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Fans celebrate Argentina win
7/10/2014 7:09:20 PM
CNN's Shasta Darlington speaks to fans, both happy and sad, following Argentina's semi-final win at the World Cup.
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Suarez loses biting appeal
7/10/2014 7:09:25 PM
- FIFA rejects appeal made by Uruguay striker Luis Suarez after he bit an opponent
- Suarez can still make one more appeal, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport
- Suarez received an international ban and a suspension for any football activity
- FIFA's decision comes as Suarez is reportedly on the verge of signing for Barcelona
How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN Facebook Pulse
(CNN) -- He may be on the verge of signing for Barcelona, but it looks like Luis Suarez won't be returning to football action anytime soon after FIFA upheld his ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup in Brazil.
The world governing body suspended the Uruguayan bad boy for nine international games and ruled him out of any football activity for four months after the incident in late June.
Unless Suarez wins an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Thursday's ruling means he's sure to miss the start of the European football season.
An appeal to Swiss-based CAS has yet to be confirmed.
"The FIFA Appeal Committee has decided to reject the appeals lodged by both the Uruguayan player Luis Suarez and the Uruguayan FA, and to confirm the decision rendered by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on 25 June 2014 in its entirety," FIFA said in a statement on its website.
"The terms of the decision taken by the FIFA Appeal Committee were communicated to the player and the Uruguayan FA today."
When Suarez bit Chiellini on June 24 as Uruguay eliminated 2006 world champion Italy, it marked the third time he'd taken a chunk out of an opponent.
The Liverpool striker was banned domestically for 10 games in April 2013 when he bit Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in an English Premier League match, and he was handed a seven-game punishment while with Dutch club Ajax for biting PSV's Otman Bakkal in November 2010.
Despite his indiscretions -- Suarez was also hit with an eight-game ban in December 2011 for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra -- the 27-year-old is expected to complete his move to Spain in the coming days.
According to reports, Liverpool wants a transfer fee of £75 million ($128 million) for the reigning Premier League player of the season, who scored 31 goals for the club in 2013-14.
If the sides agree on that figure, it would make Suarez the third most expensive player in football history after Real Madrid duo Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Catalan giant is desperate to overturn its 2013-2014 fortunes, having not won a trophy and watching arch-rival Real Madrid claim the European Champions League title while Atletico Madrid took its La Liga crown.
Barcelona was given a transfer ban by FIFA in April for allegedly breaking rules over the signing of minors, but this has been suspended pending an appeal. According to former England striker Gary Lineker -- now a television host with the BBC -- Barcelona insisted on Suarez apologizing before any possible transfer.
Suarez duly apologized to Chiellini and the "entire football family."
Liverpool, meanwhile, second in the Premier League last term, has been busy preparing for Suarez's probable departure, bringing in England internationals Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana from Southampton and Germany under-21 midfielder Emre Can from Bayer Leverkusen.
Read: Brazil crushed by Germany
Fans build army for good
7/10/2014 7:09:30 PM
- Jon Burns' nonprofit lets soccer fans volunteer in cities that host major tournaments
- He says shared love of soccer creates a bond. Over 300 volunteers went to Brazil
- They're building a complex for a program serving kids from poor areas just outside Curitiba, Brazil
- Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2014 CNN Heroes
Curitiba, Brazil (CNN) -- More than any single soccer player, the fans have taken center stage during the World Cup.
For the last month, each team's devotees have donned their country's colors, painted their faces, shouted their songs, rejoiced in their victories and cried bitter tears of defeat.
"Whether you're in a host city or back at home watching it on T.V. ... it captures you," said Jon Burns, a lifelong fan of English football. "I just love the passion."
Burns has made it his mission to turn that fan fervor into something more. His UK-based nonprofit, Lionsraw, mobilizes soccer fans to volunteer in cities hosting the World Cup and other major tournaments.
"We do football tours with a difference," said Burns, 48. "They get to watch games, drink beer in a bar ... but for a huge chunk of our time, we go out to people in need."
It's an idea that struck Burns nearly 10 years ago, while sitting in a packed stadium during a game.
"I suddenly saw all the fans around me and ... it was like an untapped army," he said. "And I started asking myself, 'What could I do if we could mobilize some of these people to do some good?'"
Since 2006, Burns' group has enlisted more than 500 volunteers to work on construction projects, educational programs and soccer clinics that have helped nearly 6,000 children.
"Football's always had the ability to break down barriers," he said. "We're taking it a step further."
Giving back in Brazil
Last month, Burns and his team brought almost 300 volunteers to Curitiba, one of the 12 host cities for this year's World Cup. The group's main project was constructing an education complex for Futebol de Rua, an after-school program that serves children from poor areas just outside the city center.
Oscar Muxfeldt Neto, one of the program's founders, could not believe it when Burns offered in 2012 to help his organization.
"To come and to do this for us, for the children ... it is still a dream, you know?" he said. "This is the World Cup spirit."
The facility -- where academic tutoring, soccer instruction, art and music classes will be provided to more than 500 at-risk youth -- should be up and running by the end of the year. Burns and his volunteers will return there to teach English and coach soccer for years to come.
"When we invest in a place, it's not for a project. It's for the long-term," Burns said. "The World Cup is just the first step into a country. It's a launchpad for us."
Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2014 CNN Heroes
Like many countries that have hosted major sporting events, Brazil has seen protests during the past year about the estimated $11 billion spent on projects that have not necessarily improved the country's public services. While Burns makes a point to avoid politics, he believes his work helps communities that have not benefited economically from the games.
"We try to create opportunities for the local people," Burns said. "We're not here to save anybody or solve anything. We're here to do our bit."
Igniting a passion
While Burns wants to assist those in need, he's also hoping that giving back sparks something deeper within his volunteers, many of whom have never done anything like this before.
Jon Burns
Volunteers from 12 countries came to Brazil to work with Lionsraw; most are from the UK, France, Australia and the United States. Burns finds that a shared love of soccer gives them an instant bond that gets stronger as they work toward a common goal.
"Within a couple days, they're just part of a team. And it's a tight team. There's a lot of fun, a lot of joking, and guys become friends for life," he said.
Dominic Casciata, 27, had never volunteered before participating with Lionsraw in Brazil. The London-born soccer coach, who now lives in New York, spent eight days working with the group.
"It's just a brilliant feeling," Casciata said. "Me and some friends who are volunteering here actually plan on coming back once the project is finished to see it in all its glory."
