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Scolari resigns as Brazil manager
7/15/2014 6:23:47 AM
- Luiz Felipe Scolari resigns as Brazil manager after Brazil thumped in last two games
- Eventual champion Germany thrashed Brazil 7-1 in the semifinals before another defeat
- Tite is now the favorite to succeed Scolari, who guided Brazil to 2002 World Cup glory
- Others linked with the job include Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Ronaldo
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(CNN) -- Luiz Felipe Scolari's second stint as Brazil manager didn't go nearly as well as the first.
A dozen years after leading Brazil to the World Cup title in Asia, he resigned in the wake of the Selecao's capitulation in the semifinals and third-place defeat on home soil last week.
Germany thrashed Brazil 7-1 in the last four -- it was the first time a team scored seven goals in a World Cup semifinal -- before the host meekly lost to the Netherlands 3-0 on Saturday.
"Luiz Felipe Scolari and his fellow coaching staff surrendered their positions to the board," Brazil's football federation, the CBF, said in a statement on its website, adding that the resignations were accepted.
"Scolari and all his backroom staff deserve our respect and thanks," CBF president Jose Maria Marin told the website. "They were responsible for returning to the Brazilian people a love for the national side, even if they did not achieve our highest aim."
Scolari's decision was fully expected, since he said he was "responsible" for the loss to Germany.
Without injured talisman Neymar and captain Thiago Silva in the heart of defense, Brazil conceded four times in six minutes in the first half in Belo Horizonte, leaving fans in tears in the stands.
There was no respite in the third-place game as the Dutch set the tone by netting in the third minute.
Brazil's Tite, who last guided Corinthians in his 20-plus year coaching career, is the favorite to take over from Scolari.
Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and ex-Brazil striker Ronaldo are also among the big names linked with the job.
Even with a team that was considered far from vintage -- especially compared to previous Brazil sides -- many expected Brazil to win the World Cup after defeating Spain in the 2013 Confederations Cup final.
But the warning signs that Brazil were not exactly buzzing were there in the opening game of the group stages of the 2014 World Cup. Scolari's side were fortunate to top Croatia, benefiting from a dubious penalty.
Since cutting ties with Portugal in 2008, Scolari hasn't had success with any of the sides he's managed, including Chelsea and Palmeiras.
Read: Germany wins thrilling World Cup final
Read: Why Brazil should have won the World Cup
Read: Team of the World Cup
Israel accepts cease-fire plan; Hamas rejects it as 'joke'
7/15/2014 3:12:31 AM
- NEW: If Hamas fires at Israel, "we shall respond," Israeli military says
- NEW: Hamas' military wing says proposal "not worth the ink that it was written with"
- The Gaza death toll is higher than the number of people killed there during the 2012 war
Gaza City (CNN) -- Israel has accepted an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Hamas. But with the militant group rejecting the gesture outright, there may be little hope of seeing an end to the near constant exchange of fire that has so far killed more than 190 Palestinians in Gaza.
The Israeli Security Cabinet met early Tuesday morning and reached a decision to halt aerial strikes beginning at 9 a.m. (2 a.m. ET).
"We remain alert and preserve high preparedness levels, both defensive and offensive," military spokesman Peter Lerner said. "If the Hamas terror organization will fire at Israel, we shall respond." tweeted.
The plan calls for all sides to cease hostilities in Gaza. It also calls for the opening of border crossings, once the security situation is stable, and for high-level talks among those involved.
Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, dismissed any talks of a cease-fire, saying its battle with "the enemy" will "increase in ferocity and intensity."
"We in the Al-Qassam Brigades reject altogether the proposal, which for us is not worth the ink that it was written with."
Since the Cabinet's announcement, three rockets were fired from Gaza into its territory, the Israeli military said.
'A first step'
Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, said the Israeli acceptance of the Egyptian proposal should be seen as "a first step, not the end."
"We have to be cautious of this cycle of violence which the Palestinian people continue to suffer," she said.
U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday welcomed Egypt's proposal, saying he hoped it would "restore the calm that we've been seeking."
Earlier, Hamas mocked the proposal in public, with a spokesman describing it as a "joke."
"We did not receive this declared paper from the Egyptians ... which means it's an initiative for the media. It's not a political initiative," said Osama Hamdan.
Speaking on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer," he continued: "It's not really an initiative. It's not really an idea, what they are trying to do is to corner the Palestinians and to help the Israelis more."
The stakes are high and climbing.
By Tuesday, the death toll from a week of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza had reached 194 with at least 1,400 wounded, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The death toll is now greater than the number of people killed in Gaza during the 2012 conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Civilian casualties
Amid the diplomatic maneuvering, the residents of Gaza are stuck in the middle of the continued fighting. The United Nations has said that most of the people killed by Israel's aerial attacks are civilians.
"I urgently call on the Israeli Security Forces to put an end to attacks against, or endangering, civilians and civilian infrastructure which are contrary to international humanitarian law," said Pierre Krahenbuhl, commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNWRA.
There are now 17,000 refugees taking shelter in 20 schools in Gaza, UNWRA said, and the airstrikes have damaged 47 of its buildings, including clinics, schools and warehouses.
The Israeli military says it uses a variety of methods, including phone calls and leaflets, to warn civilians of impending strikes.
But UNWRA called on Israel to exercise maximum restraint and precaution to avoid more casualties.
"Clearly at this stage not enough is being done in that regard," Krahenbuhl said.
'This is tyranny'
Israel said Monday its forces have struck 1,470 "terror targets" across Gaza, including 770 concealed rocket launchers.
But in one area of northern Gaza, Mohamed Abu Hassan said Monday he doesn't understand why his house was severely damaged in an Israeli airstrike that struck the building next door.
There was no unusual activity in the house in the town of Jabalya, he said.
"My son isn't even here. He's working in Libya," Hassan said. Only his wife is at the house.
"Is she fighting Israel?" he asks. "This is tyranny."
