 | In this course, we cover many aspects of creating content for the web, from concept to production. 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. |
Obama 'shocked' by Ray Rice video
9/14/2014 5:34:55 PM
- White House chief of staff: "The President was shocked" by punching video
- Lawmakers criticize the NFL and the league's commissioner
- "I'm waiting to see if there is a major cover-up," senator says
Washington (CNN) -- The growing outcry over how the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell deal with incidents of domestic violence has reached the nation's highest office. Even President Barack Obama has seen the footage of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee.
"The President was shocked by what he saw. Let's put it that way," White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough said told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
The incident involving Rice is one of several high-profile scandals involving NFL players that have spurred complaints that the National Football League is too lenient on players.
A few months after the Rice incident, Goodell suspended him without pay and fined him an additional game check. However, after the TMZ Sports video so clearly showed the forceful nature of the punch, Goodell suspended Rice indefinitely.
Last week, the White House addressed the suspension with a statement saying the President believes domestic violence "contemptible and unacceptable in a civilized society," but it wasn't clear whether he had seen the video of the incident from inside the elevator.
McDonough said the White House wouldn't at this point try to characterize how the NFL is handling the Rice case. But he did speak generally about Rice's indefinite suspension.
"We all know that Ray Rice being suspended indefinitely seems to be exactly the right thing," McDonough said.
Other lawmakers Sunday were far more critical of Goodell and the league.
"I have a feeling there's a lot of people that know stuff, what went on here," Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota told CNN's "State of the Union."
"I'm waiting to see if there is a major cover-up, if it shows [Goodell] lies, there could be many factual situations where, in fact, he should step down."
Klobuchar, a former prosecutor, is one of 16 female senators who sent a letter to Goodell calling on the football league to institute a "real zero-tolerance policy" in such cases.
The NFL announced late Wednesday that former FBI Director Robert Mueller will lead an independent inquiry into the league's investigation and how it gathered evidence in the case.
"Bob Mueller's integrity is on the line here, and hopefully he'll get the facts out," Klobuchar said of the investigation. "The fact that (the NFL) gave only a two-game suspension and then turn around and after the evidence goes public say, 'Oh, oh, we made a mistake. Now we're going to let him go.' I think that's problematic for the NFL and deeply concerning about how they handle these kinds of cases."
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who also signed the letter to Goodell, had scathing words for the NFL.
"I think the way the NFL handled this was awful. It was outrageous," Gillibrand told CBS's "Face the Nation." "They had all the facts they needed. They had a player who admitted to beating his wife. They had video of him dragging her out an elevator. There was nothing left to determine. That player should've been fired immediately. So we are now looking to the commissioner to enforce a zero-tolerance policy."
Gillibrand also said that if Goodell has covered up what he knew about the Rice incident, he should be benched.
"Initially, I want him to lead the reform to actually create and enforce a zero-tolerance policy. But, given the recent debate, you know, if he lied, if he lied to the American people, then he has to step down," she said, "because he won't have the force of authority to change how they address these issues."
Gillibrand said the bipartisan letter from lawmakers to Goodell may be merely the beginning of a broader congressional push for more accountability in the NFL.
"If the NFL doesn't police themselves, then, you know, we will be looking more into it," she said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we have hearings."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, recently told CNN that he would not "rule out" congressional action to force the NFL's hand on domestic abuse.
In the past, members of Congress have leveraged their titles and hearing rooms to press major U.S. sports leagues to face difficult issues. In 2007, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released the landmark Mitchell Report on steroid use in Major League Baseball.
Household names such as Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte were named, and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig responded that the report was a "a call to action, and I will act." Baseball fans would eventually see both Selig and Clemens, along with baseball titans Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro and Jose Canseco, testify before Congress.
Outcry over the NFL's response to the Rice incident has been compounded by two more recent incidents of domestic violence allegedly involving NFL players. Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings was indicted last week by a grand jury in Texas on a child abuse charge. Shortly afterward, he was placed on the inactive list for his team.
The Carolina Panthers placed defensive end Greg Hardy on the team's inactive list in a surprise announcement Sunday, months after he was convicted of a domestic violence charge.
Authorities say Hardy choked his then-girlfriend, threw her around, dragged her by her hair and threatened to kill her. Hardy -- 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds -- says he is innocent, and he has appealed a July guilty verdict rendered by a Mecklenburg County judge in North Carolina.
Beyond the D.C. Beltway, California's second most powerful government official has called on the San Francisco 49ers to bench one of its own players involved in a domestic violence investigation.
Ray McDonald, a starting defensive end, was arrested on felony domestic violence charges last month.
"The 49ers' continued insistence on playing Ray McDonald during his ongoing criminal investigation is a painful affront to every victim of domestic violence and sends a troubling message to our community," Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife said in a statement. "We strongly urge the 49er organization we grew up revering to do the right thing -- right now -- and bench Ray McDonald, pending the outcome of his felony domestic violence investigation by San Jose law enforcement."
McDonald told CNN affiliate KTVU last month that he couldn't say much about what happened.
"The truth will come out," he said. "Everybody knows what kind of person I am ... a good-hearted person."
CNN's Leigh Ann Caldwell, Mayra Cuevas and Steve Almasy contributed to this report.
Toll rises from India, Pakistan floods
9/15/2014 12:55:17 AM
- Pakistan's government says at least 280 citizens are dead and more than 500 injured
- At least 200 people have died in India, its government says; some fear a higher toll
- Public anger over the flood response is growing in India's state of Jammu and Kashmir
- Pakistan's military has evacuated residents from flood-hit areas, dropped food by air
Srinagar, India (CNN) -- The loudspeaker at a nearby mosque warned Ifat Najeeb what was coming.
Najeeb, 60, woke to warnings that a flood was imminent in the Gogjibagh region of Srinagar, Kashmir, where she and her husband live. Residents were advised to leave and move to safer areas.
"I woke up suddenly and felt something was wrong," Najeeb told CNN. "Soon there was a thud and our main gate had been flung open by gushing waters which were rising alarmingly."
Moments later, water was pouring into Najeeb's home.
"Within no time our first floor was inundated. We rushed upstairs to the third floor as we watched dreadfully the waters covered the second floor in no time as well," Najeeb said.
Najeeb and her husband were rescued by authorities, eventually relocating to an unaffected area in uptown Srinagar.
They consider themselves lucky.
"Mercifully, the waters did not rise beyond the second floor, otherwise I and my husband would not be alive to tell the story," she said.
Recent flooding brought by heavy monsoon rains has wrought death and destruction in India and Pakistan since the rains began on September 2.
Floods aren't uncommon in Kashmir, but these have been particularly severe in terms of damage and loss of life.
Nearly 500 have lost their lives in both countries, officials tell CNN.
At least 280 people have been killed in Pakistan and more than 500 others injured, the government there said.
And at least 200 people have died in flooding in Indian-administered Kashmir, Indian Home Ministry spokesman Kuldeep Dhatwalia told CNN.
Some volunteers in that country fear the toll could be much higher.
"Our teams on the ground in Srinagar have seen a number of bodies floating. The casualty is believed to be much more than what his being officially reported," said Syed Zafar Mahmood, president of the nonprofit Zakat Foundation of India group. "A number of villages have been washed away."
By Saturday, military and other emergency crews were able to rescue more than 276,000 people from parts of the flood-ravaged region under Indian control, according to officials.
Home to 12 million people, the state of Jammu and Kashmir is India's 19th most populous province.
South Asian monsoon's trail of destruction
Public anger
Indian officials said rescue efforts continued on a massive scale, but refused to confirm reports that hundreds of thousands of people still remained stranded a week after floods wreaked havoc in the Himalayan valley.
Public anger has grown over the government response to the disaster in the restive mountain state, beset with decades-old militancy and a center of conflict between archrivals India and Pakistan.
TV footage showed frustrated residents shouting slogans and heckling at least one senior Kashmiri politician, who visited a relief camp in Srinagar in the aftermath of the catastrophe. There have also been reports of sporadic attacks against rescuers.
Many people are accusing the local government of a failure to deal with the disaster.
"There was a complete breakdown of communication," said Sheikh Manzoor Ahmed, a New Delhi-based Kashmiri man whose ancestral house collapsed in Srinagar. "Hospitals got flooded. There was no one to coordinate locally with rescue teams arriving from other parts of the country. How can they be expected to know the topography of the valley?"
Pakistani military delivers aid
In Pakistan, the flooding has affected more than 2 million people, the government said.
The military has blown up dykes in the central part of the country to prevent overflowing rivers from swamping cities, according to the government.
Meanwhile, the military is evacuating residents and dropping food by air in the districts of Multan, Muzaffargarh and Jhang, the Pakistani military said.
Civilian and military officials have been using helicopters and boats to evacuate marooned people since September 3, the military said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited flood-affected residents in Athara Hazari in Jhang district Saturday, according to his office.
Sharif said the federal and provincial governments were working together to help the flood victims, adding that "this is not a favor, but the responsibility of the government to extend a helping hand to the calamity-hit people."
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh reported from New Delhi, Mukhtar Ahmed from Srinagar and Aliza Kassim from Atlanta. CNN's Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London.
Lagos church complex collapses
9/14/2014 6:02:06 PM
- Official: At least 130 people rescued from rubble of collapsed guesthouse
- Casualty toll could climb as officials believe more victims are trapped
- There's a "high probability" building collapsed due to construction, agency says
(CNN) -- At least 44 people were crushed to death when a guesthouse at a large church that's home to a famous Nigerian preacher collapsed in Lagos, a rescue agency official said Sunday.
In addition to those killed, there were "130 rescued from the rubble of the collapsed guesthouse at The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations," Ibrahim Farinloye, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, told CNN. "The toll may increase as rescue operation is still ongoing because many people are believed to be trapped under the rubble."
The two-story building is located in the expansive compound of The Synagogue, Church of All Nations, run by televangelist T.B. Joshua in the Ikotun area of Lagos, said Farinloye.
The building came down Friday afternoon amid expansion work on three additional floors.
The rescue operation was delayed by the refusal of members of the church to allow emergency workers from NEMA access to the collapsed building.
"The church members were very aggressive and tried attacking emergency responders," Farinloye said.
Reporters covering the incident were attacked by angry church members, who vandalized a TV camera as a cameraman tried to capture footage of the collapsed building, reporters at the scene said.
Joshua told Nigerian newspapers Sunday that a low-flying aircraft had been repeatedly circling the building and may have been responsible for the building collapse.
NEMA's Facebook page acknowledged the sabotage reports but also noted that two stories were being added to the building without fortifying the foundation of the initial structure. There is a "high probability" this is what caused the collapse, NEMA said, adding that an investigation will ultimately determine the cause.
Joshua, dubbed "The Prophet" for his self-acclaimed healing powers and prophesies, has a large following among Nigerians and followers across the world.
His church attracts thousands of followers who attend his church every week to listen to Joshua's sermons, which are also telecast live on the church's television station.
"People travel from around the world to witness and receive from the mighty work that God is doing in the life of Prophet TB Joshua," according to the church's website.
CNN's Nana Karikari-apau contributed to this report.
