 | Free Online Class Reveals How To Grow a Small Stock Trading Account of $5,000 or Less. Click Here To Sign Up, It's Free! From our sponsors |
| CNN.com - Top Stories |
| CNN.com delivers up-to-the-minute news and information on the latest top stories, weather, entertainment, politics and more. |
Prison in Somalia attacked; 12 dead
8/31/2014 11:48:23 AM
- Al-Shabaab rebels try to storm a prison in Mogadishu
- Twelve die, including seven Al-Shabaab fighters, in "foiled attack," security forces say
- The attackers wore government military uniforms
- The prison houses mostly Al-Shabaab members on death row
(CNN) -- Islamist rebels dressed in government military uniforms approached the gate of a high security prison in Mogadishu on Sunday, set off a car bomb and fired their way into the building, eyewitness Farah Mohammed told CNN.
They were Al-Shabaab fighters, and security guards at the prison "foiled the attack" and killed seven of the rebels, Somalia's Information Minister H.E. Mustafa Duhulow said in a statement.
"The attackers exchanged heavy gunfire with prison guards after detonating a car bomb at the main gate," Mohamed said. "A plume of dark smoke could be seen rising from the attacked complex."
During the assault on the National Intelligence and Security Agency prison three security guards and two civilians were also killed, 15 others were injured, Security Ministry spokesman Mohamed Yusuf told CNN.
The attackers tried to free their fellow Al-Shaabab members held at the prison, who were sentenced to death by a Somali military court tribunal, said police Officer Abdifarah Ali.
"We were behind today's raid on NISA prison in Mogadishu," Al-Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab said on pro-militant radio station Al-Andalus. "Our Mujahideen forces stormed the complex and then sprayed the prison guards with bullets and bombs," he said.
The government praised the security forces, saying it shows that Somalia has improved security.
"These terrorists groups are against the security improvements we are currently experiencing here in Mogadishu," Information Minister H.E. Mustafa Duhulow said in a statement. "We say to them that these foiled attacks strengthen our forces and prove their bravery to the people of Somalia," he said.
The NISA prison is underground and is close to the Somali presidential palace in Mogadishu. Hundreds of inmates, mostly Al-Shabaab members, are being held there.
Al-Shabaab is an al Qaeda-linked militant group seeking to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Islamic state, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
The group claimed responsibility for the deadly attack at a Kenyan mall last year and is believed to be responsible for attacks in Somalia that have killed international aid workers, journalists, civilian leaders and African Union peacekeepers.
CNN's Nana Karikari-apau, and Kay Guerrero contributed to this story.
Changes afoot at F1's Ferrari?
9/1/2014 11:28:03 AM
- Ferrari team principal says Ross Brawn is "an iconic figure" at the Italian Formula One team
- Marco Mattiacci adds everyone would like to see the former technical director back at Ferrari
- Brawn is on a break from F1 after leaving Mercedes at the end of 2014
- Mattiacci adds any potential return for Brawn would not impinge on his own role
Follow us at @WorldSportCNN @benwyattcnn and like us on Facebook
(CNN) -- Ferrari would welcome back Ross Brawn to help turn around the famous Formula One team's flagging fortunes.
As Ferrari's former technical director, Brawn helped guide the Scuderia to six constructors' titles as well as five world titles between 2000 and 2004 with Michael Schumacher.
Ferrari's new team principal Marco Mattiacci revealed to CNN he would be happy to work with the English technical guru.
"Ross Brawn is an iconic figure at [Ferrari headquarters] Maranello," Mattiacci told CNN.
"Everyone would like to have Ross or would like to see Ross back at Ferrari.
"He's one of the most respected personalities in F1 with the highest knowledge and pedigree. Everybody would be happy with someone like Ross."
Brawn left his latest role as team principal of Mercedes in 2013 after taking the Silver Arrows to the verge of their most successful season in the sport since the 1950s.
The German team is leading this season's team and driver championships with Brawn acknowledged as a huge driving force behind the success.
In contrast, Ferrari has not won the team title since 2008 while current driver Kimi Raikkonen was the last to win the drivers' crown in 2007.
Fernando Alonso continues to drive for the team, finishing on the podium twice this season, while Raikkonen has struggled to adapt to the feel of the car under 2014's huge rule changes.
Ferrari would love to emulate Mercedes' sensational return to form, perhaps with Brawn's help.
"We've talked several times," said the Ferrari team principal, who took over the role following Stefano Domenicali's resignation in April.
"Ross has been at Ferrari. He came here with friends so it was very nice to spend a few minutes [together]."
Brawn is on a break from F1 after leaving Mercedes following a management restructure which saw former McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe arrive to lead the team alongside Toto Wolff.
However, Mattiacci made it clear that any future for Brawn with Ferrari would not undermine his tenure at the top.
Successful story
"At the moment I am the number one on the team," the Italian insisted.
"I like to work with what I have. We are building a very strong team with a medium, long-term plan.
"My role is to shorten as much as I can this plan to make it effective as soon as possible. We are building the foundation for a very successful story."
Certainly, Mattiacci is a man who has created his own story of success up to this point, following a 15-year career with the Italian marque.
Roles in Asia and Europe led to the 43-year-old becoming president of the North American business, where he picked up the 'Automotive Executive of the Year Award' following a 20% increase in sales.
So global were his previous roles that he's currently readjusting to life back in Italy for the first time in 20 years, while his young family remain in the US.
Critics argue Mattiacci lacks F1 experience, but for the man who lives by a personal motto of 'nothing is impossible', this is the time for the 'Prancing Horse' to be bullish.
And key to rediscovering their 'self confidence' will be not to repeat the mistakes of the recent past.
Ferrari failed to take advantage of 2014's new engine formula, which opened the door to catch up on its rivals, and engine chief Luca Marmorini subsequently found himself without a job.
The Scuderia reportedly made another big money offer to Red Bull's star technical chief Adrian Newey this year, although he turned it down to stay on at Red Bull in a revised role.
A much needed reorganization of Ferrari's technical department continues to be led by James Allison, who returned to the Italian team in 2013 from the Lotus F1 team.
When asked if he was confident he might be able to tempt Brawn to also return to Ferrari, Mattiacci responded: "As I said, at the moment I'm building a new team.
"James is the technical director and I want to start from this point.
"To tango you have to have two," the classical music fan told CNN.
"Maybe Ross is happy with what he is doing."
Brawn, who turned to his hobby of fly-fishing after leaving Ferrari in 2006, might not be fishing for a return to F1 or Ferrari yet.
But if Mattiacci could persuade him to join the Italian marque he would have landed one of the sport's biggest catches.
Read: Mercedes use Twitter to solve driver dilemma
Read: Teenager to make F1 history
Read: Ferrari give Jules Bianchi test run
Ferrer, Sharapova stunned in US Open
9/1/2014 6:16:34 AM
- Fourth seed David Ferrer out of U.S. Open, beaten by France's Gilles Simon
- Roger Federer reaches last 16 as he continues bid for sixth New York title
- Caroline Wozniacki reaches women's quarterfinals, beating Maria Sharapova
- Belinda Bencic, 17, becomes youngest U.S. Open quarterfinalist since 1997
Follow us at @WorldSportCNN and like us on Facebook
(CNN) -- Fourth seed David Ferrer was sent crashing out of the U.S. Open by Frenchman Gilles Simon on Sunday, becoming the biggest men's scalp to be taken so far during the final grand slam of the tennis season, while former women's champion Maria Sharapova also exited.
In oppressively humid conditions at Flushing Meadows, Simon and Ferrer traded the first two sets 6-3 before Simon found another level to wrap up the final two sets 6-1 6-3.
The 26th seed took advantage of some sloppy play by Ferrer, who made 52 unforced errors and appeared to be struggling physically with the heat in the third-round tie.
It was a timely victory for Simon, who had lost five of his past six meetings against the Spaniard.
"He destroyed me five times before," Simon said after the match.
"I just tried to stay loose and relaxed and enjoy myself on court. But I am tired. The weather forecast said it would be cooler today but it didn't feel like it. We ran so much and I am happy to finish in four sets because I knew that against David it would be really hard in the fifth."