Chris Hearn, 48, helped build an orphanage with the group in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup. This time, he brought his 20-year-old son along.
"When I came back from South Africa, he saw the difference that it made to me," Hearn said. "That's why he wanted to come, too."
Hearn and his son had such a good experience that Hearn now plans to bring his wife and daughter on the next Lionsraw trip in France in 2016.
For Burns, that's the whole idea.
"Lots of guys come and kind of get it in their blood," Burns said. "That's what we're about. ... And that is a movement."
"We're trying to harness the passion of football fans to make a difference."
Want to get involved? Check out the Lionsraw websites and see how to help: UK | US
When being Muslim is probable cause
7/10/2014 3:45:15 PM
- Faisal Gill: Documents released by Snowden show he was under surveillance
- Gill was in the Navy, was senior policy adviser in Homeland Security under Bush
- Gill believes the only reason he came under suspicion was that he is Muslim
- Gill says Muslims must be free to join religious organizations without being spied upon
Editor's note: Faisal Gill, a lawyer, is a longtime Republican Party operative and served in the Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush.
(CNN) -- Complete shock, surprise and disappointment -- that was my reaction to revelations from documents released by Edward Snowden that the National Security Agency monitored my e-mails from 2006 to 2008 after I left the Bush White House.
I am one of five professionals featured in an article in The Intercept who found the government was monitoring us without our knowledge. The others are Asim Ghafoor, a well-known lawyer; Hooshang Amirahmadi, a professor at Rutgers University; Agha Saeed, a political science professor at California State University, and Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
What we share in common is that we are all Muslim. And none of us can believe there is any reason we should fall under suspicion.
The technology the government uses to surreptitiously monitor domestic and international communications didn't surprise me. What was shocking to me was that nothing in my background would lead anyone to believe that I have any terrorist leanings or want to cause harm to the United States.
I served my country in the U.S. Navy, worked as senior policy adviser in the Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush, was involved in my community and even ran for public office. There is not much more anyone can do to prove his or her complete loyalty to the United States.
What's clear now is that the reason for spying on me is my religion.
Some people may argue that my ties to the American Muslim Council gave the government probable cause to monitor me. But I had received my Top Secret/SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information) clearance to work in the Department of Homeland Security after working with the American Muslim Council, not before. Needless to say, all aspects of your life are examined to obtain this level. When I was working with the council, my goal was to get Muslims involved in domestic politics, never foreign politics.
Working in Homeland Security, I know more than others that sometimes people need to be monitored for security purposes, and there are times when such monitoring does not lead to anything. In those cases, however, at least something in those people's background or actions would cause suspicion. For example, they met secretly with terrorist groups or made some statements inciting violence. None of those factors exist in my case.
Congress needs to exercise its oversight authority and look at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act process and practice. On paper, the FISA procedure looks fair: An agent prepares an affidavit setting forth facts that establish probable cause that the subject is an agent of a foreign government. Then an independent judge examines the application and approves it.
That is a good process -- but in practice, 99% of the applications are approved. Clearly something is wrong that nearly all applications are approved. Probable cause is clearly interpreted broadly in a FISA court. Congress needs to fix the practice.
The issue for me is: What's next? I have no desire to file any sort of a lawsuit against the government.
The United States is my home and like any American, I want to protect my home. I demonstrated that by proudly wearing my country's uniform. I am raising my kids here. I am clearly invested in my country.
I think more Muslim Americans should be involved in government and in their communities. But I am concerned that many Muslims, hearing the news of government monitoring, will say "What's the point?" They will believe that no matter what they do, they will always be viewed with suspicion.
This to me is the saddest possible result. I would hope the intelligence community, law enforcement, Congress and the Obama administration are also concerned. I hope my kids will not have to worry about their e-mails being monitored for exercising their religious freedom to be involved with organizations that support their faith, like millions of other Americans.
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Thousands of Israeli reservists 'ready to go'
7/10/2014 7:39:04 PM
- NEW: At least 90 Palestinians have been killed since Monday, officials say
- Spokesman for Israeli military says 30,000 reservists have reported for duty
- Israeli, Palestinian ambassadors take their cases to the U.N. Security Council
- Gaza resident says if there is a ground offensive 'I have nowhere to go'
Gaza City (CNN) -- As fears of an Israeli ground assault grew among Gaza residents on Thursday, Israel revealed it has beefed up its forces by calling about 30,000 reservists to their units.
"We are utilizing that force to enable us to create a substantial force around Gaza, that if it is required, we'll be able to mobilize as soon as possible," Israel Defense Forces spokesman Peter Lerner told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
The Israeli Cabinet has authorized the military to call up 40,000 troops if needed. That is 10,000 more than were called up during Israel's offensive into Gaza in November 2012.
Government spokesman Mark Regev said units have been deployed.
"We're ready to go, if we need to go," he told Blitzer.
Regev said Israel didn't want a situation where Hamas was given a "timeout" where it could regroup before restarting its attacks.
The mood is grim in Gaza, where Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 90 Palestinians, including women and children, and injured more than 620 since they began Monday, Palestinian officials said. They said 23 people died in strikes Thursday and four more people succumbed to their injuries.
Throughout Gaza, people are expecting the worst. Many people have nowhere to flee and there are no bomb shelters.
"I can't leave. I have nowhere to go. Better to stay at home, inside and be safe," one resident of the town of Bait Hanoun in northern Gaza told CNN.
Most residents live in homes without safe rooms and walls made of breeze block, through which a bullet could pass through like paper.
At Gaza's border with Egypt, some Egyptians and foreigners were being told they could leave Gaza.
"I've been waiting three days in (nearby) Rafah since the air raids began," a Canadian-Palestinian told CNN. "I want to leave. The situation is dangerous here, but the Egyptians didn't open the border until today, and I've been waiting here for three hours. I need to leave."
An ambulance driver told CNN that some people who had been wounded had also been allowed to leave, but only a few had been able to do so.
'Prepared for all options'
There have been hints for days from some Israeli officials to the possibility of a ground offensive in Gaza, but there were questions about the government's appetite for such a conflict.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier Thursday that the daylong aerial offensive would be expanded and continue "until the firing at our communities stops and quiet is restored."
He didn't specify what the expansion of the current operation would entail, saying that Israel's military "is prepared for all possibilities."
No Israelis have been killed so far by rockets fired toward southern Israel by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups in Gaza.
