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Juventus smash Italian points record
5/18/2014 12:34:35 PM
- Juventus beat Cagliari 3-0 in their final game of the season
- They had already won the league title, their third in a row
- Juve finish on 102 points, an Italian record
- Coach Conte in discussions to stay in charge
(CNN) -- Juventus became the first Italian club to reach 100 points in the league after comfortably defeating Cagliari 3-0 in their final Serie A match of the season.
The Old Lady of Turn had already secured their third scudetto in a row but goals from Fernando Llorente, Claudio Marchisio and an own goal by Cagliari goalkeeper Marco Silvestri, from a stunning Andrea Pirlo free kick that hit the post and bounced in off Silvestri, ensured that Juve finished on a record 102 points.
Antonio Conte
It has been a chaotic season of football in Italy, marred by fan violence, racism and continued failure in the UEFA Champions League.
Earlier this month the Italian Cup Final was delayed after three Napoli fans were shot before the game, causing Napoli's ultras to riot and throw flares on to the pitch.
But, domestically at least, Juve has been devastatingly consistent with a season of records for Antonio Conte's side.
The victory ensured that they maintained a 100 percent record of home victories throughout the season, winning 33 of their 38 games and finishing an incredible 17 points clear of their nearest rivals Roma.
"I want to say a massive thank you to all the players, every one of them has been phenomenal," Conte told Sky Sports Italia after the match. "Our objective was to win a third consecutive scudetto, instead we've set record after record."
Incredibly, given Conte's success since taking charge of Juventus, his position has been in some doubt with rumors suggesting he was Monaco bound.
"Tonight the appointment is to celebrate the title," Conte said when asked about his future. "My appointment with the club will come later."
What is Boko Haram?
5/18/2014 4:58:14 AM
- Boko Haram's aim is to impose strict enforcement of Sharia law in Nigeria
- The name translates to "Western education is sin"
- The group was founded 12 years ago by Mohammed Yusuf, a charismatic cleric
- Nigerian police killed him in 2009 in an incident captured on video and posted online
CNN anchor Isha Sesay will be live from Abuja on CNN International, Monday to Thursday at 5pm, 7pm, 8.30pm and 9pm CET.
(CNN) -- Boko Haram's escalating danger is indisputable.
The militant group has bombed schools, churches and mosques; kidnapped women and children; and assassinated politicians and religious leaders alike.
It made headlines again recently with the abduction of 230 schoolgirls in the town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria. After a fierce gunbattle with soldiers, the militants herded the girls out of bed and onto buses, and sped off. Only a few dozen of the girls have escaped.
What exactly is Boko Haram, and why has it turned into a Nigerian synonym for fear and bloodshed?
What does 'Boko Haram' mean?
The name translates to "Western education is sin" in the local Hausa language.
The militant group says its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Africa's most populous nation, which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south.
In recent years, its attacks have intensified in an apparent show of defiance amid the nation's military onslaught. Its ambitions appear to have expanded to the destruction of the Nigerian government.
How long has it been around?
The group was founded 12 years ago by Mohammed Yusuf, a charismatic cleric who called for a pure Islamic state in Nigeria. Police killed him in 2009 in an incident captured on video and posted to the Internet.
The crackdown, some say, made Boko Haram more violent and defiant.
Abubakar Shekau took control of the group and escalated the attacks. It murdered and kidnapped Westerners, and started a bombing campaign that targeted churches, mosques and government buildings.
Why not just kill Abubakar Shekau?
One word: elusive.
Questions have swirled about Shekau, including whether he's dead or alive. Even his age is unknown -- estimates range between 35 and 44.
In recent years, the Nigerian military has touted his death, only to retract its claim after he appeared alive and vibrant in propaganda videos.
He uses the alias Darul Tawheed, and analysts describe him as a ruthless loner and master of disguise. He does not speak directly with members, opting to communicate through a few select confidants.
Why would an Islamist militant group target the Muslim north?
Despite its religious fanaticism, Boko Haram does not consider all Muslims as supporters and allies.
There have been suggestions that it attacks certain mosques because members have spoken out against it and helped federal officials with their crackdown. Its attacks are aimed at striking fear at the heart of the local population to prevent cooperation with the government, analysts say.
Does the north support the group?
Although the northern populace mostly abhors the violence, there is considerable local sympathy and support for Sharia law, seen by many as the only way to end what is widely regarded as a corrupt and inept government. Poverty is prevalent in the northern region, and as the military struggles to halt Boko Haram's attacks, the militant group is winning perhaps its most important battle: making Nigerians question government competency.