Simon will play Croatian 14th seed Marin Cilic, who beat South Africa's Kevin Anderson in four sets.
"I always have a tough fight with Marin," Simon said after Cilic's victory.
Simon has beaten Cilic in his last four encounters but is not taking anything for granted. "Yes, but did you check the scores?! It was always in five sets! We know each other well. It will be a tough fight."
Roger Federer continued his bid to become the first man to win six U.S. Open titles as he reached the last 16 with a rain-interrupted win against Spain's Marcel Granollers.
The 17-time grand slam champion came from behind to triumph 4-6 6-1 6-1 6-1 against the world No. 42, setting up a fourth-round clash with another Spaniard, Roberto Bautista Agut.
The 17th seed equaled his best grand slam performance, matching his achievement of reaching the last 16 at January's Australian Open, as he beat France's Adrian Mannarino in straight sets.
"I feel very explosive, quick," second seed Federer said. "The coordination is there, as well. I feel like I've gotten used to the hard courts by now. It's really working well. I'm very pleased."
Seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov also came from behind to beat Belgium's David Goffin in four, and the Bulgarian will next play French 20th seed Gael Monfils.
Monfils upset 12th-seeded compatriot Richard Gasquet in straight sets to reach the last 16 in New York for the first time since 2009.
Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych also progressed, beating Russia's Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-3 6-2 6-4 to set up a clash with Austrian debutant Dominic Thiem.
Thiem, who turns 21 on Wednesday, eliminated Spanish 19th seed Feliciano Lopez 6-4 6-2 6-3 as he continued his best showing at a grand slam, having lost in the first round at Wimbledon and the second at the Australian and French Opens.
Meanwhile former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki put a nightmare 2014 firmly behind her by knocking out five-time grand slam winner Sharapova 6-4 2-6 6-2 and book her place in the quarterfinals.
French Open champion Sharapova was the strong favorite at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, but the Dane dug deep to win the third set and give her a great chance of winning her first grand slam.
"She made me hit a lot of balls," Sharapova told reporters. "That's always been her strength. But she did extremely well today. She's a great retriever, especially in these types of conditions. I just felt like I maybe went for a little too much."
Of all the female players left in the draw, only world No. 1 Serena Williams and formerly top-ranked Victoria Azarenka have ever won a grand slam.
"It means so much to me," said Wozniacki after her victory over the fifth seed, who won the 2006 U.S. Open and reached the semifinals in her last appearance in 2012.
"It's been a bit up and down for me this season ... To win today against a champion like Maria is an unbelievable feeling."
Wozniacki, seeded 10th this year, was runner-up in 2009 and made the semis in 2010-11 but has not reached the last four of a grand slam since then.
The 24-year-old, who split with golf star Rory McIlroy this year ahead of a planned wedding, will next face Italian 12th seed Sara Errani.
Errani, a semifinalist in 2012 after losing in the French Open final earlier that season, ended the dream run of former child prodigy Mirjana Lucic-Baroni as she beat the 32-year-old Croatian 6-3 2-6 6-0.
Lucic-Baroni, who came through qualifying and beat world No. 2 Simona Halep in round three, was playing in the last 16 of a grand slam for the first time since 1999 -- when she was a semifinalist at Wimbledon.
Belinda Bencic beat former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 to become the youngest U.S. Open quarterfinalist since 1997, when Martina Hingis went on to win the title.
The Swiss 17-year-old, who has trained at the academy run by Hingis' mother, will next play China's Peng Shuai -- who likewise progressed to the last eight of the singles competition for the first time in a grand slam.
While Bencic is playing in majors for the first time this year, the 28-year-old Peng made her debut a decade ago and has twice won doubles titles, including the French Open in June.
Peng ousted 14th-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova 6-3 6-4, having upset world No. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska in round two.
"The last couple of times I was in the fourth round I would always lose to good players," said Peng, who reached the last 16 at Wimbledon after first-round exits in Melbourne and Paris.
"I knew if I was going to win these matches I needed more courage on the court."
Read: Wimbledon champion beaten by qualifier
Read: Bencic - The 'new Hingis?'
U.S. lawmakers demand ISIS strategy
9/1/2014 6:43:54 AM
- NEW: U.S. lawmakers call on President Barack Obama for ISIS strategy
- Iraqi forces break terrorist seige of the town of Amerli
- The U.S. dropped aid for the Iraqi town, which was surrounded by ISIS
- Australia, France and the UK also participated in the aid drop
(CNN) -- Iraqi security and volunteer forces have broken the siege of Amerli and have entered the town, retired Gen. Khaled al-Amerli, an Amerli resident and member of its self-defense force, told CNN on Sunday.
Iraqi state TV also reported that the siege had been broken.
The news prompted a wave of celebrations across the town, which had been besieged by fighters from the terror group ISIS. Residents waved the Iraqi flag and fired celebratory shots into the air, al-Amerli said.
"Today is a day of victory for Iraq and the resilient people of Amerli," the retired general said.
The breakthrough came after the United States said it carried out airstrikes and dropped humanitarian aid in Amerli to protect an ethnic minority that one official said faced the threat of an "imminent massacre." Amerli is home to many of Iraq's Shiite Turkmen.
Australia, France and the UK also participated in the aid drop.
The U.S. military conducted "coordinated airstrikes" against ISIS targets as part of an effort to support the humanitarian operation, Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said.
Video released by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense was strikingly similar to the scenes of the dire situation faced by the Yazidis, who were trapped on Mount Sinjar by ISIS earlier this month. Dozens of people crowded helicopters, hoping to be rescued. Scores more waited in the scorching summer sun for the arrival of lifesaving supplies.
ISIS fighters had surrounded Amerli, 70 miles north of Baquba, since mid-June. The town's fewer than 20,000 residents have been without power.
"Residents are enduring harsh living conditions with severe food and water shortages, and a complete absence of medical services -- and there are fears of a possible imminent massacre," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said last week.
ISIS has called the Shiite Turkmen heretics and vowed to push them out.
Turkmen are descendants of a Turkic-speaking, traditionally nomadic people, who share cultural ties with Turkey. There are Sunni and Shiite Turkmen in Iraq, and they account for up to 3% of Iraq's population.
Turkmen have been subjected to violence before at the hands of Sunni extremists.
Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, is calling on President Barack Obama and his administration to address the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
"We have to have a clear strategy dictated by a policy and that policy has to be we have to defeat ISIS, not contain, not stop, but defeat ISIS, because they are a direct threat over time to the United States of America," McCain said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."
McCain was referring to the controversy that erupted last week after the President admitted on Thursday "we don't have a strategy, yet" for airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria.
Dianne Fienstein, McCain's Senate colleague and chair of the Intelligence Committee Democratic senator, also urged the Obama administration Sunday to devise a strategy for confronting ISIS.
Feinstein said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday that ISIS is one of the most vicious terrorist movements ever.
"I think I've learned one thing about this president, and that is he's very cautious. Maybe in this instance too cautious. I do know that the military, I know that the state department, I know that others have been putting plans together. And so hopefully those plans will coalesce into a strategy that can encourage that coalition."
Iraqi forces under a Shiite-led regime, as well as ethnic Kurdish forces, have been battling ISIS, which this year took over large portions of northern and western Iraq and eastern Syria for what it calls its new caliphate.
Well before ISIS made gains, Iraq was beset for years by sectarian violence, with Sunnis feeling politically marginalized under a Shiite-led government since the U.S.-led ouster of longtime leader Saddam Hussein in 2003.
What is ISIS?
Kerry: 'The cancer of ISIS will not be allowed to spread'
CNN's Shelby Lin Erdman, Yousuf Basil, Raja Razek, Joshua Berlinger and Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.
Missing cancer boy's parents arrested
8/31/2014 12:07:28 PM
- NEW: Parents ordered to appear in Spanish court Monday
- Parents took Ashya King, 5, from British hospital without authorization, police say
- The father says there was a disagreement over his son's course of treatment
- The boy was taken to a hospital in Spain, where he was found
(CNN) -- The parents who pulled their cancer-stricken son from a British hospital and spurred an international search for the boy have been ordered to appear Monday in a court in Spain, where they were arrested, police said.