A CNN crew in Gaza was setting up a live shot when four rockets streaked overhead in the direction of Israel. Some in the crowd cheered. When told there were air raid sirens going off in Israel, there were more cheers.
Two Israeli soldiers were wounded Thursday in a rocket attack, the military said. One of the soldiers is moderately wounded and the other is lightly wounded, the military said.
Four rockets were fired over Jerusalem, Israel's military said, but two were intercepted and the others hit open areas.
Hope for a cease-fire appeared dim even as world leaders called for the two sides to stop the violence.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Netanyahu spoke by phone.
"The United States remains prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, including a return to the November 2012 cease-fire agreement," the White House said in a written statement.
The President also condemned rocket attacks from Gaza and said the United States reaffirmed Israel's right to defend itself.
Sides speak at U.N. Security Council meeting
Israel and the Palestinians laid out their positions at a U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday, where there were no surprises.
Ambassador Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, accused Israel of "terrorizing our people, killing dozens of civilians and injuring hundreds."
Allegations by Israel that Palestinians are using human shields are "audacious," he said, and he rejected the argument that Israel is defending itself.
Israel "deliberately carries out reprisals and collective punishment against the Palestinian people in declared retaliation and revenge ... for the killing of the three Israeli settlers, which the Palestinian leadership has clearly condemned," Mansour said.
Israel, for its part, called on the Security Council to condemn Hamas and its launching of rockets across the border.
Ron Prosor, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, played a recording of a siren during the middle of his remarks, to show how Israelis only have 15 seconds, he said, to run for cover.
"Asking Israel to show restraint while our cities are under constant attack is like asking the fire brigade to battle an inferno with nothing more than buckets of water," he said.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told reporters he has been reaching out to regional leaders in an attempt to help get the two sides to stop the violence soon.
"It is imperative not only to restore calm today, but to establish a political horizon for tomorrow," he said. "Without the prospect of an end to the conflict, the sides will grow ever more polarized."
Rising death toll in Gaza
Each day the death toll has risen in Gaza, where the Israel Defense Forces has struck at 785 Hamas targets since launching its offensive Monday. It said it hit more than 100 different targets between midnight and about 7 a.m. Thursday.
The IDF has said its targets include rocket launchers, tunnels and the homes of senior Hamas leaders, which the IDF describes as "command centers."
Among the dead are 22 children and 15 women, including an 18-month-old baby and an 80-year-old woman, according to information from the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The Palestine Liberation Organization said Israeli bombs have hit civilian infrastructure, including a line that provides water to a refugee camp and a sewage plant.
The PLO shared a list with 86 names of what it says are victims of Israeli airstrikes, which includes at least six children under age 10 among the dead.
The IDF has not responded to the allegations that it has targeted civilian infrastructure but said it uses phone calls and drops empty shells on roofs -- what it calls "roof knocking" -- to warn civilians that airstrikes are imminent.
In one case, members of a family returned to a house in Gaza shortly after having been warned to evacuate it, Lerner, the Israeli military spokesman, said. They were caught in the airstrike.
He called their deaths a tragedy, saying, "This is not what the IDF does."
Teens' deaths set off latest crisis
The region has many depressing precedents when it comes to violence. Palestinians revolted twice in the past three decades against Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israel conquered and occupied those territories in a June 1967 war. Gaza is now under the control of Hamas.
In late 2008 and early 2009, Israel carried out airstrikes and then a ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza that killed roughly 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis. The November 2012 Israeli offensive sparked a bloody eight-day conflict that ended in a cease-fire.
In this case, tensions boiled over after three Israeli teens, including one with dual U.S. citizenship, were kidnapped and killed in the West Bank. Israel blames Hamas for the deaths, but the group has denied any involvement.
Gaza timeline: From Samson and Delilah to Israeli-Palestinian fighting
Last week, only days after the bodies of the Israelis were discovered, a Palestinian teen was abducted and later found dead in Jerusalem. Israeli police have arrested suspects and say there's a "strong indication" that it was a revenge killing.
Tariq Abu Khdeir, a 15-year-old American cousin of the slain Palestinian teen, was arrested by Israeli police amid the ensuing protests in Jerusalem. A video showed him being brutally beaten by two men in the uniforms of Israeli security forces, prompting widespread outrage.
Israeli authorities said Thursday that after an investigation of the incident, they have suspended for 15 days a police officer who is suspected of committing "serious violent offenses."
The Israeli Department for the Investigation of Police is considering criminal charges against the officer, who is in a special undercover unit, and he has been summoned for a hearing, the agency said in a statement.
Multiple threats
The IDF said 72 rockets rained down on Israel on Wednesday, and more were fired early Thursday. Some came down in unpopulated areas, while others were intercepted by the country's Iron Dome defense system over Tel Aviv, Ashkelon and Dimona, the IDF said.
Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza are believed to have about 10,000 rockets of varying ranges, according to the Israeli military. Israel has said some 3.5 million residents live in areas within reach of the rockets.
Israel says it's also facing other threats from Hamas. The IDF said it killed attackers who tried to enter southern Israel by sea Tuesday and it intercepted militants trying to use tunnels into the country.
Flare-up in Israeli-Palestinian violence: Why now?
Has the Middle East crisis reached a tipping point?
Was teen's death a revenge killing?
CNN's Diana Magnay reported from Jerusalem, and Steve Almasy reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Michael Pearson, Ed Payne, Jethro Mullen, Larry Register, Kareem Khadder, Ben Wedeman, Tal Heinrich, Amir Tal, Salma Abdelaziz and Talal Abu Rahma contributed to this report.
Could Gaza strike buy Israel peace?
7/10/2014 8:03:07 PM
- Military operations in Gaza make sense for Israel, an analyst says
- They will only make the violence fester and come back strong, says another
- With talk of the IDF calling up 40,000 reservists, a ground incursion looms
(CNN) -- The dark curtain rises again on the tragedy of Israel and Gaza, and the next act begins much like its forerunners.
Rockets hunt humans. Bombs crush buildings. Blood spills. The dead ride in caskets through streets, and mothers wail their grief to the heavens.
As Israeli reserves gather like a storm over Gaza's horizon, the added bloodshed of an incursion appears imminent, and millions watching around the world ask:
What could they hope to achieve?
There is no dramatic endgame in this, but there are concrete objectives, says Israeli military analyst and columnist Ron Ben-Yishai.
There are official ones and unofficial ones, short-term and long-term, that make sense for Israel, he argues.
Many of them will work, concedes critical Israeli columnist Gideon Levy. But he disagrees about their wisdom.