See the world's first 3D printed car
9/14/2014 9:14:55 PM
"Strati", the Italian word for "layers", is the name of the first 3D printed electric car, made in Chicago.
If your browser has Adobe Flash Player installed, click above to play. Otherwise, click below.
Scotland's pound-ing headache
9/15/2014 2:06:51 PM
- Scotland's bid for freedom will ultimately come down to which currency it would use, Nina dos Santos writes
- Scotland has four options -- each with their own risks and unknowns
- It could keep on using the pound -- with or without the UK government's blessing
- It could also seek to join the euro or create its own currency
Editor's note: Nina dos Santos is a news anchor and correspondent based in London. She is the host of CNN International's London-based business show, The Business View. Follow her on Twitter.
London (CNN) -- For all the recent scaremongering about the viability of an independent Scotland, it's easy to understand why the chance to reclaim a country's sovereignty offers its citizens an exciting prospect.
Scotland is, after all, culturally distinct from the rest of the British Isles.
And for those Scots aged 16 and 17, who will be given the vote for the first time, the opportunity of creating their own Scottish identity after three centuries of largely English rule must certainly have its own idealistic appeal.
But Scotland's bid for freedom will ultimately come down to money -- namely which currency it would use as an independent country. Scotland has four options -- each with their own risks and unknowns.
Those who want the country to vote "yes" for independence have made clear they wish to keep the pound with the UK's blessing, in a move that would keep the nation inside a stable currency union and also give it a say on interest rates.
However this idea has been staunchly rejected by both the British government and the Bank of England, which presumably would be loath to backstop Scotland's massive banks without having a say on their loan books.
A separate Scotland could use the UK's currency without its consent -- much in the way that Panama employs the U.S. dollar and similar to how Ireland once pegged itself to the pound. But this strategy could be fraught with dangers. Why? Because Scotland would have no say over borrowing costs that might be out of step with its economic cycle.
If Scotland can't keep its place in its existing monetary bloc, it could try to find a place in another one.
If the country goes it alone, it can sign up for the euro but Brussels has made it clear that Scotland would have to apply for EU membership first, joining the queue behind places like Serbia and Kosovo.
Moreover, independence agitators in Spain's semi-autonomous provinces like Catalonia wouldn't make Madrid look favorably on giving Scotland a spot inside the EU. And -- given the pain we've seen in countries like Spain -- no one knows if the euro will still be around by the time that Scotland does eventually make it into the club.
Perhaps the best option for a prosperous Scotland, in the long run, would be the creation of its own currency.
Suggestions that have been put forward include reviving the Scottish Ryal -- a coin struck to commemorate Mary Queen of Scots' marriage -- or reintroducing the Groat, in circulation during James III's time.
Having their own money wouldn't just give the Scots the full independent identity they crave, it would also give them the financial flexibility a nascent state would need.
Still, establishing its worth would be tricky. What's more, Scottish people would have to be convinced of its true worth. And, with almost $200 billion of debt on the line, markets would have to be confident in the country's fiscal planning to lend to it at decent rates.
Either way, the value of a new Scottish currency would initially be extremely weak, hitting the people in the pocket first as goods get more expensive.
Which is why big names like the ratings agency Standard & Poor's and the French bank Societe Generale have suggested that although a "Yes" vote could create a successful Scotland in the long term, for now, a swift, sharp recession could ensue.
At least five major banks have drawn up contingency plans to move their legal entities south, with billions under management at stake.
Ironically money and politics are supposed to go hand in hand.
But when it comes to the Scotland's future as an independent land, they may have to go in opposite directions.
Read more: Scotland's vote on independence -- what you need to know
Opinion: Scottish 'Yes' vote will see democracy reborn
Opinion: Scotland, you want out? We'll take your place
Dead infants found in squalid home
9/15/2014 1:19:50 AM
- NEW: Lawyer says squalor concealed children from father for years
- NEW: Lawyer for the woman arrested says she is the mother
- Three infants were discovered dead in squalid Massachusetts home
- Police had to search the house in hazmat suits
(CNN) -- It was a shocking and gruesome discovery: three dead infants found in a Massachusetts home so squalid that police officers had to search it in hazmat suits.
Now, days later, as investigators continue to search through what the Worcester County District Attorney's Office describes as the home's "deplorable conditions (such as) massive insect infestation, mounds of used diapers and feces," a picture is beginning to emerge of the family that lived inside.
And it's a picture so deranged, so unfathomable to a reasonable mind, that even a lawyer for the accused calls the situation "completely inexplicable."
Erika Murray was arraigned September 12 on a bevy of charges stemming from the discovery of the dead infants at her home the day before, but she has not been charged in their deaths. The 31-year-old pleaded not guilty to charges of concealing an out of wedlock fetal death, two counts of permitting substantial injury to a child, intimidation of a witness, cruelty to an animal and violating an abuse prevention order, according to Tim Connolly, a district attorney spokesman.
Whether or not Murray is the mother is not known by authorities for certain at this point, but her attorney assumes that she is. "My expectation is that it will be confirmed that they were indeed hers," Keith Halpern told CNN.
Murray lived in the now-condemned single family home with her longtime boyfriend, Ray Rivera, and the couple's children. Just how many children lived with them in the vermin-infested 1,150-square-foot home, however, depends on which parent you ask: of the four living children that the state removed from the home on August 28, Murray told investigators that Rivera, 38, only knew about two of them.
The other two -- a 3 year old and an infant, according to Halpern -- were apparently not only born in secret but lived hidden from their father amid mountains of garbage under the same roof.
Rivera also "presumably" did not know about the ones that had died, at least according to the account Murray has told authorities, Halpern said.
"It is a mystery to me how Mr. Rivera could have failed to notice (the) numerous pregnancies (of) the woman with whom he shared a bed," said Halpern. "It's a mystery to me how he could have failed to realize that there were two children living under the same roof as him, and he didn't know about it."
CNN was unable to reach Rivera or members of his family Sunday evening. He has not been charged with any crime, and there is no public record of physical abuse.
'Prisoner of her own fear'
Halpern said that while his client's explanation "is not based in reality," the situation Murray came to be in was the result of fear, not malice. "She was terrified of the pregnancies being discovered," said Halpern. "She was terrified of the two younger children being discovered. Why? I don't know the answer to that."
Whether based in reality or not, Halpern said Murray was "a prisoner of her own fear" and suggested it was that fear that explains the three infants found dead in her home. "Try to imagine the state of mind of a woman who attempts to hide a pregnancy, go into labor and deliver children -- at least twice, but presumably five times -- on her own."
"I feel certain that she did not do anything to harm any of these children," he said. "I don't think there will be a determination that they were killed."
Though Halpern said he has yet to consult with a pathologist, he said it is not clear if they were ever alive to begin with or if they were all stillborn.
Abuse suspected in 2007
The state's removal of the four living children at the home last month was the result of the filing of what's called a 51A report in Massachusetts, according to Alec Loftus, a spokesman for the state's office of Health and Human Services. A 51A can be filed by any citizen with reason to believe that a child has been abused or neglected.
This was not the first time a 51A had been filed when it came to that home, according to a Massachusetts Department of Children and Families spokeswoman. Cayenne Isaksen said such a report was previously received in 2007, but that "it was unsupported and therefore no case was opened."
For now, Isaksen said DCF has Murray's four children in its care and is focused on "ensuring (their) safety and well-being and providing them with the proper medical care, support and services they need," she said. Connolly said that the family caring for them has no public statement to make at this time.
Murray's case was adjourned to October 14. Investigators, meanwhile, remain at the scene digging through the squalor.
"Our investigation will continue for quite some time," said Joseph Early, the Worcester County District Attorney.
Dad accused of slaying five kids had history with social services
CNN's Marlena Baldacci contributed to this report
Robin Thicke's blurred life: 'I was high'
9/16/2014 8:24:16 AM
- Robin Thicke says Vicodin and vodka kept him high and drunk every day
- Thicke testifies he lied about creating "Blurred Lines"
- "Blurred Lines" was Pharrell Williams' idea, not his, Thicke says
- Marvin Gaye's family accuses Thicke, others of ripping off a 1977 Gaye hit
Los Angeles (CNN) -- Summer 2013 was blurry for Robin Thicke, according to what the "Blurred Lines" singer told lawyers in April.
"Every day I woke up, I would take a Vicodin to start the day and then I would fill up a water bottle with vodka and drink it before and during my interviews," Thicke said in a deposition transcript made public Monday.
Being high and drunk appears to be Thicke's defense in a high-stakes lawsuit filed by Marvin Gaye's family against Thicke, producer Pharrell Williams and hip-hop artist "T.I." Clifford Harris Jr.
The lawsuit filed last fall contends Thicke's "Blurred Lines" is an illegal rip-off of Gaye's "Got to Give It Up."
"It is a musical impossibility," he said in in the April 23, 2014 deposition. "They're two complete different syncopations and note choices and different keys. One's a minor key and one's a major key."
Fans, journalists and music experts immediately recognized similarities between Gaye's 1977 hit and the 2013's summertime smash, Gaye's heirs contend.
New York Times writer Rob Hoerburger wrote that the "Blurred Lines" bass line "came right from" Gaye's song.
Musicologist Judith Finell, an expert hired by the Gaye family lawyers, said she identified a "constellation of at least eight substantially similar compositional features between the two works. ... The signature phrase, vocal hook, backup vocal hook, their variations, and the keyboard and bass lines" are substantially similar and they share "departures from convention such as the unusual cowbell instrumentation, omission of guitar and use of male falsetto," she said.
If it was stolen, Thicke was too high and drunk to do it, his testimony suggested. "I was high on Vicodin and alcohol when I showed up at the studio," Thicke said.
"I walked in and he [Pharrell Williams] started singing me some ideas he had and the song happened very quickly," he said. "I jumped right into the booth and started singing whatever he said."
Thicke does claim creation of the melody and four-part harmonies in the second verse, but otherwise Pharrell Williams "geniused the whole thing."
Several print and video interviews Thicke gave last summer tell a different story of Thicke being thickly involved in creating writing and producing the hit.
"Pharrell and I were in the studio making a couple records, and then on the third day, I told him I wanted to do something kinda like Marvin Gaye's 'Got To Give It Up,' that kind of feel 'cause it's one of my favorite songs of all time," Thicke told Billboard Magazine for a story published in July. "So he started messing with some drums and then he started going 'hey, hey, hey' and about an hour and a half later we had the whole record finished."
Thicke now says he was lying to interviewers, partly blaming drugs and alcohol.
"With all due respect, I was high and drunk every time I did an interview last year," he said in the deposition. "So there are some quotes I don't remember saying, but I do generally remember trying to sell the public on the fact that 'Blurred Lines' was my idea in some way."
His lies were elaborations he "thought it would help sell records," he said.
"I thought that it being my song -- my idea would make it more personal because my music has always been so personal, that this was the first time I had a song out that wasn't personal and had nothing to do with me, and yet it was my biggest successful, which, you know, was very tough for me. And so I lied in my story so I could at least make it seem like, hey, I'm the guy who came up with this great idea."
