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Great maritime mystery may be solved
9/9/2014 5:00:29 PM
- British sailor John Franklin hoped to sail the Northwest Passage in the 1840s
- Franklin and his crew perished in the Canadian Arctic
- The Canadian government said one of the two missing ships has been found
(CNN) -- One of the most famous tragedies of the Northwest Passage sea route around the top of North America might have finally been solved.
British sailor John Franklin left England with two ships in 1845 in an ill-fated attempt to sail the Northwest Passage. Stuck in the ice of the Canadian Arctic, all 129 crew members perished in 1846.
Modern explorers have succeeded where Franklin failed, but Canadians never stopped hoping they would find the lost ships of the Franklin Expedition.
On Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that one of the two ships was found.
"I am delighted to announce that this year's Victoria Strait Expedition has solved one of Canada's greatest mysteries, with the discovery of one of the two ships belonging to the Franklin Expedition lost in 1846," he said in a statement.
Whether the vessel is Her Majesty's Ship (HMS) Erebus or HMS Terror isn't yet clear, Harper said. "We do have enough information to confirm its authenticity."
The finding was confirmed on Sunday, September 7, using a Parks Canada remotely-operated underwater vehicle.
"This is truly a historic moment for Canada," he said. "Franklin's ships are an important part of Canadian history given that his expeditions, which took place nearly 200 years ago, laid the foundations of Canada's Arctic sovereignty."
Since 2008, there have been six major Parks Canada-led searches for the lost Franklin Expedition ships, Harper said.
The race to sail the Northwest Passage heats up
MH17 'hit by high-energy objects'
9/9/2014 2:57:40 PM
- Anyone "looking for blame ... is going to be disappointed," CNN's Richard Quest says
- A Dutch report finds "no indications of manipulation" of flight recorders
- Investigators say they still don't have coordinated access to the crash site
- The U.S. and Ukraine have accused pro-Russian rebels of shooting down the plane
(CNN) -- Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 broke apart in the air after it was hit by a burst of "high-energy objects" from outside, a preliminary report by Dutch aviation investigators said Tuesday.
Flight 17 came down in eastern Ukraine on July 17 in an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists. Of the 298 people killed, around two-thirds were Dutch.
The U.S. and Ukraine have accused pro-Russian separatists operating in the region of downing the plane with a missile.
The Dutch Safety Board report supports the theory of a warhead exploding in close proximity to the passenger jet, but it doesn't point any fingers at who might have fired it.
"Anybody who's looking for blame, or somebody who says that the rebels did it or that somebody else did it, is going to be disappointed," said CNN Aviation Correspondent Richard Quest. "That's not what this report says."
Plane pierced 'from outside'
The Boeing 777 "broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside," a press release accompanying the report said.
"There are no indications that the MH17 crash was caused by a technical fault or by actions of the crew," the statement said.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the report "leads to the strong suspicion that a surface to air missile brought MH17 down, but further investigative work is needed before we can be certain."
The separatists, who deny responsibility for bringing down the plane, took control of the crash site for weeks, combing through the wreckage and hindering access to investigators.
The flight recorders, generally known as black boxes, weren't handed over to international investigators for several days. But the Dutch report says investigators found "no evidence or indications of manipulation of the recorders."
It said there was no sign of any audible alerts or of any malfunction or worries communicated between the crew on the flight data recorders.
Why does crash report avoid the word 'missile'?
Unable to visit site
The Dutch investigators say they still haven't been able to visit the site amid the unstable situation in eastern Ukraine.
"Coordinated access to the wreckage site by the international team of air safety investigators has not yet been possible," it said. "It is the intention of the Dutch Safety Board to visit the site whenever it is possible to safely conduct further investigation of the wreckage."
The investigation team had to rely on photographs of wreckage taken by officials from Ukraine's National Bureau of Air Accidents Investigation during a series of short visits to the site in July, the report said.
The Dutch investigators set out a list of areas that still need further investigation, including forensic examination of wreckage and any foreign objects found.
READ: Ukraine swaps prisoners of war
CNN's Susannah Palk in Amsterdam, Netherlands, contributed to this report.
Schumacher discharged from hospital
9/9/2014 10:53:45 AM
- Michael Schumacher is to continue his rehabilitation at home, his spokeswoman says
- He has been discharged from a hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland
- "There is still ... a long and difficult road ahead," says his spokeswoman
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(CNN) -- Former F1 champion Michael Schumacher has been discharged from a Swiss hospital and is returning to his home, where he'll continue his recovery from head injuries suffered in a skiing accident last year, his spokeswoman said Tuesday.
"Considering the severe injuries he suffered, progress has been made in the past weeks and months," said Sabine Kehm.
"There is still, however, a long and difficult road ahead."
Schumacher, 45, sustained severe head trauma in a skiing accident at the French Alps resort of Meribel on December 29.
His investigative team said it thinks the experienced skier hit a rock hidden beneath the snow while traversing an area between two marked pistes, which catapulted him face-first onto another rock.
He was treated first at a hospital in Grenoble, in France, and then in June moved to a hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland, near the Schumacher family home.
Kehm appealed, as she has previously, for the privacy of his family to be respected as Schumacher continues his recovery.
The German national is a seven-time world champion whose F1 racing career ended in 2012.
Obama open to airstrikes on ISIS in Syria, officials say
9/10/2014 12:19:29 PM
- NEW: ISIS presents a bigger threat than al Qaeda, veteran U.S. diplomat tells CNN
- Obama has asked Congress for authority to arm and train Syrian rebels
- Congress' support for training rebels is needed due to "legal anomaly," Democratic source says
- Official: Elements of the President's plans for ISIS are a work in progress
(CNN) -- President Barack Obama is open to conducting airstrikes in Syria to combat the ISIS terror group, U.S. officials say. But it's unclear whether he will announce any such plan when he addresses the nation in a televised speech Wednesday night.
The President has already asked Congress for the authority to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight ISIS, administration and congressional sources told CNN. Obama is seeking the authority under Title 10 of U.S. Code, which deals with military powers. His request was sent soon after he met with Congressional leadership Tuesday night.
The authority, if granted, would allow the U.S. to accept money from other countries as well for this purpose.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called on Congress to support the request.
"It is clear to me that we need to train and equip Syrian rebels and other groups in the Middle East that need some help," Reid said Wednesday. "It is called Title 10 authority. The President has tried to get that from us and we should give it to him. That is one way of helping to build an international coalition. Congress should do that."
Reid said "Republicans are worried" about the cost, but insisted "there is money to do that."
He added, "Going it alone is not going to work."
The request seems to contradict what the President has been saying. He told congressional leaders Tuesday he has the authority to carry out his planned strategy against ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria without authorization from legislators.
The White House has insisted he has all the authority he needs to use military force to strike at ISIS to protect Americans, aid the Iraqis, and provide humanitarian support.
Asked to explain, a democratic source said the authority Obama is requesting is not for use of military force, but rather to address a "legal anomaly" so the United States can help and train rebel forces.
Veteran diplomat: ISIS worse than al Qaeda
Former U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker, who served in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, told CNN Wednesday that he believes ISIS presents a bigger threat than al Qaeda.
"They are more numerous, they are better armed, they are far better financed, they are better experienced, and perhaps most critically there are several thousand of them who hold Western passports, including American passports. They don't need to get a visa; they just need to get on a plane," Crocker told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday.
"If we don't think we're on their target list, we are delusional."
White House: Obama will present 'comprehensive strategy'
In the speech Wednesday night, Americans will "hear from the President how the United States will pursue a comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, including U.S. military action and support for the forces combating ISIL on the ground -- both the opposition in Syria and a new, inclusive Iraqi government," the White House said in a statement Wednesday.
The group calling itself the Islamic State is known as ISIL, as well as ISIS.
"The President will discuss how we are building a coalition of Allies and partners in the region and in the broader international community to support our efforts, and will talk about how we work with the Congress as a partner in these efforts."
Obama's speech is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET.
The president plans to focus on three major areas, a senior administration official said. He will frame the threat; outline his strategy to address it, and share new proposals on how to fight and destroy the militant group, the official told CNN's Jim Acosta on Tuesday.
The President will offer a big picture of how he views ISIS. He'll explain that it has become a "core national security priority" and will say that ISIS cannot be allowed to secure a haven in a part of the world that is borderless, the official said.
Elements of the President's plans for ISIS are a work in progress, the official cautioned.
Obama's speech comes just days after he told reporters, "We don't have a strategy yet."
The Wednesday speech will provide Obama the opportunity to specify actions he has taken, such as building an international coalition that includes Arab partners from the region, and involving Iraqi forces along with potential Syrian rebel combat boots on the ground.
U.S. diplomatic efforts in the works this week could cause some specifics to evolve. Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Lisa Monaco, the homeland security adviser, are traveling to the Middle East this week.
Kerry left Tuesday to push Sunni leaders in Jordan and Saudi Arabia to join the United States and its allies in combating ISIS.