15 seconds to seek shelter
Israel has used its Iron Dome defense system against some of the more than 1,088 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel, the military said.
On Monday, the system intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza toward the Israeli border town of Sderot, close to CNN's Blitzer.
"We heard a loud boom," he said. "If you don't seek shelter, you're gonna be in danger because even though the rocket was destroyed in the air, the shrapnel starts coming down very, very quickly."
When sirens go off, people along the border have about 15 second to seek shelter. Farther north in Tel Aviv, where the Iron Dome system also intercepted a rocket Monday, people have about a minute.
Seventy percent of Israel's population lies within range of Hamas rocket attacks, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The defense system has intercepted roughly a fifth of the rockets fired, the IDF said early Tuesday.
So far, no Israelis have been killed by the rocket attacks.
Kerry delays trip
Secretary of State John Kerry was preparing a possible trip to the Middle East to lay groundwork for a cease-fire, but several U.S. officials told CNN Monday night that Kerry is postponing the visit to give Egyptian efforts a chance to take root.
One official said the United States wants to give Egypt a chance to reassert itself as a power broker the Middle East, as it did during the 2012 cease-fire.
The current Egyptian President, the ex-military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has weaker relations with Hamas than former President Mohammed Morsy, who brokered the 2012 deal. Morsy was ousted by the military in 2013.
Earlier, Kerry spoke by phone with Netanyahu and expressed U.S. concerns about escalating tensions. He reiterated that the U.S. is prepared to help bring about a cease-fire, a senior State Department official said.
But "offering facilitation is not enough," Yousef Munayyer of the Washington-based Palestine Center told CNN's "New Day."
"It's important that the United States demand a cease-fire," he said. "There is no military solution to this."
Pope calls for Middle East cease-fire
Fear for daughter's Gaza border wedding
Opinion: A smart way out of the Gaza confrontation
CNN's Ian Lee reported from Gaza City, and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Michael Schwartz, Ben Wedeman, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Elise Labott contributed to this report.
Kerry postpones trip for talks
7/14/2014 10:43:42 PM
- On Monday, Egypt called for a cease-fire to stop the bloodshed, protect the innocent
- Kerry was to travel to Egypt and Qatar in the coming days
- His goal was to set groundwork for a possible cease-fire
- An official says the U.S. wants to give Egypt a change to reassert itself in the Mideast
Washington (CNN) -- Secretary of State John Kerry is postponing a visit to the Middle East to give Egyptian efforts at negotiating a cease-fire between Israelis and Hamas a chance to take root, several senior U.S. officials tell CNN.
Kerry was to travel from Vienna -- where he was negotiating a deal with Iran and world powers over Iran's nuclear program -- to Egypt and Qatar in the coming days to lay the groundwork for a possible cease-fire between the two sides.
On Monday, Egypt called for a cease-fire to stop the bloodshed and to project the innocent.
"Egypt shall receive guarantees from both sides of their commitment to implement what has been agreed upon, and shall follow up on its implementation and engage with either side in the case of any action that impinges on its stability," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
One official said the United States wants to give Egypt a chance to reassert itself as a power broker the Middle East, as it did during the 2012 cease-fire. The United States sees the election of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as a positive development in terms of Egypt playing a constructive role in the conflict, because Obama administration sources say that North African nation now is viewed as less conciliatory towards Hamas than it was under former President Mohammed Morsy.
Kerry will allow a few days for diplomatic efforts to lay any groundwork, officials said, and is still prepared to either travel to the region if any cease-fire does not take hold, or to help support it if it does.
Israeli officials tell CNN their military operations have made inroads to degrade Hamas' capability, now see some potential in the Egyptian proposal, and are willing to test it and see if a cease-fire can be reached.
By Monday, the death toll from about a week of Israeli airstrikes had reached 186 -- all of them Palestinians -- with at least 1,390 wounded, according to Palestinian health authorities.
No Israelis have been killed in the rocket attacks, though there have been some injuries.
If a cease-fire takes hold on Wednesday, the Egyptians have called for Israeli and Palestinian delegations to travel to Cairo for negotiations in the coming says.
The cease-fire talks are not expected just to address just a cessation of hostilities and related security issues, but also the humanitarian situation and Palestinian concerns -- such as addressing re-opening the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, Palestinian fishing rights, salaries for Palestinians in Gaza and the eventual disarmament of Gaza.
The goal, officials from Egypt, the United States and Israel said, is to put the pieces in place to a cease-fire that endures and includes preventing Hamas's inability to re-arm and continue rocket fire. Israel has made clear that it will only consider a cease-fire if the pieces are in place to make sure that it is a lasting and durable calm.
The Egyptian cease-fire proposal calls for "Palestinian factions" to negotiate with Israel. American, Egyptian and Israeli officials say those factions are to include members of the Palestinian Authority in an effort to empower President Mahmoud Abbas as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The officials say they don't want Hamas to be the ones gaining politically from a cease-fire, as it has in the past.
Senior Israeli officials say the Egyptian proposal is being taken very seriously; however, a Hamas spokesman described it as a "joke."
"We did not receive this declared paper from the Egyptians ... which means it's an initiative for the media. It's not a political initiative," said Osama Hamdan.
Speaking on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer," he continued: "It's not really an initiative. It's not really an idea, what they are trying to do is to corner the Palestinians and to help the Israelis more."
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat was more optimistic, saying he is hopeful that "we may see some real, real serious signs of a possible cease-fire in the next 12-24 hours."
"I know that some other leaders in Hamas have said we are not closing any doors for any initiative for a cease-fire," he said.
President Barack Obama Monday welcomed Egypt's proposal, saying he hoped it "will restore the calm that we've been seeking."
One of the goals of the cease-fire is to address some of the issues surrounding the lack of Palestinian unity, with the ultimate goal of having the Palestinian Authority be the ruling authority over Gaza.
