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(CNN)Investigators in New Mexico were authorized by a state judge Tuesday to search an Albuquerque prop store where some of the rounds used on the set of the film "Rust" prior to the fatal shooting in October are believed to have been supplied.In the search warrant, which was provided to CNN by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed said in an interview with law enforcement that she or prop master Sarah Zachry had picked up ammunition for the movie from a man named Seth Kenney at PDQ Arm and Prop.Authorities outlined two possible ways live ammunition could have ended up in the supply on set and in the gun discharged by actor Alec Baldwin that resulted in the shooting death of director of photography Halyna Hutchins. Thell Reed, Gutierrez Reed's father and an industry veteran, told detectives in an interview earlier this month that he had given Kenney an "ammo can" with live rounds for training on a different movie this year -- and that the can was still believed to be in Kenney's possession, according to an affidavit released Tuesday.Reed explained he never got the remainder of the bullets back after that earlier production ended. Read More"After several attempts to get it back from Seth, Seth advised Thell to 'write it off.' Thell stated this ammunition may match the ammunition found on the set of Rust," the warrant reads.Kenney also told authorities about a different way live ammunition may have been mixed in with the supply, according to the affidavit. In an interview a few days after the October shooting, Kenney told a detective that he generally uses a manufacturer called Starline Brass for ammunition. Two days later, though, Kenney called the detective back to say that he had received "reloaded ammunition" from a friend two years earlier that "stuck out to him." The round, which Kenney suspected was live, was in a cartridge with a logo of Starline Brass, a company he said only sells components of ammunition, and not live ammunition.In her own interview with law enforcement last month, Zachry said there were additional sources of ammunition for the film, including some Gutierrez Reed brought from a previous production, and extra rounds from someone who went by "Billy Ray."CNN has reached out to Kenney for comment.In a statement, Jason Bowles, the lawyer for Gutierrez Reed, called the warrant "a huge step forward today to unearth the full truth of who put the live rounds on the 'Rust' set." "We trust that the FBI will now compare and analyze the 'live rounds' seized from the set to evidence seized in the search warrant to conclusively determine where the live rounds came from," the statement said.New detailsA series of incident reports released by the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office on Tuesday also contained previously unknown details about the initial police response to the "Rust" movie set shooting and the interviews authorities conducted in its immediate aftermath. According to narratives written by the responding officers included in the newly released reports, authorities interviewed 12 people who were inside the church at the time of the shooting.Director Joel Souza, who was injured in the incident, gave a statement to a member of the sheriff's office as he sat on a bed in a hospital trauma room with a "half inch hole" in his shoulder before he was "administered any medications prior to doctors taking the projectile out.""Joel explained he remembered a movie worker or armorer handling guns prior to [beginning] to film the gun fight scene. Joel explained he thought he heard someone say the gun was 'cold' which meant unloaded but was not sure," the report states. "Joel went on to say he remembered hearing a loud bang which didn't sound like a blank round. Joel stated he fell backwards, looked forward and saw one of the other member (sic) of the production crew bleeding." Gutierrez Reed was described as "very emotional" and "more agitated" in the aftermath of the shooting and was found by an investigator walking with a gun in her hand, according to the report. "I located Hanna (sic) walking back to the structure with a handgun in her left hand with the muzzle pointing down. I observed Hanna (sic) to be emotional and at this time, I took custody of the handgun," the report said. "Hanna (sic) was very emotional and getting more agitated because of the incident. I advised Hanna (sic) she was not under arrest several times and put her in the rear of my unit with the passenger side rear door open but the vehicle locked. I had medical personal (sic) check on [Hannah]."The report states that Baldwin approached an officer who was putting up crime scene tape and asked to talk to him. While securing the perimeter of the church with crime scene tape, "I was approached by a male that told me he had to talk to me, I told the male that I would be with him shortly after I conducted my duties. The male told me that he had to talk to me, because he was the one that fired the firearm. I looked at the male and recognized him to be well known actor Alec Baldwin. I told him to wait by a prop truck and that a deputy would speak to him."Baldwin recently sat down for his first on-camera interview about the incident. CNN's Andy Rose and Alexandra Meeks contributed to this report.