The senior administration official declined to elaborate on whether the President has decided to go ahead with airstrikes in Syria, but administration officials have said the problem must be dealt with on both sides of the border.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militant group, which calls itself the "Islamic State," operates in both nations mentioned in its title.
Obama to Congress: No vote needed on ISIS strategy
Show of unity with Congress would help
Obama has asked for congressional support to show the nation is united.
Obama believes the nation is stronger and its efforts more effective when he works with Congress to battle threats to national security, the White House said in a statement.
"The President told the leaders that he would welcome action by the Congress that would aid the overall effort and demonstrate to the world that the United States is united in defeating the threat," the statement added.
Earlier, two senior legislators -- one from each party -- told CNN's Dana Bash that a congressional vote on military action against the jihadists was unlikely despite calls for one by many of their colleagues.
Volatile issue before election could be politically risky
While some in Congress want to vote on the matter, taking up such a volatile issue as military action weeks before the November elections may be politically dangerous.
Obama has been criticized by conservatives and some Democrats for what they call a timid response so far to the threat by ISIS fighters who emerged from Syria to rampage through northern Iraq.
The President authorized airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq this year, but he faces pressure to expand the campaign to go after the extremists in Syria.
Obama and his top aides call such a military step one part of a broader strategy that includes establishing a stable representative government in Iraq, forming an international coalition that includes Middle East countries and increasing military aid to moderate opposition groups fighting the terror group in Syria.
The top Republicans and Democrats from the House and Senate -- House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, along with Reid and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California -- got the first glimpse of Obama's plan to "degrade and defeat" ISIS at a White House meeting Tuesday.
Boehner said he would support Obama if the President deployed the U.S. military to help target ISIS leadership and train and advise Iraq forces.
Opinion: 5 questions Obama must answer
Kerry begins new anti-ISIS push in Mideast
CNN's Jim Acosta, Diane Ruggiero, Elise Labott, Kevin Liptak and Tom Cohen contributed to this report.
Iraqi PM: World must halt ISIS 'cancer'
9/10/2014 12:09:20 PM
- Kerry says the U.S. and about 40 other nations are helping fight ISIS in Iraq
- The U.S. has launched 150 airstrikes to fight ISIS in Iraq, Kerry says in Baghdad
- The diplomat will visit other Arab countries to make his push for a coalition to fight militants
- Kerry will also make a stop in Paris for an international conference on Iraq
Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- In Baghdad on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry vowed that the U.S. and a "broad coalition" of nations would help Iraq fight ISIS militants. His visit comes hours before President Barack Obama will address Americans about his strategy for combating the terror group.
Baghdad is Kerry's first stop on a regional tour to enlist Arab support for a global coalition to defeat ISIS.
After meeting privately, Iraq's new Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, and Kerry spoke before reporters.
"We are fighting these people (ISIS)," al-Abadi said. "Of course, our role is to defend our country, but the international community is responsible to protect Iraq and protect Iraqis in the whole region.
"What's happening in Syria is coming across to Iraq," he said. "We cannot cross that border. It is an international border, but there is a role for the international community for the United Nations to do that ... and of course for the United States to act immediately to stop the spread of this cancer."
He said Iraqis have worked hard recently to come together and form an inclusive government where "everybody's on board" to fight the militants.
ISIS has said they're bent on creating an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria where harsh Sharia law governs every aspect of life.
Kerry first congratulated al-Abadi on working in record time to form a solid government. "Your comments today and your description to me in our private meeting of the steps you're prepared to take, not only with respect to (ISIS) and your own military commitment to reconstitute itself and to take the fight to (ISIS) ... this is really important from the international community" perspective, Kerry said.
He said Obama will lay out a detailed description of what the United States is prepared to do, in a "broad coalition" with "many other countries to take on this terrorist structure which is unacceptable by any standard anywhere in the world."
Obama is open to conducting airstrikes in Syria to combat the ISIS terror group, U.S. officials told CNN on Wednesday. But it's unclear whether he will announce any such plan in his televised speech Wednesday night.
Read the latest news about Obama and Syria
In a separate news conference Wednesday in Iraq, Kerry said the U.S. is already coordinating with some 40 other nations to provide humanitarian, military and other assistance to Iraqis to fight ISIS militants.
The U.S. has so far launched more than 150 airstrikes to weaken ISIS militants in Iraq, Kerry said. On Wednesday, a U.S. military attack aircraft conducted a strike in support of Iraqi Security Forces' defense of Irbil.
The strike destroyed one ISIS armed vehicle in the vicinity of Irbil, the military said, and the aircraft left the strike area safely.
'The hard work is far from over'
Kerry said that while he finds it "encouraging" that Iraqis are coming together so quickly to form a government, "it doesn't mean much if it isn't able to govern inclusively."
Critics of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki accused him of consolidating power and persecuting political rivals, blaming him for fueling Iraq's problems with sectarian policies that alienated Sunni Muslims.
"The hard work is far from over," Kerry noted. "In many ways, it's just beginning."
Iraq must strengthen its security forces, he said. In the face of ISIS attacks, some Iraqi soldiers simply ran from their posts.
On the security front, Kerry said that Iraqi leaders have decided to establish locally rooted security structures that will be integrated into Iraq's national force.
Doing so would be "key" to "guaranteeing Iraq's territorial integrity," he said.
Al-Abadi plans to accelerate the formation of those local units at his first Cabinet meeting this week, Kerry said.
Kerry said that Obama asked him to visit Iraq not just to build a coalition and talk with Iraqis, but also to "underscore to the people of Iraq that the U.S. will stand by them in this effort."
He called ISIS a "vicious" organization that is "the single biggest threat" to the country.
Stressing that the fight against ISIS will be long, Kerry said Monday that the U.S. would assemble a coalition "built to endure for the months, and perhaps years, to come."
Taking fight against ISIS 'to the next level'
Senior State Department officials traveling with Kerry said the appointment of the new government would kick-start a strategy the Obama administration began this summer to combat ISIS, including increasing intelligence gathering in Iraq, assessing the Iraqi military capability and launching strategic airstrikes at ISIS targets, which the officials say have blunted the group's momentum.
"That was really critical to set a baseline foundation in the event additional decisions were made," one senior official said. "We've come a long way since then, based upon this plan that we really put in place in June, and we are now at the stage of beginning to take it to the next level."
Kerry's visit comes "under circumstances in which there are real opportunities," the official said.
"Certainly the road ahead is daunting," the official said. "But to get to this point is significant ... there is a chance now."
Obama called al-Abadi on Monday to congratulate him on the formation of the new government.
Baghdad was the first stop on a regional tour to enlist Arab support for a global coalition to defeat ISIS.
In a statement, the White House said that in his call with Obama, al-Abadi "expressed his commitment to work with all communities in Iraq as well as regional and international partners to strengthen Iraq's capabilities" to fight ISIS militants, made up largely of Sunni jihadists.
Broadening the anti-ISIS coalition
As Kerry leaves Iraq, Obama will address Americans about his diplomatic, military and economic campaign to defeat the group, which has captured large swaths of Syria and Iraq and has beheaded two American journalists.
Videotaped beheadings, including two murders of American journalists, have led to the push for a broader counterterrorism mission, including possible airstrikes in Syria, where ISIS has a haven.
The U.S. has ruled out sending American troops for a ground offensive.
Obama has been reluctant to take military action against the group in Syria, which could indirectly help President Bashar al-Assad's regime. But White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the President was willing to go "wherever is necessary to strike those who are threatening Americans."
After leaving Baghdad, Kerry's diplomatic drive will center on building regional support for a global coalition to combat ISIS. He will meet with King Abdullah II in Jordan on Wednesday before traveling Thursday to Saudi Arabia. In the seaside town of Jeddah, Kerry will meet with the leaders of six Persian Gulf nations.
In addition to support for a military campaign against ISIS, administration officials said the United States would be looking to its Gulf allies to crack down on ISIS funding and stop the flow of foreign fighters, both seen as the lifeblood of the jihadist group.
The United States also wants Sunni Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia, to counter ISIS' narrative and persuade other Sunnis to eschew its ideology.
"It's going to be a very difficult, long road to get there, but it's something that the region and our partners in the Gulf can play a really important role in," a senior State Department official traveling with Kerry said.
"And there's a number of different ways that they can do that, both in terms of just their relationships, in terms of their encouragement, in terms of their financial contributions, in terms of lifting the burden that the government here has."
After Saudi Arabia, Kerry will travel to Paris to attend an international conference on Iraq, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Obama will chair a meeting later this month at the U.N. General Assembly, where the global strategy is expected to be hammered out.
READ: Where does ISIS leave al Qaeda?
READ: ISIS, ISIL or the Islamic State?
CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott reported from Baghdad. Ashley Fantz wrote some of this report in Atlanta.
ISIS vs. al Qaeda: Who will win?