One complication is the regional rivalry between Egypt and Qatar, which has close ties with Hamas and is looking to play a role negotiating a cease-fire. While U.S. officials say they think that Qatar could play a helpful role given their close ties to Hamas, they need to balance that role carefully so as not to alienate others in the region, including Egypt, who are wary of Qatar. Qatar can also help pay Palestinian salaries, but the U.S. officials say they don't want Qatar propping up Hamas financially.
Trapped in war: 'This is tyranny'
7/14/2014 10:49:41 PM
- The death toll from nearly a week of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza had reached 186
- Around 70% of the fatalities are civilians, according to the United Nations
- In one of the bloodiest single strikes so far, 18 people were killed late Saturday
Northern Gaza (CNN) -- Mohamed Al-Batsh recalls a premonition he had the first day Israeli airstrikes began in Gaza.
He saw his father's face.
"He looked strange," Al-Batsh said. "I went to my room, closed the door, and I knew he would die. I put my head on the pillow and cried for my father and the people who would die."
His father was a leader in Hamas' military wing. He was killed late Saturday in an Israeli airstrike, along with 17 others, in one of the bloodiest single strikes so far. One of the victims was just 10 years old.
The attack in Shaja'ia, near Gaza City, highlights how residents of Gaza are trapped in war -- with no way out.
By Monday, the death toll from nearly a week of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza had reached 186 -- all of them Palestinians -- with at least 1,390 wounded, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Airstrikes have killed some militants; however, around 70% of the fatalities are civilians, according to the United Nations. Of the dead, more than 30 are children, the U.N. reported.
Israel has said it will continue the offensive as long as the militant group Hamas keeps firing rockets into its territory.
And Hamas shows no sign of letting up after launching almost 1,000 rockets at Israel.
The scene of destruction is repeated in Jabalya, in northern Gaza.
There, contents of a home are strewn in the road after another Israeli airstrike. No one was hurt.
The house next door may have been the target, but half of the one beside it was destroyed.
The Israeli military says its forces have struck 1,470 "terror targets" across Gaza, and that Hamas often hides missiles and other weapons in hospitals and private homes.
"My son isn't here," says Mohamed Abu Hassan, a neighbor. He says he who doesn't understand why he and his family are being punished.
"Is she fighting Israel?" he asks about his wife. "This is tyranny."
Hamas calls Egyptian cease-fire proposal 'a joke'
7/14/2014 7:00:59 PM
- NEW: Kerry delays trip to Mideast to give Egyptian cease-fire proposal some time, officials say
- Egypt has put forward a proposal, which a Hamas spokesman described as a "joke"
- A Palestinian negotiator welcomes the initiative, says he is hopeful
- The Gaza death toll now tops the number of people killed there during the 2012 war
Gaza City (CNN) -- The Israeli Cabinet will meet early Tuesday to consider a cease-fire proposal that could provide a possible breakthrough in the ongoing crisis.
The proposal, put forward by Egypt, calls for all sides to cease hostilities in Gaza. It also calls for the opening of border crossings, once the security situation is stable, and for high-level talks among those involved.
Senior Israeli officials say the proposal is being taken very seriously; however, a Hamas spokesman described it as a "joke."
"We did not receive this declared paper from the Egyptians ... which means it's an initiative for the media. It's not a political initiative," said Osama Hamdan.
Speaking on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer," he continued: "It's not really an initiative. It's not really an idea, what they are trying to do is to corner the Palestinians and to help the Israelis more."
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat was more optimistic, saying he is hopeful that "we may see some real, real serious signs of a possible cease-fire in the next 12-24 hours."
"I know that some other leaders in Hamas have said we are not closing any doors for any initiative for a cease-fire," he said.
The stakes are high and climbing.
By Monday, the death toll from nearly a week of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza had reached 186 -- all of them Palestinians -- with at least 1,390 wounded, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The death toll is now greater than the number killed in Gaza during the 2012 war.
"We welcome Egypt's call for a ceasefire and hope this will lead to the restoration of calm as soon as possible," said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, describing the situation as both dangerous and volatile.
'We have nothing'
Over the weekend, Israel dropped leaflets instructing residents to leave northern areas of Gaza, where it planned to carry out strikes. But Hamas, which controls Gaza, told people to stay put.
Ahmed, a resident of northern Gaza, loaded his family into a taxi Sunday to take them to somewhat safer ground in Gaza City.
"I don't answer to them," Ahmed said of Hamas' request. "I do what's best for us."
As they were getting into the car, explosions erupted nearby, prompting cries of fear from the terrified children.
It's the third time in the last five years that the family has had to flee their home.
Others stayed, because they felt they had no other choice.
"They will not vacate. ... Where do we go?" asked Ramez Al-Madhoun, who lives in a building with 20 people in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Beit Lahya. He said his building is home to seven adults, the rest children.
In Gaza City, where some streets are strewn with rubble, people are taking refuge in U.N. buildings. More than 1,000 gathered in one school alone.
Um Juma'a says she and her family of 15 fled their home at 2 a.m.
"We told the kids, 'Get up! Get up!' " she says. "We walked all the way here."
A baby in the family needs milk, but they don't have any.
"We have nothing," she says. "Not even safety."
No signs of letting up
On Monday morning, the rhythmic thuds of shells fired from Israeli warships pierced the morning silence in Gaza. The streets were relatively quiet with few cars moving around. The buzz of drones filled the skies, a constant reminder of the Israeli aerial presence
Israel has said it will continue the offensive as long as the militant group Hamas keeps firing rockets into its territory.
And Hamas shows no sign of letting up after launching almost 1,000 rockets at Israel.
Caught in the middle are the residents of Gaza. While the Israeli attacks have killed some militants, around 70% of the fatalities were civilians, according to the United Nations. Of the dead, more than 30 are children, the U.N. reported.
"I urgently call on the Israeli Security Forces to put an end to attacks against, or endangering, civilians and civilian infrastructure which are contrary to international humanitarian law," said Pierre Krahenbuhl, commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNWRA.
