Mary's Mother and Baby Home in her hometown of Tuam, in County Galway, Ireland. She wondered what happened inside the stone walls of the home for unwed mothers and babies run by the Catholic sisters of Bon Secours.Decades later, as a local historian, she asked the Tuam registry office for the death records of children at the home from 1925 until its closure in 1961. She was horrified at what came back. "Hundreds of names. I just couldn't believe it," Corless said in an interview with CNN. "796 names in all. And I wanted to know who these children were."That simple act of historical research sparked a nationwide outcry -- and now a government investigation -- into the conditions inside Ireland's mother-and-baby homes that existed as recently as the 1980s. Corless' research raised several disturbing questions, including: How did the children die and what were the conditions inside the home? And, most important, for Corless, where were the children buried? JUST WATCHEDRemains of nearly 800 children missingReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRemains of nearly 800 children missing 01:06JUST WATCHEDMass grave of kids at unwed mothers homeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMass grave of kids at unwed mothers home 01:04Corless says she asked Bon Secours for burial records but was told that none existed. She says her efforts to find burial records at local government archives also turned up empty. She then cross-referenced the death records with local cemetery records but only found two of the children buried nearby. "I cannot understand why there isn't a burial record for 796 little precious children," she said.But Corless now believes she knows where the children may be buried: on the site of the former Tuam home, now part of a housing estate.All that is left of the home is a crumbling stone wall. But in an easily overlooked corner, there is a small walled garden dedicated to "those who are buried here."It's been known as The Children's Graveyard ever since 1975, when two boys playing in the neighborhood broke open a concrete slab and made a grisly discovery. One of them, Francis Hopkins, was 12-years old."We found a load of skeletons that were clearly that of children." Francis told CNN, "We were so frightened, we ran out and our parents told us not to go down there. The priest came to say a blessing and a few days later it was covered up again. And as far as we knew we called it a graveyard since then." Corless believes this small plot may be where at least some of the children are buried. It was once a disused sewage tank at the edge of the property to the Tuam home."If the children were not buried there and there are no burial records," says Corless, "then we need to find out: where are they?"During her research, Corless also found a 1947 state inspection report on the home. She showed it to CNN. There are several descriptions of "emaciated" children in the report. One child is described as so thin that "flesh hanged loosely from limbs."The vast majority of the deaths are under the age of one but children as old as nine are also recorded. Causes of death included measles, meningitis and whooping cough. During the worst years, particularly 1946 and 1947, several children were dying every month, sometimes even two in one day. CNN contacted representatives of the sisters of Bon Secours and asked them about the conditions inside the home and the children who died. In a statement they told CNN: "The Sisters of Bon Secours today said they were shocked and deeply saddened by recent reports about St. Mary's Mother and Baby Home, which operated in Tuam, County Galway from 1925 to 1961. In 1961 the Home was closed. All records were returned to the local authority, and would now be within the Health Service Executive, Co. Galway.The Bon Secours Sisters are committed to engaging with Catherine Corless, the Graveyard Committee and the local residents as constructively as they can on the graves initiative connected with the site.The Sisters welcome the recent Government announcement to initiate an investigation, in an effort to establish the full truth of what happened." The Tuam case is the latest in a string of issues linked to Ireland's former mother-and-baby homes, funded by the state but run by various religious orders. The government has now promised to investigate the many allegations, including forced separations, illegal adoptions, and claims that children were subjected to vaccine trials without parental consent. Specifically citing the work of Corless, the Irish government is also considering whether to excavate the possible burial site at Tuam."If this is not handled properly then Ireland's soul will be, like babies of so many of these mothers, in an unmarked grave," said Ireland's Prime Minister, Enda Kenny.Corless says she will continue to dig for more records of the home in Tuam but she doesn't necessarily want the site to be excavated. More important, she says, is erecting a memorial for the children-- if they are indeed buried there."The least they might have is a name over them," she told CNN. "Those illegitimate children need to be respected as much as any other child born. It might bring some justice and maybe healing to those mothers and families."READ: Reports of possible mass grave 'sickening,' Ireland's top Catholic clergyman says | 3news
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(CNN)Sofia Kenin's bid to defend her Australian Open title ended in disappointment on Thursday after she was knocked out of the tournament by world No. 65 Kaia Kanepi.The American, who was moved to tears in her post-match press conference, looked way off her best and was beaten in straight sets 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour. The 22-year-old Kenin had admitted to struggling with the pressure that comes with being champion and it showed -- she made 22 unforced errors against the experienced Kanepi, who dominated throughout with her aggression."I obviously felt like I couldn't find my rhythm. I was obviously too nervous," said Kenin, who praised Kanepi's performance."I'm not there 100% physically or mentally," added Kenin. "My game, everything, just feels really off. Obviously, it's not good. I just couldn't really handle the pressure. I'm not obviously used to this."Read MoreDespite a breakthrough season last year -- winning in Melbourne and reaching the final of the French Open -- nerves have been an issue for Kenin. Even after playing well in her first-round victory, she said she struggled to manage her emotions on court. Kenin's exit comes just days after French player Gael Monfils was also visibly emotional after being knocked out of the tournament. He too said he struggled with outside pressure and poor form coming into this tournament after such a difficult year. If Kenin struggled with the weight of expectation on her, that shouldn't take anything away from Estonian Kanepi, who hit 22 winners and was thoroughly deserving of victory. She will now face Croatia's Donna Vekic in the third round."I served really well today, I think this helped a lot," said the 35-year-old Kanepi. "My game plan was to play aggressive as I usually do."READ: The awkward art of the on-court tennis interviewSofia Kenin says she struggled with the pressure of being the defending champion.Barty battles throughElsewhere, world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty progressed into the next round after beating fellow Australian Daria Gavrilova 6-1 7-6 (9-7).Barty, who spent almost a year off the tour amid the pandemic, had won her first-round tie without dropping a single game but was given a much sterner test on Thursday. After breezing through the opening set, Australian Barty was forced into a nail-biting tie-break to settle the contest."I think it's just trying to be the best I can be every day, whatever that level is," Barty said after the match."Just making sure that I apply myself the best that I can so that regardless of the result I can walk off the court with my head held high. "Obviously having 12 months off is a little bit rusty, but certainly happy how I've been able to fight through the last couple of weeks." | 5sport
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Story highlightsJavier Ballesteros wins the amateur Madrid OpenThe 22-year-old is the son of the late five-time major Seve BallesterosSeve passed away in 2011 after a lengthy battle with a cancerous brain tumorSeve's close friend Jose Maria Olazabal captains Europe in the Ryder Cup this monthGolf fans grew accustomed to the sight of Seve Ballesteros lifting trophies aloft during his glittering career, and his son Javier is continuing the family tradition.Javier Ballesteros, son of five-time major winner Seve, finished on six-under par to clinch the three-round amateur Madrid Open.Seve, who won a record 50 European Tour events during his 33-year playing career, passed away aged 55 in May last year after a prolonged battle with a cancerous brain tumor."My father always told me that you have to play with what you got, and that's what I did," 22-year-old Javier, a law student in the Spanish capital, was reported to have said by AP."I thought about him a lot during the 18 holes and I dedicate this victory to him and my mother."JUST WATCHEDIs Olazabal ready for Ryder Cup?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHIs Olazabal ready for Ryder Cup? 07:05JUST WATCHEDWhat can Ryder Cup golfers expect?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWhat can Ryder Cup golfers expect? 03:20Javier's win arrived 12 days before his father's close friend Jose Maria Olazabal captains Europe in the Ryder Cup against the United States.The Spanish pair played together in four Ryder Cup matches between 1987 and 1993, winning three and drawing the other, and are widely regarded as one of the finest duos in the competition's history.Ballesteros also captained a European team which included Olazabal to victory on Spanish soil at Valderrama in 1997.Olazabal's Europe will be looking to defend the trophy they won in 2010 when the 39th Ryder Cup match begins at the Medinah Country Club in Illinois on September 28. | 5sport
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London (CNN)UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will request a Brexit extension if no deal is reached with the European Union by October 19, according to documents read out in Scotland's highest court on Friday, PA news agency reports.Johnson previously said he would rather be "dead in a ditch" than seek another Brexit delay, but the documents suggest that he has accepted the terms of the Benn Act. This was made law by parliamentarians in an attempt to stop the UK from crashing out of the EU without a deal.It comes after the Prime Minister publicly said the government "will obey the law, and will come out by October 31," an assertion that fueled speculation he may have found a loophole in the legislation.Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester.Johnson's office declined to comment on the documents, when asked by CNN, though more than one Downing Street source continued to refer to the legislation using the controversial phrase "surrender act."The documents also come just one day after Johnson told the UK's House of Commons that the country will leave the EU "with or without a deal."Read MoreAidan O'Neill -- who is representing the campaigners behind the legal action -- said in court that Johnson could not be trusted, despite saying he would comply with the law."We can't trust this government, in light of statements it has made, that it will comply with the law," O'Neill said, according to PA.Europe thinks Boris Johnson's Brexit plan is a trap. They might have a pointIf Johnson's government complies with the law, then the Prime Minister will likely have two routes to stick to his October 31 promise: by agreeing a deal with the EU before the deadline, or requesting an extension in the hope that the EU will refuse it.The developments come after the Prime Minister unveiled his Brexit plan earlier this week in a letter to the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. In the letter, he claimed that his plan removed the need for the controversial Irish border backstop, while not breaching the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland.In the letter, Johnson told Juncker: "This Government wants to get a deal, as I am sure we all do. If we cannot reach one, it would represent a failure of statecraft for which we would all be responsible. Our predecessors have tackled harder problems: we can surely solve this one."But following discussions between the EU and the UK on Friday, a spokesperson for the European Commission said the UK's new proposals did not provide a basis for an agreement. "We have completed discussions with the UK for today. We gave our initial reaction to the UK's proposals and asked many questions on the legal text. We will meet again on Monday to give the UK another opportunity to present its proposals in detail," the commission spokesperson told reporters, adding, "The UK proposals do not provide a basis for concluding an agreement."Johnson's deal 'only supported by one party'Meanwhile, while speaking in Denmark on Friday, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he would support a request for an extension of the Brexit deadline, currently set for October 31, but "only for a good reason."Varadkar said the Brexit deal presented by Johnson does not have political support in Ireland and was "only supported by one political party," whereas the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated with Johnson's predecessor Theresa May was supported "by all."Ireland's Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said he would support a Brexit extension but "only for a good reason."On the island of Ireland, only the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland has voiced its support for the government's new Brexit proposals.Varadkar said the problem was that the proposed Brexit deal appeared to create two borders, adding that there was "a long way to go" until an agreement acceptable to all sides could be reached.Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who appeared alongside Varadkar at the joint press conference, also said an extension was "better than no deal."CNN's Arnaud Siad and Luke McGee contributed reporting. | 3news
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Story highlightsSpain take a 2-0 lead after the first day singles with victories for Ferrer and Almagro Juan Martin del Potro completes easy win over Radek Stepanek before Tomas Berdych draws Czech Republic levelBerdych fought back against Juan Monaco to win in five sets to tie match at 1-1 Spain took a giant step towards the Davis Cup final winning both singles matches in their semifinal against the U.S. in Gijon on Friday.In the absence of an injured Rafael Nadal, it was David Ferrer who got the defending champions off to a perfect start on the clay against world No.26 Sam Querrey. The world No.5 lost the opening set but quickly reasserted his authority over Querrey, overrunning the American in the following three sets to win 4-6 6-2 6-2 6-4. "It was a hard match, difficult at every moment. Querrey played a very good match but in the end I was up to it," Ferrer said. Ferrer was followed on court by Nicolas Almagro and John Isner who played out a thrilling five-set match. JUST WATCHEDRafael Nadal: Drink responsiblyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRafael Nadal: Drink responsibly 02:21JUST WATCHEDGraf: The changing face of German tennisReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHGraf: The changing face of German tennis 03:00The match ebbed and flowed with neither player able to grab the momentum for long, but it was the Spaniard who got over the line, much to the delight of a patriotic home crowd. Isner fought bravely to deny Almagro three match points in the ninth game of the deciding set, before the world No.12 sealed victory with a fourth in the 12th to win 6-4 4-6 6-4 3-6 7-5. "It was very tough. I knew everything about John Isner well. I think he served really good. I didn't feel very comfortable at the court when he was serving. But we are happy because it's Friday and we're 2-0 up," Almagro said.Meanwhile in the other semifinal, Juan Martin del Potro made the perfect start for Argentina against the Czech Republic in Buenos Aires. Despite nursing an injured wrist, the world No.8 trounced Radek Stepanek 6-4 6-4 6-2 at the Parque Roca stadium. "It was very difficult to play with a hurt wrist, but the crowd was fantastic. I am very passionate about playing for my country. I like to give them a good show," del Potro said. Argentina, who were runners-up to Spain last year, looked on course for a 2-0 lead heading into Saturday's doubles when Juan Monaco took a two sets to one lead in the other singles match against Tomas Berdych.But the world No.6, who beat Roger Federer at the U.S. Open last week before losing to Andy Murray in the semifinals, produced an inspired comeback to keep the Czechs firmly in contention for their second final in four years. Berdych took the first set comfortably enough 6-1, before Monaco, cheered on by home support, stormed back into the match winning the next two sets 6-4 6-1. But Berdych's fighting spirit saw him take the final two sets 6-4 6-4 to leave the teams tied at 1-1. Saturday's doubles matches see Argentine pairing Carlos Berlocq and Eduardo Schwank take on Ivo Minar and Lukas Rosol -- who dumped Rafael Nadal out of Wimbledon in June. Spain can book a place in the final if Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez can upset world No.1 doubles pair, Bob and Mike Bryan. Despite the deficit, U.S. captain Jim Courier tried to remain upbeat about his team's chances. "I like our team and I'm very happy with the team we have here. We will miss Andy Roddick but things change and we have to change with them," Courier said, DavisCup.com reported. "And we'll be ready for Sunday. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed, we have to come and win that (doubles), but John and Sam will be ready for Sunday," he added. | 5sport
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Story highlightsPope Francis offers his prayers and compassion for those affected by July 14 attackSurvivors and families of the victims meet with Francis in Rome (CNN)Pope Francis told survivors and the relatives of those killed and injured in the Bastille Day terror attack in Nice, France, that he shared their pain as he met with them Saturday in Rome.More than 80 people died when Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel plowed a 20-ton truck into crowds on the Promenade des Anglais seafront in Nice during a fireworks celebration on France's key national holiday. Ten children were among the victims of the ISIS-inspired attack. More than 200 people were injured. "I wish to share in your pain, a pain that is even greater when I think of the children, or indeed entire families, whose life was taken from them suddenly and so dramatically," Francis said."I assure each one of you of my compassion, my closeness and my prayer."Read MoreThe Pope also prayed for all those who were injured July 14, including ones who were "appallingly maimed, in flesh and spirit," and some who were still in the hospital and unable to make the journey to Rome.Nice truck attack: Full coverageAttacker 'not very intelligent'Why did he launch rampage?Photos: Celebrations shatteredNice: An extremist hotbed?Walking the trail of terrorWitnesses: Bodies everywhereNew tool of terror?Nice: Idyllic seaside cityShould tourists stay away from Nice? 30 days of terrorWhy France again? U.S. victims: Father, son killed Francis called on political and religious leaders to foster dialogue, saying that where there is a temptation "to respond to hatred with hatred or violence with violence," a change of heart is needed. "It is possible to respond to assaults by the devil only with the works of God, which are forgiveness, love and respect for our neighbor, even if he or she is different," he said.France has been under a state of emergency since the Paris terror attacks in November, and authorities have struggled to monitor thousands of domestic radicals on their radar.Less than two weeks ago, French authorities thwarted what they said was an ISIS plot to attack the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. | 3news
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This was excerpted from the April 26 edition of CNN's Meanwhile in America, the daily email about US politics for global readers. Click here to read past editions and subscribe.Washington (CNN)Among its deadly properties, Covid-19 appears perfectly engineered to destroy the houses of sand built by populist leaders.Back in January, Narendra Modi poured scorn on experts and scientists who warned his country faced a "tsunami" of infection. Now the Indian Prime Minister is being harshly criticized for premature triumphalism amid a terrible surge that has people dying in the streets.Modi is only the latest populist crusader to come unstuck. Former US President Donald Trump's denialism appears to have cost tens of thousands of lives. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fueled a disaster by rejecting Covid-19 countermeasures in favor of crank cures. UK PM Boris Johnson paid a heavy personal and political price for ignoring the threat of the pandemic early on, though he has since become more cautious.As India breaks another global Covid-19 record and hospitals run out of oxygen, countries pledge assistance and aidCovid-19 doesn't have political preferences. Even some leaders praised for their scientific approach have seen their standing consumed by the virus. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's final months in power for instance are being tarnished by a wave of infections worsened by Europe's slow vaccine rollout.But the pandemic is guaranteed to expose leaders who undermine truth, create alternative realities, ostracize experts and scientists and refuse to take precautions to keep the public safe. Earlier this month for instance, Modi boasted of huge rally crowds ahead of elections in West Bengal. His hubris in the face of the virus recalls Trump's refusal to give up rallies last year at which he boasted the virus was being driven out -- even as his crowds contributed to a building wave of lethal infections that winter.Read MoreHaving their negligence exposed may not deter the truth-twisting populist leaders inspired by Trump (who is already spoiling for a comeback). Populism will find fertile soil in the economic and social detritus left in the pandemic's wake. But when leaders prioritize their political image over public health, millions of people suffer. | 3news
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Home prices rose 18.8% in 2021, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller US National Home Price Index, the biggest increase in 34 years of data and substantially ahead of 2020's 10.4% gain.All regions saw price gains last year, but increases were strongest in the South and the Southeast, each of which were up over 25%.Phoenix, Tampa and Miami reported the highest annual gains among the 20 cities in the index in December. Phoenix led the way for the 31st consecutive month with prices 32.5% higher than the year before. It was followed by Tampa with a 29.4% increase, and Miami, with a 27.3% increase."We continue to see very strong growth at the city level," said Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "All 20 cities saw price increases in 2021, and prices in all 20 are at their all-time highs."Affordability challengesRead MoreOver the past several months home prices have been rising at very high, but decelerating rates, said Lazzara. But that deceleration paused in December. After peaking at 19.8% in August, the annual price increase declined through the fall to 18.8% in November, where it stayed in December. Month-to-month, home prices in the US National Index, which covers all nine U.S. Census divisions, increased 1.3% in December from November, after seasonal adjustment.Lazzara said the strength of the US housing market is being driven, in part, by Americans who decided to move during the pandemic. A persistent low inventory of homes dropped to record low levels in December, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors. In the face of continued strong demand, prices were pushed higher. Newly constructed homes are in the pipeline, but a long-running shortage, combined with the lingering effects of the pandemic mean it will take years to meet demand.How much house can I afford? However, rising mortgage rates could start to quell some of that demand, Lazarra said. "In the short term, we should soon begin to see the impact of increasing mortgage rates on home prices."Mortgage rates, which had risen only gradually since August, began to abruptly climb in late December and have since risen to nearly 4% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. "A marked change may be ahead for growth as rising mortgage rates eat into homebuyer purchasing power," said Danielle Hale, Realtor.com's chief economist. Higher mortgage rates have added more than $200 to the monthly cost of a typical for-sale home since December 2020 -- when rates were at all-time lows. More than half of that increase has occurred over the past eight weeks, Hale said."With home prices expected to continue rising, even at a slower pace, affordability will increasingly challenge 2022 buyers as a decade-long underbuilding trend has left the housing market 5.8 million homes short of household growth," said Hale. "At the same time, we expect pandemic trends like workplace flexibility and competitive labor market conditions to give workers the boost in income and wider search areas they need to navigate a still-challenging housing market successfully." | 0business
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Story highlightsSerena Williams powers into the fourth round with 6-1 6-1 win over Hungary's Greta Arn Number two seed Petra Kvitova progresses after opponent Maria Kirilenko forced to retire Maria Sharapova is also safely through after beating Germany's Angelique Kerber 6-1 6-2Serena Williams breezed into the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday dispatching Hungary's Greta Arn convincingly 6-1 6-1. The victory sets up a match with Russia's Ekaterina Makarova who sent seventh seed Vera Zvonareva packing in straight sets 7-6 6-1. Despite the comprehensive nature of the American's win, Williams said that there was still plenty of room for improvement in her game. "You know, I just can hit a little deeper and better, be more consistent. You know, hopefully that will come as hopefully I keep playing," the 32-year-old said, australianopen.com reported. Number two seed Petra Kvitova will face Serbia's Ana Ivanovic in the next round after her opponent Maria Kirilenko was forced to retire in the first game of the second set -- Kvitova had won the opening set 6-0. Ivanovic secured her passage to the second week with a 6-3 6-4 win over America's Vania King.Fourth seed Maria Sharapova from Russia is also safely through after beating Germany's Angelique Kerber 6-1 6-2. Another German awaits her in the next round after 14th seed Sabine Lisicki came from a set down to defeat 18th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova from Russia 4-6 6-4 6-2. The only other three-setter on Saturday saw Italy's Sara Errani also fight back from a deficit against Sorana Cirstea. The Romanian took the first set in a tie-break but Errani then assumed total control eventually running out an easy winner 6-7 6-0 6-2. The Italian will now face China's Jie Zheng after she dumed out ninth seed Marion Bartoli from France 6-3 6-3. | 5sport
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(Reuters)Kim Little scored twice as Arsenal thrashed West Ham United 4-0 on Sunday to make it six wins from six FA Women's Super League games and keep the Gunners top of the standings.Beth Mead teed up Little to sweep past two defenders and fire home the opener six minutes before the break and the pair combined again seven minutes into the second half for Little to notch her 50th WSL goal.Mead got on the scoresheet herself with a cool finish before Grace Fisk scored a late own goal to complete the rout.Little fires home Arsenal's second.Earlier on Sunday, Ria Percival struck deep into stoppage time to give Tottenham Hotspur a 1-1 draw with Manchester United, her free kick from far out on the left sailing past everyone and bouncing into the net to grab an unlikely point.Manchester City hammered Leicester City 4-1 to leave the Foxes bottom of the standings with no points and fellow strugglers Birmingham City, who have amassed one point so far, were thumped 3-0 by Reading.Read MoreMead celebrates Arsenal's third.On Saturday, a Sophie Ingle goal gave reigning champions Chelsea a 1-0 win over Aston Villa, and Brighton & Hove Albion beat Everton 1-0 thanks to a strike from Aileen Whelan.The weekend's results leave Arsenal top of the table on 18 points, with Chelsea second on 15 and Tottenham two points further back in third. | 5sport
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(CNN)Back on clay and back winning matches, Roger Federer has reached yet another landmark: a 1,200th career victory more than two decades after his first professional win.The 20-time grand slam winner saved two match points against France's Gael Monfils before coming through in a final-set tiebreak to reach the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open, in his first tournament on clay since May 2016.His milestone win comes 21 years on from his first, when he secured his first ever ATP Tour main draw success by beating Monfils' compatriot Guillaume Raoux in Toulouse. Federer's victory puts him just 74 match wins behind Jimmy Connors, who holds the men's record. Martina Navratilova won 1,442 matches on the women's circuit.Of men's players still active, Rafael Nadal is fifth on the list with 936 wins, while Novak Djokovic has 853.Read MoreREAD: Can Federer get the better of the 'King of Clay'The 37-year-old Federer will now face Dominic Thiem, who beat the Swiss legend in the Indian Wells final."Instead of seeing a things bit more cloudy and rainy, you see it more on the sunny side," said Federer after winning 6-0 4-6 7-6 (7-3)."You don't win matches every day saving match points and it makes you feel good, but it is more relief I feel right now."Visit CNN.com/Sport for more news, features and videos Roger Federer is in his first clay-court quarterfinal since 2015.'Panic mode'The triumph also means that Federer keeps up his own personal record of never having lost a match after winning a set 6-0. That run now stands at 90 matches unbeaten.Federer took that first set in just 19 minutes, though Monfils fought back to take the second and a 4-1 lead in the decider. However, he could not close out the match, with Federer successfully defending both on his own serve, rushing to the net to shorten the points."I felt not so confident to win the point from the baseline," he said of his tactics on the match's major moments. "So I said panic mode is switched on and we are coming in."You go to the net as quick as possible so you are as close as possible and I framed the first volley, which ended up being perfect."READ: Wimbledon's 'most sought-after tickets' go on sale for $105,000READ: 'Tennis gave me the ability to be somebody': Julie Heldman on depression and abuseJUST WATCHEDTearful Roger Federer remembers late coach.ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTearful Roger Federer remembers late coach. 03:21Federer's return to clay-court competition had initially come as a surprise, having joked in April that he "didn't even remember how to slide anymore".He avoided the surface to manage knee problems and ensure he was fit for the grass-court season where he has long asserted such dominance. With its long rallies and slow courts, clay has never been Federer's favorite surface. However, as his career slowly winds down, he is determined to give it another shot. | 5sport
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Story highlights Kerry presses Russia on SnowdenHis lawyer says Snowden hasn't received papers to leave Moscow's airportSnowden's U.S. passport has been revoked; he's been at the airport since June 23He's charged with espionage in the United States after admitting he leaked dataEdward Snowden isn't yet allowed to step outside the Moscow airport where he's been holed up for weeks, despite reports to the contrary, his Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, said Wednesday.Russian media had reported Wednesday that the U.S. intelligence leaker was issued a document that would allow him to wait elsewhere in Russia while his request for temporary asylum was considered.But Kucherena, after meeting with Snowden in Sheremetyevo International Airport's transit area Wednesday, told reporters that Snowden hadn't received the certificate and that he would remain in the transit area for now.That certificate still could come at "any time," Kucherena told CNN.Interactive: Snowden's optionsThe news is the latest development in Snowden's search for a place to settle after the United States charged him with espionage. The former National Security Agency contractor, who admitted last month to revealing sweeping U.S. electronic surveillance programs to the news media, left Hong Kong for Moscow on June 23. Since then, he's been unable to leave the airport's transit area because the United States revoked his passport. JUST WATCHEDPresident Carter comments on SnowdenReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPresident Carter comments on Snowden 01:08JUST WATCHEDLawyer: Snowden can't leave airport yetReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLawyer: Snowden can't leave airport yet 01:25JUST WATCHEDHas media focused too much on Snowden?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHHas media focused too much on Snowden? 04:21JUST WATCHED"Concrete proof" of Snowden damagesReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH"Concrete proof" of Snowden damages 03:51White House spokesman Jay Carney said Wednesday the U.S. government is seeking "clarity" about Snowden's status. And a spokeswoman for Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington would find it "disappointing" if Snowden were allowed to leave the airport.Kerry spoke with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on Wednesday morning, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "He reiterated our belief, which we stated publicly and privately, that Mr. Snowden needs to be returned to the U.S., where he will face a fair trial," Psaki said. CNN exclusive: George W. Bush on SnowdenSnowden applied for temporary asylum in Russia on July 16. If granted, he would be able to live in Russia, and even travel abroad, for at least a year, Kucherena said last week.A ruling on the application could take months. But Kucherena has said that the Russian government could issue him a certificate that would allow him to leave the airport and wait somewhere else in the country while the application is considered.On Wednesday, Kucherena said that he is in daily contact with Russian authorities about securing Snowden permission to leave the airport, state-run media outlet RIA Novosti reported.If Snowden is granted temporary asylum in Russia, it's unclear whether he'd try to move elsewhere. He's previously indicated that he eventually wanted refuge in Latin America. But Kucherena suggested last week that Snowden might take his time in Russia."As far as I know, he's planning to stay in Russia to learn Russian culture, Russian language and (to) live here," Kucherena told CNN last week. Washington has no extradition agreement with Russia, and FBI agents who work at the U.S. Embassy there have no authority to make arrests.Russian President Vladimir Putin said this month that Snowden would need to "stop his work aimed at harming our American partners" if he wanted to stay in the country. In a subsequent meeting with human rights activists and lawyers at the airport on July 12, Snowden reportedly said he wanted temporary asylum in Russia while awaiting safe transit to Latin America, and added that he would not harm the United States in the future.Official: Snowden didn't access 'crown jewels' of NSA intelThe presidents of Venezuela and Bolivia have said their countries would give Snowden asylum, and Nicaragua's president said he would offer it "if circumstances permit." But he would need the legal ability to travel there -- something that temporary asylum in Russia could give him.The U.S. government has asked Russia to expel Snowden. Absent that, it will watch carefully the route he takes if he tries to reach one of the Latin American countries willing to take him in.The United States could grab Snowden if any plane carrying him were to refuel in a country that respects U.S. arrest warrants. But he probably will be careful to avoid that scenario.Nevertheless, the United States has sent provisional arrest warrants to a number of countries where Snowden could either transit or seek asylum, a U.S. official said last week. | 3news
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Mexico CityMexico's Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that penalizing abortion is unconstitutional, in a decision expected to set precedent for the legal status of abortion nationwide.How Texas' abortion law stacks up with the rest of the world"Today is a historic day for the rights of all Mexican women," said Supreme Court Chief Justice Arturo Zaldivar.The court ruled Tuesday against a law in the state of Coahuila, which threatened women who undergo abortions with up to three years prison and a fine. The law, according to Coahuila Penal Code Article 196, allowed prosecution of both a woman seeking an abortion and the person who "causes her to have an abortion with her consent.""I'm against stigmatizing those who make this decision [to undergo an abortion] which I believe is difficult to begin with, due to moral and social burdens. It shouldn't be burdened as well by the law. Nobody gets voluntarily pregnant thinking about getting an abortion later," said Supreme Court Justice Ana Margarita Ríos Farjat, one of only three women among the court's 11 justices.Read MoreThe top court's decision against such penalization is "a historic step," Justice Luis Maria Aguilar said. "Never again will a woman or a person with the capacity to carry a child be criminally prosecuted," he added. "Today the threat of imprisonment and stigma that weigh on people who freely decide to terminate their pregnancy are banished."Elsewhere in Latin America, Argentina's Senate approved a bill to legalize abortion in December 2020. The Senate voted 38-29 to give millions of women access to legal terminations under the law supported by President Alberto Fernández.The vote comes as US states just north of the border move to restrict abortion access, most notably in Texas.Reporting by CNN's Karol Suarez in Mexico City and Sharif Paget in Atlanta. | 3news
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Story highlightsRafael Nadal has withdrawn from the Australian OpenThe 11-time grand slam winner had hoped to make his return from injury in MelbourneNadal has been laid low with a stomach virus following six months out with a knee problemNovak Djokovic opened season with semifinal win over David Ferrer in Abu DhabiRafael Nadal has sent shockwaves throughout the tennis world after withdrawing from the Australian Open.The 11-times grand slam champion, who reached the final in Melbourne last year, had been expected to make his comeback from injury next month.Nadal's withdrawal means he will slip out of the top four for the first time in over seven years.After pulling out of an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi this week with a stomach infection, Nadal was still expected to compete at the ATP event in Doha before making his way to Australia.The 26-year-old, who has not played since his shock second round defeat by world number 100 Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon, had hoped to make a return to action following a six-month absence with a knee injury.Nadal suffers comeback blowBut a virus has forced Nadal to pull out of both Doha and the Australian Open following discussions with doctors.JUST WATCHEDRafael Nadal's injury heartacheReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRafael Nadal's injury heartache 06:48JUST WATCHEDDjokovic finishes season on topReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDjokovic finishes season on top 02:36JUST WATCHEDRafael Nadal: Drink responsiblyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRafael Nadal: Drink responsibly 02:21He said: "My knee is much better and the rehabilitation process has gone well as predicted by the doctors, but this virus didn't allow me to practice this past week and therefore I am sorry to announce that I will not play in Doha and the Australian Open, as we had initially scheduled."As my team and doctors say, the safest thing to do is to do things well and this virus has delayed my plans of playing these weeks. "I will have to wait until the Acapulco tournament to compete again, although I could consider to play before at any other ATP event."I always said that my return to competition will be when I am in the right conditions to play and after all this time away from the courts I'd rather not accelerate the comeback and prefer to do things well."Nadal has endured an injury-ravaged year, missing out on defending his Olympic title at London 2012 as well as sitting out the U.S. Open and Spain's Davis Cup final defeat in November.Coach and uncle Toni Nadal believes his nephew was left with little choice but to cancel his plans to compete in Melbourne after contracting the virus.Nadal to make long-awaited tennis returnHe said: "We consider not appropriate to play the Australian Open since we will not have enough preparation for a greater competition which is a Grand Slam tournament. "It is simply not conceivable that his first event is a best of five sets event, he wouldn't be ready for that. "It is true we have been quite unlucky with this but there is nothing we can do. "After all this time it is better to do things well and the most professional thing to do is to start when we are ready."While the Nadal camp is understandably saddened by the news, it will also leave his fellow professionals disappointed.World number one, Novak Djokovic, who beat Nadal in Melbourne last year, was looking forward to facing his old adversary once again."I was eager to see him play," said Djokovic. "He has been off the tour for the past seven months and I am sure that all tennis fans and all sports fans want to see him back on the court, healthy and fit."I wish him, as a colleague, a fast recovery."It's unfortunate and I'm sure he feels the biggest need to play tennis out of everybody and hopefully he can bit for the Australian Open which is the most important experience."Djokovic wins ATP World Tour Finals title Meanwhile, Djokovic started his own season in style with a 6-0 6-3 win over Ferrer.The Serbia star, who won the tournament last year, cruised through the first set before Ferrer began to offer resistance in the second.Ferrer, ranked five in the world, led 3-1 in the second before Djokovic roared back to take the set."I love this court and the conditions here. I wish all the tournaments in the world were played here," Djokovic told ESPN."It's definitely a great surface. It's not too warm here, not too cold, it's ideal to prepare on."I am surprised with my game considering it's the first match of the official season. Hopefully I can play another good one tomorrow."Djokovic will meet Nicolas Almagro in the final after the Spaniard came from a set down to defeat Janko Tipsarevic 2-6, 7-6, 6-2. | 5sport
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(Reuters)The Australian Open's Covid-19 vaccine mandate is about protecting the community, not about "blackmailing" Novak Djokovic, a state government official said on Wednesday.Organizers of the year's first grand slam have said all players would have to be vaccinated to take part, drawing criticism from world number one Djokovic's father."Under these blackmails and conditions, (Djokovic) probably won't (play)," Srdjan Djokovic told Serbian media.Victoria sports minister Martin Pakula said the vaccine mandate applied to all athletes in the southern Australian state, which hosts the Australian Open in Melbourne.Pakula speaks at the Australian Open trophy arrival ceremony in February."If you're a visiting international tennis player, or a visiting sportsman of any kind, it's about your responsibility to the community that you are being welcomed into," Pakula told Australian media.Read More"And that's why we are asking those international tennis stars to follow the same requirements as Victorians are."It's not about blackmail, it's about making sure the Victorian community is protected."I want to make it clear that I really hope that Novak Djokovic gets vaccinated and plays in the Australian Open."But if he chooses not to, that's a matter for him."Djokovic has won nine Melbourne Park titles, including this year's tournament, and shares the record of 20 men's grand slams with Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal.He has refused to disclose his vaccination status, saying it was a matter of personal choice. | 5sport
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Eliza Anyangwe is the editor of As Equals. This essay accompanies the video, "Not Yet Satisfied" and follows a feature by Anyangwe, published by CNN in 2019. Read more from As Equals. For information about how the series is funded and more, check out our FAQs.Accra, Ghana -- Hauwa Adam is beautiful and smart as a whip. She carries herself with the seductive ease of someone comfortable in their own skin and as she talks her left hand sometimes hangs at a right angle, palm up, neither beckoning nor rejecting. Her nails are red and match her lips and strappy mini dress. Her hair, styled in faux locs, hangs down to just below her shoulders; her big eyes glisten, and she laughs easily.So, I'm caught off-guard when this young woman tells me, as those big eyes begin to water, that she spent years hating her body, a hate stemming from all the pressure she felt to keep that body hidden away.JUST WATCHEDNot yet satisfied: Talking sex and sexuality in AfricaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNot yet satisfied: Talking sex and sexuality in Africa 06:58"I grew up in a Muslim home," she begins. "The typical conservative Muslim [home] in Ghana [where] you couldn't wear trousers, couldn't wear short skirts, couldn't wear tight clothes because your body is sacred and likened to toffee," she said."Your husband has to unwrap the toffee to enjoy it, but if you've already showcased everything -- the sides of your boobs, your hips, your butt --what's there for him to enjoy?"Adam, who is in her mid-twenties, recounts how she began dating only after leaving home for university. After two years together, she and her boyfriend had sex.Read More"That's when everything came running back to me," she says. "How much I hated my body. How much I couldn't feel good about what I was doing. The guilt of enjoying sex."I was in Accra in the summer of 2018, looking for other women who, like me, had grown up feeling as though their bodies didn't quite belong to them. First, because we were meant to focus on school and -- as in my case -- church, and then, once qualified, employed and a "woman of God," we were to dedicate ourselves to our husbands, our children and our community.There has unquestionably been much joy and satisfaction derived by many who live life this way, and a personal faith is by no means irreconcilable with the fight for equality among the genders. But my hunch was that besides me, there were many others deeply dissatisfied; who felt -- whether as a fully formed thought or just a gnawing sensation in their gut -- that their lives, and particularly their sex lives, were not fully their own.What's more, I'd noticed from years of covering international development and gender issues as a writer and editor, that Black, brown and poor women -- mostly the subjects of reporting and not often enough the storytellers -- had to content themselves with their bodies being described as contested geographical spaces might be.There are people, organisations and even governments fighting over whether you should access contraception or not; how many children you should have; whether you should be veiled or not; what your gender or sexual identity can be; how you should be treated if you earn your income from sex work; whether your attire or attitude makes you complicit in your sexual attack; or at what age you can be married off and at what price -- the latter, often in part, determined by whether or not you are still a virgin. Like inhabitants of a besieged territory, women -- and gender non-conforming people -- are often caught in the middle, ignored as their very bodies are being debated.
"If you can't negotiate contraception in your marriage, do you really think you're going to [negotiate] that high-powered job?"
Tiffany Mugo
It's easy to assume in a world where gender inequality is "endemic" -- as UN head Antonio Guterres said in March -- that talking about sex is at best irrelevant, and at worst irresponsible. But, as I would learn over the course of reporting the story and making the "Not Yet Satisfied" video, talking about sex and sexuality is in fact a key component to achieving gender equality. That in many parts of the world this topic is hard to talk about freely -- and even harder to live freely -- points to a far bigger problem than prudishness."We have a long history of sexual pleasure being denied to women," says Eli Coleman, director of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School."Pleasure is threatening," he says. "It challenges those who are in power. As long as the society keeps women as second-class citizens, then men are in control. So denying [women] reproductive health, contraception, safe abortions, and certainly altering their body -- taking away the sexual pleasure aspects of one's anatomy -- keeps them suppressed and patriarchy in power."Coleman was President of World Association for Sexual Health (WASH) from 1997 to 2001 and was actively involved in drafting WASH's first ever Declaration on Sexual Pleasure, published in 2019.We speak as I try to understand what, if anything, has changed in the world since Adam and other members of Accra's Young Feminist Collective spoke with me about learning to reclaim their bodies and, with it, pleasure.For the veteran sexologist, the past few years have been marked by "serious backtracking.""Sexual and reproductive health all of a sudden seemed to be a dirty word," Coleman explains. "President Trump, when he was in power, Pompeo, our Secretary of State, was [saying] that we wouldn't sign on to anything in the UN that mentioned the word 'sexual health'. In April 2019, CNN reported that the pressure from the US on the UN Security Council did result in "significant changes to a resolution on sexual violence.""And, of course, you are aware of the prohibitions of anything that had to do with safe abortions or even contraceptive services," he adds, referring to the reinstatement of the so-called Mexico City Policy in 2017.Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah whose blog, Adventures from the Bedrooms of African Women, was the focus of my reporting in 2019, today also talks about Ghana "going backwards in terms of human rights"."We are actually in a really dangerous place," she says, speaking to me from Accra where she is currently promoting her new book, The Sex Lives of African Women."A few months ago, 21 activists were arrested for taking part in human rights training on LGBTQ rights. At the moment, we have eight members of parliament pushing forward a bill that will make it illegal to say you are an ally, let alone be a queer person. It's [also] trying to enforce conversion therapy, which has been debunked all around the world."Sekyiamah talks about "far-right American evangelicals partnering with far-right civil society leaders in Ghana and the political elites". An investigation by openDemocracy's 50:50 project details these links. A main target of their ire? Comprehensive sex education (CSE).