Brett and Naghmeh King took their 5-year-old son, Ashya, who has brain cancer, to France and then Spain late last week, authorities said. Hotel staff members in Malaga, Spain, recognized Ashya and his family from media coverage and contacted police.
Authorities did not confirm what charges the couple will face, but say that "cruelty" could be one of them as suggested by British law.
British police have arrived in Spain to question the parents, Malaga police told CNN. The British Crown Prosecution Service will be working on extradition efforts.
The court appearance is part of a European arrest order that was issued by Britain against the couple.
Their arrests came hours after Brett King publicly asserted that he and his wife are not kidnappers and are not neglecting their son.
"We were most disturbed today to find that his face is all over the Internet and newspapers, and we've been labeled as kidnappers, putting his life at risk, neglect," King said in a YouTube video posted Saturday.
"We're very happy with his progress," the father said in the video. "We're not neglecting him."
The father is seen sitting on a bed with his son leaning against him. He points to a machine on the nightstand next to him.
"We've got loads of these feeds here. We've got iron supplements and we've got Calpol," an over-the-counter medication, King said. "As you can see, there's nothing wrong with him. He's very happy, actually. Since we took him out of hospital, he's been smiling a lot more. He's been very much interacting with us."
Brett King defended his actions in the video made shortly before his arrest. He accuses two doctors at the hospital for not allowing him to seek proton beam treatment outside of Britain, even though he said he was ready to pay for the treatment himself.
"We pleaded with them for proton beam treatment. They looked at me straight in the face and said with his cancer, which is called medulloblastoma, it would have no benefit whatsoever." King said he then looked on the Internet and found sites in the United States, France and Switzerland on proton beam treatment that "said the opposite that it would be beneficial for him."
The University Hospital in Southampton issued a statement saying they are working with doctors in Malaga to ensure Ashya's welfare and "are delighted that he has been found."
"We are aware of the comments made online by his father," the statement said. "Throughout Ashya's admission we have had conversations about the treatment options available to him and we had offered the family access to a second opinion, as well as assistance with organizing treatment abroad."
After Ashya was taken from the hospital without authorization Thursday, the family -- including Ashya's six siblings -- boarded a ferry and headed to Cherbourg, France, that night, police in Britain said.
Interpol issued an international missing person notice to the agency's 190 member countries to help find Ashya.
While authorities were searching for the boy, Detective Superintendent Dick Pearson said Ashya is not mobile on his own, cannot communicate verbally and is supposed to be receiving constant medical care because of recent surgery and "ongoing medical issues."
"Without this specialist 24-hour care, Ashya is at risk of additional health complications which place him at substantial risk," Pearson said Friday.
After the parents' arrest Saturday night, authorities acknowledged they could face criticism.
"All of our efforts resulted from explicit medical advice that Ashya's life was in danger," said Assistant Chief Constable Chris Shead of Britain's Hampshire Constabulary.
"I am very aware that there are comments about the rights and wrongs of our approach, but when we are told by experts that any child's life is at risk we will make no apologies for being as proactive as possible."
Hampshire police said Ashya was taken to Materno Infantile Hospital in Spain and that the facility was communicating with Southampton General Hospital, where the boy had been removed by his parents.
It was not immediately clear what happened to the Kings' other children.
In the United states only a handful of hospitals offer proton-beam therapy after surgery, including Massachusetts General Hospital, where the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy was treated for brain cancer in 2008. He died just a year after his surgery for malignant glioma.
That surgery was followed by six weeks of radiation. Kennedy wrote in a Newsweek magazine article at the time that he underwent proton-beam therapy.
The theory behind proton therapy is that its high-energy particles zone in specifically on the tumor and so do not harm the surrounding healthy tissue as much as the X-ray photons in conventional therapy, said Dr. Donald O'Rourke, associate professor of neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
CNN's Jason Hanna contributed to this report.
Race to rescue U.N. officials in Syria
9/1/2014 6:51:01 AM
- The detained troops are reported to have food, water and medicine, a Fijian official says
- They were detained in the Golan Heights on Thursday by rebels from the Syrian conflict
- The U.N. says it has "no additional information on their status or location"
- Filipino peacekeepers who came under attack in the area managed to escape
Editor's note: Read a version of this story in Arabic.
(CNN) -- Officials are still trying to secure the release of dozens of U.N. peacekeepers from Fiji who were taken captive by al Qaeda-linked rebels from Syria.
The peacekeepers were captured Thursday in the Golan Heights, a day after rebels seized control of a border crossing between Syria and the Israeli-occupied territory.
Filipino peacekeepers, who also came under assault from the rebels, were all reported to be safe after slipping past the attackers.
The peacekeepers are part of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, which has overseen a buffer zone in the Golan Heights since 1974 to maintain a ceasefire between Israel and Syria. Fighting from Syria's civil war spilled over into the buffer zone last week.
Uncertain location
The Fijians' exact whereabouts remain unclear after they were forced from their position near the Syrian town of Quneitra by the rebels.
They have access to food, water and medical supplies and are all believed to be in good health, Brig. Gen. Mosese Tikoitoga, the commander of the Fijian military, said in a statement Monday.
But the United Nations said Sunday that "no additional information on their status or location has been established."
An Israeli military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told CNN last week that the peacekeepers were being held by members of the al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front, one of the groups fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The United Nations said it was continuing to "actively seek their immediate and unconditional release."
There was conflicting information on the exact number of peacekeepers being held. The United Nations put the number at 44, but Fijian authorities said Monday there were 45. Al-Nusra released pictures online over the weekend that purported to show 45 peacekeepers and their U.N. identification cards.
Filipinos escape
Other U.N. peacekeeping positions in the buffer zone have also come under attack since the capture of the Fijians.
Rebel fighters advanced to surround two posts where Filipino peacekeepers were based and began to attack the positions on Saturday.
The U.N. troops at one position were moved to safety. But the other post returned fire after coming under attack from mortars and machine guns. The exchange of fire prevented the peacekeepers from safely pulling back, the United Nations said.
But the trapped peacekeepers then managed to escape early Sunday and get to Camp Ziuoani, which is on the Israeli side of the border, the official Philippines News Agency reported.
Top military officials in the Philippines praised the peacekeepers' defense of their positions and dramatic escape, according to local media.
'Peacekeepers, not combatants'
The U.N. force in the Golan Heights also includes troops from India, Ireland, Nepal and the Netherlands.
Fijian and U.N. officials have been calling for the immediate release of the captive peacekeepers.
"These men are peacekeepers, not combatants in the Syrian conflict, and there is no need for them to be detained," Fijian Prime Minister J. V. Bainimarama said Friday.
He said authorities were "doing everything possible to secure their safe return."
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the detention of the peacekeepers.
The Golan Heights border crossing made headlines earlier last week, when the al-Nusra Front handed over American journalist Peter Theo Curtis to U.N. peacekeepers on the Syrian side of the checkpoint.
READ: EXCLUSIVE: Boy, 13, sees beheadings
READ: U.N. counts 3 million Syria refugees
READ: When Americans leave for jihad
CNN's Ralph Ellis and Chelsea J. Carter contributed to this report.
Lesotho PM alleges army coup attempt
8/31/2014 7:21:29 PM
- NEW: Lesotho PM is in hiding out of fear for his life, according to a South African official
- Prime Minister Thomas Thabane says an attempted coup has taken place
- Lesotho is a mountainous nation of 2 million people landlocked by South Africa
(CNN) -- After an apparent attempted military coup on Saturday, the people of the African nation of Lesotho are doing their best to return to every day life.
According to the South African Department of International Relations, Prime Minister Thomas Thabane has been forced into hiding because of the unfolding security situation and out of fear for his life.
Thabane became Prime Minister in 2012 and the next elections are due in 2017.
During an interview that aired Saturday with South African broadcaster eNCA, he told the broadcaster he would not resign his position.