There are now 17,000 refugees taking shelter in 20 schools in Gaza, UNWRA said, and the airstrikes have damaged 47 of its buildings, including clinics, schools and warehouses.
UNWRA called on Israel to exercise maximum restraint and precaution to avoid more casualties.
"Clearly at this stage not enough is being done in that regard," Krahenbuhl said.
'We cannot live in peace'
Israel said its forces have struck 1,470 "terror targets" across Gaza, including 770 concealed rocket launchers.
On Monday, an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, struck a motorcycle, killing one member of Islamic Jihad, Palestinian medical and security forces said.
One airstrike hit the house of the head of the Gaza police, Tayseer al-Batsh, killing at least 18 people, all of them members of the same extended family, and wounding 50, Palestinian security and medical sources told CNN on Sunday. The attack, whose youngest victim was 10, happened late Saturday.
Earlier that day, an Israeli airstrike hit a center for the disabled, killing two women.
"Every people in Gaza are suspected as targets to Israel. We cannot live in peace in this situation," said Dr. Ahmed Jarour at Gaza's Shifa hospital, where two patients with severe burns from the disabled center attack were brought in.
On Friday, Israeli rounds struck the El Waffa Hospital.
The Israeli military said it was investigating the strikes but said that Hamas often hides missiles and other weapons in hospitals and private homes.
Iron Dome intercepting attacks
Israel has used its Iron Dome defense system against some of the more than 980 rockets fired from Gaza into Israel, the military said.
On Monday, the system intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza toward the Israeli border town of Sderot, close to CNN's Blitzer.
"We heard a loud boom," he said. "If you don't seek shelter, you're gonna be in danger because even though the rocket was destroyed in the air, the shrapnel starts coming down very, very quickly."
When sirens go off, people along the border have about 15 second to seek shelter. Farther north in Tel Aviv, where the Iron Dome system also intercepted a rocket Monday, people have about a minute.
On Sunday, militants launched more than 130 rockets at Israel. The defense system intercepted 22 of them.
Seventy percent of Israel's population lies within range of Hamas rocket attacks, according to the Israel Defense Forces, and the Iron Dome can't stop all of them.
One rocket that hit the city of Ashkelon on Sunday severely wounded an Israeli teen, the IDF said.
So far, no Israelis have been killed by the rocket attacks.
The IDF said Monday that it shot down a drone spotted along the Israeli coastline, near the city of Ashdod.
Hamas' military wing said in a brief statement that it has sent a number of drones on missions inside Israel and would provide more details in due course.
Al Aqsa TV in Gaza showed video of a drone it called Ababill 1, a name inspired by the Quran meaning "consecutive waves."
Hopes of a cease-fire
So far, international efforts to press Israel and Hamas into negotiating a cease-fire have failed to gain traction.
Secretary of State John Kerry was preparing a possible trip to the Middle East to lay groundwork for a cease-fire, but several U.S. officials told CNN Monday night that Kerry is postponing the visit to give Egyptian efforts a chance to take root.
Kerry was to travel from Vienna -- where he was negotiating a deal with Iran and world powers over Iran's nuclear program -- to Egypt and Qatar in the coming days to lay the groundwork for a possible cease-fire between the two sides.
One official said the United States wants to give Egypt a chance to reassert itself as a power broker the Middle East, as it did during the 2012 cease-fire. The United States sees the election of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as a positive development in terms of Egypt playing a constructive role in the conflict, because Obama administration sources say that North African nation now is viewed as less conciliatory towards Hamas than it was under former President Mohammed Morsy.
Kerry will allow a few days for diplomatic efforts to lay any groundwork, officials said, and is still prepared to either travel to the region if any cease-fire does not take hold, or to help support it if it does.
"Diplomacy has to start with Hamas," a senior U.S. official said. "They are the ones firing the rockets, and from (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's) point of view, he is just responding."
Earlier, Kerry spoke by phone with Netanyahu and expressed U.S. concerns about escalating tensions. He reiterated that the U.S. is prepared to help bring about a cease-fire, a senior State Department official said.
But "offering facilitation is not enough," Yousef Munayyer of the Washington-based Palestine Center told CNN's "New Day."
"It's important that the United States demand a cease-fire," he said. "There is no military solution to this."
On Monday, Ismail Haniyeh -- former prime minister and Gaza-based deputy chief of Hamas -- said that talks must take into account the situation on the ground.
"All diplomatic efforts must consider our demands. We cannot let the blood of our martyrs and the suffering and sacrifices of our people go to waste," he said.
"There are talks between several countries and with our political leadership abroad, but all must consider the reality on the ground. The resistance is steadfast against this aggression and cannot be written off."
The last cease-fire with Gaza was negotiated in 2012 and included Egypt and the country's now ousted President, Morsy.
His Muslim Brotherhood was closer to Hamas than Egypt's current government, which has been reluctant to open border crossings for Palestinians.
Tensions in the West Bank
The Gaza conflict flared after the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank set off a new cycle of violence in the region. The Jewish teens' bodies were found in a field two weeks ago.
Two days later, a Palestinian teenager -- Mohammad Abu Khedair -- was abducted and killed in Jerusalem, raising tensions further.
Seven suspects were arrested, according to Israel's domestic security service. They did not previously know their victim and two of the suspects first attempted to attack and kidnap an 8-year-old boy, the service said. The attempt was foiled by the boy's mother.
The kidnappers then patrolled Jerusalem Arab neighborhoods trying to locate a victim, until finding the teenager, the service said.
Since the Israeli youths went missing last month, Israeli security forces have been hunting for their abductors in the West Bank. Israel blames Hamas for the Jewish teenagers' deaths, an accusation the group denies.
The weeks-long Israeli search in the West Bank has stirred anger among residents, resulted in hundreds of arrests and provoked deadly unrest.
