 | We find the best deals on best-selling Kindle books for you. Just tell us which genres you love and we'll do the rest. The best part? It's completely free! From our sponsors |
| CNN.com - Top Stories |
| CNN.com delivers up-to-the-minute news and information on the latest top stories, weather, entertainment, politics and more. |
Dutch beat Costa Rica in shootout
7/5/2014 6:05:10 PM
- The Netherlands into World Cup semifinals after defeating Costa Rica in Salvador
- Game finishes 0-0 but the Dutch win penalty shootout 4-3
- Louis van Gaal's team will now play Argentina in semifinals on Wednesday
- Argentina beat Belgium 1-0 in Saturday's other quarterfinal
Editor's note: How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN Facebook Pulse
(CNN) -- It was supposed to be a formality, but the Netherlands was made to sweat against Costa Rica before eventually overcoming the 2014 World Cup's surprise package and booking a place in the semifinals Saturday.
Substitute goalkeeper Tim Krul was the hero, saving two penalties to secure a 4-3 shootout victory after this tense, nervous quarterfinal finished goalless.
Incredibly, the Newcastle man was brought on in the 29th minute of extra time with the sole job of denying "Los Ticos" in the spot-kick showdown.
It earned the Dutch a second consecutive semifinals appearance, having lost to Spain in the title match four years ago.
Now the aim for Louis van Gaal's men is to go one better than in South Africa.
Standing in their way of another final appearance will be Argentina, which defeated Belgium in the day's earlier game thanks to a solitary early goal from Gonzalo Higuain.
Wednesday's clash will be a repeat of the 1978 final, which Argentina won 3-1, and the dramatic 1998 quarterfinal in which the Dutch triumphed thanks to a spectacular Dennis Bergkamp winner.
True Dutch courage? Not many coaches bring on a new keeper with a minute to play:http://t.co/Am8Kie42Zr #CNNWorldCup pic.twitter.com/Zoyi1iFpor
— CNN Football Club (@CNNFC) July 5, 2014 On the performances of both teams Saturday, it will be difficult to pick a winner.
Belgium coach Marc Wilmots described Argentina as "ordinary" in his post-match press conference earlier in the day.
Likewise, there was little that was obviously special about the Dutch against Costa Rica -- but Van Gaal's players have recorded some impressive results at this World Cup so far.
A thrilling 5-1 demolition of reigning world champion Spain was followed up with two closely fought victories over Australia and Chile.
The round of 16, meanwhile, produced a dramatic late win over an impressive Mexico side in the oppressive heat of Fortaleza.
In Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador, the Oranje was faced with another Latin American opponent -- a Costa Rica team which was only the fourth side from the CONCACAF region to reach a World Cup quarterfinal.
Solid defensive displays and tactical astuteness from its wily manager, Jorge Luis Pinto, had brought Los Ticos this far.
Nobody expected them to get out out of a pool containing Italy, England and Uruguay, let alone as group winners.
A heroic display with 10 men against Greece in the round of 16, winning a shootout, ensured Pinto's team would progress further than ever before.
But in Van Gaal, Pinto had met his match.
The Dutch master, who will take over the reigns at Manchester United once the World Cup is over, is one of the most celebrated European coaches of the last 30 years.
Throughout the tournament he has switched his style, tactics and personnel depending on the demands of the opponents.
A rapid counter-attacking style was deployed against Spain to devastating effect while striker Dirk Kuyt was effectively utilized as a defender against Chile to stifle the South Americans' impressive forward line.
Here, Van Gaal adopted a similarly prudent approach.
Both sides started cautiously, standing off and refraining from pressing until entering each other's territory.
Whether this was down to a mark of respect or a pacing exercise in the Salvador heat was unclear, but the Dutch were the first to break the tentative rhythm.
Robin van Persie was played through by Memphis Depay but Keylor Navas, who has performed admirably throughout the tournament, blocked low to his left before springing up to gather Wesley Sneijders follow-up.
Moments later Navas was at it again, saving low from Depay who had been set up by Van Persie.
Costa Rica had its own chances, though they were less clear cut.
#NEDARG is another #WorldCup 'classic'. #NED hold advantage: 2:1 wins. Great memories of Kempes '78 & Bergkamp '98. pic.twitter.com/Ts80wGiuMt
— Joseph S Blatter (@SeppBlatter) July 5, 2014 A series crosses peppered Jesper Cillessen's goal but there was little to concern the men in orange until a flick from Celso Borges bounced invitingly across goal with no Costa Rican striker to tuck home.
The Dutch responded with a free kick from Sneijder that was spectacularly clawed away by Navas shortly after.
After the break, both managers looked to break the stalemate by shuffling their pack.
Marcos Urena replaced Joel Campbell up front for Los Ticos while the Dutch also made a striking change, taking off Depay for Jeremain Lens.
Then, just as it seemed the game would never break from a crawling pace, it burst into life.
Arjen Robben, who Costa Rica looked to double up on all night, burst forward and, despite accentuating what was minimal contact from Giancarlo Gonzalez, won a free kick on the edge of the box.
Sneijder stepped up and rattled the post with a vicious swerving shot before the ball was eventually cleared.
All of a sudden, the Dutch were energized and Los Ticos were rocking.
Another free kick caused chaos in the Costa Rica box and the ball dropped to Van Persie, who fired in a shot that Navas again did well to block.
As the clock struck 90 minutes the Dutch had their best chance of all as Daley Blind's low cross evaded everyone until it landed at the feet of captain Van Persie at the back post.
The Manchester United striker struck the ball goalwards with Navas stranded but his shot was met by the retreating, Yeltsin Tejeda who somehow used his body to deflect the ball onto the bar and away.
Wave for Netherlands - Costa Rica: Lots and lots and lots of orange. http://t.co/CGD3mNoaQD #NED #CRC #NEDCRC pic.twitter.com/QCiRgnHNO9
— Infostrada Sports (@InfostradaLive) July 5, 2014 After what was for so long a sterile contest, the brief break before extra time barely seemed enough for the now clearly tiring players to catch their breath.
The Dutch again started on the front foot as Navas made another fine save from a Ron Vlaar header.
From the resultant corner, the keeper was almost caught out as he flapped at Sneijder's cross.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar was introduced at the break for defender Bruno Martins Indi as Van Gaal attempted to avoid the dreaded penalty shootout.
The striker, whose injury-time penalty won the day against Mexico,was soon booked for crashing into Navas when challenging for a high ball.
Costa Rica threatened next as substitute Urena broke free at the edge of the box, working a yard of space before firing a low shot that Cillessen dived to push away.
Even closer was to follow at the other end.
As the clock ticked down, Sneijder peeled away at the far edge of the box before setting himself and unleashing another brilliant curling strike.
For once Navas was helpless. But again the woodwork came to his rescue as the midfielder's shot bounced away of the crossbar.
Penalties it would be -- but not before Van Gaal took the unorthodox decision to replace Cillesen with Krul for the shootout.
"There is no question about who will start next game, it will be Cillessen," Van Gaal said. "But we felt Krul was the better choice here.
"We told Krul that he would be a possibility for the penalties, but we didn't tell Cillessen, as we didn't want to ruin his preparation."
It was a bold call that would prove decisive.
Krul prowled around his area in an attempt to psyche out the Costa Rica penalty takers, pointing to his eye to let them know he'd done his homework.
Maybe he had, maybe he hadn't. But his efforts to unnerve his opponents worked.
Krul first dived low to his left to save from Bryan Ruiz and when Dirk Kuyt drilled the Netherlands' fourth spot-kick home, Michael Umana knew he had to score to keep his side in the competition.
Sadly for Umana and the tiny Central American nation of five million souls, he couldn't, as Krul again went low to his left to push the spot-kick round the post and end the dream of these most valiant of underdogs.
"We cannot blame anyone because to be there at that time is not easy," said Navas, who was named man of the match for the third time at Brazil 2014.
"Our rivals did their job in the penalty shootout and we didn't."
Pinto admitted his team had been "lucky throughout the game" but expressed his great pride.
"We are not a world football power but we have done very important things here," the Colombian said.