Lesotho has been praised for its coalition government and a peaceful handover of power in 2012. But over the past few months, its growing instability had been a cause for alarm in the international community.
The whereabouts of the deputy prime minister, Mothetjoa Metsing, are also unknown. He has not officially taken power -- although it would be constitutional for him to do so, since the Prime Minister is not fulfilling his duties.
Sometimes referred to as the "Kingdom of the Sky," Lesotho is completely landlocked by South Africa and is the only country in the world where all of the land lies above 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) in elevation.
It has a predominantly Christian population of nearly 2 million people and covers an area slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Maryland, according to the World Factbook.
It has been independent from the United Kingdom since 1966 but continues on as a member of the 53-nation Commonwealth.
Residents return to normal
After Saturday's unrest, Maseru, the nation's capital, was calm.
Despite the early-morning chaos and confusion, as all radio stations were temporarily muzzled, by afternoon most residents had returned to their normal Saturday activities.
Since Friday was payday, many people withdrew cash from the ATMs, paid utility bills and shopped for groceries.
At one main supermarket, one woman wondered aloud, "Who knows what may happen tomorrow or Monday?"
On the streets, thousands milled about.
Cows grazed by the side of the road. A trio of buddies lounged in wheelbarrows, soaking in the winter sun. Older women shuffled along the sidewalk, bundled in blankets. And amid the traffic, a wedding caravan honked, as the bride stuck her head out the window, ululating.
No signs of the military were anywhere to be seen.
Nereah Lebona owns a small beauty salon. She says she heard shooting around 4 in the morning, as she lives near police headquarters, where the main standoff occurred. But that didn't keep her from beautifying clients hours later.
"I was worried, until the radio came back on and told us what had happened," said Lebona, 36, smiling. "But how else do I earn money if I don't go to work?"
A stone's throw away was more evidence that locals were carrying on as if nothing had happened and life had already returned to normal: a Lesotho Premier League soccer match. One of the teams was that of the Lesotho military.
Among the hundreds of spectators, one man named Thabo giddily noted, "The same soldiers who were shooting this morning are now playing football!"
This tiny mountain kingdom has been faced with many tall challenges.
Lesotho has the world's second-highest rate of HIV infection -- 23% -- and a 40% malnutrition rate for children younger than 5.
The country is also known for its "herd boys," children as young as 5 who tend flocks of cattle in remote locations and often miss out on education. Britain's Prince Harry established a charity, Sentebale, to help the country meet educational challenges.
But residents in Maseru are prepared for more uncertainty -- some fearing that an opposition demonstration planned for Monday could turn violent.
Officials urge peace
Thabane told eNCA the Lesotho government is seeking the assistance of the South African government and other neighboring states.
Clayson Monyela, a spokesman from the Department of International Relations of South Africa, said the government has no immediate plans to send troops into Lesotho, but the South African government is closely monitoring the situation and will continue to consult with Southern African Development Community countries and the African Union Commission.
"We can't have coups d'etat in 2014. If there are political problems people must sit (down) and talk," said Monyela.
Monyela added that the Lesotho military's actions "bear the hallmarks of a coup d'etat."
Kamalesh Sharma, secretary-general of the Commonwealth of Nations, condemned the reported coup attempt and urged the military in Lesotho to respect civilian authority, constitutional order and the rule of law.
In a written statement, Sharma called for respect and urged all parties to "refrain from violence and work together towards a peaceful and lasting resolution."
"There is zero tolerance in the Commonwealth of any unconstitutional overthrow of an elected government," the statement read. "Democracy and the rule of law are central tenets of our association ... and any action to subvert constitutional civilian rule is unacceptable."
Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, chairwoman of the African Union Commission, echoed this sentiment in a written statement, saying that the AU "will not tolerate any seizure of power by illegal means" and giving "full support" to the SADC in addressing the challenges facing Lesotho.
Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said the United States "is deeply concerned by clashes between security forces today in Lesotho." Psaki called upon all parties to "remain committed to a peaceful political dialogue and to follow democratic processes" in order to resolve the conflict.
CNN's Nana Karikari-apau, Joshua Berlinger and Kay Guerrero reported from Atlanta. Michael J. Jordan reported from Lesotho.
UK and EU split over vacuums
9/1/2014 10:10:26 PM
- Vacuum cleaners that use more than 1600 Watts can no longer be sold in stores in the EU
- The European Union rule is intended to improve energy efficiency
- Next year the EU will consider other appliances such as mobile phones and hair dryers
(CNN) -- The EU police are not about to take your vacuum cleaner away from you. So, stop worrying.
But Monday marks the day that super powerful vacuum cleaners that use more than 1600 Watts can no longer be sold in stores in the EU, nor manufactured in EU plants.
This should be of no shock to anyone. The rule - intended to improve energy efficiency - was agreed five years ago and manufacturers have reacted accordingly.
They may not like it. Dyson for one is looking for a judicial review of the new rule, though it has complied with it.
European consumers are used to this. New Wattage rules have already been in effect for light bulbs, televisions, washing machines and refrigerators.
But for some reason here in the UK, the vacuum cleaner appears a step too far for the popular press which has noted that the EU is "sucking" consumer rights out of Britain, or just that the "EU Sucks."
There are reports of a jump in sales of the more powerful vacuum cleaners over the weekend before the ban took effect.
"I believe there is a misconception and that is that if you have a high-voltage vac that also means that it has a lot of power to suck the dust," the EU spokesperson Marlene Holzner told me last week, dismissing endless columns of ink in Britain that we will have to vacuum for longer periods, hence use more electricity, to clean our homes.
Vacuum cleaners will also have those little A-G charts on them so we know how much they cost us to run.
There are also new rules on performance and noise levels. Outdoor vacs, wet and dry vacs and industrial vacs are exempt from all the new rules.
But that did not make much news in Britain.
Not that the EU is stopping there. The Wattage for vacuums will be lowered to a maximum of 900 Watts in 2017.
The current limit of 1600 Watts is just a temporary pause on the way to even more energy efficiency.
Next year the EU will start to talk about putting other appliances on the list; lawn mowers, mobile phones, hair dryers, kettles (watch out for the British headlines on that one -- EU Blows its Stack, EU Boils Over).
Brussels stresses there is no formal, or informal list and there is no guarantee new rules to lower the Wattage on smaller appliances will be adopted.
But the goal here is greater energy efficiency. The EU hopes to meet about a third of its power reduction targets in the coming years simply by reducing energy used by appliances.
It is finding steps to cut unnecessary power and it sees this as a less painful step on the way to that goal.
Why strategy on ISIS takes time
9/1/2014 9:19:29 AM
- Americans see barbarity perpetuated by ISIS and want it stopped as soon as possible
- But retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling says developing smart strategy takes time
- He says the Syria situation is particularly complex, given the ongoing civil war
- Hertling: Many agencies, constituencies need to be heard from in the planning
Editor's note: Retired Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, former commander of U.S. Army Europe, served in the Army for more than 37 years and spent more than three years in Iraq. He was serving as the director for war plans on the Joint Staff on September 11 and has extensive experience in strategy development and implementation. He is a CNN military analyst. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- When asked to describe "strategy," every military leader who has attained the rank of colonel will probably begin the description with an explanation of ends, ways and means.
"Ends" define the objectives or the outcomes desired, in effect, the goals the nation aspires to achieve. "Means" are the various resources available to the political (or military) leader, and "ways" are how that leader applies the resources to achieve the ends. It is a simple model taught at all our nation's war colleges (and in most higher-level military and political institutions around the world).
But determining the way in which the various means of national power are applied requires statecraft and coordination, an integrated comparison of potential options and an analysis of expected and unexpected outcomes, and a determination of the risks which face the nation in both the short and the long term.
Although it is always important to act quickly in developing strategies which address challenges to the nation's security, the informed strategist also knows he has to weigh options from those who represent all the elements of power -- diplomacy, information, economics, military -- before he "decides to decide," that is, makes a decision in the right time to affect the desired outcome.