Early Monday, a 21-year-old Palestinian named Munir Ahmad Badareen was shot and killed during clashes with the Israeli military south of Hebron, said Rateb Jabour, a member of a local committee.
Badareen was left bleeding on the ground for 40 minutes before the Israeli military allowed a Palestinian ambulance to transfer him to a hospital, Jabour said.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli military said the matter would be investigated by the military police, whose findings would be reviewed by the military advocate general.
The death came as Israeli security forces detained 57 people in the West Bank late Sunday into early Monday, the Palestinian Prisoner's Society said. The detentions bring the total number of people arrested since the Israeli operation began last month to 1,071, including 34 Palestinian members of parliament, the organization said.
Pope calls for Middle East cease-fire
Fear for daughter's Gaza border wedding
Opinion: A smart way out of the Gaza confrontation
CNN's Ben Wedeman reported from Gaza City, and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Ali Younes, Yousuf Basil, Kareem Khadder, Tim Lister, Salma Abdelaziz, Michael Schwartz, Josh Levs and Khalil Abdallah contributed to this report.
How did Brazil handle the show?
7/14/2014 1:51:38 PM
CNN's Shasta Darlington examines Brazil's World Cup hosting performance and looks ahead to the 2016 Olympics.
If your browser has Adobe Flash Player installed, click above to play. Otherwise, click below.
Argentina festivities turn violent
7/14/2014 10:32:38 AM
- At least 120 people are arrested
- Mobs vandalize shops and attack officers
- Fans had gathered to celebrate Argentina's best performance since 1990
(CNN) -- Police in Argentina arrested at least 120 people Sunday after a World Cup celebration in downtown Buenos Aires got out of hand, state news agency Telam reported.
Fans had gathered to celebrate Argentina's best performance in the World Cup in almost a quarter century.
The celebrations went on peacefully without incident until a few hours later when dozens of rowdy vandals smashed shop windows, ransacked a theater, beat up journalists and attacked police officers with bottles and rocks, local media reported.
Police fired water cannons and tear gas in response.
Fifteen police officers and at least five others were injured in the clashes, Telam said.
Even though Argentina lost to Germany 1-0 in extra time, it was the first time the team made it to the World Cup final since 1990. And its star player, Lionel Messi, won the Golden Ball, given to the best player of the tournament.
"The boys gave everything," one man said. "They put their souls into the game. But this time, it didn't happen. We are very happy."
Germany erupts with joy as 24-year World Cup wait comes to an end
Bizarre moments at the World Cup final
4 key points from World Cup
7/14/2014 10:32:32 AM
- Is it the star or the team? Amy Bass says the World Cup final went to the best team
- She says takeaways include the role of sports as an influence on and window into politics
- Bass says it's time for soccer to take its dangers seriously
- She says World Cup showed enduring popularity of sport worldwide, gain in U.S. interest
Editor's note: Amy Bass, a professor of history at the College of New Rochelle, has written widely on the cultural history of sports, including the book "Not the Triumph but the Struggle: The 1968 Olympics and the Making of the Black Athlete." She is a veteran of eight Olympics as the supervisor of NBC's Olympic Research Room, for which she won an Emmy in 2012. Follow her on Twitter @bassab1. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- This World Cup final looked to answer a question that has been surfacing throughout this tournament, and perhaps -- considering the hold King James has had on U.S. basketball fans in the past few weeks -- all of sports: Is it the team, or is it the star?
The last game of this tournament pitted the best player in the world, Messi, against the best team in the world, Germany. And if nothing else, this match demonstrated definitively that while players like Messi might win games, teams like Germany win titles.
So Messi gets the Golden Ball. Germany gets everything else.
After steamrolling its way over Brazil to make the final, Germany looked to be a favorite for the title despite its early draw with Ghana. For Argentina, at stake was the lure of claiming the title on the home turf of its arch rival, Brazil, which finished a devastatingly disappointing fourth after losing in Saturday's match against the Dutch.
But the depth of Germany was too much for Argentina in the end. While Thomas Müller -- who started the tournament with a hat trick against Portugal and whose goal against Brazil in the semifinal made him only the second player in history to score five goals in consecutive World Cups -- has been one of the stars of these past weeks, it was an extra-time goal by Mario Götze, who came off the bench, that propelled Germany to the top.
So with play over for another four years, what have we learned?
Sports matter: As we have seen time and time again with the Olympic Games, politics do not cease to exist when players step onto the field, the court or the pitch. This tournament proved yet again what a critical window sport provides into the world we live in, particularly considering the fiery protests that greeted the Brazilian government when it signed on the dotted line to host. The billions spent on bringing the most-watched sporting event in the world to Brazil put the country's government into a fragile state as protestors told FIFA to "GO HOME." But the politics were not reserved for the streets of São Paulo and Rio: Inside the stadiums we saw fans in blackface when Germany faced Ghana and a spike in the use of "Nazi" on Twitter when Germany faced both Brazil and the United States.
The World Cup next goes to Russia, with Sochi's Fisht Olympic Stadium one of the venues. If the lead-up to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games are any indication, one has to wonder if Russia's next role as host to the world will renew cries against the country's discriminatory policies against the LGBT community, its controversial annexation of Crimea and claims last year by Manchester City star Yaya Toure that he had been abused by racist CSKA Moscow fans during a Champions League match.
Soccer remains the most popular sport in the world: To say the World Cup is a global spectacle barely scratches the surface. The television viewing numbers for the group stages broke all sorts of records. While American pundits seemed stunned that 24.7 million people in the United States watched their national team face Portugal, the ratings in other countries during the group stages are almost incomprehensible. Some 47.4 million people watched Brazil face Croatia, while in Japan 34.1 million people watched their team take on Ivory Coast. On Twitter, Germany's smack down of Brazil became the most conversed match ever, with 35.6 million tweets, dwarfing this year's Super Bowl numbers of 24.9 million.