Rights groups have accused local authorities of human rights violations in the fight against the group, adding to the anti-government sentiment.
What's the West doing to help?
The United States has put a $7 million bounty on Shekau's head. It also designated Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist network last year. Though it has provided technical and financial support to the Nigerian teams battling the insurgency, there has been a reluctance to put boots on the ground unless there's a direct national security threat to the West. Boko Haram's attacks have been limited primarily to Nigeria.
I don't live in Nigeria, so why should I care?
With a population of 175 million, Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation and is considered a political and economic powerhouse in the continent. The key U.S. partner is rich in oil, a major trading partner with China, and is the hub of global business in the region.
And as we've learned with Mali, any unresolved local Islamist insurgency has the potential of spiraling into a world problem.
Last year, Shekau released a statement vowing to attack the United States and Europe.
"Our strength and firepower is bigger than that of Nigeria. Nigeria is no longer a big deal to us, as far as we are concerned. We will now comfortably confront the United States of America," he said.
Does it have ties to al Qaeda?
The U.S. says Boko Haram has links to the al Qaeda affiliate in West Africa and to extremist groups in Mali.
What other attacks has the group conducted?
Just this week, a massive explosion ripped through a bus station in the Nigerian capital, killing at least 71 people. In a video, Shekau said the group was behind the attack.
In November, the group abducted dozens of Christian women, most of whom were later rescued by the military. Some were pregnant or had children, and others had been forcibly converted to Islam and married off to their kidnappers.
In 2011, a Boko Haram suicide attack on the United Nations building in Abuja killed at least 25 people.
A year of attacks linked to Nigeria's Boko Haram
Boko Haram: The essence of terror
58 injured at Spanish soccer match
5/18/2014 4:24:31 PM
- Spanish league finale overshadowed by stadium collapse
- Osasuna had taken the lead against Real Betis when fence gave way
- Nearly 60 fans injured, but none seriously
- Osasuna win, but are relegated into Spain's second division
(CNN) -- It had always been a day destined for thrills and spills, but Sunday's denouement to the Spanish league season ended in chaos as a vital relegation match between Osasuna and Real Betis at the El Sadar stadium, Pamplona, was halted after a barrier collapsed, injuring almost 60 people.
Osasuna fans surged forwards when Oriol Riera scored a 12th minute goal, in a game the home team had to win to have any chance of avoiding relegation.
But a metal fence collapsed under the weight of people, sparking scenes of chaos as the match was suspended.
Gabriel Humberto Calderon
Fans were ferried from the scene on stretchers as the authorities assessed the damage, tended to the wounded and made emergency repairs to the broken fence.
Ten people were taken to hospital whilst another 48 people were treated for minor injuries at the scene.
"It had been many years since I had been to El Sadar," Real Betis coach Gabriel Humberto Calderon said after the game, according to AFP.
"I was surprised by the state of the stadium in 2014 and the politicians need to do something to have a stadium that belongs to 2014 and Osasuna."
The match was restarted 35 minutes later, from the 11th minute. Almost immediately Osasuna went 2-0 up against a Betis side already relegated.
But the delay had caused a dilemma.
The matches involving teams fighting relegation were due to start and finish at the same time so not to give one team an advantage over the others.
Controversially, it was decided to extend half time at the other games so that the second halves across Spain would kick off at the same time.
Osasuna went on to win the match 2-1, but it wasn't enough. Granada's 1-0 victory over Valladolid meant that the result in Pamplona was immaterial.
"It is a very sad day personally and professionally for me," Osasuna boss Javi Gracia told AFP after the game.
"I am very sorry that the team has been relegated. I am sorry for the situation we have come to and I hope Osasuna will be back in the Primera as soon as possible.
"Despite winning, we didn't have it in our own hands and the results didn't go our way. At this time any analysis of the game and the situation has no meaning for me given the moment in which the team, the club and everyone is experiencing."
Elsewhere, Getafe ensured they will be in Spain's top tier next season after Romanian international Ciprian Marica scored twice to beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1. Almeria's 0-0 draw against Athletic Bilbao was enough to ensure their safety too.
But the enduring image from the final day of the Spanish season will be of a catastrophe narrowly avoided.
Djokovic stuns Nadal in Rome
5/18/2014 4:23:20 PM
- Novak Djokovic storms back from a set down to win Rome Masters
- Beat reigning champion Nadal in three sets
- Djokovic had dedicated previous victories to victims of flooding back home
- Traditionally seen as a warm up for next week's French Open
(CNN) -- An emotional Novak Djokovic came back from a set down to beat Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Rome Masters.