Thicke denied the lawsuit's contention that he has a "Marvin Gaye fixation."
"I've been called 'the white Marvin Gaye' since I got started," he said. "So I think I've embraced that, consider it an honor."
Thicke said that he was not drugged or drunk during the April deposition. In fact, he had been sober for the previous two months, he said.
"I've actually only been sober off the pills, off of Vicodin," he later said. "I still drink."
"When your wife leaves you, it gives you good reason to sober up," he said. Thicke and his wife, Paula Patton, publicly announced that they had separated in February.
"Sorry," he told the lawyer. "That's why I'm starting to feel a little sad, because I had a tough year."
Robin Thicke has no idea what he's doing
Thicke, who has a 20% writing credit for "Blurred Lines," said he didn't know how much money he's made off the huge hit, since he let's his business manager take care of his finances.
"Blurred Lines" stayed at the top of Billboard's pop chart for a record 16 weeks this summer and sold more than 6 million copies, according to court documents.
Gaye's heirs also accuse Thicke of stealing from their father's 1976 hit "After the Dance" when he recorded "Love After War" in 2011. Those tunes "contain substantially similar compositional material in their choruses, including the melodies of their hooks," the Gaye filing contends.
#AskThicke backfires big time on Robin Thicke
WWII bomb in 2012 Olympic Park
9/15/2014 11:16:18 AM
- Inert bomb in London's Olympic Park results in evacuations
- The bomb appears to date to World War II
- The park hosted the Invictus Games closing concert hours before the bomb was discovered
(CNN) -- A World War II-era bomb was discovered in London's Olympic Park on Monday, hours after the closing concert of a sporting competition for wounded and ill veterans sponsored by members of Britain's royal family.
Although the bomb turned out to be inert and alerts were later dropped, police say it did require evacuations of residents and schools near the park, which was converted to public use after the 2012 London Olympics.
The park was also the scene Sunday of the closing concert of the Invictus Games.
Britain's Prince Harry founded the games.
The bomb was found at the international broadcast center in the park. It wasn't immediately known how it was discovered.
Unexploded ordnance is not uncommon in Great Britain, which was not only the scene of German air raids during World War II, but essentially also an enormous armed encampment, training ground and ammunition depot during World War II.
Experts defuse unexploded WWII bomb in central Berlin
Suspected WWII bomb prompts evacuations on Hong Kong Island
CNN's Lindsay Isaac and Brooke Bowman contributed to this report.
Kanye West and proving your disability
9/16/2014 7:26:37 AM
- Kanye West insisted audience members stand before he would sing song in Australia concert
- He relented when those who didn't stand turned out to have disabilities
- David Perry says it's not at all unusual for people to be asked to prove their disabilities
- Perry: Don't blame just Kanye West for conduct that many of us routinely engage in
Editor's note: David M. Perry is an associate professor of history at Dominican University in Illinois. He writes regularly at the blog How Did We Get Into This Mess? Follow him on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- On Friday, Kanye West stopped a concert in Sydney to demand that everyone stand up. He looked around the crowd, pointing out those slow to rise. He said, "Unless you got a handicap pass and you get special parking and s**t," he simply would not continue the show until everyone was on their feet. The crowd shouted, "Stand up!" or even, "F***ing stand up!"
After a minute, West pointed out two people who, he said, "don't want to stand up." One of them waved a prosthetic leg in the air, so West turned to the last holdout. He demanded to know if the fan was in a wheelchair. The crowd laughed. He complained, "This is the longest I've had to wait to do a song, it's unbelievable." Finally, as the crowd was shouting that the fan was in a wheelchair, West sent a bodyguard to verify it, then finally started his song, "The Good Life."
Reaction to this incident throughout social media and in numerous publications was swift and condemnatory. West, in return, lashed out at the media. But in fact, although West's celebrity magnifies the story, the bigger issue here is that his demand that his fans prove their disability is entirely typical.
Every day, in every context, people with disabilities get challenged to prove how disabled they are. This constant questioning isolates people with disabilities, increases stress and shame, and can lead directly to verbal or even physical abuse. Here are a few examples:
A few weeks ago, actor George Takei shared a meme showing a woman standing up from a wheelchair at a grocery store to reach a liquor bottle. The caption, "There has been a miracle in the alcohol isle," suggested that this woman wasn't really that disabled if she could stand up to get some booze. Disability advocates protested and Takei initially told them to lighten up, but he has subsequently apologized. I was alerted to the story by a woman who can walk about 100 feet before needing her chair, and who goes through life worried about being accused of faking.
The parking lot, with its handicapped spots, can be particularly fraught for people with invisible disabilities. On my Facebook page, one of my readers remarked that, "All I see are looks of disapproval, barely veiled disgust and constant scrutiny. I'd gladly trade my 'good' parking space for being able to walk more than 25 yards at a time." Who knows how many people with invisible disabilities, managing pain, enjoying the concert, were forced to their feet by the glare of Kanye West and the peer pressure of the shouting crowd?
Invisible disability also gets people in trouble with the law. When a disabled person doesn't react the way a law enforcement officer thinks he or she should, violence often follows. But visible disability is no protection. In 2008, as shown in a disturbing video, a Florida deputy didn't believe a man who had been arrested on a traffic violation was really a quadriplegic, so she dumped him onto the floor to see if he would use his legs out of duress.
These are just a few of the ways we constantly demand that people with disabilities prove themselves. We do it because, to the not-disabled, claiming disability seems to have a kind of power.
Thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act, to claim disability is to ask for reasonable accommodation -- accessible buildings, more time on tests, audible formats for books, Social Security disability payments, and more. Too many people seem to regard the request to accommodate as a burden and meet such requests with suspicion. The not-disabled exercise their privilege by demanding that people prove their disabilities; then, all too often, proof just generates pity, not understanding or inclusion.
By demanding everyone rise, by calling out the disabled members of his audience even as he grudgingly tolerated their inability to stand, West was being totally normal. If you think what he did was wrong, remember that the next time you are tempted to stare down someone walking from a handicapped spot at the grocery store. Remember that the next time someone managing pain can't make it into work. Remember that the next time a student needs a little more time on a test.
Because the problem isn't that West was so thoughtless, although he was. The problem is that he learned this thoughtlessness from us.
Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine.
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.
Vote on war against ISIS? Don't be silly
9/16/2014 6:41:17 AM
- Borger: In topsy-turvy world of Washington, parties doing their best to avoid Congress vote on ISIS
- Republicans suing Obama for overuse of authority yet giving him a free pass on military action
- Democrats fear a congressional vote's impact on midterms, conflicted on presidential authority
- Borger: Governing will have to wait until the election is over
(CNN) -- We all understand that the closer Congress gets to an election, the more risk-averse it becomes. Members just want to get re-elected and aren't looking to take any chances. That's why lame-duck, post-election sessions are sadly often the most productive: Once members feel safe (or are even on their way out of office), they can actually do some real work.
So the aerodynamics of Congress as it gets close to an election are this: Stop. Go home. Avoid real votes.
Par for the course. Except for this: Republicans have recently made a fetish of complaining that President Barack Obama won't let them vote on things. He does too much without us, they say. Too many executive actions. Too many new regulations. They even voted to sue him over his so-called abuse of power. "Are you willing to let any president choose what laws to execute and what laws to change?" House Speaker John Boehner intoned mightily on the House floor. "Are you willing to let anyone tear apart what our founders have built?"
But wait. Are these the same people who now are, um, ducking a vote on congressional authorization for action against ISIS? While Boehner told CNN's Dana Bash that while "it would be in the nation's interest" to "speak" on this question, he said it was up to the President to request it. "We've not gotten that."
So, does the White House intend to send something wide-ranging to Boehner? Not exactly. Instead there will be a vote to authorize the arming of the Syrian rebels. While the President would "welcome" further congressional action, a senior administration official says, "we believe we have the authority that is necessary" to wage war against ISIS.
Alphonse, meet Gaston.
Not that it's a surprise. We all know that in the world in which we live, Congress -- with an approval rating of 14% -- wants to take responsibility for things that are good and avoid responsibility for things that are risky.
But here's where each party makes us scratch our heads. In the past, Republicans have believed -- strongly -- in the thesis that the chief executive has strong unilateral war-making authority. (George W. Bush went to Congress to approve the Iraq war, but only after much debate and pressure -- and even his vice president opposed the idea.) So Boehner's position has historical precedent. Except when you consider it in terms of the recent domestic debate: Obama can't issue a domestic regulation, but he can unilaterally decide to go to war? Huh?
The Democrats take the exact opposite posture. The President can issue strong policy regulations and orders when it comes to health care and the environment, but he shouldn't act without Congress when it comes to war.
Ah, except in this case, because a Democrat is President. And because Democrats are worried a vote on the use of force could hurt them with their base in the election, which already looks perilous for their party.
Some unendangered Democrats have publicly called for a vote, but their leaders are much more sheepish. "Right now we believe, as the President has stated, that he has the authority he needs," says House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. For now, at least.
So case closed? Not quite. There are plans this week to vote on the narrower proposition that has bipartisan support: arming the Syrian rebels. But what about the larger issue of voting to authorize war against ISIS? Yea or nay?
Check back -- after the election. That's when politicians vote.
Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine.
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.
Time for U.S. to ban use of torture
9/15/2014 4:22:28 PM
- U.S. can no longer assert that we do not torture our enemies, argues Donald Gregg
- CIA should make public any evaluations it might have about effectiveness of torture, Gregg says
- Gregg: Use of torture by U.S. puts captured Americans in even greater danger
Editor's note: Donald P. Gregg, a former ambassador to South Korea, is author of the new memoir "Pot Shards: Fragments of a Life Lived in CIA, the White House, and the Two Koreas." The views expressed are his own alone.
(CNN) -- I worked as a CIA operations officer and station chief during the Cold War years. In the gray world of espionage, there was a clear distinction, at least in my mind, between the CIA and our opponents: They tortured their prisoners, we did not.
The CIA's main opponent was the Soviet Union's KGB, whose headquarters on Lubyanka Square in Moscow was notorious for torture. In those days, I believed that the greatest thing going for me as an intelligence officer was the fact that I was an American.
Now, as the Senate Intelligence Committee prepares to make public some of the findings of its investigation into CIA torture after 9/11, let's hope we can start a much needed public reckoning over a tragic mistake that has undermined the very principles I and many others felt we stood for.
Our resorting to torture after 9/11 has cost us dearly -- we can no longer assert that we do not torture our enemies, leaving us in a much weaker position when urging our allies or our opponents to eschew such tactics. Now any American, civilian or military, who falls into the hands of our fundamentalist enemies is in even greater danger of being tortured or killed.
Advocates of allowing for the use of torture (or what they prefer to describe as enhanced interrogation techniques) assert that since we haven't suffered a major attack since 9/11, that torture must somehow have played a part in preventing one.
Even President Barack Obama, in his admission that unnamed officials "tortured some folks" in extremely dangerous times after 9/11, seemed only apologetic, not outraged. Indeed, he appeared to urge understanding for the torturers' failings.