9/10/2014 7:39:40 AM
- ISIS was expelled from al Qaeda in February
- Analyst: ISIS' traipse through Iraq represents an ideological blow to al Qaeda
- There are still plenty of places where al Qaeda supporters are active
(CNN) -- One man more interested than most in what President Barack Obama will have to say in his address to the nation Wednesday night is al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
In his hideout somewhere in Pakistan or Afghanistan, he will likely be hoping that the President sets out a plan to exterminate the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a group that has eclipsed al Qaeda and made al-Zawahiri seem virtually irrelevant.
Al-Zawahiri and the core of al Qaeda are locked in battle with ISIS for the leadership of the global jihadist movement -- offering very different visions and strategies. ISIS was expelled from al Qaeda in February after rejecting al-Zawahiri's demand that it restrict its activities to Iraq.
ISIS has captured the imagination of a new generation of jihadists -- from Arab and European states alike -- with its ruthless pursuit of a Caliphate, dramatic territorial gains and relentless propaganda machine.
Its chilling brutality toward non-Muslims and Muslims who don't share its rigid interpretation of Islam echo the behavior of its predecessor, al Qaeda in Iraq, whose vicious attacks on Shia Muslims and moderate Sunnis drew the ire of the late al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden.
In short, ISIS' "traipse through Iraq represents a serious organizational, strategic, and ideological blow to al Qaeda," analyst Barak Mendelsohn wrote in Foreign Affairs in June.
So far, the leaders of al Qaeda affiliates have remained loyal (if not enthusiastically) to al-Zawahiri. After the death of its leader Ahmad Abdi Godane last week, Al-Shabaab quickly reiterated its allegiance to the al Qaeda leader, and Nasir al Wuhayshi, al Qaeda's No. 2, remains at the helm of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Prominent jihadi preachers like Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi and Abu Qatada have blasted ISIS for deviancy.
Appealing to a new generation of jihadists
But the younger generation of jihadists appears to be more impressed by action than sermons. Al Qaeda foot-soldiers -- from Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere -- are flocking to ISIS' standard. To them, its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is confronting the apostates and building the Caliphate, while al-Zawahiri talks.
It's impossible to know the scale of this exodus. But last week, a group calling itself The Supporters of the Islamic State in Yemen released a video pledging allegiance to al-Baghdadi, calling him the "Caliph of the Muslims... the mujahid in the first row of attack against America."
Even AQAP -- the most effective of the group's affiliates -- has expressed solidarity with ISIS fighters, condemning what it calls the "declaration of war" by the United States on Muslims in Iraq, and calling on "all Islamic groups to support their brothers by afflicting America."
By contrast, it's been a long time since al Qaeda central has carried out any attack of note. Four years ago, a strategy document set out ideas for attacking targets such as cruise ships, dams and bridges as well as aircraft. But very little beyond "lone wolf" attacks by distant sympathizers of al Qaeda has happened since.
Over the last three years, the most significant terror attacks against western interests have been against the U.S. Consulate compound in Benghazi, Libya, where there may have been some involvement by members of al Qaeda affiliates; the gas plant in southern Algeria in January 2013, carried out by a maverick group that pledged allegiance to al Qaeda but does not appear to have been acting on its instructions; and the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya -- the work of Al-Shabaab, apparently planned without reference to the al Qaeda leadership, even if it was exactly the sort of operation al-Zawahiri had urged.
Attacks against U.S. military, diplomatic and government targets in Afghanistan have largely been the work of the Taliban and Haqqani Network, though al Qaeda fighters are enmeshed with these groups.
Some al Qaeda affiliates have been forced on the defensive over the last couple of years. The French intervention in Mali pushed back groups linked to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which had taken over half the country. AQAP seized and then lost several towns in southern Yemen in early 2012, and resorted to suicide bombings and fighting Yemeni government forces from remote hideouts.
Al-Shabaab lost its leader Godane in a U.S. missile strike last week and has lost large areas of Somalia it once controlled to ground offensives by Kenyan, Ethiopian and African Union forces. It has also suffered vicious infighting. And in Pakistan, the army has gone on the offensive against the Pakistani Taliban -- an al Qaeda affiliate also riven by division -- in the North Waziristan tribal area.
Al Qaeda strongholds still exist
There are still plenty of places where al Qaeda supporters are active and their operations growing: eastern Libya, Syria and the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, where they have found breathing space amid a collapse of state authority. But amid these fast-moving events, al-Zawahiri has seemed more the cheerleader than the leader, reacting to events rather than directing them.
Last week, in an effort to reclaim relevancy, he announced the creation of al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent, led by Asim Umar, which will include at least one faction of the Pakistan Taliban. According to a translation by the SITE Institute, the new offshoot's spokesman, Usama Mahmoud, said its basic goals included jihad against America, supporting the Taliban and establishing a Caliphate (implicitly rejecting the Caliphate claimed by al-Baghdadi).
The announcement steps up the philosophical battle between al Qaeda and ISIS about how the dream of the Caliphate, to which Muslims the world over would owe allegiance, is achieved. Mahmoud spoke of "a Caliphate where the emirs are proud in their closeness to the honest scholars... a Caliphate in whose shadow even the disbelieving people of dhimma (non-Muslim citizens of an Islamic state) have a life of safety and security."
The last condition was clearly aimed at ISIS and its merciless campaign against non-Muslims and non-Sunni Muslims in both Iraq and Syria. Not to be outdone, ISIS' propaganda machine recently posted photographs showing residents of the Iraqi city of Nineveh enjoying "prosperity... under the shade of the Caliphate."
Al Qaeda's hope for the future
Al-Zawahiri may be looking to the withdrawal of most U.S. combat forces from Afghanistan as his best chance of reviving al Qaeda's fortunes. Last week's announcement reiterated al Qaeda's allegiance to Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar as the leader of the Islamic Emirate. Several analysts have also noted a stream of statements from al Qaeda that hint at the coming of a "counter-Caliphate."
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross and Thomas Jocelyn pointed out in Foreign Policy that despite the U.S. surge in Afghanistan, "The remote provinces of Kunar and Nuristan are home to significant cadres of al Qaeda fighters, and al Qaeda continues to operate side by side with its allies in other parts of the country."
There is also the prospect -- or as some would say, likelihood -- that ISIS will over-reach much as did its predecessor, al Qaeda in Iraq -- alienating the Sunni tribes, taking territory it cannot defend and mobilizing more enemies than it can resist. If the coalition now building against it can split ISIS' Syrian and Iraqi possessions and prize cities like Mosul from its grasp, the momentum crucial to its success and appeal will be lost.
The Obama administration seems poised to borrow a page out of its strategy against al Qaeda to deal with ISIS. Last week, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes noted: "We've been able to significantly degrade al Qaeda core in Afghanistan and Pakistan, decimate its leadership ranks, reducing the threat that they pose."
Now a repetition in Iraq of the U.S. strategy that reduced al-Zawahiri to a spectator may be his best chance of overcoming the challenge posed by ISIS. The risk is that Washington and its allies will neglect imminent challenges in Afghanistan while refocusing on the militant challenge in Iraq. We've seen that movie too.
READ: ISIS, ISIL or the Islamic State?
READ: Is this ISIS' social media guru?
Pistorius judge doubts witnesses
9/11/2014 4:29:37 AM
- NEW: Judge says Pistorius cannot be found guilty of intentionally killing his girlfriend
- The verdict will cap a dramatic trial that started in March
- In addition to the murder charge, Pistorius faces three other weapons charges
- The most serious weapons charge is related to ammunition found in his house
Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- Oscar Pistorius cannot be found guilty of intentionally killing Reeva Steenkamp, the judge in his trial said Thursday. The judge has not issued a verdict, and the proceedings continue. Pistorius faces other possible verdicts, including culpable homicide.
Under South African law, Pistorius will not be found guilty of murder.
Evidence suggests that Pistorius genuinely believed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was still in the bedroom, and that the person in the bathroom was an intruder, although that is irrelevant to the case, Judge Thokozile Masipa said.
Pistorius sat crying as the judge began reading the lengthy verdict.
The Olympian's trial in the death of his model girlfriend started six months ago, transfixing the world with graphic details of how he fatally shot Steenkamp.
Before she rejected the premeditated murder charge, Masipa questioned why he fired "not one ... but four shots" into the bathroom before he went to find his girlfriend.
However, she said, the intention to shoot does not necessarily mean the intent to kill.
"Court is satisfied that at the relevant time, the accused could distinguish between right and wrong" and act accordingly, she said.
Shortly before, Masipa cast doubt on witness testimony, and said she believes media coverage contaminated testimonies. She doubted state witnesses, saying they were in and out of sleep the night of the killing on Valentine's Day last year.
"Technology is more reliable than human perception and human memory," she said.
She described the victim's wound as "immediately incapacitating," and said she believed a scream heard by witnesses the night of the killing was Pistorius,' not Steenkamp's.
The judge appeared to be accepting the defense timeline of events that the shots came first, then screaming that must have been Pistorius.
She knocked down some aspects of the state's case: the fact that Steenkamp took her phone and locked herself in the bathroom allegedly out of fear for her safety, phone messages between the couple that showed some rocky patches, and her stomach contents.