Nadal had won the first set 6-4 but Djokovic, who has dedicated his victories from previous rounds to the victims of floods that have deluged both Bosnia and his homeland Serbia, fought back to clinch a memorable victory.
The Rome Masters has been something of a victory procession for Nadal, the defending champion who has won the title seven times.
Novak Djokovic
And it looked like he would make that eight after a steady first set put the Spaniard in control. Djokovic, however, was having none of it. After breaking Nadal's serve early in the second set Djokovic powered on to win the next two sets and his 19th career Masters title.
"He's one of the best in the world, he's playing great," Nadal said of Djokovic after the defeat.
"I played well for moments, I had my chances for moments, but I could have done with a little more energy at times. My legs didn't answer me after a tough week."
"I was able to find positive things during the tournament but I played three very tough matches this week and it was very hard mentally, as well as physically. I was a little bit tired."
It is the first time in a decade that Nadal has lost three matches in a season on clay.
Djokovic had endured something of a torrid time in Rome, struggling to defeat the young, big-hitting Canadian Milos Raonic in a three hour, three set epic in the semi-finals.
Again Djokovic lost the first set, and again he powered back. After the match, Serbia's most famous sportsman described how he had been keeping abreast of events back home, sent a message of support and even criticized Western media outlets for not covering the floods adequately.
"There have not been floods like this in the existence of our people," he said after that match, as reported by The Guardian.
"It is a total catastrophe of biblical proportions. I don't really know how to describe it. Half the country is in danger of not having any electricity, there is total immobilization, evacuations -- and we're talking about whole cities, not small villages."
"I see that on CNN, the BBC and other big networks there is a lot about the miners in Turkey, and so forth. This is another disaster, but there is no broadcast from Serbia and Bosnia, nothing about the biggest floods that we have ever seen, that maybe Europe has ever seen. This is incredible."
Now attention turns to the French Open, which begins next week. Nadal is the reigning champion and has won eight titles in the past nine years.
Modi celebrates landslide victory
5/17/2014 8:47:00 PM
- Victory parade held for India's next Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- Official results show a clear majority for one party, winning 282 of 543 parliamentary seats
- PM Manmoahn Singh says goodbye to nation in last address
New Delhi (CNN) -- Fresh from a landslide victory, Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party celebrated in a parade, as supporters lined the streets in the capital, waving flags of the party and holding balloons.
Modi's party won 282 of 543 parliamentary seats, according to the country's election commission, bringing a clear majority and a resounding mandate to a single party to rule the world's largest democracy.
Modi, 63, is expected to officially be sworn in as India's new Prime Minister on May 21. He will have to shoulder great expectations, as voters flocked to his party on his pledge to reform the nation's slowed economy.
Prime Minister says goodbye
Meanwhile, the outgoing Prime Minister Manmoahn Singh submitted his resignation and made his last address to the nation recalling his background from the subcontinent's bloody division into India and Pakistan in 1947.
"I owe everything to this country, this great land of ours where I, an underprivileged child of (the) partition, was empowered enough to rise and occupy high office. It is both a debt that I will never be able to repay and a decoration that I will always wear with pride," Singh said.
Singh, 82, leaves the office with a divided legacy. While his performance as finance minister in the 1990s has been praised for opening up India's economy, his recent years as prime minister were pockmarked by a spate of high-profile corruption scandals involving his Congress Party, as well as stalled reforms and a drop in growth.
"Friends, I am confident about the future of India. I firmly believe that the emergence of India as a major powerhouse of the evolving global economy is an idea whose time has come," Singh said in his TV address.
He concluded his speech by wishing Modi's government well and saying he prayed for "even greater successes for our nation."
PM: I wish the incoming government every success as it embarks on its task and pray for even greater successes for our nation. Jai Hind.
— Dr Manmohan Singh (@PMOIndia) May 17, 2014 Modi's background
Modi is widely viewed as pro-business and pro-growth. India's stock market surged Friday as initial results suggested a huge lead for Modi and his party.
The former tea seller sprang into the national spotlight for his work in the state of Gujarat, where he cultivated an image of a man who gets things done.
Gujarat, which contains 60 million people, has seen China-like rates of growth in recent years, which the rest of the country has eyed enviously. The "Gujarat model" of development means a focus on infrastructure, urbanization and eradicating red tape.
His past is not without controversy. Throughout his campaign, his relationship with the country's huge Muslim minority came under scrutiny.
In 2002, Gujarat state was wracked with anti-Muslim violence, in which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. Modi, the state's chief minister, was criticized for not doing enough to halt the violence, but a Supreme Court-ordered investigation absolved him of blame last year.