They won't cure the disease but instead feed it, he argues.
Military objective No. 1
First, the conservative government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to stop the rocket fire by force.
And weaken the Hamas militants and other groups behind it, Ben-Yishai says.
"Erode the political clout and the ability of Hamas to act both as a political and military-terrorist movement."
Those are the official goals given by the Cabinet for the military operation named Protective Edge, he says. And they'll probably be achieved, Ben-Yishai says.
"For the short-run, no doubt," Levy concurs. But he also thinks Hamas will come back stronger militarily and politically.
That's what happened over two years ago in operation Pillar of Defense and over five years ago in Operation Cast Lead, he says.
In the latter, 1,300 Palestinians and more than a dozen Israelis died.
Rockets' roots
Levy sees the rocket fire from Gaza as the boiling over of cumulative tensions.
He points to the peace process initiated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry between Israel and Palestinians. The one that broke down weeks ago.
The whole time, a piece was missing from the negotiating table, he says. "Gaza was ignored totally."
Then a litany of youth killings ignited passions on both sides.
Three Jewish teens were murdered, and Israeli forces swept the West Bank for suspects, making arrests that had nothing to do with the case, Levy says. Palestinians were killed.
The murder of a Palestinian teen quickly followed; his body was torched. Suspicions arose that it was revenge for the Israelis' deaths.
Add to that the desperation in Gaza. The narrow strip of land is locked in on all sides, and people there live in dire poverty and deprivation. "Gaza is today the biggest cage in the world," Levy says.
The rocket fire is just a part of it all, he says. It's a way of Hamas pounding the table, pointing out Gaza's misery.
Levy's solution to the rocket fire: Pay more attention to Gazans. Don't marginalize them. Open borders, so they can move freely.
Ben-Yishai, on the other hand, believes that the peaceful approach -- that calm will be met with calm -- hasn't worked out.
"This formula is out of the game. It's not in the cards now," he says. The military option has become inevitable.
How Iron Dome blocks rockets from Gaza, protects Israelis
Operation drill-down
Hamas militants have come back stronger after the last military operation in at least one sense, Ben-Yishai says.
They have more long-range rockets. Previously, militants had to import them all from the outside. Now they can also construct them themselves.
They've also buried a network of launch sites below the ground's surface. Hitting them "is quite a job," Ben-Yishai says.
The Israel Defense Forces will have to strike deep into those systems. But the IDF has also adapted. Its bombs have become more accurate.
That also reduces collateral damage in Gaza, he says. Most who die were shooting rockets, he says. "Those who deserve it."
It's all a vicious cycle he's seen before, Levy says. The IDF destroys the militants' capabilities; they come back stronger.
"By the next operation, they will be even better equipped," he says. So will the Israelis.
Ground incursion
Israel has called up 30,000 reserve troops and has talked about pulling in 10,000 more, a signal that there may be a ground incursion into Gaza.
Levy firmly believes it will happen, that the IDF otherwise will not be able to root out militants' rocket systems.
Ben-Yishai is less certain. "I think it is in the cards. They've not made the decision yet," he says of the government.
Netanyahu may use aggressive rhetoric but is cautious about military decisions, he says. And so far, the government is satisfied with the operations as they have been -- only from the air thus far.
The endgame
The government hopes that Protective Edge will give Israel a few years of relative peace, restore normalcy for a time, Ben-Yishai says.
"After every round of hostility ... there is a sort of lull that Israel enjoys very much," he says. People can think about other things and tackle other issues, like the economy.
But it's not nearly worth the cost, Levy says. Droves of Palestinians will be killed, others' lives ruined. But even from a purely selfish standpoint, it's at best an empty victory.
"We will see horrible scenes," he says. "The world will condemn Israel. And what comes out of it? One year of peace."
Ben-Yishai believes there is a permanent gain to be made, that repeated operations in Gaza will wear the enemy down.
He hopes that the lulls between battles will get longer and longer, "until our neighbor realizes that they cannot make us disappear. They cannot erase us from the map."
Levy thinks Gaza militants won't quit until the misery there ends.
He predicts that military intervention will set the stage for the next bloodcurdling act -- and then the next.
New wave of Israeli airstrikes hammers Gaza
Flare-up in Israeli-Palestinian violence: Why now?
Has the Middle East crisis reached a tipping point?
Israel strikes back after 'rocket fired from Lebanon'
7/11/2014 1:18:35 AM
- NEW: Israel responds with artillery to rocket fired from Lebanon
- At least 91 Palestinians have been killed since Monday, officials say
- Spokesman for Israeli military says 30,000 reservists have reported for duty
- Gaza resident says if there is a ground offensive 'I have nowhere to go'
Gaza City (CNN) -- A rocket was fired into northern Israel from southern Lebanon, and the Israeli military responded with an artillery strike, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said Friday.
The rocket landed near the northern Israeli town of Metula, which sits right by the Lebanese border, and no damage or injuries have been reported. It was not immediately clear who fired the rocket.
The IDF spokesman said that Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible for the attack.
Two rockets were launched from the town of Mari in southern Lebanon, Lebanon's official news agency NNA reported, while a third rocket failed to launch.
The artillery strike from Israel landed on the outskirts of Kfarshouba, the news agency added.
The exchange of fire comes amid Israel's aerial offensive in Gaza against the militant Palestinian group Hamas and the stream of rockets fired into Israel from Gaza.
Israel calls up reservists
As fears of an Israeli ground assault grew among Gaza residents on Thursday, Israel revealed it has beefed up its forces by calling about 30,000 reservists to their units.
"We are utilizing that force to enable us to create a substantial force around Gaza, that if it is required, we'll be able to mobilize as soon as possible," Israel Defense Forces spokesman Peter Lerner told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
The Israeli Cabinet has authorized the military to call up 40,000 troops if needed. That is 10,000 more than were called up during Israel's offensive into Gaza in November 2012.
Government spokesman Mark Regev said units have been deployed.
"We're ready to go, if we need to go," he told Blitzer.
Regev said Israel didn't want a situation where Hamas, which controls Gaza, was given a "timeout" where it could regroup before restarting its attacks.
The mood is grim in Gaza, where Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 91 Palestinians, including women and children, and injured more than 620 since they began late Monday, Palestinian officials said. They said 23 people died in strikes Thursday and four more people succumbed to their injuries.
Throughout Gaza, people are expecting an Israeli ground incursion. Many people have nowhere to flee and there are no bomb shelters.