Sekyiamah's influence with Adventures over the past decade has spread beyond Ghana, inspiring others to create content about sex and sexuality for audiences they recognised were completely underserved.South Africa's HOLAAfrica! is one such platform, and its founder, Tiffany Mugo, describes how the space for "sex positive" conversations has grown -- and along with it, the coordinated attempts to close it down."We're now in a world where comprehensive sex education is a multilateral, multinational-level conversation. But with the work that we do, we sometimes live in a bubble. On the other end of the scale, there are people who are ready to shut all of this down," she says.By way of example, Mugo adds: "There's essentially a neighbourhood Facebook group for the wider Joburg area, that's against CSE and it's got 100,000 people following it. Conservative groups have not come to play. They are funded and they're organized. One of the scariest things is how organized they are."When we met in Johannesburg, Mugo was producing The Wildness, which she describes as "an unedited podcast all about sex and sexuality by two queer women of color on the [African] continent. She has since written a sex guide and compiled Touch, "a collection of essays about sex, sexuality and sensuality, written by queer people."Everyone I spoke to saw their work as opening up necessary conversations about this one part of all our lives that is so important to our health and wellbeing and yet remains taboo and actively contested.She wants women to have good sex. So she started a website where they can talk about it (safely)Far from frivolous and salacious, talking about sexual pleasure -- even if the choice is to not be sexually active -- is part and parcel of reclaiming ownership of your body, and receiving tools through education so that you can make the best choices for you -- yes, in the bedroom but everywhere else too."Even as I write about having great sex, I need to know about rape culture. I need to know about abortion rights and economic rights as well, because I can't say "buy lube" without thinking about who can afford it -- and who can afford to negotiate safe sex," says Mugo."If you can't negotiate contraception in your marriage, do you really think you're going to [negotiate] that high-powered job?" she asks rhetorically."There is this great fear that if we talk about sexual pleasure, people will become more irresponsible and society will have more problems," Coleman acknowledges. "But the evidence is completely to the contrary. This is fundamental to what we know about developing societies: if you educate your citizenry, you have a greater society. But somehow when it comes to sex, we want to deny people that fundamental education.""Even the World Health Organization is moving to recognize that if they don't focus on the promotion of health in a positive way -- and including pleasure -- people are not going to listen," he says."You've got to put pleasure in!"CNN's Eliza Anyangwe reported from Ghana and South Africa during 2018 and 2019 before the global Coronavirus pandemic. This essay and the video "Not Yet Satisfied" were supported by the European Journalism Centre.*Header image by Yagazie Emezi for CNN. Read more from the As Equals series
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(CNN)Novak Djokovic has split with his long-term coach, Marian Vajda, who formed a part of the 20-time grand slam winner's team for the last 15 years.Though Djokovic has only just announced the change via a statement on his website, the pair stopped working together after the 2021 ATP Finals in Turin last November.It marks an increasingly turbulent start to the year for Djokovic following his deportation from Australia in January, preventing his participation in the Australian Open, as well as the loss of his world No.1 status to Daniil Medvedev.Previously, Vajda had provided some stability for the Serb with their long association dating back to 2006 when Vajda was hired as Djokovic's head coach, a position he held until 2013 with the arrival of Boris Becker. In his original tenure as head coach, Vajda oversaw Djokovic's rise from a hugely talented newcomer to world no.1 and multiple grand slam winner by 2011."During my time with Novak, I have been lucky to watch him transform into the player he is today," Vajda said in the statement. "I will look back on our time together with immense pride and am so very thankful for the success we have achieved."Read MoreVajda remained a part of Djokovic's coaching team under Becker until 2017, and following a brief hiatus, rejoined in 2018, coinciding with Djokovic's return to form with grand slam victories at Wimbledon and the US Open."Marian has been by my side during the most important and memorable moments in my career," Djokovic said. Marian Vajda applauding as Djokovic plays Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece during the 2021 French Open."Together we have achieved some incredible things and I am very grateful for his friendship and dedication over the last 15 years. While he might be leaving the professional team, he will always be family and I can't thank him enough for all he has done."During their time together, Djokovic and Vajda accumulated 85 ATP singles titles -- including all of Djokovic's 20 grand slam titles. In recent years, however, Vajda has stepped back a little. Since 2019, he has shared coaching duties with Goran Ivanisevic, and traveled to fewer tournaments. Ivanisevic will remain working with Djokovic, hoping to steer him back to world No.1, a potentially difficult task given Djokovic's continued refusal to comply with vaccination requirements that now guard many of the world's biggest tournaments.Vajda, though no longer an official member of Djokovic's team, will "remain his biggest support on and off the court." | 5sport
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(CNN)There's no silver bullet to the climate crisis, but nuclear fusion may be the closest thing to it. In the quest for a near-limitless, zero-carbon source of reliable power, scientists have generated fusion energy before, but they have struggled for decades to sustain it for very long. On Wednesday, however, scientists working in the United Kingdom announced that they more than doubled the previous record for generating and sustaining nuclear fusion, which is the same process that allows the sun and stars to shine so brightly.Nuclear fusion is, as its name suggests, the fusing of two or more atoms into one larger one, a process that unleashes a tremendous amount of energy as heat.The core of the JET tokamak machine in Culham, England. Nuclear power used today is created by a different process, called fission, which relies on splitting, rather than fusing, atoms. But that process creates waste that can remain radioactive for tens of thousands of years. It's also potentially hazardous in the event of an accident, such as Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster, triggered by an earthquake and tsunami. Fusion, on the other hand, is much safer, can produce little waste and requires only small amounts of abundant, naturally-sourced fuel, including elements extracted from seawater. This makes it an attractive option as the world transitions away from the fossil fuels driving climate change.Read MoreIn a giant donut-shaped machine known as a tokamak, scientists working in the English village of Culham, near Oxford, were able to generate a record-breaking 59 megajoules of sustained fusion energy over five seconds on December 21 last year. Five seconds is the limit the machine can sustain the power before its magnets overheat.
The JET tokamak near Oxford, England, produced a record amount of sustained energy from nuclear fusion. Credit: EUROFusion.
A magnetic field is required to contain the high temperatures needed to carry out the fusion process, which can be as high as 150 million degrees Celsius, 10 times hotter than the center of the sun."Our experiment showed for the first time that it's possible to have a sustained fusion process using exactly the same fuel mix planned for future fusion power plants," Tony Donné, CEO of EUROfusion, said at a press conference.EUROfusion, a consortium that includes 4,800 experts, students and staff from across Europe, carried out the project in partnership with the UK Atomic Energy Authority. The European Commission also contributed funding.The potential for fusion energy is enormous. The experiment used the elements deuterium and tritium -- which are isotopes of hydrogen -- to fuel the fusion. Those elements are likely to be used in commercial-scale fusion, and can be found in seawater."The energy you can get out of the fuel deuterium and tritium is massive. For example, powering the whole of current UK electrical demand for a day would require 0.5 tonnes of deuterium, which could be extracted from seawater -- where its concentration is low but plentiful," Tony Roulstone from the University of Cambridge's Department of Engineering told CNN.He said the fusion generated by the tokamak -- called the Joint European Torus (JET) -- was around the same as a wind turbine, and could power one house's energy for a day.A view of Torus Hall, where the JET tokamak machine lies."But if generated repeatedly, it could power thousands of houses."Experts say the results prove that nuclear fusion is possible, and no longer a pipedream solution for the climate crisis. "These landmark results have taken us a huge step closer to conquering one of the biggest scientific and engineering challenges of them all," said Ian Chapman, CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Mark Wenman, a nuclear materials researcher at Imperial College London, said in a statement that the experiment's results are "exciting," and that they show "fusion energy really is no longer just a dream of the far future -- the engineering to make it a useful, clean power source is achievable and happening now."JET has been subject to such extreme heat and pressure that this experiment is likely the last it will cope with.But its results are seen as a huge boon for ITER, a fusion megaproject in the south of France supported by the US, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea and Russia. The ITER project is 80% built and aims to begin nuclear fusion sometime in 2025-26.While JET's goal was to prove that nuclear fusion could be generated and sustained, ITER's aim is to produce a tenfold return on energy, or 500 MW of fusion power from 50 MW of energy put in. Nuclear energy scares people. The climate crisis is giving it another chanceThe results are promising, but mastering nuclear fusion as an everyday energy source is still likely a long way off."The JET results are impressive and probably will get better as they proceed through their experiments. They are producing high power 12 MW, but right now just for five seconds. Much longer fusion burn is what is required," Roulstone said. The most recent report from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the latest science shows that the world must nearly halve its greenhouse gas emissions this decade and reach zero net emissions by 2050 to keep global warming in check. That means making a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, like coal, oil and gas. Those actions are required to have any hope of containing warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, seen as a threshold to substantially worsening climate impacts, according to the IPCC.This story has been updated with additional information. | 3news
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Story highlights "I hope this will give some comfort to the many victims," says senior police officerJury discharged after failing to reach final verdicts against Andy Coulson and ex-royal editorCourt to decide Monday if there will be a retrial on remaining chargesJudge criticizes Prime Minister, other politicians for commenting on case after partial verdictsThe jury in the phone hacking trial of former newspaper editor and ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson has been discharged after it could not reach a verdict on the final charges in the case, a court official said Wednesday.Former News of the World editor Coulson was convicted Tuesday of conspiracy to hack phones between 2000 and 2006.But the jury was not able to reach a decision Wednesday on two charges each of conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office against Coulson and the paper's former royal editor, Clive Goodman.The court said that a decision on a retrial for these charges would be made Monday. Another of Rupert Murdoch's former newspaper chiefs, Rebekah Brooks, was unanimously cleared of all charges Tuesday after the eight-month trial at the Old Bailey court.Shortly before the jury was discharged, the judge in the case, John Saunders, issued an unusual rebuke to Prime Minister David Cameron and "a large number of politicians from all parties" for commenting on the case after the partial verdicts Tuesday.JUST WATCHEDDetails of royal messages revealed ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDetails of royal messages revealed 02:48JUST WATCHEDPhone hacking trial has UK media buzzingReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPhone hacking trial has UK media buzzing 05:57JUST WATCHEDMurdoch's empire under fireReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMurdoch's empire under fire 04:10"I consider that what has happened is unsatisfactory so far as justice and the rule of law are concerned," Saunders said in his ruling. "The press in court have been extremely responsible in their reporting of this case but when politicians regard it as open season, one cannot expect the press to remain silent."The ruling followed an application for the jury to be discharged on the basis that it was no longer possible for Coulson and Goodman to have a fair trial because of those comments.But the judge said he had decided not to discharge the jury on those grounds. "I am satisfied that the jury will continue to try Mr. Coulson and Mr. Goodman on the evidence that they have heard in court and solely on that evidence," he said.A spokesman for the Prime Minister's office said that Cameron had taken the "best legal advice" before giving a statement Tuesday.Cameron: 'Wrong decision'Speaking before the House of Commons on Wednesday, Cameron repeated the apology he'd made a day earlier for hiring Coulson as his director of communications in 2007."I am sorry, this was the wrong decision, but I think it's right that we've had a public inquiry in this country, and it's right that we have proper investigations," he said. "Yesterday once again showed that no one is above the law in our country."Public and political outrage over the hacking revelations led to the closure of the 168-year-old News of the World paper and the setting up of a public inquiry to examine journalistic ethics, known as the Leveson Inquiry, as well as a police investigation.In a statement Wednesday, Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner who oversaw the investigation, said it had been "complex and challenging" -- and that officers involved had been aware of the "sensitivities" of investigating a national newspaper and confidential journalistic material."This investigation has never been about an attack on press freedom but one to establish whether any criminal offenses had been committed, to establish who was responsible for committing them and to bring them to justice. The victims deserved no less," she said."Along with the verdicts, I hope this will give some comfort to the many victims that justice has been served."The Metropolitan Police investigation into phone hacking, which was launched in January 2011 and dubbed Operation Weeting, identified 5,500 victims. Of those, 3,500 have been contacted, a police statement said.The investigation involved sifting through millions of e-mails, tens of thousands of documents, other data communications and financial transactions, it said.Murdered schoolgirlTuesday's verdicts came three years after it was revealed that journalists on News of the World hacked the voice mail of then-missing teenager Milly Dowler in 2002, raising hopes that she was alive and checking messages, when in fact she had been murdered.At the time the schoolgirl's voice mail was intercepted, Brooks was editor of Britain's top-selling News of the World, and Coulson was her deputy. After Coulson succeeded her as editor, Brooks edited The Sun newspaper, and she later became chief executive of the parent company, News International -- now known as News UK.Coulson resigned as News of the World editor in 2007 after its then-royal editor, Goodman, and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, were jailed for hacking into voice-mail messages left for royal aides.Coulson denied any wrongdoing and later became Cameron's director of communications. The former editor resigned from his Downing Street position in 2011 as coverage of the phone hacking scandal broadened.'Wrongdoing occurred'Besides a charge of conspiracy to hack voice mails, Brooks also was accused of conspiring to pervert the course of justice, as was her husband, Charlie Brooks, and her former personal assistant, Cheryl Carter. All three were cleared of those charges, the Press Association reported, as was former News International head of security Mark Hanna.Retired managing editor Stuart Kuttner was cleared of conspiracy to hack phones.Five people pleaded guilty to phone hacking charges before the case came to trial, the police said. They were Mulcaire, Neville Thurlbeck, Greg Miskiw, James Weatherup and Daniel Evans.News UK, the UK newspaper publishing arm of Murdoch's News Corp., said in a statement: "We said long ago, and repeat today, that wrongdoing occurred, and we apologized for it. We have been paying compensation to those affected and have cooperated with investigations."The publisher said it was making changes to ensure this kind of wrongdoing did not recur and that it supported a new UK press watchdog expected to start work later this year.Read: 7 amazing things we learned during the hacking trialRead: UK phone hacking trial: Who is Andy Coulson?Read: Phone hacking scandal: Who is Rebekah Brooks? | 3news
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Washington (CNN)The Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC says five of its most valuable artifacts -- once thought to be part of the historic Dead Sea Scrolls -- are fake and will not be displayed anymore.German-based scholars tested the fragments and found that five "show characteristics inconsistent with ancient origin and therefore will no longer be displayed at the museum."CNN raised questions about the museum's Dead Sea Scroll fragments in an article published last November, as the Green family prepared to unveil their new, $500 million museum. At 430,000 square feet, and with views of the Capitol, the Bible museum represents a significant investment for its evangelical founders. Now scholars say the Dead Sea forgeries could be part of the most significant sham in biblical archeology since the "Gospel of Jesus' Wife," a fiasco that hoodwinked a Harvard scholar and made worldwide news in 2012. Some scholars estimate that as many as 70 forged fragments have hit the market since 2002. Oklahoma billionaires, the Greens are best-known for their chain of Hobby Lobby craft stores and their religious freedom battle with the Obama administration over covering contraception in company health care plans.Read More"Though we had hoped the testing would render different results, this is an opportunity to educate the public on the importance of verifying the authenticity of rare biblical artifacts, the elaborate testing process undertaken and our commitment to transparency," said Jeffrey Kloha, the chief curatorial officer for Museum of the Bible. "As an educational institution entrusted with cultural heritage, the museum upholds and adheres to all museum and ethical guidelines on collection care, research and display."But some scholars have been raising questions about supposed Dead Sea Scroll fragments for years, saying that unscrupulous antiquities dealers are preying on evangelicals like the Greens, making millions in the process. Those same scholars questioned the Greens' fragments even before the museum opened with splashy ceremonies last year, including an event attended by Vice President Mike Pence. Monday's revelations are not the first time the Greens have courted controversy with their artifacts collection. In 2017, the Green family's company, Hobby Lobby, agreed to pay $3 million and return artifacts smuggled out of Iraq as part of a settlement with the Justice Department.Steve Green, the Bible museum's evangelical founder and chairman, would not say how much his family spent for the 16 Dead Sea Scrolls fragments in its collection. But scholars say even small fragments with little text can fetch millions in the antiquities market. Through a spokesperson, Green declined to comment on the news about his museum's five fake scrolls. As to the 16 fragments: 7 will not be displayed, 9 will be tested further. Three of those 9 are currently on display at the museum with signs addressing the questions about their authenticity, the spokesperson said. On the website, "The Lying Pen of Scribes," scholars and scientists have identified more than 70 purported Dead Sea Scroll fragments that have surfaced on the antiquities market since 2002. Ninety percent of those are fake, said Arstein Justnes, a professor of biblical studies at the University of Agder in Norway, including the Museum of the Bible's. Kipp Davis, an expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls at Trinity Western University in Canada, was one of several academics who has tried to warn Christians, including the Green family, about the forgeries.Davis, who studied the fragments for the Museum of the Bible, said Monday's news about the fakes felt like bittersweet vindication. His takeaway: Evangelicals and others whose faith motivates them to collect artifacts should be very careful with antiquities dealers eager to pique their interest in supposedly ancient scraps of scripture. "These good intentions that draw from a place of faith are subject to some really gross manipulations," Davis said, "and that is a big part of what has happened here." The scholar said he believes 2-4 of the Greens' 16 fragments may be authentic, but that at least 8 are fake. In April 2017, Bible Museum sent five fragments to the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und-prüfung (BAM), a German institute for analyzing materials, where scholars tested for 3D digital microscopy and conducted material analyses of the ink and sediment on the papyrus. Scholars have theorized that forgers write on top of ancient scraps of papyrus or leather, making the scrolls appear authentic until the ink is tested. Their report, which the Bible Museum said they recently received, "further raises suspicions about the authenticity of all five fragments." Before the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered 70 years ago, the earliest and most complete version of the Hebrew Bible was from the 9th century.But then Bedouin shepherds stumbled on the scrolls, hidden away for nearly 2,000 years in caves in Qumran, on the western shore of the Dead Sea.The discovery was so vast, with more than 900 manuscripts and an estimated 50,000 fragments, it took six decades for scholars to excavate and publish them all.The Israeli Antiquities Authority keeps a tight hold on most of the Dead Sea Scrolls, displaying them in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem. For decades, it was almost impossible for private collectors to get their hands on even scraps from the famous archeological find.But in 2002, new fragments began mysteriously appearing on the market. The Greens bought their fragments between 2009-2014. At the time, they were deeply involved in the antiquities trade, amassing a collection of some 40,000 artifacts.Some scholars accused the Greens of buying too many artifacts too quickly, without being sure exactly where they came from, or who had owned them in the past."They made it widely known that they were buying everything," said Joel Baden, a professor at Yale Divinity school and co-author of "Bible Nation," a new book about the Greens."Every antiquities seller knew the Greens were buying everything and not asking questions about anything."In an interview before the Bible museum opened last Fall, Steve Green told CNN that wasn't sure who sold his family the Dead Sea Scroll fragments."There's been different sources, but I don't know specifically where those came from." | 3news
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Story highlightsVideo of English fans throwing money at children stirs outrage on social mediaFan violence at Euro 2016 continued overnight in Lille, France (CNN)A group of English fans in France for the Euro 2016 soccer championship have been caught on video taunting begging children in the street, apparently throwing coins at boys, forcing them to scramble and race each other for the pickings.English fans are mocking at gipsy children throwing them coins pic.twitter.com/vWMuGrq0QV— Max Allanazarov (@KyKyPyKy22) 14 June 2016
Hundreds of English fans gathered outside a bar in Lille, chanting loudly, waving English flags and throwing empty plastic beer cups on the floor, according to a CNN correspondent who was at the scene earlier. JUST WATCHEDNew arrests over Euro 2016 clashesReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNew arrests over Euro 2016 clashes 02:48The Union of European Football Associations condemned the fans' behavior, saying it "has always shown zero tolerance for any form of discrimination." The video that emerged Thursday set off a storm of criticism on social media, mostly from British people embarrassed by their fellow countrymen. One Twitter user joked about the upcoming "Brexit" vote in which Britain will decide whether to stay in or leave the European Union: "Europe must be thinking, 'Good riddance!' "The way a segment of the English football fan community is behaving, Europe must be thinking, "Good riddance!"— Lee Randall (@randallwrites) 16 June 2016Read MoreA Russian sports journalist from the Tass government news agency posted the video -- the latest in nasty images to emerge from the soccer championship, where arrests, injuries and hospitalizations have become daily occurrences. Absolutely ashamed to be English after watching the video of the English football fan ridiculing the little refugees children in France!— Latasha-jade (@latashajade15) 16 June 2016
Fan violence continued in Lille on Wednesday night, the day before England faced off against Wales in nearby Lens. Police made 36 arrests, and 16 fans were taken to the hospital.Fans at the scene were heavily intoxicated, and CNN witnessed some approach children at another point, showing them money in their hands and then closing their fists to deny them.On Thursday afternoon, England defeated Wales 2-1 in Lens, where 2,400 security officers were deployed, street cameras set up and alcohol regulations put in place. I bet most of Europe hope #Brexit wins so they can close borders to stop swarms of drunken English fans marauding across the Channel again— yvonne ridley (@yvonneridley) June 16, 2016
Some of the worst violence so far surrounded the England-Russia match Saturday when at least 35 people were injured and some hospitalized in brawls.In chaotic scenes, throngs of rival supporters rushed at one another, hurling bottles, chairs and other objects, and forcing police in riot gear to fire tear gas in response.CNN's Frederik Pleitgen and Alex Felton contributed from Lille, France. | 5sport
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(CNN)Nearly two years ago, Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg received a new role -- one no one would sign up for: widow. Now she's trying to help people who have experienced a loss around the grieving with her new book "Option B.""Going through this ... it's the unimaginable. Those early days ... months, weeks, I felt like there was this void closing in on me. The grief. I couldn't breathe. And I didn't know what to do. I turned to my friend Adam and I said, 'How do I get my kids through this?' Because I was so worried their childhoods were going to be wiped away," Sandberg told CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" on Tuesday. Sandberg said if her book can help anyone who is also facing a hardship, "It honors the life [Dave] led. And like so many people who have lost someone, I want his memory to stay alive."Dave Goldberg was just 47 when he passed away while the couple was on vacation in Mexico. The tech entrepreneur had been exercising when he fell. An autopsy later revealed the cause of his death was a coronary arrhythmia, a symptom of his undiagnosed coronary artery disease.Read MoreTapper choked up as he read a passage Sandberg wrote about telling her children they had lost their father: "The screaming and crying that followed haunt me to this day -- primal screams and cries that echoed the ones in my heart. Nothing has come close to the pain of this moment."Sandberg said the loss has given her children perspective. After her son's team lost a recent basketball game, many children were crying. Her son told her he would be fine."Kids are resilient. My kids are resilient. My kids have faced horrible trauma. There are so many kids in this country growing up in poverty, facing very, very hard challenges. ... We need resilience for all of them." Sandberg recounted an especially hard day for her as she was attending her son's music concert and saw all the other fathers watching their children play. It was a cold reminder that Dave wasn't coming back. The day wasn't over, as Sandberg was expected to host an important dinner for Facebook at her home later that night. She was upstairs hysterically crying as her son came in and said, "Mommy, they're here." She told him she couldn't go downstairs, and couldn't stop crying. She recounted her son saying, "Mom, you should just go downstairs. They all know what happened to us. It's OK. And I bet they have things that they cry about, too."CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correctly identify Sandberg's late husband, Dave Goldberg. | 4politics
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(CNN)A Brazilian woman who has accused Neymar of rape has broken her silence to provide a detailed account of the evening she spent with the Brazilian soccer star to reaffirm her allegations against him.Follow @cnnsport
In a television interview with Brazilian station SBT broadcast Wednesday, 26-year-old Najila Trindade said she had been left "traumatized," accusing the Paris Saint-Germain forward of raping and violently assaulting her.Neymar, the world's most expensive soccer player, has previously denied all the allegations against him, and has called the incident, "a trap."CNN has contacted Neymar and PSG for comment on the allegations made by Trindade in the interview, but has yet to receive a response.Speaking on Wednesday, Trindade, who met Neymar on May 15 in Paris, says she contacted him on Instagram, intent on pursuing a sexual relationship with the soccer star.Read More"There was a sexual intent, it was a desire of mine. I think that was clear to him. And he asked when I could go and I said at that moment I couldn't, for financial reasons, I couldn't go, and also because of my schedule at work."And so he suggested "well, but I can solve that" and I went. With money ... with the ticket," she told Brazil's SBT.Neymar plays for French club Paris Saint-Germain.Trindade says she met Neymar at the Hotel Sofitel Paris Arc Du Triomphe."I had the desire of being with Neymar and when I got there everything was good, everything was fine, the messages, I was going to succeed, do you understand? But when I got there he was aggressive, totally different from the guy I met through the texts."Still, to that point it was fine. Because I really wanted to be with him, I thought, let me try to get a handle on this. And we started to caress each other, to kiss each other and then he undressed me," she said.She says that after warning him that she would not have sex without a condom he began to violently restrain her in order to have intercourse with her without using a prophylactic.Trindade says she asked Neymar to stop but he refused."From the moment that he held me, violently hitting me, he was forcing me to stay there, in that place," she said."I don't think that just because I was keen to be with him that he had the right to do that to me," she told SBT in Brazil.Neymar has strenuously denied allegations against him, publishing text messages and photos, on Instagram, he said prove he was set up, and his representative claimed he was the victim of attempted extortion."I'm being accused of rape," the Paris Saint-Germain player said in a video published on his Instagram account last week. "Yes, it is a heavy word, a very strong thing," he said in Portuguese."What happened was totally the opposite of what they are talking and saying," Neymar said. "I'm very upset at this moment." "This is a very unpleasant situation, not only for myself but also for my family. For putting them in this situation, because I really didn't want to, I was induced to do it, it was something that happened, it was a trap and I ended up falling for it, but that's a lesson from here on out."The video has since been taken down.The woman left Paris on May 17 and waited to file a report in Brazil because she "was quite emotionally shaken and scared of registering the facts in another country," the police report said.Police in Paris have not responded to CNN's calls regarding the alleged incident. The Paris prosecutor's office say they have not opened an investigation. In his Instagram video, an emotional Neymar contended that his encounter with the accuser was "a relationship between a man and woman, within four walls, something that happens with every couple," but also that he had been set up. "It was a trap, and I ended up falling for it."Neymar's representative, NR Sports, said in a press release, last week, that the player "was a victim of attempted extortion, practiced by a lawyer from the city of Sao Paulo, who, according to his version, represented the interests of the alleged victim."In Wednesday's TV interview, Trindade says she has no desire for financial compensation and is only "pursuing justice." She also says that her first lawyer dropped her case after she went to the police to pursue her complaint against his advice.CNN has been unable to reach that attorney for comment. It is not known if she has new representation.Neymar ended his Instagram video showing flirty and at times explicitly sexual texts and intimate photos that he said were exchanges with his accuser even after the alleged incident. The exchanges began in March, according to the time stamp on the texts."I will expose everything, expose all the conversations I had with the girl, all our moments, which are intimate ... but it is necessary to open and expose them to prove that nothing really happened," he said.Two days after Trindade filed the report, he took to social media, strenuously denying her accusations and sharing a sexually charged text exchange between the pair that he claims continued after the alleged assault, he says proving the consensual nature of their relationship.When asked about why she continued to message Neymar after the alleged rape, Trindade said: "Initially, I wasn't able to react, due to the trauma."And then I knew that if I didn't speak to him normally, pretending that I hadn't understood what had happened, he wouldn't speak to me again and I wouldn't have how to prove what he had done to me."The latest allegations came on the same day Neymar was ruled out of the Copa America, South America's showpiece international tournament, after sustaining an ankle injury during Brazil's 2-0 warm-up win over Qatar in Brasilia.Neymar limped off during Brazil's 2-0 win over Qatar in Brasilia.Visit CNN.com/sport/football for more news and featuresNeymar was seen walking with crutches with heavy ice packaging around his left ankle before being taken to hospital where he was visited by the country's president Jair Bolsonaro.The injury is the latest setback in a forgettable season for Neymar, who was stripped of the Brazilian captaincy last month following disciplinary issues.He was banned for three matches by French football authorities last month after a video posted by a spectator at the Coupe de France final appeared to show him striking a fan after a brief confrontation. PSG had said it would appeal the ban.The striker was also banned from European competition by UEFA for an Instagram post criticizing match officials in charge of the French club's Champions League defeat to Manchester United in March.Neymar, incensed that a last minute penalty was awarded to United using the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, will serve a three-match suspension next season as punishment. CNN's Vasco Cotovio, Jaide Timm-Garcia, Sean Coppack in London contributed to this report. | 5sport
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Story highlightsEngland's Tom Lewis wins Portugal Masters after stunning 65 at VilamouraLewis playing only third professional event after glittering amateur career He wins by two shots from third round leader Rafael Cabrera-Bello of SpainLee Westwood claims star-studded invitational event in China Tom Lewis, the leading amateur at this year British Open, secured his first victory as a professional with a stunning final round of 65 giving him the Portugal Masters title Sunday.Lewis, tipped for great things after a glittering amateur career, could hardly have expected to secure his maiden European Tour title so quickly, but the 20-year-old Englishman emerged from the chasing pack to win by two shots from overnight leader Rafael Cabrera-Bello of Spain. Lewis shot to prominence as he led at Sandwich, also with a 65, and was then part of the victorious Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup side against the United States before joining the professional ranks.His appearance at Vilamoura was only his third in the paid ranks and a run of five birdies in six holes on the back nine allowed him to set a clubhouse target of 21-under 267, which his more experienced rivals were unable to match."I wouldn't have expected that at all," Lewis told the official European Tour website."I was dreading qualifying school at the end of the year but it looks like I've skipped that. I'm just really pleased with my performance," added Lewis, who learned his golf at the same Welwyn Garden City club as six-time major winner Nick Faldo.Felipe Aguilar, George Coetzee, Gregory Havret , David Lynn and Christian Nilsson finished tied for third on 18-under, with former world number one Martin Kaymer and Denmark's Thomas Bjorn in a group a further shot back.Meanwhile, world number two Lee Westwood secured victory in a special challenge tournament in China which saw an invitational field play 18 holes across seven cities.Westwood beat home player Liang Wenchong in a playoff at Caesars Golf in Macau as he holed a 12-foot birdie putt at the first sudden death hole.They had both parred the day's two holes to record an 18-hole total of two-under-par 71, one shot ahead of Ian Poulter. Rory McIlroy, the U.S. Open champion and world number three, finished six-over-par in the four-man event. | 5sport
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(CNN)Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson will hold meetings with top Democratic and Republican senators on Wednesday, a White House official tells CNN, as the confirmation process for the President's nominee to the Supreme Court gets underway. Jackson is scheduled to meet individually with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Dick Durbin and the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Chuck Grassley, the official said. Jackson spent time this weekend beginning to prepare for the Senate confirmation process with a team of White House lawyers and aides. Democrats are hoping for a swift and bipartisan confirmation process for the US District Court judge, who would make history as the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Senate Democratic leaders hope to have a vote confirming Jackson to the court by mid-April.EXCLUSIVE: Prominent conservative judge who advised Pence on the 2020 election endorses Biden's Supreme Court nomineeThe White House says Jackson will meet with any senator who requests a meeting. Several other meetings are set to be scheduled later this week, the official says. Read More"We wanted to start quickly, right out of the chute," former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones told CNN's John Berman on "New Day" Monday morning. Jones is guiding Jackson through the confirmation process, a role known in Washington circles as a "sherpa.""We hope this is going to move quickly," Jones said. "We're at the kind of mercy of the hands of the Senate right now, but we want to make sure that she's ready for her meetings and for her confirmation hearing that should be coming up in a few weeks."Jackson, 51, currently sits on DC's federal appellate court and had been considered the front-runner for the vacancy since Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement. President Joe Biden officially nominated Jackson to the Supreme Court on Friday, praising her as a "nominee of extraordinary qualifications" whose opinions are "carefully reasoned, tethered to precedent and demonstrate respect for how the law impacts everyday people."The President is hoping Jackson can garner bipartisan support in the Senate, but Democrats will need all their members in Washington to ensure her confirmation. Unlike for most major pieces of legislation, Democrats do not need Republicans help to confirm a Supreme Court justice and can do it with their 50 votes and Vice President Kamala Harris breaking a tie. Jackon's confirmation to the high court will not change its ideological makeup. The court currently has six conservative justices and three liberal justices -- and the retiring Breyer comes from the liberal camp. The court is already poised to continue its turn toward the right with high-profile cases and rulings expected from the court in the coming months on abortion, gun control and religious liberty issues. | 4politics
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Story highlightsPete Sampras: U.S. cannot expect to dominate men's tennis anymoreAmerican legend talks to CNN's Open Court show about his glittering careerNine years after retiring from top level, he discusses his career highs and lowsThe 40-year-old is now focused on his family, having two sons with actress wifePete Sampras is one of the legends of men's tennis, holding the record of 286 weeks as world No. 1 -- a position he maintained for an unprecedented six years in a row.The American sat down for a chat with CNN's Open Court show host Pat Cash, who like Sampras is a former Wimbledon champion.Sampras was still a boy when Cash won his only grand slam crown in 1987, but went on to notch a record seven championships at the British grass-court event and 14 majors overall -- which was a record until Roger Federer beat it in 2009.Sampras, now 40, has been retired from top-level tennis for almost a decade, and has two sons with actress wife Bridgette Wilson.He talks about his post-playing days, his record-breaking achievements, the state of the men's game and why the U.S. can't expect to dominate tennis anymore.On life after tennis:"I've been into golf, trying to get into the gym to stay somewhat fit. I've got two boys now, they're active kids. "Retirement is a work in progress. I try to figure out my day, and what I know about myself is that I need structure. I can't just wake up and watch TV and do nothing. I need a day off working out, seeing the wife, play a little golf, see my kids. JUST WATCHEDOn court with Pete Sampras ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHOn court with Pete Sampras 08:03"I've worked hard my whole life, since I was a little kid. But now it's a point in my life now where I can just enjoy it, but at the same time I still need to work."On his post-retirement exhibition clashes with Roger Federer in 2007 and 2008:"It was pretty intense. When we signed up to do it, the last thing I wanted to do was play horrible and embarrass myself. I wanted to be respectful. "Roger was really good, and he's a great guy ... I felt pretty comfortable, I was only 35 at the time, so I was still playing pretty good tennis, but I think the most important thing is that I really got to know Roger."He's such a nice guy, good family man. He's quick and he's really good and he's got all the shots and he's a great player, but I just wanted to make sure I didn't make myself look like an idiot. I wanted to play well and I felt like I did that."JUST WATCHEDMichael Chang's historic French victoryReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMichael Chang's historic French victory 06:16On the state of the men's game:"To have Roger and Rafa Nadal playing -- and Novak Djokovic has now been the dominant player and Murray's getting closer -- it's a great time for tennis, an interesting year. Is there a guy coming through who is going to to dethrone those guys? I don't think so. Berdych, Tsonga? Yeah, they have their moments up to that level, but I think it's a little bit like the '80s with McEnroe and Lendl -- those guys played each other all the time, and we're seeing that today. "I love watching Roger and Rafa play. I mean the lefty and the righty, the grinder against Roger, who is classic ... Djokovic being a great athlete ... I'm a huge fan of all those guys." On America's lack of successors to Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Michael Chang and himself:"It was a freaky time, it really was, and for American fans and media to expect it every 10 years ... let's be realistic. It's unfair to Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick and John Isner. They are really good players but they're nowhere near Roger and Rafa and Djokovic."To get to where I was with Andre and Jim and Michael, it might take another 10, 20 years. I think the world has got a little bit stronger, a little bit better. Guys are pretty hungry out there ... the game has gotten bigger, more people are playing the sport around the world. JUST WATCHEDSearching for the next U.S. tennis aceReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSearching for the next U.S. tennis ace 04:04"Americans have been a little content, maybe a little soft. It's just not happening at the moment. It seems like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Tom Brady, they're like major stars in our country and it seems like tennis has died down a little bit. I don't see anything changing anytime soon. The American media and fans expect Wimbledon winners, guys being number one -- it's pretty hard to do." On the dying art of serve and volley:"It's gone. I mean you (Cash), Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg, you were the guys that I grew up watching play, so I just developed this serve and volley game at a young age. You have to start young. I started at 13, 14 -- if you're 20 and don't serve and volley, it's too late. "And seeing you play Wimbledon, seeing Boris (Becker) play Wimbledon, it impacted on me -- if I was to win Wimbledon, I needed to get into the net. I decided to serve and volley and do it as a young kid, and at first it was difficult. I love watching Roger, Nadal, Djokovic but it's sad to see Wimbledon today with everyone staying back.JUST WATCHEDPhilippoussis: From serving to surfingReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPhilippoussis: From serving to surfing 03:24"Technology might be an issue because with these big Babolat rackets, they don't need to volley, you just hit the crap out of the ball. Whereas we grew up with the wood racket, so you had to hit it properly. It'd be nice to have someone come up that serves and volleys. It's definitely a lost art, and it's unfortunate."On the ATP Tour's 2011 rookie of the year Milos Raonic, widely tipped to be the next Sampras:"Huge serve, huge second serve. But again, he's not really looking to get in, he's looking to serve big and crack it and then get in. The feel isn't quite there with him, but he doesn't need to do it when you serve so big. "It's a timing thing, it takes a certain rhythm, practice. (Players) like Milos or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych, they serve big, but they're not willing to get into the net on their serve. I'm a fan of all these guys, but serve and volley tennis, unfortunately, has pretty much gone."On bowing out at the top by winning the 2002 U.S. Open, his final tournament:"I broke the (grand slam) record when I was 29 -- I went through the next two years trying to find motivation. I just felt week in week out I didn't have it in me anymore, I just wanted to win one more major. I switched coaches, didn't really work out very well with that. I went back to Paul Annacone over the summer, and I just knew I had the game, I just needed to put it together and play that last U.S. Open."It was raining a lot that first week, so I had to win five matches in seven days at 31 -- a lot of work at the U.S. Open. To beat Andre (Agassi) at the end was a great ending. Quite honestly, I wasn't planning on retiring, but once Wimbledon came and went for me, I knew I was done -- my heart wasn't in it. I didn't want to practice, I didn't want to play any tennis. "But it was a great way to end it. It wasn't really my plan, and from being as low as I could be -- losing second round at Wimbledon against (world No. 145) George Bastel, I was like almost in tears -- to come through two months later..."On being No. 1, beating Connors' record of five successive years at the top of the rankings, and passing Roy Emerson's mark of 12 grand slams in 2000"The No. 1 was a big deal for me -- six years in a row. I played in Europe for about two months to do it. That was huge for me, that's a big record. To beat Roy Emerson at Wimbledon with my parents there, beating Patrick Rafter, a great Australian, it was great way to do it. It was 9 o'clock at night, it was a storybook ending, quite an emotional time for me."So yeah, it was all about being No. 1 and winning majors, that was my goal, and I created a certain lifestyle to really create that. I was very focused, very single-minded. I just needed to be a certain way as far as my personality, so I felt I wanted to win majors and break some records and be world No. 1 as long as I could."On being a father:"Right now they are nine and six. They are great kids, I love them. I want them to listen a little better, I want them to do their homework and not give me a hard time and do what I say. I'm taking it in small steps, but I'm not sure they are going to be into tennis. I got them doing tennis lessons every week, and I have them doing golf lessons every weekend, just to try keep them active, get them out of the house. "We live in a day and age of a lot of computers, Wiis, and iPods -- so much technology -- so I want to get them out of the house. I just want them to be good kids, respectful kids, be nice to people. If they play tennis great, if not, I'm okay with that." | 5sport