Meanwhile, there is profound reluctance on the part of CIA to reveal its own evaluation of the efficacy of its use of torture, as this might risk disclosing the torturers' identities -- and those of the people who put them to work. (The CIA's extraordinary admission that it has essentially spied on the Senate Intelligence Committee by hacking into computers of committee staff members is merely another stark example of its reluctance to come completely clean about what it has been doing).
It is difficult not to conclude that such reluctance is largely based on the fact that very little of value was learned -- in line with what is reported to be the conclusion of the Intelligence Committee.
This is all the more frustrating because during my tours in wartime Vietnam in the early 1970s, and as station chief in Seoul, South Korea, I worked hard and effectively against the use of torture. But it would be almost impossible for me to take such positions today.
So what do we do now?
In addition to public release of the Intelligence Committee report, the CIA should be compelled to make public, with the fewest possible redactions, its detailed internal evaluation of what, if anything, torture achieved, what it failed to do and what its use has cost us.
Based on an examination of that report, and with input from experts in the field, a new Executive Order should be crafted and considered that bans torture by any U.S. governmental organization, while also naming techniques, such as water boarding, that are specifically forbidden.
The basic issue is this: Are we a country that stands by its traditional standards and values through thick or thin, or are we a country that says "We cannot cope with this situation, so let's turn to torture?"
For those who assert that America is weaker than it once was, I would say in response that our lapse into the use of torture simply lends credence to such accusations. Of course, accountability can be a bitter pill to swallow. But if we are to move away from this debilitating tendency to resort to torture when the road ahead looks tough, then accountability must start with those that have brought us to where we are today -- it is essential that they face up to the consequences and costs of their decisions.
Maybe then America can lead by example on an issue where we have needlessly sacrificed the high ground.
Public release of CIA report delayed
Why spanking is abuse, not parenting
9/16/2014 7:32:32 AM
- Mel Robbins: It's time to realize that spanking isn't an acceptable form of parenting
- Robbins: New research suggests typical 4-year-old is hit more than 900 times a year
- She says the fact that spanking is a tradition doesn't mean it should continue
- Robbins says society has an obligation to protect children
Editor's note: Mel Robbins, a CNN commentator and legal analyst, is the founder of Inspire52.com, a news and entertainment site for women, and author of "Stop Saying You're Fine," about managing change. She speaks on leadership around the world and in 2014 was named outstanding news talk radio host by the Gracie Awards. Follow her on Twitter @melrobbins. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- The only person you can legally hit in the United States is a child.
Hit your partner, and you'll be arrested for domestic violence. Hit another adult, and you'll be arrested for assault. But hit a 4-year-old, and you can call yourself a "loving father." That's completely screwed up.
It should be against the law for a fully grown adult to slap, hit, spank, punch, switch, whoop, whip, paddle, kick or belt a defenseless child in the name of discipline. But it is legal, and new research in the Journal of Family Psychology suggests that the average 4-year-old is hit 936 times a year.
If study after study conclusively proves that hitting your kids doesn't work as a disciplinary method, and worse, it has long-term damaging impact to their psychology and makes your kids more aggressive, why do we as a society allow it?
The comment sections on this topic are real special, so let's address them in advance:
1. I was hit, and I turned out fine. Kids are too soft these days!
I was molested as a kid, and I turned out fine too, but that doesn't mean I think it's okay to molest kids. The fact that you survived abuse doesn't mean you should be allowed to inflict it on your own kids.
Growing up in the Midwest, I was spanked. Getting spanked only made me do what all the research suggests: fear my parents and start lying to avoid getting in trouble.
Using other forms of discipline doesn't make kids soft, it makes parenting harder because you have to control yourself in order to keep control of the situation and use other methods to discipline your kids even though you want to hit them.
2. It's culturally acceptable to hit kids in the South.
Folks defending football player Adrian Peterson, like commentator and former basketball star Charles Barkley, want you to consider the Southern culture he grew up in. I find the "cultural" excuse appalling.
Barkley described getting "whipped" as a child in the South and having bruises and welts on his legs. Seriously? You were beaten as a child, so let's just carry it on, Barkley?
Let's just carry that to a logical conclusion. There was a culture of slavery and racial segregation in the South; does that mean we should carry it on now? Of course not. There's a culture of rape in India right now; does that mean it's OK to carry it on? Of course not.
There's a culture of hitting kids behind closed doors and calling it discipline in this country; does that mean it's OK to carry it on? Of course not.
It's 2014, not 1814. It's time for violence against children to be illegal, in all forms and all forums, regardless of the "culture" you were raised in.
3. According to Charles Barkley, if it were illegal, "every black parent in the South would be in jail."
It takes a lot to shift cultural norms, and the laws can be a very powerful tool in eliciting change. Ever wonder why most parents spank their kids behind closed doors? It's because deep down, they know it's wrong and don't want anyone to see it.
If parents feared jail time, they might think twice about doing it. Peterson didn't know he had gone too far until it was too late, like many parents. That's why we need to draw a very clear line between discipline and abuse.
And I can't help but wonder what the long-term effect on violence in America might be if we got serious about protecting kids from it in their own homes.
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reports that "maltreatment and neglect" by family increases the likelihood of delinquency and violence in teens. I'd call hitting a 4-year-old almost 1,000 times a year maltreatment; wouldn't you?
To spank or not to spank?
4. The government isn't gonna tell me how to raise my child.
There's a simple reason why culture needs to evolve and physical discipline needs to become a thing of the past: Kids can't protect themselves, and most adults can't control themselves when they get frustrated and angry.
We as a society have an obligation to protect kids from violence. This isn't a liberal versus a conservative position or new school versus old school; it's about protecting kids. If you consider yourself pro-life, you better consider yourself anti-spanking, because protecting the sanctity of the child should apply to its life outside the womb as well.
5. The wussification of America continues.
Facing the facts doesn't make you a wuss. It makes you smart. The fact is, spanking doesn't work. In the Journal of Family Psychology study, kids were misbehaving within 10 minutes of getting spanked. It only helps the parent relieve momentary frustration and regain control and saddles the kid with long-term damage.
If you pick up a belt, a switch or a paddle and hit your kid with it, that's abuse. The only thing that guarantees children's success is helping them develop positive behaviors by modeling them, and the most effective methods are education, mentoring, conflict-resolution training and safety. "Get tough" approaches rarely work.
As for Peterson, I find it incomprehensible that he lost a 2-year-old son at the hands of child abuse when the mother's boyfriend allegedly beat the boy to death -- and less than a year later, police say, Peterson whipped his 4-year-old with a stick, causing cutting and bruising of the back, buttocks, ankles, legs and scrotum of his son. According to the police records, the boy was worried that "Daddy Peterson" would punch him in the face if the child reported the incident to authorities.
The child told his mother that Peterson "likes belts and switches" and "has a whooping room," according to police reports. He added that Peterson put leaves in his mouth when he was being hit with the switch while his pants were down.
The little guy also had "defense wounds" on his hands as the boy tried to protect himself from an NFL player with a weapon. Sick.
Peterson might be the best running back in the NFL, but he may be one of the worst fathers in the league. So let's all stop defending him and start defending the kids who can't defend themselves.
Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine.
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.
Strike hits ISIS target near Baghdad
9/15/2014 9:33:12 PM
- The U.S. military says an airstrike near Baghdad is the first in "expanded efforts"
- Appears to be closest U.S. airstrikes have come to capital in campaign against ISIS
- It destroyed an ISIS position that had been firing at Iraqi forces, Central Command says
(CNN) -- A U.S. airstrike near Baghdad on Monday marked a new phase in the fight against ISIS.
The airstrike southwest of the city appears to be the closest the U.S. airstrikes have come to the capital of Iraq since the start of the campaign against ISIS, a senior U.S. military official told CNN. And U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it was the first strike as part of "expanded efforts" to help Iraqi forces on the offensive against ISIS.
Monday's airstrike destroyed an ISIS fighting position that had been firing at Iraqi forces, Central Command said.
It occurred about 35 km (22 miles) southwest of Baghdad, another U.S. official said.
The United States began targeted airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq last month to protect American personnel and support humanitarian missions. Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama said new airstrikes would aim to help Iraqi forces on the offensive against the Islamist militants.
Obama also said airstrikes would include ISIS targets in Syria. And last week he also asked Congress for authorization to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels.
The authority comes under Title 10 of the U.S. code, which deals with military powers, and Congress could vote on granting it this week. Approval also would allow the United States to accept money from other countries for backing the Syrian opposition forces.
A senior administration official told reporters Monday that Obama has been making calls to Democratic and Republican members of Congress, asking them to pass the authorization.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry courted Middle Eastern leaders over the weekend to join a coalition in the fight against the Islamist militant group, which calls itself the Islamic State.
More than two dozen nations, the Arab League, the European Union and United Nations met in the French capital Monday, calling ISIS a threat to the international community and agreeing to "ensure that the culprits are brought to justice."
The United States has conducted more than 150 airstrikes in Iraq against ISIS, and Kerry has said nearly 40 nations have agreed to contribute to the fight against the militants. But it remains unclear which countries are on that list and the precise roles they'll play.
CNN's Barbara Starr, Jim Acosta, Ashley Fantz and Jethro Mullen contributed to this report.
U.S. war hero receives top honor
9/15/2014 8:04:37 PM
- Sgt. Maj. Bennie Adkins honored for his actions in Vietnam in 1966
- Adkins was wounded 18 times during the battle for Camp A Shau
- Adkins fought and evaded North Vietnamese troops for 86 hours before he was rescued
(CNN) -- As many as 175 enemy troops killed, 18 wounds from enemy fire, 38 hours of battle, 48 hours evading the North Vietnamese troops in the bush -- and one tiger. Those are the numbers behind Sgt. Maj. Bennie Adkins' Medal of Honor, an award he received from President Barack Obama in a White House ceremony Monday.
Adkins of Opelika, Alabama, was honored for his actions in Vietnam's A Shau Valley more than 48 years ago. Then a 32-year-old sergeant first class, Adkins was among a handful of Americans working with troops of the South Vietnamese Civilian Irregular Defense Group at Camp A Shau when the camp was attacked by a large North Vietnamese and Viet Cong force on March 9, 1966, according to an Army report.
"Adkins rushed through intense enemy fire and manned a mortar position defending the camp," the Army report says. "He continued to mount a defense even while incurring wounds from several direct hits from enemy mortars. Upon learning that several soldiers were wounded near the center of camp, he temporarily turned the mortar over to another soldier, ran through exploding mortar rounds and dragged several comrades to safety. As the hostile fire subsided, Adkins exposed himself to sporadic sniper fire and carried his wounded comrades to a more secure position."
Later, under enemy fire, some of it coming from South Vietnamese allies who had defected to the North during the battle, Adkins took wounded troops to an airstrip outside the camp for evacuation and drew enemy fire away from the evacuation aircraft. He went outside the camp again to retrieve supplies from an airdrop that fell into a minefield. And that was just day one.
"The bottom line is that it was just not my day to go," Adkins said in an Army interview at Fort Benning, Georgia, last week.
The fighting, and Adkins' heroism, continued in the early morning of March 10 when the North Vietnamese hit the camp with their main attack, according to the Army report.