"We go home proud of what we have done and I want to express my gratitude to the Brazilian people."
Read: Argentina defeats Belgium to reach semis
Argentina edges into semifinals
7/5/2014 5:40:21 PM
- Argentina defeats Belgium to reach World Cup semifinals
- Gonzalo Higuain scores only goal of game early in first half
- La Albiceleste will next face either Costa Rica or the Netherlands
How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN Facebook Pulse
(CNN) -- If anyone wondered about Argentina's World Cup-winning credentials, surely there can be little doubt now.
Not because of the convincing nature of the team's football thus far mind you -- far from it.
But after a solitary goal from Gonzalo Higuain was enough to overcome Belgium in Brasilia on Saturday, "La Albiceleste" are only one game away from the final of this gripping World Cup.
The win also marked the first time Argentina has reached a World Cup semifinal since 1990, when -- after overcoming host nation Italy on penalties -- it was eventually defeated by West Germany in a bad-tempered final.
That came four years after Diego Maradona inspired the country's second title success in football's showpiece event, in Mexico, following victory on home soil in 1978.
"After 24 years this is a good tribute to this squad -- they will go down in history as one of the best four teams in the world and we will see if they can go one step more," coach Alejandro Sabella told reporters.
While Brazil will be without injured star striker Neymar for Tuesday's semifinal against Germany -- and the rest of the tournament if the host goes any further -- the Argentines have their own fitness concerns after trumping a Belgian team tipped as a pre-tournament dark horse.
For the first time since 1990, Argentina will contest a World Cup semifinal: http://t.co/e77GOx1aVj #CNNWorldCup pic.twitter.com/V84ezvzfc7
— CNN Football Club (@CNNFC) July 5, 2014 Angel Di Maria, who scored Argentina's winning goal in the previous round, is a doubt for Wednesday's match against the Netherlands -- which beat Costa Rica in a penalty shootout later Saturday -- after coming off with a thigh injury in the first half.
Nevertheless, they will be glad to be through.
Alejandro Sabella's team had struggled in the group stage, requiring a dramatic late strike from Lionel Messi to overcome unfancied Iran and only narrowly defeating Nigeria and Bosnia.
An uncomfortable extra-time victory over Switzerland in the round of 16 also hardly inspired confidence.
Yet such worries seem pointless when a team has the likes of Messi in its ranks.
The Barcelona star has finally announced his arrival on the World Cup stage in Brazil after a disappointing 2010 tournament in South Africa and only a few substitute appearances as a 17-year-old in Germany four years prior.
Messi had scored four goals in four games coming in to this encounter, as well as providing a fantastic dribbling assist for di Maria to secure victory over Switzerland.
"I felt he played a wonderful match," Sabella said. "It's not only scoring goals, it's having possession, taking out three opponents, and every move he makes is a sign of hope for us and endangers our opponents.
"That a player like Messi almost never loses the ball is water in the desert -- he gives us that water in the desert.
"Today when the terrain was dry he gave us that breath of fresh air every time he had the ball."
But Belgium has talent of its own, a golden generation even.
With genuinely top-class players such as Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois and Vincent Kompany in the squad, this was a quality of opposition Argentina had yet to face this tournament.
Perhaps aware of this, the South Americans looked sharp from the off, backed by a considerable support in the stands, bouncing and singing in the early afternoon sun.
A glorious Messi pass early on almost gave the fans something more to shout about, but Ezequiel Lavezzi's cross couldn't find Higuain in the center.
However, the Napoli striker would not be denied shortly after.
Kompany lost possession as he stepped out of defense and when di Maria's deflected pass found Higuain, he swiveled to strike the ball in to the corner of Courtois' net from just outside the penalty area.
It was a fine instinctive finish from a man who had failed to find the net all tournament before this game, and it drew him level with Messi on five World Cup career goals.
Belgium sought a quick response.
Kevin de Bruyne -- who netted the opening goal against the U.S. in the last 16 -- fired a shot high and wide from roughly 30 yards out after 13 minutes and once more shortly after which Sergio Romero did well to push away in the Argentina goal.
Wave of Argentina v Belgium. Typical pattern in last 15 mins of team searching for equaliser: http://t.co/HnJi2kUz86 pic.twitter.com/BbURqDc3KC
— Infostrada Sports (@InfostradaLive) July 5, 2014 Argentina suffered a blow after 33 minutes as di Maria went down clutching his thigh. The Real Madrid winger looked in considerable pain as he left the field but was able to take a place alongside his teammates on the bench to watch the remainder of the game.
Messi then went close from a free-kick just before halftime after the ever-unsubtle Marouane Fellaini had made four clear attempts to bring down the illusive striker.
The second half began much like the first had ended, with Argentina carving out the better chances.
Higuain nutmegged Kompany to put himself through on Courtois' goal but just when it looked like he was about to double the Argentine advantage, the crossbar came to the rescue of the despairing goalkeeper.
Again Belgium looked to respond, bringing on Romelu Lukaku for the ineffective Divock Origi -- who in the group stage was the first teenager to score at a World Cup since Messi -- and Dries Mertens for Kevin Mirallas.
With the Argentina defense being organized by the experienced pair of Martin Demichelis and Ezequiel Garay, the Belgians' best chance of success looked like it would come from a set-piece rather than open play.
Fellaini made a nuisance of himself on numerous occasions, pushing, bullying and harassing as defenders at corners and free-kicks.
However an inability to follow the offside rule repeatedly frustrated the Red Devils.
Belgium hadn't scored a goal earlier than the 70th minute in this tournament but as the game progressed, coach Marc Wilmots became ever more desperate on the sidelines.
"We were not impressed by the Argentinians, they were just an ordinary team," said the former Belgium international.
"They can distort the rhythm, they take 30 seconds to take a throw-in and the referee doesn't do anything. If I played that way I would have been destroyed by the Belgium press."
Seeking a lifeline, Wilmots pushed veteran defender Daniel van Buyten -- likely playing his last game before retirement -- forward to operate as an auxiliary striker.
But it was Argentina which came closest to scoring again, though Messi was unable to add to his 2014 tournament tally of four as the onrushing figure of Courtois blocked his dinked strike on the counter attack.
Belgium scrambled forward one final time but when Axel Witzel's ambitious long range effort flew over, Argentina could celebrate.