When Americans see the kind of barbarity perpetuated by those in the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, we want it stopped. And we want it stopped now, before these extremists kill more innocents in increasingly horrific ways or bring jihad to our shores to carry out more attacks.
Many believe that air power -- applied unrelentingly and precisely -- will destroy or defeat the scourge which ISIS represents. So many want that, in Syria, right now.
Precision strikes are certainly a means to effect the strategic ends. We have seen air power -- when supporting Iraqi security forces and Peshmerga fighters -- have a significant effect as part of the strategy to protect Americans in Irbil and Baghdad, relieve humanitarian crisis related to Yazidis and now Turkmen citizens, and influence the Iraqi Parliament to revamp its leadership.
But there were a lot of plans and preparation that went along with those effective airstrikes.
With Iraq, our national security team took into consideration advice from State, Department of Defense and Intelligence Agency analysts, ambassadors, regional military commanders and advisers on the ground and the regional political, social and cultural processes.
In Syria, it will be much more difficult. Consider the additional complexities involved: the ongoing Syrian civil war involving a government we don't support; a veritable "Star Wars" bar scene of anti-government groups that change hands almost on a daily basis; an unfamiliar territory, culture, religion, linguistics; an international community that wants action, and which will probably be affected by returning jihadists but may not be willing to join a coalition to counter the same; various moderate Islamists who are slow to condemn those in this extremist group; and an enemy that is integrated into the population within the borders of a failed state. All of these affect the development of short- and long-term strategy for Syria and for the region.
The military supports national strategy by developing various courses of action for our forces, all of which affect strategy development and the accomplishment of the national objectives.
Under the Goldwater-Nichols Act, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff provides various options to the President and then provides an analysis on their probability of success in contributing to the desired outcomes. But those options -- like the use of air power in executing strikes -- do not stand alone.
A few years ago, as a war planner, I contributed to strategies developed for countering terrorist groups. The strategy for countering ISIS in Syria is significantly more difficult and is probably still evolving because there are many more factors to consider.
We should want that strategy to be better than those we've had in the past. Unfortunately, the formulation of that strategy will require more time and more coordination with more agencies to achieve the right ends.
Read CNNOpinion's new Flipboard magazine
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.
Why Beijing is courting trouble in HK
9/1/2014 10:05:51 PM
- China has announced changes to election procedures in Hong Kong
- New "nominating committee" rules would likely see pro-Beijing candidates elected
- Pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong are angry, "Occupy Central" protests planned
- Bush: Result of changes will be "continuing instability from a frustrated public"
Editor's note: Richard C. Bush is a senior fellow and director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution. He's written a number of books on Asian international relations and is currently writing a book about the future of Hong Kong. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) -- In 2012, China announced that in 2017 Hong Kong could elect its chief executive through "universal suffrage."
Previously, the leader of the Hong Kong government was picked by an election committee of between 800 and 1,200 members, most of whom were trusted by Beijing.
In effect, Beijing had established procedures that ensured that a member of the territory's establishment would be in charge.
But China's 2012 promise created hopes among the public that the chief executive would be picked through a truly democratic election. Those hopes have now been dashed, and it is likely that China has bought itself more instability, not less.
Beijing preserves control
On August 31, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress announced a decision regarding the procedures for the next chief executive election.
If the plan is actually passed, Hong Kong will get universal suffrage in the narrow sense that eligible voters will be the ones to pick the chief executive, not an election committee.
But Beijing has preserved significant control by instituting a restrictive process for nominating candidates. It insisted that a nominating committee would pick candidates (not political parties, and not by popular nomination). And surprise, surprise: the nominating committee will be modeled on the old election committee.
The new body would be composed mainly of people who are sympathetic to Beijing's desire for order and who don't want to see Hong Kong's economic growth, in which many of the members are invested, disrupted by politics.
In addition, over half of the nominating committee would have to approve each candidate, which means that no pan-democrat could get nominated if Beijing disapproved of him or her. So under the plan Hong Kong voters would have a choice, but the pro-democracy camp suspects that the choice will be among two or three like-minded and Beijing-friendly candidates.
Will it be approved?
This new system is unlikely to be established because it must be approved by a two-thirds vote of Hong Kong's legislature. If pro-democracy lawmakers stick together, they have enough votes to veto the scheme, in which case the selection procedure reverts to the prior, "small-circle" system. That would be a great tragedy.
A sensible compromise was objectively possible -- one that democratized the nominating process in such a way that produced a competitive election and a clear choice between an establishment and pro-democracy candidate. That was an approach that would have likely commanded two-thirds approval.
In the short-term, Hong Kong faces the prospect of major disruption, because the more radical elements of the pan-democratic camp, which have insisted on nomination of candidates through citizen petition, have now promised to mount a campaign to "Occupy Central," the major business district, through large demonstrations and even civil disobedience.
The radicals' proposal was always unrealistic and not necessary to achieve a competitive election. The Hong Kong police are perfectly capable of controlling the protests (still, the People's Liberation Army is waiting in reserve).
But whatever one thinks of Occupy Central's goals and tactics, it has given voice to the more general public desire for genuine democracy and to frustration at Beijing's rigidity.
Why invite trouble?
Why did China choose this course of action? First of all, it has feared that if pan-democrats ran the Hong Kong government, they would use it as a base to destabilize Communist Party rule in the rest of China.
Second, it believed that the United States and Britain were manipulating the pan-democrats to further their own disruptive goals. (Both fears have no basis in reality, but what counts is that Beijing believes them).
Third, the Chinese government and the Hong Kong tycoons it listens to worried that a democratic election would increase demands for costly social welfare programs.
Fourth, there was the prospect of continued disruption if Hong Kong radicals concluded that Beijing would always back down in the face of mass protest.
Finally, Chinese leaders may have worried that granting genuine democracy to Hong Kong would stimulate similar demands in China.
Problems compounded?
In the end, Beijing opted for the certainty of knowing that it could control Hong Kong's leadership by controlling the nomination process for the chief executive election.
It will likely achieve that goal, but the price will be continuing instability from a frustrated public.
True universal suffrage would not have solved all of the governance problems of what is becoming a more unequal and polarized society.
But without genuine elections to legitimize Hong Kong's leaders, solving those problems will be impossible.
What can West do about Putin?
9/1/2014 9:30:33 AM
- Evidence Russian troops, weaponry are being used in Ukraine, despite Kremlin denials
- Russia looking to prevent Ukraine turning to West, leaving its sphere of influence
- Western leaders considering further sanctions, other ways to send message to Moscow
- Putin has warned others not to get involved: "We are a nuclear superpower."
Moscow (CNN) -- Russia's tactics in Ukraine are difficult to pin down: The Kremlin categorically denies Russian troops are fighting alongside rebels there, or that the sophisticated weaponry being used against Ukrainian government forces is supplied by Moscow.
In fact, there's mounting evidence of both.
NATO has released compelling satellite imagery -- dismissed by Moscow -- purporting to show Russian forces crossing the Ukrainian border.
Last week, the Ukrainian military even captured 10 Russian paratroopers inside Ukraine.
The Kremlin said the troops had accidentally crossed from Russia while patrolling the long, porous border that separates the 2 former Soviet states.
But while questions about Russia's tactics remain, its strategy has become more clear: The Kremlin appears to have decided to prevent Ukraine turning West and leaving what Russia regards as its sphere of influence.
That means denying Ukraine membership of Western institutions like the European Union, and NATO.
What's more, the Kremlin appears determined to achieve its goal regardless of the cost.
International sanctions imposed on Russia so far have damaged the country's economy, sending the Ruble to all-time lows against the US dollar, but have had little impact on Kremlin policy.
President Vladimir Putin continues his support of the rebels in Ukraine, even increasing it, according to Western officials.
And he continues to enjoy soaring popularity, with approval ratings of well over 85%, according to opinion polls.
How to stop Putin and prevent a descent into all-out war, then, is the central question with which Western officials are now grappling.
There's talk of further "costs and consequences" -- the words of President Obama -- but there's division on what further sanctions can achieve.