"Within two hours, Sergeant First Class Adkins was the only defender firing a mortar weapon. When all mortar rounds were expended, Adkins began placing effective rifle fire upon enemy as they infiltrated the camp perimeter and assaulted his position. Despite receiving additional wounds from enemy rounds exploding on his position, Adkins fought off relentless waves of attacking North Vietnamese soldiers," the Army report says.
After falling back to a smaller bunker in Camp A Shau, Adkins killed more enemy troops with small arms fire, destroyed equipment and classified documents to prevent them from getting into North Vietnamese hands, and led a group of soldiers in digging their way out of the rear of the bunker and escaping the besieged camp.
But Adkins' ordeal was not over. Because he was carrying a wounded comrade, he and his small group couldn't get to the evacuation helicopters sent to pick up the battle's survivors. The band faded into the jungle, avoiding their North Vietnamese pursuers for 48 hours.
And that's where the tiger comes in.
"The North Vietnamese soldiers had us surrounded on a little hilltop and everything started getting kind of quiet," Adkins is quoted as saying in an Army report. "We could look around and all at once, all we could see were eyes going around us. It was a tiger that stalked us that night. We were all bloody and in this jungle, the tiger stalked us and the North Vietnamese soldiers were more afraid of the tiger than they were of us. So, they backed off some and we were (able to escape)."
Helicopters rescued Adkins and the rest of his group on March 12.
The Army says Adkins killed 135 to 175 enemy soldiers during the Camp A Shau battle. He suffered 18 wounds during the 86-hour ordeal.
Forty-eight years later, Adkins doesn't cite those numbers but two others.
"I'm just a keeper of the medal for those other 16 (U.S. troops) who were in the battle, especially the five who didn't make it," he told Army News Service.
"I can tell you every man who was there and the five who lost their lives. I can tell you how that happened. It diminishes, but it does not go away," Adkins said.
And he remembers the South Vietnamese who stuck by his side.
"There were about 410 indigenous Civilian Irregular Defense Group soldiers there with us, and of those, only about 122 survived, and most of those were wounded. It was a horrible, horrible battle. There was valor on all sides, not only from the Americans, but from the CIDG soldiers also," he's quoted as saying in an Army report.
Others to receive honor
Honored with Adkins at the White House ceremony was one other soldier, posthumously.
Spc. Donald P. Sloat was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in using his body to shield comrades from a grenade blast near Danang, Vietnam, in January 1970.
Additionally, the White House has announced one more Medal of Honor recipient: From the Civil War, 1st Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing, who held out against Confederate troops during Pickett's Charge on July 3, 1863, part of the Battle of Gettysburg.
Cushing manned the last serviceable Union artillery battery during the Confederate assault, which came within 100 yards of his position. He was killed by Confederate gunfire.
"His actions made it possible for the Union Army to successfully repulse the Confederate assault," a White House statement said.
A ceremony for the presentation of Cushing's honor has yet to be announced, the White House said.
U.S. airstrike hits ISIS target near Baghdad
9/16/2014 2:51:25 AM
- The U.S. military says an airstrike near Baghdad is the first in "expanded efforts"
- Appears to be closest U.S. airstrikes have come to capital in campaign against ISIS
- It destroyed an ISIS position that had been firing at Iraqi forces, Central Command says
(CNN) -- A U.S. airstrike near Baghdad on Monday marked a new phase in the fight against ISIS.
The airstrike southwest of the city appears to be the closest the U.S. airstrikes have come to the capital of Iraq since the start of the campaign against ISIS, a senior U.S. military official told CNN. And U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it was the first strike as part of "expanded efforts" to help Iraqi forces on the offensive against ISIS.
Monday's airstrike destroyed an ISIS fighting position that had been firing at Iraqi forces, Central Command said.
It occurred about 35 km (22 miles) southwest of Baghdad, another U.S. official said.
The United States began targeted airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq last month to protect American personnel and support humanitarian missions. Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama said new airstrikes would aim to help Iraqi forces on the offensive against the Islamist militants.
Obama also said airstrikes would include ISIS targets in Syria. And last week he also asked Congress for authorization to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels.
The authority comes under Title 10 of the U.S. code, which deals with military powers, and Congress could vote on granting it this week. Approval also would allow the United States to accept money from other countries for backing the Syrian opposition forces.
A senior administration official told reporters Monday that Obama has been making calls to Democratic and Republican members of Congress, asking them to pass the authorization.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry courted Middle Eastern leaders over the weekend to join a coalition in the fight against the Islamist militant group, which calls itself the Islamic State.
More than two dozen nations, the Arab League, the European Union and United Nations met in the French capital Monday, calling ISIS a threat to the international community and agreeing to "ensure that the culprits are brought to justice."
The United States has conducted more than 150 airstrikes in Iraq against ISIS, and Kerry has said nearly 40 nations have agreed to contribute to the fight against the militants. But it remains unclear which countries are on that list and the precise roles they'll play.
CNN's Barbara Starr, Jim Acosta, Ashley Fantz and Jethro Mullen contributed to this report.
U.S. courts Mideast allies in ISIS fight
9/15/2014 11:39:55 PM
- U.S. airstrikes target ISIS militants near Iraqi capital
- International community will fight ISIS "by any means necessary," communique says
- The U.S. says nearly 40 nations have agreed to contribute to the fight against the militants
- Britain's role is in focus after an ISIS video showed the beheading of one of its citizens
(CNN) -- ISIS beheaded another Westerner, a British aid worker. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry courted Middle Eastern leaders to join a coalition in the fight against the Islamist militants. And U.S. planes aimed at ISIS fighters near Iraq's capital.
As world leaders struggled Monday to come up with strategies against ISIS just days after a high-profile beheading by the Islamist militants, the U.S. military targeted an ISIS position near Baghdad.
An airstrike southwest of the city appears to be the closest the U.S. airstrikes have come to the Iraqi capital since the start of the campaign against the Islamist militants, a senior U.S. military official told CNN.
A statement from U.S. Central Command described the action as "the first strike taken as part of our expanded efforts beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions to hit (ISIS) targets as Iraqi forces go on offense, as outlined in the President's speech last Wednesday."
An ISIS "fighting position" that was firing on Iraqi security forces southwest of Baghdad was destroyed, the statement said.
Meanwhile, more than two dozen nations, the Arab League, the European Union and United Nations met in the French capital, calling ISIS a threat to the international community and agreeing to "ensure that the culprits are brought to justice."
In a statement at the conference's conclusion, the French government said the participants had agreed to take on ISIS "by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance, in line with the needs expressed by the Iraqi authorities, in accordance with international law and without jeopardizing civilian security."
French President François Hollande, who hosted the conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Masum, said there was "no time to lose" in international efforts against ISIS.
Meanwhile, the leader of Iraq's Kurdistan region asked for intensified U.S. airstrikes, saying he would welcome foreign fighters and urging Iran and the United States to set aside their differences to fight ISIS.
Latest beheading
ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State, underlined its barbaric credentials over the weekend -- posting a video showing the beheading of British aid worker David Haines and threatening the life of another hostage from the United Kingdom.
It was the third videotaped killing of a Western hostage released in less than a month.
The latest killing, ISIS said, was "a message to the allies of America" -- a direct challenge to the United States.
President Barack Obama announced last week that the United States would lead "a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat" and that U.S. airstrikes against ISIS would expand from Iraq into Syria.
The United States has said nearly 40 nations have agreed to contribute to the fight against ISIS, which has seized control of large areas of northern Iraq and Syria. But it remains unclear exactly which countries are on that list and what roles they'll play.
Britain won't 'shirk our responsibility'
Britain's role in the coalition is in particular focus after the killing of Haines, who was abducted last year near a Syrian refugee camp where he was working.
Haines' death "will not lead Britain to shirk our responsibility" to work with allies to take on ISIS, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday. Instead, he said, "it must strengthen our resolve."
Cameron pledged to work with the United States to support its "direct military action." He also emphasized that "this is not about British troops on the ground."
Killer identified?
Cameron has vowed to "hunt down those responsible" for Haines' killing and "bring them to justice, no matter how long it takes."
The situation is made all the more difficult by the fact that the man who appears in the video beheading Haines -- believed to be the same man previously shown killing American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff -- has a London accent.
Cameron knows the identity of the killer, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen has reported, citing unidentified British officials. But authorities aren't making it public for "operational reasons," Bergen writes in a commentary for CNN.
Cameron knows that the man in the video holds at least two other American citizens as well as other hostages from additional Western countries, and that he is part of a larger group of British hostage-takers working for ISIS, Bergen reports.
"It is a real crisis for Cameron, and it underlines a sobering fact: British citizens have volunteered to go to Syria to fight at 25 times the rate that Americans have done so, when adjusted for population size," he writes.
Building a coalition
Kerry, who attended the Paris conference Monday, closed out a Middle Eastern trip on Saturday, seeking to win support for the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition.
In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," Kerry said some nations "are clearly prepared to take action in the air alongside the United States and to do airstrikes, if that's what they're called on to do," but he did not get more specific.
Britain has agreed to help arm Kurdish forces, support the Iraqi government, keep supplying humanitarian help and coordinate with the United Nations to battle ISIS.
France, meanwhile, began reconnaissance flights over Iraq, the French Defense Ministry said. Two Rafale air force planes took off from a base in the United Arab Emirates, it said.
Some nations have also offered to commit ground troops, but "we are not looking for that at this moment anyway," Kerry said in the CBS interview.
Iraqi Kurdistan's President Masoud Barzani -- whose Peshmerga forces have taken a significant role in battling ISIS -- told CNN's Anna Coren on Monday that he has not asked for foreign fighters but would welcome them.
He also called on the United States to step up airstrikes and said Iran should play a role in battling ISIS. But that can only happen, he said, if Iran and the United States "put their differences aside."
Iran has rejected any cooperation with the United States to combat ISIS in Iraq, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said on his Twitter account Monday. "I rejected (the) US offer to Iran about ISIS, because US has corrupted its hands in this issue," the statement read.
Khamanei accused the United States of planning to use military action against ISIS to "dominate the region."
Analyst: Obama 'revealed too much'
A leading Iraqi expert on ISIS told CNN that Obama may already have revealed more about U.S. plans than he should have to the militant group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
"The mistake was announcing too much of the strategy, and this was a free gift to al-Baghdadi to prepare and counter what has been revealed," said Hisham al-Hashimi, who has studied jihadist groups and their evolution in Iraq over the past decade.
He suggested ISIS has already begun to take defensive measures, including moving weapons and ammunition into depots and putting elite fighters among civilian populations to avoid airstrikes.
The anti-ISIS alliance that the United States is putting together risks driving more terrorist organizations to join forces with al-Baghdadi's group in what they perceive as a "crusader" war against Muslims, al-Hashimi said.
'Fighting ideology with ideology'
Influential Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia may be crucial in countering that view.
"Help is needed from Saudi and Egyptian religious scholars in fighting ideology with ideology," al-Hashimi said. "This is key to extracting ISIS from the roots."
Last week, Egypt's grand mufti reportedly condemned ISIS, saying that its actions are not in line with Islam.