"I can't leave. I have nowhere to go. Better to stay at home, inside and be safe," one resident of the town of Bait Hanoun in northern Gaza told CNN.
Most residents live in homes without safe rooms and walls made of breeze block, which a bullet could pass through like paper.
Rising death toll
Each day the death toll has risen in Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday it has struck at 785 Hamas targets since announcing the start of its offensive Monday with the aim of hurting Hamas and stopping rocket attacks on Israel.
Tensions in the region flared last week after the killings of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank, followed by the killing in Jerusalem of a Palestinian teenager that police say may have been an act of revenge. Israel blames Hamas for the deaths of the three Israeli youths, although the group has denied responsibility.
The IDF has said its targets in Gaza include rocket launchers, tunnels and the homes of senior Hamas leaders, which the IDF describes as "command centers."
But among the dead are 22 children and 15 women, including an 18-month-old baby and an 80-year-old woman, according to information from the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The Palestine Liberation Organization said Israeli bombs have hit civilian infrastructure, including a line that provides water to a refugee camp and a sewage plant.
The IDF has not responded to the accusations. It says it uses phone calls and drops empty shells on roofs -- what it calls "roof knocking" -- to warn civilians that airstrikes are imminent. But the approach doesn't guarantee their safety.
In one case, members of a family returned to a house in Gaza shortly after having been warned to evacuate it, Lerner, the Israeli military spokesman, said. They were caught in the airstrike.
He called their deaths a tragedy, saying, "This is not what the IDF does."
U.S. willing to help broker cease-fire
Hopes for a cease-fire appeared dim even as world leaders called for the two sides to stop the violence.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone.
"The United States remains prepared to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, including a return to the November 2012 cease-fire agreement," the White House said in a written statement, referring to the Egyptian-brokered deal that halted the previous Israel-Hamas conflict.
The President also condemned rocket attacks from Gaza and said the United States reaffirmed Israel's right to defend itself.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told reporters he has been reaching out to regional leaders in an attempt to help get the two sides to stop the violence soon.
"It is imperative not only to restore calm today, but to establish a political horizon for tomorrow," he said. "Without the prospect of an end to the conflict, the sides will grow ever more polarized."
'Prepared for all options'
There have been hints for days from some Israeli officials about the possibility of a ground offensive in Gaza, but there were questions about the government's appetite for such a conflict.
Netanyahu said Wednesday that the aerial offensive would be expanded and continue "until the firing at our communities stops and quiet is restored."
He didn't specify what the expansion of Operation Protective Edge would entail, saying that Israel's military "is prepared for all possibilities."
No Israelis have been killed so far by the hundreds of rockets fired toward southern Israel by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups in Gaza. Some Israelis have been wounded by the attacks.
A CNN crew in Gaza was setting up a live shot when four rockets streaked overhead in the direction of Israel. Some in the crowd cheered. When told there were air raid sirens going off in Israel, there were more cheers.
The Israeli Defense Forces said early Friday that since the start of Operation Protective Edge, 548 rockets have been fired at Israel. The country's Iron Dome defense system has intercepted 118 of them, the IDF said.
Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza are believed to have about 10,000 rockets of varying ranges, according to the Israeli military. Israel has said some 3.5 million residents live in areas within reach of the rockets.
Sides speak at U.N. Security Council meeting
Israel and the Palestinians laid out their positions at a U.N. Security Council meeting Thursday.
Ambassador Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, accused Israel of "terrorizing our people, killing dozens of civilians and injuring hundreds."
Allegations by Israel that Palestinians are using human shields are "audacious," he said, and he rejected the argument that Israel is defending itself.
Israel "deliberately carries out reprisals and collective punishment against the Palestinian people in declared retaliation and revenge ... for the killing of the three Israeli settlers, which the Palestinian leadership has clearly condemned," Mansour said.
Israel, for its part, called on the Security Council to condemn Hamas and its launching of rockets across the border.
Ron Prosor, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, played a recording of a siren during the middle of his remarks, to show how Israelis only have 15 seconds, he said, to run for cover.
"Asking Israel to show restraint while our cities are under constant attack is like asking the fire brigade to battle an inferno with nothing more than buckets of water," he said.
Gaza timeline: From Samson and Delilah to Israeli-Palestinian fighting
Flare-up in Israeli-Palestinian violence: Why now?
Has the Middle East crisis reached a tipping point?
Was teen's death a revenge killing?
CNN's Ben Wedeman reported from Gaza City. Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong, and Steve Almasy reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Michael Pearson, Yousuf Basil, Brian Walker, Larry Register, Kareem Khadder, Diana Magnay, Tal Heinrich, Amir Tal, Salma Abdelaziz and Talal Abu Rahma contributed to this report.
Israeli airstrikes hammer Gaza
7/11/2014 1:36:46 AM
A new wave of Israeli airstrikes battered areas of Gaza, aimed at stopping militant rockets. CNN's Diana Magnay reports.
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Argentina beats Dutch on penalties
7/9/2014 7:09:19 PM
- Argentina defeats the Netherlands 4-2 on penalties
- Contest finished goalless after 120 minutes
- First World Cup semifinal to finish goalless
- Germany awaits in Sunday's final
How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN Facebook Pulse
(CNN) -- Brazil thought its nightmare was over -- but perhaps it's only just beginning.
After the humiliation of being obliterated by Germany, those who had dreamed of a Brazilian World Cup triumph might have thought they would be left alone to quietly lick their words or perhaps console themselves with a sombre walk along the shores of the Copacabana.
Alas, such a luxury will not be afforded to them -- not now at least.
Instead neighbors Argentina will launch an invasion of Rio Sunday hoping to start their own party in its arch rival's back yard.
#ARG beats #NED after shootout drama to reach WC final. Read our report here: http://t.co/Rdj3f4s7kv #CNNWorldCup pic.twitter.com/pgkqONL3Uq
— CNN Football Club (@CNNFC) July 9, 2014 This was the result which Brazil feared -- the scenario it never wanted to face, to have Argentina, its oldest foe, walk out at the Maracana on Sunday just 90 minutes away becoming world champions.
While Brazil had leaked goals in its shambolic defeat by Germany, Argentina displayed true grit and then calm under pressure in a penalty shootout to book its place in the World Cup final for the first time in 24 years -- the fifth in its history.
Don't bother telling those with their faces painted blue and white that was a tepid and insipid encounter.