Steenkamp's parents, Barry and June Steenkamp, sat expressionless a few rows behind the man on trial for killing their daughter. Her father bowed his head as he heard about his daughter's fatal wounds.
Pistorius' uncle, sister and brother also attended the hearing in the packed courtroom -- the latter in a wheelchair from a car accident.
Heaving sobs
The verdict will cap a dramatic trial that started in March, and featured months of gory details that have seen Pistorius gag, vomit and break down in heaving sobs.
He fatally shot his law graduate girlfriend on Valentine's Day last year at his home in South Africa.
Prosecutors charged him with premeditated murder, but he maintains he mistook her for an intruder when he fired four shots through a locked bathroom door.
In addition to the murder charge, Pistorius faces three other weapons charges.
Lesser charges
Of the additional three charges, the most serious one is related to ammunition found in his house when police searched it after the killing.
He did not have a proper license for it, but he maintains he was storing it in his safe for his father.
If he is found guilty of the ammunition charge, he could face up to 15 years in prison, though the judge could opt for a lesser punishment such as a fine or the loss of his gun license.
Two other charges are related to allegations that he recklessly fired a gun in public -- once in a restaurant in 2012, and again out of the sunroof of a car last year. Pistorius denies both.
The maximum penalty for each charge is five years behind bars. If he is convicted of either, he could face a lesser sentence, such as a fine or the loss of his gun license.
Possible sentences
There is no minimum sentence for culpable homicide in South African law -- it's up to the judge to decide.
And there's one final possibility: If the judge does not think the prosecution has proved its case, she will find him not guilty, and Pistorius will be a free man.
Masipa will make her decision with the assistance of two experts known as assessors.
READ: Triumph over adversity, until the fall
READ: Judge holds athlete's fate in her hands
CNN's Richard Greene reported from Pretoria; Faith Karimi and Josh Levs reported from Atlanta. CNN's Emily Smith contributed to this report.
Rob Ford diagnosed with tumor
9/11/2014 2:28:14 AM
- Toronto hospital executive: A CT scan shows Rob Ford has a tumor in his abdomen
- It's not known if the tumor is malignant or how it will be treated, the executive adds
- Rob Ford is "in good spirits," his brother says
- The mayor, who is running for re-election, has been dogged by his substance abuse
(CNN) -- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford now has a new fight on his hands: a tumor.
The president of Humber River Hospital announced Wednesday that the embattled mayor -- just over two months removed from treatment for substance abuse -- has been admitted to the hospital, where doctors will try to get "a definitive diagnosis."
"It is being investigated further and we need to determine exactly what type of tumor it is, and then we can decide on what type of treatment is required," said Dr. Rueben Devlin, the Toronto hospital's president.
According to Devlin, Ford has been "complaining of abdominal pains" for over three months that got worse over the last 24 hours. That prompted the mayor to go the hospital, where a CT scan revealed the tumor in his abdomen.
It's not known yet if the tumor is malignant, according to Devlin.
Doug Ford, the mayor's brother and a Toronto city councilor, asked reporters "just to give our family a day or so" as they learn more about the situation and determine what to do next -- including deciding whether or not Rob Ford will continue his campaign for re-election.
"Rob is in good spirits, and I just want to thank the well-wishers for all the calls that are coming in," Doug Ford said.
The health ailment adds to the list of struggles facing Ford, whose fall from grace began in May 2013 with the release of a cell phone video that appeared to show him smoking crack cocaine. The Toronto city council largely stripped him of his mayoral powers months later over those and other allegations of bad behavior.
Ford didn't back down, though, instead vowing "outright war" on the city council.
The mayor apologized for "a lot of stupid things," including having used crack cocaine, but he refused to resign or enter rehab. In fact, despite all the criticism and his becoming a punchline for jokes in Canada as well as the United States, Ford launched a bid for re-election.
Yet this past spring, after a local newspaper reported on a new video that allegedly shows him smoking crack cocaine, Ford relented on one front: by going into rehab.
He returned to work in late June, after a two-month rehab stint, saying he was "ashamed, embarrassed and humiliated" by some of his past actions.
But even then, he refused to resign or refrain from campaigning, saying to the voters of Toronto, "I look forward to serving you for many, many more years."
'Ashamed, embarrassed' Rob Ford returns as Toronto mayor after rehab
Ukraine: Most Russian troops pull out
9/10/2014 6:54:13 AM
- NEW: Russian defense minister says Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash was Ukraine's fault
- Ukrainian and Russian Presidents are satisfied by ceasefire, official says
- Petro Poroshenko: "This is another hope that peaceful initiatives have a good perspective"
- Moscow has repeatedly denied sending Russian troops into Ukraine
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Some 70% of the Russian troops believed to have been in Ukraine have withdrawn back across the border, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said, according to the national news agency Ukrinform.
"This is another hope that peaceful initiatives have a good perspective," Poroshenko is quoted as saying during a Cabinet meeting in Kiev on Wednesday.
The remarks came several days into a shaky ceasefire deal between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russia rebels, signed last Friday after nearly five months of fighting in eastern Ukraine.
The Presidents of Russia and Ukraine are "broadly satisfied" with the status of the ceasefire, a Kremlin aide said Wednesday.
President Vladimir Putin and Poroshenko spoke by phone Tuesday night, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told Russia's Interfax news agency.
"On the whole, satisfaction was expressed on our part and by the Ukrainian side with how the ceasefire is being observed although it is a difficult process," Ushakov said.
Moscow has repeatedly denied allegations by Kiev and the West that it is sending Russian troops over the border into Ukraine.
Meanwhile, EU leaders are weighing whether to pull the trigger on tougher sanctions against Russia.
Talks are planned Thursday in Brussels among diplomats from the 28 member nations, following a decision Monday to put on hold for at least a "few days" a new package of economic penalties against Russia over its encroachment in Ukraine.
The delay offered more time to assess the effectiveness of the ceasefire without risking further trade retaliation by the Kremlin, which has said it will respond if new sanctions come into force.
OSCE to deploy drones
The chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is monitoring the truce, said Wednesday that more observers would be sent to eastern Ukraine.
"Around 70 specialists are in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions this week already to monitor the ceasefire. Further monitors are being recruited and deployed as we speak," Didier Burkhalter said.
The OSCE will be using its own drones over the region soon, he said. A discussion is also under way on the possible deployment of drones from some of the 57 member states of the OSCE.
Burkhalter, who is also the Swiss President and Foreign Minister, said his country was ready to support the OSCE mission in Ukraine with up to 10 additional monitors and an extra 500,000 euros ($647,000.)
MH17 crash report
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu blamed Ukraine for the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in comments Wednesday after meeting with Malaysian Defense Minister Hishammuddin Hussein in Moscow, Russia's state-run Itar-Tass new agency reported.
"The catastrophe happened in the skies of Ukraine, which is fully responsible for what happened," Shoigu is quoted as saying.
"I'm convinced that this tragedy wouldn't have happened if Ukraine had solved its internal crisis without use of military force, including artillery, missiles, and war aviation."
A preliminary report into the crash in July, released by Dutch aviation investigators Tuesday, said the plane was brought down by "high energy objects" from outside.
The U.S. and Ukraine have accused pro-Russian separatists operating in the region of downing the plane, which had 298 people on board, using a Russian-made missile system.
The report supports the theory of a warhead exploding in close proximity to the passenger jet, but it doesn't point any fingers at who might have fired it.
READ: Opinion: Ukraine still faces Russia alone
READ: Inside the kill zone of eastern Ukraine
READ: Why does MH17 report avoid the word missile?
Victoria Butenko reported from Kiev; Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London
Two more Michael Brown witnesses
9/10/2014 8:06:07 PM
- NEW: CNN senior legal analyst says the new video is "good evidence"
- A cell phone video shows witnesses reacting to the Michael Brown shooting
- They describe the teen holding his hands in the air
- Their accounts coincide with several other witness descriptions of the shooting
(CNN) -- Two men, shocked at what they saw, describe an unarmed teenager with his hands up in the air as he's gunned down by a police officer.
They were contractors doing construction work in Ferguson, Missouri, on the day Michael Brown was killed.
And the men, who asked not to be identified after CNN contacted them, said they were about 50 feet away from Officer Darren Wilson when he opened fire.
An exclusive cell phone video captures their reactions during the moments just after the shooting.
"He had his f**n hands up," one of the men says in the video.
The man told CNN he heard one gunshot, then another shot about 30 seconds later.
"The cop didn't say get on the ground. He just kept shooting," the man said.
That same witness described the gruesome scene, saying he saw Brown's "brains come out of his head," again stating, "his hands were up."
The video shows the man raising his arms in the air -- just as, he says, Brown was doing when he was shot.
The other contractor told CNN he saw Brown running away from a police car.
Brown "put his hands up," the construction worker said, and "the officer was chasing him."
The contractor says he saw Wilson fire a shot at Brown while his back was turned.
The men said they didn't seen how the confrontation started.
Other witnesses also said teen's arms were raised
The video, recorded several minutes after the shooting, gives new insight into the case, which has spurred a Justice Department investigation, national debate and protests over authorities' handling of the case.