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London (CNN)Maltese center-right politician Roberta Metsola has been elected as the new European Parliament President, a week after the body's previous head David Sassoli died suddenly, and she immediately faced questions around her stance on abortion rights.Metsola, who was voted into the post on her 43rd birthday, had served as the Parliament's vice-president since 2020 and was elected comfortably in Tuesday's leadership vote, winning the support of 458 of the group's 705 MEPs. She is the third woman to lead the Parliament, but has drawn early criticism over her opposition to abortion -- a procedure that is legal, if restricted, in every EU country except her own nation of Malta. Reproductive rights have become a central issue on the continent since Poland introduced a near-total ban on terminations last year.Although the role of President is largely ceremonial, Metsola takes charge of the bloc at a critical time. She will seek to contain fractures among the group's MEPs, while it also deals with the Russian military buildup near to the Ukrainian border, a complicated trade relationship with China and emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic.Repealing Roe v. Wade would set the US apart from other leading democracies. Here's how some key nations view abortion"I will stand against anybody who wants to destroy the European project," Metsola said at the first news conference following her victory, as she also batted back repeated questions over her position on abortion. Read MoreWhile she has advocated for LGBT rights as part of the center-right EPP group -- the largest political party in the European Parliament -- her track record of voting against abortion legislation has drawn criticism from progressive members. In 2015, she said in a joint statement that she and two other Maltese MEPs "remain categorically against abortion" and called the procedure a "red line." The lawmakers voted down a non-legislative report on gender equality due to an amendment which said women should have "ready access to abortion."More recently, in June 2021, Metsola was among a minority of lawmakers who voted to strike down another non-legislative report calling for universal access to safe and legal abortion across the EU. On Tuesday she said this move had "specific Maltese" context.Her election on Tuesday drew anger from some on the Parliament's left, with the Federation of Young European Greens writing on Twitter: "This is not progress."European Parliament President David Sassoli dies age 65But Metsola told reporters that she will commit to promoting the "unambiguous" position of the parliament, which has repeatedly voted in the past to support abortion rights. Last year, the body passed a resolution demanding the right to safe abortion -- widely seen as a response to restrictive laws in Poland and Malta.Metsola is the first woman to hold the presidency in two decades, following seven men. The previous leader, Sassoli, died aged 65 last week following a serious complication due to a dysfunction of his immune system."Your hard work & determination are an inspiration to us all. We'll work closely together for the EU's recovery and a green, digital & bright European future," EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted after Metsola's victory."My warmest congratulations to Roberta Metsola as new President of the European Parliament," President of the European Council Charles Michel added."The European Parliament is the beating heart of our European democracy. Looking forward to cooperating with you, dear Roberta," he said. | 3news
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Story highlightsSome of those charged shared offending videos hundreds of timesPolice were tipped off to the illegal activity by Facebook (CNN)More than 1,000 young people in Denmark have been charged with "distribution of child pornography" after sexual content featuring 15-year-olds was circulated online, Danish National Police said in a statement Monday.The police launched an investigation following a tip-off from Facebook about two videos and a "sexually explicit" image that were being circulated by mostly teenage social media users across Denmark."It's a very big and complex matter that has taken a long time to investigate. Not least because of the large number of those charged," North Sealand police inspector Lau Thygesen said in a statement. "We have taken the case very seriously as it has major implications for those involved when such material is spread."The majority of those charged shared the video a couple of times, but some did so hundreds of times, police said. Read MoreThe age of consent is 15 in Denmark, but the law against child pornography still applies to sharing sexual videos or photos of those under 18. Sexting Facebook told CNN it has a zero-tolerance of child exploitation images and "non-consensual sharing of intimate images." A spokesperson for the tech giant said: "Our systems run in the background and automatically remove and report intimate content involving children to (the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children) in the US, who in turn will review and dispatch the relevant information to the right law enforcement agencies across the globe."Last year, Facebook attracted criticism for asking potential victims of revenge porn to preemptively send explicit images of themselves to the social network, allowing Facebook to build a digital profile of the pictures and then prevent them being shared by anyone else. Many jurisdictions have taken a tough line on the dissemination of explicit images and videos starring people under 18, regardless of the age of those doing the sharing. In early 2016, three US teens were arrested and accused of involvement in a "sexting" ring that circulated sexually explicit images and videos of other students, sometimes for money. In December, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a brief objecting to the prosecution of a Minnesota 15-year-old for sharing a naked photo of herself."Sexting is not without consequences—but all teenagers make mistakes. There are ways for parents, schools, and communities to respond to sexting without criminalizing young people, jeopardizing their futures, and undermining the real pursuit and prosecution of those who exploit children," the ACLU said at the time. | 3news
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(CNN)The manager of the Welsh national football team and former Manchester United star Ryan Giggs has been arrested on suspicion of assault, British media reported Monday, and the Welsh Football Association said it was aware of an alleged incident without further comment, saying only that the 46-year-old would not be involved in upcoming matches. Greater Manchester police has not confirmed the arrest of Giggs by name, saying only in a statement to CNN that: "Police were called at 10.05pm on Sunday 1 November 2020 to reports of a disturbance at an address on Chatsworth Road, Worsley."A woman in her 30s sustained minor injuries but did not require any treatment."A 46-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of section 47 assault and section 39 common assault. He has since been bailed pending further enquiries. Enquiries are ongoing."British police as a matter of routine do not disclose the names of individuals involved in assault cases.Read MoreGiggs' representative was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNN. In a statement widely reported by British media, the Wales manager denied "all allegations of assault made against him. He is cooperating with the police and will continue to assist them with their ongoing investigations."READ: Squads of both Ajax and Dynamo Kiev hit by multiple positive Covid-19 tests ahead of Champions League gamesGiggs looks on after the UEFA Nations League group stage match against Republic of Ireland.The Welsh football association (FAW) said it was aware of the allegations against Giggs and announced on Tuesday that "he will not be involved in the upcoming international camp." "Our agreed immediate priority is preparing the team for the upcoming international matches."Robert Page, with Ryan's support, will take charge for the next three matches against the USA, Republic of Ireland and Finland supported by Albert Stuivenberg."The Cymru squad for these upcoming matches will be announced on Thursday 5th November. "The FAW will not be making any further comment at this current time," the association added.The Wales squad for its upcoming matches in November was due to be named on Tuesday.Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosGiggs was appointed Wales manager in January 2018 and has steered them to qualification for the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship, which has been rescheduled to take place next summer after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the tournament's postponement. He enjoyed a stellar club and international career winning 64 caps for Wales and an array of trophies with Manchester United, including 13 Premier League titles and two UEFA Champions Leagues. | 5sport
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Story highlights Prime Minister David Cameron said more troops are being deployedThe government issues 24 severe flood warnings for Sunday More than 8,000 people have lost electricity, and some power substations are flooded (CNN)Swaths of northern England have disappeared under mammoth flooding, prompting evacuations and dozens of urgent warnings. A month's worth of rain fell in just one day over some areas, CNN affiliate ITN reported. The swollen, raging currents of the River Irwell were so intense that they destroyed and washed away parts of a historic pub in Summerseat. https://t.co/Q5jbKMvPG8 my wedding reception venue in 1983 destroyed by the river Irwell 2015— Duncan Vessey (@CastorAles) December 27, 2015
Britain issued 24 severe flood warnings Sunday, each one meaning there is a "danger to life." While hundreds of residents evacuated, some stayed behind and tried to clear floodwater from their homes with buckets -- but to no avail. Read MoreBritish Prime Minister David Cameron chaired an emergency Cabinet meeting Sunday and said more troops will be deployed to assist with the flooding. "I've just chaired a COBRA meeting on the unprecedented flooding. Huge thanks to the emergency services and military for doing so much," Cameron tweeted. "Also my sympathy for those affected at this time of year. More troops are being deployed as part of a plan to do whatever is needed."1/2 I've just chaired a COBRA meeting on the unprecedented flooding. Huge thanks to the emergency services and military for doing so much.— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) December 27, 2015
2/2 Also my sympathy for those affected at this time of year. More troops are being deployed as part of a plan to do whatever is needed.— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) December 27, 2015
More than 8,000 people had lost electricity, the power company Electricity North West said late Saturday night. Even some substations were flooded. "Flood defenses at a number of electricity substation were breached earlier today and engineers are working round the clock to restore power," the company said. The company said it is sending vans to Radcliffe, Padiham and Rochdale on Sunday to provide hot food to customers without power. | 3news
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Story highlightsLiverpool decide not to appeal eight-game ban for Luis SuarezUruguay international Suarez will start suspension immediatelyFA found Suarez gave 'unreliable' evidence to a disciplinary commissionSuarez was accused of racially abusing Manchester Utd's Patrice EvraLiverpool will not be appealing the eight-game ban for their Uruguay international striker Luis Suarez, the English Premier League club said Tuesday.Suarez received the suspension and a $62,000 fine for racially abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra in a match in October.Their decision follows the weekend release by the English Football Association (FA) of the findings of its Independent Regulatory Commission.A detailed 115-page report concluded that Suarez's evidence was "unreliable" and "inconsistent", revealing that he had called Evra a "negro" no fewer than seven times in a heated exchange.Liverpool continued to defend Suarez in a lengthy statement on its official website, claiming the FA had constructed a "highly subjective" case against him, which was "ultimately unsubstantiated."Suarez, who joined Liverpool from Dutch side Ajax last season, also protested his innocence in a statement."Never, I repeat, never, have I had any racial problem with a team mate or individual who was of a different race or color to mine. Never," it read. Dalglish defends t-shirts supporting SuarezHe added: "In my country, 'negro' is a word we use commonly, a word which doesn't show any lack of respect and is even less so a form of racist abuse. Based on this, everything which has been said so far is totally false."Suarez's ban will begin immediately, meaning he will miss Tuesday night's clash against EPL leaders Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium."I do feel sorry for the fans and for my team mates whom I will not be able to help during the next month. It will be a very difficult time for me," he said.Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish and his players wore Suarez t-shirts in the warm-up before their matchagainst Wigan last month, but ultimately the club decided not to prolong the affair.FA: Suarez evidence 'unreliable'"It is time to put the Luis Suarez matter to rest and for all of us, going forward, to work together to stamp out racism in every form both inside and outside the sport," the statement said.His absence from the Liverpool line-up will be keenly felt during a critical period as they chase a Champions League place.Suarez will also miss their League Cup semifinal tie against Manchester City as Dalglish bids to win his first silverware since taking charge last season. | 5sport
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Brussels (CNN)Europe has done it again. Despite French President's Emmanuel Macron's reluctance to give the UK a long Brexit extension, the EU leaders have agreed the apparently interminable process can be delayed until October 31, with a school report on Britain's behavior in June. And while everyone is focusing on that Halloween deadline, it's really the June date that's the more significant.Just three weeks ago, May told lawmakers in the House of Commons that she could not "as Prime Minister" delay Britain's departure from the European Union beyond June 30. After that, Britain would be obliged to send representatives to the European Parliament, where a new session begins on July 1. If May can't get her Withdrawal Agreement, battered and bruised, through the House of Commons in time to put a stop to those European elections and hustle the UK out of the EU by the end of June, everything will be back in play.Theresa May granted Brexit delay at EU summitTheresa May, remember, staked her premiership on delivering Brexit within the original two-year timetable of the Article 50 process -- March 29. If it's not done by the summer, something will have to give.Read MoreIt almost doesn't matter what that is -- a cross-party deal that allows a Brexit deal to get through the House of Commons, a second referendum to break the deadlock, a general election that finally sees off May. What's clear is that European leaders are done with the current impasse where the UK can't get its act together to leave, yet the EU is unwilling to force it out.The fact that Brexit was not delivered by the original Article 50 deadline has done something to the psychology of British politics. Here in Brussels, where they watch the action back in London closely, there is open talk that Brexit is on the verge of evaporating. The sentiment is not hard to understand -- the UK has, after all this time, demonstrated no clear plan for delivering Brexit. JUST WATCHEDUK lawmakers approve ban on no-deal Brexit by 1 voteReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHUK lawmakers approve ban on no-deal Brexit by 1 vote 02:45And once you miss one deadline, missing a second becomes less of an issue. And if you miss a third, then is there any point of having deadlines at all?If nothing else, this latest extension gives the UK a bit of breathing space to regroup and work out if it can find a way forward -- while maintaining a sense of urgency. In that sense, it's rather clever.While October is later than the UK asked for, the fact that a mention of June 30 remains in the final deal reminds everyone that the more existential questions concerning the future of the UK's relationship with Europe must be answered -- and soon. British MEPs stuck in limbo amid Brexit uncertaintyEither the UK is out, with a deal, on June 30. Or it's in the EU as a full member until at least October. By that time, the referendum result -- a narrow victory of 52%-48% -- will be three years old. And what if all manner of proposed alternatives fail to find a majority by then -- customs union, Norway "plus" and all the rest? And what if the parliamentary arithmetic is still a mess -- no overall majority for any party and no prospect of getting any controversial legislation through on any matter, let alone Brexit?Only a fool tries to predict how things will ultimately play out. But if the UK is still a member state on July 1, 2019, then it's no stretch of the imagination to see the whole thing being thrown out and taken back to square one. That could mean a new Prime Minister, a new direction for Britain post-Brexit, a resurgence of support for no deal, or even the scrapping of Brexit altogether. At that point it will be hard not to ask the question: What on earth has all this been for? | 3news
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Story highlights"The headlines should be about football, not about FIFA," says Prince Ali bin Al HusseinFIFA president Sepp Blatter wants to run for a fifth termPrince Ali only real credible challenger to BlatterFrenchman Jerome Champagne will also contest electionFollow us at @WorldSportCNN and like us on Facebook (CNN)Can this prince topple the king of world football's governing body?Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein has stepped forward to challenge Sepp Blatter for the FIFA presidency at May's election.Blatter, 78, is seeking a fifth consecutive term in office despite growing disillusion with the way the organization has been run during his tenure.The Swiss, who became president in 1998, has not faced a credible challenger since taking office but will now find himself in the middle of a real battle.I am seeking the presidency of FIFA because I believe it is time to shift the focus away from administrative controversy and back to sport.— Ali Bin Al Hussein (@AliBinAlHussein) January 6, 2015
"I am seeking the presidency of FIFA because I believe it is time to shift the focus away from administrative controversy and back to sport," Prince Ali said in a statement.Read More"This was not an easy decision. It came after careful consideration and many discussions with respected FIFA colleagues over the last few months. "The message I heard, over and over, was that it is time for a change. The world's game deserves a world-class governing body — an International Federation that is a service organization and a model of ethics, transparency and good governance."FIFA has been been heavily criticized following allegations of corruption over its bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.Russia was awarded the 2018 World Cup and Qatar the event for 2022. A FIFA investigation found no wrongdoing in the process. Prince Ali, 39, is the third son of Jordan's late King Hussein from his marriage to his third wife, Queen Alia.This wasn't an easy decision. It came after careful consideration & many discussions with respected FIFA colleagues over the last few months— Ali Bin Al Hussein (@AliBinAlHussein) January 6, 2015
He was elected FIFA vice president representing Asia in 2011. He also serves as the president of Jordan's soccer governing body and is founder and president of the West Asia Football Federation.Prince Ali has played a key role in the promotion of women's sport, securing Jordan's position as hosts of the Women's under-17 World Cup which is scheduled to take place next year.He also successfully campaigned to lift the ban on female Islamic players wearing headscarves during competition.The Asian Football Development Project, a non-profit organization, was created by Prince Ali in 2012 to encourage youth participation in football throughout the continent.It runs projects across Asia on empowering women within football, youth development and raising knowledge of the game.Prince Ali is believed to already have secured the backing of Michel Platini, the president of UEFA, Europe's governing body.Platini is expected to examine the policies and manifesto of the Jordanian royal before recommending to the 54 members of Uefa that they back the candidate at the election on May 29 in Zurich.In a statement made on Tuesday, the Frenchman said: "I know Prince Ali well. He has all the credibility required to hold high office. We now await his proposals and his program for the future of football."But Prince Ali faces a more difficult challenge to secure support from his own region with a number of countries in the Asian Football Confederation likely to support his opponent.Speaking to reporters last November, Shaikh Salman bin Al Khalifa, head of the AFC, reiterated his confederation's support for Blatter."We made it clear during the Brazil congress (in June) and even in the official nomination when President Blatter nominated himself and we all said that AFC is supporting of Sepp Blatter in the next election," he told reporters last year."This is the decision by the congress and a decision by the exco. What I heard in the media is so far unofficial and I can't comment on that. All I can comment on about is the official stand where the AFC and the exco have made it clear."I'm just focusing on what we have decided upon and agreed upon and I think that Jordan and Prince Ali were a part of that Congress."I think we made up our mind and we decided and that's it. We are, lets say, a nation that we don't change our minds. Once we commit and we give our word then we are committed."One additional problem facing Prince Ali is that his own place on the executive committee could come under threat.According to a rule change implemented last June by the AFC, the head of the confederation, in this case Sheik Salman, will take the seat on the executive committee and the vice presidency too.To ensure he remains on the executive committee, Prince Ali will have to win one of Asia's seats if he is to keep his place.The world's game deserves a world-class governing body — a service organisation and a model of ethics, transparency and good governance.— Ali Bin Al Hussein (@AliBinAlHussein) January 6, 2015
Prince Ali will attend the Asia Cup in Australia which begins this week and is expected to be quizzed on his proposals and policies.But he remains adamant that any campaign should be about football and not the organization he is hoping to lead."The headlines should be about football, not about FIFA," he said. "FIFA exists to serve a sport which unites billions of people from all over the world, people of differing and divergent political, religious and social affiliations, who come together in their enjoyment of 'the world's game.'"Prince Ali joins Frenchman Jerome Champagne in announcing his intention to stand against Blatter.The cut off point for those wanting to contest the election is January 29.Read: FIFA to publish redacted Garcia reportRead: Garcia quits FIFA role | 5sport
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(CNN)In her opener at this year's U.S. Open, Serena Williams spent half an hour on court and didn't lose a single game against a hobbling Vitalia Diatchenko.Follow @cnnsport
Wednesday's outing versus Kiki Bertens in New York was more indicative of the way things have gone for the American at grand slams in 2015: She toiled for a large chunk of the late afternoon contest. As she has done at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, however, the undisputed world No. 1 prevailed to move within five matches of becoming the first player since Steffi Graf 27 years ago to complete the calendar-year grand slam. JUST WATCHEDSerena Williams' U.S. Open stylesReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSerena Williams' U.S. Open styles 00:52The 7-6 (5) 6-3 result as the hot weather persisted in the Big Apple was indeed as close as the score suggested. Bertens, a qualifier ranked 110th, had never defeated a top-10 player in her career but owned a 17-2 record when representing the Netherlands in the Fed Cup. With the overwhelming majority of those assembled on Arthur Ashe stadium rooting for Williams, the atmosphere resembled the partisan environment often encountered in women's tennis' most prestigious team competition. Read MoreAnd with Williams admittedly nervous ahead of the match, an on-song Bertens broke early. Not closing out the set serving at 5-4 did little to dampen the 23-year-old's spirits, as she raced to a 4-0 advantage in the tiebreak. Cue the Williams comeback. Another one this year. "I think being down a lot, I know I can try to make a comeback," Williams, the three-time defending U.S. Open champion, told the crowd. "Plus, I never stop. "It doesn't worry me."JUST WATCHEDSerena Williams' life in numbersReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSerena Williams' life in numbers 01:10But even the most optimistic of Williams supporters had to have been concerned in the tiebreak as the first four points went to the underdog. After Williams forced an error and happily watched Bertens strike two unforced errors to make it 4-3, the turning point might have come next. Bertens crushed a second-serve return, only for Williams to scamper and manage to keep her reply in play. Bertens then erred on a forehand for 4-4 and things were slipping away. She tossed her racket in disgust after a net-cord contributed to a forehand error on set point. Williams thus stole the set -- and realistically ended the contest -- despite tallying 26 unforced errors and eight double faults, including four in the 11th game. The 33-year-old next faces countrywoman Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who eased past CoCo Vandeweghe 6-2 6-1 one round after Vandeweghe, a quarterfinalist at Wimbledon, upset Sloane Stephens. Unable to contain her frustration, Vandeweghe destroyed her racket in the first set Wednesday. JUST WATCHEDSerena Williams bringing in new sponsorsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSerena Williams bringing in new sponsors 02:43Also advancing to the third round was Eugenie Bouchard. Bouchard turned to retired great Jimmy Connors in an effort to end her alarming skid and the move seems to be paying off. When the 2014 Wimbledon finalist edged Polona Hercog 6-3 6-7 (2) 6-3, it marked the first time since March the Canadian won back-to-back matches. Bouchard originally failed to serve out the affair in the second set. Her next foe is Dominika Cibulkova, like the 21-year-old a grand slam finalist last year who is seeking to rediscover top form. In men's play, slumping two-time champion Rafael Nadal overcame Argentina's Diego Schwartzman 7-6 (5) 6-3 7-5, although he may have played better in the first round against Borna Coric even after needing four sets to progress. Elsewhere, defending champion Marin Cilic downed Evgeny Donskoy 6-2 6-3 7-5; Bouchard's fellow Canadian Milos Raonic, ranked 10th, overcame back troubles to defeat Fernando Verdasco 6-2 6-4 6-7 (5) 7-6 (1); and David Ferrer -- a longtime member of the top 10 -- beat Filip Krajinovic 7-5 7-5 7-6 (4) in his first tournament since June. This is my favourite emoji! #usopen .@cilic_marin pic.twitter.com/54f2B6od15— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 2, 2015
Mardy Fish, a former top-10 player, contested the last match of his career, losing to Feliciano Lopez 2-6 6-3 1-6 7-5 6-3. Fish, hindered by heart issues and anxiety in recent years, succumbed to cramps in the fifth set after relinquishing a 5-4 lead, with a break, in the fourth. . @MardyFish hell of an effort my friend... I couldn't be prouder ..... Time for that margarita #cheers— andyroddick (@andyroddick) September 2, 2015
"I have got a lot of great memories," Fish told reporters. "I've got a lot of good wins out here. I have made a lot of really good friendships with almost everyone out here. I'll miss that."And then the health stuff, I'm just trying to help any way I can and share my story. If it helps other people, that's great."Read: Federer flawless, Murray magical | 5sport
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London (CNN)British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's controversial five-week suspension of Parliament was unlawful, the UK Supreme Court has ruled, in a landmark decision that will have far-reaching constitutional implications.Judges unanimously upheld an earlier decision by Scotland's highest civil court, which ruled that Johnson had acted illegally to suppress parliamentary scrutiny of his Brexit strategy.Supreme Court President Lady Hale said Johnson's advice to the Queen "was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification."Extraordinarily, she added that the prorogation was "void and of no effect," and that "Parliament has not been prorogued."Huge defeat for PMRead MoreThe decision is a huge defeat for the Prime Minister, and will likely set off a bitter argument over whether the justices have strayed too far into the UK's political arena.But, speaking in New York where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Johnson was defiant, saying that while he has "the utmost respect for our judiciary ... I don't agree with the verdict."Johnson said the government would respect the ruling, adding that the "most important thing" is that the UK leaves the EU on October 31, "come what may."A government source told CNN the Prime Minister would fly back to the UK on Tuesday night, after his speech at the UNGA.John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, addresses reporters after the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnson's decision to prorogue Parliament was unlawful.Following the judgment, John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, said Parliament would resume on Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. local time (6:30 a.m. ET). It is not yet clear if Johnson plans to address MPs on Wednesday, following his return from the US.Bercow said there would be no Prime Minister's Questions session (normally held on Wednesdays) but that there would be opportunities for urgent questions, ministerial statements and emergency debate applications.The House of Lords, Parliament's upper house, will also resume on Wednesday, at 3 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET).Contentious decisionJohnson's decision to suspend parliament until mid-October was hugely contentious. Opposition lawmakers accused him of trying to shut down political efforts to stop a no-deal Brexit on October 31. The government insisted the prorogation was constitutional, and normal procedure when a government wants to restart the parliamentary session with a new legislative agenda. READ LADY HALE'S FULL SUMMARY OF THE COURT'S DECISION HERE:
UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn called for Johnson to reconsider his position "and become the shortest serving Prime Minister that has ever been."Speaking at the Labour conference in Brighton, Corbyn added that Johnson must "obey the law, take no deal off the table and have an election to elect a government that respects democracy that respects the rule of law and brings power back to the people, not usurps it."Why was the UK Parliament suspended and what does it mean for Brexit?Tuesday's decision follows last week's high-stakes hearing in the Supreme Court, at which the justices were asked to decide between competing decisions of Scottish and English courts. They upheld a case brought in Edinburgh by a cross-party group of more than 70 lawmakers led by Scottish National Party MP Joanna Cherry. They agreed with the Court of Session that Johnson's suspension of Parliament was motivated by the "improper purpose of stymying Parliament." At the same time, they overturned a ruling by the High Court in London, which found against the anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller. The High Court had earlier ruled that the decision to suspend Parliament was a political matter, and not one that could be reviewed by the courts. Miller's legal action was joined by John Major, treating Britain to the extraordinary spectacle of a former Conservative prime minister suing his successor. Speaking outside court following the ruling, Cherry told reporters that she was "absolutely delighted that the UK Supreme Court has agreed with Scotland's Supreme Court."SNP MP Joanna Cherry speaking to the media outside the Supreme Court in central London.She added: "This is a huge victory for the rule of law for democracy and it's very much in keeping with Scottish constitutional traditions that neither of the governments nor indeed the monarch are above the law."Meanwhile, Brexit coordinator for the European Parliament Guy Verhofstadt tweeted that "the rule of law in the UK is alive and kicking" after the decision."Parliaments should never be silenced in a real democracy," he added. "I never want to hear Boris Johnson or any other Brexiteer say again that the European Union is undemocratic."At least one big relief in the Brexit saga: the rule of law in the UK is alive & kicking. Parliaments should never be silenced in a real democracy.I never want to hear Boris Johnson or any other Brexiteer say again that the European Union is undemocratic.— Guy Verhofstadt (@guyverhofstadt) September 24, 2019 This story has been updated to clarify what the ruling said about the reasons Boris Johnson gave to Queen Elizabeth II for the prorogation of Parliament. | 3news
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Story highlights A new round of French airstrikes hit ISIS targets in SyriaAt least 26 U.S. states have said they won't accept refugees from SyriaISIS has claimed responsibility for terror attacks that killed at least 129 people in Paris (CNN)The Paris attacks that killed at least 129 people continued to prompt raids and arrests in Europe and airstrikes in Syria. They've also spurred pledges of support from around the globe, while skepticism of Syrian refugees is sprouting in a number of American states. Many nations also find themselves at heightened terror alerts after ISIS released a video promising more attacks and the CIA director said Paris wasn't likely a "one-off event."Here's the latest we've learned from officials and local news reports:The latest-- NEW: French warplanes carried out a new round of airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria on Tuesday, the French Defense Ministry said. Activists had previously reported a series of aerial bombings early Tuesday in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, in northern Syria. There were seven airstrikes and at least three major explosions, according to the collective known as Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, which has documented ISIS atrocities in the city. The French military had already conducted a series of airstrikes in Raqqa on Sunday and Monday.Read More-- At least 26 U.S. states have said they won't accept any refugees from Syria. The State Department said it is taking the governors' concerns seriously, but it remains "steadfastly committed" to bringing in 10,000 refugees next year, spokesman Mark Toner said. Officials in six states say they'll continue accepting Syria's refugees. The investigation-- Three teams of terrorists staged coordinated attacks at six locations throughout Paris late Friday, including a concert hall, the Stade de France and at least two restaurants, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said. At least 352 people were wounded in the attacks, 99 of them seriously. Seven terrorists were killed, one fewer than ISIS said were involved, Molins said. -- The Paris attacks were planned in Syria and organized in Belgium, French President Francois Hollande said. Six of the Paris attackers spent time in Syria, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV in France.-- Authorities have said they believe at least one suspect in the attacks is still on the loose. Salah Abdeslam was stopped near the Belgian border by French police shortly after the Paris attacks Friday night, but he was not a suspect at that time and was let go, sources told CNN. -- Two cars -- a black Seat, and a black Volkswagen Polo registered in Belgium -- appear to have been used in the Paris attacks. The Polo was rented by Salah Abdeslam, who was in a different vehicle when he was intercepted at the Belgian border, and the Seat was found in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil with three Kalashnikov automatic rifles inside, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported.-- The dead attackers identified by officials so far are 28-year-old Samy Amimour, 29-year-old Ismael Omar Mostefai and Bilal Hadfi, who sources say was 19 or 20. -- The French newspaper Le Monde reports that Ibrahim Abdeslam, Salah's older brother, was a suicide bomber whose explosives detonated at a cafe on boulevard Voltaire in eastern Paris. The Paris prosecutor's office has identified that attacker as a 31-year-old French citizen but hasn't disclosed his name.-- The Paris attackers rented an apartment in the suburb of Bobigny for a week before they launched Friday's coordinated series of shootings and explosions, according to multiple reports in French media. The apartment was reportedly rented by Ibrahim Abdeslam. -- Twenty-three people are in custody and weapons, including a rocket launcher, and IT equipment have been seized after more than 150 police anti-terror raids were carried out in cities across France since Friday, said French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who has ordered 104 people be put under house arrest.-- Five of seven people detained over the weekend in Belgium were released by a judge, officials said. The two still detained are under arrest for "attempted terrorism and participation in the activities of a terrorist group," the country's federal prosecutor said. -- Mohammed Abdeslam, the brother of suspects Salah and Ibrahim Abdeslam, was among the five people released. He told CNN affiliate BFMTV that his parents are in shock and "do not realize yet what has happened. My family and I are affected by what happened. We found out by TV just like many of you. We did not think for a moment that one of our brothers was related to these attacks." The scene in Paris-- The iconic Eiffel Tower lit up in Paris Monday in the colors of the French flag. Other landmarks around the world have done the same in a showing of solidarity. "Tonight, we are all Parisians," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said at a lighting ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Paris.-- Hollande addressed a joint session of the French Parliament -- only the third time a president has done so since 1848 -- and said he would seek to add 5,000 positions to the country's paramilitary police force. -- Hollande declared a state of emergency across France, which lets authorities limit people's movements and impose zones of security and protection. Hollande would like to see his country's state of emergency in place for three months, and he proposed measures that would allow France to deport suspected terrorists or strip them of their citizenship, even if they were born in the country, he said. -- The French government announced tightened border controls, put the gendarmerie paramilitary police on heightened alert and ordered 1,500 military troops to join already increased security forces. France intends to continue airstrikes against ISIS in Syria, and the arrival of aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will triple the country's ability to carry out those strikes, Hollande said. Timeline of attacksRepercussions around the globe-- Belgian officials called off a scheduled football match in Brussels on Tuesday between Belgium and Spain because of security concerns. Belgium has raised its terrorist alert level to 3 (out of a maximum of 4), the country's Interior Ministry's Crisis Center said late Monday. -- British Prime Minister David Cameron announced a plan for $3 billion in additional funding to be spent on the country's military forces to fight terrorism. He also addressed a controversial bill that he says will ensure that British authorities have powers to follow terrorist movements by tracking and intercepting communications. "The more we learn about what happened in Paris, the more it justifies the approach that we are taking in Britain," Cameron said. -- London's Metropolitan Police will be increasing the number of officers on patrol at Tuesday's England vs. France soccer match at Wembley Stadium.-- In a purported ISIS video, a fighter says the terror organization will "strike America in its own stronghold in Washington." The FBI and Department of Homeland Security say there's "no credible threat to the United States," but law enforcement officials in the U.S. capital say they're stepping up security. And CIA Director John Brennan said he would not consider the Paris attacks a "one-off event," and added, "I would anticipate this is not the only operation that (ISIS) has in the pipeline."-- U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said he has asked the Obama administration to provide a classified briefing for all House members.-- The United States and France will "bolster" their intelligence sharing, to the fullest extent of the law, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said. And Kerry vowed that ISIS will be defeated. "The United States and France are not only friends, we are family. And today, the entire world joins our family in heartbreak yet again," Kerry said. "Don't mistake what these attacks represent. This is not a clash of civilizations. These terrorists have declared war against all civilization. ... This is an assault not just on France, but coming on the heels of brutal attacks in Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere, it is an assault on our collective sense of reason and purpose, an attack on civility itself."-- The French air force carried out bombing missions over Raqqa Sunday and Monday against strategic ISIS targets. France was already part of a U.S.-led coalition conducting airstrikes on ISIS, and since Friday's attacks, French officials have vowed to fight back.-- Around the world, Obama pledged solidarity with France, Pope Francis condemned the killings, British Prime Minister David Cameron convened a meeting of the emergency response committee, Russian leader Vladimir Putin sent condolences to France, The Netherlands increased border security and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel "stands shoulder to shoulder to France." Support for Paris swells from around the world Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA forensic scientist works near a Paris cafe on Saturday, November 14, following a series of coordinated attacks in Paris the night before that killed scores of people. ISIS has claimed responsibility.Hide Caption 1 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksPolice are out in force November 14 near La Belle Equipe, one of the sites of the terror attacks.Hide Caption 2 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksForensic police search for evidence inside the Comptoir Voltaire cafe after the attacks.Hide Caption 3 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksShoes and a bloody shirt lie outside the Bataclan concert hall on November 14. Most of the fatalities occurred at the Bataclan in central Paris.Hide Caption 4 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksSecurity forces evacuate people on Rue Oberkampf near the Bataclan concert hall early on November 14.Hide Caption 5 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksMedics evacuate an injured woman on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire near the Bataclan early on November 14.Hide Caption 6 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksPolice, firefighters and rescue workers secure the area near the Bataclan concert hall on November 14.Hide Caption 7 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA man with blood on his shirt talks on the phone on November 14. He is next to the Bataclan theater, where gunmen shot concertgoers and held hostages until police raided the building.Hide Caption 8 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksPolice officers patrol the area around Notre Dame cathedral in Paris on November 14. Hide Caption 9 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksPolice officers patrol Paris' Saint-German neighborhood on November 14. Hide Caption 10 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksVictims of the shooting at the Bataclan concert venue in central Paris are evacuated to receive medical treatment on November 14. Hide Caption 11 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA woman is evacuated from the Bataclan theater early on November 14.Hide Caption 12 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksForensics are working in the street of Paris after the terrorist attack on Friday, November 13. The words "horror," "massacre" and "war" peppered the front pages of the country's newspapers, conveying the shell-shocked mood. Hide Caption 13 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksRescuers evacuate an injured person near the Stade de France, one of several sites of attacks November 13 in Paris. Thousands of fans were watching a soccer match between France and Germany when the attacks occurred.Hide Caption 14 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA survivor of the terrorist attack in the Bataclan is assisted following terror attacks, November 13. The violence at the Bataclan, which involved a hostage-taking, resulted in the highest number of casualties of all the attacks.Hide Caption 15 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksSpectators invade the pitch of the Stade de France stadium after the international friendly soccer match between France and Germany in Saint-Denis.Hide Caption 16 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksSpectators embrace each other as they stand on the playing field of the Stade de France stadium at the end of a soccer match between France and Germany in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, on November 13.Hide Caption 17 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA body, covered by a sheet, is seen on the sidewalk outside the Bataclan theater.Hide Caption 18 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksRescuers evacuate an injured person on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire, close to the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris.Hide Caption 19 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksWounded people are evacuated outside the scene of a hostage situation at the Bataclan theater in Paris on November 13.Hide Caption 20 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA medic tends to a wounded man following the attacks near the Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire.Hide Caption 21 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA woman walks past police and firefighters in the Oberkampf area of Paris.Hide Caption 22 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA riot police officer stands by an ambulance near the Bataclan concert hall in central Paris.Hide Caption 23 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksWounded people are evacuated outside the Bataclan concert hall.Hide Caption 24 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksPolice secure the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, following explosions during the soccer match between France and Germany.Hide Caption 25 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksA wounded man is evacuated from the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, outside Paris.Hide Caption 26 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksSpectators gather on the field of the Stade de France after the attacks. Explosions were heard during the soccer match between France and Germany.Hide Caption 27 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksFrench security forces rush in as people are evacuated in the area of Rue Bichat in the 10th District of Paris. Hide Caption 28 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksPeople leave the Stade de France after explosions were heard near the stadium during a soccer match between France and Germany on Friday. Paris Deputy Mayor Patrick Klugman told CNN President Francois Hollande was at the match and was evacuated at halftime.Hide Caption 29 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksVictims lay on the pavement outside a Paris restaurant.Hide Caption 30 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksRescue workers and medics tend to victims at the scene of one of the shootings, a restaurant in the 10th District. Attackers reportedly used AK-47 automatic weapons in separate attacks across Paris, and there were explosions at the Stade de France.Hide Caption 31 of 32 Photos: Night of terror: Paris attacksFrench security forces move people in the area of Rue Bichat in the 10th District. A witness told BFMTV that firefighters were on the scene to treat the injured.Hide Caption 32 of 32CNN's Jethro Mullen, Don Melvin, Paul Armstrong, Tim Lister, Margot Haddad, Evan Perez, Pat St. Claire, Stephanie Halasz, Ralph Ellis, Chris Eldergill, Steve Brusk, Ivan Watson, Nic Robertson, Tony Marco and Chandler Friedman contributed to this report. | 3news
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Paris (CNN)Demonstrators took to the streets of French locales Sunday lauding free speech and decrying violence against educators after the slaying of a teacher who used caricatures of Islam's Prophet Muhammad during a lesson. Thousands gathered in and around Paris' Place de la République, some holding signs showing the front page of Charlie Hebdo -- a satirical magazine targeted by extremists after showing cartoons of the prophet -- while others lofted placards, saying, "No to Islamisation" and "Nazislamisation is cutting our throats."Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Prime Minister Jean Castex and other politicians were on hand at the protests. A special needs teacher who works in the Paris area told CNN she joined the demonstration because she was shocked by the killing. "We all should live together and learn to live together, and everybody has to respect everybody's faith," she said. Read MoreKiller took credit, prosecutor saysAbdoullakh Abouyezidovitch, an 18-year-old Chechen refugee, took credit for Friday's beheading of Samuel Paty, 47, who taught history and geography at Collège du Bois d'Aulne. Police killed the teen Friday afternoon in Éragny, the same Paris suburb where Paty's body was found. Paty had taught a class on freedom of expression, during which he used caricatures of the prophet taken from Charlie Hebdo, sparking controversy in the weeks preceding his death, authorities said. Before police gunned him down Friday, Abouyezidovitch said on Twitter that he had executed one of French President Emmanuel Macron's "dogs of hell" who had belittled the revered prophet, anti-terrorist prosecutor Jean-François Ricard said. Samuel Paty, 47, a French history and geography teacher was murdered in Paris on October 16, 2020. Abouyezidovitch approached students outside the school, located in the Parisian suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, asking them to point out Paty before attacking the teacher on his way home, Ricard said. Abouyezidovitch, who was not known to intelligence services, lived in Évreux, more than an hour's drive from the scene of the attack, the prosecutor said. It was unclear if Abouyezidovitch had attended Collège du Bois d'Aulne.Paty had organized a lesson around the Charlie Hebdo caricatures, Ricard said. Nordine Chaouadi, a parent of one of the pupils at the school, told Agence France-Presse that Paty took measures to avoid offending the Muslim youngsters in his class. "It was just to preserve them. It was out of pure kindness because he had to show a caricature of the prophet of Islam and simply said to the Muslim children: 'Go out, I don't want it to hurt your feelings.' That's what my son told me," he said.Several people taken into custodyAfter a Danish newspaper controversially published the caricatures in 2005, Charlie Hebdo republished them the following year. In 2015, 17 people were killed in a terror attack that began in Charlie Hebdo's offices in Paris and carried on for three days. Paty's slaying came as 14 people accused of involvement in the attacks stand trial. The court proceedings began in Paris last month, and Charlie Hebdo said it would republish the cartoons again.On October 7, a father of one of Paty's pupils called for Paty's dismissal on Facebook. He also filed a complaint and published a YouTube video critical of the teacher. Paty responded with a defamation complaint, Ricard said. People stand next to flowers displayed at the entrance of the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.Police have taken 11 people into custody for questioning. Included are the father who complained about Paty and the man's sister-in-law, who is suspected of having "joined the Islamic State Organization in 2014 in Syria and is, as such, the subject of a search warrant by an anti-terrorist investigating judge," the prosecutor said. Abouyezidovitch's parents, grandfather and brother were also taken in for questioning, a French judicial source said. French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said Paty was murdered "for teaching a class that had to do with one of the pillars of democracy -- freedom of expression." "Samuel Paty embodied our Republic's most noble asset: its schools. He was cowardly murdered by enemies of freedom. We will be united, firm and resolute," Blanquer wrote in a tweet.Macron said Paty was "killed because he was teaching students freedom of speech, the freedom to believe and not believe."CNN's Pierre Bairin, Eva Tapiero, Martin Goillandeau and Ivana Kottasovà contributed to this report. | 3news