A member of the Saudi royal family told CNN on Monday that he didn't think his country would participate in military operations but would be pleased to see ISIS vanquished in response to its heinous violence.
"I think that with each killing that takes place, unfortunately, every time hopefully the world community will be more united in really eradicating this disease that's really infecting the whole Middle Eastern region and inevitably will be contagious to other countries in the world," Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said.
If Obama sticks to the goal of defeating the Islamist extremists, the move will help restore Saudi Arabia's trust in Washington, which has been shaken over the crisis in Syria, he said.
Al-Hashimi said he is concerned by the exclusion of Iran -- arguably the most influential player in Iraq -- from the coalition.
"They sidelined Iran, and that is a very big mistake because Iran controls the Shiite militias in Iraq and these militias could sabotage military operations when it comes to logistical support or can threaten the safety of American advisers and trainers," he said.
How many more Western captives is ISIS holding?
CNN's Jim Sciutto, Jomana Karadsheh, Ashley Fantz and Sandrine Amiel contributed to this report.
How many more Western captives?
9/15/2014 2:10:32 PM
- ISIS is believed to be have at least two more U.S. captives
- It is also holding hostages from other Western countries
- The latest beheading video identified a British citizen
- It's not known who's holding U.S. journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in 2012
(CNN) -- The beheading of British aid worker David Haines by ISIS has intensified fears for other Western hostages being held by the jihadist group.
Haines' grisly execution follows those of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff in recent weeks -- all of them shown in videos posted online.
ISIS militants have killed thousands of Syrians and Iraqis in their violent onslaught aimed at building an Islamic caliphate across a wide area of territory.
But the beheading of Western captives carries greater shock value beyond the region -- and works as a powerful propaganda tool for a group that has drawn members from Western Europe and North America.
"ISIS looks at this as a low cost strategy," said Peter Neumann, professor of security studies at King's College London. "They are seeing that in order to capture the world's attention and recruit people, they no longer need to take down the World Trade Towers or hit the Pentagon."
As the United States builds an international coalition to take on the Sunni extremist group in both Iraq and Syria, uncertainty remains about exactly how many more Western hostages the militants have in their possession.
What is the world going to do about ISIS?
Has ISIS identified any of its other Western captives?
In the video of Haines' killing, the black-clad ISIS executioner places his hand on another hostage, whom he identifies as Alan Henning, a British citizen.
The implied threat is clear. Sotloff appeared in the same way in the video of Foley's beheading. Haines appeared similarly in the video of Sotloff's death.
On Sunday, Henning's family distributed an image of him holding a child at a refugee camp on the Syria-Turkey border.
The family asked media to use this image rather than the one of Henning in an orange jumpsuit kneeling beside his captor.
Are any other Americans being held?
ISIS is believed to be holding a number of Americans, a U.S. official told CNN in August after Foley's execution. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, declined to identify them or say exactly how many Americans are being held.
CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen reports that ISIS is understood to be holding at least two other American citizens, as well as hostages from additional Western countries.
Two Italian women were reported in August to be among the militant group's newest captives. A Dane and a Japanese national were said to be seized along with the two Italians.
It's hard to know how many captives there are because governments, employers and families tend to keep kidnappings quiet for fear of putting the victims in greater danger while negotiators work to secure their release.
Have the identities of any missing Americans been made public?
The family of one missing U.S. journalist, Austin Tice, has talked to the media about his case. But it's not clear which group in Syria's brutal civil war might be holding him.
Tice, a freelance journalist who was contributing articles to The Washington Post and other news outlets, disappeared in Syria in August 2012.
A shaky video uploaded to YouTube in October 2012 showed Tice blindfolded and in obvious distress. It was unclear who the people holding him were.
The U.S. State Department said at the time that it believed Tice was in the custody of the Syrian government -- but the regime of President Bashar al-Assad hasn't admitted detaining him.
Tice's parents spoke last week to CBS This Morning about their concerns for their 33-year-old son.
"I do not accept that he is missing, I live in a place where he is coming home," said Debra Tice, his mother. She described hearing the news of the killings of Foley and Sotloff as "a gut punch."
What about other journalists?
The Committee to Protect Journalists estimates that about 20 journalists are missing in Syria -- most of them local, some from outside Syria. It says many of them are believed to be held by ISIS.
Altogether, more than 80 journalists have been abducted in Syria since the country's civil war started, according to the CPJ.
Some have been freed, others killed. Often a media blackout on journalists' abductions is lifted generally in best- and worst-case scenarios.
Which Westerners have been released in Syria?
American journalist Peter Theo Curtis was handed over to U.N. peacekeepers in August by al-Nusra Front, a Syrian rebel group with al Qaeda ties, after almost two years in captivity. Qatari officials helped secure his release, his family said.
Two Spanish journalists -- Javier Espinosa and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova -- were freed in March. At the time of their capture, their newspaper said the journalists' captors were reported to be members of a group linked to ISIS.
Four French journalists -- Nicolas Henin, Pierre Torres, Didier Francois and Edouard Elias -- were released in April. And a Danish photographer, Daniel Rye Ottosen, was freed in June, the Danish Foreign Ministry said.
Why are some hostages freed and others killed?
A multitude of factors are at work, including who the captors are and where the captives come from.
Different Western governments take different approaches to kidnappings.
Britain and the United States are known to take hard line, refusing to negotiate with terrorists or pay ransoms. But some European governments are believed to have handed over cash to terrorist groups to ensure the release of their citizens.
An investigation by The New York Times found that al Qaeda and its affiliates have netted at least $125 million in ransoms since 2008, with much of the revenue reportedly coming from France -- although the French government denied paying money to terrorists.
What about getting the hostages out by force?
The United States and other countries attempted hostage rescues, but these have achieved mixed results.
In 2012, Navy SEALs saved U.S. aid worker Jessica Buchanan and fellow aid worker Poul Thisted of Denmark after three months' captivity in Somalia.
But the attempts can also go badly wrong. Linda Norgrove, a kidnapped British aid worker, was accidentally killed by a U.S. grenade during a SEAL rescue effort in Afghanistan in 2010.
U.S. special operations forces went into Syria in July to try to retrieve Foley and other ISIS captives. But the mission failed after the commandos were unable to find the hostages.
The British government said earlier this month an attempt was made to rescue Haines "some time ago" but was unsuccessful. It declined to provide details on what happened.
Who is doing what in the coalition battle against ISIS?
CNN's Laura Smith-Spark and Atika Shubert contributed to this report.
Cuffed actress defends actions
9/15/2014 11:03:49 AM
- Daniele Watts insists she has a right to refuse to give police her ID
- Los Angeles police officer told her he had probable cause to request her ID
- "I can't make out with my boyfriend in front of my f--king studio?" she yelled
- A citizen called to report "a male white and female black" having sex in public, police say
Los Angeles (CNN) -- "Django Unchained" actress Daniele Watts defended her refusal to show her ID to Los Angeles police before they handcuffed her last week.
The African-American actress and her white boyfriend accused police of racism for questioning them in what they said was only a public display of affection.
"I believe in America and what it stands for," Watts said Monday in an interview on CNN's "New Day."
Police responded to a citizen complaint that "a male white and female black were involved in a sexual act inside a Mercedes" outside the gate of CBS Studio Center on Thursday, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Legal experts said the officer had the right to request identification if he suspected illegal behavior, but audio of part of the encounter with police, published by TMZ, revealed that Watts did not believe so.
"Somebody called, which gives me the right to be here," the unidentified Los Angeles police officer is heard saying to Watts. "So It gives me the right to identify you by law."
"Do you know how many times the cops have been called just for being black?" she responded.
"Who brought up the race card?" the officer said.
"I'm bringing it up because I have every right to be here," Watts said.
When the officer again asked for her ID, the actress responded, "You can take me down to the court office, and I can make a scene about it. And you know what? I have a publicist, and I work as an actor in this studio."
The officer, who patrols a neighborhood home to many A-list celebs, including George Clooney and Miley Cyrus, seemed unmoved by the prospect. "I'm mildly interested you have a publicist, but I'm going to get your ID," he told her.
"No, I'm going to say no, and if you'd like my ID you can say that I'm resisting arrest," she said.
"There's no resisting, you're just interfering," he said. "I have probable cause; we received a radio call."
Watts called her father. "I can't make out with my boyfriend in front of my f--king studio?" she is heard yelling to her father. "I don't have to give him my ID because it's my right to sit on the f--king street corner and make out with my boyfriend. That's my right."
"Keep yelling, it really helps," the officer then said.
Watts was eventually handcuffed and placed in a patrol car. She was released a few minutes later when her boyfriend relented and gave the officer her ID.
A Los Angeles police representative told CNN on Sunday that officers from its North Hollywood precinct were responding to a citizen complaint.
"There was an indication on the radio call that a male white and female black were involved in a sexual act inside a Mercedes with the vehicle door open," Officer Sally Madera said. "Two people were briefly detained, but it was revealed no crime had been committed."
Watts' boyfriend -- Brian James Lucas, better known as celebrity chef Cheffy Be*Live -- wrote in a Facebook post that police "saw a tatted RAWKer white boy and a hot bootie shorted black girl and thought we were a HO (prostitute) & a TRICK (client)."
The couple posted a short video clip and several photos showing Watts in handcuffs talking to police. One image shows a cut on her wrist, which she said was caused by the tight handcuffs.
Watts, who acts in the FX show "Partners," said the officers "accosted me and forced me into handcuffs" after she refused "to agree that I had done something wrong by showing affection, fully clothed, in a public place."
Lucas said when an officer asked for their identifications, he showed his that but Watts refused "to give it because they had no right to do so."
"So they handcuffed her and threw her roughly into the back of the cop car until they could figure out who she was," he wrote. "In the process of handcuffing her, they cut her wrist, which was truly NOT COOL!!!"
She was released "quite quickly when they realized we were right outside CBS and that she was a celebrity and I was a celeb chef," Lucas wrote. "Before they figured out who she was they were threatening calling an ambulance and drugging her for being psychologically unstable, SO NOT COOL WHATSOEVER! "
Watts and Lucas said they initially decided to forget about the incident, but then they decided they needed to speak up.
"We still forgive, love and bless them ... just not putting up with this for our own freedom and heart space," Lucas wrote.
The couple has contacted lawyers, the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP, he said. "Our publicist has us in contact with media about it, too, and we're supposed to hear back."
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed it is conducting an internal investigation.
Watts, a native of Atlanta, made her feature film debut in 2012 as Coco in the Oscar-nominated "Django Unchained."
Hollywood couple stopped by police, say they were racially profiled
Why spanking isn't parenting
9/15/2014 12:11:05 PM
- Mel Robbins: It's time to realize that spanking isn't an acceptable form of parenting
- Robbins: New research suggests typical 4-year-old is hit more than 900 times a year
- She says the fact that spanking is a tradition doesn't mean it should continue
- Robbins says society has an obligation to protect children
Editor's note: Mel Robbins, a CNN commentator and legal analyst, is the founder of Inspire52.com, a news and entertainment site for women, and author of "Stop Saying You're Fine," about managing change. She speaks on leadership around the world and in 2014 was named outstanding news talk radio host by the Gracie Awards. Follow her on Twitter @melrobbins. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- The only person you can legally hit in the United States is a child.