The United States denied Modi a visa in 2005 over the anti-Muslim violence, but on Friday, President Barack Obama called Modi to congratulate him on winning the election and to invite him to Washington, according to the White House.
The visa issue could add to what has already been a strained relationship between the two nations -- complicated by a case involving an Indian diplomat who was arrested last year in New York.
CNN's Ravi Agrawal and Mallika Kapur contributed to this report.
Christian death verdict 'not final'
5/17/2014 10:54:47 AM
- Meriam Yehya Ibrahim considers herself Christian, but a court says she's Muslim
- A Khartoum court convicted her of apostasy, or the renunciation of faith
- The court also found her guilty of adultery for being married to a Christian
(CNN) -- As outrage grows over a Sudanese woman sentenced to death for refusing to renounce her Christianity, the government defended the verdict, but said it's only preliminary.
A Khartoum court last week convicted Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, 27, of apostasy, or the renunciation of faith.
Ibrahim, who is eight months pregnant, is a Christian, her husband said. But the court considers her a Muslim.
"I'm so frustrated. I don't know what to do," said her husband, Daniel Wani. "I'm just praying."
100 lashes
The court also convicted her of adultery and sentenced her to 100 lashes because her marriage to a Christian man is considered void under Sharia law.
Wani is American, Ibrahim's lawyer Mohamed Jar Elnabi told CNN.
The attorney said he'll file an appeal within a few days.
Sudanese parliament speaker Fatih Izz Al-Deen said the verdict is not final and is in the hands of the judiciary.
The verdict will go through all the judicial stages to reach the constitutional court, the speaker told Um Derman radio station. His comments were cited Friday by the official Sudanese News Agency.
Ibrahim says she was born to a Sudanese Muslim father and an Ethiopian Orthodox mother. Her father left when she was age 6, and she was raised by her mother as a Christian.
The court had warned her to renounce her Christianity by Thursday, but she held firm to her beliefs.
But the parliament speaker said that claims she was raised as non-Muslim are untrue.
She is a Muslim raised in an Islamic environment and her brother, a Muslim, filed the complaint against her, according to Izz Al-Deen.
The complaint alleges she went missing for several years and her family was shocked to find out she married a Christian, according to her lawyer.
However, because her father was Muslim, the courts considered her one too, which would mean her marriage to a non-Muslim man is void.
Attempts to contact Sudan's justice minister and foreign affairs minister were unsuccessful.
Pregnant with toddler in prison
Ibrahim's husband is struggling to survive.
He uses a wheelchair and "totally depends on her for all details of his life," said Jar Elnabi, her lawyer.
In addition to her pregnancy, the couple's 20-month-old toddler is with her in prison, and he is getting regular ailments due to lack of hygiene and the presence of bugs, the lawyer said.
She's having a difficult pregnancy, and a request to send her to a private hospital was denied, the lawyer said.
There also is the question of the timing of a potential execution.
In past cases involving pregnant or nursing women, the Sudanese government waited until the mother weaned her child before executing any sentence, said Christian Solidarity Worldwide spokeswoman Kiri Kankhwende.
Worldwide condemnation
Rights groups and foreign embassies worldwide condemned the verdict.
"The fact that a woman could be sentenced to death for her religious choice, and to flogging for being married to a man of an allegedly different religion, is abhorrent and should never be even considered," said Manar Idriss, Amnesty International's Sudan researcher.
Katherine Perks with the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies said the verdict goes against Sudan's "own constitution and commitments made under regional and international law."
Foreign embassies in Khartoum, including those of the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, urged the government to reverse course.
CNN's Catherine Shoichet, Christabelle Fombu and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
Ukraine: Pro-Russian leader freed
5/17/2014 10:55:04 AM
- NEW: U.S. spokeswoman: Separatist leader in Donetsk doesn't represent region
- Ukraine's border service says armed men freed a detained separatist leader
- Luhansk's "people's governor" Valeriy Bolotov was wanted by the security service
- Tensions remain high in eastern Ukraine, with presidential elections just over a week away
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Armed men clashed with Ukrainian border guards Saturday after a separatist leader was detained at a checkpoint. He was trying to re-enter the country from Russia, the Ukrainian Border Service said.
The incident is the latest violent flare-up in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russia separatists staged a referendum on independence last weekend.
Luhansk's self-declared "people's governor" Valeriy Bolotov -- who is wanted by Ukraine's Security Service -- was stopped at the Dovzhanskiy checkpoint, the border service statement said.
Following his detention, about 200 armed men arrived at the checkpoint and demanded his release.