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Alan Dymock is the Features Editor for Rugby World magazine. (CNN)They might live behind bars, but rugby has given prisoners in Italy a new-found freedom. A unique project has taken the sport into 15 jails across the country and its benefits are having a huge impact on inmates, both while in prison and when they are released."Rugby's values are perfectly fitting with inmates' needs for rehabilitation"Stefano Cantoni, Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) In one Turin jail, the tendency to reoffend in rugby-playing inmates is about 25% compared with normal figures of about 70%, according to Ovale Olte le Sbarre (Rugby Beyond the Bars), which is behind the scheme. "The aim is to contribute, through the concrete application of rugby's values -- respect for the rules, for your adversary, for the referee, for the supporters -- to the resocialization of detainees," says Stefano Cantoni of the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR), which is backing the project.Read More"The results so far demonstrate the undoubted beneficial effects on the human relations within the prisons, through a new appreciation of each other. It also offers a new network that can be invaluable for inmates' reintegration into civil society."READ: New Zealand regain Commonwealth Games Sevens title Photos: Hong Kong SevensIt's perhaps the biggest party in the world of sport... Hide Caption 1 of 11 Photos: Hong Kong SevensThe annual Hong Kong Sevens, which this year was held from April 5-7, is loved by rugby fans and players alike, regularly attracting as many as 120,000 spectators.Hide Caption 2 of 11 Photos: Hong Kong SevensAsked about the key to enjoying the event, comedian Al Murray once said: "You just have to hand yourself over and not worry about what time of day or night it might be."Hide Caption 3 of 11 Photos: Hong Kong SevensNo wonder there is a saying in Hong Kong: "If you ever get bored of the sevens, you can turn around and watch the rugby."Hide Caption 4 of 11 Photos: Hong Kong SevensThe Hong Kong Sevens dates back to 1976, with Fiji boasting more wins than any other country. The island nation picked up a record fourth-straight victory at the 2018 tournament.Hide Caption 5 of 11 Photos: Hong Kong SevensFrom small beginnings, it's now a truly global affair, with 28 teams in total at the ground this year.Hide Caption 6 of 11 Photos: Hong Kong Sevens"What is incredibly special is that the city shuts down for it," says England sevens veteran James Rodwell, describing the sight of rugby-hungry fans in the stadium for three whole days as "humbling."Hide Caption 7 of 11 Photos: Hong Kong SevensWorld famous for the atmosphere it generates, the Hong Kong South Stand does not stop jumping all weekend. Hide Caption 8 of 11 Photos: Hong Kong SevensFancy dress is a must. Hide Caption 9 of 11 Photos: Hong Kong SevensWith the 40,000 seater stadium a vibrant mix of color and noise, Hong Kong's atmosphere has set a precedent for other World Series tournaments, most notably London and Las Vegas. Hide Caption 10 of 11 Photos: Hong Kong Sevens"I start to get goosebumps when you talk about the atmosphere in Hong Kong," says Fijian sevens legend Waisele Serevi, who competed at the event on a number of occasions. What are your favorite memories of the Hong Kong Sevens? Have your say on CNN Sport's Facebook pageHide Caption 11 of 11'Strange thing'The idea began in 2009 when the visionary director of Turin's Lorusso e Cutugno prison, Pietro Buffa, fell in love with rugby after a visit to New Zealand. Having already introduced boxing, football and basketball to his prison, he wanted to see if rugby's values could take root among the inmates. Having never played, he called upon the region's favorite rugby son Walter Rista, the Piedmont region's most-capped player, who appeared on the wing for Italy five times in the 1970s. A trial match was organized in February 2010 to gauge interest, and training sessions began soon after.The La Drola project was born."The dream was to set up the first penitentiary rugby team: The La Drola Rugby Sports Association -- in the Piedmont dialect, drola means 'strange thing' or 'silly thing'," says Rista. The first official match between a team of inmates and an outside XV took place in October 2011. Reports were reaching the bosses that this was having a positive effect on inmates' physical and mental well-being. Rista noted the growing level of cohesion between teammates, a sense of shared and individual responsibility."The good results of the first year test were very encouraging, but after the success of the Drola Project, there were hundreds of spontaneous inmates requests to be included in the team -- from Turin as well as from other penitentiaries around Italy," adds Rista.READ: Uganda rugby star Solomon Okia revels in World Cup dreamJUST WATCHEDAustralia vs. New Zealand: Rugby's big rivalryReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAustralia vs. New Zealand: Rugby's big rivalry 22:53Strict protocolsHowever, the first years of the project were difficult. Dealing with a group of individuals with different ethnicities and languages is hard enough in a prison, before you add in the nature of sport and the restrictions on space and facilities. Some inmates had low levels of athletic aptitude, and there are obvious dietary limitations and strict protocols within any compound. Plus, many did not know the first thing about rugby. But the project gathered pace when the FIR agreed to allow the team to participate in the domestic Serie C league against external teams. "This allows a virtuous experience for those inside the walls and for the outsiders who must come in to play," adds Cantoni."Participation in the Championship by La Drola and Giallo Dozza (a prison in Bologna) and until last year of the Bisonti (a maximum security prison in Frosinone) was realized thanks to the opposition who agreed to play all matches against these teams inside their institutions. All home and away games are played inside the prisons."JUST WATCHEDThe state of North American rugbyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHThe state of North American rugby 23:05'Rugby's values'Looking forward, Cantoni would like to see more funds being made available for other prison teams to play in leagues. He would also like the institutions to take responsibility for funding medical expenses, better nutrition and for playing and training materials. And he urges amateur clubs on the outside to play a greater part in helping reintegrate offenders into society. For Rista, the benefits of the project are distinct and clear. "Every year some inmates are reinserted into society, and many of them are required to play or teach rugby on the outside," he says. "Rugby's values are perfectly fitting with inmates' needs for rehabilitation. "For example, one year there were two inmates who asked to postpone their release just so they could be part of the team when they finished competing in that year's league championship."The Drola team is now very well known inside and outside of Piedmont, and some other similar project have been launched in other Italian Regions. "In autumn 2016 there was the first match between two penitentiary rugby teams, in Bologna. Inmates from Turin were transferred outside Lorusso to play the match. Giallo Dozza won it."Visit cnn.com/rugby for more news and videosPeople often talk of rugby as a game without borders. In Italy, not even guards and barbed wire can hold it back. | 5sport
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Story highlightsMessage is part of the Pope's World Communications DayPope says journalism that seeks the truth is the way to overcome "fake news"Rome (CNN)Pope Francis released a message condemning "fake news," saying that it's a "sign of intolerant and hypersensitive attitudes, and leads only to the spread of arrogance and hatred." The Vatican says the message is part of the Pope's World Communications Day, but some at St. Peter's Square say the Pope was probably sending a message to Donald Trump and other world leaders who have been using the phrase "fake news."The tragic history of human sin, the Pope says in his message, is the first "fake news" and it dates back to the book of Genesis, when the "crafty serpent" lied to the woman. In present day, according to the Pope's message the fast digital world helps fuel the spread of "fake news" -- which he defines as "the spreading of disinformation on line or in the traditional media.""Spreading fake news can serve to advance specific goals, influence political decisions and serve economic interests," the Pope said.The Pope's message blames the difficulty in unmasking and eliminating fake news to people interacting with homogeneous news environments rather than listening to differing perspectives and opinions. Read More"Disinformation thus thrives on the absence of healthy confrontation with other sources of information that could effectively challenge prejudices and generate constructive dialogue; instead, it risks turning people into unwilling accomplices in spreading biased and baseless ideas," the Pope's message said. Pope on how to combat fake news Journalism that seeks the truth, the Pope's message says, is the way to overcome this "fake news" phenomenon. And hence his dedication of World Day of Communication to "'The truth will set you free'. Fake news and journalism for peace.""I would like to contribute to our shared commitment to stemming the spread of fake news and to rediscovering the dignity of journalism and the personal responsibility of journalists to communicate the truth."Praiseworthy efforts are being made to create educational programs aimed at helping people to interpret and assess information provided by the media, and teaching them to take an active part in unmasking falsehoods, rather than unwittingly contributing to the spread of disinformation."Catholics have been observing World Communication day since 1967. The Pope's message is traditionally published on January 24 during the day of the feast of St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of journalists. Catholics don't celebrate World Communication Day until May 13, but the announcement is made early to give bishops and priests time to prepare for local and national celebrations.Pope Francis has fallen victim to fake news himself. First when a fake news site falsely reported the Pope endorsed Hillary Clinton for President. And then again, when another fake news site falsely reported he endorsed Donald Trump for President.World leaders in the 'fake news era'Companies who have helped spread fake news are in the hot seat. Media giants Facebook, Twitter and Google have testified before US Congress on how their sites were used as tools to disseminate misinformation during the 2016 US presidential election. With Facebook releasing that up to 150 million Americans have been exposed to content generated on its platform by a Russian government linked troll farm. The British Government is setting up a new unit to tackle fake news, a Downing Street spokesman told CNN Tuesday. The National Security Communications Unit will be tasked with "such things as combating disinformation by state actors and others," the spokesman said.A start date for the unit has not yet been set, but the Downing Street spokesman said UK Defense Secretary, Gavin Williamson, will give provide further details in a statement "in due course."While Trump is probably the most well known leader to use the term "fake news" to attack journalism he is not the only one. Authoritarian leaders have jumped on his bandwagon. Syria President Bashar Al-Assad discounted allegations of torture in one of his military prisons by saying "We are living in a fake news era." Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines, tried to crack down on a story he didn't like by using the phrase "fake news" in a press conference. And Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro has tagged the global media as "fake news" when stories about his country are not of his liking.'Peace is the true news'The Pope's latest message on World Communication Day is "Peace is the true news." And the truth rests on the shoulders of those whose jobs it is to provide information: "journalists, the protectors of news."It's not a job, but instead a mission. Journalism for peace, the Pope says, "is truthful and opposed to falsehoods, rhetorical slogans and sensational headlines."This is not the first time Pope Francis has encouraged constructive communication and discouraged the spread of scandalous stories. During his 2017 World Communication's Day message titled "Fear not, for I am with you, Communicating Hope and Trust in our Time" he advocated for the dissemination of "good news" and the condemned "bad news" that spreads fear.CNN's Julia Jones in Atlanta and Valentina DiDonato in Rome contributed to this report. | 3news
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Story highlightsDramatic video footage showed a bus swerving to avoid the woman Police say the man jogged past the victim 15 minutes after the incidentLondon (CNN)Police in London arrested a man on suspicion of pushing a woman into the path of an oncoming bus while jogging.The 41-year-old was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm at an address in the affluent Chelsea area, a Metropolitan Police statement said. Police have released the man after questioning him, though he remains under investigation.Video footage of the May 5 incident showed a male jogger knocking the 33-year-old woman onto the road as she walked across Putney Bridge, on the River Thames.The bus is seen swerving and narrowly missing the woman.Police said the victim received minor injuries and that passengers on the bus came to her aid.Read MoreThe jogger returned 15 minutes later as he made his way back across the bridge but did not acknowledge the victim when she attempted to speak with him, according to police. Officers received "a good response" from the public after releasing the footage, police said."The victim was put in extreme danger when she was knocked into the road. It was only due to the superb quick reactions of the bus driver that she was not hit by the vehicle," said Sergeant Mat Knowles, the investigating officer from Putney Safer Neighbourhood Team, in an earlier statement. This story has been updated to reflect the latest information from police about the suspect's age. | 3news
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London (CNN)Archeologists working in central England have found a shackled skeleton which, they say, provides physical evidence that slavery was practiced in Roman Britain.The adult male was buried in a ditch with iron fetters locked around his ankles, Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) said Monday.The remains were found by builders working on a home extension in Great Casterton, in the central English county of Rutland, archaeologists from MOLA said, adding that this is the first time this kind of restraint has been found on a skeleton from Roman Britain. Radiocarbon dating has revealed that the remains date from between 226 and 427 AD, according to the press release. The Romans occupied large parts of Great Britain between 43 BCE and around 410 AD."We do know that the Roman Empire relied quite heavily on slave labor. It underpinned much of the empire throughout history. And it was true of Roman Britain as well. We have lots of literary evidence from wood, writing tablets and stone carvings," said Chris Chinnock, a human osteologist, or bone specialist, at MOLA. Read More"What we haven't found before is the physical remains of a person we think, we strongly suspect, could have been a slave."The man was buried in an awkward position outside a Roman cemetery.Chinnock said that it was impossible to definitively say that the man was enslaved but he represented the best candidate found in the UK. In addition to fetters, which are of a particular type associated with slavery elsewhere in the Roman Empire, the man was buried slightly on his right side, with his left side and arm slightly higher up a slope, which suggests he was disposed of in a ditch rather than buried in a proper grave, said MOLA. The individual was also buried just 200 feet from a Roman cemetery, which was "perhaps a conscious effort to separate or distinguish them from the people buried within the cemetery," according to the press release.'Exceptionally high' number of decapitated bodies found at Roman burial siteGiven that the shackles were a complex piece of iron work and would have been an expensive object to manufacture or purchase, Chinnock said that it was unlikely it would have been easily discarded. "For living wearers, shackles were both a form of imprisonment and a method of punishment, a source of discomfort, pain and stigma which may have left scars even after they had been removed," said Michael Marshall, finds specialist at MOLA, in the statement. "However, the discovery of shackles in a burial suggests that they may have been used to exert power over dead bodies as well as the living, hinting that some of the symbolic consequences of imprisonment and slavery could extend even beyond death."A small number of burials dating from Roman Britain have heavy iron rings around the limbs, but they may have been forged onto the bodies and probably wouldn't have been able to be worn during an individual's life, added the team.According to the statement, some written sources from the time mention that the dead were restrained to stop them "from rising and influencing the living."Radiocarbon dating revealed the burial took place between 226 and 427 AD.Detailed examination of the skeleton showed the man led a "physically demanding life," the archeologists said. "A bony spur on one of the upper leg bones may have been caused by a traumatic event, perhaps a fall or blow to the hip, or else a life filled with excessive or repetitive physical activity," the statement said. "However, this injury had healed by the time he had died, and the cause of his death remains unknown." | 3news
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Story highlightsBritain wants to expand police and intelligence surveillance powersA new law would let security agencies track phone calls and e-mailsThey would not know the contents of the communicationsCampaigners call the plan a violation of privacy and fight backPrivacy activists in Britain reacted angrily Monday to government plans to expand security agencies' monitoring of Internet and phone use.The government wants to let police and intelligence agencies monitor what numbers people phone, when, and for how long, and whom they e-mail, the Home Office said Monday.It would not give them access to "the content of any phone call or e-mail, and it is not the intention of Government to make changes to the existing legal basis for the interception of communications," said the Home Office, which is responsible for domestic security.The Home Office said the proposed new powers were vital "in certain circumstances to investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public."The government plans to introduce the new powers as soon as possible, the Home Office said, promising that the law would be "compatible with the government's approach to civil liberties."The Open Rights Group has launched on online petition against the plan, the "Communications Capabilities Development Programme."As of Monday, it said more than 13,000 people had signed pleas to government ministers saying "I do not want the government to try to intercept every UK e-mail, Facebook account and online communication."The campaign group calls the plan "pointless, easy for criminals to encrypt and evade," and "illegal: mass surveillance would be a breach of our fundamental right to privacy."The campaign group Liberty also attacked the plan, saying the previous government had abandoned a similar proposal."Proposals to stockpile our Web, phone and texting records were shelved by Labour. Now we see plans to recycle this chilling proposal," said Isabella Sankey, director of policy for the campaign group Liberty."Whoever is in government, the grand snooping ambitions of security agencies don't change," she charged.She said the agreement between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to form the current government "explicitly promised to end unnecessary data retention and restore our civil liberties."Video surveillance is already common in Britain. | 3news
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(CNN)Mediation talks between US Soccer and the United States women's soccer team over a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by the players earlier this year have broken down, according to a spokesperson for the players. Both parties had agreed to meet in New York this week but statements issued Wednesday indicate that they are far apart and, with no further talks scheduled, the case could result in a showdown in federal court. Follow @cnnsport
"We entered this week's mediation with representatives of USSF full of hope," the players' spokesperson Molly Levinson said in a statement to CNN Sport. "Today we must conclude these meetings sorely disappointed in the federation's determination to perpetuate fundamentally discriminatory workplace conditions and behavior.""It is clear that USSF, including its board of directors and president Carlos Cordeiro, fully intend to continue to compensate women players less than men. They will not succeed," Levinson said."We want all of our fans, sponsors, peers around the world, and women everywhere to know we are undaunted and will eagerly look forward to a jury trial."Read MoreREAD: Klopp leads praise for history-making female refereeREAD: USWNT to be admired for its fight for lasting changeUSWNT beat Netherlands in Lyon in July to retain the Women's World Cup. US Soccer: We want to 'continue discussions in good faith' US Soccer, the sport's governing body in the US, described Levinson's statement as "inflammatory.""We have said numerous times that our goal is to find a resolution, and during mediation we had hoped we would be able to address the issues in a respectful manner and reach an agreement," the federation wrote in a statement to CNN Sport. "Unfortunately, instead of allowing mediation to proceed in a considerate manner, plaintiffs' counsel took an aggressive and ultimately unproductive approach that follows months of presenting misleading information to the public in an effort to perpetuate confusion," US Soccer said."Despite inflammatory statements from their spokesperson, which are intended to paint our actions inaccurately and unfairly, we are undaunted in our efforts to continue discussions in good faith."READ: Top soccer coach calls equal pay 'ridiculous' Reigning champion The women's team's March lawsuit was filed in US District Court in California with 28 members of the team listed as plaintiffs. The suit alleges US Soccer's payment practices amount to federal discrimination by paying women less than men "for substantially equal work and by denying them at least equal playing, training, and travel conditions; equal promotion of their games; equal support and development for their games; and other terms and conditions of employment equal to the MNT."In one hypothetical case cited in the lawsuit, if the women's and men's teams both won 20 straight games in a season, the women would make 38% what the men do.JUST WATCHEDWatch the Nike ad starring the US women's soccer teamReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWatch the Nike ad starring the US women's soccer team 01:18Last month US Soccer said the reigning Women's World Cup champions earned more than the US Men's National Team, with Cordeiro releasing an open letter on Twitter saying that from 2010 through 2018 the federation paid $34.1 million in salary and game bonuses to the women, compared to $26.4 million for the men.Those figures did not include benefits, such as healthcare, that the women receive. Included in the federation's numbers is that US Soccer pays USWNT contracted players a salary to play in the National Women's Soccer League, while the men are paid by their individual teams.The women's and men's compensation structures are different, as those each were collectively bargained.In a written statement in July, Levinson said the figures were misleading and "utterly false."America's women have been far more successful than their male counterparts, winning four World Cups -- the most recent being in France last month -- and four Olympic gold medals.The USMNT said they too "were not impressed" by Cordeiro's letter. "The women's national team players deserve equal pay and are right to pursue a legal remedy from the courts or Congress," the men's team said.Sponsors have also been adding to the pressure to resolve the equal pay fight with deodorant brand Secret saying in July that it planned to contribute $529,000 to the USWNT players' association. Nike, US Soccer's biggest partner, has also said it's a strong advocate for pay equity. "Regarding gender equality, Nike has been an advocate for women and girls in the US and around the world," a spokesperson said.Minutes after the USWNT's World Cup win on July 7, Nike ran a 60-second ad celebrating the team's victory, centering on the concept that the USWNT's win is about more than just winning a soccer title. However, Nike itself has been criticized for reducing athletes' pay during their pregnancies -- a practice it said in May it would discontinue.Visit CNN.com/Sport for more news, features and videosEarlier this month it emerged that US Soccer had enlisted two lobbying firms, FBB Federal Relations and Vann Ness Feldman, to push back against claims of pay disparity after two Democratic senators introduced legislation that would require equal pay for men and women's national teams. Levinson told CNN the move had left the team "stunned and disappointed."Wayne Sterling and Jill Martin contributed to this report | 5sport
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Story highlightsTiger Woods wins his first tournament since 2009 at the Arnold Palmer InvitationalWoods cards a two-under-par final round 70 for a five-shot win over Graeme McDowellMcDowell can only manage a final round 74, the same score as third-placed Ian PoulterTiger Woods has finally ended a victory drought that lasted for 30 months, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational by five strokes to move back up to sixth in the world.Woods carded a two-under-par final round 70 to finish well clear of Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell who slumped to a closing 74 at Bay Hill, Florida.A 72-hole total of 275 (-13) gave Woods a remarkable seventh victory on one of his favorite courses, but his first tournament success since winning the Australian Masters in November 2009.Final Bay Hill leaderboardA beaming Woods told reporters: "It feels really good. It has been a lot of hard work and I'm so thankful for a lot of people helping me out along the way. They all know who they are.JUST WATCHEDTiger Woods withdraws from eventReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTiger Woods withdraws from event 03:18JUST WATCHEDTiger Woods is back on trackReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTiger Woods is back on track 01:57 "It was incredible to have that type of support here. I used to live here for a long time and it was neat to see some friends come out to cheer me."He added: "It's always fun to play the Masters and I'm looking forward to the momentum I've built up here. "The things I've been working on are all coming together at the right time."The win also confirms Woods' well-being ahead of next month's Masters at Augusta and dispels worries about his fitness, following his withdrawal from the final round of the Cadillac tournament at Doral two weeks ago with an Achilles tendon injury.It also moves Woods onto 72 career PGA Tour titles, one behind Jack Nicklaus but still 10 adrift of the record of Sam Snead, set between 1936 and 1965.Woods has an ominous record when leading from the front and, starting the day just one stroke ahead of McDowell, he was never headed after his rival slumped to a double-bogey six on the very first hole.Another player to prove his fitness was Englishman Ian Poulter, who showed he was over a recent bout of pneumonia to finish alone in third place, seven shots off Woods. | 5sport
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Story highlightsSerbia's David Savic banned from tennis for life and fined $100,000The 26-year-old was found guilty of three corruption chargesWorld No. 4 Andy Murray will face Donald Young in Sunday's Thailand Open final Agnieszka Radwanska wins the Tokyo Open final, beating Vera ZvonarevaA Serbian tennis player has been banned for life and fined $100,000 after being found guilty of match-fixing offenses.David Savic has been punished for three violations of the 2010 Uniform Tennis Anti-Corruption Program in October 2010, it was revealed on Saturday.A Tennis Integrity Unit investigation found that the 26-year-old tried to contrive the outcome of an event, sought to persuade another player to not try to win and also offered money "with the intention of negatively influencing a player's best efforts in any event."Savic is currently ranked 659th in singles, with a highest standing of 363 in October 2009. He is a compatriot of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who helped Serbia win the Davis Cup last year before winning three grand slam titles in 2011.Savic is the second man to be banned for life over match-fixing, following Austria's Daniel Kollerer in May.The Tennis Integrity Unit is run by the International Tennis Federation, the Grand Slam Committee and the men's ATP and women's WTA tours.Meanwhile, world No. 4 Andy Murray will face Donald Young in Sunday's Thailand Open final after the American upset second seed Gael Monfils.Young, ranked 55th, triumphed 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) against the Frenchman in Saturday's semis to reach his first top-level title match.He has already beaten Murray once this year, at Indian Wells, but lost to the Briton in the fourth round of the U.S. Open.Young will break into the men's top-50 next week, having started August in 128th place.The defeat dented 14th-ranked Monfils' hopes of reaching the season-ending ATP World Tour finals in London.Murray, who was runner-up in Bangkok in his first ATP final six years ago, is seeking his third title this year after winning 6-2 3-6 6-2 against another Frenchman, Gilles Simon.Agnieszka Radwanska boosted her hopes of qualifying for the season-ending WTA Championships in Turkey by winning the Tokyo Open title on Saturday.The Polish ninth seed defeated world No. 4 Vera Zvonareva for the third time this year, with the 22-year-old winning 6-3 6-2 to claim her sixth title.Zvonareva has already qualified for Istanbul, and is joined by Tokyo semifinalists Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion."Before this tournament my chances of qualifying for the Championships were very small, but now they'll be better," Radwanska said.The China Open has also begun, with Italian seventh seed Francesca Schiavone and Russia's No. 16 Svetlana Kuznetsova winning first-round matches in Beijing on Saturday.Ninth seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany also went through, but Serbian 10th seed Jelena Jankovic was beaten 7-5 6-4 by Austria's Tamira Paszek. | 5sport
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Washington (CNN)A whistleblower who previously worked at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Georgia detailed a high rate of hysterectomies and alleged medical neglect in a complaint filed to the Department of Homeland Security inspector general Monday. Dawn Wooten, a licensed practical nurse employed by the center who's represented by the Government Accountability Project and Project South, stated in a complaint that while some women may have required a hysterectomy, "everybody's uterus cannot be that bad." The Government Accountability Project provides representation for whistleblowers and Project South is a social justice organization. The complaint is also signed by several immigrant advocacy organizations: Georgia Detention Watch, Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights and South Georgia Immigrant Support Network.The complaint, which also included a series of concerns about the facility's handling of the coronavirus, immediately received responses from Democratic lawmakers. "The allegations put forth in this whistleblower complaint point to an alarming pattern of unsafe conditions and a lack of oversight at privately-run ICE facilities," said Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, in a statement, adding that allegations of hysterectomies being performed on women without consent is "incredibly disturbing."Read MoreThompson's committee is investigating on the conditions at ICE contractor facilities. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, urged the DHS inspector general to investigate Wooten's allegations."Everybody he sees has a hysterectomy—just about everybody. He's even taken out the wrong ovary on a young lady [detained immigrant woman]. She was supposed to get her left ovary removed because it had a cyst on the left ovary; he took out the right one. She was upset. She had to go back to take out the left and she wound up with a total hysterectomy," Wooten explains in the complaint. "She still wanted children—so she has to go back home now and tell her husband that she can't bear kids... she said she was not all the way out under anesthesia and heard him [doctor] tell the nurse that he took the wrong ovary," she continued.The complaint doesn't disclose the name of the gynecologist or the number of women allegedly coerced into receiving the procedure, nor when it occurred. ICE said it doesn't comment on matters presented to the inspector general. "ICE takes all allegations seriously and defers to the (Office of the Inspector General) regarding any potential investigation and/or results. That said, in general, anonymous, unproven allegations, made without any fact-checkable specifics, should be treated with the appropriate skepticism they deserve," the agency said. Since 2018, only two individuals at Irwin County Detention Center have been referred to certified, credentialed medical professionals at gynecological and obstetrical health care facilities for hysterectomies, according to Dr. Ada Rivera, medical director of the ICE Health Service Corps, citing agency data. "Based on their evaluations, these specialists recommended hysterectomies. These recommendations were reviewed by the facility clinical authority and approved," Rivera said in a statement.Irwin County Detention Center, the facility at the center of the complaint, is required to follow medical standards put in place by ICE in 2011. The standards state that "female detainees shall receive routine, age appropriate gynecological and obstetrical health care, consistent with recognized community guidelines for women's health services." According to those standards, health care services must be provided by personnel who are "licensed, certified, credentialed and/or registered in compliance with applicable state and federal requirements." Health care providers are chosen by the facility from among the local community providers willing to accept ICE detainees as patients, an ICE official said, adding that in some cases, the facility provider or clinical director may have community contacts they routinely work with.LaSalle Corrections, which operates the facility, did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.Wooten didn't elaborate on the hysterectomy allegations during a news conference in Georgia on Tuesday. Priyanka Bhatt, a staff attorney at Project South, said, however, that over the years "our coalition has heard from several women who have either had a hysterectomy done or have talked to other immigrants who have had a hysterectomy done."A detained immigrant told Project South that she had spoken to five different women at Irwin County Detention Center between October and December 2019 who had a hysterectomy. "When I met all these women who had had surgeries, I thought this was like an experimental concentration camp. It was like they're experimenting with our bodies," said the immigrant, whose name was not disclosed by the organization.Leeann Culbreath, co-founder and co-chair of South Georgia Immigrant Support Network, a humanitarian organization, recalled conversations with a handful of detained women over recent years who shared concerns about gynecological care. "With alarming frequency we hear about women who've received gynecological procedures," Culbreath said. "Sometimes they were not given an opportunity to give consent for that." The anecdotes in the whistleblower complaint confirmed Culbreath's concerns. "That affirmed my worst fears about what might be happening here," she told CNN. Wooten describes speaking with detained women who didn't fully understand why they had the medical procedure. "These immigrant women, I don't think they really, totally, all the way understand this is what's going to happen depending on who explains it to them," Wooten said. The complaint also alleges the facility didn't take necessary precautions to avoid the spread of Covid-19, which ultimately motivated Wooten to come forward. "I began to ask questions about why would the detainees not be tested -- symptomatic or non-symptomatic," Wooten said. "But what broke the back and the last straw was looking in and living it for yourself. Coming to work and being told that even though you're being tested, you can report when CDC guidelines says stay home and a doctor's note says stay home."The allegations raised by Wooten are similar to those surfacing around the country from immigrants held at ICE facilities, according to court documents, lawyers and other whistleblowers. They include treating Covid-19 symptoms with over-the-counter cold medication, lack of social distancing and transfers of detainees despite heightened risk of spreading the virus.Wooten, according to the complaint, had "pleaded with ICDC Warden David Paulk in March when the facility had its first Covid-19 case to stop all transfers of individuals in and out the facility, but the Warden did not listen."According to ICE statistics, there have been 43 total confirmed Covid-19 cases at the Irwin County Detention Center. There have been more than 5,799 cases overall nationwide at ICE detention centers. This story has been updated with additional reporting and reaction. | 4politics
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Story highlightsSteve Nash and Robert Sarver purchased majority of Real Mallorca Club operated in La Liga for 16 years before going bust Currently sits in 14th place of Segunda DivisionLondon (CNN)For most famous retirees, the question is, where are they now?For Steve Nash, the question is more like, where isn't he? Follow @cnnsport
The two-time NBA MVP hung up his high-tops in 2015, but maintained a healthy dose of off-court interests during his 18-year career. In 2006 he co-founded a film production company and launched his foundation's annual celebrity soccer match. Shortly afterward he bought a minority stake in the MLS's Vancouver Whitecaps, the team his brother Martin captained. Since then, he's only gotten busier. Read MoreIn 2012 Nash became the general manager of Canada's senior men's basketball team, and last year took on a consultant's role with the Golden State Warriors -- where he was reportedly instrumental in luring Kevin Durant. His latest challenge, however, may be his toughest: Resurrecting the once proud Spanish soccer team, Real Mallorca. Nash is part of an American investor group, led by Phoenix Suns' owner Robert Sarver, that purchased a controlling stake in the club for $21 million in January.Get more US Sports news here Gracias @rcdmallorcaoficial! Hasta la proxima vez! Keep getting better! A photo posted by stephennash (@stephennash) on Oct 26, 2016 at 8:07am PDT
Suddenly, one of the greatest point-guards in basketball history became the least likely face of a European football club. "We love the sport," the 42-year-old Nash tells CNN of his investor group. "We have fallen in love with the history of the club, and the fans and the island and the uniqueness of the Balearics."We are thrilled to be a part of it, and hopefully leave it in a much better place than where we found it one day many, many years for now," he adds. "This isn't a flip for us, this is something that we are passionate about and want to see succeed." Mallorca played in La Liga for 16 seasons, but ran into financial problems and declared bankruptcy in 2010. Although the club had some money pumped into it by local superfan Rafael Nadal -- and his uncle Miguel Angel Nadal, who once starred for the club -- it was relegated to the second tier of Spanish football three years later. American historyConsidering the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona are worth upwards of $3 billion each, buying into a club aspiring to return to La Liga for about one percent of their value was too good an opportunity to pass up for Nash and Co. "In Spain, it was more of our sweet spot," says Nash, who explained that the Suns' ownership group looked at Premier League and second tier teams in England, but "didn't want that sort of financial responsibility." "(Real Mallorca) was a reasonably priced team that had a great history on a beautiful island that had a good youth set up," Nash says. "I think it had been undermanaged, so to speak, for the last decade or so. La estatua del #Centenari del #rcdmallorca A photo posted by RCD MALLORCA OFICIAL (@rcdmallorcaoficial) on Mar 6, 2016 at 1:11am PST
"So it was an opportunity where we could bring a lot to the table, and we could help the club -- not only with some capital, but with our best practices (in) marketing and sporting-wise from the NBA."European football is littered with overseas ownership -- including Americans with interests in clubs as diverse as Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Swansea, Crystal Palace, and Roma.Some, like late Manchester United owner Robert Glazer and former Liverpool owners Robert Gillette and Tom Hicks, were accused of burdening their teams with debt and profiting off the back of supporters' wallets. Nash is quick to point out that his group's interests are strictly football related. "I think that we have to gain (the fans') trust, and I think a lot of times they are worried about a horror story of an American group coming in and buying a soccer team, only to want to develop hotels or condominiums," he says. "That's not our goal."Unique positionNash's involvement with Mallorca has already taken on a far more personal role than his hands-off investment with the Whitecaps. He has made several trips to the island, and engaged in training sessions with the team and its fans. He regularly interacts with the club's supporters on Twitter, and is very much the board's ambassador. "I think that's always tricky (with) owners and fans," he explains. "I'm in a unique position, because I was a player -- and I'm not necessarily a businessman -- so there is a little bit of a different dynamic there, and room for interaction." Visit cnn.com/football for more news and videosThirteen games into the season, Real Mallorca is tied for 14th place in the 22 team Segunda Division. Dreams of La Liga glory are probably a longshot for Mallorca this season, but stability -- by way of the NBA -- looks like it's there to stay. Drops reference in headline to La Liga | 5sport
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Story highlightsIndia's Monisha Kaltenborn becomes Formula One's first female team principalKaltenborn will replace owner Peter Sauber at the Sauber Formula One teamThe 41-year-old has been CEO of the Swiss-owned team since 2010Sauber are sixth in the constructors' standings heading into the Korean GPMonisha Kaltenborn has continued her rise within Formula One after becoming the sport's first female team principal.Kaltenborn has been CEO of Swiss-based team Sauber since 2010 and while continuing in that role, she will also replace team owner Peter Sauber in the role of team principal with immediate effect.Sauber have made no secret that India's Kaltenborn would take over from Sauber, with the Swiss saying he had no desire to be trackside when he turned 70.And wiith his 69th birthday just two days away, the decision has been made for Kaltenborn to make the transition from F1's first female CEO to its first female team principal.Son of a sushi chef on a roll in F1"Naturally I'm very aware of the major responsibility I have for Peter Sauber's racing team," Kaltenborn said in a Sauber statement.JUST WATCHEDKamui Kobayashi: Japan's fastest manReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHKamui Kobayashi: Japan's fastest man 03:30JUST WATCHEDFormula One strives for green futureReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHFormula One strives for green future 03:55JUST WATCHEDSingapore: The future of F1 finance? ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSingapore: The future of F1 finance? 04:20JUST WATCHEDSchumacher to retire from F1ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSchumacher to retire from F1 01:32"He founded the team over 40 years ago, and in the spring it will be 20 years since Sauber lined up for its debut Formula One grand prix. We are the fourth-oldest team in Formula One."To build up a project like this and keep it alive in a difficult environment is a tremendous achievement. I have set my sights high and am committed to taking the team forward as Peter Sauber would want and leading it on to success."Sauber expressed his confidence in Kaltenborn's ability to lead the team, explaining the time had arrived for him to step aside."We decided a long time ago that Monisha would take over from me but we left the timing open," he said. "Now is a good time for both of us, so this is the right moment to pass on the baton. "After all, there have been a number of races I've been unable to attend -- most recently the Japanese Grand Prix, where the team put in an excellent performance. "I'm in no doubt that Monisha has all the necessary skills to be an outstanding team principal, and I'm equally certain she will ensure that the values underpinning the company live on. That is very important to me." In a CNN interview in June, Kaltenborn revealed she had never foreseen a career in motorsport."I was never focused about getting into Formula One and taking up this career," she said. "A lot of things just happened by coincidence. "And then what you have to do then is see if you want to make that choice to see if you want to take the opportunity or not and see where it takes you to."She also spoke of her ambitions for Sauber, saying: "My desires within F1 are with this team. "I have so many desires that I would like to achieve with this team that I don't even know if my time would last that long so I am pretty happy with the challenges that I have within the Sauber team."Following Kamui Kobayashi's third-place finish at his home grand prix in Japan last weekend, Sauber are currently sixth in the constructors' standings with five races of the 2012 season remaining. | 5sport
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(CNN)Today is Teacher Appreciation Day, and if there has ever been a time when appreciation for teachers is sky high, it is now. With the coronavirus pandemic closing schools, parents are now de facto homeschool teachers, discovering just how hard it is to teach. Been homeschooling a 6-year old and 8-year old for one hour and 11 minutes. Teachers deserve to make a billion dollars a year. Or a week.— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) March 16, 2020
Social distancing has changed the usual means of saying "thank you." So here are some ways you can recognize teachers from afar. Participate in a social media campaignGiving teachers a shoutout on social media is a great way to publicly show your appreciation. The National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association are honoring teachers with weeklong social media campaigns using the hashtag #ThankATeacher. The groups have created toolkits complete with shareable graphics and customizable thank-you notes to shower teachers with love. Send a photo collage or thank-you videoRead MoreHome videos and photo collages are creative and personal ways to show your appreciation to teachers.One of our amazing student athletes @HannahMata09 thanking one of our amazing teachers @ysletahoops for the difference he has made in her life. We can't wait to share more thanks for our amazing group of educators. They deserve this and MORE! #ThankATeacher #TeachersCan pic.twitter.com/D1QT3ATJIW— Ysleta HS (@YsletaHS) April 28, 2020
You can keep it simple -- just share a picture or video of your children holding signs or cards. Or take it a step further with a hands-on learning assignment: Challenge your children to recite poems, write a script and get creative with props. Lexie really wanted to thank her teacher Mr Horne from Glory Farm school, he has helped her so much, I'm so pleased to see this up on Twitter!! #kindness #ThankATeacher @TheCooperSchool @UKThankATeacher https://t.co/rIoEQtP8qp— Alison Marjoram (@AlisonMarjoram1) April 30, 2020
Yard signs and thank-you paradesPlenty of neighborhoods are sporting yard signs recognizing 2020 graduates. There are also a few signs celebrating teachers.In the past week, Miami-based Somerset Academy surprised its teachers with yard signs reading "A star lives here". View this post on Instagram I walked outside, and to my surprise, I saw this perfectly placed sign in front of my house. This was such a sweet gesture by our admin. They drove all over South Florida and secretly left us this sweet token of appreciation. Thank you SASP 😄😘 . . . . Happy Monday to all my teachers and students out there who are still going strong, still at it, still working hard, still learning, and still persevering despite the odds. I love you, and I see you ♥️🙏. . . . #teacherappreciation #teachersofinstagram #MiamiTeacher #iteachtoo #iteachmiddles #Teachinginisolation #VirtualTeaching #virtualteacher #LatinaTeacher Teacher A post shared by Pamela Hernandez-Cruz (@phcruz_crafting_and_teaching) on Apr 20, 2020 at 1:00pm PDT
Over the past few months, teachers have started their own caravans to cheer up students. How about organizing a teacher appreciation caravan? Have signs, balloons and everyone there to honk and wave as they did in Bordentown, New Jersey.Purchase an e-gift cardOne of the easiest presents you can send your teachers is an e-gift card. With many stores and restaurants struggling, this gift can serve dual purposes: teacher appreciation and support for the economy. Fund school supplies online As school budgets continue to tighten, funding for supplies is growing increasingly scarce, leaving teachers to fill in the gaps.A survey by AdoptAClassroom.org found 96% of teachers purchase supplies for their students from their own pockets.That is why non-profits such as AdoptAClassroom.org and DonorsChoose stepped in with online platforms to help. AdoptAClassroom.org allows tax-deductible donations to teachers, schools and educational passion projects for K-12 students. This can include distance learning supplies, or simply restocking classrooms for when school reopens.DonorsChoose enables people to customize their donation based on location, materials requested or greatest need. Classrooms set up profiles with a personal statement from the teacher that includes an itemized list of needed supplies.JUST WATCHEDKids in Need offers free supplies to teachers, studentsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHKids in Need offers free supplies to teachers, students 01:27Also, consider donating to the Kids in Need Foundation. The non-profit provides free supplies to teachers through "resource centers" that look like small office-supply stores. Teachers receive a number of points and can shop the aisles. These resource centers are in 43 big cities -- including New York, Miami, Atlanta and Chicago -- where at least 70% of the children take part in the free or reduced lunch programs. | 3news