Hit your partner, and you'll be arrested for domestic violence. Hit another adult, and you'll be arrested for assault. But hit a 4-year-old, and you can call yourself a "loving father." That's completely screwed up.
It should be against the law for a fully grown adult to slap, hit, spank, punch, switch, whoop, whip, paddle, kick or belt a defenseless child in the name of discipline. But it is legal, and new research in the Journal of Family Psychology suggests that the average 4-year-old is hit 936 times a year.
If study after study conclusively proves that hitting your kids doesn't work as a disciplinary method, and worse, it has long-term damaging impact to their psychology and makes your kids more aggressive, why do we as a society allow it?
The comment sections on this topic are real special, so let's address them in advance:
1. I was hit, and I turned out fine. Kids are too soft these days!
I was molested as a kid, and I turned out fine too, but that doesn't mean I think it's okay to molest kids. The fact that you survived abuse doesn't mean you should be allowed to inflict it on your own kids.
Growing up in the Midwest, I was spanked. Getting spanked only made me do what all the research suggests: fear my parents and start lying to avoid getting in trouble.
Using other forms of discipline doesn't make kids soft, it makes parenting harder because you have to control yourself in order to keep control of the situation and use other methods to discipline your kids even though you want to hit them.
2. It's culturally acceptable to hit kids in the South.
Folks defending football player Adrian Peterson, like commentator and former basketball star Charles Barkley, want you to consider the Southern culture he grew up in. I find the "cultural" excuse appalling.
Barkley described getting "whipped" as a child in the South and having bruises and welts on his legs. Seriously? You were beaten as a child, so let's just carry it on, Barkley?
Let's just carry that to a logical conclusion. There was a culture of slavery and racial segregation in the South; does that mean we should carry it on now? Of course not. There's a culture of rape in India right now; does that mean it's OK to carry it on? Of course not.
There's a culture of hitting kids behind closed doors and calling it discipline in this country; does that mean it's OK to carry it on? Of course not.
It's 2014, not 1814. It's time for violence against children to be illegal, in all forms and all forums, regardless of the "culture" you were raised in.
3. According to Charles Barkley, if it were illegal, "every black parent in the South would be in jail."
It takes a lot to shift cultural norms, and the laws can be a very powerful tool in eliciting change. Ever wonder why most parents spank their kids behind closed doors? It's because deep down, they know it's wrong and don't want anyone to see it.
If parents feared jail time, they might think twice about doing it. Peterson didn't know he had gone too far until it was too late, like many parents. That's why we need to draw a very clear line between discipline and abuse.
And I can't help but wonder what the long-term effect on violence in America might be if we got serious about protecting kids from it in their own homes.
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention reports that "maltreatment and neglect" by family increases the likelihood of delinquency and violence in teens. I'd call hitting a 4-year-old almost 1,000 times a year maltreatment; wouldn't you?
4. The government isn't gonna tell me how to raise my child.
There's a simple reason why culture needs to evolve and physical discipline needs to become a thing of the past: Kids can't protect themselves, and most adults can't control themselves when they get frustrated and angry.
We as a society have an obligation to protect kids from violence. This isn't a liberal versus a conservative position or new school versus old school; it's about protecting kids. If you consider yourself pro-life, you better consider yourself anti-spanking, because protecting the sanctity of the child should apply to its life outside the womb as well.
5. The wussification of America continues.
Facing the facts doesn't make you a wuss. It makes you smart. The fact is, spanking doesn't work. In the Journal of Family Psychology study, kids were misbehaving within 10 minutes of getting spanked. It only helps the parent relieve momentary frustration and regain control and saddles the kid with long-term damage.
If you pick up a belt, a switch or a paddle and hit your kid with it, that's abuse. The only thing that guarantees children's success is helping them develop positive behaviors by modeling them, and the most effective methods are education, mentoring, conflict-resolution training and safety. "Get tough" approaches rarely work.
As for Peterson, I find it incomprehensible that he lost a 2-year-old son at the hands of child abuse when the mother's boyfriend allegedly beat the boy to death -- and less than a year later, police say, Peterson whipped his 4-year-old with a stick, causing cutting and bruising of the back, buttocks, ankles, legs and scrotum of his son. According to the police records, the boy was worried that "Daddy Peterson" would punch him in the face if the child reported the incident to authorities.
The child told his mother that Peterson "likes belts and switches" and "has a whooping room," according to police reports. He added that Peterson put leaves in his mouth when he was being hit with the switch while his pants were down.
The little guy also had "defense wounds" on his hands as the boy tried to protect himself from an NFL player with a weapon. Sick.
Peterson might be the best running back in the NFL, but he may be one of the worst fathers in the league. So let's all stop defending him and start defending the kids who can't defend themselves.
Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine.
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.
Ukraine is still alone
9/15/2014 3:16:11 PM
- A NATO summit in Wales last week took place amid crises in Iraq and Ukraine
- Ukraine's neighbors ensured its conflict was on the agenda, Marcin Zaborowski says
- Past rhetoric of partnership with Russia was replaced by talk of facing an adversary, he says
- But in the end, Zaborowski says, the summit gave Ukraine little to combat a belligerent Russia
Editor's note: Marcin Zaborowski is director of the Polish Institute of International Affairs and a member of the group of experts appointed by the NATO Secretary General to consider the alliance's strategy in the run-up to the Newport summit. Follow him on Twitter @MaZaborowski. The views expressed in this commentary are solely the author's.
(CNN) -- The recent NATO summit in Newport, Wales was initially meant to prepare the alliance for the post-Afghanistan era and pooling of resources at the time of defense cuts, known in NATO lingua as "smart defense."
However, as often happens, the summit agenda was hijacked by more current and dramatic developments: the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Russia's push into Ukraine. Both these developments have reminded NATO that its core business -- the defense of its member states -- needs to be returned to the center of the alliance's agenda.
Russia's annexation of Crimea and continued push into the south-east of Ukraine -- a NATO partner country -- has inevitably provoked fear amongst Ukraine's neighbors, all of whom have relatively fresh memories of Russian domination.
These countries -- Poland and the Baltic states in particular -- made sure that the Ukrainian crisis would be at the center of the Newport agenda.
This happened in two ways. The Central East European allies asked for measures that would reassure them by confirming NATO's engagement in the face of Russian aggression. In addition, the show of solidarity with Ukraine became a major focus of the summit, which was attended by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
The outcome of the Newport summit has met these allies' expectations, at best, halfway.
Marcin Zaborowski
The biggest change came in the rhetoric and positioning of the alliance's key members. Until very recently, NATO has prioritized its partnership with Russia, taking great care not to offend it.
When in 1997 the Alliance started the process of taking in new members from Central and Eastern Europe, it mollified Moscow by setting up a separate Russia Council and signing a partnership agreement that excluded the presence of a major Western force in new member states.
Russia's actions in Ukraine have made the pretense of partnership ridiculous and as much was acknowledged by NATO states in Newport. On his way to the summit, U.S. President Barack Obama paid a visit to Estonia where he delivered a Reaganesque speech pledging full solidarity with the Baltic states.
Meantime German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned Russian aggression in Ukraine and reasserted the viability of NATO's collective defense measures.
Overall, the rhetoric of partnership with Russia -- which has dominated past meetings -- disappeared in Newport where it was replaced by the rhetoric of facing-up to an adversarial Russia.
However, whilst NATO leaders were strong in words, the decisions they took in response to the Russian threat were at best modest.
At the height of crisis during the Cold War the U.S. presence in Western Europe reached more than 277,000 troops.
By comparison the U.S. said earlier this month that it had 57,000 active service members in Europe. Of these only a very small number are based in Poland and the Baltic States.
Decisions taken in Newport have not changing these facts in a meaningful way. Whilst NATO announced a creation of a spearhead force, consisting of a Rapid Reaction Force, frequent exercises and logistical centers, this initiative will not change the strategic balance in Central and Eastern Europe.
The units contributing to the rapid-reaction force will remain within the states that designate them, meaning their availability will be subject to political approval.
The exercises that would bring together U.S. and European troops are meant to be frequent or even "persistent" but their scope will remain small.
The logistical centers that are meant to be based in Poland and the Baltic states are perhaps the most concrete of the approved measures. If developed they would commence integrating Central and Eastern Europe into the NATO infrastructure.
Overall, the reassurance measures for Central and Eastern Europe are not game-changers, but they are going in the right direction and could suggest a beginning of rebalancing of the current vastly unequal situation in the region.
However, as far as Ukraine itself is concerned the summit offered Kiev close to nothing. The announcement that NATO would spend 15 million euros ($19M) on military aid to Ukraine did not impress the Ukrainians nor the Russians.
NATO's decision to allow individual members of the alliance to sell arms to Ukraine has not changed anything, not least because since then a number of states have rushed to deny they intended to sell anything to Ukraine whilst the unstable situation there continues.
In other words, after the summit Ukraine continues to be on its own vis-a-vis belligerent Russia.
NATO's failure to send a clear signal to Russia by supporting Ukraine represents in itself a grave threat to the alliance's Central East European members -- who may be next on the list of potential Russian targets.
N.Korea: 6 years hard labor for tourist
9/15/2014 1:32:08 AM
- NEW: Washington calls for the immediate release of Miller and Kenneth Bae
- A court says Matthew Todd Miller committed "acts hostile" to North Korea
- He previously told CNN, "I deliberately committed my crime"
- That interview was monitored by the North Korean government
(CNN) -- For months he was held captive by the North Korean regime, not even sure what he would be charged with.
Then in one fell swoop, American citizen Matthew Todd Miller was convicted of committing "acts hostile" to North Korea and sentenced to six years of hard labor, North Korean state-run media reported Sunday.
While Miller's fate is now clear, the circumstances surrounding his alleged crime remain murky.
According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the 24-year-old arrived in North Korea as a tourist on April 10 and ripped up his tourist visa, shouted his desire to seek asylum and said "he came to the DPRK after choosing it as a shelter."
DPRK refers to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Its government is a communist dictatorship renowned for human rights abuses.
Washington demands release
Early Monday, the U.S. State Department demanded that North Korea release Miller and fellow American prisoner Kenneth Bae.
"The charges for which he (Miller) and the other detained U.S. citizens were arrested and imprisoned would not give rise to arrest or imprisonment in the United States or in many other countries around the world," said spokesman Darby Holladay.
He also asked for amnesty for the men and for American Jeffrey Fowle.
Fowle, 56, was arrested in June while traveling as a tourist. Holladay said that U.S. citizens are discouraged from visiting the country.
Miller talks to CNN
Earlier this month, Miller told CNN's Will Ripley that he "prepared to violate the law of DPRK before coming here. And I deliberately committed my crime."
But Miller didn't elaborate on what his "crime" was. He said he wouldn't learn of his charges until he went to trial.
It's unclear whether his statements were made freely or under coercion.