They're probably still jumping up and down with joy -- while celebrating Argentinian Independence Day like never before.
"I'm very happy because we reached the final and now we will see what we can do," Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella told reporters.
"We will give everything as usual, with humility, work and 100% effort."
A goalless 120 minutes was enough to bore most to tears but when Maxi Rodriguez struck the decisive penalty kick to win the shootout 4-2, the march to Rio began and Brazil closed its eyes.
For the third time, Argentina will play Germany in the final having won in 1986 and lost in 1990 -- but regardless of the opposition, it will surely need to improve on this performance.
Lionel Messi, the man who has inspired Argentina on so many occasions, was almost anonymous but he was not the only one to disappear.
This game was a case of going from the sublime to the ridiculous as the sequel to Germany's dominant display over Brazil was temporarily forgotten as these two sides served up one of the poorest offerings of the tournament.
It was dire -- so dire you had to keep pinching yourself that this was actually a World Cup semifinal.
For all the talent on the field, the inability to keep possession, deliver a cross or even manage a simple pass proved beyond those on show.
Argentina finalista. ¡Gracias Romero! pic.twitter.com/yOzIK8FhGS
— Selección Argentina (@Argentina) July 9, 2014 Often such games are classed as 'intriguing', 'tactical' or 'chess like' but none of those descriptions fitted -- file this under dreadful and error-strewn.
Neither side deserved to win and penalties looked the most likely outcome from the offset -- a stark contrast to Germany's 7-1 thrashing of Brazil on Tuesday.
While the goals flowed like Caipirinhas in the bars of Belo Horizonte, Sao Paulo provided a far more sober affair.
Tight, tense and turgid in the first half, both sides struggled to create a chance of note with space at a premium.
Messi, so often Argentina's leading light, fizzed a free kick at goal which Jasper Cillessen did well to save, while Ezequiel Garay's header flew just over the crossbar as the South American side briefly threatened.
Messi, making his 92nd international appearance, found himself accompanied by Nigel de Jong each and every time he moved, touched the ball or dared to breathe.
Previously ruled out of the tournament with a groin injury only to make a miraculous recovery in time for the contest, De Jong gave the Dutch the bite in midfield which it had missed in the quarterfinal victory over Costa Rica.
Orgulloso de ser ARGENTINO!!!! pic.twitter.com/wvDVZmr7kR
— Pablo Zabaleta (@pablo_zabaleta) July 9, 2014 But while the Dutch side was relatively untroubled in defense, it rarely threatened going forward with Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie almost anonymous.
Robben, one of the outstanding players of the tournament, touched the ball just six times in the opening 45 minutes as Argentina, and Javier Mascherano in particular, kept the flying Dutchman quiet.
If anybody had hoped that the fare might improve after the interval they were left sorely disappointed.
Passes went astray, possession was squandered with both teams failing to provide any trace of quality in the final third.
And yet with the contest at 90 minutes, the Dutch had the opportunity to win the tie in the most dramatic fashion as they attempted to reach a second successive final.
Wesley Sneijder, anonymous for much of the evening, produced a fine flick to release Robben but the Bayern Munich man dallied and allowed Mascherano time to recover and block his effort.
A very quiet wave for Netherlands v Argentina with a peak for each team. http://t.co/RT7moEyRrG #NED #ARG pic.twitter.com/OEPLfo4qxx
— Infostrada Sports (@InfostradaLive) July 9, 2014 With neither side able to muster a goal, the tie moved into extra time with the Dutch appearing the more threatening.
Robben's low effort forced Sergio Romero into a routine save in an otherwise unremarkable opening 15 minutes of extra time.
Argentina, impotent for much of the contest with Messi superbly marshalled by the Dutch defense, rarely looked capable of finding a winner.
But with five minutes of the tie remaining, it created its best chance of the contest when Maxi Rodriguez played in Rodrigo Palacio, but his header was easily dealt with by Cillessen.
Penalties ensued somewhat inevitably and it was Argentina which held its nerve with goalkeeper Romero the hero.
The Dutch, which had defeated Costa Rica on penalties in the previous round following the introduction of substitute goalkeeper Tim Krul, floundered under the pressure.
Ron Vlaar, one of the game's outstanding performers, was thwarted by Romero, who also saved from Sneijder.
In the end it was left to Rodriguez to fire Argentina into the final and get the party started -- a party which Brazil isn't invited to and one it hoped it would never have to see.
Read: Brazil dumped out by Germany
Fans celebrate Argentina win
7/10/2014 1:56:37 PM
CNN's Shasta Darlington speaks to fans, both happy and sad, following Argentina's semi-final win at the World Cup.
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Suarez loses biting appeal
7/10/2014 10:33:22 AM
- FIFA rejects appeal made by Uruguay striker Luis Suarez after he bit an opponent
- Suarez can still make one more appeal, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport
- Suarez received an international ban and a suspension for any football activity
- FIFA's decision comes as Suarez is reportedly on the verge of signing for Barcelona
How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN Facebook Pulse
(CNN) -- He may be on the verge of signing for Barcelona, but it looks like Luis Suarez won't be returning to football action anytime soon after FIFA upheld his ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup in Brazil.
The world governing body suspended the Uruguayan bad boy for nine international games and ruled him out of any football activity for four months after the incident in late June.
Unless Suarez wins an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Thursday's ruling means he's sure to miss the start of the European football season.
An appeal to Swiss-based CAS has yet to be confirmed.
"The FIFA Appeal Committee has decided to reject the appeals lodged by both the Uruguayan player Luis Suarez and the Uruguayan FA, and to confirm the decision rendered by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on 25 June 2014 in its entirety," FIFA said in a statement on its website.
"The terms of the decision taken by the FIFA Appeal Committee were communicated to the player and the Uruguayan FA today."
When Suarez bit Chiellini on June 24 as Uruguay eliminated 2006 world champion Italy, it marked the third time he'd taken a chunk out of an opponent.
The Liverpool striker was banned domestically for 10 games in April 2013 when he bit Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in an English Premier League match, and he was handed a seven-game punishment while with Dutch club Ajax for biting PSV's Otman Bakkal in November 2010.
Despite his indiscretions -- Suarez was also hit with an eight-game ban in December 2011 for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra -- the 27-year-old is expected to complete his move to Spain in the coming days.
According to reports, Liverpool wants a transfer fee of £75 million ($128 million) for the reigning Premier League player of the season, who scored 31 goals for the club in 2013-14.