The construction workers said they don't live in Ferguson and don't know the Brown family, but their account squares with accounts from several other witnesses of the unarmed African-American teen's shooting death on August 9.
Some witnesses say the teenager assaulted the white officer at the outset and tried to grab his gun; other witnesses say Wilson was the aggressor.
A private autopsy conducted for the Brown family showed that Brown had been shot at least six times, including twice in the head.
A grand jury is hearing the case and will determine whether Wilson will face any charges.
Protesters near Interstate 70 and outside the police headquarters on Wednesday, pushing for Gov. Jay Nixon to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Brown's death.
Analysts debate video's impact
CNN Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin says the video could play an important role in the case.
"You have practically in real time someone discussing what they saw, and that's just good evidence," he said on CNN's "AC360."
Sunny Hostin, a CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, says it's important to note that several witnesses are telling the same story.
"They're saying that he was running from the police officer and that his hands were up," she said. "I don't know what other witness testimony at this point or account we have to hear. The bottom line is having your hands up is the universal sign for surrender."
Neil Bruntrager, general counsel for the St. Louis Police Officers Association, cautioned against rushing to judgment. Witness accounts are important, he said, but need to be evaluated with all the evidence.
"I'm not saying disregard them. I'm saying that we will judge their credibility by all of the evidence, not by one statement, and certainly not by a 15-second video clip," he said.
Complete coverage of the Michael Brown shooting and protests
CNN's Anne Clifford, Catherine E. Shoichet, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Rachel Clarke and Chris Lett contributed to this report.
Ex-FBI director to probe Rice incident
9/10/2014 11:29:32 PM
- NEW: Robert Mueller to lead inquest into how NFL handled its investigation into Rice case
- NEW: National Organization for Women says investigation isn't enough
- AP reports NFL executive received a copy of in-elevator video in April
- NFL says it is unaware of anyone in league office watching video before this week
(CNN) -- The NFL on Wednesday said it is looking into an Associated Press report that a league executive in April received from a law enforcement official a copy of the video in which Ray Rice punched his now-wife in the face.
The law enforcement official had a short voice mail from April 9 in which someone calling from a number at an NFL office thanks the official, the AP reported. The caller says of the video, "You're right. It's terrible," according to the AP.
The league has denied that anyone in its office had seen the video before Monday, when it was posted online. When asked about the AP report, an NFL spokesman said the league will investigate the validity of the story.
"We have no knowledge of this. We are not aware of anyone in our office who possessed or saw the video before it was made public on Monday. We will look into it," Brian McCarthy said.
The AP story said the law enforcement official requested anonymity because of an ongoing investigation and didn't name the NFL executive because that would make it easy to identify the AP's source.
The source told AP he sent the video on a DVD to an NFL office.
"The person said he was unauthorized to release the video but shared it unsolicited, because he wanted the NFL to have it before deciding on Rice's punishment," the AP wrote.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told CBS in an interview aired Wednesday that the league asked for the video on several occasions, but was denied access.
"I understand that there may be legal restrictions on them sharing that with us," he said.
CNN's Rachel Nichols said the AP report, if true, is extremely damaging to the NFL's and Goodell's reputation.
"This is a huge problem, and not just for the public," she said. "We now have NFL players coming out against this because Roger Goodell is either flat-out lying about having seen the video, or he is admitting to gross, gross negligence that this was in his office and he didn't see the video."
Late Wednesday, the NFL announced that former FBI Director Robert Mueller will lead an independent inquiry into the league's investigation and gathering of evidence in the case.
Goodell said Mueller will have access to all NFL records, spokesman Greg Aiello said. Two NFL owners who are attorneys -- John Mara of the New York Giants and Art Rooney II of the Pittsburgh Steelers -- will oversee the independent probe.
Mueller was director of the FBI from 2001 to 2013.
The National Organization for Women called Mueller's appointment "just window dressing," saying it doesn't go far enough.
"NOW continues to ask for Roger Goodell to resign, and for his successor to appoint an independent investigator with full authority to gather factual data about domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking within the entire NFL community - not just regarding the Ray Rice incident - and to recommend real and lasting reforms," said Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women.
NFL says it tried to get footage
In a memo to NFL owners, the commissioner reiterated that position, saying the NFL asked for the videos in February and in May. New Jersey law prohibits their release while a police investigation is under way, Goodell wrote in the memo.
The league didn't ask a casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for the video, Goodell said.
On February 15, Rice, released Monday by the Baltimore Ravens, and his then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, got into an altercation on an elevator in the casino in Atlantic City. Rice floored Palmer with a punch to the head then dragged her -- face down -- out of the elevator. The incident was captured on casino surveillance cameras.
TMZ Sports obtained two videos from the footage taken that night. It posted the first one, which showed Rice dragging his then-fiancee out of the elevator, in February. The in-elevator video showing the violent punch was put online on Monday.
'We dropped the ball,' Ravens owner says
It was that second video that changed Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti's perception of the incident.
Bisciotti, who told CNN affiliate WBAL that he never spoke with Rice, said he didn't realize the blow that knocked Janay Rice out was so forceful.
"The way it was described to us was that he had hit her with an open hand and that she had hit her head (as she fell)," Bisciotti told WBAL.
He told the station that the way he pictured it in his mind Janay Rice was "wailing" on her then-fiance when he slapped her and she was close to the wall and hit her head, knocking her out.
"So why did I conclude all of that? Because I wanted to, because I loved him, because he had a stellar record," Bisciotti said. He added his thinking was also shaped by the fact that police only arrested the couple for misdemeanors.
Ray Rice's charge was later changed to a felony, and Janay's charge was dropped.
Goodell sickened by Monday's video
Rice was suspended indefinitely by the league and is in a pretrial intervention program in the New Jersey legal system that will allow him to avoid jail time.
Initially he had been suspended for two games of the 16-game season, a decision by Goodell that was widely criticized. Many commentators have argued the first video TMZ Sports posted was evidence enough for a harsher penalty.
And NFL investigators should have had access to the complaint summons from the case. The Baltimore Sun posted part of the document February 19. The complaint says Ray Rice was charged with assault by attempting to cause bodily harm, "specifically by striking her with his hand, rendering her unconscious."
Goodell told CBS that he was sickened by what he saw on the newly released video and that it was the first time he had seen the full scope of the February incident.
He also deflected criticism of his handling of Rice's case and his initial lenient penalty for the domestic violence incident.
"What we saw in the first videotape was troubling to us in and of itself," Goodell said, referring to another video that surfaced in February after the incident, showing Rice dragging his then-fiancee out of the elevator. "But what we saw yesterday was extremely clear. It was extremely graphic and it was sickening."
A timeline of key events
NFL's past penalties for domestic violence 'a different story'
CNN's Wayne Sterling, Drew Iden, Joshua Gaynor, Mariano Castillo, Jill Martin and Jennifer Bernstein contributed to this report.
Pistorius murder trial enters final lap
9/10/2014 11:26:17 AM
- After a six-month trial, a verdict in Oscar Pistorius' murder case comes Thursday
- Pistorius says he thought he was defending himself from an intruder
- Prosecutors say he shot and killed his girlfriend in a fit of rage
Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- More than a year and a half after Oscar Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in his home in the middle of a dark February night, the world-famous sprinter's murder trial is racing for the finish line.
Judge Thokozile Masipa is set to deliver her verdict in the case Thursday, with possibilities ranging from a life sentence to letting Pistorius -- who's been nicknamed the "Blade Runner" for the prosthetic devices on his legs -- leave court a free man.
There's a simple question at the heart of the case: Did Pistorius know or suspect that his 29-year-old cover model girlfriend was in the bathroom when he fired four bullets through a locked door at her, killing her almost instantly?
If the judge is convinced that Pistorius, 27, did know he was firing at his girlfriend, he'll be convicted of murder.
If the judge accepts the disabled Olympic star's defense that he thought he was shooting at an intruder, she could convict him of the lesser charge of culpable homicide, or find him not guilty.
Was it in self-defense?
From the first phone call he made to a neighbor minutes after shooting Steenkamp in the early hours of February 14, 2013, Pistorius has maintained that he thought someone had broken into his house and that he believed he was firing in self-defense.
Nothing has shaken his story, not even a week of brutal cross-examination on the stand by state prosecutor Gerrie Nel, who barked at Pistorius: "Say it! Say 'I killed Reeva Steenkamp!'"
The pugnacious Nel, one of South Africa's most tenacious prosecutors, demanded that Pistorius look at a photo of Steenkamp's bloodied head after one of the athlete's bullets passed through her brain.
Weeping, his voice breaking, Pistorius refused, crying back: "I don't have to look at a picture! I was there!"
Pistorius' extreme distress -- which included repeated bouts of vomiting during some parts of the trial -- may have grabbed headlines and split opinions, but it's not clear that they will sway Masipa.
Colleagues described her to CNN as fair-minded and focused on the facts, not on emotions or the global media coverage of the case.