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London (CNN)British and Irish leaders Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar raised hopes of a breakthrough in the deadlocked Brexit process Thursday, saying they saw a "pathway" to a deal.After a face-to-face meeting at that was billed as a last chance to map out a deal, the pair issued an unexpectedly upbeat statement that indicated progress could be made.In a joint statement, both leaders described the two-hour meeting as a "detailed and constructive discussion" where "they agreed that they could see a pathway to a possible deal.""Their discussion concentrated on the challenges of customs and consent. They also discussed the potential to strengthen bilateral relations, including on Northern Ireland," the statement said. Afterward, Varadkar told journalists he thought it possible for a new deal to be struck by the end of this month. Read More"I think it is possible for us to come to an agreement, to have a treaty agreed, to allow the UK to leave the EU in an orderly fashion, and have that done by the end of October," he said. Varadkar added, however, that "there was many a slip between cup and lip" and there could be challenges "that are not in my control."Boris Johnson's Brexit talks teeter on brink of collapse. Here's how a Nobel laureate could help him"What this is about is securing an agreement that works for the people of Ireland and also of Great Britain and Europe. And a good deal for Ireland means no hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland," Varadkar said. The question of the Irish border -- and the proposed "backstop" roundly rejected by Brexiteers -- has become the most intractable issue in Brexit negotiations. It is unclear which side conceded ground at the meeting, held at Thornton Manor hotel near Liverpool in northwest England. But the change of tone from Varadkar indicates that Johnson is prepared to make concessions on the plan he put forward earlier this month.Under that plan, Northern Ireland would leave the EU customs union on the current Brexit deadline of October 31 along with the rest of the UK. But the region would remain aligned with EU regulations on goods and agriculture.Both sides say they don't want to place infrastructure on the frontier between Northern Ireland and Ireland, with the absence of a hard border seen as integral to the peace that followed decades of conflict. But Dublin has been skeptical about UK plans to carry out customs checks at facilities set back from the border, and at business premises.There was also alarm in Dublin over a consent mechanism -- a plan to give the Northern Ireland assembly a veto every four years on whether the region should retain EU goods and agriculture regulations.British officials admit the issue of a consent mechanism for Northern Ireland is a sticking point, but indicate privately there is room for negotiation. But even if the issue of consent can be resolved, the European Union and United Kingdom have yet to see eye to eye on customs. The return of border posts on the frontier between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland has been a red line for the European Union since Brexit negotiations began.Hopes are now pinned on a planned meeting Friday between UK Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in which both sides could give the go-ahead for a more intense set of negotiations among officials.They would have little time to conclude a deal before EU leaders are due to meet for a summit on October 17 and 18 -- but if significant progress is made in the coming days, it's possible they may agree to a short extension to the October 31 deadline to get a deal over the line.CNN's Schams Elwazer and Lauren Kent contributed to this report. | 3news
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Story highlightsRecep Tayyip Erdogan announces a Cabinet reshuffle Three ministers resign after their sons were detained in recent daysPrime minister blames the instability in his government on political rivalsBut prosecutors in Istanbul have said corruption is the problemThe government of key U.S. ally Turkey began to crack this week. There are rumblings that an Islamic cleric living in the United States may have something to do it. But prosecutors in Istanbul have said corruption is the culprit.Three Cabinet ministers resigned their posts Wednesday, days after their sons were arrested or temporarily detained in an anti-graft sting, semiofficial news agency Anadolu reported. One of them -- Urbanization and Environment Minister Erdogan Bayraktar -- went further than the other two, not just resigning his Cabinet position but also calling on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to step down.On live television in Turkey, Bayraktar said Erdogan asked him to resign and make a statement that would ease pressure on Erdogan. Upset at this, Bayraktar declined to make the statement but stepped down from his Parliament seat as well as his Cabinet post, and called on Erdogan to resign "to make the people more comfortable.""They sent us two papers today -- one for our resignation, the other a statement. Of course I want to make it easier for my party. However, I find this wrong," said Bayraktar, whose son was briefly detained in the roundup but later released.Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and Interior Minister Muammer Guler, whose sons were also arrested in the probe, also resigned Wednesday. Erdogan accepted the resignations, Anadolu reported. The sons were detained in a roundup that included the head of a public bank, several bureaucrats and high-profile businessmen. It came after a two-year probe by the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office into allegations of corruption including money laundering, gold smuggling and bribery.Also, local media outlets reported that former interior minister Idris Naim Sahin resigned from Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party or AKP. Sahin, who served as interior minister before Guler, will retain his seat in Parliament.The sweep comes in the runup to local elections in Turkey. Erdogan had been expected to reorganize his Cabinet, because some of his ministers will be running for office in March. Late Wednesday, he announced a Cabinet reshuffle, naming 10 new people."I had mentioned previously that there was the possibility of change by the end of the month. Some (ministers) asked to be removed. Some left their positions. Some are my decisions, which I submitted to the President and he has approved," Erdogan said.Efkan Ala was tapped as interior minister, Idris Gulluce as urbanization and environment minister, and Nihat Zeybekci was announced as the nation's new economy minister.Turkey bans journalists from police stationsPolitical rivalryOne of Erdogan's old allies, now a rival, could be having an influence on the crackdown, which Erdogan has called a "dirty, dirty operation" aimed at toppling his government.Erdogan appears to be in an open power struggle with former political backer Fethullah Gulen. Gulen is an Islamic cleric living in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, and his supporters are thought to be in key positions within the police force and the judiciary.Top government officials accused Gulen recently of trying to establish a "parallel state" within the Turkish government.The Hizmet Movement, the name preferred by Gulen's followers, has in the past thrown its support behind the Erdogan-led AKP. But the two have been publicly at odds over the last month. "It was a forced marriage and now it's an ugly divorce," said Ahmet Sik, a journalist who wrote a book on Gulen and his influence within the judiciary and the police force.Retaliation?In the wake of the arrests, Guler, who as interior minister controls the police force, dismissed scores of senior police officers. The government justified the purge by accusing them of carrying out the corruption arrests outside the chain of command.Journalists were hindered from covering the mass firings.Journalists accredited with the Turkish police were ordered to hand in their credentials as well as keys to the media briefing rooms in some police stations. "If there are any developments or press statements press members will be invited," read a statement from the police.Reporters who had long worked the police beat said the ban was unprecedented.According to press reports, Guler had no prior knowledge of the corruption probe that led to the detention of his son and the sons of the other ministers. He has denied any wrongdoing. Erdogan has repeatedly claimed, since the corruption arrests began on Tuesday, that international organizations with branches inside Turkey are trying to destabilize the country."This country has never been and never will be the operational space of international organizations. We will not allow the interest lobby, the war lobby, the blood lobby to carry out an operation under the guise of a corruption operation," he said during a speech on Sunday. | 3news
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(CNN)Ryan Sessegnon, a promising 20-year-old English footballer, says he is "not surprised anymore" and disgusted after he shared a screenshot of racist messages he received on the social media platform Instagram calling him the n-word and "slave."The England Under-21 winger, who joined Bundesliga club Hoffenheim on loan from Tottenham Hotspur last month, posted the screenshot on his Instagram story.He wrote at the top of the screenshot: "Honestly unbelievable. The craziest thing is I'm not even surprised anymore. Disgusting."In a statement, his parent club Tottenham Hotspur tweeted: "Everyone at the club is with you @RyanSessegnon. We are proud of the rich ethnic diversity that exists across our communities, fans, staff and players.""We are driven by inclusion and equality for all and nobody should have to endure such repulsive abuse," it added.Read MoreHoffenheim tweeted the club stood for "tolerance, integration and respect."In its statement, posted above the screenshot of blurred out racist terms directed at Sessegnon, the club wrote: "Today, our player @RyanSessegnon was the target of horrific online racist abuse.Ryan Sessegnon is playing for Hoffenheim on loan from Tottenham."#TSG stands for tolerance, integration and respect. We reject all forms of racism, discrimination and exclusion and say #NoToRacism!"Social media companies such as Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, have been criticized for the ways minority users are targeted with abuse on their platforms."We want everyone to feel safe on Instagram, and we don't tolerate racism or discrimination of any kind," said Facebook in a statement sent to CNN."We've invested heavily in people and technology to help find and remove this content more quickly, and recently introduced a new safety feature that allows public figures to prevent people they don't know from sending them messages on Instagram."According to anti-racism organization Kick It Out, reports of discrimination on social media are up 229% on last year.In October, Facebook and Kick It Out launched 'Take A Stand,' a new joint initiative intended to educate fans on how to call out racism, both online and offline.The new initiative includes an "anti-discrimination toolkit," which fans can access through an automated WhatsApp service and receive information on how to tackle and report discrimination.JUST WATCHEDBlack footballers too 'scared' to look at social media due to racist abuse, says ZahaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBlack footballers too 'scared' to look at social media due to racist abuse, says Zaha 03:33Facebook says its systems detect 95% of hate speech before anyone reports it, though the social media company added that it "knows they have more work to do."In July, Facebook and Instagram announced they would each be setting up a team to fight racism on their platforms and assess whether there is racial bias in their algorithms after it was suggested that posts with the Black Lives Matter hashtag were being hidden, though they are yet to release their findings.Premier League star Wilfried Zaha, who was also the subject of online abuse, told CNN earlier this year that he questioned the effectiveness of Instagram's privacy settings, given the ease with which anonymous accounts can send him racist messages. | 5sport
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(CNN)The starters for this year's NBA All-Star Game were announced on Thursday, and there were some familiar faces along with some new ones. Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was named as the captain for the Western Conference team, the 18th time he's been named to the All-Star team, tying Kobe Bryant for second place all time behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has 19.It also means that the 37-year-old has been a captain in each of the five years the NBA has used the current system to pick its teams. James will be returning to Cleveland for the All-Star Game, which takes place on February 10, the city where he began his NBA career in 2003 and where he won a title in 2016. James in action during the first half of a game against the Miami Heat.James is joined by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins as starters for the West. Read MoreIt is Curry's eighth selection to the All-Star Game, while for reigning NBA MVP Jokic, it is the Serbian big man's fourth selection. Morant and Wiggins will both be making their debuts, with Morant having a breakout season with the ascendent Grizzlies while Wiggins has played a big part in the Warriors' excellent season. Wiggins described finding out he was a starter as "mind blowing.""I was taking my pregame nap and my girl and daughter woke me up and told me: 'You are a starter, you are a starter.' I thought I was dreaming for a second. I was like, 'What is going on?' It was a good way to learn that I made it to the All-Star, and I am thankful," he told the media."I have been putting in a lot of work and I have found a home here. Hopefully, I can keep it going and this is not the last one."Kevin Durant will be the captain of the Eastern Conference's team, meaning it's the same set of All-Star captains as in 2021. Durant against the New Orleans Pelicans.It's unclear whether the Brooklyn Nets star will actually feature in the game as he continues his recovery from a sprained knee ligament. Joining 12-time All-Star Durant is Chicago Bulls guard-forward DeMar DeRozan, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. It's the 'Greek Freak's' sixth selection -- tying Abdul-Jabbar's Bucks franchise record for selections -- the fifth for Embiid and the second for Young. For DeRozan, the Bulls star has enjoyed a resurgent season, helping Chicago to the second spot in the Eastern Conference. Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosThe announcement of DeRozan's fifth All-Star selection was made by teammate Zach LaVine -- who just fell short of being named to the team as well -- on the flight to the Bulls' next game. Zach broke the news of DeMar's All-Star announcement on our team plane ❤️ pic.twitter.com/AFcW9ShWrm— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) January 28, 2022
Fan ballots accounted for 50% of the vote, with a media panel and current players each accounting for 25%.The reserves for the game will be announced on February 3 and are voted on by head coaches in each conference. | 5sport
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Story highlightsSerena Williams returns to action with a victory in the Sony Ericsson Open in MiamiWilliams defeats China's Shuai Zhang 6-2 6-3 in her first match since Australian OpenKim Clijsters also continues her comeback with a straight sets win over Julia Goerges Serena Williams made a winning return from a left ankle injury by defeating Zhang Shuai in the second round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.Williams, seeded 10th, had not been in WTA action since losing to Ekaterina Makarova in the last 16 of the Australian Open.However, she was always in control against her Chinese opponent, easing through 6-2 6-3 in just 80 minutes.The 30-year-old Williams, who has won the tournament five times, now faces 21st seed Roberta Vinci of Italy, who defeated Tsvetana Pironkova 7-5 6-1.Will of the Williams: Venus vows to rise againAnother former world number one, Kim Clijsters, is also through to the third round after getting over some of the rustiness that plagued her first round performance.JUST WATCHEDNo. 1 Azarenka extends winning run ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNo. 1 Azarenka extends winning run 01:01JUST WATCHEDVenus Williams set for comebackReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHVenus Williams set for comeback 04:30The Belgian struggled to defeat Slovak Jarmila Gajdosova on Wednesday, but was far more impressive in dismissing 14th seed Julia Goerges 6-2 7-5 on Thursday.However, there was disappointment for yet another former world number one, Jelena Jankovic, after the 13th-seeded Serb was crushed 6-0 6-3 by Mona Barthel of Germany.Meanwhile, Russian second seed Maria Sharapova was given a scare, dropping the opening set before rallying to defeat Israel's Shahar Peer 4-6 6-3 6-3.Fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki, another woman to have occupied top spot in the world rankings, breezed through her opening match, beating Czech world No. 59 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova 6-4 6-0.The 2011 French Open champion Li Na also progressed, the Chinese eighth seed recorded a 7-5 6-2 win over Hungarian qualifier Melinda Czink.Also through to the last 32 are US Open champion Samantha Stosur, 12th seed Sabine Lisicki, 17th seed Shuai Peng and 23rd seed Yanina Wickmayer, who all progressed in straight sets.But 25th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain crashed out 1-6 6-4 6-0 to South African Chanelle Scheepers, while two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded 26th, lost 1-6 7-6 7-6 to Czech Iveta Benesova. | 5sport
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Story highlightsIraqi troops set Kuwait's oil wells on fire during the 1991 Gulf WarSebastiao Salgado photographed the men who fought the flames and stopped the spill (CNN)Oil wells, deliberately set on fire by ISIS, have turned skies black in and around Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city.The terror group's scorched-earth tactics are reminiscent of the 1991 Gulf War, when Saddam Hussein's forces ignited hundreds of oil wells as they retreated from Kuwait.Photographer Sebastiao Salgado was in Kuwait back then as oil workers fought the flames and eventually stopped the spill, the largest in world history. It took nearly an entire year."Moving like phantoms through the gloom, covered in oil for hours on end, these men were too close to danger to think of anything but the job at hand," wrote Salgado, who documented the disaster in his new book, "Kuwait: A Desert on Fire." "It demanded experience, improvisation, discipline, solidarity and immense toughness of body and mind. Without them, the environmental and human cost of this calamity would have been immeasurably greater."Photographer Sebastiao SalgadoSalgado dedicated his book to the "fearless men" who risked their lives to end the environmental crisis. He said they came from many different parts of the world, enduring "unbelievably difficult circumstances" to extinguish the fires and cap the oil wells.Read MoreHis photos show their faces splattered with oil as they scramble to stop gushing wellheads. Nearby, massive walls of fire reach several stories high.Salgado recalls intense heat, toxic fumes and deafening noise."By the end of each day, my jaws literally ached from the sheer tension of being exposed for hours on end to heat, noise and oil and to the perennial hazard of a major explosion," he said.Because many wellheads were damaged, they had to be repaired or replaced, Salgado said. That required metal tools, and when using them there was always the threat of a spark causing another fire."It was a bit like trying to put a new faucet on a broken water pipe -- without turning off the water," he said.Join the conversationFollow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to keep up with our latest work and share your comments.Salgado remembers seeing workers become dizzy or faint while working in the field. Their colleagues would stop and drag them to safety."Here more than ever I saw the importance of both their professionalism and team spirit: the men looked after each other in the knowledge that, if they were in trouble, they too would be cared for," Salgado said.While Salgado spent each night in a hotel about 30 miles away from the Ahmadi oil fields, the men lived in camps. They used a mixture of gasoline and detergent to wash themselves in their own water lake, the photographer said.Salgado was on assignment for The New York Times Magazine, but many of his photos from Kuwait were never published. Looking through them 25 years later, he felt they had a timeless quality."It was a voyage into the past," he said. "I relived the moments I took them and I was as moved by what I saw as I had been a quarter of a century earlier. "Never before or since have I witnessed an unnatural disaster on such a scale."Sebastiao Salgado is a Brazilian photographer based in Paris. He is represented in North America by Contact Press Images. His latest book, "Kuwait: A Desert on Fire," was recently published by Taschen. | 3news
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Story highlights Police have lifted a no-fly zone around the University of Oslo in NorwayEarly Tuesday, someone shot a security guard on campus, but the bullets didn't penetrate skinSeveral buildings on campus were closed as police investigated a suspicious package, but the situation has returned to normal (CNN)Police have lifted the no-fly zone around the University of Oslo in Norway after a security guard was shot and a suspicious package was found. Early Tuesday morning, someone shot the security guard on campus with a small pistol, but the bullets did not penetrate the skin, Oslo police said. Several buildings on campus were closed as police also investigated the suspicious package, but the situation has returned to normal, authorities said. The package was made to look like a bomb, but police have not found any link to a terrorism attempt.Norway's Major Crime Agency is now looking for the two suspects. Authorities said the perpetrators apparently left behind some clothing. CNN's Lindsay Isaac contributed to this report. | 3news
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Story highlightsTommy Mair lived in Birstall, England, near site of the attack on lawmaker Jo CoxPolice have charged Mair with Cox's brazen murder Mair subscribed to a pro-apartheid group's magazine in the 1980sLondon (CNN)To neighbors, Tommy Mair is a quiet man who tended their gardens in the small town of Birstall in northern England.But details are emerging about a man who has had interests in white supremacy and apartheid.The 52-year-old is charged in the killing of Jo Cox, a British member of Parliament described as a fearless campaigner and rising star of the opposition Labour Party. Mair was arrested blocks from the crime scene.Cox, 41, was shot and stabbed as she emerged from a meeting with her constituents Thursday, a week before an increasingly divisive vote on whether Britain should cut ties with Europe.Jo Cox: Mother, humanitarian, politician killed by attackerRead MoreThomas Mair bought material from a white supremacist group, the Southern Poverty law Center says.The U.S.-based Southern Poverty Law Center has published what it says are documents showing Mair has a history of purchasing material from the National Alliance white supremacist organization based in the United States.The center released copies of receipts and a 2013 subscription to the National Alliance's publication National Vanguard as well as receipts from 1999 showing purchases for the neo-Nazi book "Ich Kampfe," the "Improvised Munitions Handbook" and other books.Related: The killing of Jo CoxThe attack: Police search for motiveThe suspect: A quiet lonerJo Cox: Mother, humanitarian, politicianHer husband's heartbreaking wordsOpinion: Don't ignore threat of extremist nationalismMair also subscribed to a pro-apartheid group's magazine in the 1980s, the magazine's editor told CNN."A Mr. Thomas A. Mair from Batley in Yorkshire subscribed to our magazine S.A. Patriot when we were still published in South Africa itself," A.D. Harvey said, adding the publication had "no further contact with him" after brief correspondence in the mid-1980s."We were of course appalled and sickened to learn of the murder yesterday of Ms. Jo Cox," Harvey said.Jo Cox's husband: Let's 'fight against the hatred that killed her''A despicable act'It is too early to know what motivated the attack, which came as Cox campaigned for "Stronger In," a slogan urging the UK to remain in the European Union in next week's referendum.Cox was an avid campaigner for the rights of refugees and played down fears of immigration, a hot-button issue in the referendum debate.Police say they are pursuing reports that Mair had ties to right-wing extremists and looking into his mental health after Mair's brother, Scott Mair, reportedly told The Sun newspaper that Mair had a "history of mental illness, but he has had help," and that his brother was neither violent nor political. "We are aware of the speculation within the media in respect (to) the suspect's link to mental health services and this is a clear line of inquiry which we are pursuing," police said.JUST WATCHEDHow will Jo Cox's killing impact UK referendum?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHHow will Jo Cox's killing impact UK referendum? 02:13Clarke Rothwell, who runs a cafe near where Cox was attacked, told the Press Association that he heard the attacker shouting, "Put Britain first."Britain First is the name of a UK political party that has been campaigning for Britain to leave the EU.Thursday, the party's leader, Paul Golding, denied the group was linked to the attack, calling the act "a downright despicable act of criminality.""There's no evidence whatsoever that Britain First was shouted, or putting British people first," he said in a lengthy video posted to Facebook."The media are acting grossly irresponsible to try and incriminate our organization Britain First in this heinous crime. We had nothing to do with it," he said.Opinion: Don't ignore extremist nationalism threat'Very meek and mild'Diana Peters, a 65-year-old neighbor of Mair's, told CNN there was nothing to indicate such a thing could happen."It's a total surprise that he was even capable of thought, let alone action," she said of the long-time neighbor who lived by himself."And, yeah, (he's) just an ideal neighbor. Helpful when you wanted it, kept himself to himself," she said, adding he is "very neat and tidy." Peters lived in the neighborhood when Mair was a child. She moved away but returned four years ago to find he was living in the same house.She said Mair taught English to foreigners as a part-time volunteer for years."Politics never came up in conversation. ... We never talked about anything like that," she said.She said she never saw anyone visiting his home and had never been inside. But she said she believed Mair visited his mother every Sunday and took her groceries once a week as well. She described him as a "very meek and mild" man who liked cats."He spoke rationally. He did his day-to-day routine," she said.Police search a house near the scene of Jo Cox's killing in Birstall, England.Peters said Mair has an "immaculate" garden and often tended to neighbors' gardens. Other neighbors gave similar accounts, saying he was quiet, tidy and often helped with their gardening.Six years ago, Mair was quoted in the local newspaper regarding his work as a volunteer at Oakwell Hall, a manor house popular with tourists in Birstall.JUST WATCHEDTown, husband mourns loss of British MP Jo CoxReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTown, husband mourns loss of British MP Jo Cox 02:52Mair told The Huddersfield Examiner that voluntary work had "done me more good than all the psychotherapy and medication in the world.""Many people who suffer from mental illness are socially isolated and disconnected from society, feelings of worthlessness are also common, mainly caused by long-term unemployment," he was quoted as saying.Mair learned about the volunteering opportunity from the Mirfield-based Pathways Day Centre for adults with mental health problems, according to the paper. Police cordoned off a house about a 15 minutes' walk from the attack site, which neighbors said belonged to Mair. Officers could be seen coming and going from the property. JUST WATCHEDMan detained in UK politician's deathReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMan detained in UK politician's death 01:08'Wouldn't hurt a fly'West Yorkshire police said they seized a number of weapons, including a firearm, shortly after the attack.A half brother, Duane St Louis, told ITV News he'd never seen any sign that Mair had an interest in knives or guns. Photos: British politician killed in attackBritish Prime Minister David Cameron, center, joins other political leaders in paying their respects to slain Parliament member Jo Cox on Friday, June 17. Cox, 41, was stabbed and shot in Birstall, England, after a meeting with her constituents. A 52-year old man, Tommy Mair, is being held in police custody in connection with her death.Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: British politician killed in attackPolice search Mair's home in Birstall on June 17.Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: British politician killed in attackPeople view tributes at Parliament Square in London on June 17.Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: British politician killed in attackFlowers and personal messages are seen on Parliament Square on June 17. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: British politician killed in attackParliament member Yvette Cooper, left, embraces Bishop Nick Baines after attending a Birstall vigil for Cox on Thursday, June 16.Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: British politician killed in attackPeople sign messages on Parliament Square on June 16.Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: British politician killed in attackPolice gather near the scene of the attack in Birstall on June 16.Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: British politician killed in attackA forensics officer takes photos of items at the scene of the attack.Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: British politician killed in attackCox was attacked outside the Birstall library after holding a regular public meeting with constituents, said Robert Light, a councilor from nearby Birkenshaw. Cox, a mother of two who represented Batley and Spen in Parliament, was elected in May 2015.Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: British politician killed in attackPolice stand guard on the perimeter of the crime scene.Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: British politician killed in attackPolice tape covers the area where Cox was attacked.Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: British politician killed in attackA member of the police forensics team works near the scene of the shooting.Hide Caption 12 of 12Asked whether Mair was racist, St Louis said "no chance." He said Mair had "never been in trouble" and that "he wouldn't hurt a fly," ITV reported. St. Louis said he last saw Mair three weeks ago. He said he spoke to Mair's mother after the attack and that she was "shocked and can't understand what happened."CNN's Hilary Whiteman reported from Hong Kong. CNN's Richard Allen Greene and Louise McLoughlin reported from London. Journalist Angela Dewan wrote from London. CNN's Fred Pleitgen, Amy La Porte, Nic Robertson and Samantha Beech contributed to this report. | 3news
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New York (CNN)"Am I loving you enough? Are you feeling loved? Is your faith strong?"Those are the questions Jean Palombo asked her 10 children in the years that followed 9/11.Her eight boys and two girls ranged in age from 11 months to 15 years when they lost their father on that fateful day. Frank Anthony Palombo was 46, a firefighter, and the family rock. Jean's worst fear was that someone would question her ability to raise her children by herself. That they would be split up, placed in separate homes, if the state deemed her inadequate. How could a grieving widow stand up to such an enormous task? But Jean had grit. And she had faith. She relied on all of that, and then some. She thought of the love she and Frank shared for 19 years and the lessons learned. "God provides," he always said.Read MoreJust days before he was killed, she told him: "Everything's easier together."9/11 Town HallCNN's Brooke Baldwin interviewed 10 of the 9/11 children, now ages 14 to 29, in a televised Town Hall. They spoke about their loss, the last 15 years — and why the terrorists failed.Together, she and her 10 children forged ahead. There were others who pitched in: relatives, firefighters and church members. But everyone says it was Jean's steely resolve that kept her children on a good path. Eight years later, the family took another blow: Jean was diagnosed with colon cancer. Excruciating chemo treatment and multiple surgeries followed. When her cancer was in remission, the family jetted off on vacations. The Turks and Caicos. California. Disney World. Life was too precious not to enjoy the moment.She became even more loving as the cancer worsened. She told her older children not to feel sorry for the youngest "because they had a better mom.""Look what we've been through together," she told them all. "You'll be fine. Be grateful. Sometimes things go wrong. Love life, and do the best you can."This time, they got to say goodbye.Coming of Age in the Age of TerrorWhat can the 9/11 children teach us?More than 3,000 children lost a parent on that awful day. Fifteen years later, in a world rocked by terror, this group has hard-won wisdom to share. Here, in their own words, is a glimpse into their journeys.A place to belongIt's a summer camp with a distinction: Participants are young people touched by terror. This year, 55 of them -- from a dozen countries -- gathered on a campus in Pennsylvania, where they found renewal and hope in their common bond.Bound by terror: 'I've got you'She faced al Qaeda militants in a courtroom. He put Osama bin Laden's image on a punching bag and let loose. She's from France; he's a "child" of 9/11. They're two strangers who share a tragic bond: Each lost a father to terrorism.On August 8, 2013, the children gathered in their mother's bedroom. Nearly 100 friends from church crowded their Jersey home and sang hymns. At 53, Jean mouthed a Psalm before taking her last breath. Her oldest child was 27 then; her youngest, 12. The Palombo 10 rallied. Again, they weren't about to allow themselves to be separated. From the oldest to the youngest, the siblings agreed to raise one another. A party of 10. Anthony is the oldest and studying to be a priest. Frank Jr. is the only married one in the bunch, with three children and now living outside the house. Joe, the third child, is the accountant who helps keep everyone on budget. Child No. 4, Maria, is an oncology nurse, driven to help cancer patients after witnessing her mother's decline. She's the mother of the house, known to raise her voice amid the cacophony. Tommy, the fifth child, has followed his father's footsteps to become a firefighter and lives with an aunt in the city to be closer to his firehouse. The loud child is the sixth, John, who was recently accepted into the fire academy. Patrick serves as the house chef and has begun working as a cook at an Italian restaurant. No. 8, Daniel, is the hyper competitive brother who dominates backyard volleyball and will soon head off to his freshman year of college. The last of the boys is Stephen, the family jokester, starting his junior year of high school. The youngest child is Maggie, a high school sophomore with her dad's Brooklyn spunk.Their two-story home is nestled along a shady cul-de-sac in Ridgewood, New Jersey.The Palombo 10 in 2000. From left, in front: Anthony holding Stephen, Tommy, Joe and John. Behind them is Frank (with skateboard), Daniel and Maria holding Maggie. Patrick is in back. On a recent day, Joe, Maria, Tommy and Patrick flip through family photographs at the kitchen table. One shows the 10 of them by themselves at their old Brooklyn home. Another of clean-shaven Dad in his FDNY uniform. Of Dad with a vintage 1970s mustache. Of Mom with a mesmerizing gaze. Of their young parents on their wedding day."If we had all separated, we'd be a mess," says Maria, now 26."Yeah," Tommy, 24, agrees. "I feel like if we were all to just go our own ways, I don't know." He pauses, then cracks a joke: "Who knows what Joey and Maria would be doing? I'd probably still be good."Joe, 27, says he'd work around-the-clock at an accounting firm "if I didn't have my family pulling me home."The deaths of his father and mother "affected us all in different ways," he says. "Having that bond, no matter how different we are and how many different personalities we have, I think it keeps us together."Their parents, says 21-year-old Patrick, "instilled in us the importance of being together, eating together, praying together. Those three things in particular."Frank and Jean Palombo wed in 1982. The first of their 10 children was born in 1986.And that tradition lives on. Eight of them live in the five-bedroom home. They moved there in 2006 from Brooklyn for better public schools. No one is allowed to sleep in the room that became their mother's. The master bedroom houses four of the boys, now grown into young men. On Sundays, all 10 gather here for morning prayer. It's not all serious. They bicker and fight and argue as siblings tend to do. "Every day when I wake up," Maria says, "I realize what a miracle it is that we're all here. Nobody's thrown anybody out the window yet.""It's definitely a lot of fun," Joe says. "We don't have parents, so there's a lot of: 'What would you like to do?'" Their father used to weep at the dining table and thank God for blessing him with so many children. And here they are retelling the tales and wisdom of their father and mother, 15 years after 9/11. What would Dad think of it all?"He'd be crying," says Maria. "For sure."The room fills with laughter.'What's the meaning of your life?'Frank and Jean didn't share a love-at-first-sight story. He was the best friend of one of her brothers. She was 9 when they met; he was 14. But he always talked with her, asked how she was doing.A spark grew in her high school years. He had deep inviting brown eyes and the handsome looks of an older gentleman; she had straight auburn hair and a coy, Hollywood-esque gaze.On her 18th birthday, he came to her and confessed "he had strong feelings for her and that he wanted to date her," says Shelly Hogan, Jean's older sister. About this seriesCNN worked with Tuesday's Children, an organization formed after the 9/11 terrorists attacks, to interview dozens of teens and young adults who lost a parent on that awful Tuesday in 2001. "She was so happy. As a young girl, she had a big crush on him."He was in seminary, studying to become a priest. Their romance changed those plans. He switched gears and became a New York firefighter in 1979. He and Jean got hitched three years later, in 1982."They just really loved one another. It was a beautiful relationship."Yet early on, the young couple struggled. He was a devout Catholic, active with the youth. She wanted nothing to do with the church. He wanted 12 children. She wanted none. She was a special education teacher. She hoped to form a special needs school and be the principal. Those would be her children. With so much suffering in the world, she wondered, why would anyone want to bring a child into it? That would soon change. One afternoon in 1985, Frank heard an announcement at church about classes that would explore the topic, "What's the meaning in your life?" He was so moved by the first session, he came home and begged his wife to attend.She reluctantly agreed. "This is the last thing I'm ever going to do in the Catholic Church," she told him.It turned out to be transformative, as if she'd been touched by God. A couple from Italy expecting their fourth child was there. They were smiling and happy, basking at the power of giving life. "God loves you," the woman told Jean. She wondered: Is something wrong with me? Why can't I love like that?After losing their father and then their mother, the 10 siblings keep their parents' memory alive through family photographs.The priest's words from that day resonated: "Do you think, perhaps, that God is a monster that you do not allow his will to be done in your life?""He opened my life," Jean said of that moment.The couple didn't look back."Knowing that God loved her gave her the strength to live her life -- to be free, to not be scared of the suffering," her daughter Maria says. Jean and Frank built the foundation for their children's lives. Making money didn't matter to them -- loving life did. What they couldn't provide financially, they made up for in time spent with their kids. Frank wrestled with them. He took them to the firehouse. He played football with them across the street in Prospect Park, drawing up plays in the huddle on their bellies. He'd throw passes to Maria. She'd reel the ball in and run for touchdowns. Out of her earshot, he warned his boys: "Don't you touch her!"During youth hockey games, Dad watched from the stands as Tommy and his older brother Joe competed on opposite teams. He got worked up when Joe knocked Tommy over. "Hey, calm down! Calm down!" he shouted. Frank made dinner, too. Pizza, pasta marinara and barbecue were his specialties. He worked with the children on homework. He told them to always try their hardest. "If you get a B in class but don't try, then I'll be upset."Jean was the nurturing type who showered her kids with kindness. She was a mother-of-all-trades: She got her 10 kids to and from school, whisked them off to their games and practices, instilled in them a strong faith. Frank was so active in the church he took a group of young people every three years on overseas missions. While he enjoyed going into burning buildings to save lives, he said it was more satisfying saving a young person's soul from eternal flames.At the Dean Street firehouse, Frank read his Bible and prayer book while others poured their efforts into studying for the lieutenant's test. "You're never going to get promoted reading the Bible," his fellow firefighters said.His response: "You're never going to get to heaven reading the lieutenant's book."He was known as a straight shooter. He spoke his mind and wasn't afraid who he might upset. His word was so highly respected that he could change a union vote just by speaking up. He could've retired with a full pension in 1999. He started a second job as a handyman instead and felt he needed a few more years to build up the business. Jean had finished her master's degree and hoped to teach again, to bring in extra income. By September 2001, Frank had his goal in sight. He planned to retire by the start of 2002. Just three months to go. 'I'll always help you'On the morning of September 11, 2001, Jean awoke thinking she was pregnant. Child No. 11 wasn't in her plans. "Frank, what are we going to do," she told her husband. "I'll go crazy.""Don't worry about that," he said. "But we need to think of a name."Both laughed. They scurried around the house, getting the children ready for school. He helped load everyone in the car, and she carted them off. Before they parted, he said, "I'll always help you."She would never hear her husband's voice again. Frank left with Ladder 105 shortly after they got the call to head to the World Trade Center. He was somewhere in the south tower when the 110-story building collapsed at 9:59 a.m. Six others from his firehouse also died.When Jean picked up her children from school, she described what had happened at the twin towers. "There was a terrorist attack. Do you guys know what a terrorist attack is?" she asked. Maria, then 11, mistook the term terrorist for tourist. "Yeah, it's the people on 42nd Street with the cameras," she said.Jean didn't watch the news. Her husband had told her to ignore television reports and newspapers when anything bad happened involving firefighters -- that it would only cause undue stress. But by the end of the evening, she sensed the worst. "That night, I understood that something had gone wrong, as he had not called and nobody knew where his team was," she told the Italian weekly newspaper Tempi. The next morning, she woke each child and told them: "They didn't find Dad." She felt it important to relay the news to each of her children individually, even her 11-month-old."That was the hardest: Waking up and crying hysterically with my mom," says Joe, who was 12 at the time. Adds Tommy, who was 9, "I didn't even know what terrorism was. I was in fourth grade."The range of emotions varied with each child. Tommy Palombo became a New York firefighter in May, to help others while honoring his father.Tommy told one of his friends a couple of weeks later, "I just want to be able to say goodbye."Patrick was 6. He hadn't been able to find his shoes the morning of 9/11 and had argued with his dad. He told his father he hated him and never wanted to see him again. "Then, I never saw him again," Patrick says. "That was very difficult to deal with, and still is."Maria refused to believe her father was dead for months, even years. She thought maybe a brick hit his head, and he had amnesia. To this day, she has dreams in which he comes back and "we're all angry at him for being gone so long."Amid the family's devastation was an outpouring of love. People who'd traveled on church youth trips with their father reached out, saying their dad changed their lives. Strangers wrote letters, sent hand-stitched quilts and gave them envelopes with money. Jim Fassel, then the head coach of the New York Giants, was so moved when he heard a firefighter left behind 10 children that he gave the Palombos free rein. They got VIP treatment when they went to practices and games. They once were honored on the field before the national anthem. When Tommy didn't put his hand on his heart, Giants star defensive end Michael Strahan smacked him on the head and told him, "Get it together." Behind closed doors, there was a huge void. In a family built on faith, the children questioned, "How can God allow this? How can God let us go without a father?""A part of me died that day, too," says Joe.Tommy says simply, "Growing up, Dad was my best friend. My hero."Their mother worked tirelessly. Financially, the family had the support of their father's firefighter pension, the 9/11 compensation fund and donations of strangers. It allowed Jean to focus on her most precious asset -- her children.She made sure whatever doubts her children might have about God's love were tended to. She even forgave the terrorists. "God's love has exceeded this evil," she said.Friends from church pitched in. So did firefighters from their father's station. They fixed dinner, changed light bulbs, gave the boys rides on the trucks and played football with them at Prospect Park. They even joined the Palombos on vacations in the decade that followed. At the Dean Street firehouse, a memorial with oak paneling now lines a back wall. It showcases framed images of the men lost that day. Seven jackets hang on an adjacent wall, including one bearing the name Palombo on the back. One firehouse slogan reads, "But my sons have sons who are as brave as their fathers." In the firehouse: a 9/11 'legacy'Tommy Palombo stands at attention on a stage lined with American flags. It's a moment 15 years in the making. "Legacies," they're called. Those sons and daughters who follow the footsteps of fathers and mothers who perished on the job; 343 firefighters died on 9/11 alone.Tommy was so close to his father he was known as his dad's "tail," because the boy was always right behind him. If anyone ever needed Tommy, the family joke was: "Find Frank and you can find Tommy."The 9-year-old boy who lost his dad is 24 now, resplendent in his FDNY dress blues on this day in May. The epitome of how far the department has come. A sign of rebirth from the tragedy that struck with devastating force. Tommy Palombo is assigned to Engine 69 in Harlem. His fellow firefighters say he's one of the best newcomers they've had.Graduating into the ranks of New York firefighters are 310 men and women -- known as "probies." They are called to the stage row by row. The brass recognize each probie for their 18 weeks of hard work that will result in a lifetime of sacrifice."Probationary firefighter Thomas Palombo," says Assistant Chief Michael Gala, the emcee of the ceremony.Tommy's right wrist snaps off a salute to FDNY Chief James Leonard, and Tommy steps forward. Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro hands him his diploma.Tommy's status as a 9/11 "legacy" isn't lost on the more than 1,000 people gathered in the auditorium. The crowd erupts with applause. "That's awesome," brother Joe says softly in the crowd.This moment is the culmination of Tommy's dream: to honor his father and to give back to the department that helped his family. "That's what I want with my life," Tommy says. "I want to be surrounded by guys who were always there for us."How to helpCongress has designated September 11 as an annual National Day of Service. See various ways you can volunteer or contribute.He is stationed at the firehouse known as the Harlem Hilton. His first call to a fire came a few weeks later, in the early hours of Memorial Day. Flames shot out of a hardware store in the bottom of a high-rise building in Harlem. People in apartments crowded the windows and had to be plucked to safety by the ladder truck. Tommy was with Engine 69 and had the lead nozzle position on a hose. His heart raced. In the moment, he didn't think about his father. He had a job to do. The flames reached more than 25 feet in the air. But when he got back to the firehouse, he turned more reflective. "How special is this," he thought.His fellow firefighters will never replace his siblings, but they are part of his new extended family. The veterans praised the new probie at a recent firehouse lunch over heaping bowls of pasta with baked chicken and sausage. The best probie they've had in years. Eager to learn. A guy who understands the culture. "We don't see him any different," says firefighter Mike Davidson. "It's just, ya know..."When your father was one of the 343 firefighters lost that day, the "ya know" doesn't need explanation. Tommy carries on his father's legacy in another very real way. On his helmet, he wears badge number 10871 -- the same number worn by his dad.Five of the Palombo siblings sit on the patio of their New Jersey home. From left: Joe, Tommy, Maggie, Patrick and Maria.A home brims with lifeThe footprint waterfalls at the 9/11 Memorial mark the place where the twin towers stood. The steady sound of trickling water provides a soothing, peaceful contrast to the horror of that day.The site feels almost majestic. The names of the nearly 3,000 men, women and children killed in the terrorist attacks are stencil-cut into bronze parapets surrounding the pools. During the day, you can see through the letters and into the water below. At night, light brightens the names. The name Frank Anthony Palombo lies on panel S-21, facing the new Freedom Tower that stretches a quarter mile into the sky. Twelve miles away, Jean Marie Palombo rests in St. Peter Cemetery in Belleville, New Jersey. The gravestone carries the names and images of both husband and wife. Not far away, the family home brims with life. The backyard hosts intense 5-on-5 volleyball games. The boys lift in the weight room. At dinner, everyone has their duties, from preparing the meal to doing the dishes. There are signs, of course, of their parents' absence: old photographs, their mother's empty bedroom. On the piano sits the music to C.D. Gibson's "A Widow and Her Friends."Daughter Maria finds comfort knowing that the young woman who feared having children suffer in this world gave them an enduring love -- and the knowledge that their suffering has made them stronger. "That's something our parents passed down to us," she says. "When there's suffering, there's joy at the end of it."Together, they overcame. | 3news