If the sides agree on that figure, it would make Suarez the third most expensive player in football history after Real Madrid duo Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Catalan giant is desperate to overturn its 2013-2014 fortunes, having not won a trophy and watching arch-rival Real Madrid claim the European Champions League title while Atletico Madrid took its La Liga crown.
Barcelona was given a transfer ban by FIFA in April for allegedly breaking rules over the signing of minors, but this has been suspended pending an appeal. According to former England striker Gary Lineker -- now a television host with the BBC -- Barcelona insisted on Suarez apologizing before any possible transfer.
Suarez duly apologized to Chiellini and the "entire football family."
Liverpool, meanwhile, second in the Premier League last term, has been busy preparing for Suarez's probable departure, bringing in England internationals Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana from Southampton and Germany under-21 midfielder Emre Can from Bayer Leverkusen.
Read: Brazil crushed by Germany
Rousseff's worst nightmare
7/10/2014 5:19:15 AM
- Brazilian President tells CNN she never imagined severity of defeat against Germany
- Brazil lost to Germany 7-1 in World Cup semi-final on Wednesday
- Brazil proved itself in another way by putting on first class World Cup, says President
Tune in to "Amanpour." on CNN International TV at 2 p.m. Eastern Time to see the full interview.
(CNN) -- Never in her worst nightmares did Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff imagine such a crushing soccer defeat, she told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.
"My nightmares never got so bad, Christiane," she said through an interpreter. "They never went that far. As a supporter, of course, I am deeply sorry because I share the same sorrow of all supporters. But I also know that we are a country that has one very peculiar feature. We rise to the challenge in the face of adversity. We are able to overcome."
Brazil, she said, will recover from this "extremely painful situation."
"Being able to overcome defeat I think is the feature and hallmark of a major national team and of a great country."
Watch Rousseff's interview in Portuguese
Tuesday's semi-final match against Germany was always going to be a tough challenge for the home side, but no one predicted the 7-1 thrashing that sent rival Germany to the finals.
"We came into this match without two of our main players, Neymar, a major attacker, and our captain, Thiago Silva."
Brazil's World Cup performance is important to Rousseff not only as a matter of national pride, but as a matter of politics.
"If we had won," one Brazilian told CNN's Isa Soares, "the people would have forgotten all the money spent; at least now the realities are back in focus."
The country saw widespread anger and protests against what many viewed as excessive spending on stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup.
Rousseff, who is bidding for re-election this October, put a big emphasis on the World Cup as a chance for Brazil to prove itself on the world stage.
"One has to bear in mind that from all different aspects, the fact is that Brazil has organized and staged a World Cup, which I do believe is one of the world's best World Cups. And that is largely due to the Brazilian people's ability to offer and extend hospitality and welcome supporters from all over the world."
READ: Five things about the beat down in Brazil
READ: It's not just the World Cup. Brazil has another big, fat problem
READ: Brazil's World Cup hammering spurs tears, puns and Twitter record
When being Muslim is probable cause
7/10/2014 1:07:23 PM
- Faisal Gill: Documents released by Snowden show he was under surveillance
- Gill was in the Navy, was senior policy adviser in Homeland Security under Bush
- Gill believes the only reason he came under suspicion was that he is Muslim
- Gill says Muslims must be free to join religious organizations without being spied upon
Editor's note: Faisal Gill, a lawyer, is a longtime Republican Party operative and served in the Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush.
(CNN) -- Complete shock, surprise and disappointment -- that was my reaction to revelations from documents released by Edward Snowden that the National Security Agency monitored my e-mails from 2006 to 2008 after I left the Bush White House.
I am one of five professionals featured in an article in The Intercept who found the government was monitoring us without our knowledge. The others are Asim Ghafoor, a well-known lawyer; Hooshang Amirahmadi, a professor at Rutgers University; Agha Saeed, a political science professor at California State University, and Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
What we share in common is that we are all Muslim. And none of us can believe there is any reason we should fall under suspicion.
The technology the government uses to surreptitiously monitor domestic and international communications didn't surprise me. What was shocking to me was that nothing in my background would lead anyone to believe that I have any terrorist leanings or want to cause harm to the United States.
I served my country in the U.S. Navy, worked as senior policy adviser in the Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush, was involved in my community and even ran for public office. There is not much more anyone can do to prove his or her complete loyalty to the United States.
What's clear now is that the reason for spying on me is my religion.
Some people may argue that my ties to the American Muslim Council gave the government probable cause to monitor me. But I had received my Top Secret/SCI (Sensitive Compartmented Information) clearance to work in the Department of Homeland Security after working with the American Muslim Council, not before. Needless to say, all aspects of your life are examined to obtain this level. When I was working with the council, my goal was to get Muslims involved in domestic politics, never foreign politics.
Working in Homeland Security, I know more than others that sometimes people need to be monitored for security purposes, and there are times when such monitoring does not lead to anything. In those cases, however, at least something in those people's background or actions would cause suspicion. For example, they met secretly with terrorist groups or made some statements inciting violence. None of those factors exist in my case.
Congress needs to exercise its oversight authority and look at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act process and practice. On paper, the FISA procedure looks fair: An agent prepares an affidavit setting forth facts that establish probable cause that the subject is an agent of a foreign government. Then an independent judge examines the application and approves it.
That is a good process -- but in practice, 99% of the applications are approved. Clearly something is wrong that nearly all applications are approved. Probable cause is clearly interpreted broadly in a FISA court. Congress needs to fix the practice.
The issue for me is: What's next? I have no desire to file any sort of a lawsuit against the government.
The United States is my home and like any American, I want to protect my home. I demonstrated that by proudly wearing my country's uniform. I am raising my kids here. I am clearly invested in my country.
I think more Muslim Americans should be involved in government and in their communities. But I am concerned that many Muslims, hearing the news of government monitoring, will say "What's the point?" They will believe that no matter what they do, they will always be viewed with suspicion.
This to me is the saddest possible result. I would hope the intelligence community, law enforcement, Congress and the Obama administration are also concerned. I hope my kids will not have to worry about their e-mails being monitored for exercising their religious freedom to be involved with organizations that support their faith, like millions of other Americans.
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Will marijuana make your kids stupid?