But undisputed facts are hard to come by when only two people were in Pistorius' house in a gated community on the outskirts of Johannesburg on the night of the killing -- the killer and the victim.
Neighbors' testimony questioned
Prosecution and defense attorneys spent months battling over what neighbors heard that night, when Pistorius last used his phone and when Steenkamp last ate, and whether the amputation of both of the runner's legs below the knee means that what is reasonable for an able-bodied person might not be reasonable for him.
A handful of neighbors testified they heard shouting or screaming on the night, as well as thuds or bangs which they thought were gunshots.
Nel wove that testimony into a tale of a heated argument between lovers, culminating in Steenkamp fleeing from her boyfriend and locking herself in the toilet before Pistorius shot her in a rage.
As the prosecution case came to an end in late March, Nel produced text messages between the two, including one in which Steenkamp said she was sometimes scared of Pistorius.
But lead defense lawyer Barry Roux chipped away at that story, producing phone records to cast doubt on the idea that the two fought the night Steenkamp died.
What neighbors heard was not a fight and a hot-blooded murder, Roux argued, but Pistorius shouting for help after he realized what he had done by mistake.
The alleged gunshots after the shouting were in fact the sounds of Pistorius trying to break down the toilet door to save Steenkamp, Roux argued.
Was Reeva afraid of her boyfriend?
And he downplayed the significance of the WhatsApp text messages suggesting Steenkamp feared Pistorius. There were only four such messages out of more than 1,700 the two exchanged in the four months they were dating, he argued.
Far more common were affectionate messages peppered with nicknames and "kiss" symbols, which he had a police witness read aloud in court in one of the few lighter moments in the emotionally wrenching six-month trial.
Each side produced its own pathology experts to try to establish when Steenkamp last ate -- a fact which could potentially poke a hole in Pistorius' story that the two went to sleep around 10 p.m., roughly five hours before he killed her.
The state said her stomach contents suggested she had eaten several hours later than that, while the defense said it was impossible to pinpoint with such accuracy when Steenkamp's last meal was and cast doubt on the likelihood of an athlete and a model eating dinner after midnight.
Psychology played a part
The defense outlined the psychological effects on Pistorius of his amputation before he was a year old, his parents' divorce, and his mother's death when he was a schoolboy.
It also said the psychological portrait showed Pistorius was a man temperamentally given to running toward danger, not away from it, and that he was physically unable to flee danger in a fight-or-flight scenario.
If the judge is not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of the state's case that Pistorius knew he was shooting at Steenkamp, she must decide if his mistakes were genuine and reasonable.
If she rules they were not reasonable, she could find him guilty of culpable homicide. There's no mandatory sentencing guidelines for that charge, which is similar to manslaughter in the United States.
If she believes the runner made reasonable mistakes in the circumstances of that night, she could find him not guilty and set him free.
There is no jury. South Africa abolished the use of juries in 1969, during the days of apartheid, fearing that racism would taint jurors' decisions.
Not only a murder charge
Pistorius also faces three lesser weapons charges.
Two concern allegations that he recklessly fired a gun in a public place -- once at the popular Tasha's restaurant in Johannesburg, and once from the sunroof of a car when driving with his previous girlfriend and another friend.
Pistorius denies guilt in both cases. If he is found guilty on those counts, he could potentially face up to five years in prison for each charge, although a lesser sentence such as a fine or loss of his gun license is also possible.
The final charge is that he had in his house ammunition for which he did not have the proper license. He says he was storing it in a safe for his father and denies guilt.
It's a serious charge, potentially carrying a prison sentence of up to 15 years, but in that case, too, lesser punishments are possible.
Pistorius can request an appeal if he is found guilty of any of the charges. The state can also request an appeal if he is not, although with greater restrictions that a defendant's right to appeal.
READ: South African judge holds athlete's fate in her hands
READ: Pistorius case: Legal Q and A
READ: Interactive: Explore each side's case
CNN's Robyn Curnow, Brent Swails and Emily Smith, and CNN legal analyst Kelly Phelps contributed to this report.
Ebola fight gets Gates' millions
9/10/2014 11:15:18 PM
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation joins fight of Ebola outbreak in West Africa
- More than 2,200 people have died in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone
- Money will be used to purchase supplies and scale up emergency operations
(CNN) -- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday it will donate $50 million to help fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
More than 2,200 people have died in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, where the outbreak has been concentrated. Cases have also been reported in nearby Nigeria and Senegal.
The foundation says the money will be used to enable international aid organizations and national governments "to purchase badly needed supplies and scale up emergency operations in affected countries."
It will also "work with public and private sector partners to accelerate the development of therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics that could be effective in treating patients and preventing further transmission of the disease."
The first human trial of an experimental Ebola vaccine began last week at the National Institutes of Health.
This is considered the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history. The World Health Organization said Monday the rapid spread of the virus in Liberia shows no sign of slowing.
"The number of new cases is increasing exponentially," WHO said, calling the situation a "dire emergency with ... unprecedented dimensions of human suffering."
Taxis packed with families who fear they've contracted the deadly virus criss-cross the Liberian capital, searching for a place where they can be treated, WHO said. But there are no available beds.
"As soon as a new Ebola treatment facility is opened, it immediately fills to overflowing with patients," the U.N. group said.
To help ease some of the burden on West Africa's already over-taxed medical system, the United States announced Tuesday it will send $10 million in additional funds. That's in addition to the $100 million Washington has already sent to help fight the outbreak. USAID also announced it will make $75 million in extra funds available.
The new funds will pay for transportation and support to send 100 more health care workers to help fight the epidemic. The WHO and several nonprofit agencies on the ground have repeatedly called for the international community to send additional trained help.
USAID funding has already provided 130,000 sets of personal protective equipment, 50,000 hygiene kits, and 1,000 new beds.
USAID has created a website where trained nurses, physician assistants or doctors who want to help can sign up.
On Sunday, President Barack Obama said the Ebola outbreak needs to be a "national security priority." Obama told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the U.S. military could help set up isolation units and provide security for public health workers.
"If we don't make that effort now, and this spreads not just through Africa but other parts of the world, there's the prospect then that the virus mutates. It becomes more easily transmittable. And then it could be a serious danger to the United States," he said.
U.S. 'ill-prepared' for a pandemic, feds say
CNN's Betsy Klein contributed to this story.
Kendall Jenner comes into focus
9/11/2014 12:45:07 AM
- Kendall Jenner has been dubbed a model to watch in the fashion world
- She first gained attention via her family's reality show "Keeping Up with Kardashians"
- "I feel like I've always been in front of a camera," she says
- Jenner has walked for designers like Chanel, Marc Jacobs and Givenchy
(CNN) -- All eyes shifted toward the beginning of the runway when a dark-haired model strutted out in a star-spangled red bikini to a fusillade of flashbulbs at Tommy Hilfiger's New York Fashion Week show on Monday.
She fit right in at nearly 5'11" tall with a svelte frame. But despite adhering to the anonymous runway model aesthetic, Kendall Jenner tends to stand out.
She's on a first-name basis with millions.
Just look at her stats: On Facebook, she has almost 7 million followers; on Twitter, 8.75 million; and on Instagram, a whopping 13.3 million.
The teen, who appears alongside her paparazzi-favorite family in "Keeping Up with Kardashians," is trying to find her own footing in the high-fashion world without her polarizing siblings and parents.
"You just don't know how (casting directors) are going to react to it. It could be like 'Oh, just another reality TV star coming in, trying to be something,' " Jenner said. "This is what I want to do. ... This is my career. This is what I wanted to be."
During this New York Fashion Week, which ends Thursday, Jenner has made enviable strides by modeling for Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger and Diane von Furstenberg. In von Furstenberg's show, she walked behind legendary supermodel Naomi Campbell and Victoria's Secret Angel Candice Swanepoel, both of whom Jenner says she looks up to.
The 18-year-old is on the cover of the September issue of Teen Vogue and appears in the fashion-heavy September issue of its high-end counterpart, Vogue.
This year, she walked for high-fashion brands overseas like Chanel, Giles and Givenchy.
"When I started, I had no idea how this was going to turn out," she said. "It's still so surreal that I've walked in shows like Givenchy and Chanel. It's ridiculous."
Like anything Kardashian-related, Jenner's presence in this world has not come without controversy: Where models are dodging street style photographers, she's dodging paparazzi and hit pieces in the media about the distraction her presence brings.
Compared with some of her high-fashion counterparts who can walk upwards of 20 runways during the weeklong event before heading to London, Paris and Milan, Jenner is still a fledgling in her second season, with three shows thus far. Despite it all, her name does garner press.
![Kendall Jenner models for Donna Karan at New York Fashion Week.](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140910142030-03-kendall-jenner-nyfw-custom-1.jpg")
See all of CNN Living's New York Fashion Week coverage
Before Fashion Week started, she decided to omit her last name from her casting card, which is sent out to runway suitors from her agency, The Society Management.
"I just felt like I didn't want a last name to help me in any way," Jenner said, making it clear that the decision is not a slight to her family. "Whenever I went into a casting, I didn't need any special treatment."