The border guards tried to avoid bloodshed, but after an altercation, shots were fired. In the ensuing armed assault on the checkpoint, "the attackers" were able to take back Bolotov, the statement said.
The were no casualties in the incident, separatist spokesman Vasiliy Nikitin said. The fight involved about 150 fighters on each side, he said. Bolotov had gone to Russia for medical treatment after being wounded on Tuesday.
Tensions remain high across the country's east, with just over a week to go before May 25 presidential elections.
Separatist groups have declared "people's republics" in both Luhansk and Donetsk.
Neither the West nor the interim government in Kiev consider the two regions' referendum on independence as legitimate.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. government rejects Denis Pushilin, the self-declared leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, who asserted earlier this week that his region is not only independent, but also will ask to join Russia
"These pro-Russia separatists have never been elected and do not represent the people of the region," Psaki said Saturday. "... Any decisions made about Ukraine must be taken by those with lawful authority, representing the citizens of Ukraine as a whole, and not under threat of foreign military intervention."
Separatist leader: Donetsk region asking to join Russia
Russia slams Kiev military operation
Russia's Foreign Ministry called Saturday for an end to what the Kiev government describes as an anti-terrorist operation against the separatists -- and questioned whether it was possible to hold elections given the militarized situation.
In its statement, the ministry accused Ukrainian troops backed by aircraft of trying to storm the town of Slovyansk and of using heavy artillery to shell "civilian installations."
"Such punitive action against its own citizens shows the hypocrisy of the Kiev authorities," the statement said, referring to an international pact agreed to last month which called for an end to violence.
Ukraine's official news agency Ukrinform cited the nation's Defense Ministry Saturday as saying that Ukrainian forces continue to "fully control" the situation around Slovyansk, a stronghold of pro-Russia militants.
The militants have put up 27 barricades around the town, where they still hold a number of public buildings, the Defense Ministry is quoted as saying.
Report: Human rights worsening
A U.N. report released Friday shows an "alarming deterioration" of human rights in eastern Ukraine, said the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay.
The report paints a troubling picture, citing cases of targeted killings, torture, beatings, abductions and sexual harassment, as well as intimidation of the media.
It also highlighted serious problems in Crimea, Ukraine's Black Sea peninsula that was annexed by Russia in March, particularly for the minority ethnic Tatar population.
Russia's Foreign Ministry dismissed the findings of the U.N. report, saying it showed a "complete lack of objectivity, total inconsistencies and double standards."
Kiev and the West have condemned the annexation of Crimea and accuse Moscow of backing the pro-Russia militants in Ukraine's east. Moscow blames the unrest in Ukraine on far-right ultranationalist groups.
Journalist Victoria Butenko reported from Kiev and Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London. CNN's Radina Gigova and Arkady Irshenko contributed to this report.
Are these biggest dinosaurs ever?
5/18/2014 4:03:34 AM
- Experts piece together seven specimens of titanosaurs
- They were about 130 feet long, weighed 180,000 pounds, museum says
- The discovery dates back to about 95 million years ago
(CNN) -- They may be the biggest boys on any block -- any block, ever.
In fact, the dinosaurs unveiled Saturday by Argentina's Museo Paleontologico Egidio Feruglio may be the largest to grace the Earth. At about 130 feet (40 meters) long and 180,000 pounds (80,000 kilograms), it's no wonder, then, that these colossal creatures are dubbed titanosaurs -- titan being a nod to the giants of ancient Greek mythology.
"It's like two trucks with a trailer each, one in front of the other, and the weight of 14 elephants together," said Jose Luis Carballido, a dinosaur specialist at the Argentinian museum who played a big part in the discovery.
And, like your mother might have told you, these dinosaurs grew big and strong eating their vegetables.
These herbivores dated back to about 95 million years ago, in the late Mesozoic Era. In 2011, scientists exploring a remote swath of Argentina's Patagonia some 160 miles (260 kilometers) from the city of Trelew came across a site with 200 fossils -- a find that the museum characterized as "a dinosaur cemetery."
According to a news release from the museum, these experts were able to piece together seven specimens of titanosaurs out of this. The belief is that they died together there, perhaps from dehydration or being stuck in the mud.
The discovery of more than 60 teeth from large carnivore dinosaurs (albeit no bones of carnivores) suggests what happened next: the titannosaur remains were eaten up.
"Probably, they went to (eat) the herbivores' dead bodies," said Carballido. "But the feast came at a price: The carnivores would lose many of their teeth as they attempted to bite the hard skin and flesh."