7/10/2014 10:29:32 AM
- Sales of recreational marijuana began in Washington state this week
- Kevin Sabet: Colorado's experience with pot legalization can hardly be called a success
- He says marijuana companies will profit from sales while kids will be harmed
- Sabet: Marijuana users have higher risks of schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses
Editor's note:
(CNN) -- This week, Washington state opened recreational marijuana stores for the first time. And these stores don't just carry your father's kind of weed. In addition to highly potent cigarettes -- which are much stronger than those some people might remember from Woodstock -- stores will also soon sell super-strength, pot-infused cookies, candies, sodas, vapor and wax concentrates.
Time will tell what the effects will be, but the state is not the first place to implement such a policy. Colorado started to sell marijuana six months ago. When President Barack Obama stopped by a Denver bar on Tuesday night, it comes as no surprise that someone offered him weed.
Colorado's experience with pot legalization can hardly be called a success. In fact, it should be considered a warning for the residents of Washington.
Special-interest "Big Tobacco"-like groups and businesses have ensured that marijuana is widely promoted, advertised and commercialized in Colorado. As a result, calls to poison centers have skyrocketed, incidents involving kids going to school with marijuana candy and vaporizers seem more common, and explosions involving butane hash oil extraction have risen. Employers are reporting more workplace incidents involving marijuana use, and deaths have been attributed to ingesting marijuana cookies and food items.
So much for the old notion that "pot doesn't kill."
Marijuana companies, like their predecessors in the tobacco industry, are determined to keep lining their pockets.
Indeed, legalization has come down to one thing: money. And it's not money for the government -- Colorado has only raised a third of the amount of tax revenue they have projected -- it's money for this new industry and its shareholders.
Open Colorado newspapers and magazines on any given day and you will find pages of marijuana advertisements, coupons and cartoons promoting greater and greater highs. The marijuana industry is making attractive a wide selection of marijuana-related products such as candies, sodas, ice cream and cartoon-themed paraphernalia and vaporizers, which are undoubtedly appealing to children and teens.
As Al Bronstein, medical director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center recently said, "We're seeing hallucinations, they become sick to their stomachs, they throw up, they become dizzy and very anxious." Bronstein reported that in 2013, there were 126 calls concerning adverse reactions to marijuana. From January to April this year, the center receive 65 calls.
And, since Colorado expanded marijuana stores for medical users, peer-reviewed research has found a major upsurge in stoned driving-related deaths (that is not surprising since marijuana intoxication doubles the risk of a car crash).
It is little wonder that every major public health association, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Society of Addiction Medicine oppose the legalization of marijuana.
The scientific verdict is that marijuana can be addictive and dangerous.
Despite denials by special interest groups and marijuana businesses, the drug's addictiveness is not debatable: 1 in 6 kids who ever try marijuana will become addicted to the drug, according to the National Institutes of Health. Many baby boomers have a hard time understanding this simply because today's marijuana can be so much stronger than the marijuana of the past.
In fact, more than 450,000 incidents of emergency room admissions related to marijuana occur every year, and heavy marijuana use in adolescence is connected to an 8-point reduction of IQ later in life, irrespective of alcohol use.
As if our national mental illness crisis needed more fuel, marijuana users also have a six times higher risk of schizophrenia and are significantly more likely to development other psychotic illnesses. It is no wonder that health groups such as the National Alliance of Mental Illness are increasingly concerned about marijuana use and legalization.
That does not mean we need to arrest our way out of a marijuana problem.
We should reform criminal justice practices and emphasize prevention, early intervention and treatment when necessary. But we do not need to legalize -- and thus commercialize and advertise -- marijuana to implement these reforms.
The only people better off under legalization are the big companies that stand to profit from sales of marijuana. And we can be sure they will get even richer while public health and safety suffers.
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Spy scandal: Berlin stresses value of 'mutual trust'
7/10/2014 11:30:53 AM
- Germany stresses "mutual trust"
- A White House spokesman declines to comment
- It's the second such case in a week
- Merkel: "If the reports are correct, it would be a serious case"
(CNN) -- The German government said Thursday it is expelling a person it describes as the representative of U.S. foreign intelligence services based at the U.S. Embassy in Berlin.
The move comes after two allegations emerged of Germans spying for the United States over the last week, claims prompting an investigation by German prosecutors of a suspect accused of passing secrets.
The call comes against the background of the current investigation by the federal prosecutor and questions that have remained unresolved for months about the activity of U.S. intelligence in Germany.
"The German government views these events as very serious," government spokesman Steffen Seibert said.
In a statement, Seibert stressed the importance of "mutual trust and openness."
"It remains essential for Germany, in the interest of the security of its citizens and its armed forces abroad, to cooperate closely on the basis of trust with its western partners, in particular with the USA." Seibert said the government "is ready to offer that, and expects its closest partners to do the same."
German prosecutors said Wednesday they are investigating a suspect accused of passing secrets.
"Officers of the federal criminal office have since this morning searched the living and office rooms of an accused in the Berlin area because of initial suspicion of secret service agency activity. They said "an arrest did not take place."
As a matter of policy, White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to comment on the reported intelligence activity.
"The reason for that is there's an important principle at stake, which is declining to comment on them publicly allows for the sufficient protection of our national interests, in some cases the intelligence assets, and more generally, American national security," he said.
Only last week, German prosecutors ordered the arrest of a German citizen on suspicion of spying for foreign intelligence agencies.
On Friday, the German foreign office called in the U.S. ambassador to discuss it.
Both the German prosecutor and the foreign office released scarce information then, but officials have spoken in detail with German journalists, who published many reports on the allegations of U.S. spying on the country.
"If the reports are correct, it would be a serious case. If the allegations are true, it would be for me a clear contradiction to what I consider to be a trustful cooperation between agencies and partners," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Her warning came as U.S.-German relations are already shaky in the aftermath of disclosures by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden that showed the United States was listening in on Merkel's phone calls.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in an interview Tuesday with the German news site Spiegel Online, said both countries need to talk about what intelligence collection should be allowed and what might thwart intelligence and security cooperation.
"Clearly, the surveillance on Chancellor Merkel's phone was absolutely wrong," she said.
Germany and other friendly countries complained when Snowden's leaks last year revealed U.S. surveillance of foreign leaders as well as screening of foreign phone calls and Internet contacts in investigating terrorist ties.
The Obama administration responded that all countries conduct surveillance on each other, but the President also has ordered changes in U.S. programs.
Germany calls in U.S. ambassador over new spying allegation
Germany investigating alleged U.S. surveillance of Merkel's phone
India summons U.S. diplomat over report of NSA spying
CNN's Stephanie Halasz, Ben Brumfield and Matthew Chance contributed to this report.
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