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Story highlightsThe Australian Open starts Monday in Melbourne Rafael Nadal makes his grand slam comebackSerena Williams seeks a 19th career major Roger Federer enters with momentum after 1,000th winFollow us at @CNNSport and like us on Facebook (CNN)A year ago at the Australian Open, Stan Wawrinka achieved something not done in five years. He became the first man outside tennis' "Big Four" to win a major since Juan Martin del Potro in 2009. The women's champion was less surprising, in the form of the now retired Li Na. With this year's opening grand slam starting Monday, here are seven things to watch as the tennis season bursts into life. Rafa's comebackIf Rafael Nadal wins in Melbourne, he might cherish his second title more than his first.Read MoreThat's because after beating Roger Federer in a thrilling five-set final in 2009, Melbourne Park has been less than kind to the 14-time grand slam champion on the health front. Check out this list: In 2010 he retired with a knee injury, a year later he suffered a hamstring injury in his quarterfinal and last year a back problem surfaced while warming up for the final. It was the clear turning point and Wawrinka took advantage. It was his long-time rival Federer who wept after losing to Nadal in 2009, but it was the Spaniard's turn to cry in 2014. Nadal hasn't competed at a grand slam since Wimbledon, having skipped the U.S. Open with a wrist complaint, and his buildup has been marred by two bad losses in the Middle East. But Friday's draw for 2015's first major was kind to Nadal. He appears to have a smooth path to the semifinals. Should Nadal somehow be the last man standing, only two triumphs would separate him and 17-time grand slam winner Federer.JUST WATCHEDThe man from ManacorReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHThe man from Manacor 05:47 Serena's quest for 19 If it was an odd-numbered year over the last decade, chances are that Serena Williams won the Australian Open. She took home the title in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009. But Williams' recent appearances mirror Nadal's. There was the ankle she hurt at a warm-up tournament in 2012 that led to a fourth-round exit in Melbourne. In 2013 a back injury was probably to blame for a quarterfinal loss and last year the back flared up again in the quarterfinals. Williams' play early in 2015 is sure to have worried her fans, too. The 18-time grand slam singles winner complained of a lack of energy at the Hopman Cup in Perth and subsequently split two of her four singles matches. Like Nadal, Williams' longest grand slam drought now happens to be in Melbourne. She won the U.S. Open in September by topping her BFF, Caroline Wozniacki, but they can't face off in the Australian Open final since they're in the same quarter.JUST WATCHEDSerena Williams: Standing with GiantsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSerena Williams: Standing with Giants 04:12 Roger's bid for one more major With Nadal's performances patchy, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic getting off to a less than stellar start in 2015 and Andy Murray struggling for grand slam form, the 33-year-old Federer can't be discarded. While Federer didn't have to face any of his fellow "Big Four" members as he shone in Brisbane -- where he collected his 1,000th match win -- he defeated two players thought of as outside grand slam contenders in 2015. He dispatched Milos Raonic in the final having routed Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals.Aiding Federer would have been a kind draw, but unfortunately for him, it didn't happen. He found himself in the same quarter as Murray and same half as Nadal. JUST WATCHEDFederer's quest for a missing titleReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHFederer's quest for a missing title 06:11 Eugenie Bouchard and the Genie ArmyCan the "Genie Army" propel Eugenie Bouchard to glory?Although she showed flashes in 2013, last year in Melbourne was when the tennis world truly took note of the 20-year-old. Her semifinal showing wasn't an anomaly, with Bouchard then reaching the last four at the French Open and the final at Wimbledon. But Bouchard couldn't duplicate her success from August onwards, the low point perhaps coming at the year-end championships where she failed to win a set in her three matches. Fatigue no doubt played a role. Bouchard arrives in Melbourne this year without a permanent coach, and you wonder how high her confidence is. The return of Juan Martin del Potro Only The Grinch wouldn't be happy that del Potro is back playing tennis. Skipping most of last year with further wrist troubles, his supporters must have been holding their breath when the Argentine pulled out of Brisbane. But he returned in Sydney this week -- unsure of how his left wrist would cope -- and made the quarterfinals. The pain hasn't gone away yet, he said. None of the contenders would want to face del Potro early, though only the very optimistic would suggest he could win a second major over the coming fortnight. Maybe claiming a few rounds and coming through the tournament unscathed would be enough for him. He doesn't face a top-10 player in his opener but it's still an enticing -- and imposing -- encounter. The 6-foot-6 "Tower of Tandil" plays 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz, who stands 6-foot-8. Simona Halep's opening major?In an era where players on the women's tour all seem to be towering 6-footers, Simona Halep -- 5-foot-6 -- is an exception.She still packs a punch from the baseline, but it's her use of angles that so often gets her into winning positions in rallies. Her backhand is one of the best around. If Halep's breakthrough was in 2013, she went one better last year by making the difficult jump into the top 10 and top five. How close was the Romanian to winning the French Open? Very. She extended one of the game's top competitors, Sharapova, to 6-4 in the third set of the final. Halep -- the most clicked on player on the WTA's website last year -- began this year with a title in Shenzhen.JUST WATCHEDFrench Open outsider's meteoric riseReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHFrench Open outsider's meteoric rise 01:10 A high-profile home hopeWho is the top Australian hope?The rankings will tell you it's Samantha Stosur, who like del Potro is a U.S. Open winner. She's the world No. 20 on the women's tour. But Stosur has never really flourished at the Australian Open, and she hasn't been shy to admit that nerves have been a huge factor. Only once since 2007 has Stosur -- armed with arguably the best second serve in the women's game -- exceeded the third round. Australians are probably banking on Nick Kyrgios, the athletic 19-year-old who stunned Nadal at Wimbledon, to have an extended run. Kyrgios chose to take a break in September, saying he was "burnt out," and injuries have crept up. He missed the Hopman Cup with a sore back. So expecting too much from Kyrgios may be a mistake. Read: Win No. 1,000 for Federer | 5sport
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A version of this story appeared in the April 2 edition of CNN's Royal News, a new weekly dispatch bringing you the inside track on the royal family, what they are up to in public and what's happening behind palace walls. Sign up here. London (CNN) -- Why does Britain have a monarchy? It's a question as old as the institution itself. But an even bigger one is why countries, beyond the UK, have the same monarchy. The Queen is head of state in 15 other countries that were formerly under British rule, stretching as far as Australia and New Zealand -- literally on the other side of the planet. Due to her age, Her Majesty hasn't traveled to these countries for years, which makes it even more remarkable that she has retained her positions there. More recently, senior royals such as her son, Prince Edward, and grandchildren, the Sussexes and Cambridges, have visited on her behalf. So how does she keep the relationships strong? Well, she demonstrated that this week with a fleeting yet symbolic visit down the road from Windsor Castle. Read MoreThe 94-year-old visited the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede on Wednesday to mark the centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force. The surprise appearance by the monarch was her first in-person public engagement this year.The Queen stepped out for her first in-person engagement this year on Wednesday.Since the start of the pandemic, Elizabeth has rarely left the confines of Windsor Castle, pivoting instead to daily video calls to continue her duties. This has in part been due to her advancing age (she's set to turn 95 in a matter of weeks, on April 21) but also to protect the public from gathering en masse to see her and thus providing a heightened opportunity for Covid transmission. This week saw the UK's first cautious steps out of lockdown and the Queen has received her first vaccine dose (and is reportedly due a second one soon). But her desire to mitigate risk amid the pandemic remains a priority as she resumes more public events. JUST WATCHEDPrince Harry says the Queen was not allowed to meet him last yearReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPrince Harry says the Queen was not allowed to meet him last year 02:43The fact she opted for her first physical engagement in 2021 to involve a Commonwealth country where the thorny issue of her relevancy has reemerged is telling.Retaining her position is not something she can take for granted. In September last year, Barbados announced it would fully leave its "colonial past behind," opting to remove Elizabeth as its head of state. It will become a republic in November, when it celebrates its 55th anniversary of independence from the British empire. "It's been a long time since I've been here," the Queen commented as she arrived at the Air Forces Memorial. Cameras from Australian as well as British media were invited to capture the moment. And her choice of outing wasn't missed by Australian outlets. "Queen's nod to Australia in first public appearance since Meghan and Harry interview," read the headline on the News.com.au website. The Queen may not have set foot in Australia for a decade but the message here was that it hadn't been forgotten by her, even amid the latest family tumult. In an order of service for the event, the Queen wrote: "Throughout my reign, the Royal Australian Air Force has shown immense dedication to duty and has defended our freedom in many conflicts around the world." Those words are valued by Australians and she reminds them of her place in their history by referring to her record-breaking reign, during which she has consistently represented and promoted Australian interests on the world stage. Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II is the longest-reigning monarch in British history.Hide Caption 1 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth was born April 21, 1926, in London. She is held here by her mother, also named Elizabeth. Her father would later become King George VI.Hide Caption 2 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Princess Elizabeth poses for a photo at her London home in 1928.Hide Caption 3 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Princess Elizabeth is seen with her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, during a visit to Balmoral, Scotland, in September 1933. He would go on to become King Edward VIII in 1936. But when he abdicated later that year, Elizabeth's father became King and she became heir presumptive.Hide Caption 4 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II From left, Princess Elizabeth, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret wave to the crowd from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on June 22, 1939.Hide Caption 5 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth rides a horse in Windsor, England, in 1940. Her love of horses has been well documented.Hide Caption 6 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II A 14-year-old Elizabeth, right, sits next to her sister for a radio broadcast on October 13, 1940. On the broadcast, her first, she said that England's children were full of cheerfulness and courage.Hide Caption 7 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Princess Elizabeth shakes hands with an officer of the Grenadier Guards on May 29, 1942. King George VI made Elizabeth an honorary colonel in the Royal Army regiment.Hide Caption 8 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth, right, and Princess Margaret wear summer dresses circa 1942. Margaret is Elizabeth's only sibling.Hide Caption 9 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II With the Drakensberg Mountains behind her, Princess Elizabeth sits in South Africa's Natal National Park on April 21, 1947. It was her 21st birthday.Hide Caption 10 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II On November 20, 1947, Elizabeth wed Prince Philip, a lieutenant in the British Navy who had been born into the royal families of Greece and Denmark. After becoming a British citizen and renouncing his Greek title, Philip became His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His wife became the Duchess of Edinburgh.Hide Caption 11 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Princess Elizabeth arrives at a state banquet in London in March 1950.Hide Caption 12 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth ascended to the throne in February 1952, when her father died of lung cancer at the age of 56. Here, she walks to the altar during her coronation ceremony on June 2, 1953.Hide Caption 13 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II is photographed on the balcony of Melbourne's Government House during her tour of Australia in March 1954.Hide Caption 14 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II From left, Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother visit Epsom Downs Racecourse in June 1958.Hide Caption 15 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen holds her son Prince Andrew while his sister, Princess Anne, watches during a family holiday at Scotland's Balmoral Castle in September 1960. The Queen has four children, including sons Charles and Edward.Hide Caption 16 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II is seen during the state opening of Parliament in April 1966.Hide Caption 17 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II with her oldest son, Prince Charles, in 1969. Charles is next in line for the throne.Hide Caption 18 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Prince Charles adjusts his coronet during his investiture ceremony as Prince of Wales in 1969.Hide Caption 19 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen and Prince Philip wave from a plane ramp shortly before taking off from Tokyo in May 1975.Hide Caption 20 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen takes a portrait at Windsor Castle for her 50th birthday on April 21, 1976.Hide Caption 21 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen meets the crowds during her royal tour of New Zealand in 1977.Hide Caption 22 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth walks with some of her corgis at the Windsor Horse Trials in May 1980.Hide Caption 23 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen stands next to Prince Charles as he kisses his new bride, Princess Diana, on July 29, 1981.Hide Caption 24 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth takes pictures of her husband during a horse show in Windsor in May 1982.Hide Caption 25 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth drives her Land Rover during the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May 1992.Hide Caption 26 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II While at Buckingham Palace, the Queen and Prince Philip view the floral tributes to Princess Diana after her tragic death in 1997.Hide Caption 27 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen addresses the nation on the night before Princess Diana's funeral in 1997.Hide Caption 28 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Prince Charles looks back at his mother after wedding Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in April 2005.Hide Caption 29 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen, second from right, greets a crowd from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on April 29, 2011. Her grandson Prince William, third from left, had just married Catherine Middleton.Hide Caption 30 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen's signature is seen in the visitors book at Aras An Uachtarain, the Irish President's official residence in Dublin in May 2011.Hide Caption 31 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Madame Tussauds London reveals a wax figure of the Queen in May 2012.Hide Caption 32 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Prince Charles kisses his mother's hand on stage as singer Paul McCartney, far right, looks on at the Diamond Jubilee concert in June 2012. The Diamond Jubilee celebrations marked Elizabeth's 60th anniversary as Queen.Hide Caption 33 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen tours the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London in December 2012.Hide Caption 34 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II A boy in Belfast, Northern Ireland, takes a selfie in front of the Queen in June 2014.Hide Caption 35 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen enters the Great Hall at Edinburgh Castle after attending a commemorative service for the Scottish National War Memorial in July 2014.Hide Caption 36 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen waits to give her speech during the state opening of Parliament in May 2015.Hide Caption 37 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth listens to her great-grandson, Prince George, outside a church where George's sister, Charlotte, was being christened in July 2015. George and Charlotte are the children of Prince William, left, and Duchess Catherine.Hide Caption 38 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen takes a photo with five of her great-grandchildren and her two youngest grandchildren in April 2016.Hide Caption 39 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen poses with four of her dogs on the private grounds of Windsor Castle in April 2016.Hide Caption 40 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen and Prince Philip wave to guests in London who were attending celebrations for her 90th birthday in 2016.Hide Caption 41 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth speaks to Evie Mills, 14, at a hospital in Manchester, England, in May 2017. Evie was injured in a bombing that took place as people left an Ariana Grande concert.Hide Caption 42 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen sits at a desk in Buckingham Palace after recording her Christmas Day broadcast in 2017.Hide Caption 43 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen arrives for the wedding of her grandson Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018. Hide Caption 44 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen laughs with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during a bridge-opening ceremony in Halton, England, in June 2018. It was Meghan's first royal outing without her husband, Prince Harry, by her side.Hide Caption 45 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen and US President Donald Trump inspect a guard of honor during Trump's visit to Windsor Castle in July 2018.Hide Caption 46 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen looks at her new great-grandchild, Archie, in May 2019. Archie is the first child of Prince Harry, second from left, and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex. Prince Philip is on the far left. Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, is next to her at right.Hide Caption 47 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen welcomes Boris Johnson at Buckingham Palace, where she formally invited him to become Prime Minister in July 2019. Johnson won the UK's Conservative Party leadership contest and replaced Theresa May, who was forced into resigning after members of her Cabinet lost confidence in her inability to secure the UK's departure from the European Union.Hide Caption 48 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II An image of the Queen appears in London's Piccadilly Square, alongside a message of hope from her special address to the nation in April 2020.Hide Caption 49 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen rides a horse in Windsor, England, in May 2020. It was her first public appearance since the coronavirus lockdown began in the United Kingdom.Hide Caption 50 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen and Prince Philip pose for a photo in June 2020, ahead of Philip's 99th birthday.Hide Caption 51 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen and Prince Philip look at a homemade anniversary card that was given to them by their great-grandchildren Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis in November 2020.Hide Caption 52 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen takes her seat alone at Prince Philip's funeral in April 2021. The ceremony was limited to 30 people, in line with England's coronavirus restrictions.Hide Caption 53 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen opens Parliament in May 2021. It was her first major engagement since her husband's death.Hide Caption 54 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen receives a Duke of Edinburgh rose from Keith Weed, president of the Royal Horticultural Society, in June 2021. The newly bred rose was officially named in honor of Prince Philip.Hide Caption 55 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen meets with US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden in the Grand Corridor of Windsor Castle in June 2021.Hide Caption 56 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen drives her Range Rover as she attends the Royal Windsor Horse Show in Windsor, England, in July 2021.Hide Caption 57 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen attends the Royal Windsor Cup polo match and a carriage-driving display by the British Driving Society in July 2021.Hide Caption 58 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, left, greet guests during a Windsor Castle reception for international business and investment leaders in October 2021.Hide Caption 59 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen cuts a cake to celebrate the start of her Platinum Jubilee in February 2022. It has been 70 years since the Queen took the throne in 1952.Hide Caption 60 of 61 Photos: The life of Queen Elizabeth II The Queen meets with Rear Admiral James Macleod, the outgoing Defence Services secretary, and Macleod's successor, Major General Eldon Millar, at Windsor Castle in February 2022. It was a few days before Buckingham Palace announced that the Queen tested positive for Covid-19.Hide Caption 61 of 61Is she still as relevant as she was? Well, that will be tested later this year when the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) hopes to capitalize on the fallout from "that" interview with Meghan and Harry. "The royal family has always been presented as the Rock of Gibraltar for all constitutional monarchies," ARM chairman Peter FitzSimons told The Sydney Morning Herald, where he is a columnist. "What we in fact see is extreme dysfunction and possible racism." FitzSimons said the group plans to unveil its preferred constitutional changes to sever ties with the royal family by the end of the year.Many countries have dropped Elizabeth as their head of state after gaining independence. But when it comes to Australia, the Queen famously survived the last referendum on replacing her as head of state in 1999 and that was just after the Diana crisis. Has the Meghan and Harry interview done her more harm? It'll be left for Australians to decide, but if history teaches us anything, it's never to underestimate the power of Elizabeth. NEWS OF THE WEEK Diana's legacy to be honored in London The late Princess of Wales is getting one of London's famous blue plaques later this year. The sign will be placed outside Coleherne Court, her old apartment building in Earl's Court, west London, where she lived with girlfriends before marrying Prince Charles. Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, thanked English Heritage -- the charity that oversees historic buildings and the commemorative plaque project -- saying it was "such a very happy place" for his sister. The tribute will no doubt be special to her family as Diana is being recognized in the year in which she would have celebrated her 60th birthday. Before marrying Prince Charles, Diana Spencer, pictured in 1980, lived at Coleherne Court in London. Archbishop gives more insight on Meghan and Harry's weddingThe Duke and Duchess of Sussex were legally married at their televised wedding, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby confirmed this week. His remarks shed more light on a comment made by Meghan in the recent Oprah interview, where she mentioned a backyard wedding in the days before the big event on May 19, 2018. "The legal wedding was on the Saturday. I signed the wedding certificate, which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offense if I had signed it knowing it was false," Welby said in remarks reported by Italian newspaper La Repubblica and confirmed to CNN by Lambeth Palace. "So, you can make what you like of that. But the legal wedding was on the Saturday, but I won't say what happened at any earlier meetings," the archbishop added.The royals also had lockdown projectsWhether it's baking, redecorating or learning a new skill, many have found new projects to take advantage of the endless hours indoors -- including the Duchess of Cambridge. Catherine has spent the last year working on her own passion project -- combining her love of photography with community outreach. Last year, she invited people across the UK to submit portraits they had taken during the first national lockdown as part of her "Hold Still" initiative. With the help of the National Portrait Gallery, 31,000 submissions have been whittled down to 100, which will be published in a new book in May, it was announced this week. The duchess wrote in the book's introduction that she "wanted to use the power of photography to create a lasting record of what we were all experiencing -- to capture individuals' stories and document significant moments for families and communities as we lived through the pandemic." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (@kensingtonroyal)
FROM THE ROYAL VAULT The Queen has revealed her sadness over having to cancel the traditional Royal Maundy service for the second year in a row due to the pandemic. As "Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England," the Queen ordinarily marks the Holy Week with a service held on the Thursday before Easter Sunday. This year's event was supposed to be held at Westminster Abbey in London. Instead, the monarch sent out gifts to the 190 people who would have been invited this week. "I am sure you will be sad, as I am, that present circumstances make it impossible for that Service to take place. I hope however that this Maundy Gift will remind you for years to come that your efforts have been truly appreciated," the Queen wrote in a letter to each recipient. The Royal Maundy service is an ancient ceremony that dates back to 600 AD and, for Christians, remembers how Jesus washed the feet of disciples at the Last Supper. The Queen observes Maundy by offering gifts to senior citizens put forward by local clergy of all denominations in recognition of their service to the church and to the local community. During the Queen's reign, she extended the ritual of Maundy money beyond London and has traveled to different cathedrals and abbeys across the United Kingdom to distribute the symbolic gifts. As part of the service, Elizabeth hands out two leather purses which have been blessed: One red and one white.Examples of the two purses that the Queen distributed during the Royal Maundy Service in 2013. The red pouch this year includes two newly minted coins: A £5 coin in honor of the Queen's upcoming 95th birthday as well as a 50p piece that marks the 50th anniversary of decimalization of the currency. Historically, the amount of £5.50 represents the sovereign's gift for food and clothing. The white purse holds bespoke Maundy money minted for the occasion in denominations of one, two, three and four silver penny pieces, which add up to her age. Customarily, the Queen celebrates Easter weekend privately with her family at Windsor Castle -- where she has been holed up with her husband, Philip, and a bubble of their staff since the virus struck last year. We usually get a glimpse of the monarch as she attends church on Sunday morning at St. George's Chapel -- the beautiful chapel that was constructed in the late 15th century and is still the scene of many royal baptisms, weddings and burials -- accompanied by some members of the clan. But the traditional family gathering is unlikely to happen this year, with Covid-19 restrictions preventing more than six people or two households meeting up. The last traditional Maundy service was held at St. George's Chapel on April 18, 2019 in Windsor.The Queen may opt to worship privately -- which she does at the Chapel of All Saints, near Prince Andrew's Royal Lodge home in Windsor Great Park -- but she will certainly forego the usual trip to St. George's to avoid drawing any crowds. In lieu of public appearances, it's possible we may still hear from a member of the royal family. Prince Charles has often recorded special Easter messages to mark the holiday, including participating in the "Abbeycast" podcast last year and sending a supportive video message to people persecuted for their faith in 2018. A WORD FROM THE ROYALS
"How much we've missed it and how much we're looking forward to being able to have that collective experience again."
Prince Edward marks World Theater Day on March 27
The pandemic has forced the arts to explore the digital realm like never before. And while the online landscape has allowed global theater to present some virtual offerings, many fans -- including the 57-year-old Earl of Wessex -- are looking forward to the day they can return to playhouses. | 3news
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Story highlightsPussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova loses her bid to be released on paroleShe was given a 2-year sentence for hooliganism last yearBand members were tried for performing a song critical of then-Prime Minister Vladimir PutinA court denied parole for a jailed member of Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot on Friday, state media reported.The Supreme Court of the Mordovia region upheld an earlier decision to deny Nadezhda Tolokonnikova's parole, the official RIA Novosti news agency said.Tolokonnikova was given a 2-year sentence for hooliganism after a trial in August that was criticized by international rights groups.She is one of three women tried last year for performing a song critical of then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in an Orthodox cathedral. Video footage of their so-called "punk prayer" was posted online.State-run court news agency Rapsi cited an attorney as saying Tolokonnikova would not appeal the court's ruling on parole.JUST WATCHEDPussy Riot documentary director on bandReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPussy Riot documentary director on band 09:33Fellow defendant Maria Alyokhina, who was also sentenced to two years in prison, was denied bail in May. She planned to appeal the ruling.Yekaterina Samutsevich, a third member of the band, was sentenced at the same time as the two, but was freed from prison in October after her defense presented new evidence.May: Jailed Pussy Riot member declares hunger strike | 3news
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Story highlightsHIV killed more than 14,000 people by the end of the 1980sThe public panicked, not knowing how it spread The LGBT community often had to fill in gaps in care as so many gay men died and others were isolated (CNN)In the 1980s, when Dr. Jesse Peel was in his 40s, he realized something startling: The gay community organizer and psychiatrist in Atlanta had lost more of his contemporaries than his aging mother at the time. It was the height of the AIDS epidemic. Peel said he would sometimes attend two or three funerals for friends in a week. People were getting sick, deathly sick, long before the disease even had a name. Quiz: How well do you know the '80s?His journals from the time capture this loss and hint at fear people had of the disease and of his community. Not knowing how it spread, people in the 1980s worried that they'd get sick from holding hands or catch the disease from a public toilet seat. There were no tests and no real treatments. The disease struck so many young men so quickly, and it seemed to target the gay community, so much that its first name was gay-related immune deficiency. Some just called it "gay cancer."Hollywood's struggle to deal with AIDS in the '80sPeel's journal also documents his growing desire to be an activist. In the 1980s, people were so afraid of the disease, nurses refused to take in meals to hospitalized patients. Doctors in major medical journals debated whether they had a moral obligation to treat people with AIDS. Parents refused to see their sick children, and faith communities called patients with HIV an "abomination." Peel and others like him helped start organizations that would fill in the gaps of care.Read MorePeel donated his journals to a special collection at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University in Atlanta. The collection of personal papers and mementos from the AIDS movement, part of a broader LGBT collection, gives readers an intimate glimpse of the epidemic as it unfolded and as the LGBT movement gained momentum.Timeline: AIDS moments to rememberSan Francisco and New York will always be inextricably linked to the early AIDS movement, but people in Atlanta also played a unique role, one that's often overlooked. The city is home to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which, in 1981, first documented what was then a mysterious disease. Some members of the Reagan administration famously refused to even mention the word AIDS until 1985, and by then, the epidemic was too big to ignore, with 15,948 cases. It was the CDC that created a hotline to answer scared people's questions. The agency tracked case numbers and developed research to better understand the virus.HIV in the '80s: 'People didn't want to kiss you on the cheek'In 1989, Atlanta-based Nexus Press hosted what is believed to be the first art exhibition in the United States to focus solely on AIDS. It was an Atlanta theater that, in 1984, staged what is thought to be the first AIDS-themed play, "Warren." Rebecca Ranson's original manuscript, which is housed at the Emory archive, tells a story about her friend who was dying from the disease and how she, a lesbian, and other friends tried to help. The play was performed throughout the country and at the CDC's first International conference about AIDS held in Atlanta in 1985. It aimed to educate a broader public that might have had little firsthand experience with the epidemic. The program lists AIDS organizations and their phone numbers on the back. And it was an Atlantan who was at the heart of the gay rights case Bowers v. Hardwick. An officer arrested Michael Hardwick for sodomy after the officer observed Hardwick having sex with another man in his own bedroom. The 1986 U.S. Supreme Court decision declared Georgia laws that prohibited sodomy constitutional. In 2003, the Supreme Court reversed that decision. Hardwick died in 1991 due to complications from AIDS.Anger over the case inspired some in the local community to get more involved in organizing public protests such as the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The march was attended by more than 200,000 and was the largest of its kind at the time. The program from the march, also housed at the archive, calls for a national response to increase funding for AIDS research and asks for an end to discrimination against people living with HIV and AIDS. Some of the local organizers pictured in the program would later become a part of the city's political establishment.Join the conversationSee the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter.Peel said AIDS in the 1980s changed Atlanta. The city was always a magnet for LGBT individuals who left their smaller towns for the more liberated city, but before the epidemic, "for many guys, it was all about sex, drugs, and rock and roll," it wasn't about being a part of a broader civil rights movement, Peel told an interviewer. The disease and the public's reaction to it changed that."We didn't have a gay center then or much in the way of gay organizations. We had to make them up as we went along, and people came together to take care of their friends who were sick and dying," he said. "As the epidemic unfolded, it began to bring people together." | 2health
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Story highlightsAndy Murray beats David Ferrer at World Tour Finals Murray wins 6-4 6-4 at year-end championships Rafael Nadal crushes Stan Wawrinka 6-3 6-2 later Monday Novak Djokovic plays Roger Federer Tuesday (CNN)Andy Murray began his opening match at the World Tour Finals with a thumping ace down the middle. The rest of the first game against David Ferrer settled into a slugfest, setting the tone for Monday's clash in Group Ilie Nastase. Follow @cnnsport
Just as he did at the Paris Masters nine days ago, Murray defeated the Spaniard, this time by a score of 6-4 6-4 at the O2 Arena in London. But later Monday, Stan Wawrinka couldn't replicate his win over Rafael Nadal in the French capital, crushed by Ferrer's countryman 6-3 6-2. Although he is bidding to win the year-end championships for the first time -- he has not yet reached the final -- Murray is preoccupied by what comes after the tournament, the Davis Cup final. JUST WATCHEDBelgium's stunning Davis Cup runReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBelgium's stunning Davis Cup run 03:27JUST WATCHEDBritain's Davis Cup glory daysReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBritain's Davis Cup glory days 01:34Great Britain travels to Belgium on November 27, one victory away from claiming a first title in the elite men's team competition since 1936, and if the visitors are to prevail, the 28-year-old needs to be ready physically. He will probably feature on all three days of the best-of-five match series on clay. So beating the ever tenacious Ferrer in straight sets in 1½ hours on the indoor hard court was especially good for the Scot. He was keen to avoid the type of marathon encounter he endured against Ferrer in the Miami final in 2013 -- that match, in oppressive heat, lasted nearly three hours -- or in last year's Vienna final, where he battled back from a set down. Read MoreAnd only last week, Murray practiced on clay, mindful of the upcoming tie in Ghent. "It's a different surface here, but playing matches against the best players in the world is also fantastic preparation" for the Davis Cup final, Murray told reporters. "I changed my schedule and the way I've trained over the last two months ... to make sure I am fresh for this part of the season, which hasn't always been the case."I've only played two tournaments in the last six or seven weeks. I feel good just now. Hopefully I can perform well here and in Belgium." Murray is one win away from finishing the season at No. 2, which would be a first, behind dominant No. 1 Novak Djokovic. It would be a reward for what he has called his most consistent year, making the Australian Open final and semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon -- although, ever the perfectionist, Murray likely feels he could have forced the issue more against Roger Federer at the All England Club.Murray was broken to end every set in his 7-5 7-5 6-4 defeat in July, and Ferrer suffered the same fate Monday, cracking on serve to conclude both sets. Unusually for Ferrer, who many would argue has overachieved in his career, he was let down by double faults. He struck eight in total without hitting an ace. 90 minutes is a stat that'll please @andy_murray, who likes a game 10 break! #finalshowdown https://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC pic.twitter.com/VhWKTaBfir— TennisTV (@TennisTV) November 16, 2015
Besides his ace in the first game, Murray added three more, without contributing a double fault. "I served bad the end of the first set and also in the second set," Ferrer told reporters, adding that serving well against fellow top-10 players is pivotal. "Anyway, in important moments he was better than me. He played more aggressive than me."Federer said after brushing aside Tomas Berdych on Sunday that the court was playing slow. There was nothing to suggest otherwise a day later, and both Murray and Ferrer sought to shorten points by coming to the net. There were also more than a few drop shots. The combination brought relief for those not enamored with incessant baseline rallies. The match might have been different had the 2007 runner-up -- now a loser in seven of his last eight matches against Murray -- converted a break point in the opening game. Attempting to force the issue or hit a clean winner, he missed a forehand long. JUST WATCHEDCNN Open Court Davis Cup TrailerReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCNN Open Court Davis Cup Trailer 00:30Murray -- watched by pregnant wife Kim Sears -- squandered his own break chances, particularly in the eighth game, but then recovered in the 10th. He was immediately broken to love to begin the second set, although he broke back for 3-3 when he forced Ferrer into a forehand error following a lengthy rally. Murray raised his arm and clenched his fist, roared on by a partisan crowd. Predictably, he duly sealed the contest moments later, officially putting away Ferrer with a gentle overhead. He awaits Nadal on Wednesday. Revenge for Rafa When Nadal and Wawrinka squared off in Paris, the Swiss triumphed in a 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (9-7) thriller to quell the 14-time grand slam champion's recent momentum. Nadal failed to convert set points in both sets. On Monday, they traded breaks early before Nadal took charge -- thanks in no small part to Wawrinka's unforced errors. Overall he made 35 -- or an average of more than two per game. Still, he almost turned things around in the second set. 2-time runner-up @RafaelNadal overcomes #Wawrinka at #FinalShowdown. https://t.co/kle7roXwh6 #atp #tennis pic.twitter.com/FZ1MQR1Ey5— ATP World Tour (@ATPWorldTour) November 16, 2015
Under pressure to begin the set, Wawrinka somehow fended off seven break points. In the ensuing game, he manufactured a break chance of his own and was close to taking a 2-0 lead after getting down low to volley a dipping Nadal forehand passing shot. But Nadal raced to the ball and engineered a sumptuous forehand cross-court lob to escape, leaping in the air to celebrate. He broke in the next game thanks to a double fault and the contest was realistically over. "It was a very important point for me, because saving that tough moment I was able to be back," Nadal, absent from last year's event in the aftermath of appendix surgery, told Sky. "And finally I had the break in the next game." Djokovic, who routed Kei Nishikori on Sunday, and Federer tangle in Tuesday's standout match. Djokovic beat Federer in both the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals this year, despite the crowd firmly rooting for the Swiss. Read: Djokovic honors Paris victims | 5sport
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Story highlightsDaniel Libeskind's redesign of the Military History Museum in Dresden is his favorite work to date"It's not just about weapons and rockets ... it's about people's decisions and how people view the world," Libeskind saysPolish-born architect wishes he had designed the Eiffel Tower, in Paris"It's completely uncharacteristic of Paris, and yet it's such a fantastic building," he saysDaniel Libeskind, the Polish-American architect responsible for the World Trade Center site's redevelopment, says his favorite building is the Military History Museum in Dresden, Germany.Originally an armory for Kaiser Wilhelm I and subsequently under Nazi and Soviet control, the Bundeswehr's main military museum survived the 1945 bombing of Dresden due to its location on the city's outskirts. "It is an interesting project for me," says Libeskind, "because now it is a museum of modern democratic Germany. How to transform it? How to create a new sense of what it means to have a military in a democracy which is controlled by the citizens?" In Libeskind's $85 million redesign, completed in 2011, a huge wedge of concrete and steel scythes through the stone, columned building, to create something he describes as "both disruptive of the old, but [that] also gives you a sense of how we have changed our thinking."Watch Great Buildings on CNN's Connect the WorldJUST WATCHEDDaniel Libeskind's 'Great Buildings' ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDaniel Libeskind's 'Great Buildings' 03:59JUST WATCHEDLibeskind's Polish 'eagle' ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLibeskind's Polish 'eagle' 02:57JUST WATCHEDZaha Hadid's favorite buildings ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHZaha Hadid's favorite buildings 03:55JUST WATCHEDMa Yansong picks his 'Great Buildings'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMa Yansong picks his 'Great Buildings' 03:39JUST WATCHEDBarry Hughes picks his 'Great Buildings'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBarry Hughes picks his 'Great Buildings' 03:32Born in Poland, raised under Communist regimes and the child of Holocaust survivors, Libeskind says the concept underpinning his design "wasn't something that I had to research in libraries." The dramatic shard, which was constructed as the building was also being restored, helps to reorient the museum's purpose. Libeskind says the new space offers visitors a chance to question "why people participate in and organize violence, why they conform to totalitarian thoughts."View a hi-res gallery of Libekind's 'Great Buildings'"This space is not for weapons. It's to navigate between the horizontal world of history and the vertical world of human aspiration and understanding.""I wanted people to feel that sense of displacement, that space of catastrophe," he says. "It's not just about weapons and rockets and tanks, it's about people's decisions, and how people view the world."The building Libeskind most wishes he'd designed is one completely at odds with its surrounds -- the Eiffel Tower, which looms over Paris' uniformly mid-rise cityscape."It's a building with no function, that has no program," Libeskind says. "It's completely uncharacteristic of Paris, and yet it's such a fantastic building. Today it's one of the world's most recognizable and most-visited monuments but in its day, the tower, erected for the 1889 World's Fair, was a controversial emblem of industrialization.Libeskind admires the daring of its design, which was innovative for its time, and the risks its engineers took -- "the technology had never really been used. There is no guarantee how it would work," he notes -- but he also admires its poetry. "It doesn't mimic anything. It's original. It has a spirit to it, a spirit of the unknown. And when you go see it, you still wonder, what the hell is this thing? How was it built?""That defines for me what good architecture is: It's not a formula. It's not the pretty facade of the building. It's how the building transforms the city. It's changed how people view Paris." "All the great artists, composers and politicians hated that building. They wanted to tear it down. They thought it was the ugliest, stupidest thing. But, in the long run, it became the most beloved and most symbolic building of France, of Paris, of Europe." Libeskind's Dresden museum was also criticized but, he says, he never doubted it. "Once you hit on the right idea, it's not a matter of compromising. Of course, you have to be flexible to work it out, but the big idea has to be so strong, it has to go through fire and still emerge exactly how you wanted it to be.""If people enjoy it, the building becomes part of the city, and then people have a different idea of the city. It can have a big role in changing what the world looks like to us." | 3news
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Story highlightsWashington-based artist was behind messages projected onto Trump Hotel in DCEmoluments clause and Russian flag figured in the visual display (CNN)Visitors to the Trump International Hotel in Washington were greeted with a provocative message Monday night: "Pay Trump bribes here." Artist and filmmaker Robin Bell said he projected those words onto the hotel's facade from a van across the street, hoping to call attention to accusations that President Donald Trump is allowing foreign leaders to pay for access by staying at a Trump property just a few blocks from the White House. "It's a pretty clear cut example of impropriety," Bell said in a phone interview. "This is not like politics as usual. The rules and the lines are being pushed so far and this seemed to be so clear to me."Bell also projected the text of the emoluments clause, which prohibits US officials from accepting foreign gifts, onto the hotel's facade, alongside images of the Turkish and Russian flags. The hotel quickly asked Bell to take the projection down.The Trump Organization rents the space for the Trump International Hotel from the General Services Administration. Because the President oversees the GSA, Trump effectively became both landlord and tenant when he was sworn in.Read MoreThe hotel has raised concerns for government ethics experts because guests, including foreign government officials, can try to ingratiate themselves with Trump and the US government by spending their money there.In January, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog group, filed a lawsuit claiming Trump violates the clause because he is accepting payments from foreign governments through his business empire. The other plaintiffs, including a Jill Phaneuf, a Washington-based events booker, joined the lawsuit saying Trump businesses have unfair advantage in the hospitality industry. But the federal government ruled in March that the hotel is not violating its lease, despite a clause that says no government official can be a party to it. The GSA determined that the financial trusts and legal arrangements that Trump set up to manage his businesses have ensured that he will not get any money from the hotel while he is in office.The text of the emoluments clause was projected onto the hotel.Referring to the hotel in a November interview with The New York Times, Trump said "the law is totally on my side, meaning, the President can't have a conflict of interest.""I have have a no conflict situation because I'm President ... it's a nice thing to have," he repeated to reporters at a news conference in January.Before Trump became President, he transferred control of his vast business holdings to his older sons and a Trump Organization executive. Projections of #EmolumentsWelcome at Trump Hotel in Washington, DC 5-15-17 #resist pic.twitter.com/8gkucztYOm— robin bell (@bellvisuals) May 16, 2017