Scientists unveil dinosaur dubbed the 'chicken from hell'
Disaster exposes Turkey
5/18/2014 7:05:35 PM
- Karabekir Akkoyunlu: Disaster exposes Turkey as 21st-century Dickensian dystopia
- Those in power have displayed a brazen lack of humility and sense of responsibility, he says
- Akkoyunlu: Erdogan views such "accidents" as unfortunate but unavoidable side effects
- Erdogan cannot sustain his popularity through nationalist propaganda, he writes
Editor's note: Karabekir Akkoyunlu is researcher at the London School of Economics where he focuses on socio-political change in Turkey and Iran. Follow him on Twitter. The views expressed in this commentary are solely the author's.
(CNN) -- The Soma mining disaster is already the deadliest industrial catastrophe in Turkey's history. Yet Turks are unable to grieve for the appalling loss of human life. Utter shock and fury are the overriding public sentiments against the brazen lack of humility and sense of responsibility displayed by those in positions of power, both in the government and private sector.
But Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's scandalous attempt to justify the death of more than 280 miners by pointing to mining disasters that occurred in France, Britain and the United States more than a century ago reveals more than the worldview of a ruthless politician with a skewed sense of chronology.
It also exposes Turkey for what it has become: a grim 21st-century Dickensian dystopia, where a new class of political and business elite grows rich and powerful on the back of cheap labor and expendable lives.
The comparison with 19th century Europe is hardly superfluous: worker's rights have been systematically weakened and are routinely violated in Turkey since the 1980s, to the extent that the country was "blacklisted" by the International Labor Organisation (ILO) in 2008. Trade unions, once powerful and influential, have been emasculated and seen their ranks dwindle. Over a million subcontracted workers in the public and private sector are without job security, deprived of their right to join unions and participate in collective bargaining.
Cheap labor and weak regulation make Turkey an attractive destination for industrial production and fuel the country's construction sector, which has been driving growth over the past decade. Yet they also come with a terrible price tag: the ILO ranked Turkey first in Europe and third in the world for fatal work accidents in 2012. Coal mining is among the deadliest of professions. According to a 2010 report by the Turkish think tank TEPAV, the ratio of deaths to production capacity in Turkey was five times the figure for China and 361 times the figure for the U.S., two of the world's leading coal producers.
An overwhelming majority of the work related deaths are caused by poor working conditions, inadequate training and a general lack of job security, and are thus preventable. Erdogan seems to disagree. "Dying," he declared following an explosion that killed 30 workers at a Zonguldak mine in 2010, "is the fate of the miner." In Soma, he casually suggested that accidents were in the nature of this work; they were "usual things."
As he spoke, his normally animated face remained calm and expressionless, devoid of any visible sign of remorse or empathy. He accepted no responsibility, including for his party's rejection of a parliamentary proposal by the opposition CHP only three weeks ago to investigate a string of past accidents and deaths at the very mining facility in Soma.
It would appear that Erdogan views such "accidents" as unfortunate but unavoidable side effects of Turkey's rise as a regional power under his leadership. After all, no empire is built without the blood and sacrifice of the nation, whose "will" he claims to embody and grandeur he seeks to restore.
As in Britain and France at the turn of the last century, tales of imperial glory constitute a central part of the ruling AKP's populist discourse. And in a country that is deeply divided along identity issues, especially along the secular versus religious fault line, such discourse has powerful appeal.
But even Erdogan cannot sustain his tremendous popularity through nationalist propaganda and perpetuated feelings of social resentment, if he and his aides continue to dismiss the plight of "his people" and respond to their ultimate sacrifice with kicks and punches.
In this regard, the Soma disaster may turn out to be a watershed moment. Numerous times in recent years, the government's security apparatus harassed those who were experiencing unspeakable agony for having lost loved ones, some at the state's own hands. The families of those killed in an airstrike near the Kurdish village of Roboski in December 2011, in the terror attack in Reyhanli in May 2013, or during the anti-government protests across the country since last June have been deprived of their right to grieve and forced into a continuous state shock and outrage.
But these were mostly poor Kurds, Alevis or secular Turks, who are unlikely to support Erdogan's party. In Soma, on the other hand, the AKP is popular. It carried the town comfortably both in the general election in 2011 and the municipal election held in March this year. And it is here that the AKP's headquarters have been ransacked, and the prime minister hackled and called on to resign by furious residents.
In Huxley's Brave New World, "soma" was the hallucinogenic substance used by the state to induce a feeling of contentment and happiness among citizens. It remains to be seen whether in Erdogan's Brave New Turkey, Soma will have the opposite effect.
READ: Image of PM's aide kicking protester stokes anger over Turkey mine fire
READ: Despair, anger, dwindling hope after Turkey coal mine fire
The deadliest trip in America?