Taking the World Cup away from Russia, chosen to host the next event in 2018, is being discussed and may send a powerful symbolic message of isolation to Moscow. But few expect it would force the Kremlin to change course.
READ MORE: Six questions about the crisis in Ukraine
Further economic sanctions would be double-edged, and may work no better than similar previous measures.
NATO, the Western military alliance, is meeting this week in Wales and will examine what its response to Russia should be.
Ahead of the meeting there's talk of increased military support for Ukraine, and that may yet be delivered; but direct confrontation with a nuclear-armed Russia is regarded by member states, including the EU, as a non-starter. It's simply too risky.
President Putin himself summed it up in a speech to a pro-Kremlin youth camp outside Moscow last week, voicing what many of his Western counterparts may well be thinking.
"It's best not to mess with Russia," he said. "Let me remind you, we are a nuclear superpower."
That just leaves diplomacy, so often the last and best option.
The good news is that the Russian and Ukrainian presidents met last week for the first time since June.
The bad news is that there was only an awkward handshake at the summit in Belarus, and a refusal by either leader to compromise.
Russian wants a ceasefire to freeze the conflict, and ultimately a federal constitution in Ukraine that would grant Russian language official status and Russian-speaking areas of the country greater autonomy.
Ukraine rejects this, fearing it would mean losing effective control of its Eastern provinces for good.
That deadlock will simply have to be broken if this Ukraine crisis is going to end without further bloodshed or territorial losses.
EU officials say it's still not too late for Russia to end the crisis without losing face.
But with Moscow so clearly digging in its heels, it may be the government in Kiev and its Western backers who, despite the bluster, will be looking to do a face-saving deal.
READ MORE: Ukraine warns of 'full-scale war' with Russia
READ MORE: Opinion - How to make Putin back down
READ MORE: Opinion - Fog lifts to show Russia at war
Elvis Presley's last two jets for sale
9/1/2014 5:57:10 AM
- Millions of Elvis fans have peered into the planes as part of the Graceland tour
- Elvis' jets are "both museum pieces" and can no longer fly, owner says
- Elvis Presley Enterprises says fate of the famous planes is still up in the air
- Elvis' ex-wife tells fans to "calm down" over jet controversy
(CNN) -- Elvis Presley's last two jets, the "Lisa Marie" and "Hound Dog II," are for sale.
The four-engine "Lisa Marie" features a queen-size bed, gold bathroom fixtures, a videotape system with four TVs and a stereo system with 52 speakers, according to an ad posted on an aviation sales website this week.
The tail section on the 1960 Convair 880 features Presley's trademark "TCB" -- for "Taking Care of Business" -- and a color scheme personally chosen by Elvis, the Controller.com ad said.
The smaller "Hound Dog II" JetStar was Presley's back-up plane, flown while "Lisa Marie" was remodeled to suit Elvis' tastes, the ad said.
These planes represent the epitome of 1975 rock star luxury, but if you buy them don't expect to fly them.
"They're both museum pieces," said K.G. Coker, the Memphis man who bought them after Presley's 1977 death. They've not been flown since they were parked at the tourist entrance to Presley's Graceland mansion in 1984.
Coker's ad doesn't set a price, but it he is looking for "serious offers."
Elvis' ex-wife tells fans to 'calm down' over jets
Millions of Elvis fans have peered into the planes as part of the Graceland tour, with Coker getting a cut of the ticket proceeds, but his agreement with Elvis Presley Enterprises has expired. He's looking for a buyer because his agreement with and negotiations to keep them at Graceland have failed, leaving the jets' future up in the air.
Fans erupted in protest when a news report in July said Elvis Presley Enterprises sent a letter to Coker asking him to move the planes from Graceland Plaza, across Elvis Presley Boulevard from the singer's famous home by next year.
I see your posts about the planes. Please calm down, we're in the midst of negotiations. It's as simple as that. Thank you.
— Priscilla Presley (@Cilla_Presley) July 2, 2014 Priscilla Presley, the singer's former wife and mother of his daughter Lisa Marie, tried to ease fan fears in a tweet on July 2: "Please calm down, we're in the midst of negotiations. It's as simple as that."
A spokesman for Elvis Presley Enterprises told CNN last week that negotiations were still going on, but Coker declined to comment on the process.
Another online message from Priscilla Presley to fans blamed Coker for stirring up the controversy to put pressure on the estate in the talks:
I'm reading what you are saying, but listen, the people who own the plane put the release out to intentionally... http://t.co/EyqUKzWo7g
— Priscilla Presley (@Cilla_Presley) July 6, 2014 "I'm reading what you are saying, but listen, the people who own the plane put the release out to intentionally upset everyone. We're on top of it. Thank you for your trust in us. We will soon be putting out a release about some new and exciting things happening at Graceland. If you want to even hear more about it ... come to Graceland in August. That way you will hear it and experience it first hand. I can't imagine you'll be disappointed."
Lodging will be part of the Graceland experience
The "new and exciting things" announced in August was the groundbreaking of a 450-room hotel -- "The Guesthouse at Graceland" -- at the complex set to open next year.
Lisa Marie Presley, the sole heir to the Elvis estate, sold a majority interest of Elvis Presley Enterprises to investors in 2005. She owns a minority share.
Authentic Brands, the company that also owns the rights to Mohammad Ali and Marilyn Monroe images, bought the rights to Elvis' brand last year and is also a minority partner in managing Graceland.
Elvis bought the "Lisa Marie" from Delta Airlines for $250,000 in April 1975, and he spent another $350,000 upgrading it, according to the sale ad.
The "Lisa Marie's" last flight for Elvis was when it carried Priscilla Presley and actor George Hamilton from California to Memphis for Presley's funeral in August 1977.
Presley's father sold the planes in 1978, but his estate later negotiated with the owners to park them at Graceland after it was opened to the public.
Priscilla Presley helps grant final wishes
Shinzo Abe scores historic own goal
9/1/2014 5:33:10 AM
- Japan's PM Shinzo Abe has drawn criticism for a message honoring war criminals
- His spokesman says the comments were made in a private capacity
- But Abe cannot call a timeout as leader whenever it suits him, says Jeff Kingston
- Abe's comments have handed a strategic gift to China and South Korea, Kingston writes
Editor's note: Jeff Kingston is Director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Japan, specializing in regionalism, conflict and reconciliation in Asia. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely his.
(CNN) -- Here at an international gathering of Japan specialists currently underway in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the actions of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in honoring his country's war criminals have come in for sharp criticism.
Nobody attending the European Association of Japanese Studies conference seems surprised, but I have yet to meet anyone who thinks Abe has done Japan any favors.
One attendee suggests that, in sending a personal message to a ceremony commemorating Japan's war criminals, Abe has yet again handed a strategic gift to China and South Korea, while making Japan look churlish about its war responsibility.
Another said that if Chancellor Angela Merkel made a similar gesture repudiating the verdicts against Nazi war criminals at Nuremburg, her political career would end and Germany would face strong condemnation and isolation in Europe.
So yet again Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has scored an own goal on history through sending a message to the ceremony, held at the sacred site of Koya-san in the mountains of Wakayama in April this year.
'Foundation of the fatherland'
The site is the heartland of the Shingon sect of Buddhism and is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The ceremony is held annually at the Okunoin cemetery, where there is a statue inscribed with the names of 1,180 war criminals, including the 14 Class-A war criminals enshrined at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
The statue was erected 20 years ago with the explicit objective of restoring the honor of these war criminals and honoring their sacrifice "for the foundation of the fatherland."
An inscription on the statue decries the punishment of war criminals by the Allied powers as "a harsh and retaliatory trial never before seen in the world."
Abe's message was read out at the ceremony on April 29 this year, but only came to light this week.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference that the message was not sent in Abe's capacity as prime minister, and as such the government would not comment on it.
According to Japanese newspaper the Asahi Shimbun, Abe's message stated:
"I would like to sincerely express my feelings of remembrance to the spirit of the Showa era martyrs who staked their souls to become the foundation of their nation so that Japan could achieve the peace and prosperity of today."