Read: Dutch end Costa Rica dream in shootout
Read: Neymar ruled out of World Cup
Saturday's quarterfinal results
7/5/2014 6:05:56 PM
- World Cup kicked off June 12 with host Brazil beating Croatia
- 32 teams are divided into eight groups of four teams
- Top two teams in each group go to knockout stages
- Final takes place on Sunday July 13 in Rio de Janeiro
Editor's note: How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN's Facebook Pulse
(CNN) -- Saturday's quarterfinals:
Netherlands 0-0 Costa Rica in Salvador (Netherlands wins 4-3 on penalties)
Argentina 1-0 Belgium in Brasilia (FT)
Gonzalo Higuain (8 mins)
Schedule of matches (kickoff times GMT):
Thursday June 12
Group A: Brazil 3-1 Croatia in Sao Paulo
Friday June 13
Group A: Mexico 1-0 Cameroon in Natal
Group B: Spain 1-5 Netherlands in Salvador
Group B: Chile 3-1 Australia in Cuiaba
Saturday June 14
Group C: Colombia 3-0 Greece in Belo Horizonte
Group D: Uruguay 1-3 Costa Rica in Fortaleza
Group D: England 1-2 Italy in Manaus
Group C: Ivory Coast 2-1 Japan in Recife
Sunday June 15
Group E: Switzerland 2-1 Ecuador in Brasilia
Group E: France 3-0 Honduras in Porto Alegre
Group F: Argentina 2-1 Bosnia Herzegovina in Rio de Janeiro
Monday June 16
Group G: Germany 4-0 Portugal in Salvador
Group F: Iran 0-0 Nigeria in Curitiba
Group G: Ghana 1-2 USA in Natal
Tuesday June 17
Group H: Belgium 2-1 Algeria in Belo Horizonte
Group A: Brazil 0-0 Mexico in Fortaleza
Group H: Russia 1-1 South Korea in Cuiaba
Wednesday June 18
Group B: Australia 2-3 Netherlands in Porto Alegre
Group B: Spain 0-2 Chile in Rio
Group A: Cameroon 0-4 Croatia in Manaus
Thursday June 19
Group C: Colombia 2-1 Ivory Coast in Brasilia
Group D: Uruguay 2-1 England in Sao Paulo
Group C: Japan 0-0 Greece in Natal
Friday June 20
Group D: Italy 0-1 Costa Rica in Recife
Group E: Switzerland 2-5 France in Salvador
Group E: Honduras 1-2 Ecuador in Curitiba
Saturday June 21
Group F: Argentina 1-0 Iran in Belo Horizonte
Group G: Germany 2-2 Ghana in Fortaleza
Group F: Nigeria 1-0 Bosnia Herzegovina in Cuiaba
Sunday June 22
Group H: Belgium 1-0 Russia in Rio de Janeiro
Group H: South Korea 2-4 Algeria in Porto Alegre
Group G: USA 2-2 Portugal in Manaus
Monday June 23
Group B: Netherlands 2-0 Chile in Sao Paulo
Group B: Australia 0-3 Spain in Curitiba
Group A: Brazil 4-1 Cameroon in Brasilia
Group A: Croatia 1-3 Mexico in Recife
Tuesday June 24
Group D: Italy 0-1 Uruguay in Natal
Group D: Costa Rica 0-0 England in Belo Horizonte
Group C: Japan 1-4 Colombia in Cuiaba
Group C: Greece 2-1 Ivory Coast in Fortaleza
Wednesday June 25
Group F: Nigeria 2-3 Argentina in Porto Alegre
Group F: Bosnia Herzegovina 3-1 Iran in Salvador
Group E: Honduras 0-3 Switzerland in Manaus
Group E: Ecuador 0-0 France in Rio de Janeiro
Thursday June 26
Group G: Portugal 2-1 Ghana in Brasilia
Group G: USA 0-1 Germany in Recife
Group H: South Korea 0-1 Belgium in Sao Paulo
Group H: Algeria 1-1 Russia in Curitiba
Last-16 knockout matches:
Saturday June 28
Match 49: Brazil 1-1 Chile in Belo Horizonte (Brazil wins 3-2 on penalties)
Match 50: Colombia 2-0 Uruguay in Rio de Janeiro
Sunday June 29
Match 51: Netherlands 2-1 Mexico in Fortaleza
Match 52: Costa Rica 1-1 Greece in Recife (Costa Rica wins 5-3 on penalties)
Monday June 30:
Match 53: France 2-0 Nigeria in Brasilia
Match 54: Germany 2-1 Algeria in Porto Alegre (After extra time)
Tuesday July 1
Match 55: Argentina 1-0 Switzerland in Sao Paulo (After extra time)
Match 56: Belgium 2-1 USA in Salvador (After extra time)
Quarterfinals:
Friday July 4
Match 57: Germany 1-0 France in Rio de Janeiro
Match 58: Brazil 2-1 Colombia in Fortaleza
Saturday July 5
Match 59: Argentina 1-0 Belgium in Brasilia
Match 60: Netherlands 0-0 Costa Rica in Salvador (Netherlands wins 4-3 on penalties)
Semifinals
Tuesday July 8
Match 61: Germany v Brazil in Belo Horizonte (2000)
Wednesday July 9
Match 62: Argentina v Netherlands in Sao Paulo (2000)
Third and fourth place playoff
Saturday July 12
Loser Match 61 v Loser Match 62 in Brasilia (2000)
Final
Sunday July 13
Winner Match 61 v Winner Match 62 in Rio de Janeiro (1900)
Brazil's Neymar ruled out of World Cup
7/5/2014 2:27:13 PM
- NEW: Argentinian star Lionel Messi says: "I hope you recover very soon, friend!"
- Neymar fractured a vertebra during Brazil's World Cup win, team doctor says
- He is out for World Cup semifinal and, if Brazil beats Germany, the final
- One Brazilian fan says, "It's like we have lost today"
Editor's note: How are you celebrating the World Cup? Join the global conversation on CNN Facebook Pulse
(CNN) -- Brazil is into the World Cup semifinals.
But its brightest star is out.
Neymar fractured his vertebra Friday night during his team's World Cup quarterfinal win over Colombia and will miss the remainder of the football tournament, team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar told reporters after the game.
The 22-year-old got kneed in the back during a second-half collision with a Colombian player. He rolled on the ground afterward, then cried in apparent pain while being taken off the field on a stretcher.
"It's not serious in the sense that it doesn't need surgery, but he'll need to immobilize it to recover," said Lasmar, according to a story on the official website of FIFA, which runs the World Cup. "Unfortunately, he's not going to be able to play."
His loss is a huge blow for Brazil, which entered the World Cup with steep expectations given its traditional excellence in the sport -- its won more championships than any other country -- and the fact it is hosting the tourney for the first time since 1950.
As one woman dressed in a Brazilian national team jersey told CNN on Friday night in Rio de Janeiro, "It's like we have lost today."
"It's terrible, terrible. I'm so sad," she added regarding Neymar's injury. "But let's go on."
Many in Brazil still have a bitter taste from that World Cup decades ago, when the host lost in the finals to Uruguay.
It's not like the next game would have been easy regardless. In the semifinal Tuesday, Brazil will face Germany, which is undefeated in the tournament and handily toppled France earlier Friday. The final game will take place July 13.
Neymar is not the only one unavailable for the semifinal: Thiago Silva, the squad's captain, will also miss the game after getting his second yellow card on Friday -- which automatically rules him out of his next game.
Neymar has been the face of his team in his native Brazil and around the world. He has scored four goals, more than anyone else on his team and anyone in the tournament besides Colombia's James Rodriguez. (Argentina's Lionel Messi and Germany's Thomas Mueller also have four goals, like Neymar.)
A standout with the Brazilian club Santos, Neymar moved last summer to one of the world's richest, most successful clubs in FC Barcelona.
Messi, his teammate there, was among those who offered their regrets that Neymar is out of the World Cup and their best wishes for a speedy recovery.
The legendary Argentinian posted Friday night on his Facebook page: "Neymar, I hope you recover very soon, friend!"
Read: Brazil battles past Colombia
Read: Germany haunts France yet again
CNN's Harry Reekie, Fred Pleitgen and Mayra Cuevas contributed to this report.
Photos: All the World Cup goals
7/5/2014 11:46:12 AM
Gonzalo Higuain, left, of Argentina celebrates scoring his team's first goal during a World Cup quarterfinal match against Belgium on Saturday, July 5, in Brasilia, Brazil. Click through the gallery to see all the goals scored so far in the World Cup.
Iraq: Lines in sand must not shift
7/5/2014 8:57:15 PM
- Iraq's borders were mapped out by the British and French colonial powers during WWI
- Faisal Al Yafai writes that the borders -- though contentious and flawed -- have broadly held
- Plans for an Arab caliphate or dividing Iraq into statelets are not realistic, he says
- Seeking to change them now is a recipe for a generation of war, Al Yafai writes
Editor's note: Faisal Al Yafai is chief columnist for The National newspaper, and an award-winning essayist and journalist. His book about liberalism and feminism in the Arab and Islamic worlds is forthcoming from IB Tauris London. Follow him on Twitter @FaisalAlYafai. The views expressed in this commentary are solely his. This is the second of four opinion articles giving readers a snapshot of major issues in the Middle East. Follow the discussion this Ramadan on Connect the World with Becky Anderson as it travels from Abu Dhabi to Cairo, Beirut, Istanbul and Sharjah. Weekdays 4:00pm London time 7:00 pm Abu Dhabi time.
(CNN) -- Ever since the 2003 invasion of Iraq exposed deep-rooted religious and ethnic divisions, analysts have suggested giving up on the colonial-era borders of modern Iraq and dividing the country.
Jihadists have felt the opposite, that the region should be united into a new caliphate -- indeed that is precisely what the militant group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) declared this week. Both are wrong.