But, to play the devil-in-Prada's advocate, she also credits growing up in front of a lens with helping her improve her modeling skills. Her mother, Kris Jenner, is a business manager and executive producer for her family's show, and her father is Olympic decathlete Bruce Jenner.
"Whether it was a big TV camera or a little picture camera, I feel like I've always been in front of a camera," Jenner said.
Modeling is an easy transition, she says, and something she's wanted to do since she was a young girl.
In her Fashion Week debut in February, she made a splash with a chest-baring look for Marc Jacobs, which Jenner describes as a " 'hello world' kind of moment."
It's a far cry from the shy child she used to be.
![Kendall Jenner modeled for Diane von Furstenberg.](http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/140910142024-01-kendall-jenner-nyfw-custom-1.jpg")
"When I was a kid, I couldn't have a slumber party for one night without crying myself to sleep and telling my dad to pick me up at 10 o'clock at night," Jenner said.
Given her exposure, it's easy to forget she's a California girl, straight out of high school.
"I was so terrified to get in a cab the first time I was here," Jenner admitted.
As for what's coming up for the ingenue, Jenner shares two words familiar to any TV watcher: "Stay tuned."
Obama: We will destroy ISIS
9/10/2014 6:09:25 PM
- NEW: Source: Obama's message is "the next phase is offense"
- President Obama tonight will announce a coalition to fight ISIS
- Obama has asked Congress for authority to arm and train Syrian rebels
- ISIS presents a bigger threat than al Qaeda, veteran U.S. diplomat tells CNN
Washington (CNN) -- It's time to go after ISIS in Iraq and Syria, President Barack Obama will tell the country Wednesday night in a nationally televised address intended to sell stepped-up military efforts to a war-weary public.
Excerpts released by the White House in advance signaled that Obama planned airstrikes on ISIS targets in Syria as well as Iraq, taking a step advocated by a growing number of U.S. politicians with increasing public support.
The speech from the White House also will seek to convince allies of a firm U.S. commitment to join them in an international coalition to fight the Sunni jihadists who rampaged across northern Iraq from Syria this year. They are known as ISIS, ISIL and Islamic State.
"A steady, relentless effort"
"This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground," Obama will say.
At the same time, he will make clear the strategy differed from all-out war again in Iraq less than three years after he withdrew combat forces from the country.
"It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil," Obama will say, according to the excerpts.
Noting the formation of a new Iraqi government, which his administration has demanded, Obama will announce that "America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat."
Objective: "degrade and ultimately destroy" ISIS
"Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy," he will say.
Obama has been criticized by conservatives and some Democrats for what they call a timid response so far to the threat by ISIS fighters. The recent beheading of two American journalists held captive by ISIS raised public awareness of the extremists and the threat they pose.
A senior administration official told CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger that Obama's message was "the next phase is offense" against ISIS, and that the President sought international support before speaking publicly about his strategy.
"Until you have a coalition, it's hard to explain how this will work," the official said.
Former White House spokesman Jay Carney, now a CNN contributor, said his ex-boss would detail what he's willing to do but may not announce specific actions in the speech.
Carney on Obama
"The case as I understand it that he'll make is one that would encompass both action in Iraq and Syria under the general premise that this organization is a threat to the stability of the region, to a number of allies in the region and to the broader world, including the United States, and therefore going after that threat including leaders of this organization is necessary," Carney said a few hours before Obama spoke.
Obama needs to "make clear tonight to the country why we need to do this, what the plan is, what the coaltion looks llike, where we will be and not just after we expand the number of strikes and even the zone and the area where we are striking, but what the broader plan is," Carney said.
U.S. officials say Obama is open to conducting airstrikes in Syria, and he already asked Congress for the authority to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight the ISIS extremists.
Such authority comes under Title 10 of the U.S. code, which deals with military powers, and Congress could vote on granting it next week. Approval also would allow the United States to accept money from other countries for backing the Syrian opposition forces.
Most voices in Congress back strong U.S. action against the ISIS fighters. However, any vote on military action can be risky, especially with congressional elections less than two months off.
The fraught politics of the issue were clear on Wednesday, when House Republican leaders put off a vote on a government spending measure set for Wednesday after pressure emerged to add the Title 10 authorization to it.
On Tuesday, Obama told congressional leaders he has the authority to carry out his planned strategy against ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria without authorization from legislators. The strategy so far has included airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq to protect Americans, aid the Iraqis and provide humanitarian support.
Veteran diplomat: ISIS worse than al Qaeda
Former U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker, who served in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, told CNN on Wednesday that ISIS presents a bigger threat to America than al Qaeda.
"They are more numerous, they are better armed, they are far better financed, they are better experienced, and perhaps most critically there are several thousand of them who hold Western passports, including American passports," Crocker said. "They don't need to get a visa; they just need to get on a plane."
He added: "If we don't think we're on their target list, we are delusional."
White House: Obama will present 'comprehensive strategy'
A White House statement said Obama's speech will explain "how the United States will pursue a comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, including U.S. military action and support for the forces combating ISIL on the ground -- both the opposition in Syria and a new, inclusive Iraqi government."
"The President will discuss how we are building a coalition of Allies and partners in the region and in the broader international community to support our efforts, and will talk about how we work with the Congress as a partner in these efforts," it continued.
U.S. diplomatic efforts this week seek to solidify the coalition. Secretary of State John Kerry left Tuesday to push Sunni leaders in Jordan and Saudi Arabia to join the United States and its allies in combating ISIS, while Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Lisa Monaco, the homeland security adviser, also will be in the region.
Obama to Congress: No vote needed on ISIS strategy
Show of unity with Congress would help
After his meeting with top congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday, Obama asked for their support to show the nation was united.
However, he insisted he already has the authority to ratchet up airstrikes against ISIS under war power granted more than a decade ago to fight al Qaeda. ISIS formed from som eal Qaeda affiliates but is separate from the central leadership of the terrorist organization behind the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
On Wednesday, two senior legislators -- one from each party -- told CNN's Dana Bash that a congressional vote on military action against the jihadists was unlikely despite calls for one by many of their colleagues.
Volatile issue before election could be politically risky
While some in Congress want to vote on the matter, taking up such a volatile issue as military action weeks before the November elections may be politically dangerous.
Opinion: 5 questions Obama must answer
Kerry begins new anti-ISIS push in Mideast
CNN's Jim Acosta, Diane Ruggiero, Elise Labott, Kevin Liptak, Josh Levs and Faith Karimi contributed to this report.
U.S., Russia, Iran -- agree?
9/10/2014 2:11:56 PM
- Barack Obama making case to nation for increasing military action against ISIS
- John Kerry in Middle East trying to get more of the region's leaders on board
- Germany, UK, France to offer assistance; Russia wary of potential U.S. strikes in Syria
(CNN) -- As Barack Obama makes his case to the nation for taking the fight to ISIS, his top diplomat is also trying to make sure America doesn't have to go it alone.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is sweeping through the Middle East to try to convince regional leaders to back America's plan to beat back the terror group, which has seized a large chunk of territory stretching from northern Syria to central Iraq with alarming pace in recent months. So who's with them?
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Rob Ford diagnosed with tumor
9/10/2014 7:24:16 PM
- Toronto hospital executive: A CT scan shows Rob Ford has a tumor in his abdomen
- It's not known if the tumor is malignant or how it will be treated, the executive adds
- Rob Ford is "in good spirits," his brother says
- The mayor, who is running for re-election, has been dogged by his substance abuse
(CNN) -- Toronto Mayor Rob Ford now has a new fight on his hands: a tumor.
The president of Humber River Hospital announced Wednesday that the embattled mayor -- just over two months removed from treatment for substance abuse -- has been admitted to the hospital, where doctors will try to get "a definitive diagnosis."
"It is being investigated further and we need to determine exactly what type of tumor it is, and then we can decide on what type of treatment is required," said Dr. Rueben Devlin, the Toronto hospital's president.
According to Devlin, Ford has been "complaining of abdominal pains" for over three months that got worse over the last 24 hours. That prompted the mayor to go the hospital, where a CT scan revealed the tumor in his abdomen.
It's not known yet if the tumor is malignant, according to Devlin.
Doug Ford, the mayor's brother and a Toronto city councilor, asked reporters "just to give our family a day or so" as they learn more about the situation and determine what to do next -- including deciding whether or not Rob Ford will continue his campaign for re-election.
"Rob is in good spirits, and I just want to thank the well-wishers for all the calls that are coming in," Doug Ford said.
The health ailment adds to the list of struggles facing Ford, whose fall from grace began in May 2013 with the release of a cell phone video that appeared to show him smoking crack cocaine. The Toronto city council largely stripped him of his mayoral powers months later over those and other allegations of bad behavior.
Ford didn't back down, though, instead vowing "outright war" on the city council.
The mayor apologized for "a lot of stupid things," including having used crack cocaine, but he refused to resign or enter rehab. In fact, despite all the criticism and his becoming a punchline for jokes in Canada as well as the United States, Ford launched a bid for re-election.