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(CNN)Five British police officers will face misconduct action over social media messages sent in relation to Sarah Everard, who was raped and murdered by a serving police officer, the UK's police watchdog said Friday. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which oversees the police complaints system in England and Wales, carried out two separate investigations.The first one found an "inappropriate graphic depicting violence against women" was shared by a Metropolitan Police constable on probation with colleagues on WhatsApp, "in reference to the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer."The police watchdog said the officer was off duty at the time but went on to staff a cordon as part of the search for Everard."The image was highly offensive, and the officer now has a case to answer for misconduct for potentially breaching standards of professional behavior for conduct and authority, respect and courtesy," the IOPC said in the statement, adding the officer will face a misconduct meeting to answer the allegations.Read MorePolice failures exposed by Sarah Everard murder underpin culture of misogyny in the force, activists sayWayne Couzens, 48, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the abduction, rape and murder of Everard last month.In the other, separate, investigation, the IOPC looked at allegations seven officers from several forces "breached standards of professional behavior when they used the Signal messaging platform to share information connected to Couzens' prosecution."On the night of March 3, Wayne Couzens, a serving Met police officer, spent the entire evening "hunting a lone female to kidnap and rape," according to the judge who sentenced him last month. Couzens stopped Everard on the street by identifying himself as police, "arresting" her under the pretense of breaking Covid rules. He raped her later that evening and strangled her with his police belt. A week later, her remains were found in a woodland in Ashford, Kent -- more than 50 miles from where she was last seen.London police warn women to be wary of lone officers after Sarah Everard murderEverard's murder has sparked outrage and an ongoing national debate about violence against women and calls to reform policing in the UK.Inappropriate behavior is not new in the police force. After sisters Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry were brutally murdered in London in June 2020, two London Metropolitan police officers took selfies next to their bodies and shared them on WhatsApp. Six other officers failed to report it.At least 16 women have been killed by serving or retired police officers over the last 13 years in the UK, according to the Femicide Census, a group which collects data on women killed by men.High-ranking police have said they understand public trust has been broken, and they will take steps to regain it in the wake of Everard's murder. They have outlined measures they believe women should take to feel safer, which many campaigners have called tone-deaf, saying it puts the onus on women to take responsibility for avoiding crimes against them.The UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has called for an overhaul of policing, saying in September, "all of us want to feel safe and be safe."

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This was excerpted from the May 26 edition of CNN's Meanwhile in America, the daily email about US politics for global readers. Click here to read past editions and subscribe. (CNN)Joe Biden is giving Vladimir Putin a carrot.One theory about Russia's post-Cold War resentment of the US is that the perceived American victor showed too little respect to the vanquished. As a result, a centerpiece of Putin's long political project has been to restore Moscow's prestige -- by tarnishing Washington's. The fact that Biden offered -- and Russia accepted -- a summit in Geneva that will draw comparisons between iconic superpower meetings of the past is therefore symbolically and diplomatically important. The two leaders will meet on Wednesday. Soviet Premier Nikolai Bulganin, US President Dwight Eisenhower, French Foreign Minister Edgar Faure, and UK Prime Minister Anthony Eden at the historic Geneva Summit in 1955. In 1955, US President Dwight Eisenhower met the leaders of France, the UK and the Soviet Union in the Swiss city, in a meeting designed to defuse tensions that threatened to pitch the world back into war. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev forged a personal relationship in Geneva that was one of the first steps in ending the Cold War.Gorbachev and Reagan in Geneva in 1985.The picture beamed back to Moscow tomorrow will show the President of the United States treating the President of Russia as an equal. In itself, that's a win for Putin and will cause some Americans to question Biden's game. After all, Russia meddled in the last two elections to help Donald Trump, is suppressing its democratic opposition, moving closer to American foe China, and is accused of cyber hacks against the US government and economy.Read MoreTrump supporters might complain of double standards — given past critical coverage of the ex-President's fawning over Putin. But there's also little chance this time Biden will emulate his predecessor by throwing US intelligence agencies under the bus to please the former KGB colonel.While cozying up to Russia rarely works, neither does humiliation. Former President Barack Obama tried to reset relations with Moscow, but came away deeply frustrated. And after Putin annexed Crimea, Obama witheringly dismissed a nation with a proud cultural and political heritage as a "regional power" acting out of "weakness."The new Geneva summit is unlikely to be friendly. Biden has strong domestic and geopolitical incentives to deliver a face-to-face tongue lashing. And big differences on cyber security, arms control and territorial disputes in Eastern Europe hang overhead. But given the tension in the current estrangement, Biden's gamble is probably worth a try.