It's time for FIFA to get its own head in the game: Sometimes the seemingly simplest sports can be the most dangerous. It is clear that FIFA needs to learn the hard lesson of American football and start paying attention to head injuries. It needs to think about changing its harsh substitution rules, which do not let a player return to the game once he sits and give a coach only three players off the bench per game. In the final, Germany's Christoph Kramer took a nasty shot to the head when he collided with Argentina's Ezequiel Garay in minute 17, but after a moment on the sideline, he went back in for almost 15 more minutes before falling again and leaving the game, looking unquestionably dazed and confused.
Kramer's collision was one of many that this tournament saw. Argentina's Javier Mascherano cracked his head in the semifinal against the Dutch and continued to play, while Uruguay's Álvaro Pereira went down unconscious after a knee to the head during his team's first-round match against England. Like the others, he returned to the game after a brief checkup on the sideline and played for the remaining 30 minutes. Rugby is experimenting with new substitution rules for players suspected of having concussions. Calls for soccer to do the same will likely only intensify.
Bizarre moments at the World Cup final
The United States maintains its love-hate relationship with soccer: Yes, we know, thousands upon thousands of children hit the pitch every Saturday morning, spring and fall; and yes, we know, Major League Soccer is growing its attendance and cultivating its fan base; and yes, we know, NBC is growing its ratings for the Premier League telecasts. But will this translate to soccer breaking into the ranks that basketball, baseball, football and hockey enjoy?
To be sure, more than ever before, American fans got on the World Cup wagon that somewhat shuts the rest of the world down every four years. ESPN saw record-breaking numbers for U.S. games during its excellent coverage of the tournament, and the United States found a legitimate rock star player in Tim Howard, making him a social media sensation after he stopped everything but a bus against Belgium.
Importantly, not all U.S. fans stopped watching after the Americans had been eliminated. The Germany-Brazil rollover nabbed some 6 million U.S. viewers on a Tuesday afternoon, making it the largest-rated non-U.S. World Cup game in history.
That said, allegations that soccer is boring, "flopping" players are ridiculous (that means you, Arjen Robben), the officiating (especially the time keeping) is confounding and that many fans are racist hooligans continue to be sermonized with passion and venom.
In the United States, then, there is only one thing we can count on in four years: there will be those who yet again claim that soccer has finally arrived and those who say that it hasn't and never will. But perhaps we can answer the question sooner. Tune in next year, when the Women's World Cup heads to Canada. Because on that pitch, the United States will be a major factor, and there are few things Americans like more than being contenders.
Note: An earlier version of this article gave incorrect names for the opposing teams when Thomas Müller scored in the semifinal and when 24.7 million Americans watched.
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'Safe zones' to end immigrant crisis
7/14/2014 8:13:33 AM
- Gergen, Katz: U.S. turned away ship of German Jewish refugees fleeing Nazis
- That shameful episode is remembered as fate of Central American children is debated
- They say U.N. safe zones, supported by the US, should be established in Central America
- Authors: U.S. has a duty to be compassionate toward the refugee children
Editor's note: David Gergen is a senior political analyst for CNN and has been an adviser to four presidents. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he is a professor of public service and director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Follow him on Twitter at @david_gergen. Daniel Katz, his research assistant, is a graduate of Brandeis University. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the authors.
(CNN) -- As America grapples with a crisis of children on its southern border, another image from another time seems inescapable: that ship full of Jewish refugees off our shores as World War II approached.
You might have seen the story portrayed in the Holocaust Museum in Washington. It unfolded in 1939 as Jewish families fleeing from Germany took passage to Cuba on a German liner, the St. Louis. While underway, Cuba decided to deny them entry so they turned toward America, desperately hoping the United States would show them compassion.
But the U.S. political climate had turned hostile toward the growing number of European Jewish immigrants. On June 6, 1939, their ship hovered off the coast of Miami Beach -- only to learn that the U.S. government refused them entry.
Losing hope, the St. Louis turned back to Europe and there, in the months and years that followed, over a third of its passengers perished at Nazi hands. America has had many noble moments, but that was a moment of shame that left an indelible stain.
Seventy-five years later, we are faced with a new group of desperate people hovering in our midst -- this time children from Central America escaping escalating levels of violence few of us can fathom. While certainly no Nazi Germany, the growing humanitarian crisis in their home countries is glaring as rising murder rates for youths are a driving force behind the mass exodus.
How will we respond this time?
A family secret that changed his life
As has been widely reported, the number of unaccompanied children arriving from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras has increased tenfold since 2011. It's no surprise that the current system -- designed for no more than 8,000 children -- has collapsed under the stress of 40,000 unaccompanied minors since in October. By year's end, our government says, as many as 90,000 may be apprehended -- a tripling of last year's border arrest figures.
But just as with the Jewish refugees on the St. Louis, this influx is not primarily a story of immigrants traveling to America to seek opportunity and prosperity. This is a story of three countries so plagued by gang violence, chaos and poverty that a family would rather pay a "coyote" 18 months of income to take their 14-year-old daughter on a life-threatening 45-day, 2,000-mile journey than have her risk her life at home.
This is a story of three countries with levels of violence comparable to a war zone. Honduras suffers from the highest murder rate in the world, and El Salvador and Guatemala are in the top five. In fact, a civilian is twice as likely to be killed in these three countries as in Iraq during the height of the war.
It is also the story of three broken states where the police are infiltrated by street gangs (some copied on U.S. models) and governments -- corrupt from top to bottom -- are helpless in their fight against organized crime.
And it's the kids who are most at risk in this story. Boys are recruited into gangs sometimes before they hit their teenage years. Girls are forced into nonconsensual relationships with gang members where they are raped, abused and sometimes "disposed" of afterward. And any defiance invites violent retaliation and, often, death.
One immigration rights advocate recalls a mother telling her, "I would rather see my child die on the way to the United States than die on my doorstep." Another organization reports a child explaining, "If you stay, you will die, if you leave, you might. ... Either way it's better to try."