Defenders of Japan's wartime conduct commonly use the phrase "Showa era martyrs" -- which refers to the period of Japanese history corresponding to the 1926-89 reign of Emperor Hirohito -- to refer to the war criminals.
This is how they are described at the Yushukan Museum on the grounds of Yasukuni Shrine, the talismanic site for those who seek to glorify Japan's devastating war of imperial aggression in Asia from 1931 to 1945.
It is not the first time Abe has sent a message for the Koya-san ceremony. Last year, he wrote: "I want to establish the existence of a new Japan that would not be an embarrassment to the spirit of the war dead."
Perhaps, but many living Japanese are embarrassed by his efforts to burnish Japan's wartime record.
'Disingenuous' excuse
Abe's spokesman said that his statement, and offerings at Yasukuni Shrine twice this year, were made in his private capacity.
Apparently Abe is under the illusion that he can call a timeout as Japan's political leader whenever it suits him.
This is disingenuous, but a dubious sleight of hand that Japan's leaders often invoke when trampling on the dignity of Japan's wartime victims.
World leaders don't get to declare timeouts.
Although most Japanese don't share Abe's enthusiasm for Japan in jackboots, Brand Japan suffers from Abe's revisionist views because he is the nation's leader 24/7 and the world scrutinizes all of his words and gestures.
By showing a lack of contrition about the horrific suffering Japan inflicted on much of the rest of Asia, Abe has inflamed tensions with China and South Korea, and left Japan even more isolated.
Tokyo's friends in Washington cringe every time Abe lets loose one of his boomeranging salvos on history. Like most Japanese they wonder why Abe can't just stick to Abenomics and leave history to the historians.
There are good reasons why Japanese are proud of what Japan has accomplished since 1945 in promoting peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific. But by trying to rehabilitate an era when Japan ran amok in Asia, Abe keeps everyone's focus on Japan's embarrassing 20th century misadventures.
Abe insists that his door is "always open" for dialogue with China and South Korea, but his knack for slamming it in their faces by trying to airbrush the past keeps Japan isolated in northeast Asia.
What is he thinking?
Why would Abe make such a gesture, given the predictable consequences for Japan's regional relations?
It is not just myopia that explains Abe's blunders.
Abe is waging a culture war to redefine Japanese national identity, one that he thinks is way too masochistic.
He wants to nurture pride and patriotism among Japanese and, for him, that means revising history.
Abe is a true believer and his gestures are a message to his political base that he has not given up the fight to overturn the postwar order imposed by the US, including what he views as the unjust verdicts handed down by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, aka the Tokyo Trials.
Earlier this year he caved into US pressure to pledge he would not overturn the 1993 Kono Statement in which Japan acknowledges its responsibility for the comfort women system, having earlier made noises that he might do so.
Washington is eager to get its two Asian allies, Japan and South Korea, talking again, but this been difficult because Abe's revisionist views on history deeply offend Koreans.
Abe's reassurances about the Kono Statement was the minimum necessary to convince President Park Geun-hye to agree to meet with Abe and President Barack Obama in the Netherlands on the sidelines of a nuclear proliferation summit.
Chilly reception
But Abe's minor concession got a chilly reception in Seoul. He is known there for his apologist views about the comfort women system and quibbling about the level of coercion used in recruiting tens of thousands of young women to serve as wartime sex slaves for the Japanese armed forces.
Moreover, a month after signaling he would not repudiate the Kono Statement, Abe sent his message praising the war criminals.
And his supporters in the Diet proceeded with an investigation of the comfort women system aimed at discrediting the Kono Statement, a damaging hit-and-run attack aimed at sowing doubts among Japanese who are showing signs of perpetrator's fatigue and the burdens of war responsibility.
The attack was also red meat for Abe's reactionary base.
Abe's defiant and unrepentant attitudes towards history are unlikely to change enough to satisfy the neighbors. But will they continue to cold shoulder Japan?
President Park is under a lot of U.S. pressure to get over the past so that plans to jump-start a strategic dialogue next month might proceed.
But a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the November APEC summit in Beijing now looks more difficult due to Abe's actions, which ensure that Japan's wartime past continues to cast a long shadow into the 21st century.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jeff Kingston.
CNN mourns cameraman's death
9/2/2014 1:37:02 AM
- Sarmad Qaseera died suddenly Monday at age 42
- An Iraq native, he was a longtime member of CNN's Baghdad bureau
- He fled the country in 2006 after getting death threats
- He was just weeks away from American citizenship
(CNN) -- CNN lost a much loved and respected colleague Monday with the sudden passing of photojournalist Sarmad Qaseera. A longtime member of CNN's Baghdad bureau, Sarmad had to flee his country in 2006 after death threats, eventually settling in the United States and continuing his work for CNN based out of Atlanta. He was 42.
***
In the darkest days of war and amid the chaos and despair it wrought, CNN staffers in Iraq could always count on Sarmad Qaseera to bring some light -- even humor -- to the worst of situations.
He was unflappable, committed to the job and yet, at the same time, a goofball who could provide endless laughter when it was least expected and most needed. And perhaps above all, he had empathy and compassion for those who suffered most from the war.
His sudden death on Monday has rocked his CNN family and a loving circle of friends and family, all of whom are trying to process how Sarmad could be taken so soon, and with so much more to conquer.
From Saddam Hussein to CNN
After a childhood spent under Saddam Hussein's rule, Sarmad Qaseera used the dictator's overthrow as a springboard into a life incredibly well-lived.
He came to CNN early in the war, a young cameraman recommended by his uncle Faris, himself a CNN staff member in Baghdad. CNN's Ingrid Formanek hired him in January 2003, just before the war began, mentoring a nervous, shy young man who knew not a word of English.
"He was, in many ways, shell-shocked by life under Saddam, but was obviously keen to be working for CNN," Formanek said. "In the beginning, we had to try to bring him out of that shell -- something made more difficult because we had to use a translator just to give him the basics of what we needed.
"When the war started a few months later, he had already picked up some English and his true personality started shining through and it wasn't long before he was out in the field shooting stories for us.
"Sarmad was our personification of the Iraqi dream: Work hard, get out alive, take the ones you love with you if you can, find success in America and charm people along the way."
Like so many Iraqis who worked with the West, Sarmad risked his life doing so.
Eventually, after a very specific death threat, he was forced to leave. But he did take one special person with him: his invalid mother, Suad.
He brought her to the United States and spent his own money initially to have her cared for in his apartment 24/7. He talked endlessly to her, not knowing whether she could hear or understand. Even when he was away on assignment, he would call or Skype and have Suad's nurses hold the phone or laptop next to her.
You should have heard his Wolf Blitzer impression
Sarmad had a wicked (and sometimes ribald) sense of humor. His usual greeting to me, an Australian, was a full-throated "Kangarooooooo!!!!"
Often, in the middle of editing a story, he was inclined to do his Wolf Blitzer impersonation: "Happening noowwww!"
His other signature phrase was an enthusiastic "Number ONE!!!" which could be used in Sarmad's world for just about any occasion.
He was a fixture in our Baghdad operation, ever cheerful and brimming with talent, and legendary for his ability to fall asleep just about anywhere, anytime.
Equally legendary was the volume of his snoring; no one could, or would, share a room with Sarmad during Baghdad assignments.
Within hours of the news of his passing, my Facebook feed and email in-box were inundated by photographs and recollections, anecdotes and tributes.
'A bright light' in a war zone
Former CNN'er Aneesh Raman put it well: "War zones sharpen edges. They harden souls. They are dark places. Which makes it all the more remarkable that those of us who met Sarmad in Baghdad remember him as such a bright light."
He had many -- so many -- close friends in the CNN family. Correspondent Jomana Karadsheh described years of working alongside him. "From Baghdad to Beirut, Amman to Damascus, Islamabad to Tripoli, he really made some of the toughest assignments so memorable," she said. "He captured every story so beautifully, his pictures told it so brilliantly. CNN lost a gift today, but we all lost the man."