The North Korean government surprised CNN by presenting Miller and two other detained Americans -- Kenneth Bae and Jeffrey Edward Fowle -- for interviews. Each five-minute interview was monitored by the government.
"My situation is very urgent," Miller told CNN. "... Very soon, I'm going to trial and I will directly be sent to prison. I think this interview is my final chance to push the American government into helping me."
How North Korea may be using U.S. detainees as 'bargaining chips'
A quiet California kid
Miller's family lives in Bakersfield, California. Close friends and neighbors told CNN they were instructed by the family not to speak to reporters.
Miller is a 2008 graduate of Bakersfield High School, according to CNN affiliate KBAK.
A few classmates told CNN that Miller seemed like an average kid. Two said they barely remembered him because he was so quiet.
In a July interview, a neighbor told The Associated Press that Miller went to South Korea about four years ago to visit his brother and that he found a job teaching English.
He traveled to North Korea this year after arranging a private tour through the U.S.-based company Uri Tours, which takes tourists into North Korea.
Uri Tours has said it doesn't have "any understanding of why" Miller ripped up his visa.
The company offers tours despite U.S. State Department warnings that U.S. citizens have been subject to arbitrary arrest and detention in North Korea.
Miller's case presents many questions, said Robert Kelly, an American who teaches International studies at Pusan National University in South Korea.
"If he wanted asylum, why's he trying to get out?" Kelly asked. "Now, he changes his mind? This is why the (U.S.) State Department encourages citizens not to go to North Korea."
CNN's Madison Park, Gabe LaMonica and Christabelle Fombu contributed to this report.
Dead infants found in squalid home
9/15/2014 4:22:30 PM
- NEW: Lawyer says squalor concealed children from father for years
- NEW: Lawyer for the woman arrested says she is the mother
- Three infants were discovered dead in squalid Massachusetts home
- Police had to search the house in hazmat suits
(CNN) -- It was a shocking and gruesome discovery: three dead infants found in a Massachusetts home so squalid that police officers had to search it in hazmat suits.
Now, days later, as investigators continue to search through what the Worcester County District Attorney's Office describes as the home's "deplorable conditions (such as) massive insect infestation, mounds of used diapers and feces," a picture is beginning to emerge of the family that lived inside.
And it's a picture so deranged, so unfathomable to a reasonable mind, that even a lawyer for the accused calls the situation "completely inexplicable."
Erika Murray was arraigned September 12 on a bevy of charges stemming from the discovery of the dead infants at her home the day before, but she has not been charged in their deaths. The 31-year-old pleaded not guilty to charges of concealing an out of wedlock fetal death, two counts of permitting substantial injury to a child, intimidation of a witness, cruelty to an animal and violating an abuse prevention order, according to Tim Connolly, a district attorney spokesman.
Whether or not Murray is the mother is not known by authorities for certain at this point, but her attorney assumes that she is. "My expectation is that it will be confirmed that they were indeed hers," Keith Halpern told CNN.
Murray lived in the now-condemned single family home with her longtime boyfriend, Ray Rivera, and the couple's children. Just how many children lived with them in the vermin-infested 1,150-square-foot home, however, depends on which parent you ask: of the four living children that the state removed from the home on August 28, Murray told investigators that Rivera, 38, only knew about two of them.
The other two -- a 3 year old and an infant, according to Halpern -- were apparently not only born in secret but lived hidden from their father amid mountains of garbage under the same roof.
Rivera also "presumably" did not know about the ones that had died, at least according to the account Murray has told authorities, Halpern said.
"It is a mystery to me how Mr. Rivera could have failed to notice (the) numerous pregnancies (of) the woman with whom he shared a bed," said Halpern. "It's a mystery to me how he could have failed to realize that there were two children living under the same roof as him, and he didn't know about it."
CNN was unable to reach Rivera or members of his family Sunday evening. He has not been charged with any crime, and there is no public record of physical abuse.
'Prisoner of her own fear'
Halpern said that while his client's explanation "is not based in reality," the situation Murray came to be in was the result of fear, not malice. "She was terrified of the pregnancies being discovered," said Halpern. "She was terrified of the two younger children being discovered. Why? I don't know the answer to that."
Whether based in reality or not, Halpern said Murray was "a prisoner of her own fear" and suggested it was that fear that explains the three infants found dead in her home. "Try to imagine the state of mind of a woman who attempts to hide a pregnancy, go into labor and deliver children -- at least twice, but presumably five times -- on her own."
"I feel certain that she did not do anything to harm any of these children," he said. "I don't think there will be a determination that they were killed."
Though Halpern said he has yet to consult with a pathologist, he said it is not clear if they were ever alive to begin with or if they were all stillborn.
Abuse suspected in 2007
The state's removal of the four living children at the home last month was the result of the filing of what's called a 51A report in Massachusetts, according to Alec Loftus, a spokesman for the state's office of Health and Human Services. A 51A can be filed by any citizen with reason to believe that a child has been abused or neglected.
This was not the first time a 51A had been filed when it came to that home, according to a Massachusetts Department of Children and Families spokeswoman. Cayenne Isaksen said such a report was previously received in 2007, but that "it was unsupported and therefore no case was opened."
For now, Isaksen said DCF has Murray's four children in its care and is focused on "ensuring (their) safety and well-being and providing them with the proper medical care, support and services they need," she said. Connolly said that the family caring for them has no public statement to make at this time.
Murray's case was adjourned to October 14. Investigators, meanwhile, remain at the scene digging through the squalor.
"Our investigation will continue for quite some time," said Joseph Early, the Worcester County District Attorney.
Dad accused of slaying five kids had history with social services
CNN's Marlena Baldacci contributed to this report
Why UK would miss Scotland
9/15/2014 5:22:58 PM
- Historian Timothy Stanley wants Scotland to stay in the United Kingdom
- He notes that the historical relationship changed after World War II
- Scots' quest for a wider social safety net may be hard to achieve alone, he says
- Stanley says he'd miss England's romantic, talkative partners if they go
Editor's note: Timothy Stanley is a historian and columnist for Britain's Daily Telegraph. He is the author of the new book "Citizen Hollywood: How the Collaboration Between L.A. and D.C. Revolutionized American Politics." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- On Thursday, Scotland goes to the polls to consider leaving the United Kingdom. I'm praying they say no. For their sakes and for our sakes as fellow Britons. We need each other.
Don't get me wrong: the English, the Scots, the Welsh and the Northern Irish are all very different people. You can tell it in the accents -- as an Englishman, I find it almost impossible to do a passable Scottish voice because I just can't sustain the requisite level of anger. And while the English are known for introversion and a terror of being noticed, the heat generated by the independence referendum has been a testament to the Scots' uncompromising desire to say what they're really thinking.
You see those differences marked in the landscape.
Journeying from London to Glasgow to observe the campaign, I was struck by the sudden shift in geography as our train crossed the border. Where England is small and crowded, Scotland is huge and empty.
English fields give way to massive Caledonian hills covered in green trees with bald patches of purple flowers. The valleys look like God smashed a fist into the soil -- wild, deep and jagged. That righteous Scottish temper showing through again.
But it's precisely these differences that have made the Union between our countries so remarkable -- and so important. For 300 years, we have sustained a political alliance between nations with distinct cultures that has produced one of the world's most successful experiments in getting along against the odds.
It's a relationship of convenience, of course -- begun in part so that Scotland could share in our imperial ambitions. And, as such, Scotland's presence in the Union has been sustained hitherto largely by good will. We may all have different understandings of our identity, but we share a common understanding of our needs.
This began to change in the years after World War II.
As the empire vanished and industry declined, so the economic outlook of Scotland and England began to diverge. A turning point was the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979 -- a right-wing leader who may have helped raise living standards in Scotland but whose faith in free markets became increasingly at odds with the Scottish preference for a well-financed public sector.
Scotland could have rallied to the left-wing Labour Party, but Labour, too, moved drastically to the right and left many of its working-class constituents behind.
The credit crunch challenged the idea that the Union was impervious to economic shock and discredited our political leadership in London.
Many Scots turned toward independence as an alternative way of ordering their affairs (while many Englishmen drifted toward the conservative United Kingdom Independence Party). Hence, much of the campaign for independence has centered not around nationalist themes, but socialist ones instead.
Its supporters imagine that if freed from the more right-wing English, they'd be able to spend more and invest in public services. In fact, the opposite is true. Such is the likely size of an independent Scotland's debt, and so uncertain is the future of its currency, that it would almost certainly have to raise taxes through the roof.
That brings us back to the benefits of sticking together. They are both material and emotional.
On the material side, Britain may have been through a tough period recently, but it is now growing mightily. We are predicted to overtake the perfidious French in the size of our economy by 2020 -- making us the fifth biggest in the world.
Our accomplishments in the fields of constructing a welfare state or investing in high-tech sectors have been made possible by sharing resources and talent. Likewise, in a frighteningly insecure world, we all benefit from a united defense. OK, so Britain's army no longer patrols an empire. But it is still one of the most powerful in the world, boasts a nuclear deterrent (moored in Scotland) and is a lynchpin of the Atlantic alliance.
The army is perhaps at the heart of the emotional case for the Union.
Standing together, we've helped win two world wars and seen off the Argentine invasion of the Falklands in 1982. Soldiers have fought in defense of their constituent countries, but always under the banner of the United Kingdom. The ties that bind us, then, are historical and poetic.
Every New Year, we Britons sing "Auld Lang Syne" -- written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns.
It's a song about the importance of remembering old friendships: "And there's a hand my trusty friend!/ And give me a hand o' thine!/ And we'll take a right good-will draught,/ For auld lang syne." It might seem silly to reduce a decision about the future of a nation to a few lines of a song sung drunkenly and off-key at midnight, but friendship is a precious thing that men will give their lives for. Many, many British soldiers have done so in the past. I would save the Union out of respect for their memory alone.
To the Union and the world, the Scots have brought poetry both sublime and hilariously bad.
Schoolchildren across the UK still read the awful lines of William McGonagall that serve as a primer for how not to write. Scottish geniuses -- Adam Smith, David Hume, James Watt, Robert Louis Stevenson, James Braid, Kenneth Graham, Sir Walter Scott, Muriel Spark, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- have also given us all the invention of classical economics, a proud tradition of banking, color photography, the flushing toilet, golf, hypnotism, penicillin and the television set.
The locals have also supplied Britain with its last hopeful myth: the rumored existence of the Loch Ness Monster. It's nonsense, of course, but a reminder -- again -- of how much mystery and wonder the Scottish countryside brings to the UK. We are hoping to reintroduce wolves there.
If Scotland votes this week for independence, we will divorce with dignity (excepting a few rows about debt and nuclear weapons). But the United Kingdom will miss her dearly.
We will be reduced and forced to think afresh about who we are and what we stand for. If I'm honest, the prospect of a Union dominated too heavily by the English worries me. We're simply not as loquacious or romantic as our Scottish cousins.
Why ISIS makes execution videos
9/15/2014 11:35:09 PM
Terror group ISIS has rattled the world with gruesome execution videos. Atika Shubert examines why it uses this tactic.
If your browser has Adobe Flash Player installed, click above to play. Otherwise, click below.
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