The lines drawn by the British and French colonial powers in 1916 became, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the borders of new Arab states. Over the years, these lines splitting the Levant into Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq have been enormously contentious, to the extent that it is often argued the region might be better without them. Either removing these lines altogether and returning to the world of the early 20th century, or drawing them smaller and tighter still.
Certainly the idea of closer union among the Arab countries has been tried, in various forms, over the decades since the close of the Second World War. But what should work in theory hasn't worked in practice -- the most ambitious attempt, the United Arab Republic, practically destroyed liberal, secular politics for a generation.
Conversely, the lines in the sand of Sykes-Picot, which should not have worked in practice, have held, broadly, for decades. That doesn't mean they are perfect. But at a time of immense upheaval in the Middle East, they may be better than the alternative.
The end of the caliphate necessitated a new search for political organization in the region. But if the joining together of all the Arab lands in a new caliphate is not a realistic answer to the real political questions of the Middle East, nor is the oft-proposed division of Iraq into smaller statelets.
Dividing Iraq
Ever since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the division of Iraq into three parts -- roughly, a Kurdish north, a Sunni middle and a Shia south -- has been proposed earnestly, often by people with barely any knowledge of the region, its peoples and societies.
Faisal Al Yafai
The casualness with which the suggestion of such an immense change is made mirrors the callous approach taken by the colonial surveyors who first drew these borders, seeking to change the lives of nations with the stroke of a pen.
As recently as 2006, the U.S. vice-president Joseph Biden argued that Iraq should be partitioned, and even the German foreign minister, two weeks ago, in a tone that suggests he was simply exasperated with the complexity of the situation, said it might be difficult to prevent Iraq splitting apart.
Such a project, however, faces immense technical as well as human challenges, which are rarely addressed. Any division of Iraq has to take into account people, politics and economics.
In the most often suggested scenario, the northern Kurdish region would take the oil-fields around Kirkuk in the north, the Shia state would take the capital Baghdad and the main port in the southern city of Basra, leaving a Sunni rump state in the west, denuded of resources with which to survive. Moreover, the new smaller Shia state in the south would come under Iran's influence, extending Tehran's reach into a state that would now border Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The idea that this division would solve anything is a dangerous fantasy.
As things stand today, an attempt to divide Iraq would not occur calmly but would be a furious scramble for the country's resources, as well as a rush by Iraq's neighbors for influence over the three new states in their midst. It would not solve the problem. Rather it would entrench the failures of politicians, writing failed policies across the lines of a map.
Mass migration
Moreover, drawing new borders along religious lines would mean a mass movement of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of people. An estimated one million Iraqis are already on the move within Iraq, internally displaced from their homes. Any attempt to divide Iraq into different countries would mean many more.
To ask or force so many to move, even from, say, Baghdad to Basra, would mean uprooting them from jobs, friends and families. It would need a strategy to ensure that there are sufficient jobs waiting, that there are schools for the children to attend, that there are apartments and houses for people to live in. Mass migration cannot be accomplished safely by speeches alone.
Even with the most extensive planning, the results would likely be chaotic. As Feisal Istrabadi, former deputy Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations, pointed out two weeks ago: "If Iraq falls apart, it will not fall apart into three neat pieces. What you're much more likely to see is a Somalia in Iraq."
Iraqis are simply too mixed together. Even today, more than a decade after the invasion of Iraq, the same mistakes of understanding are made.
One is to imagine a neat division of Sunnis, Shia and Kurds, mixing up ethnic and religious categories. The Kurds, after all, are mainly Sunni Muslims and both Sunni and Shia Muslims and Christians are Arabs. Add to that mix the other minorities of Iraq, the Yezidis, the Armenians, the Circassians. In a divided Iraq, where would they go? If the answer is that they could stay as minorities in the areas they currently live, why couldn't that formulation equally apply to Sunnis in Shia areas and Shia in Sunni areas?
Another is to imagine that such neat distinctions continue in real life. In fact, until the Iraq war unleashed political forces that fanned the flames of sectarianism, the idea of division along sect or religion was broadly unknown in Iraq. Baghdad, like most of the big cities, was religiously mixed.
'Iraqis must make decision'
It wasn't a utopia -- it was, after all, ruled by Saddam's iron fist -- but to imagine that life, for decades, was merely a bubbling cauldron of resentment waiting to explode is to do a great disservice to Iraqi society, defining it solely by its divisions, as if the lines of religion or ethnicity could never be surmounted. In fact, they were, both individually -- Sunnis and Shias married each other, as did Christians and Muslims -- and city-wide. Divisions in Iraq were, as in most countries of the world, more about economics than race or religion.
None of that means that partitioning Iraq should not be considered. But it has to come with the understanding that it is Iraqis themselves who must make the decision and that rearranging what were lines in the sand is a serious business, because the new borders will have to be drawn across the bodies of real people.
It is always easier to speak of division than to speak of good policy. But that is what is needed now. The colonial-era divisions were a mess. But seeking to change them now, at this moment, is a recipe for a generation of war. For better or worse, the Middle East is stuck with the lines drawn by Sykes-Picot.
Read: Why Middle East's borders will never be the same again
Read: ISIS establishes 'caliphate'
Read: Understanding Iraq's crisis through maps
The word you shouldn't be using
7/4/2014 8:43:45 AM
- The film "Documented" airs 9 p.m. ET Saturday, July 5, on CNN
- Sally Kohn: The n-word and f-word are considered bad, but what about "illegals?"
- Kohn: Some words reflect our dehumanizing attitude toward marginalized people
- She says despite heated debates over immigration, people should have compassion
Editor's note: Sally Kohn is a progressive activist, columnist and television commentator. Follow her on Twitter @sallykohn. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. The film "Documented" airs on Saturday, July 5 at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.
This article contains strong language in quotes that could be offensive to some readers.
(CNN) -- During the civil rights era, Alabama Gov. George Wallace was asked by a supporter why he was fixated on the politics of race. Wallace replied, "You know, I tried to talk about good roads and good schools and all these things that have been part of my career, and nobody listened. And then I began talking about n*ggers, and they stomped the floor."
In the 1980s, during the rise of the gay rights movement, North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms accused a political opponent for supporting "f*ggots, perverts [and] sexual deviates of this nation."
Today, opponents of immigration reform attack undocumented immigrants as "illegal immigrants." Even worse, like anti-immigration extremists, some prominent elected officials use the term "illegals." Maine Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, said, "I urge all Mainers to tell your city councilors and selectmen to stop handing out your money to illegals."
Not the same thing? Of course it is.
Once upon a time, the n-word and f-word were utterly acceptable terminology in undermining not only the basic rights but basic humanity of black people and gay people. That those terms seem radically inappropriate and out of step with mainstream culture now is only because social movements and legal and political changes have shifted the landscape. But make no mistake about it, words matter, not only in reflecting certain dehumanizing attitudes toward historically marginalized groups but in actively perpetuating and rationalizing that dehumanization.
Even now, as some people go to courts to suppress the ability of women to make decisions about their own bodies and contraceptive choices, women who stand up for reproductive freedom are being called "sluts" and "whores."
Recently, I watched the stunning film, "Documented," on CNN and posted my reactions on Twitter. The responses I got were mostly positive but some conservatives took issue with me.
For instance, someone tweeted at me: "How about you donate 100% of your $ to help poor American children & not illegals" -- as though American kids are worthy and deserving and undocumented immigrant kids are not.
'I didn't know I was undocumented'
Another tweeted: "Stop disease from coming into the US. Build the wall!" -- again, not a humane reaction but an us-versus-them mindset that reduces immigrants to a public health threat.
When I tweeted that I was "consistently troubled by [the] number of people who seem to feel more compassion toward puppies on the Internet than undocumented humans," among the many blistering replies I received was, "Do the internet puppies have scabies...?" Other responses compared undocumented immigrants to "invaders" and "child abusers."
Come on, people.
Is it not possible to oppose immigrant rights without resorting to attacking immigrants as human beings? The intensity of the anti-immigrant rhetoric is stunning. Even if you don't support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, can't you find some compassion for them as human beings who live on the same planet?