This is the fifth time Bell has projected messages onto the Trump International Hotel, he said. Recently, he also drove his van to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to attend Trump's speech marking his 100th day in office, where Bell projected a "100 days of pollution" message onto a building's wall.The many paths from Trump to Russia"Arts are what inform people. It's for discussion, where community comes together," Bell said. "One of the things that connects us is art."Monday's display didn't last long because the hotel's staff is "pretty diligent about asking to take them down," Bell said, but that wouldn't stop him from doing it again. "There will be a lot more projections to come," he said. "We're going to keep going." | 4politics
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(CNN)The son of Eric Harris says he forgives Robert Bates, the former Oklahoma deputy who said he meant to use a stun gun but instead fatally shot Harris with a pistol."I was angry because he killed my dad but I'm not gonna let him have that power over me," son Aidan Fraley, 17, said Wednesday. "Even if he hadn't forgiven himself, we have." Aidan's mother, Cathy Fraley, added: "I understand Mr. Bates has apologized and we have forgiven him, but there are consequences."Bates, 74, was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison on a charge of second-degree manslaughter, the maximum sentence for that offense. Cathy and Aidan Fraley took the stand and told Bates they forgave him.JUST WATCHED2015: Robert Bates speaks about shootingReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH2015: Robert Bates speaks about shooting 01:17Bates was a reserve officer with the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office when he killed Harris, 44, on April 2, 2015. An undercover officer tried to purchase an illegal weapon in a sting operation, but Harris bolted and was tackled by other officers and taken to the ground. Bates, who was providing backup, shot Harris in the back with his pistol but said he meant to use his Taser stun gun.Read More"Oh! I shot him! I'm sorry!" Bates said, as captured in a video of the shooting.Cathy Fraley said she hopes to change people's perceptions of Harris."I didn't want people to see him basically at the worst time in his life and judge him based on that alone," she said. "He went out of his way to show everybody that they were important."Video of the deadly shootingAidan said his father "was a better person than the one the world saw in those videos. He was way nicer and more caring than he was made out to be."They talked all the time, even when Eric Harris was serving time in prison, Aidan said.JUST WATCHEDRobert Bates attorney: He was devastatedReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRobert Bates attorney: He was devastated 06:13"He told me not to make the same mistakes he did," Aidan said. "He wanted the best for me and didn't want me to make the same mistakes he did. I needed him in my life because my mom could teach me a lot but she couldn't teach me how to be a man." Aidan is reconnecting with his uncle, Andre Harris, a pastor in Tulsa, and plans to attend college in the fall. Eric Harris also loved Trae Fraley, Cathy Fraley's older son, though they weren't related by blood, she said.Tulsa County Prosecutor Kevin Gray said few police officers go to jail in the shooting of suspects. He also called the case an "outlier" in the criminal justice system, noting he knows of no other cases that follow this "fact pattern." Bates' defense team has not responded to CNN's requests for comment about Bates' prison sentence.The estate of Eric Harris filed a federal lawsuit last January against Bates, the former and current Tulsa County sheriffs and three other men who were employed with the sheriff's office. The suit alleges use of excessive force and other violations. | 3news
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(CNN)Sir Roger Bannister, famed for being the first runner to break the four-minute-mile barrier, died Saturday in Oxford, England.Bannister was 88. Bannister's family announced the news in a statement released Sunday.In a statement distributed by the UK's Press Association, his family said that Sir Bannister died peacefully, "surrounded by his family who were as loved by him as he was loved by them." All at British Athletics are incredibly saddened by the passing of Sir Roger Bannister at the age of 88.A legend in every sense of the word. pic.twitter.com/m7y5dACB4n— British Athletics (@BritAthletics) March 4, 2018
Bannister accomplished a feat many deemed impossible when he ran a mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds at Oxford's Iffley Road track on May 6, 1954. Bannister's record time only stood for 46 days before being broken by Australian runner John Landy, but Bannister's accomplishment forever changed the perception of what was possible in distance running.Bannister changed the world of distance runningRead MoreIndeed, in a tweet from British Prime Minister Theresa May, Bannister was recognized as an "icon" whose accomplishments served to inspire generations.Sir Roger Bannister was a great British sporting icon whose achievements were an inspiration to us all. He will be greatly missed.— Theresa May (@theresa_may) March 4, 2018
Later in 1954, Bannister retired from athletics to focus on his study of medicine at the University of Oxford, eventually becoming a neurologist. Bannister's running shoes from 1954 He was named the first chairman of the English Sports Council in 1971, and remained in that position until 1974. Bannister was knighted in 1975, and served as the Master of Pembroke College at Oxford University from 1985 until 1993. The family's statement did not provide any information about the cause of death. | 5sport
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Story highlightsCNN Hero Chad Bernstein started music program that helps at-risk middle school students Nonprofit group Guitars Over Guns pairs Miami-area kids with professional musician mentorsDo you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2015 CNN HeroesMiami (CNN)Despite the glitz and glamour Miami is known for, the odds for some children growing up there are bleak.Almost one of every three Miami-Dade County residents living in poverty is under 18, according to the Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources. Many schools face high dropout rates, after-school programs are being eliminated and students are failing.Those at-risk children are ones that Chad Bernstein is trying to help through his nonprofit, Guitars Over Guns."Music is the most important tool we have in reaching these kids," said Bernstein, 30, a professional musician. Read MoreHis program operates in two of Miami's poorest communities, North Miami and Allapattah. It pairs middle-school students with professional musicians, providing free instrument instruction and mentorship. Since 2008, Bernstein's organization has worked with more than 225 students in Miami-Dade County. He says his group has seen more than a 90% increase in academic performance and school attendance of students in the program.Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for CNN Heroes 2015 Bernstein has been hooked on playing gigs since he was 16. He's gone on to play and record with such musical greats as Shakira, Pharrell, Jennifer Hudson and Pitbull.See more CNN HeroesI sat down with Bernstein to learn more about the motivation behind his work. Below is an edited version of our conversation.Marissa Calhoun: You're a pretty cool guy — some might be surprised to hear that you were once bullied. What did you experience and how did you overcome it?Chad Bernstein's mentorship nonprofit has helped some Miami-area students increase academic performance, attendance.Chad Bernstein: When I was a kid, I had ears that stuck out the side of my head and really big green glasses. And I was tall and lanky and definitely looked a little different than other kids. I think part of the thing that really stuck with me was this feeling of wanting to belong to something, because I just didn't feel like I fit in with the other kids. When I started playing music it really gave me a sense of identity, something that I belonged to, something that I was good at, something that people would watch me do and say, "Oh wow, that's really cool or he's really good at that." I think in that way music really gave me an anchor in my social experience.Calhoun: What can students expect when they join your program?Bernstein: As a new GOGO student you'll get to try out all the instruments. You'll choose an instrument to learn. You'll be paired with a mentor. And then you'll go throughout that year learning how to play the instrument and music fundamentals and songwriting. And by the end of the year, you'll be performing on stage, recording in a studio and will have a very close relationship with that mentor.Our mentors are amazing musicians that are active in the community playing and performing. And some of these mentors are actually from the neighborhoods and the schools that these kids are at currently. We're not policemen. We're not teachers. We're not parents. We're in a unique position to really talk to these kids about the issues that matter most to them.JUST WATCHEDWatch a studio recording session with students from Bernstein's program.ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWatch a studio recording session with students from Bernstein's program. 03:42Calhoun: Why do you focus on middle schoolers?Bernstein: It's the time of their life to reach them not only musically, but also as young individuals that are starting to form opinions about who they are and what their world is going to look like. As professional musicians, most of us know what kind of power music has in terms of dealing with the things that are going on in your life. And the reasons that we target the neighborhoods that we have the program in are because these kids are facing the most challenges with being successful in and out of school. A lot of times, these kids only see to the end of their block and back. We like to bring them to studios and also to other places in Miami because we want them to experience something outside of their own neighborhood. We also provide them with opportunities to get tutoring and have social services, making sure that they're really successful in and outside of school.By the end of the year students in the program will be performing on stage and recording in a studio, says Bernstein. Calhoun: I've heard you play — you're pretty mean on the trombone. How has that passion translated into your work with these kids?Bernstein: I've built my life on how important the feeling I get from playing music is. And I thought that that was the end-all, be-all feeling, that being on stage and performing was the thing for me. Then I saw a kid have that experience through our program, and it changed everything.There's an amazing sense of pride when I see a kid experience that feeling on stage, where they've connected with an audience or they get a round of applause because they've worked really hard and have a great performance. It's an incredible feeling. I was really fortunate to have the opportunities that I did to learn music. And part of me feels very responsible to provide those opportunities for other people, because there were people along the way in my path and my musical journey that helped me.My hopes for the children that we work with are that their vision of the world and their vision of themselves is changed in some way, that they hold themselves to more than other people might, and that they realize there's a whole world out there that they could very much be a part of that isn't necessarily the one right outside their doorstep. I know music has changed my life in a really dramatic way. And I think it's going to change the lives of these students in a really dramatic way.Want to get involved? Check out the Guitars Over Guns website at www.guitarsoverguns.org and see how to help. | 3news
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Story highlightsSunday's elections saw newcomers challenge decades-long Partido Popular (PP) and Socialist Party rule Spanish PM Rajoy's tough austerity measures helped the economy recover but unemployment remains highPP has also been damaged by corruption allegations (CNN)Spain's ruling conservative party has walked away with the most seats in the country's general election but fallen short of winning a clear majority.JUST WATCHEDSpain showing strong signs of economic recoveryReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSpain showing strong signs of economic recovery 02:26Voters came out Sunday to elect representatives to the lower house and senate. Partido Popular (PP), led by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, won 123 seats with 28.72% of the vote -- far from the 176 needed for the majority. The Socialist Party (PSOE) followed in second place, claiming 90 seats with 22%. Two new emerging parties, Podemos and Ciudadanos, won seats to challenge the dominant two parties in Spain for the first time in decades. The anti-austerity Podemos led by Pablo Iglesias won 69 seats while pro-business Ciudadanos led by Albert Rivera won 40. JUST WATCHEDSpanish PM gets sucker punched at campaign eventReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSpanish PM gets sucker punched at campaign event 00:51Rajoy's tough austerity measures have helped the nation recover from economic crisis. The Spanish economy is expected to grow 3.1% this year, about twice the average of the Eurozone. However Spain's unemployment, hovering at 21.1%, is the second highest in the EU after Greece.PP has also been damaged by corruption allegations that emerged in October, something Rajoy has staunchly denied. Read MoreVoter turnout was 73%, slightly higher than the previous election in 2011. PP now faces the difficult task of forming a coalition government given that it is unable to achieve a majority with its most obvious partner, the center-right Ciudadanos. | 3news
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Story highlightsSongs such as "Born in the U.S.A." have long been misinterpretedBands like R.E.M. did not even exist during the war but still wrote songs about it"The Seventies" airs at 9 p.m. ET/PT Thursdays on CNN US. (CNN)At the beginning of the '60s, rock was still in its "oldies" phase. Dance songs like Chubby Checker's "The Twist" and Little Eva's "Loco-motion" were huge hits. But by the time the decade wrapped, bands like The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Doors were ruling the charts. Counterculture had officially begun: Musicians became more socially conscious and began using their medium to speak for the anti-war masses, like in Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son." Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam War Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam War1960s photojournalists showed the world some of the most dramatic moments of the Vietnam War through their camera lenses. LIFE magazine's Larry Burrows photographed wounded Marine Gunnery Sgt. Jeremiah Purdie, center, reaching toward a stricken soldier after a firefight south of the Demilitarized Zone in Vietnam in 1966. Commonly known as Reaching Out, Burrows shows us tenderness and terror all in one frame. According to LIFE, the magazine did not publish the picture until five years later to commemorate Burrows, who was killed with AP photographer Henri Huet and three other photographers in Laos.Hide Caption 1 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarAssociated Press photographer Nick Ut photographed terrified children running from the site of a Vietnam napalm attack in 1972. A South Vietnamese plane accidentally dropped napalm on its own troops and civilians. Nine-year-old Kim Phuc, center, ripped off her burning clothes while she ran. The image communicated the horrors of the war and contributed to growing U.S. anti-war sentiment. After taking the photograph, Ut took the children to a Saigon hospital.Hide Caption 2 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarEddie Adams photographed South Vietnamese police chief Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan killing Viet Cong suspect Nguyen Van Lem in Saigon in 1968. Adams later regretted the impact of the Pulitzer Prize-winning image, apologizing to Gen. Nguyen and his family. "I'm not saying what he did was right," Adams wrote in Time magazine, "but you have to put yourself in his position."Hide Caption 3 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarA helicopter raises the body of an American paratrooper killed in action in the jungle near the Cambodian border in 1966. Henri Huet, a French war photographer covering the war for the Associated Press, captured some of the most influential images of the war. Huet died along with LIFE photographer Larry Burrows and three other photographers when their helicopter was shot down over Laos in 1971. Hide Caption 4 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarLegendary Welsh war photographer Philip Jones Griffiths captured the battle for Saigon in 1968. U.S. policy in Vietnam was based on the premise that peasants driven into the towns and cities by the carpet-bombing of the countryside would be safe. Furthermore, removed from their traditional value system, they could be prepared for imposition of consumerism. This "restructuring" of society suffered a setback when, in 1968, death rained down on the urban enclaves. In 1971 Griffiths published "Vietnam Inc." and it became one of the most sought after photography books. Hide Caption 5 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarNewly freed U.S. prisoner of war Air Force Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm is greeted by his family at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, in 1973. This Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph, named Burst of Joy, was taken by Associated Press photographer Sal Veder. "You could feel the energy and the raw emotion in the air," Veder told Smithsonian Magazine in 2005. Hide Caption 6 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarThis 1965 photo by Horst Faas shows U.S. helicopters protecting South Vietnamese troops northwest of Saigon. As the Associated Press chief photographer for Southeast Asia from 1962-1974, Faas earned two Pulitzer Prizes. Hide Caption 7 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarOliver Noonan, a former photographer with the Boston Globe, captured this image of American soldiers listening to a radio broadcast in Vietnam in 1966. Noonan took leave from Boston to work in Vietnam for the Associated Press. He died when his helicopter was shot down near Da Nang in August 1969. Hide Caption 8 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarIn June 1963, photographer Malcolm Browne showed the world a shocking display of protest. A Buddhist monk named Thich Quang Duc burned himself to death on a street in Saigon to protest alleged persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government. The image won Browne the World Press Photo of the Year. Hide Caption 9 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarTim Page photographed a U.S. helicopter taking off from a clearing near Du Co SF camp in Vietnam in 1965. Wounded soldiers crouch in the dust of the departing helicopter. The military convoy was on its way to relieve the camp when it was ambushed.Hide Caption 10 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarFrenchman Marc Riboud captured one of the most well-known anti-war images in 1967. Jan Rose Kasmir confronts National Guard troops outside the Pentagon during a protest march. The photo helped turn public opinion against the war. "She was just talking, trying to catch the eye of the soldiers, maybe try to have a dialogue with them," recalled Riboud in the April 2004 Smithsonian magazine, "I had the feeling the soldiers were more afraid of her than she was of the bayonets."Hide Caption 11 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarIn this 1965 Henri Huet photograph, Chaplain John McNamara administers last rites to photographer Dickey Chapelle in South Vietnam. Chapelle was covering a U.S. Marine unit near Chu Lai for the National Observer when a mine seriously wounded her and four Marines. Chappelle died en route to a hospital, the first American woman correspondent ever killed in action.Hide Caption 12 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarMary Ann Vecchio screams as she kneels over Jeffrey Miller's body during the deadly anti-war demonstration at Kent State University in 1970. Student photographer John Filo captured the Pulitzer Prize-winning image after Ohio National Guardsmen fired into a crowd of protesters, killing four students and wounding nine others. An editor manipulated a version of the image to remove the fence post above Vecchio's head, sparking controversy.Hide Caption 13 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarFor his dramatic photographs of the Vietnam War, United Press International staff photographer David Hume Kennerly won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography. This 1971 photo from Kennerly's award-winning portfolio shows an American GI, his weapon drawn, cautiously moving over a devastated hill near Firebase Gladiator. Hide Caption 14 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarHubert Van Es, a Dutch photojournalist working at the offices of United Press International, took this photo on April 29, 1975, of a CIA employee helping evacuees onto an Air America helicopter. It became one of the best known images of the U.S. evacuation of Saigon. Van Es never received royalties for the UPI-owned photo. The rights are owned by Bill Gates through his company, Corbis. Hide Caption 15 of 16 Photos: Iconic photos of the Vietnam WarAssociated Press photographer Art Greenspon captured this photo of soldiers aiding wounded comrades. The first sergeant of A Company, 101st Airborne Division, guided a medevac helicopter through the jungle to retrieve casualties near Hue in April 1968. Hide Caption 16 of 16However, Vietnam's impact on music didn't stop when the war ended. There are a plethora of other songs inspired by the conflict but rarely associated with it. Here are five:Bruce Springsteen: "Born in the U.S.A."Any Springsteen fan can tell you this, but in case you're unfamiliar with the Boss, "Born in the U.S.A." is not the patriotic, boom-box-on-top-of-Mount-Rushmore jam like Ronald Reagan's re-election campaign famously thought. At first listen, it's easy to hear what Reagan heard: booming drums, triumphant synths and Bruce going absolutely Boss-listic on the mic about the U.S.A. If you take away the lyrics, it would be the perfect soundtrack for George Washington leading his men across the Delaware River or an eagle landing on top of the Statue of Liberty. Read MoreThe lyrics, however, about fighting in Khe Sanh and a veteran struggling to find work back home, paint a much different picture. When stripped down to its basic, like in its acoustic version, it becomes a completely different animal.R.E.M.: "Orange Crush"R.E.M. was not even a band during the Vietnam War, but lead singer Michael Stipe has a connection: His father served in Vietnam. With lines like "serve your conscience overseas," music critics and fans alike have long speculated the song has a bigger-picture meaning, including that the "orange" Stipe is singing about is Agent Orange, not the soda. Agent Orange is a chemical the United States used in Vietnam as part of its herbicidal warfare to destroy crops and trees. The band's music video of a young man with dog tags gives a heavy-handed hint into the song's personal meaning. The Monkees: "Last Train to Clarksville"Perhaps the most upbeat anti-war song of all time, songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart had to disguise the song's real meaning because it would have been too controversial for the made-for-TV Monkees. The song tells the story of a soldier trying to meet up with his lover before being shipped off to war. Lines like "and I don't know if I'm ever coming home" contrast sharply with the bubblegum pop backing track. As legendary bass player Carol Kaye, who plays on the track, told Songfacts.com, "The mood of the song is not critical if the tempo is high." The song's jangle and catchiness propelled it to No. 1, with its true meaning lost on many of the Monkees' younger fans.The Clash: "Charlie Don't Surf"The English punk band titled its 1980 song, which features lyrics critical of foreign involvement, after an iconic line in the war film "Apocalypse Now."In the film, Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore (played by Robert Duvall) is prepping his men to storm a beachside village when a soldier raises his concern about the dangers of it being "Charlie's beach." Kilgore then, emphatically, lets the soldier know why the beach needs to be taken. with the line: "Charlie don't surf!" The Animals: "We Gotta Get Out of This Place"Some of the most popular songs of the '60s and '70s were about Vietnam: Edwin Starr's "War", Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?" and John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance." These, however, were not always hit songs with the troops fighting the war in Vietnam. The Animals' "We Gotta Get out of This Place" was originally written by the prolific husband and wife hit-making team of Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil as an introspective look at one's life and the need for change, but it soon turned into a literal rally call of survival for those in Vietnam. Doug Bradley is a Vietnam vet and author of a book about the soundtrack of the Vietnam War, appropriately called "We Gotta Get Out of This Place.""We had absolute unanimity in this song being the touchstone. This was the Vietnam anthem. Every bad band that ever played in an armed forces club had to play this song," Bradley says.Watch Episode 3 of the CNN Original Series "The Seventies" on Thursday, June 25, at 9 p.m. ET/PT for an in-depth look at the end of the Vietnam War. | 1entertainment
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Washington (CNN)In California, Democrats are hopeful they've avoided the potential nightmare of being locked out of winnable House races due to the state's unique primary system that allows the top two candidates of any party to advance.Still, some of those races remained too close to call Wednesday morning, with many more ballots to count. Democrat Gil Cisneros will face Republican Young Kim in California's 39th District, one of several competitive seats in Orange County, a crucial battleground in November's midterm elections, CNN projects. In retiring Rep. Darrell Issa's 49th District, CNN projects that one Democrat will advance -- though it's still a tight three-way race to see which Democrat that will be. Those developments were a relief for Democrats, who spent months trying to winnow their larger-than-ever pools of candidates due to California's "jungle" primary. Read MoreIn two other races -- GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's 48th District and Rep. Jeff Denham's 10th District -- Democrats led for the second spot in the general election, but the races were too close to call. And because California accepts mail-in ballots through the end of this week, as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday, it could take days or even weeks to identify the candidates who advance. Sen. Dianne Feinstein sailed through her primary and will face Senate Majority Leader Kevin de León in the general election. Former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom advanced to the general election in the governor's race and will face Republican John Cox, who had the backing of President Donald Trump. Here are six other takeaways from the most important night yet on 2018's political calendar: Another big night for female candidatesFollowing a trend that's been clear throughout 2018's primaries, Tuesday was another big night for female candidates, some of whom took steps toward breaking their states' gender barriers. In California, Young Kim -- the first Korean-American Republican woman to become a state lawmaker there -- advanced to the general election in retiring GOP Rep. Ed Royce's 39th District. If she wins in November, she would be the first Korean-American woman in Congress. In South Dakota, Republican Rep. Kristi Noem won the primary and is now likely to become the state's first female governor. In Iowa, Democrats Cindy Axne and Abby Finkenauer could become the state's first female House members. And in New Mexico, Democrat Deb Haaland's win puts her on track to become the nation's first Native American congresswoman. Montana's battle of the flat-topsMontana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester now has his Republican challenger, according to a CNN projection: state auditor Matt Rosendale. Rosendale's win means the two best flat-top haircuts in politics will face each other in a state where Trump won big in 2016 and where he has made Tester a frequent target. It was a long way down to Rosendale for Republicans. Initially, Ryan Zinke -- a former congressman who is now Trump's interior secretary -- was national GOP leaders' preference for the seat. Their second choice, attorney general Tim Fox, also passed. That made Rosendale the establishment preference. Tester's brand has withstood close races before, and Gov. Steve Bullock showed in 2016 that Democrats can win in Montana in the Trump era. But this race will be among Republicans' top targets in November. Has Bernie's power in Iowa peaked?Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders pushed Hillary Clinton to the limit during the Iowa caucus in 2016, a second-place finish that helped launch his upstart presidential run.Sanders seems likely to run again in 2020 and is now confronted with a critical question: Is the 2016 magic still there?If Pete D'Alessandro's showing in Iowa's Third Congressional district provides any clues, that answer is no.D'Alessandro, Sanders' top aide in Iowa during the 2016 caucus, finished a distant third to Eddie Mauro, a former teacher, and Cindy Axne, a former state government official on Tuesday night, according to CNN's projection.Sanders, who is cautious with his endorsements, went above and beyond for D'Alessandro. He backed his former aide in January, traveled to Des Moines for a rally in February and wielded the power of his sizeable email list to raise money for D'Alessandro.The email boosted D'Alessandro's fundraising, but did little to help him catch up to Mauro and Axne, who both significantly outraised the former Sanders Iowa aide.Roby faces GOP wrath for opposing TrumpAlabama Rep. Martha Roby is headed to a Republican runoff to save her seat after failing to top 50% in Tuesday's primary. Roby, whose criticism of Trump over the "Access Hollywood" tape in 2016 earned her a primary challenge, will face Bobby Bright -- a former Democratic congressman who is now running as a Republican -- in the head-to-head matchup on July 17. Roby fell short of 50% in part because she is paying a political price in deep-red Alabama for saying in 2016 that she would not vote for Trump. "I cannot look my children in the eye and justify a vote for a man who promotes and boasts about sexually assaulting women," she said at the time. If Roby were to lose the runoff, she would be the second House Republican defeated in a 2018 primary. Rep. Robert Pittenger of North Carolina lost to former pastor Mark Harris in May. Smooth sailing for New Jersey DemocratsTwo hotbeds of competitive House races held their primaries Tuesday. And while California had Democrats sweating, New Jersey went exactly according to plan. Every candidate backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and preferred by the party establishment claimed victory. In GOP Rep. Leonard Lance's district, former assistant secretary of state Tom Malinowski held off a progressive opponent. In retiring Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen's district, former Navy pilot Mikie Sherrill -- one of the strongest Democratic recruits of the 2018 cycle -- cruised. And in retiring GOP Rep. Frank LoBiondo's district, state Sen. Jeff Van Drew -- whose conservative positions made him a target of progressives -- coasted. The Democrat who faced a surprisingly close race Tuesday was Sen. Bob Menendez. Now free of corruption charges, Menendez' underfunded and unknown challenger Lisa McCormick put up a surprisingly strong showing. It was a clear sign that a strong challenger might have been able to unseat Menendez. Democrats hope anti-Trump fervor is brewing in MissouriDemocrats, in response to Trump's presidency, have flipped a sizeable 42 state legislative seats since the President took office in January 2017, the latest of which came in Missouri on Tuesday night.Democrat Lauren Arthur, a state representative, led Republican Kevin Corlew, also a state representative, by close to 20% with all precincts reporting. The swing is significant given the district in suburban Kansas City backed both Trump in 2016 and Mitt Romney in 2012. Additionally, the Republican who stepped down from the seat earlier this year won reelection in 2016 by over 20 percentage points.Why does this small seat in Missouri matter nationally? Democratic operatives hope the swing previews a strong showing in November, where voters are prepared to rebuke the President.But there are also statewide implications at play, too. Tuesday's special election was the first time voters have gone to the polls in Missouri since Republican Gov. Eric Greitens resigned in disgrace amid a series of scandals. The fact that voters rebuked the Republican in this race could be a bad sign for Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, who is seeking to oust vulnerable Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in November.This story has been updated to reflect election results. | 4politics
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(CNN)Europe is at a "decisive" point in dealing with its second wave of coronavirus infections, the EU's Health Commissioner has warned, adding that the actions people take now will determine the severity of restrictions needed in the coming months."Ladies and gentlemen, we are at a decisive moment," Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said at a news conference Thursday. "Today we're here to call on everyone to act decisively. It might be our last chance to prevent a repeat of last spring."Kyriakides added that autumn and winter are the time of year for more respiratory illnesses, including seasonal influenza.People walk past an electronic sign in Bolton, England, on September 17. "To prevent what could potentially be a lethal 'twin-demic' of Covid-19 and the flu -- which could overburden our health systems and lead to more loss of life -- we need to increase the coverage of vaccination rates," she warned.The commissioner said that people should also not lower their guard because "the crisis is not behind us."Read More"We must prevent a situation where governments feel they have no choice but to improve imposed generalized lockdowns.Sunbathers on the beach in Marseille, France, on September 14."[Such lockdowns] will be detrimental -- detrimental to our mental health, detrimental to our economies, detrimental to the well-being and education of our children, detrimental to our working and daily lives. We have to take measures that will protect those around us, whether they're parents or grandparents or those vulnerable in our societies."This comes as global health experts warned that the arrival of the flu season was a "huge concern" because of the potential burden on health services. The pressure on hospitals is also increased by the number of "long-haulers," those who are suffering adverse effects from coronavirus more than a month after they were ill. The experts said Europe once again needs to "flatten the curve" through social distancing and hygiene measures, as well as robust testing and contact tracing as cases rise and governments bring in new measures in an attempt to stop the virus spread.CNN's Emma Reynolds contributed to this report. | 3news
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(CNN)When you think of the penguin, the image that pops to mind is usually the fuzzy bird waddling through snow or swimming in frigid Antarctic waters.But penguins didn't originate in Antarctica, as scientists have believed for years -- they first evolved in Australia and New Zealand, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.The study, which was conducted in collaboration with museums and universities around the world, analyzed blood and tissue samples from 18 different species of penguins. They used this genomic information to look back in time, and trace the penguins' movement and diversification over millennia."Our results indicate that the penguin crown-group originated during the Miocene (geological period) in New Zealand and Australia, not in Antarctica as previously thought," said the study, published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "Penguins first occupied temperate environments and then radiated to cold Antarctic waters."Penguins originated in Australia and New Zealand 22 million years ago, researchers suggest; then, ancestors of the king and emperor penguins split off and moved to Antarctic waters, likely attracted by the abundant food supply there.Read MoreA penguin dives from an ice block in Antarctica in March 2014. These findings also support the theory that king and emperor penguins are the "sister group" to all other penguin lineages -- adding another piece to the long-debated puzzle on where exactly these two species sit on the family tree.Then about 12 million years ago, the Drake Passage -- the body of water between Antarctica and the southern tip of South America -- fully opened up. This allowed the penguins to swim throughout the Southern Ocean, and spread more widely to sub-Antarctic Islands as well as the warmer coastal regions of South America and Africa.Today, the flightless birds are still found in Australia and New Zealand -- as well as Antarctica, South America, the South Atlantic, southern Africa, the sub-Antarctic, Indian Ocean islands, and subtropical regions.During the study, researchers also discovered a new lineage of penguin that has yet to be given a scientific description.Penguins are adaptable -- but not enough for climate changeThe study shed light on the penguins' adaptability to changing climates -- and on the danger they now face in the modern climate crisis."We are able to show how penguins have been able to diversify to occupy the incredibly different thermal environments they live in today, going from 9 degrees Celsius (48 Fahrenheit) in the waters around Australia and New Zealand, down to negative temperatures in Antarctica and up to 26 degrees (79 Fahrenheit) in the Galapagos Islands," said Rauri Bowie, one of the lead researchers and a professor of integrative biology at UC Berkeley, in a statement from the university.The world's second-largest emperor penguin colony has nearly disappeared"But we want to make the point that it has taken millions of years for penguins to be able to occupy such diverse habitats, and at the rate that oceans are warming, penguins are not going to be able to adapt fast enough to keep up with changing climate."The team was able to pinpoint genetic adaptations that allowed penguins to thrive in challenging environments; for example, their genes evolved to better regulate body temperature, which allowed them to live in both subzero Antarctic temperatures and warmer tropical climes. But these steps of evolution took millions of years -- time that the penguins don't have now, as their populations dwindle."Right now, changes in the climate and environment are going too fast for some species to respond to the climate change," said Juliana Vianna, associate professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, in the UC Berkeley statement.The different elements of climate change culminate in a perfect storm. Disappearing sea ice mean fewer breeding and resting grounds for emperor penguins. The reduced ice and warming oceans also mean less krill, the main component of the penguins' diet.Some Antarctic penguin colonies have declined by more than 75% over 50 yearsThe world's second-largest emperor penguin colony has almost disappeared; thousands of emperor penguin chicks in Antarctica drowned when sea ice was destroyed by storms in 2016. Reoccuring storms in 2017 and 2018 led to the death of almost all the chicks at the site each season.Some penguin colonies in the Antarctic have declined by more than 75% over the past 50 years, largely as a result of climate change.In the Galapagos, penguin populations are declining as warm El Nino events -- a weather phenomenon that sees warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean -- happen more frequently and with greater severity. In Africa, warming waters off the southern coast have also caused penguin populations to drop drastically. | 3news
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Story highlightsSecond seed Li Na crashes out of WimbledonBarbora Zahlavova Strycova beats her in straight setsNovak Djokovic survives injury scare to progress in men's singlesDefending champion Andy Murray eases into last 16Australian Open champion Li Na bowed meekly out of Wimbledon Friday to extend her miserable record at the grass court grand slam, blaming her lack of preparation for a shock defeat. The Chinese second seed was beaten 7-6 7-6 by Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, ranked 43 in the world, who was reaching the last 16 of a grand slam for the first time in 32 attempts.Trailing 6-5 in the second set tiebreaker, Li successfully challenged after her forehand was called long.But given a second chance of redemption on a replayed match point, Li served her seventh double fault to exit in lame fashion.Read: Third time lucky in Aussie final for Li Na The 32-year-old Li has never gone beyond the last 32 in eight appearances at the All England Club and also went out in the first round of the French Open last month.JUST WATCHEDLi Na wins 'dream' trophyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHLi Na wins 'dream' trophy 01:36JUST WATCHEDAsia's tennis superstarsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAsia's tennis superstars 02:15It's a far cry from her triumph in Melbourne back in January when she beat Dominika Cibulkova in the final of the opening grand slam of season, her second triumph in one of tennis' four majors.After her defeat, Li told reporters that she had made an error of judgment in skipping the warmup event at Eastbourne. "I think I needed some matches before the big one, I think I made the wrong decision," she said.For the 28-year-old Zahlavova Strycova, it was her biggest win of a mediocre career on the WTA Tour, interrupted by a six-month ban for a doping offense in 2013."I am very happy. I played a great match and I believed I could do it. It's my biggest win," she said.Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki awaits the Czech in the next round, the Dane beating Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh 6-3 6-0 to reach the last 16 of a grand slam for only the third time since 2011.Read: Serena: 'I'm favoritePetra Kvitova later won the battle of former champions on Centre Court after an enthralling two and a half hour battle against Venus Williams.JUST WATCHEDWhat the French Open means to Li NaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWhat the French Open means to Li Na 01:31JUST WATCHEDWimbledon champs on Open CourtReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWimbledon champs on Open Court 00:30Kvitova, who took the title in 2011, had to come back from a set down to beat the five-time champion from the United States, 5-7 7-6 7-5.Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the runner-up to Venus' younger sister Serena in 2012, also made the last 16 with a 6-2 6-0 win over Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito.Djokovic scareIn the men's tournament, top seed Novak Djokovic took a nasty tumble on the way to a 6-4 6-2 6-4 win over France's Gilles Simon.The 2011 champion made a spectacular diving attempt to reach a Simon shot in the sixth game of the third set and fell awkwardly on his shoulder.The Serbian star needed treatment on the court and had to take a painkiller before rounding out an otherwise routine win.Read: Djokovic suffers recurrence of wrist injury"Yes it was a sharp pain when I fell. It was an awkward fall. I was just hoping nothing was going on bad with the joint," he admitted later to reporters."There was no damage in the joint, so I could play a few games after that. The muscle was still quite sore because of the impact, so all in all I'm just glad to get through."Now there are two days off so I'm going to recover and get ready."Djokovic faces a tough last 16 clash against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but has won 10 of his 11 meetings with the Frenchman, who is seeded 14th this year.Defending champion Andy Murray wasted little time on Centre Court later as he polished off Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in their third round clash.Third seed Murray won 6-2 6-3 6-2 and will play Kevin Anderson of South Africa for a place in the quarterfinals Monday. But sixth seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic went out in a late evening upset, losing in straight sets, 7-6 6-4 7-6 to Marin Cilic of Croatia. Read: Murray defends new coach Mauresmo | 5sport
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Story highlightsRunner carries the Olympic torch through DagestanRussia's U.S. ambassador tells CNN he's "certain" the Games will be safeA new statement from Islamist militants threatens further attacks in RussiaAn athlete tells CNN his family is staying home due to safety fearsThe Olympic torch has wound its way through more than 100 cities in the relay leading up to next month's Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. But the turn it took Monday highlighted a fear held by many people across the globe.A runner carried the torch through Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan -- a region embattled by Islamic insurgents.The event went off without a hitch, with security in place and some cheering supporters lining the streets. But the international focus on that moment served as a reminder of the militants who have carried out deadly attacks recently in Russia, and who have threatened more.Russia is working to "ensure that there will be joyful, peaceful, and successful Olympic games," the country's ambassador to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, told CNN on Sunday, insisting he is "absolutely certain" the Games will go off without any terrorist attacks.But Rep. Peter King, R-New York, a member of the Homeland Security Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, said he cannot give a "100% guarantee."JUST WATCHEDKing: Odds for attack in Russia too highReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHKing: Odds for attack in Russia too high 03:04JUST WATCHEDSochi 'most corrupt Games ever'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSochi 'most corrupt Games ever' 03:59JUST WATCHEDU.S. has contingency plans for SochiReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHU.S. has contingency plans for Sochi 01:57JUST WATCHEDAthlete: 'We don't know what to expect'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAthlete: 'We don't know what to expect' 01:31"These are going to be very much threatened Olympics -- probably more than any we've had in our past," he told ABC's "This Week."In a statement posted Monday on an Islamist website, militants wrote that "Russia has been warned."Pointing to recent deadly bombings in Volgograd, the group said, "Mujahideen are guided in everything by Sharia," referring to Islamic law -- which, the statement said, allows for killing women and children if they cannot be separated from men in such attacks.Many Islamic scholars insist Muslim law does not permit killing innocent civilians.The statement did not specifically mention the Olympics or Sochi.The United States has offered counterterrorism expertise, equipment and warships to help Russia through the Olympics."Whatever we can do, we want to do to help, but right now there has been no request from the Russian government," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday.Some athletes' families staying homeWashington has warned U.S. athletes not to wear their uniforms outside the Games' so-called "Ring of Steel."Some athletes' families are staying home."The threat is real," said Roberto Carcelen, an Olympic cross-country skier, in an interview from Russia on CNN's "New Day.""The Olympics are built on the foundation of peace and freedom values, so this is kind of the perfect environment for terrorist groups" to have their voices heard, he said."I really wanted to go," his wife, Kate Carcelen, told "New Day." "I wanted to bring my daughter. She's 6, so it would be a really great experience for her." But amid growing fears of an attack, she said, Roberto acknowledged that it would be stressful for him to worry about their safety while competing in the Olympics."I'm going to be up training in the mountains while the family would be down in the city outside the Olympic rink," he said. "So that puts a lot of pressure on me as an athlete." Sequocoria Mallory-Lucas, mother of U.S. bobsled team member Aja Evans, is still planning to attend."She is doing fine as far as feeling assured that she's going to be OK and safe and that we will be OK and safe," Mallory-Lucas told "New Day.""I'm not afraid to go -- I'm excited about going. And I'm certainly encouraged that the United States has offered to lend a hand to Russia and that Russia has really made this a top priority, their security concerns and preparation." If needed, the United States will extract its citizens, Hagel said.That's part of a standard security plan, said Fran Townsend, CNN national security analyst and former U.S. counterterrorism adviser.Americans who attend the games, Townsend said, should register their trip with the U.S. government. They should also be cognizant of their environment and find out about the tip line for security services while they're in the country."If you're going, you just want to be smart about it," she said.Interactive guide: Explore Sochi's volatile neighbors | 3news