5/18/2014 4:33:22 AM
- Family members search for loved ones they fear died crossing the U.S.-Mexico border
- Investigators are hoping DNA matches will help identify unclaimed human remains
- Expert: "It's a huge challenge, and we are still barely taking the first steps"
- Mother: "Everything we have done has been futile"
CNN en Español's Isabel Morales received a fellowship to report this story from the International Center for Journalists.
El Progreso, Honduras (CNN) -- Corina Montoya cries as she holds her granddaughter in her arms.
Angie will turn 2 soon. She was just 18 days old when her father left their home in El Progreso, Honduras. Hector Rivas hasn't been heard from since he headed to the United States in 2012 with the dream of buying a taxi, sending money home and giving his newborn a better life. Here, he only earned $304 a month working for a cooking oil business.
The cell phone Rivas' family used to reach him has stopped working.
"I called a thousand times," Montoya says. "It rang and rang, and then a message said it was out of service."
Now his family fears he's one of thousands of migrants who've died on the perilous journey north. It's grown more dangerous as security increases along the U.S.-Mexico border, but that didn't stop Rivas and others like him from taking the risk.
'Few are prepared for such a hard trip'
Rivas could have taken any path to the United States -- all dangerous, though crossing through the Arizona desert stands out for its cruelty.
The possibility that Rivas didn't make it doesn't stop his family from searching for signs of his whereabouts.
"Everything we have done has been futile ... going to the newspapers, morgues, prisons, courts ... and nothing," Montoya says.
At least 350 people from El Progreso have gone missing on the trek from the Central American nation to the United States, according to Cofamicro, a Honduran organization of volunteers trying to help families find their relatives.
Before, all these families could do was wait and wonder. But now they have another option.
That's why today, many gather inside a large community classroom in El Progreso.
Women like Montoya sit at tables around the room, answering a series of questions from investigators. Then they hold out their hands.
Technicians prick their finger with needles, then press them into a piece of paper.
For Montoya, the small red circle of blood left behind is her latest way of asking a question she's been desperately posing for nearly two years: Where is my son?
'The first steps'
Mercedes Doretti
Someday, hopefully soon, Mercedes Doretti may have the answer.
For decades, she's helped lead a team of investigators into some of the world's most violent places and harshest environments. Their mission: Solving the mysteries of missing people who are victims of violent crime or human trafficking.
Her organization, Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF), based in Brooklyn, New York, started out as a group dedicated to identifying the bodies of dissidents killed from 1976 to 1983 during Argentina's brutal military dictatorship. Over the years, they expanded their investigations to other countries, including Mexico -- where they first created a database dealing with migrant deaths while investigating murders in Ciudad Juarez.
More than four years ago, they set their sights on another dangerous region: the Arizona desert, where authorities say more than 2,000 migrants have been found dead in the past 13 years -- many of them without any identification.
Meanwhile, hundreds or even thousands of miles away, their family members -- like Montoya -- are searching for answers.
That's where Doretti and her team come in, collecting DNA from family members and unidentified corpses in the hope of finding a match.
The group has collected more than 1,700 DNA samples from families in Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Guatemala. So far, they've identified 65 bodies.
Doretti sad it's still an overwhelming task. And even when they're able to find a match, it's a bittersweet victory.
"This is never a happy ending. We just try to reduce the time that families have to prolong their pain," she says. "It's a huge challenge, and we are still barely taking the first steps."
'Mass disaster'
In a cold, sterile room in Arizona, Pima County chief medical examiner Gregory Hess is taking another step.
When migrants' remains are found in the Arizona desert, investigators bring them to this morgue, where Hess and his team determine what caused their deaths and try to identify the bodies.
Almost every day, he says, the morgue gets a new set of remains found in the desert. Some are bodies whose facial features and physical characteristics are mostly intact. Others are little more than bones. All are tagged, placed inside plastic body bags and stored in a large, temperature-controlled warehouse where cold air and the stench of rot seep out every time the door is opened.
They methodically go over the bodies, looking for documents or belongings to create a case file for future identification, but sometimes, they don't have many clues.
Today, there are three skulls on the table in front of Hess -- remains, he says, that may be from migrants who died in the desert.
On the wall beside him, a poster describes the problem of missing and unidentified persons, calling it a "silent mass disaster."
At this point, it's too soon to tell very much about whose remains are on the table.
"If there is no personal property, how do you then identify who that skull is? That's difficult," he says. "The only way that's going to happen is through DNA. But you can take all the DNA in the world you want, but if you don't have anything to compare it to, it doesn't do you any good."