Senior International Correspondent Arwa Damon, who spent much of the war living in Baghdad alongside Sarmad, echoed those thoughts in recalling his work covering the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
"He was the one who somehow saw and noticed things that we didn't," Damon said. "A piece of paper fluttering amid the ashes with 'Libya is sooooo important' scrawled on it. The remnants of the last meal in the kitchen. A flower that somehow survived the carnage."
Damon and Qaseera won an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for their coverage of the attack.
Tommy Evans, a regular bureau chief for CNN in Baghdad during the war and now chief of CNN's London bureau, recalled going on a police patrol in Afghanistan with Sarmad and correspondent Michael Ware.
"We were zipping through a dark, windy residential neighborhood when an IED went off," he said. "It felt like a mule kicked me in the chest."
Evans, in the aftermath of the explosion, couldn't hear or see.
"When my eyes did refocus, the air was so full of sand and dust I could no longer see Sarmad's truck in front of me. I was convinced it had been hit."
Evans jumped from the truck and ran into the road. Standing there was Sarmad, a camera on his shoulder.
"We asked each other frantically if the other was hurt. Then he looked at me and said, 'Tommy, I am so sorry,'" Evans recalled.
When asked why, Sarmad replied: "I don't think I was rolling."
"Later that night we got back to the safe house, covered with dust and a little blood. And we watched the tape. ... He was rolling," Evans said.
Just weeks from U.S. citizenship
Sarmad worked for many years for CNN in Iraq, but more recently he covered many other stories, both "good news" assignments and conflicts, too.
Correspondent Nima Elbagir remembered a funny moment with Sarmad while covering the uprising in Egypt.
"I'm a good foot taller than Sarmad," she said. "So it made a lot of Egyptians laugh to see him dragging a camera case along to stand on when he was filming me.
"When it kicked off inside Tahrir Square and we'd been separated he -- all 5-foot-nothing of him -- fought his way through to find me. We used to joke it was our 'Romeo and Juliet' moment, shouting each other's names through the crowd. We eventually took shelter in the KFC overlooking Tahrir Square, and as the mob swarmed outside the now-barricaded glass doors he calmly ordered combo meals for both of us."
Another longtime CNN Baghdad bureau chief, Kevin Flower, described Sarmad's passing as a loss not only for friends and family, but for journalism as well.
"He will be forever remembered for the infectious sense of humor and smile, but he should be remembered as a journalist's journalist. The best in class. He was a true professional in every sense of the word, who brought a whole lot of important stories to the world. With Sarmad, CNN was a better news organization."
Sarmad Qaseera was taken far too soon.
His American dream was still unfolding and he had so much more to give, as a professional and a man.
Sarmad was to become an American citizen in the next few weeks, something he had been waiting for for so long.
Ma'a as-salāmah habibi. Always Number One.
Death and rebirth of London icon
9/1/2014 10:07:41 PM
- As part of the Battersea Power Station renovation, the chimneys will be knocked down then rebuilt
- Malaysian developers are funding the station's transformation into offices and luxury villas
- The power station has ignited debate on how iconic buildings should be maintained
London (CNN) -- Ever since it appeared on the cover of Animals, Pink Floyd's 1977 album, Battersea Power Station in London has been famous around the world.
It has appeared in everything from the Beatles' 1965 movie Help! to Christopher Nolan's 2008 Batman movie The Dark Knight, and even Dr Who.
But later this year, its distinctive chimneys -- the best-loved parts of one of London's best-loved buildings -- will be demolished.
Then they will be built back up again.
"The chimneys are the most powerful part of the icon," says Jim Eyre, director of Wilkinson Eyre, the architects commissioned to develop the building.
"Take them away, and you don't have an icon. The coal fumes has decayed the concrete, so they have to come down. But we're going to painstakingly reconstruct them."
Such will be the attention to detail that even the paint used will be precisely the same hue.
And it will be sourced from the same manufacturer that provided the paint for the original chimneys, more than 80 years ago.
The replacement of the chimneys is just the first stage in a development that will change Battersea Power Station forever, arousing a passionate debate.
A London Icon
The power station was built in the Thirties as a functioning coal-fired electricity generator. But the building was so distinctive that it became recognized as a valuable part of the cityscape.
The station stopped functioning in 1983, and has since fallen into disrepair.
It's vast -- St Paul's Cathedral, another of London's landmarks, could snugly fit into its old turbine rooms -- and over the years it has acquired the status of one of the architectural world's best-known white elephants.
READ: Is Biology the future of design?
Now, funded by Malaysian developers, work is underway to transform the building into a massive complex of retail space, offices, and luxury "villas".
Crowning the top of the development, at a height of more than 160 feet, there will be a roof garden.
The first phase will be completed in 2016.
Eyre's plans for the chimneys are emblematic of his approach towards developing the site.
"Two of them are still going to be used as flues for the massive, modern energy center that we're going to construct to power the place," he says.
"The third will remain hollow with a glass roof, and the fourth will house a cylindrical glass elevator that will pop out at the top at a viewing platform."
Although the massive central cavity will be split into five floors and stuffed with stores and offices, Eyre has included several areas where a "cut-out" will allow a glimpse of the distant ceiling.
"There was a temptation to fill it right to the edges," he says.
"But when you enter the building, there will be an opening into a big space that will preserve the stunning sense of volume."
Care will be taken to protect a flavor of the past on the inside, too.
In an approach that Eyre calls "light renovation", graffiti and the stains of age will not be scrubbed clean or painted over.
"As part of the development, the building will be surrounded by massive modern office and retail blocks," he says.
"The chimneys will still pop out the top, but the lovely, fluted flanks will be obscured. I think that's a shame, but it's the price you have to pay for development."
Questions have been raised, however, over the price of the new apartments.
READ: 10 extraordinary futuristic wilderness hideouts
At £2,000 per square foot, they will cost the same as those in the "golden postcodes" of Kensington and Chelsea and parts of Westminster.
For an icon that represents all of London, that seems a little exclusive.
"I am aware of that," he says.
"The control room, for instance, is a wonderful example of art deco extravagance. It would be easy to turn it into a restaurant, but it would be a very expensive restaurant. Instead it will be a space for public events, like fashion shows."
Controversial restoration
The development of the Battersea Power Station has re-opened the highly-charged debate about whether -- and how -- iconic buildings should be preserved, modified or replaced, and who they "belong" to.
In this age of technology, fast-paced social change and innovation, many see it as the most important architectural dilemma of our times.
Sir Terry Farrell, one of Britain's foremost architects hose credits include everything from Charing Cross Station to the MI6 headquarters on the banks of the Thames, is sharply critical of Eyre's design.
"I think it's rather sad," he told CNN.
"There's quite a fashion for keeping the outside appearance of a building at the expense of the interior. When you're inside Battersea Power Station, you won't know it because the corridors, shops and apartments will be the same as everywhere else."
Jim Eyre
"My feeling is that it's the sheer opportunity to get a couple of million square feet in there. Under the pretext of keeping the shell of the building, you're getting planning consent for a lot of space. In London, you can charge £2,000 per square foot. That's quite a lot of money, and I can see the temptation. But there are other ways that could work just as well."
Farrell's own design for the site, which was not taken forward because of fears over planning permission, would have turned the power station into an "iconic ruin" standing over a massive public space.
It would have been made financially viable by the construction of high-value apartments around the power station.
"I said that what we should do is remove the walls but retain the colonnade, and make the whole interior a park," he said.
READ: Astonishing paper sculptures
"It would be like a giant abbey ruins, or a Greek temple with just the columns and no roof. The key features, like the control rooms, would be kept exactly in the place they occurred on legs."
This, he argued, would enable people to "go in and feel the space".
"You would understand far more what it used to be. It would be a sort of monument," he said.
"It would be far better than going to a shopping center, or a luxury home, and saying, 'do you realize this used to be Battersea Power Station?'"
Such controversy is only to be expected when the future of such an important building as this is at stake.
And the more iconic a building, the more forensic critics of its redevelopment will be.
Eye-popping vertical: Photos give Hong Kong skyscrapers a radical new look
The enduring allure of steam trains: A nostalgic journey back in time
A rare snoop inside homes of some of the world's greatest living architects
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