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Story highlightsEgypt through to African World Cup qualifying playoffs after beating Mozambique 1-0Ivory Coast also progress as winner of Group C, beating Tanzania 4-2 in Dar es SalaamTunisia and Algeria also through to playoffs in October and NovemberGroup A winner Ethiopia facing FIFA investigation over ineligible player fielded last weekendEgypt moved closer to a first World Cup finals appearance since 1990 after reaching the African qualification playoffs on Sunday.The Pharaohs, coached by American Bob Bradley, notched a fifth successive victory in Group G, beating Mozambique 1-0 in Maputo thanks to a 40th-minute goal from young striker Mohamed Salah.Salah, who turned 21 on Saturday and plays for Swiss club Basel, scored a hat-trick last weekend against Zimbabwe -- and also netted last year against Guinea.It marks a big turnaround in fortunes for the continent's seven-time champion, which failed to qualify for the last two Africa Cup of Nations and suspended its domestic league for a year after more than 70 fans died in the Port Said tragedy in February 2012.Guinea's hopes of a World Cup debut were ended despite winning 2-0 against Zimbabwe, with striker Mohamed Yattara scoring both goals.The Ivory Coast also went through to the playoffs, winning 4-2 away to Tanzania to be sure of topping Group C.JUST WATCHEDEgypt coach on Port Said tragedyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHEgypt coach on Port Said tragedy 04:02JUST WATCHEDDeath sentences in Egypt violenceReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDeath sentences in Egypt violence 02:31 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedy Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyBehind the mask – On January 26 a courtroom in Cairo passed down 21 death sentences to fans of Al Masry soccer club for their role in the deaths of 72 supporters of Al Ahly, Egypt's biggest club from Cairo, during a match last February.Hide Caption 1 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyScales of justice – Some 15,000 fans of Al Ahly, many members of the club's Ahlawy ultras group, gathered in front of a billboard displaying pictures of the dead at the team's training ground to hear the verdict.Hide Caption 2 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyMoment of truth – The news of the death sentences sparked wild celebrations among the supporters.Hide Caption 3 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyFans celebrate – Smoke filled the air as flares and fireworks were set off.Hide Caption 4 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyArmed and ready – Many of the fans had come armed with homemade pistols, expecting the judgment to go against them.Hide Caption 5 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyRally at the club – The jubilant fans were let into the club, where they held a rally on the training pitch. Hide Caption 6 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyPortrait of the dead – Many of the victims' families were also there, holding pictures of loved ones. Here one young fan holds a portrait of his best friend, who died in Port Said.Hide Caption 7 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyACAB – The Ahlawy played a crucial role in Egypt's two-year-old revolution. Graffiti honoring them and the dead can be seen throughout Egypt. This piece of graffiti next to Tahrir Square shows a line of police, each with the former dictator Hosni Mubarak's face. The acronym ACAB stands for "All Cops Are Bastards."Hide Caption 8 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyDown with Morsi – Meanwhile, in Port Said, the announcement sparked violence that led to the deaths of more than 30 people and the imposition of a curfew by President Morsy. A protest was organized to break the curfew. Here a protester carries a picture of Morsy blowing bubbles.Hide Caption 9 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyArmy in control – The army was called onto the streets. Many in Port Said blamed the police for the deaths and greeted the army as heroes, kissing soldiers as they passed.Hide Caption 10 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyPort Said women protest – A cross section of Port Said society attended, including several hundred women. The 9 p.m. curfew came and went. The protesters stayed on the streets.Hide Caption 11 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyAl Masry ultras – At the center of the protest was Al Masry's biggest ultras group, the Green Eagles. Many deny involvement in last February's Port Said tragedy.Hide Caption 12 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyThe sound of machine guns – The protest was ended when police fired automatic weapons. One protester was killed. Hide Caption 13 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyAftermath – The following day, after the protest, burnt out cars remained in the street.Hide Caption 14 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyProtest – A defaced election campaign poster for President Morsy found nearby.Hide Caption 15 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyShots fired – Outside a mosque next to Port Said's soccer stadium, a crowd gathered for the funeral of a protester killed the previous night. Dozens of men crowded around to show their injuries sustained during the protest, as well as spent bullet casings.Hide Caption 16 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyEmpty stands – The stadium was only a few hundred meters away. It was here that more than 70 Al Ahly fans were killed. The stadium is closed with little prospect of any soccer returning here for a long while, even though the pitch had been freshly mowed. Al Masry has been temporarily banned from soccer when the league eventually restarts. Hide Caption 17 of 18 Photos: Fallout from Port Said tragedyHarrowing reminder – Inside, the stands have been left virtually untouched since the tragedy last February.Hide Caption 18 of 18 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protest Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister toward riot police during clashes outside the Egyptian presidential palace on Friday, February 1, in Cairo. Egypt has been embroiled in violence since last week, the two-year anniversary of an uprising that led to the ouster of then-President Hosni Mubarak.Hide Caption 1 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A protester holds a smoke flare outside the presidential palace on February 1.Hide Caption 2 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – The entrance of Egypt's presidential palace in Cairo is in flames February 1, as protesters battle