After all, whether you think our immigration laws are properly functioning or not, the forces of economic hardship and violence that push people to leave their home countries and the promise of a better future in America that pulls people here are the same forces that pushed and pulled on many of our ancestors.
Protesters block buses carrying undocumented immigrants in California
Plus we know that American industries that rely on low-wage workers and actively lure undocumented immigrants to our country sometimes offer promises of official paperwork that never materialize.
The organization Race Forward has a campaign to get media organizations to "Drop The I-Word" in their reporting about immigration. So far, the campaign has succeeded in getting the Associated Press, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times and many other outlets to stop using the word. But the pressure continues on The New York Times, The Washington Post and radio and television outlets. And the campaign around media usage is just one step toward influencing and ultimately ending the use of the word "illegal" by everyone in America.
Vargas: Undocumented and hiding in plain sight
As the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
The history of the United States that anti-immigration activists profess to defend is one perpetually defined by inclusion rather than exclusion. Our notion of our nation expanded over time to include black people and women and gay people and others who were most marginalized previously.
As we celebrate the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act 50 years ago this month, we're reminded of protests in the lead up to that moment in which black men carried signs that simply read, "I AM A MAN." And as we look back on the 45th anniversary of the landmark gay liberation protests set off at the Stonewall Bar in New York, we remember protests where gay men and lesbians carried signs that simply said, "GAY IS GOOD."
Today, most people find the n-word and the f-word incredibly offensive. Let's hope that most if not all people will feel the same way about the words "illegals" and "illegal immigrants" in the not too distant future.
Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine.
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.
Detained U.S. teen to be kept under Israeli house arrest
7/6/2014 8:19:14 AM
- Tariq Khdeir, 15, says he was attacked, then woke up in a hospital
- The U.S. citizen, who has two black eyes, says he feels much better Sunday
- The teenager will be kept under house detention for nine days
- He is the cousin of a Palestinian teen who was abducted and killed in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (CNN) -- An American teenager whose family says he was beaten by Israeli security forces will be kept under house arrest while an investigation into his case continues, his lawyer told CNN on Sunday.
Tariq Khdeir, 15, told reporters Sunday he remembers little of the incident.
"I was attacked by police. I woke up in the hospital," he said as he walked out of court in Jerusalem on Sunday.
The teen, a U.S. citizen and high school sophomore from Tampa, Florida, paid bail and was driven away with his parents to serve his house arrest in the Beit Hanina neighborhood.
"I remember standing and watching the group of people. They (his attackers) came from the side of me and I tried to run away," he said, adding that he felt much better Sunday.
He will be kept under house detention for nine days, lawyer Ziad Haidimi said after a court session.
It's unclear why the teen is being investigated or what possible charges he might face.
If the investigation ends without charges, he can travel back to the United States, Haidimi said. His mother, Suha Abu Khdeir, said the family "definitely" will sue Israeli authorities.
"I'm not really happy" with the court's decision, she said.
Tariq was visiting his Palestinian relatives in Jerusalem when he was detained on Thursday.
His relatives say he is the young man who appears in two separate videos being held down and beaten by men wearing the uniform of Israeli security forces.
Tariq is a cousin of Mohammed Abu Khedair, the Palestinian teenager who was abducted and killed in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
Abu Khedair's death sparked unrest in Jerusalem, setting off several days of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces. Tensions in the region had already spiked after three Israeli teens were found dead in the West Bank earlier in the week.
According to his family, Tariq was among the Palestinians protesting in the Shuafat neighborhood over his cousin's killing. But he wasn't involved in the clashes, they say.
"I asked my son, 'Did you throw rocks?' He said no," Tariq's father, Salah Eddeine Abu Khdeir, told CNN.
The two videos, which were posted independently, say the beating occurred on Thursday.
One neighbor shot a video of the beating and distributed it to family and a TV station. Another video was shot from the other side of the street and posted to YouTube.
Relatives watched the video and told CNN that the teen is Tariq Khdeir. Relatives released pictures of the bruised teenager with swelling on his lips and nose.
The men delivered more than 20 blows to the youth over a period of two minutes. He did not appear to be struggling, and police carried away his limp body afterward.
Both videos start after the incident began, and it's not clear why Khdeir was attacked.
In a statement, the Justice Ministry said the government's legal adviser will investigate the videotaped beating.
Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni is quoted in the statement as saying the images "show a very serious incident by uniformed personnel, while this is not the Israeli's law enforcement policy -- yet sadly, they are the ones headlining worldwide news."
Palestinians have long complained of rough treatment by the Israeli police and double standards when it comes to justice, said Bill van Esveld of Human Rights Watch.
"The concern is that we've got plenty of evidence that this child of 15 was brutally beaten by Israeli law enforcement," van Esveld told CNN. "And instead of the law enforcement officials responsible for the beating being questioned and detained, the child who is the victim is being questioned and detained."
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki called the reports "troubling" and called for a "speedy, transparent and credible investigation and full accountability for any excessive use of force."
Autopsy: Palestinian teen was burned alive
The Israeli teens killed: Promising lives. grieving families
Israel's Netanyahu says of slain teens: 'May God avenge their blood."
Pro-Russian forces flee Slovyansk
7/5/2014 3:02:08 PM
- NEW: Security forces cleared Slovyansk of militants, Poroshenko says
- NEW: Ukrainian officials declare eastern city Kramatorsk is cleared of separatists
- It's unclear to what extent the Ukrainian army has control of the towns
- Reports come days after Ukraine began military operations in the east
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Ukrainian security forces have cleared the eastern city of Slovyansk of pro-Russia separatists and have raised the Ukrainian flag over the city, President Petro Poroshenko's office said Saturday in a statement. The city had been a stronghold for separatists.
Ukrainian forces also have cleared the eastern city of Kramatorsk of separatists, the Prime Minister's office said.
Clearing up Slovyansk was very difficult, since militants hid inside residential buildings and other facilities where civilians are, according to Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Defense and Security Council.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said most of the militants had left.
"They are running. This morning intelligence suggests that (separatist militant leader Igor) Girkin and a significant number of fighters have fled Slovyansk. ... Some remain. Rest going to Gorlovka," he wrote.
Pavel Gubarev, a leader of the militants, confirmed that Igor Girkin has fled Slovyansk with many other leaders toward the main city of Donetsk. The separatists vowed to continue their fight.
The reports of their flight come days after Ukrainian forces began military operations in the east of the country, marking a definite end to a unilateral cease-fire in place for 10 days.
The speaker of Ukraine's Parliament, Oleksandr Turchynov, told lawmakers the government's "anti-terror operation" against pro-Russia separatists had been "renewed."
Ukrainian armed forces have been attacking "terrorists' bases," authorities said.
Poroshenko had said his country would not renew a cease-fire with the separatists, vowing instead to "attack and liberate our land."
Russia and Ukraine have been at odds since late last year, when former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign a cooperation agreement with the European Union, setting off nationwide protests.
The deadly protests led to Yanukovych's ouster, the loss of Crimea to Russia and a pro-Russia separatist rebellion.
Ukraine begins military offensive as cease-fire ends
Ukrainian President lets cease-fire expire, vows to 'liberate our land'
4 children killed in U.S. house fire
7/5/2014 2:47:16 PM
- NEW: Five people from one home taken to hospital
- Four children were killed in the blaze
- The fire swept through a line of eight row houses
- Over 40 people are now displaced
(CNN) -- Four children died and dozens of residents were displaced when a fire swept through eight row houses in Philadelphia early Saturday, authorities said.
"This is a tragic, tragic day for the city of Philadelphia. Tragic. We lost four children today. And I want everybody to understand that fire is everyone's fight. Not just the fire department. It's everyone's fight," Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer said.
The four children were found dead in the same home where the fire started, according to Sawyer.
People tried to rescue the children, CNN affiliate WPVI reported.
The victims were a 1-month-old baby boy, 4-year-old twin girls and a 4-year-old boy, according to WPVI. Two 11-year-old girls suffered smoke inhalation, the report said.
Sawyer told CNN that the victims have not been identified and that he does not know their ages.
Authorities believe the fire started on the porch in a couch, according to their preliminary investigation.