What should be done?
We can solve the immediate crisis of children piling up in detention centers. Congress can -- and should -- pass some version of the president's $3.7 billion emergency spending request. We can -- and should -- beef up security at the border, hire more judges to expedite the process,and track down the children who skip their court dates. We can -- and should -- provide due process to these kids, seeing who legally qualifies for staying here as refugees from persecution. Estimates vary on how many will qualify.
But those calling for mass deportations of the rest need to think long and hard about what sort of fate we are sending these kids back to. Unless circumstances change, many forced to return to their cities will likely perish. They are now in our care. Are we not morally obligated to prevent the possible deaths and abuses of thousands of these children?
David Gergen, Daniel Katz
So how do we humanely protect these kids without encouraging new waves of children to undertake highly dangerous journeys and wind up on our already overstressed border?
Surely, we as Americans are capable of coming up with creative solutions that are compassionate as well as sensible, solutions that tell the world (and ourselves) that we still aspire to be good-hearted, noble but pragmatic people.
Three steps come quickly to mind. We invite you to post others.
--First, we should respond generously to those children who have already arrived or will soon. For those who qualify for refugee status under U.S. law, we should ask families across our country to help provide new homes for them.
-- Second, we should push to establish "safe zones" -- operated by the United Nations, supported by the U.S. -- for returning children and their families in their native countries and work with those countries to reduce their violence and expand hope.
--Third, once the "safe zones" are developed, we should set a firm date when all children who arrive thereafter will be returned to their native countries regardless.
The idea of "safe zones" is not new. The United Nations has successfully established such protected areas in two major instances: to protect refugees in the Indochinese crisis of the 1970s and to shield 2 million Kurds from slaughter by Saddam Hussein's troops after the 1991 Gulf War.
As we learned from a "safe area" that did not work in Bosnia in 1995, it is essential that there be enough well-armed international and regional troops on the ground to ensure zones are not overrun. In Bosnia, thousands lost their lives.
Understandably, many Americans are fatigued from trying to help other nations when our own communities are desperate for more help. Polls show that our citizenry, frustrated and disgusted by years of wars that are ending badly, are more opposed to the U.S. taking on new tasks overseas than at any time in the past 50 years.
And it's true: the only way this crisis ends well in the long run is if these Central America governments successfully fight back against gang violence and corruption. We will definitely need to aid them in their efforts, as we did in Colombia where our financial support has helped to stem the tide.
Even so, moments inevitably come that define who we are as a people. As the saying goes, we may not be looking for trouble but trouble is looking for us. How we respond to these thousands upon thousands of desperate, destitute children is one of those moments.
Will we turn our backs, as we did so shamefully to those Jewish refugees years ago? Or will we live by our ideals? That is the choice we now face.
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Midterms: World Cup of U.S. politics
7/14/2014 8:15:20 AM
- Most Americans consider midterm elections insignificant; many don't vote
- Julian Zelizer: Midterms can make a big difference, and this year's vote is huge
- If Democrats lose Senate majority, Obama's woes would only grow
- Zelizer: Democrats would lose influence, and replacing judges would be very difficult
Editor's note: Julian Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of "Jimmy Carter" and "Governing America." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- Most Americans don't think that midterm elections really matter. The majority of voters come out only for presidential elections. Midterms are left to the most activist parts of the population, the people who like to follow politics in off hours and who care as deeply about who wins elected office as they do about sports teams or celebrities.
That's a big mistake. Midterms play a huge role in shaping American politics, and this year's could be especially significant.
Traditionally, the party of the president does poorly. The 1938 midterm elections created a conservative coalition of southern Democrats and Republicans that stifled Franklin Roosevelt and subsequent Democratic presidents for decades to come.
The 1958 midterms emboldened Northern liberals to push a new agenda, while the 1966 midterms killed any remaining momentum Lyndon Johnson had for his Great Society. In 1994, Republicans reshaped the discourse of Washington by taking control of Congress, while Democrats put a kibosh on President George W. Bush's initiatives when they took it back in 2006.
This year, the stakes are big. While Republicans will certainly retain control of the House, it is unclear whether Democrats will continue to control a majority of the Senate. The importance of this outcome is enormous and will have huge consequences in the coming two years.
Why does control of the Senate matter so much, especially in an era where Congress seems so gridlocked that it can't accomplish anything?
The most important reason is that the Senate Democratic majority is the only effective counterweight to the immense power that the tea party Republicans can wield within the House Republican Caucus.
House Speaker John Boehner has proved repeatedly that he is unable to control the 25 to 30 members of his caucus who have continued to push the party sharply to the right and who have refused to enter into any kind of compromises with the Democrats on matters such as immigration.
Impotent as a leader, Boehner has ironically depended on his ability to tell colleagues that they are wasting their time in the House if they adopt tea party positions that the Senate Democrats won't accept. If Republicans gain control of the Senate in November, he won't have that check to point to anymore and we can see the GOP shift even further to the right.
With control of the majority, Senate Democrats still have the power that social scientists call "agenda setting." Although passing legislation is obviously the prime goal of members of Congress, their other function is to get issues on the table and ensure that public debate continues on key problems.
By doing that, they can keep legislative proposals alive and when the right moment hits, usually some kind of crisis, their proposals are ready to go forward. Immigration reform would likely have withered on the legislative vine of gridlock had not Senate Democrats sent the House a comprehensive reform bill and kept pressure on the lower chamber to deal with the issue.
Immigration reform is dead for the rest of the Congress, but it is an issue people are still talking about and proposals will be back on the table if Democrats have their say about it.
A Senate majority is also key to the future of the courts.
Senate Democrats scored a huge victory when they changed the rules so that the minority could not filibuster against judicial and executive appointments (other than the Supreme Court). This has already streamlined the appointment process and resulted in a burst of nominations being confirmed.