Dangers of the desert
Last year, the remains of 169 migrants arrived here. Authorities say the number of deaths in the desert has grown as security along the border increased after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. Beefed up security aimed at blocking illegal immigration along the border has forced migrants from Mexico and Central America to cross in more remote and dangerous locations.
For migrants, making it to the other side of the border is only part of the treacherous journey.
"In the desert you find wild animals, you will get lost, you run into hostile vegetation ... many things happen in the desert," says Alfonso de Alba, vice consul of the Consulate of Mexico in Tucson, Arizona, where officials are often involved in the process of trying to identify the remains of migrants who perished along the way.
There is also the risk of robberies, rapes and beatings from bandits or smugglers, consulate staff says.
Most migrant deaths are the result of triple-digit temperatures in summer and freezing cold temperatures in winter, Hess says. Only 1% of deaths are due to violence.
Jeronimo Garcia, an employee at the consulate who's become a go-to person for American authorities when it comes to finding clues to the immigrants' identities, says he's warned many not to make the journey.
"You can never take enough water (or food)," he says. "I tell immigrants to not risk their lives in the desert. The smugglers don't see them as human beings, regardless of how much money they have paid."
But still, the migrants keep coming, and the list of unidentified remains in the Pima County morgue keeps growing.
Many of those immigrants carry no identification and sometimes their bodies have been abandoned for so long that only bones remain, Hess says.
For years, his office collected DNA samples from the remains and tried to match them to U.S. federal databases.
But since many of the immigrants had never been in the United States before, authorities couldn't get a DNA match.
That changed when the Pima County's Medical Examiner's Office and the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team began working together. American authorities now can match the DNA of dead bodies in their database with the DNA of relatives of missing migrants in Mexico and Central America.
It's a complicated process that crosses international and state borders. Once the EAAF team collects DNA from family members, the information is compared with a DNA database in a lab in Virginia, which houses information from the bodies found in the Arizona desert.
"We are trying to assemble a regional system," Doretti says, "so that all the information collected and stored can be used to provide the families of the missing some closure."
Searching for a match
Back in El Progreso, the community classroom is filled with desperate families searching for answers.
It's one of several stops the EAAF made on a recent trip to Honduras and El Salvador, where they traveled to interview and take DNA samples from the mothers, fathers and siblings of missing migrants.
"The more samples that are taken, the better chance of finding a match," says Carmen Osorno, a member of Doretti's team. Each interview lasts about two hours and includes filling out a long questionnaire.
Some family members bring photographs, letters and other evidence, hoping authorities will undertake a more extensive investigation.
Paula Ivette Martinez carries a picture of her brother, Henry, in one hand and wipes away tears with the other hand.
"I'm glad you're here to help me find my missing brother and sister," she tells her interviewer.
Henry disappeared on his way to Miami, Paula says. Her sister, Ondina, went missing while she was making her way to Chicago several years ago.
"It is very sad," Martinez says. "My mother died without knowing what became of her children."
One family gets an answer; another is still asking questions
For nearly a decade, Jose Noriega and Carmela Ayala wondered what happened to their son, Luis Fernando.
He left Honduras in 2001 to work in America, then called them two years later to say that he'd made it. He sent money home around Mother's Day that year, and called to check in again a month later.
That was the last they ever heard from him.
Calls to the Honduran Foreign Ministry and other officials yielded no results.
Then, years later, a potential clue: In 2011, a Honduran newspaper published a list of names tied to unclaimed bodies at the Pima County morgue. There were 17 Central Americans, including four Hondurans. And one name immediately jumped out for Noriega: Luis Fernando.
But was it their Luis Fernando? Noriega says they didn't know where to turn next.
When the EAAF traveled to Honduras in September 2012 to take DNA samples, Luis Fernando's parents sought out the team's investigators, told their story and asked for their help.
The team returned to the United States with DNA from the parents, and compared it with data from the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office. They found a match for Luis Fernando.
"They said they were 100% convinced that it was our son," Noriega says.
Luis Fernando didn't perish crossing the desert, the parents learned, but unbeknownst to them died in a car crash.
Luis Fernando's ashes arrived at the Honduran capital's airport in a wooden box nearly a year later, on October 2, 2013. They were interred during Holy Week this year.
"Now I can die in peace," his mother says.
But another mother is still looking for closure.
Even though she's given her DNA to investigators, Corina Montoya still has hopes that her home telephone will ring and her son will be on the line.
Or, at the very least, that someone will call and tell her what happened to him.
Follow CNN's Isabel C. Morales on Twitter
Journalist Julian Resendiz contributed to this report.
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