At least 10 people were at the home at the time of the fire, and not all of them were residents, according to Sawyer. A family member was babysitting the children.
Sawyer said that five people from the same home were transported to the hospital, at least two of them minors under the age of 13.
The three-alarm fire was reported at 2:46 a.m. in the southwest part of the city, the fire department said.
Heavy fire in three homes spread to five more homes via wooden porch roofs, Sawyer said.
At least 42 people were displaced and a shelter had been set up for people at Bertram High School, according to Sawyer.
Fire lieutenant resuscitated after lightning strike in Ohio
CNN's Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report.
Pro-Russian forces flee Slovyansk
7/5/2014 7:48:21 PM
- Security forces cleared Slovyansk of militants, President's office says
- Prime Minister's office: Eastern city of Kramatorsk is cleared of separatists
- It's unclear to what extent the Ukrainian army has control of the towns
- Reports come days after Ukraine began military operations in the east
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Ukrainian security forces cleared pro-Russian separatists out of two eastern cities Saturday -- significant developments, though hardly conclusive, in the effort to bring unity and stability to the European nation.
The Ukrainian flag was raised Saturday over Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, a pair of flashpoint cities that have been strongholds of groups advocating independence from the Kiev-based national government for months.
President Petro Poroshenko's officed announced Saturday that separatists had left Slovyansk.
Clearing this key city was very difficult, since militants hid inside residential buildings and other facilities where civilians are, according to Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Defense and Security Council.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said most of the militants had left.
"They are running. This morning intelligence suggests that (separatist militant leader Igor) Girkin and a significant number of fighters have fled Slovyansk. ... Some remain. Rest going to Gorlovka," he wrote.
Pavel Gubarev, a leader of the militants, confirmed that Igor Girkin has fled Slovyansk with many other leaders toward the main city of Donetsk. The separatists vowed to continue their fight.
Later Saturday, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's office announced that the eastern city of Kramatorsk was also free of separatists.
Videos posted to social media showed the Ukrainian flag being raised about Kramatorsk.
These reports come days after Ukrainian forces began military operations in the east of the country, marking a definite end to a unilateral cease-fire in place for 10 days.
The speaker of Ukraine's Parliament, Oleksandr Turchynov, told lawmakers the government's "anti-terror operation" against pro-Russia separatists had been "renewed."
Ukrainian armed forces have been attacking "terrorists' bases," authorities said.
Poroshenko had said his country would not renew a cease-fire with the separatists, vowing instead to "attack and liberate our land."
Russia and Ukraine have been at odds since late last year, when former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign a cooperation agreement with the European Union, setting off nationwide protests.
The deadly protests led to Yanukovych's ouster, the loss of Crimea to Russia and a pro-Russia separatist rebellion.
Ukraine begins military offensive as cease-fire ends
Ukrainian President lets cease-fire expire, vows to 'liberate our land'
4 die in July 4 boat crash in Miami
7/5/2014 8:49:14 PM
- As many as 12 injured boaters were taken to local hospitals, state official says
- The incident took place near a marina in Biscayne Bay late on July 4th
- An official says boats may have been rushing to get back to the boat ramp
- 2 died Friday night at a hospital; 2 more dead were found in the water Saturday, he adds
(CNN) -- An Independence Day celebration ended in tragedy when three boats collided near a Miami marina, killing four people and injuring as many as a dozen more, authorities said.
The accident happened near the Dinner Key Marina in Biscayne Bay around 10:45 p.m. Friday following a fireworks display, as a crowd of boaters was making their way back to shore.
"One vessel crashed into another, then that vessel hit a third," Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Officer Jorge Pino said Saturday.
Pino said up to five people were thrown into the water after the crash and as many as 12 were transported to local hospitals. Those hurt include several children with minor injuries.
Two victims died at a hospital Friday night, he said, and two more deceased victims were found in the water Saturday morning.
One person is hospitalized in critical condition, according to Pino.
Afterward, at least one of the boats towed back to shore had a gaping hole in its side.
"It's possible that these boats were rushing to get back to the boat ramp to get out of the water," Pino said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is investigating the tragedy and has not yet released the names or ages of any of the victims.
Survivors recall Asiana crash 1 year on
7/5/2014 11:32:49 PM
- 'We were all bouncing all over the place,' one survivor says
- "It was so shocking that we could miss the runway,' another says
- Just last month, U.S. officials cited pilot crew errors
(CNN) -- A year ago Sunday, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed while landing at San Francisco's airport, killing three passengers and injuring 187 more.
Survivors remember the incident, in which the plane clipped a seawall just short of the runway, spun violently for 330 degrees, broke into pieces and caught fire. It all occurred on a clear day.
"It was like we were all bouncing all over the place. I just remember there being dust everywhere, and I was freaking out and then it just stopped," said Esther Jang, 15.
Said another passenger, Ben Levy: "And there was no wind, no fog. I'm a regular at the San Francisco airport. So, yeah, it was so shocking that we could miss the runway by so much."
The catastrophe marked the first time that the new Boeing 777, one of the most sophisticated airliners, was involved in a fatal crash.
Since then, another Boeing 777, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, disappeared after takeover from Kuala Lumpur on March 8. Authorities have yet to solve the mystery of what became of the plane carrying 239 passengers and crew.
In the Asiana crash, one of the three people killed was Ye Meng Yuan, 16, who died on the ground when she was apparently hit by a rescue truck responding to the scene, according to the San Mateo County coroner.
A subsequent video suggested that at one point emergency workers saw Ye's body on the tarmac during the chaos.
But a January report by San Francisco authorities asserted that Ye was already dead when two fire trucks ran over her on the airfield.
Earlier this year, a lawyer for Ye's family said a video shows that several firefighters saw her lying on the tarmac, but none "did the basic step of checking if she was alive."
The teenage girl was on her way to an American summer camp from her home in China when the crash happened.
Last month, U.S. safety investigators determined that the pilots erred on the approach and landing of the plane.
Also contributing to the disaster was crew training and the complexities of a key flight system on the Boeing 777 and how it was described in operating manuals, the National Transportation Safety Board found.
Investigators, however, primarily faulted the crew of the Korean-based carrier for not fully executing intricate systems of the jetliner packed with more than 300 people.
The flight crew mismanaged the plane's descent being carried out without the help of navigational instruments, and one of the pilots unintentionally deactivated a system that automatically regulates airspeed, the board's final report said.
The crew also delayed its decision to abort the landing with the plane flying too slowly to avoid catastrophe, investigators found.
Of the 307 people on board, almost 200 of them were taken to local hospitals with injuries such as bruises, broken bones and spinal damage.
The flight originated in Shanghai, China, made a connection in Seoul, South Korea, and then flew 10 hours to San Francisco International Airport.
CNN's Dan Simon contributed from San Francisco.
Great white attacks swimmer near L.A.
7/5/2014 9:39:39 PM
- A great white shark bites a swimmer in waters off Manhattan Beach, California
- The 7-foot shark was struggling at the end of a fishing line
- The victim was bit in the torso, but managed to make it to shore
(CNN) -- A long-distance swimmer was attacked by a great white shark near the pier in Manhattan Beach, California, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.
A fisherman on the pier had hooked the 7-foot shark Saturday and was trying to reel in the struggling fish when the victim swam by, LAFD spokesman Rick Flores said. "It was agitated and when the swimmer got close, it bit him," Flores told CNN.
The victim was part of a group of swimmers training in the waters near the pier. They did not see the shark until it was too late.
The victim was bit in the torso, sustaining a wound Flores described as "moderate."
"The shark bit the swimmer and then released," he said.
The 40-year-old man is still in the hospital, Flores said Saturday evening.
Bystanders captured the aftermath of the attack on cell phone video. CNN affiliate KTLA posted the video on its website. It shows a group of swimmers frantically trying to reach shore with the victim screaming loudly from the water and people on the pier urging him to hurry, yelling that the shark was still close by.
All of the swimmers in the water made it to shore safely.
The victim was treated by paramedics at the scene, then transported to a local hospital, according to LAFD's Twitter feed. "The male shark bit victim is reported to be in stable condition," a tweet from the lifeguard division said.