In coming years, we're likely to see numerous court battles, including the replacement of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg if she retires. Ginsburg is a vital liberal voice on a Supreme Court that has proved to be increasingly conservative.
If Republicans gain control of the Senate, the White House will be in big trouble with its appointments. Republicans will be able to block ratification of a strong progressive nominee and the White House would find itself under enormous pressure to move toward the center in choosing appointments if they are going to have a chance of confirmation.
Control over the Senate also matters because it will be one of the first major stories of the 2016 election campaign for the White House.
If Republicans gain control of the Senate, it will spark a conversation about 2016 that begins with talk of how Democrats have become weaker politically as a result of Obama's troubles and how Republicans -- despite all their own approval rating problems -- are on the upswing. This would certainly provide a boost to their party and a good framework for Republican presidential nominees to start their campaigns.
If Democrats retain control of the Senate, it would have a very different effect. The storyline for the 2016 election would begin with the ability of Democrats to check the Republican resurgence. The Republican civil war would become more intense, with the right blaming the party's establishment for crushing more conservative candidates in the primaries and the establishment blaming the right for forcing candidates to take positions that are politically unpopular.
The midterms are a big deal.
What happens to the Senate will play a very important role in the direction of U.S. politics in the coming years, even if Congress remains in its current dysfunctional state. Americans should not be complacent. Don't leave the election to the activists.
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Troops set for battle at border
7/15/2014 6:30:05 AM
Israel accepts a cease-fire with Palestinian militants, but their troops prepare for conflict on the border.
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Israel: If Hamas fires, we'll respond
7/15/2014 3:28:43 AM
Israel says it will accept an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Hamas. CNN's Karl Penhaul reports.
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U.S.: Give Egypt peace plan a chance
7/15/2014 3:27:26 AM
- On Monday, Egypt called for a cease-fire to stop the bloodshed, protect the innocent
- Kerry was to travel to Egypt and Qatar in the coming days
- His goal was to set groundwork for a possible cease-fire
- An official says the U.S. wants to give Egypt a change to reassert itself in the Mideast
Washington (CNN) -- Secretary of State John Kerry is postponing a visit to the Middle East to give Egyptian efforts at negotiating a cease-fire between Israelis and Hamas a chance to take root, several senior U.S. officials tell CNN.
Kerry was to travel from Vienna -- where he was negotiating a deal with Iran and world powers over Iran's nuclear program -- to Egypt and Qatar in the coming days to lay the groundwork for a possible cease-fire between the two sides.
On Monday, Egypt called for a cease-fire to stop the bloodshed and to project the innocent.
"Egypt shall receive guarantees from both sides of their commitment to implement what has been agreed upon, and shall follow up on its implementation and engage with either side in the case of any action that impinges on its stability," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
One official said the United States wants to give Egypt a chance to reassert itself as a power broker the Middle East, as it did during the 2012 cease-fire. The United States sees the election of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as a positive development in terms of Egypt playing a constructive role in the conflict, because Obama administration sources say that North African nation now is viewed as less conciliatory towards Hamas than it was under former President Mohammed Morsy.
Kerry will allow a few days for diplomatic efforts to lay any groundwork, officials said, and is still prepared to either travel to the region if any cease-fire does not take hold, or to help support it if it does.
Israeli officials tell CNN their military operations have made inroads to degrade Hamas' capability, now see some potential in the Egyptian proposal, and are willing to test it and see if a cease-fire can be reached.
By Monday, the death toll from about a week of Israeli airstrikes had reached 186 -- all of them Palestinians -- with at least 1,390 wounded, according to Palestinian health authorities.
No Israelis have been killed in the rocket attacks, though there have been some injuries.
If a cease-fire takes hold on Wednesday, the Egyptians have called for Israeli and Palestinian delegations to travel to Cairo for negotiations in the coming says.
The cease-fire talks are not expected just to address just a cessation of hostilities and related security issues, but also the humanitarian situation and Palestinian concerns -- such as addressing re-opening the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, Palestinian fishing rights, salaries for Palestinians in Gaza and the eventual disarmament of Gaza.
The goal, officials from Egypt, the United States and Israel said, is to put the pieces in place to a cease-fire that endures and includes preventing Hamas's inability to re-arm and continue rocket fire. Israel has made clear that it will only consider a cease-fire if the pieces are in place to make sure that it is a lasting and durable calm.
The Egyptian cease-fire proposal calls for "Palestinian factions" to negotiate with Israel. American, Egyptian and Israeli officials say those factions are to include members of the Palestinian Authority in an effort to empower President Mahmoud Abbas as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The officials say they don't want Hamas to be the ones gaining politically from a cease-fire, as it has in the past.
Senior Israeli officials say the Egyptian proposal is being taken very seriously; however, a Hamas spokesman described it as a "joke."
"We did not receive this declared paper from the Egyptians ... which means it's an initiative for the media. It's not a political initiative," said Osama Hamdan.
Speaking on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer," he continued: "It's not really an initiative. It's not really an idea, what they are trying to do is to corner the Palestinians and to help the Israelis more."
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat was more optimistic, saying he is hopeful that "we may see some real, real serious signs of a possible cease-fire in the next 12-24 hours."
"I know that some other leaders in Hamas have said we are not closing any doors for any initiative for a cease-fire," he said.
President Barack Obama Monday welcomed Egypt's proposal, saying he hoped it "will restore the calm that we've been seeking."
One of the goals of the cease-fire is to address some of the issues surrounding the lack of Palestinian unity, with the ultimate goal of having the Palestinian Authority be the ruling authority over Gaza.
One complication is the regional rivalry between Egypt and Qatar, which has close ties with Hamas and is looking to play a role negotiating a cease-fire. While U.S. officials say they think that Qatar could play a helpful role given their close ties to Hamas, they need to balance that role carefully so as not to alienate others in the region, including Egypt, who are wary of Qatar. Qatar can also help pay Palestinian salaries, but the U.S. officials say they don't want Qatar propping up Hamas financially.
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