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(CNN)Bryson DeChambeau's much vaunted challenge for the Masters fell victim to a lost ball and a string of errant shots as fellow Americans Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas were in a four-way tie for the clubhouse lead at Augusta National on Friday.The 2020 US Open champion raised eyebrows in the pre-tournament buildup by suggesting that a five-under 67 would be his personal par on the famous course because his awesome length off the tee made the longer holes easier to reach for him.But a slightly wayward tee shot proved his undoing early in his second round as he ran up a triple bogey seven on the par-4 third hole.READ: Lack of patrons may help me says DeChambeauLooking poised to mount a challenge after picking up a birdie on the par-5 second to move to three under, disaster followed as his booming drive missed the fairway by about 10 meters and appeared to nestle in some testing rough.Read MoreUnable to find his ball, despite help from playing partners Jon Rahm and Louis Oosthuizen, DeChambeau also asked officials to check the TV coverage, but to no avail as the permitted three minutes to find it passed.Bryson DeChambeau rides in a cart with a rules official after playing his second tee shot on the third hole where he ran up a disastrous triple bogey.There was no alternative than to make a journey by golf cart back to the tee to hit another drive, but he could not retrieve the damage after more sloppy play.Two more bogeys followed in quick succession to leave his round in tatters and with real danger that he would miss the cut -- projected to be a level par -- maybe a shot lower-- as he slipped to two-over-par.However, his power play did achieve dividends at the long par-5 eighth and he stood one-over after 12 with an eagle chance looming on the 13th when he walked off the course when the fading light brought an end to the second day's play. Forty-eight players must still complete the round.Tiger Woods also has ground to make up after failing to progress from his first round four-under mark through the 10 holes he completed before play was halted.Tiger Woods of the United States lines up a putt on the third green during the second round of the Masters.Woods looked set to get close to the leaders when he birdied the second hole, nearly holing his bunker shot for an eagle, but he missed a short par putt on the next as his momentum stalled and a further dropped shot on the seventh took him back to three-under.Woods is hoping he can take advantage of birdie opportunities on the back nine at Augusta when he resumes his second round on Saturday morning.Earlier, world number one Dustin Johnson completed his first round in seven-under 65 before making a fast start around Amen Corner in his second, reaching 10-under at one point.However, mistakes followed and he needed a timely birdie on the ninth, his final hole, to card a 70 and join Thomas, Abraham Ancer of Mexico and Cameron Smith of Australia in the clubhouse at 135 -- nine-under-par.Dustin Johnson watches his tee shot on the 14th hole during the second round of the Masters golf tournament.Thomas, the 2017 PGA champion, also had to finish strongly with two straight birdies for a 69 to revive his challenge, while Ancer and Smith carded 67 and 68, respectively, to be firmly in the mix at halfway.Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosTrailing by just one is rising young South Korean star Sungjae Im, alongside Patrick Cantlay of the US, who shot a joint-best of the second round 66.Rahm through 12 holes and Hideki Matsuyama after 15 were also on that mark ahead of completing their rounds.Danny Willett, who has missed the cut at Augusta every time since his 2016 triumph, also shot 66 having started with a double bogey, racking up six birdies and an eagle to reach 137-- seven-under-par.Two other Englishman, Tommy Fleetwood, another player taking route 66, and Justin Rose completed the group at seven-under in the clubhouse.Rory McIlroy bids to join golf's greats with career grand slam at MastersRory McIlroy, seeing his hopes of a career Grand Slam of majors derailed by a sorry opening round 75, gave himself an outside chance of mounting a challenge with a 66 for three-under-par 141."I've been playing so good coming in here, and then I go into the first round and I shoot 75," McIlroy said."I'm like, 'Where the hell did that come from?'"He is on the same mark as 63-year-old Bernhard Langer, twice a Masters winner and a prolific winner on the Champions Tour for players over 50.Three-time Masters winner Phil Mickelson has recently joined the Champions Tour, winning on his debut, and is also still in the hunt for another Green Jacket after a 70 for five-under, four off the clubhouse lead. | 5sport
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(CNN)Jim Radford was only 15 when he served as a ship's galley boy on June 6, 1944, making him the youngest known D-Day veteran.On that fateful day, he helped build the Mulberry harbor at Gold Beach, which allowed the British Royal Navy to get personnel, vehicles and supplies onto the beaches of France.Seventy-five years later, Radford, who has always been into music -- folk songs, in particular -- has released a new version of a poignant ballad he wrote in 1969 to honor those who died in Normandy.His song, "The Shores of Normandy," has been at No. 1 on Amazon's singles chart for most of the week, beating the likes of Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber. Profits from song sales will support the British Normandy Memorial, due to be inaugurated Thursday by UK Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron. Read More"I'm obviously delighted and extremely surprised to be No. 1 on this particular chart, and I hope it does well because the more copies are downloaded, the more money we'll have to pay for this wonderful memorial we're building here," Radford said in a recorded statement.What D-Day taught my grandpa"It's very important to me and other veterans that there should be a place like this where people can come and reflect because we're not going to be around for much longer to tell the story, and the story needs to be told because people need to learn lessons from it."Radford, who was born in Hull and now lives in South East London, said he wrote the song during his first visit to Normandy after the war. "I had been back to France, but I hadn't been to Normandy. I remember it all very clearly, but I thought I'd got it all in perspective and I wasn't going to be emotional about it," he said in a video on the Normandy Memorial Trust page."It wasn't until I went back, saw the children playing on the beach, that I was sort of overwhelmed with recollection of what I've seen and moved to tears by the contrast, as a lot of veterans were."It took Radford several years to write it all down and a long time to sing it in public because it was "a powerful recollection" for him, he said.The song is also available for download via the Normandy Memorial Trust website. | 3news
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(CNN)Sitting beside the famous Harton S. Semple trophy, Yuka Saso asks: "Do I get this trophy at home or do I get a different one?"The answer is yes. The 19-year-old Filipino gets to keep the trophy for a year before it's replaced by a replica after she won the US Women's Open on Sunday, beating Japan's Nasa Hataoka in a dramatic sudden death playoff. As she rolled in her 10-foot birdie putt to clinch the momentous victory on the playoff's third hole, Saso became the first Filipino to win a major in men's and women's golf.When she was a 13-year-old, Saso used to watch clips on YouTube of Rory McIlroy winning his first major at the US Open in 2011. It has proven to be time went well spent."Watching him made me feel like: 'Oh, he's a very cool guy, he's got a very nice swing,'" she told CNN Sport's Coy Wire. "So I said to myself: 'Why not try copy it?' And that's where it all started."Read MoreMcIlroy plays his shot from the 14th tee during the continuation of the first round of The Memorial Tournament.Saso says she modeled her swing on the four-time major winner and the similarities in technique has been clear to see at The Olympic Club over the last few days.She's also being mentioned by McIlroy on social media, something she describes as a "dream come true."On Saturday, McIlroy encouraged Saso to "get that trophy" in a post on Instagram. After her victory on Sunday, he posted a congratulatory message on Twitter. "Everyone's going to be watching Yuka Saso swing videos on YouTube now. Congratulations!" he wrote.Saso says she can't wait to meet the Northern Irishman if she gets the chance. "I hope to meet him in person and say hi or get a signature or get a picture or whatever," she said. READ: Juggling a pro golf career when you're a MomSaso celebrates with the Harton S. Semple trophy after winning the 76th U.S. Women's Open.Coping with conditionsAt 19 years, 11 months and 17 days, Saso's victory equaled the age record set by South Korea's Park Inbee to the day as the youngest champion at the oldest major of the women's game.Saso received vociferous support from fans through the week in San Francisco, as the nearby Daly City is home to a large Filipino population. She had to survive a late charge by Hataoka, who was seeking to become the latest Japanese major winner after Hideki Matsuyama triumphed at the Masters earlier this year. Hataoka started six shots off the lead but three birdies in her last six holes set up the playoff with Saso. However, three pars in the three holes meant Saso's winning birdie handed the 19-year-old her first major title. As well as the pressure of a playoff for a major title, Saso didn't feel great physically. "My stomach hurt a little coming into the last few holes," she explained. "I don't know why. I ate bananas after the second hole playoff hole and I felt better. "I was a little excited and a little pressured. I was more worried about my stomach than anything else."The daughter of Filipino mother and a Japanese father, Saso and her siblings traveled between the two countries as they were growing up."When I turned nine, I told my parents I wanted to play golf. And I had to move back to the Philippines with my dad. My dad goes back and forth with my brothers and sisters. I think that's the biggest sacrifice they did. All I have now is to thank them. I wouldn't be here without them."READ: 'Everybody loves to hate the villain,' says Shooter McGavin 25 years on from 'Happy Gilmore'Saso is doused with water after winning the 76th U.S. Women's Open.Playing for an audienceAfter turning professional in November, 2019, Saso initially didn't have the opportunity to play in front of fans because of the coronavirus pandemic. So, at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, being able to showcase her abilities to a watching crowd and being able to sign autographs for kids that were in a similar situation to her just a few years ago was a "great" experience for her. "There's a lot of kids like me and I experienced those things like having signatures from Lexi (Thompson) and others," Saso explained. Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosSaso putts wide on the 18th hole during the fourth round of the 76th U.S. Women's Open."There's so many great pros that I got signatures from so I'd like to do what they're doing. It feels great."And having got her hands on that famous trophy, Saso can't stop looking at it."This trophy looks good. I'll bring it back home with me." | 5sport
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Story highlightsThe space rock that blew up over Russia had been darkened by ancient crashes"Dark asteroids are harder to detect because they reflect less light," scientist saysThe meteor injured about 1,500 people when it crashed to Earth in FebruaryScientists have found about 100 pieces, the biggest of which is about 11 poundsThe meteor that blew up over southwestern Russia in February had survived long-ago collisions that blackened its surface, making it harder to spot, a scientist who studied its pieces said Wednesday. The roughly 60-foot space rock plunged into Earth's atmosphere and exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk with the force of about 30 early nuclear bombs. Of the roughly 100 fragments found so far, the biggest weighs about 11 pounds (5 kilograms), said Maria Gritsevich, a researcher at the University of Helsinki. Read more: Saving Earth from asteroidsGritsevich and others who have studied those fragments have found the small asteroid was mostly made of ordinary rock.But it was marbled with metallic elements such as iron -- and when the asteroid collided with other bodies floating around the solar system, the heat and force of that impact melted the metal, which seeped into fissures in the surface of the stone and blackened its surface. JUST WATCHEDWatch this streaking asteroidReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWatch this streaking asteroid 00:44JUST WATCHEDPerseid meteor shower lights up the skyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPerseid meteor shower lights up the sky 01:10JUST WATCHEDRussian meteor was like 'a rocket bomb'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRussian meteor was like 'a rocket bomb' 02:34"Dark asteroids are harder to detect because they reflect less light," Gritsevich, who presented her findings at an American Astronomical Society conference this week, told CNN.Planet of sound: Meteor blast resonated around EarthWhile most ordinary rocky asteroids reflect up to 20% of the sunlight that strikes them, and Earth reflects about 40%, dark asteroids reflect 5% of the light or less, she said.The meteorites collected from the Chelyabinsk incident show varying signs of darkening, with some completely blackened, others made up entirely of light-colored stone and some with a mixture of coloration, Gritsevich said. "All Chelyabinsk meteorites look different," she said. "You can clearly distinguish three different groups." She said scientists are still working to determine the age of the Chelyabinsk meteor, the largest to hit Earth since the 1908 Tunguska incident in Siberia.NASA estimates 4,700 'potentially hazardous' asteroidsThe blast left more than 1,500 injured, mostly by glass from shattered windows, and raised concerns about humanity's vulnerability to stray asteroids. Two months later, NASA announced a goal of sending a spacecraft out to seize and asteroid and tow it into orbit around the moon, where it could be studied by astronauts -- a project billed in part as a planetary defense mission. But it ran into opposition in Congress, where a House committee voted to block any funding for the mission in July. | 3news
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Story highlights More security measures and guards have restored order to tunnel area, Eurotunnel spokesman says A Sudanese man allegedly almost succeeded in walking through the Channel Tunnel from France to BritainAbdul Rahman Haroun is charged with "causing an obstruction to an engine or carriage using the railway" (CNN)A Sudanese migrant is accused of almost succeeding in walking 31 miles through the pitch-dark Channel Tunnel from France to Britain, dodging tight security and high-speed trains along the way.The man, named by Kent Police as 40-year-old Abdul Rahman Haroun, appeared in court in Kent on Thursday to face charges of "causing an obstruction to an engine or carriage using the railway." He remains in custody and is due back in court on August 24.His alleged attempt to walk to Britain comes against the backdrop of thousands of attempts in recent days by migrants camped near the tunnel's entrance in Calais, northern France, to breach security and find a way to reach the United Kingdom.These breaches have seriously disrupted traffic and resulted in at least one death.Read MoreMost migrants try to sneak onto vehicles before they are driven onto the trains that carry them through the tunnel to Folkestone, in southeastern England. But Rahman Haroun is accused of trying to do it on foot -- and, unusually, having almost made it."During the night of Monday to Tuesday, a Sudanese migrant almost succeeded walking through the tunnel," Eurotunnel spokesman Romain Dufour told CNN. Kent Police said the man was located near to the tunnel's Folkestone terminal a little after 6 p.m. on Tuesday.Eurotunnel posted updates to its Twitter account Tuesday warning of delays of up to four hours for travelers heading from Folkestone to Calais as a result of an "unplanned tunnel inspection." The tunnel allows trains carrying passengers and freight to whiz beneath the English Channel in either direction at more than 80 miles per hour, in a journey that takes about 35 minutes. There are in fact three tunnels -- a single-track rail tunnel running in each direction and a service tunnel between.Calais has long been a gathering place for migrants trying to find a way into the United Kingdom. This year alone, Eurotunnel has intercepted some 37,000 migrants, the operator said.French and UK authorities have been taking steps to boost security around the tunnel's Calais entrance in light of the recent mass incursion attempts, which have disrupted services on what is a key trade and tourism link between Britain and the rest of Europe.Dufour, the Eurotunnel spokesman, said, "Positive support from the two governments over the past two weeks has brought order to the local area and confined the disruptive actions of both migrants and protesters."Additional Border Force resources to process trucks more quickly and efficiently; enhanced security fencing; additional security guards; extra cameras, infrared detectors, patrols and sophisticated new security measures provided recently have seen traffic disruption significantly reduced and illegal entry into the UK brought back under control."Full freight services are now running again, he said, following temporary suspensions during the peak of the disruption. | 3news
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(CNN)Here's a look at the life of Joaquín Guzmán, otherwise known as "El Chapo," a Mexican drug lord who has repeatedly broken out of prison. He was recaptured in January 2016 and later extradited to the United States to stand trial on federal charges.PersonalBirth date: December 25, 1954 or April 4, 1957 (Officials have released conflicting birth dates)Birth place: La Tuna, Badiraguato, Sinaloa, MexicoBirth name: Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán LoeraRead MoreFather: Emilio Guzmán Bustillos, subsistence farmerMother: María Consuelo Loera PérezMarriages: Believed to have been married at least three times, the most recent being to Emma Coronel Aispuro (2007-present)Children: Is purported to have fathered between 12 and 13 childrenOther FactsThe nickname, "El Chapo," means "Shorty." Guzmán stands 5'6" tall.Former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, which the US Justice Department describes as "one of the world's most prolific, violent and powerful drug cartels," moving billions upon billions of dollars in marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.Was able to continue running the Sinaloa Cartel in prison through bribes.The Sinaloa Cartel controls roughly 40% to 60% of Mexico's drug trade, with earnings at around $3 billion annually.Claimed in 2014 that he has killed 2,000-3,000 people.Is said to be semi-illiterate, receiving no formal education beyond third grade.Is known for using intricate tunnel systems for both evading authorities and moving the massive quantities of drugs that made the Sinaloa Cartel so powerful.His cartel has produced, smuggled and distributed marijuana, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other types of drugs.According to the US Treasury Department, he was considered the most "powerful drug trafficker in the world."Guzmán is perceived by some as a hero, with many narcocorridos, "drug ballads," that glorify kingpins, written in his honor.There have been charges brought against Guzmán in 10 legal cases in Mexico, as well as federal charges in Arizona, California, Texas, Illinois, New York, Florida and New Hampshire. He was convicted on 10 counts related to federal drug offenses in February 2019 after a trial in Brooklyn, New York.Timeline1960s - Begins planting marijuana with his cousins.1970s - Begins running drugs to major Mexican cities and the US border and working with major drug traffickers such as Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, leader of the Guadalajara Cartel.1980s - Member of the Guadalajara Cartel. After the arrest of Felix Gallardo, the cartel splits into factions. Guzmán becomes leader of the Sinaloa Cartel Pacific coast faction.February 1992 - Police find the bodies of six of Guzmán's top lieutenants dumped along Tijuana highways; the six men had been tortured and shot.November 1992 - Six people are gunned down at a discotheque in Puerto Vallarta by gunmen working for Guzmán, whose targets are traffickers in the Tijuana Cartel.May 1993 - Gunmen with the Tijuana Cartel attempt to assassinate Guzmán in retribution, firing upon a vehicle at an airport. Guzmán escapes unharmed, but Cardinal Archbishop of Guadalajara Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampa is killed accidentally, along with six others.June 9, 1993 - Wanted on charges of drug trafficking, murder and kidnapping, he is arrested in Guatemala and extradited to Mexico. Guzmán is subsequently sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in a maximum security prison.Early 2000s - Violence across Mexico escalates as El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel attempts to encroach upon Tijuana and Gulf Cartel territory.January 19, 2001 - Escapes the maximum-security Puente Grande prison in Jalisco, Mexico, in a laundry cart. The planned escape requires bribes and cooperation allegedly costing him $2.5 million, according to Malcolm Beith's book, "The Last Narco."2004 - The US government announces a $5 million reward for information leading to Guzmán's arrest and conviction.May 2008 - Guzmán's son, Edgar, is murdered in a parking lot shootout near Culican, Mexico.2009 - Guzmán and other cartel leaders are indicted on charges of conspiring to import more than 264,000 pounds of cocaine into the United States between 1990 and 2005.August 2011 - Guzmán's wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, who has dual US-Mexican citizenship, gives birth to twin girls in a hospital outside of Los Angeles.2012 - The US Treasury Department uses the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act to freeze the US assets of his relatives.February 22, 2014 - Guzmán is apprehended at a beach resort in Mazatlán, Mexico.July 11, 2015 - Escapes the maximum-security Altiplano Federal Prison near Toluca, Mexico, by crawling through an opening in the shower area of his cell block leading to a nearly mile-long tunnel.October 2015 - While on the run, he meets with movie star Sean Penn and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo. Penn's interview with Guzmán subsequently runs in Rolling Stone magazine. "I supply more heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana than anybody else in the world," Guzmán is quoted in the interview. "I have a fleet of submarines, airplanes, trucks and boats."January 8, 2016 - Guzmán is recaptured by Mexican authorities in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, after a raid leads to a shootout in which five people connected to Guzmán are killed.May 9, 2016 - A judge in Mexico approves the United States' request to extradite Guzmán, who faces charges in seven states. Once extradited, he will be sent to Brooklyn, New York, to stand trial on federal charges.January 19, 2017 - Mexico's Foreign Ministry turns Guzmán over to US authorities.January 20, 2017 - Enters a plea of not guilty at his arraignment in US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.November 13, 2018 - Guzmán's long-awaited criminal trial begins in a New York federal district court amid unprecedented security measures, including armed escorts for the anonymous and partly sequestered jurors, as well as heavily armed federal marshals and officers with bomb-sniffing dogs standing guard outside the courthouse.January 15, 2019 - Guzmán once paid a $100 million bribe to former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, according to testimony given by a former close personal aide to Guzmán during his trial. Peña Nieto's former chief of staff denies the allegation.February 12, 2019 - Guzmán is convicted of all 10 federal criminal counts against him, including engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to launder narcotics proceeds, international distribution of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and other drugs, and use of firearms. He faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole for leading a continuing criminal enterprise, and a sentence of up to life imprisonment on the remaining drug counts. His attorneys say they plan to file an appeal on a number of issues.February 21, 2019 - The US Justice Department announces Joaquin Guzmán Lopez and Ovidio Guzmán Lopez, two sons of "El Chapo," are charged with conspiracy to distribute drugs to be imported into the US.July 3, 2019 - A federal judge denies Guzmán's request for a new trial.July 17, 2019 - Guzmán is sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years. He is also ordered to pay $12.6 billion in forfeiture. Restitution will be determined later.October 17, 2019 - Mexican security forces temporarily detain Ovidio Guzmán Lopez during a shootout with suspected cartel members in Sinaloa state. Guzman Lopez is released and the operation suspended in order to save lives.February 22, 2021 - Guzmán's wife is arrested at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Coronel is facing charges of conspiracy to distribute 1 kilogram or more of heroin, 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana and 500 grams or more of methamphetamines for unlawful importation into the country, according to a news release from the Justice Department.June 10, 2021 - Coronel pleads guilty to three counts: conspiracy to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine for importation into the United States; conspiracy to launder monetary instruments; and violating the Kingpin Act by engaging in transactions and dealings in property of Guzmán.November 30, 2021 - Coronel is sentenced to three years in prison and four years of supervised release. She must forfeit $1.5 million and pay a $300 special assessment fine for each of the three counts to which she pleaded guilty.January 25, 2022 - A panel of appellate judges upholds the 2019 conviction of Guzmán, rejecting his assertions that he was treated unfairly. In their decision, the three judges rule that US District Judge Brian Cogan, who oversaw Guzmán's federal case in Brooklyn, conducted the three-month trial "with diligence and fairness, after issuing a series of meticulously crafted pretrial rulings." | 3news
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Story highlightsRhonda Faehn, who joined USA Gymnastics in 2015, is no longer with the organizationThe US women's team camp began this week (CNN)The fallout from the Larry Nassar abuse scandal continues, with USA Gymnastics announcing Friday that Rhonda Faehn, the head of the women's program, is no longer with the organization.CEO and president of USA Gymnastics Kerry Perry made the announcement in a statement. She did not say if Faehn had resigned or been fired, citing that it is a "personnel matter that we will not discuss in detail."Rhonda Faehn in 2015.Faehn was named senior vice president of the women's program in April 2015, after she had recently led the University of Florida to its third consecutive NCAA women's gymnastics title. Organization officials first heard allegations in the summer of 2015 that Larry Nassar, the former doctor for the US team who also worked at Michigan State University, had abused US national team members.Nassar later admitted in court to using his position as a trusted medical doctor to sexually abuse young girls and women who came to him for medical care for about two decades. He was sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.JUST WATCHEDNassar victim: Shouldn't have to beg for justiceReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNassar victim: Shouldn't have to beg for justice 01:14Some of the former doctor's victims are suing USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic Committee. John Manly, an attorney for hundreds of victims, accused the USOC and USA Gymnastics of "a conspiracy to silence victims and cover up the largest child sex abuse scandal in history."Read MoreEarlier this week, Michigan State University said it will pay $500 million to settle lawsuits brought by 332 of Nassar's victims.JUST WATCHEDNew disturbing allegations in MSU sex abuse scandalReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNew disturbing allegations in MSU sex abuse scandal 02:54"We recognize that change can be difficult, but we will not be deterred from making necessary and bold decisions to transform our organization," Perry's statement said. "At USA Gymnastics, we are focused every day on creating a highly empowered culture that puts our athletes first."Over the next few weeks, we will be communicating some positive changes that reinforce our desire to have our athletes train and compete at the highest level in an empowering and safe environment."The US women's team camp began this week in Crossville, Tennessee. According to the organization's website, this is the only camp prior to the American Classic (July 6-7, site TBD), the US Classic (July 28, Columbus, Ohio) and the US Gymnastics Championships (August 16-19, Boston). | 5sport
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(CNN)There's just no stopping Serena Williams at this year's Australian Open so far. The American produced yet another omnipotent performance to see off the challenge of Nina Stojanovic, 24, on Wednesday, winning in straight sets 6-3 6-0 as Williams continues her hunt for a record-equaling 24th grand slam. Williams' first-round match lasted less than an hour on Monday, but Stojanovic offered more resistance, especially in the opening set where the American was asked to dig deep. However, Williams drew on her wealth of experience to power through and didn't drop a game after being 5-3 up in the first set. "She pushed me very hard and I think she played really well, honestly, throughout the whole match. So I had to really fight for all the games," said the 39-year-old Williams.Read More"I wasn't thinking so much in the second as I was in the first; I kind of just let go and see what happened."READ: Former champion bemoans 'lack of fresh air' in quarantine Serena Williams powers through to the third-round. Venus refuses to give upWilliams, who again wore her striking one-legged leotard inspired by famous US athlete Florence Griffith-Joyne, will face Russia's Anastasia Potapova in the next round, an opponent she comfortably dispatched in Melbourne last year. "Gonna go home, get ready and just do the best," added Serena, who has dropped just five games in this year's tournament so far."We're all out here to have fun and I'm happy to be out here, and just to be playing in front of crowd again is really cool. So every day is just fun."Wednesday wasn't such a good day for Serena's sister Venus, who bowed out of the Australian Open in gritty fashion.The 40-year-old needed medical attention after injuring her ankle in the opening set against Italy's Sara Errani, but the veteran refused to throw in the towel. Many might have retired, but the seven-time grand slam champion battled on despite clearly struggling to run, eventually losing the match 6-1 6-0.READ: Six years after his grandmother passed away, Kyrgios grapples with demonsVenus Williams received medical attention but refused to retire from the match. 'We normally don't say the girl's age'Errani now faces Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei in the next round, following her shock victory against Bianca Andreescu.Hsieh is the world's top-ranked doubles player but has a history of causing upsets on the singles tour. After defeating the 2019 US Open Champion, the 35-year-old offered up some friendly advice for the on-court interviewer who mentioned her age. "Just little reminder [for] you. In Asia we normally don't say the girl's age in the public," she said, smiling. Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic navigated a tricky second-round match against American Frances Tiafoe.The Serb, bidding for a ninth title in Melbourne, dropped the second set but rallied to win 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 in a draining encounter. "While we had sun on the court, it was very, very warm. A lot of long rallies," Djokovic said. "I want to give a hand to Frances for a great fight. It was a fantastic match." | 5sport
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Story highlightsRobin van Persie scores a late equalizer as Manchester United draw 2-2 at West HamUnited edge closer to securing a record 20th English Premier League titleManchester City close the gap by two points to 13 after victory over WiganChelsea also victorious while Roma set up clash with Lazio in Italian Cup finalManchester United edged closer to a record 20th English Premier League title despite having to rely on a late equalizer from Robin van Persie to rescue a draw at West Ham.The Dutch striker looked offside as he finished off from close range in a match that left both managers unhappy with the officials.Manchester City's victory over lowly Wigan means they reduced the gap between themselves and United to 13 points but Alex Ferguson's side can still win the title as early as Monday if results go their way.In Wednesday's other English top flight game Chelsea won 3-0 at local rivals Fulham to move back into third place in the table and edge ahead of London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham in the battle for the European Champions League places.Read: Real Madrid world's most valuable clubAt Upton Park, Manchester United were put under pressure right from the start by West Ham, who took the lead after 16 when Ricardo Vaz Te nodded home after being set up by England striker Andy Carroll.United leveled on the half hour mark when Japan international Shinji Kagawa teed up Antonio Valencia to slot home from close range.JUST WATCHEDFerrer: Spain can win 2014 World CupReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHFerrer: Spain can win 2014 World Cup 02:28JUST WATCHEDExclusive: What makes Ibrahimovic tick?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHExclusive: What makes Ibrahimovic tick? 03:48JUST WATCHEDPSG: One year onReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPSG: One year on 04:59JUST WATCHEDGullit: Mourinho will return to ChelseaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHGullit: Mourinho will return to Chelsea 02:56JUST WATCHEDCNN FC: Beckham back on big stageReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCNN FC: Beckham back on big stage 22:43JUST WATCHEDGinola on why PSG are worth itReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHGinola on why PSG are worth it 02:45JUST WATCHEDBeckham: Tom Cruise is hotter than I amReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBeckham: Tom Cruise is hotter than I am 02:31Just before halftime, Carroll caught United goalkeeper David De Gea after going up for a corner -- a challenge that infuriated Ferguson, who later said it should have been a red card.West Ham retook the lead ten minutes after the break as Mohamed Diame fired a low shot into the corner past De Gea. But United rescued a point when van Persie tucked home from close range after Kagawa's effort had hit both posts, though replays showed he had been offside from the initial shot.United can be confirmed as champions if they defeat Stoke on Monday night, but only if City lose to Tottenham the previous day.Ferguson told Sky Sports: "We had to stand up to a lot, we kept going and twice came back. We had determination and courage to play. I was pleased with the result."They are very, very aggressive, you hope for a strong referee and I don't think we got that. We don't like losing and they showed that again tonight. Their goalkeeper saved them in the last 20 minutes."His opposite number Sam Allardyce said: "The linesman's taken a famous victory away from us. To draw via a default goal from Manchester United is hard to swallow."They shouldn't make their mistakes. If players make those kind of mistakes they are dropped. Its a massive decision he's made. I'm bitterly disappointed."City's victory came courtesy of a superb late winner from Argentina striker Carlos Tevez though they were made to live through some nervy moments by Wigan, who are battling relegation.England goalkeeper Joe Hart had to save brilliantly from Wigan striker Franco Di Santo in the first half before Tevez beat two men and fired into the roof of the net in the 83rd minute."We were so tired. Wigan played good football, I think they will stay up. Carlos's goal was fantastic," City manager Roberto Mancini was quoted as saying by the Premier League.Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 win over Fulham to strengthen their claim on a Champions League spot and move into third place.Two goals from John Terry and a thunderous 35-yard strike from Brazil international settled the west London derby. Chelsea are a point ahead of Arsenal with a game in hand and three clear of Tottenham in fourth.In Italy, Roma set up an Italian Cup final with city rivals Lazio after beating Inter Milan 5-3 on aggregate in their semifinal.Leading 2-1 from the first leg Roma went 1-0 down early on but hit back with three goals, two from Mattia Destro and one from Vasilis Torosidis before Ricardo Alvarez grabbed a consolation for Inter.The final, due to take place at the Stadio Olimpico ground both clubs share, could prove a headache for the authorities after last week's derby between Lazio and Roma was marred by violence, leading to eight arrests.In Germany, Stuttgart set up a German Cup final with Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich after beating Freiburg 2-1 while Paris Sanit-Germain were knocked out of the French Cup by Evian. | 5sport
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(CNN)Police in Australia appear to be closer than ever to solving a murder mystery that started with the sudden disappearance of a 33-year-old mother almost four decades ago and led Wednesday to the arrest of her former husband.Chris Dawson was arrested Wednesday over the murder of his former wife Lynette Dawson, the latest twist in a case documented in the wildly popular Australian true crime podcast "Teacher's Pet."The podcast alleges Chris Dawson, a former professional rugby player turned high school teacher, was having an affair with one of his 16-year-old students, who was also the family's babysitter, when his wife vanished from the Sydney neighborhood of Bayview in January 1982. Dawson, now 70 years old, has long denied any involvement in his wife's disappearance, despite two coronial inquests that concluded he killed her, according to CNN affiliate Nine News. Dawson, who played for Newtown Jets rugby league team in the early 1970s, appeared in a Queensland court following his arrest Wednesday. Bail was denied and a request to extradite him to the neighboring state of New South Wales was approved.Read MoreDawson's arrest comes months after new evidence, including witness statements, was presented to prosecutors in April, which helped investigators "tie pieces of the puzzle together," New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller told reporters Wednesday.Fuller expressed confidence in the strength of the new evidence, which he said included witness statements, despite the fact that police have never recovered Lynette Dawson's body. "We've solved homicides before without identifying the body," Fuller said.Police search the former Dawson home in April.Police searched the Dawson's former Sydney home in September, but did not find Lynette's remains or any "items of interest to the investigation." "We would ideally liked to have found the body of Lynette Dawson, not just for the brief of evidence but also for the family. And we certainly won't give up on that search." Fuller said authorities spoke to the family of Lynette Dawson and informed them of the arrest. He said family was "relieved."Dawson's brother, Greg Simms, told Nine News he was emotional upon hearing the news, crying and embracing his family. "We've always been determined to find the truth and that's the reason why we've fought to keep Lyn's name alive and out there with all the different media," he said. | 3news
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Story highlightsFour killed in stampede at football matchMontagua president blames fake tickets (CNN)It should have been a day of celebration as Motagua were crowned champions in Honduras, but instead it was marred by tragedy.According to Honduras' national police, four people were killed and several injured in a stampede at the national stadium Sunday prior to the league final between Motagua and Honduras Progreso.Follow @cnnsport
The incident occurred, police say, when a group of fans tried to enter one section of the stadium in a violent manner.Montagua club president, Pedro Atala, said the incident was caused by false ticket sales and denied his club were responsible for overselling tickets.An emergency service worker stands next to the body of a fan killed in the stampede."There is a joy that we cannot hide, but we also have mixed feelings," Atala told Honduran TV.Read MoreREAD: Manchester United and Manchester City donate $1.3M to emergency terror fundREAD: Chelsea cancel victory parade amid security concerns"First and foremost, our deepest condolences to the people who died outside the stadium, due to selling of fake tickets and an increase in the number of fans that the police didn't expect.Rescue workers, police officers and fans surround the body of a supporter killed in the stampede."We want to make clear, that at no point was there overselling of tickets. That is easy to prove."We are going to try and find the relatives of the victims to help them as best we can."The match eventually went ahead following a minute's silence, with Montagua winning 3-0.Atala later tweeted that security officials had recommended the match should not be canceled as the stadium was already full.Rescue workers stretcher away a supporter injured in the stampede.Police say they had reinforced security before the match by placing 600 law enforcement officers at the stadium, in the country's capital, Tegucigalpa."To ensure order and safety of those attending the sporting event and avoiding violent events, in agreement with the authorities of the National League, it was decided to reinforce the control measures for the entry of fans into the stadium," a statement read.Police will now investigate the clubs to see if they oversold their tickets. | 5sport
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Nashville, Tennessee (CNN)An ICE officer opened fire and wounded a man in a Tennessee grocery store parking lot as the officer attempted to make an immigration arrest Thursday.The officer fired two shots after a driver he was trying to arrest during a fugitive operation drove toward the officer while fleeing the scene, ICE spokesman Bryan Cox said, citing initial reports.While ICE operations are a regular occurrence across the United States, it's rare to hear of shots fired in public places as they unfold.The FBI said a Mexican national was struck by gunfire in a Food Lion parking lot outside Nashville in Antioch. He turned himself in later and was receiving medical attention at a local hospital. The individual was not arrested and has not been charged by the FBI."Conclusions about the shooting incident should not be drawn until the investigation is complete," the agency said.Read MoreAn FBI spokesperson earlier said the agency is now investigating a possible assault on a federal officer. The FBI is the lead agency in the investigation, Cox said, and federal prosecutors will decide whether any criminal charges are filed. ICE's Office of Professional Responsibility, which looks into all officer-involved shootings involving ICE, also is investigating, Cox said.Investigators cordoned off the parking lot with crime scene tape and combed the scene for evidence.The target of Thursday's ICE operation was a 39-year-old Mexican national who'd been deported multiple times, Cox said. The truck he was driving is now in FBI custody, said Matt Foster, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Nashville office. The vehicle was found abandoned with blood inside, an ICE official said.Nashville Mayor David Briley slammed the shooting in a statement, CNN affiliate WZTV reported."This is exactly what we don't want happening in our city," he said.Cox declined to comment on the mayor's statement. He noted that Nashville is a jurisdiction that doesn't cooperate with ICE."Any time an officer has to pull over a vehicle and make an arrest on the street," Cox said, "that is the most dangerous way. ... This is a rare example, but it's nevertheless an example of the increased dangers that take place when this agency is forced to do more at-large arrests to take persons into custody."CNN's Maria Cartaya reported from Nashville. CNN's Geneva Sands and Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Washington. CNN's Jessica Schneider and Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report. | 3news
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(CNN)A California police officer was convicted Tuesday of assault with a firearm, but the jury did not reach a verdict over a voluntary manslaughter charge in the 2018 killing of a man who was shot nine times during a low-speed chase.California police officer involved in fatal March shooting faces charges for a 2018 shooting death Danville police officer Andrew Hall was accused of shooting and killing Laudemer Arboleda, a 33-year-old Filipino American, as he tried to slowly maneuver his car between two police vehicles in Danville, California.Even though the shooting happened in 2018, prosecutors didn't announce charges against Hall until April 21, 2021, a day after Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of killing George Floyd. Floyd's killing at the hands of police in May 2020 triggered national and global protests for social justice -- elevating the Black Lives Matter movement for racial equality. Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton hailed the verdict on Tuesday.Read More"Today's guilty verdict holds accountable defendant Andrew Hall for his excessive use of force in the fatal shooting of Laudemer Arboleda," Becton said in a statement. "Deputy Hall's actions were not only a crime, but they tarnished the badge and they harmed the reputation of all the good, hard working police officers that work for our community. My Office extends our condolences to the family of Mr. Arboleda."She added: "With regards to the voluntary manslaughter count, we will take the matter under review to determine the appropriate next steps," Becton added.Contra Costa Sheriff's Dep. Andrew Hall walks into the A.F. Bray Courthouse for an arraignment in Martinez, California. "Unreasonable and unnecessary force" was used, prosecutors say Hall's encounter with Arboleda began after officers responded to a call that Arboleda had rung a home's doorbell and was lingering in the area, the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office said at the time.Arboleda drove away and was stopped after police initiated a traffic stop, after which he drove away from officers who were approaching his vehicle, according to the DA's statement. A traffic pursuit ensued, with Hall stopping his car in front of the approaching vehicles, prosecutors said. Derek Chauvin sentenced to 22.5 years in death of George Floyd"Officer Hall used unreasonable and unnecessary force when he responded to the in-progress traffic pursuit," Becton said at the time. "Officer Hall's actions underscore the need for a continued focus on de-escalation training and improved coordinated responses to individuals suffering from mental illness."At the time, Arboleda's family attorney -- John Burris -- said Arboleda was fatally shot "for 'acting suspicious,' despite having committed no crime whatsoever."Meanwhile, Hall also fatally shot Tyrell Wilson, a 32-year-old Black man, in March 2021. Wilson was carrying a grocery bag and walking by himself toward his homeless encampment, according to Burris, who also represents Wilson's family.Wilson's family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Danville and the police officers. Correction: A previous version of this article misidentified Laudemer Arboleda. He was a 33-year-old Filipino American. | 3news
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London (CNN)More than 50,000 people in the UK have now died after contracting coronavirus, according to the respective national statistics offices of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.At least 50,413 people had died, as of late May, with Covid-19 listed on their death certificate, according to England and Wales' Office for National Statistics (ONS), the National Records of Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.The ONS said 45,748 had died with the virus in England and Wales as of May 29. A further 3,911 died in Scotland as of May 31, and 754 passed away with the virus in Northern Ireland as of May 29.Coronavirus pandemic: Updates from around the worldThe UK has the second highest number of coronavirus deaths globally. Its death toll is surpassed only by the US, which has recorded more than 111,000 fatalities. Read MoreThis latest data differs from the British government's official count. The UK's Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has reported only 40,680 coronavirus fatalities, which is the number included in the Johns Hopkins University Covid-19 Dashboard.The discrepancy between the two death tolls is caused by different counting methods. The DHSC only records deaths where the deceased was previously diagnosed with coronavirus, as opposed to the disease being detected post-mortem. The UK has officially recorded 288,834 cases of coronavirus, the highest case total in Europe. | 3news
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Story highlightsLotus' Eric Boullier says Red Bull is "pushing hard" to land Kimi RaikkonenThe contract of former world champion Raikkonen expires at the end of the season World champion Sebastian Vettel says he "wouldn't mind" having the Finn as a teammateRaikkonen is currently third in the individual standings behind Vettel and Fernando AlonsoWith Mark Webber off to pastures new, Red Bull is trying to land former world champion Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull's reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel says he wouldn't mind having him as a teammate.Nearing the end of his career, Raikkonen says nothing has been decided. His current team, Lotus, is doing everything it can to persuade the Finn to re-sign. "It is true that Red Bull is pushing hard to get Kimi on board and I am sure that they will put together a very nice proposal for him, even easing his PR life," Lotus team principal Eric Boullier told Formula One's official website. "But again: It will be Kimi's decision." Read: Webber quitting Formula OneMoving to Red Bull would likely give Raikkonen a better car and with the team's resources, he is sure to get paid on time. Boullier admitted this week Raikkonen's retainer was paid late. At 33, Raikkonen's next contract will probably be his last in Formula One. If Raikkonen does sign with Red Bull, however, he is sure to play second fiddle to Vettel, who is seemingly cruising to a fourth consecutive individual title. "Through life you go through different stages and in the back of Kimi's mind there must be the consideration that the next contract is his last one," said Boullier. "So yes, there might at the end be some financial considerations that we need to take into account. JUST WATCHEDWho is the greatest F1 driver ever?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWho is the greatest F1 driver ever? 02:46JUST WATCHEDWhen Silver Arrows dominated F1ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWhen Silver Arrows dominated F1 04:14"We will offer what we believe is the best for Kimi and for us.At times Webber's relationship with Vettel has been tested to the limit, notably when the German ignored team orders to pass the Australian and win the Malaysian Grand Prix in March. Read: Vettel apologizes to WebberWebber will quit Formula One at the end of the season after signing a deal with Porsche to race at Le Mans.Boullier added, referring to Raikkonen: "Our system is working and if he is comfortable and earns enough for his afterlife then why should he go? "In the end it's up to him to tell us what he would like us to do and we will look to do it. He knows that we are flexible and that we listen to our drivers." Raikkonen has managed to stay competitive despite Lotus' lesser resources, sitting third in the standings behind Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. In Sunday's German Grand Prix he finished second to Vettel and only once this season has he ended up lower than his position on the starting grid. "I don't know what will happen in the future," Raikkonen told reporters Sunday. "Things will be decided at some point but until that happens there's nothing to talk about. "I would definitely say if I knew something just so that all the rumors and nonsense stops straight away." Read: Vettel wins at homeJUST WATCHEDF1's Nico Rosberg scares Sergio AgueroReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHF1's Nico Rosberg scares Sergio Aguero 01:45JUST WATCHEDMario Andretti's biggest fear: povertyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMario Andretti's biggest fear: poverty 03:20Toro Rosso drivers Daniel Ricciardo -- Webber's countryman who just turned 24 -- and France's Jean-Eric Vergne, 23, are also being linked with Red Bull, as is McLaren's Jenson Button. Red Bull owns Toro Rosso. "I respect Kimi a lot," Vettel told Sky Sports. "He has always been straight and fair with me so I wouldn't mind. It would be a great challenge. "Equally we haven't really discussed it internally and you have the two Toro Rosso drivers ramping it up in the last couple of races so (Red Bull) must make their minds up. "It's not my call and doesn't really affect my racing." | 5sport
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