The fisherman had struggled to reel in the great white for up to 40 minutes before the attack happened. Then he cut the line and the shark swam away, Flores said.
Police closed down the Manhattan Beach Pier after the incident. It will remain closed until Tuesday, according to a press release.
Shark attacks are still pretty rare, but have increased at a steady rate since 1900, "with each decade having more attacks then the previous," according to statistics from the International Shark Attack File based in Gainesville, Florida.
ISAF says on its website that in 2013 there were 72 unprovoked shark attacks on humans, actually the lowest number of global attacks since 2009, when 67 attacks occurred.
The research organization emphasized on its website that an increasing number of shark attacks doesn't mean the rate of attacks is increasing. ISAF research shows people are spending more time at sea, which increases the interactions between humans and sharks.
CNN's Janet DiGiacomo and Greg Botelho contributed to this report
Hurricane Arthur downgraded to storm
7/5/2014 4:59:46 AM
- Arthur weakens to a post-tropical storm early Saturday
- Tropical storm warnings for parts of the Northeast are dropped
- Parts of New England can expect heavy rain Saturday
(CNN) -- Arthur was downgraded from a hurricane to a post-tropical storm on Saturday, as its sustained winds dropped to 85 mph, according to CNN meteorologists.
Tropical storm warnings previously issued for Nantucket and Cape Cod have been discontinued.
The first named storm of this hurricane season caused street flooding and knocked out power along the North Carolina coast. The area appears to have been spared from large-scale damage.
The center of Arthur is forecast to pass over or near western Nova Scotia on Saturday while also bringing heavy rain to New England, CNN meteorologists said.
The coast of Maine can expect 40 mph winds as Arthur passes.
The hurricane center warns that potentially deadly rip currents can still form at beaches from the mid-Atlantic northward, even though Arthur may be far away.
See Images as CNN crews cover Hurricane Arthur
CNN's Greg Botelho contributed to this report.
Pro-Russian forces flee Slovyansk
7/5/2014 11:40:37 AM
- NEW: Separatist confirms leaders have left Slovyansk, but vows to continue their fight
- Security forces cleared Slovyansk of militants, Poroshenko says
- It's unclear to what extent the Ukrainian army has control of the town
- Report comes days after Ukraine began military operations in the east
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Ukrainian security forces have cleared the eastern city of Slovyansk of pro-Russia separatists and have raised the Ukrainian flag over the city, President Petro Poroshenko's office said Saturday in a statement. The city had been a stronghold for separatists.
Clearing up Slovyansk was very difficult, since militants hid inside residential buildings and other facilities where civilians are, according to Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Defense and Security Council.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said most of the militants had taken off.
"They are running. This morning intelligence suggests that (separatist militant leader Igor) Girkin and a significant number of fighters have fled Slovyansk. ... Some remain. Rest going to Gorlovka," he wrote.
Pavel Gubarev, a leader of the separatist militants, confirmed that Igor Girkin has fled Slovyansk with many other leaders toward the main city of Donetsk. The separatists vowed to continue their fight.
The reports of their flight come days after Ukrainian forces began military operations in the east of the country, marking a definite end to a unilateral cease-fire in place for 10 days.
The speaker of Ukraine's parliament, Oleksandr Turchynov, told lawmakers the government's "anti-terror operation" against pro-Russia separatists had been "renewed."
Ukrainian armed forces have been attacking "terrorists' bases," authorities said.
A Ukrainian intelligence unit in Kramatorsk is checking the possibility of conducting a full-scale military operation there, according to Poroshenko's office.
Poroshenko had said his country would not renew a cease-fire with the separatists, vowing instead to "attack and liberate our land."
Ukraine begins military offensive as cease-fire ends
Ukrainian President lets cease-fire expire, vows to 'liberate our land'
Brotherhood leader jailed for life
7/5/2014 8:11:23 AM
- Mohammed Badie sentenced to life in prison for inciting violence
- 36 other surpporters of ousted Egyptian president also face life behind bars
- Badie, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, was sentenced to death in April
(CNN) -- Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie and 36 other supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy got life sentences Saturday in Cairo, state media reported.
The defendants are accused of inciting violence.
An additional 10 defendants sentenced to death in June have had their sentences upheld by Egypt's Grand Mufti, who, by law, must review capital punishment decisions.
This is the second sentence handed down to Badie, who was found guilty and sentenced to death in April.
He was convicted of taking part in a deadly attack on a police station last year.
READ MORE: Egypt court upholds 183 death sentences
READ MORE: Hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters face death
Spy claims: German 'double agent' held
7/5/2014 5:02:23 AM
- German prosecutors arrested a German citizen on allegations of spying for a foreign country
- Its foreign office asked the U.S. ambassador to help them quickly solve the case
- The suspect stole government documents and sold them to U.S. agents, according to reports
(CNN) -- German prosecutors ordered the arrest this week of a German citizen on suspicion of spying for foreign intelligence agencies.
A day later, on Friday, the German foreign office called in the U.S. ambassador to discuss it.
Foreign Secretary Stephan Steinlein "requested the U.S. ambassador participate in a rapid solving" of the spying case, Germany's foreign office said in a statement.
Both the German prosecutor and the foreign office released scarce information, but officials have spoken in detail with German journalists, who published many reports on the allegations of renewed U.S. spying on the country.
The reports re-inflamed public anger at the U.S. government.
The suspect, a German intelligence employee, allegedly stole government documents, according to German media reports.
These included papers taken from the German parliament's special committee to address the National Security Agency spying. The employee allegedly sold them to U.S. intelligence representatives for thousands of dollars, according to multiple reports.
Germany investigating alleged U.S. surveillance of Merkel's phone
India summons U.S. diplomat over report of NSA spying
Opinion: A year after Snowden, the real costs of NSA surveillance
Pakistani soldier killed in airstrike
7/5/2014 11:23:04 AM
- Pakistani military launched airstrikes to "flush out terrorists" in the area
- One Pakistani soldier was killed by an IED
- The operation in Northern Waziristan began on June 15
Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Five militants were killed in an airstrike in Pakistan's North Waziristan region on Saturday, according to the Pakistani military.
The military says it launched the strikes in order to "flush out terrorists" in the area's capital, Miranshah, and the village of Boya.
One Pakistani soldier was was killed in the same region by an explosive device, the military said.
The military launched a ground offensive in the region on June 15 in order to "finish off" militants in the area near the Afghanistan border "once and for all," Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told CNN. Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis have fled their homes as a result of the fighting, prompting what appears to be a humanitarian crisis in the nearby city of Bannu.
The region is known as a base for anti-government fighters -- including those affiliated with the Islamist Haqqani movement.
At least 19 militants killed in Pakistan offensive
How ISIS is overshadowing al Qaeda
Pakistani newlyweds decapitated by bride's family in honor killing
CNN's Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report.
Bombers target Somali parliament
7/5/2014 8:16:43 AM
Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) -- A car bomb exploded at the national parliament building in the Somali capital Saturday, killing four people, authorities said.
Fatalities included three police officers and one of the attackers. Seven security forces were injured, said Ali Hajji, a Somali policeman at the scene.
"Our brave soldiers intercepted today a car loaded with explosives near the parliament and it went off before it reached its target," Hajji said.
Al-Shabaab militants kill Somali lawmaker
Aid workers freed in Somalia after nearly two years
Taliban claims attack on fuel trucks
7/5/2014 6:29:19 AM
(CNN) -- More than 400 trucks carrying fuel and oil were burning on roads west of Kabul, Afghanistan, police spokesman Hashmatullah Stanekzai said Saturday.
Emergency crews tried to contain the damage, he said.
Residents and local news reporters posted images online of a line of red fire and burning trucks on the night horizon.
The Taliban claimed in a statement that their fighters had attacked a parking depot used by trucks delivering supplies to NATO.
Rockets hit Kabul airport
16 killed in Taliban suicide attack on bus in Kabul
Opinion: Afghanistan, the next Iraq?
Harvard campus evacuated over threat
7/5/2014 11:43:24 AM
(CNN) -- Harvard University said it has evacuated several buildings on campus Saturday after a caller said he was armed and had placed bombs around the school.