Yet this past spring, after a local newspaper reported on a new video that allegedly shows him smoking crack cocaine, Ford relented on one front: by going into rehab.
He returned to work in late June, after a two-month rehab stint, saying he was "ashamed, embarrassed and humiliated" by some of his past actions.
But even then, he refused to resign or refrain from campaigning, saying to the voters of Toronto, "I look forward to serving you for many, many more years."
'Ashamed, embarrassed' Rob Ford returns as Toronto mayor after rehab
OPCW: Chlorine gas used in Syria
9/10/2014 11:06:27 PM
(CNN) -- Inspectors have determined "with a high degree of confidence" that chlorine gas was used in attacks this year in northern Syria.
A fact-finding mission from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons found "compelling confirmation" that a toxic chemical was used "systematically and repeatedly," the group said in a statement Wednesday. Information gathered led the mission "to conclude with a high degree of confidence that chlorine, either pure or in mixture, is the toxic chemical in question."
The mission's task does not include determining who was responsible for using chemical weapons. It was investigating claims that the Syrian regime used chlorine gas in the villages of Talmanes, Al Tamanah and Kafr Zita, the OPCW said.
In May, several inspectors taking part in the mission were kidnapped and then released the same day.
The last of Syria's declared chemical weapons stockpiles were removed from the country in June, the OPCW said. The most dangerous ones have since been destroyed at sea, the United States said.
The OPCW implements the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force in 1997. It aims to ban chemical weapons worldwide.
Election woes haunt Afghanistan
9/10/2014 11:04:57 PM
- Afghanistan's government is at an impasse as awaiting election audit results
- Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani accuse each other of fraud and manipulation in June election
- Dispute has stymied what was to be Afghanistan's first democratic transfer of power
- UN's Ban Ki-moon and Hamid Karzai call for unity government
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan has been thrown into political turmoil after a months-long dispute between two presidential candidates prevented a successor to outgoing President Hamid Karzai being named.
The country's presidential election was held on April 5, and was followed by a runoff vote in June after the first result was inconclusive. The two contenders, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, have accused each other of fraud and manipulation.
Despite pleas from Karzai and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to come to a resolution, the two opponents remain at an impasse, sparking concerns of bloodshed and instability in the fragile, war-torn country. It has significantly delayed what was to be Afghanistan's first democratic transfer of power.
This comes at a time as the Taliban have carried out deadly attacks on high-profile targets and fought heavily for control of the Helmand province. As the U.S.-led war effort against the Taliban winds down, most NATO troops are due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of this year.
Afghanistan "urgently needs a new government," and the two runoff candidates must form a unity government, Karzai said earlier this week.
"We want a new government and that can be brought to us by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai."
READ: Taliban suicide bombers target Afghanistan spy agency
A crumbling agreement?
In July, Abdullah and Ghani came to an agreement, brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, to accept the result of a nationwide audit and form a unity government.
READ: Kerry unveils audit in Afghan presidential election crisis
The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan conducted the audit, under the supervision of UN specialists and international observers. It completed the audit of about 8 million votes on September 4, but the results have not been released.
"The audit work is completed," said Noor Mohammad Noor, a spokesman for the election commission on Wednesday. "Only some physical work is yet to be done and we are hoping to be able to announce it in the next few days."
Meanwhile, both candidates appear they are backing off their July commitment with statements reported in the media that Abdullah would reject the official results and Ghani indicated he may not be open to power sharing.
In a statement this week, Ban urged the candidates to fulfill their end of the agreement "on a government of national unity in accordance with the commitments they reached on 12 July," according to his spokesman.
"The Secretary-General emphasizes that this is a pivotal moment for Afghanistan, and that genuine partnership will be required in tackling Afghanistan's many challenges. Both parties share a real responsibility to guide Afghanistan to a peaceful and more prosperous future. Given the scale of the challenges, this can only be done jointly."
The impasse has also vexed Karzai, whose last day in office was supposed to be three months ago. After 13 years in power, Karzai had said that he hoped to leave office by September 2, but was asked by the UN Special Representative to stay as the vote audit was underway.
Abdullah and Ghani at odds
There are concerns that the political deadlock can spiral into a bloody dispute between supporters for the two candidates.
On Tuesday, Abdullah's supporters took to the streets to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the death of Ahmad Shah Massoud, who is regarded as a national hero. At the scene, a boy died when members of the crowd fired their guns into the air.
In the general election on April 5, Abdullah secured 45% of the vote, while Ghani got 31.6%. Abdullah was a vocal critic of the Taliban during their years in power. Although he was once an ally of Karzai, serving in his government as foreign minister, he become an opponent in recent years and even challenged him in the 2009 election. Abdullah dropped out after that election after the first round to protest what he said was large-scale voting fraud.
In the June vote, Ghani appeared to pull off a comeback, gaining more votes over Abdullah. Ghani is a former academic and U.S. citizen who gave up his passport to run for the Afghan presidency in 2009. He worked as an adviser to Karzai and as finance minister in his Cabinet.
CNN's Masoud Popalzai reported from Afghanistan and Madison Park wrote from Hong Kong.
More than 400 die in monsoon floods
9/10/2014 12:04:00 PM
- NEW: Death toll in India and Pakistan is more than 400
- Pakistan disaster agency representative: "The major peak is still to pass"
- Most casualties are in Indian-administered Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Kashmir
- Main Indian-Kashmir city of Srinagar deluged by floodwater
(CNN) -- A huge relief operation is continuing across northern India and into Pakistan amid devastating floods that have killed hundreds of people and left tens of thousands more stranded.
Authorities in Pakistan, anticipating further rainfall and the passage of floodwater to more populous areas, have warned that the worst is yet to come.
The death toll is more than 400. Pakistan reported 257 killed, and India has reported at least 150.
Hundreds more in each country have been injured.
The count is expected to rise as rescuers regain access to areas cut off by floodwater.
The capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, Srinagar, was also deluged, with residents perched on rooftops and other high ground awaiting rescue. Many buildings in the old part of the city have collapsed, local media report.
Key infrastructure, such as bridges and roads, has been destroyed, hampering the army's relief efforts.
Emergency rebuilding
Indian soldiers in the heavily flooded area rushed to erect temporary crossings in order to reach people cut off by rapidly rising waters.
The focus of the Indian relief effort will remain on Srinagar and areas of south Kashmir because of the number of people still stranded without food and water, Lt. Gen. D. S. Hooda, chief of the Indian Army's Northern Command, said at a news conference.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the region at the weekend and immediately declared it a "national-level disaster." He said everything would be done to provide aid and restore bridges and communication links washed away by the incessant rains.
Modi, who was elected this year, also offered to help Pakistanis affected by the huge floods.
Devastation from 'flooding is unprecedented'
"It is a matter of great distress that the retreating monsoon rains have played havoc in many parts of our two countries," he wrote in a letter to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, adding that "the devastation caused by the record rains and the consequent flooding is unprecedented."
Following a period of almost nonexistent communication in the Jammu and Kashmir region of northern India, 90 3G towers have been restored. By Tuesday, 23,530 stranded people had been evacuated by army units equipped with helicopters and boats and deployed across the province.
The Indian army has also employed social media to monitor distress messages and forward them to rescuers. Around 7,000 such distress messages have been relayed so far, and many have resulted in the rescue of stranded residents.
"The Indian army will not move back to the barracks till the last man is brought to safety," Indian army Gen. Dalbir Singh said.
The four-month monsoon season shows no signs of abating, with wet weather forecast for next week as well. Western regions of the subcontinent have usually seen the last of rains by early September, but the Indian Meteorological Department forecast "heavy to very heavy rainfall" in a number of states over the next few days.
Peak yet to pass
In neighboring Pakistan, heavy rains have continued over the past few days, causing flooding from the main rivers of that region.
Ahmed Kemal, a representative of the National Disaster Management Authority, confirmed the flooding is going to continue into the South of Pakistan into Sindh because of rising water levels in barrages, making this a nationwide crisis.
"The major peak is still to pass," he told CNN. "We have to realize that water is rising; inundation is expected and will create some sort of flooding. This situation is only going to get worse."
The evacuation of northern areas of the country is underway, and as of Monday, Kemal said 18,227 people had been evacuated and moved to relief camps in northwestern Punjab province.
Rainfall during this monsoon season had been below average this year, but the heavy rain of recent days has burst riverbanks across the northern part of both countries.
The Jehlum and Chenab rivers in northern Pakistan have seen water levels rise by as much as 18 feet, turning parts of their courses into lakes as much 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide.
The north is one of the most mountainous places in the world, and floodwater from there eventually will make its way downstream and could cause flooding in the coastal plains to the south, particularly along the course of the Indus River. Some 300 million people live in that river's basin.
As many as 1,500 stranded people have been rescued by troops using helicopters and boats from areas of Punjab, the country's most populous region. The Pakistani army also airdropped 10,000 food packs to various flood-hit areas.
Army troops have also been moved to towns in the stricken region.
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