The university's police department said it could not locate the individual but immediately evacuated the buildings in question, including the Science Center.
The Cambridge Police Department and Fire Department were notified and are assisting Harvard Police in the examination of the buildings.
Wimbledon: Kvitova defeats Bouchard
7/5/2014 9:17:24 AM
- Petra Kvitova beats Canada's Eugenie Bouchard to take Wimbledon title
- The Czech wins 6-3 6-0 in just 55 minutes, hitting 28 winners and only 12 unforced errors
- Kvitova has now triumphed on the grass of Wimbledon twice following her 2011 success
- Bouchard fails in her bid to become Canada's first grand slam singles champion
Follow us at @WorldSportCNN and like us on Facebook
(CNN) -- It all seemed in place for Eugenie Bouchard in Saturday's Wimbledon final.
She was the people's favorite, surged to semifinals at the Australian Open and French Open, and Britain's Princess Eugenie -- who the tennis player was named after -- looked on from the Royal Box.
Ten years ago, Bouchard's idol, Maria Sharapova, won Wimbledon as the 13th seed. Bouchard, who shares the Russian's enormous appetite for titles and competitiveness, happened to be seeded 13th this fortnight.
But Bouchard's coronation will have to wait, since none of the above mattered to Petra Kvitova.
Canada, too, will have to wait for a maiden grand slam singles champion.
Kvitova became the Queen of Wimbledon once again when the powerful, left-handed Czech crushed Bouchard 6-3 6-0 in a mere 55 minutes for a second crown at tennis' most prestigious tournament, claiming the $3 million first prize.
It was the most lopsided Wimbledon women's final since Steffi Graf routed Monica Seles 6-2 6-1 in 1992, not what anyone expected given Bouchard's battling qualities -- and the fact she hadn't dropped a set before the final.
"I thought Bouchard was going to win," Britain's 1977 Australian Open finalist John Lloyd, a longtime tennis analyst at Wimbledon, told CNN. "I was thinking that Bouchard, who is just an animal -- and I mean that in a form of flattery, sort of in your face, confident, poised -- would get enough balls back and rush Petra.
"Petra was just seeing the ball like a football."
Closing the roof for the trophy presentation with rain on the way took almost as long as the second set.
No matter what happens in the months leading into Wimbledon, former world No. 2 Kvitova -- who will rise to fourth in the new rankings -- appears to instantly feel at home at the All England Club.
Whereas she hasn't reached a grand slam quarterfinal outside Wimbledon since the 2012 French Open, she's progressed to at least the last eight at tennis' most famous postcode of SW19 five straight times.
Her flat, booming ground strokes thrive on the grass, and the lower bounces are to her liking. With rallies generally shorter, she doesn't have to hit as many balls -- so can limit her unforced errors.
Bouchard, at 20 the youngest female grand slam finalist in five years, simply didn't face anyone of Kvitova's caliber this tournament. Nerves weren't a factor, as they were for Sabine Lisicki in last year's final against Marion Bartoli.
"She has weapons," Bouchard, who took home $1.5 million for her efforts, told reporters. "We know that when she's on, she's very tough to beat, especially on this surface."
An aggressive player, even Bouchard took a backseat in that department to Kvitova, but that was little surprise since the latter always does the dictating.
Kvitova's focus, crucially, never wavered.
She finished with glittering statistics of 28 winners and only 12 unforced errors. Bouchard's figures weren't bad, though: Eight winners and four unforced errors.
Kvitova won 82% of her first-serve points and broke six times.
"There might have been some players who could have been able to keep her off balance a bit with a bigger serve, like a Serena (Williams), but I would have to say her display was one of the best I've ever seen from a woman at Wimbledon in terms of ball striking," said Lloyd.
Not known for her scampering, Kvitova for good measure won the point of the final when she retrieved like Rafael Nadal and struck a slice-backhand passing-shot winner to hold for 3-1 in the first set.
"Really for the first time I said, 'Oh, my God, this is good,'" Kvitova, who cried as she addressed the crowd, told reporters. "I can really run and put everything back. I was there. I was 100% ready for everything."
Her running forehand cross-court pass deep in the second was almost as good, and Kvitova ended matters with a sizzling cross-court backhand winner prior to raising her arms and falling to the grass.
On this form, it won't be the last time Kvitova celebrates on Centre Court.
One of her tasks now is to land a grand slam title outside London.
"I hope it's now going to be easier for me," Kvitova said.
Once she broke for 2-1 in the first set, the 24-year-old was never threatened.
Bouchard saved three break points to hold for 2-3 -- but it was her last hold. The second set took 23 minutes, with Bouchard claiming 10 points total.
At least Bouchard -- who will become the highest-ranked Canadian woman in tennis history at No. 7 when the new list is released on Monday -- can say the fans were heavily behind her.
"Even on court today I felt some special support from the crowd," she said. "It's humbling to receive all this support. It's special to hear that people want me to do well and believe in me."
In Sunday's men's final, Roger Federer tries for an eighth Wimbledon title against top seed Novak Djokovic.
But the duo will have a difficult job of matching Kvitova's impeccable outing.
Read also: Djokovic and Federer reach men's final
Boko Haram women arrested
7/5/2014 6:14:45 AM
- Women were recruiting for militant group, government says
- This effort involved finding women for marriage
- Boko Haram blamed for recurring violence in Nigeria
(CNN) -- Authorities have arrested three women who have been secretly recruiting members for the female wing of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, Nigeria's Defense Ministry said Friday.
"The arrested trio suspects were luring ladies, especially widows and young girls, by enticing them with male suitors who are mainly members of their terror group, for marriage," said Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, director of defense information.
"Before their arrest, they were on a mission to take additional briefing from the leadership of the terror group," said Nwachukwu.
The suspects, identified as Hafsat Usman Bako, Zainab Idris and Aisha Abubakar, were arrested while traveling to the town of Madagali.
Officials say one of the women, Hafsat Bako, was married to a member of the terrorist group who was killed by the military. "Hafsat continued with the terror group, specializing in surreptitious recruitment of members into their fold," said the ministry.
The arrests were made after a recent suicide bombing attempt on a military facility in the state of Gombe, carried out by a female suspect who blew herself up.
Boko Haram has been terrorizing Nigeria's Borno state in recent years and thousands have fled the violence. In April, the terrorist group abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok. The girls are still missing.
CNN's Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report.
4 children killed in U.S. house fire
7/5/2014 11:45:24 AM
- NEW: Five people from one home taken to hospital, fire commissioner says
- Four children were killed in the blaze
- The fire swept through a line of eight row houses
- Over 40 people are now displaced
(CNN) -- Four children died and dozens of residents were displaced when a fire swept through eight row houses in Philadelphia early Saturday morning, authorities said.
"This is a tragic, tragic day for the city of Philadelphia. Tragic. We lost four children today. And I want everybody to understand that fire is everyone's fight. Not just the fire department. It's everyone's fight," Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer said.
The four children were found dead in the same home where the fire started, according to Sawyer.
People tried to rescue the children, who were trapped during the fire, CNN affiliate WPVI reported.
The victims were a 1-month-old baby boy, 4-year-old twin girls and a 4-year-old boy, according to WPVI. Two 11-year-old girls suffered smoke inhalation, the report said.
Sawyer told CNN that the victims have not been identified and that he does not know their ages.
At least 10 people were at the home at the time of the fire, and not all of them were residents, according to Sawyer. A family member was babysitting the children.
Sawyer said that five people from the same home were transported to the hospital, at least two of them minors under the age of 13.
The three-alarm fire was reported at 2:46 a.m. in the southwest part of the city, the fire department said.
Heavy fire in three homes spread to five more homes via wooden porch roofs, Sawyer said.
At least 42 people were displaced, Sawyer said. Another local news report said a shelter had been set up for people at a nearby high school.
The blaze is now under control.
Authorities believe the fire started on the porch in a couch, according to their preliminary investigation.
Fire lieutenant resuscitated after lightning strike in Ohio
CNN's Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report.
You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at feedmyinbox.com
If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions
No comments:
Post a Comment