security forces.Hide Caption 3 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A protester faces off against riot police during clashes near Cairo's Tahrir Square on Wednesday, January 30.Hide Caption 4 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A police officer fires a tear gas canister during clashes with protesters near Tahrir Square on January 30.Hide Caption 5 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Police in plainclothes detain a youth suspected of being a member of the Black Bloc opposition group during a demonstration on January 30 in Cairo.Hide Caption 6 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A protester sprays water into the eyes of a man after his exposure to tear gas during clashes with police near Cairo's Tahrir Square on Tuesday, January 29.Hide Caption 7 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – The lobby of Cairo's Semiramis InterContinental Hotel is full of debris on January 29 after protesters stormed the entrance.Hide Caption 8 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – An Egyptian man takes part in a rally in Port Said on January 29. Protests in Port Said and nearby cities along the Suez Canal are symbolic because that region was among the first where the Mubarak regime lost control during the 2011 unrest, analysts say. Hide Caption 9 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Mourners carry the coffins of six people killed in clashes after the soccer riot ruling in Port Said on Monday, January 28. Rage exploded when a judge sentenced to death 21 residents of Port Said for roles in a deadly 2012 soccer riot.Hide Caption 10 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Egyptians walk past destroyed cars in Port Said on January 28 following the funeral of those killed in clashes.Hide Caption 11 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A riot police officer clashes with a protester near Cairo's Tahrir Square on January 28.Hide Caption 12 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A protester throws a tear gas canister toward riot police in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday, January 27. Hide Caption 13 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Egyptian policemen and relatives on January 27 gather upon the arrival of the coffins of their colleagues killed in the violence one day earlier in Cairo.Hide Caption 14 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A protester throws a rock toward opposing demonstrators on January 27 in Cairo.Hide Caption 15 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Egyptian protesters throw stones toward riot police on January 27 in Tahrir Square.Hide Caption 16 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – An Egyptian protester runs with a live tear gas canister toward Egyptian riot police on Saturday, January 26, in Cairo.Hide Caption 17 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Egyptian fans of Al-Ahly football club celebrate outside the club's headquarters in Cairo on January 26.Hide Caption 18 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Egyptian fans of Al-Ahly football club celebrate outside the club's headquarters in Cairo on January 26.Hide Caption 19 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Egyptian protesters stand by the burning door of a school building on January 26, in Cairo.Hide Caption 20 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – An Egyptian protester carries an injured boy away from clashes with Egyptian riot police on January 26, in Cairo.Hide Caption 21 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Egyptians climb over a fence at the Al-Ahly home stadium on January 26 in Cairo.Hide Caption 22 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – An Egyptian fan of Al-Ahly football club fires celebratory shots in the air and lights a flare as club supporters celebrate outside its headquarters in Cairo on January 26.Hide Caption 23 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A protester throws a rock at riot police on January 26, in Cairo.Hide Caption 24 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A fan of Al-Ahly football club lights a flare as club supporters celebrate on January 26 in Cairo.Hide Caption 25 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Al-Ahly football club supporters celebrate outside the club's headquarters in Cairo on January 26.Hide Caption 26 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Al-Ahly football club supporters celebrate on January 26.Hide Caption 27 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Smoke billows from a burning vehicle set on fire by Egyptian protesters outside the Port Said prison on January 26.Hide Caption 28 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Egyptians react after the sentencing in Port Said on January 26.Hide Caption 29 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – An Al-Ahly soccer fan swings a live flare above his head on January 26 in Cairo.Hide Caption 30 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – An Egyptian protester tries to carry an injured man away from clashes with riot police on January 26, in Cairo.Hide Caption 31 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Egyptian fans of Al-Ahly football club rally outside the club's headquarters in Cairo on January 26.Hide Caption 32 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – An Egyptian protester runs away from a cloud of tear gas fired by Egyptian riot police on January 26, in Cairo. Hide Caption 33 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Relatives of victims killed during the 2012 Port Said soccer game react after the verdict of the court, at a courthouse in Cairo, on January 26.Hide Caption 34 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Relatives and friends of Egyptian protesters who were killed in Suez during clashes with riot police Friday, load a body onto an ambulance outside the morgue in Suez on January 26.Hide Caption 35 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A fan of Al-Ahly football club lights a flare as club supporters celebrate outside its headquarters in Cairo on January 26.Hide Caption 36 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Two protesters stand on top of a piece of furniture while riot police watch from a nearby rooftop in Cairo.Hide Caption 37 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A protester throws a rock at riot police in Cairo.Hide Caption 38 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – An Egyptian protester walks through a cloud of tear gas fired by Egyptian riot police.Hide Caption 39 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – An "Ahly-Ultra" soccer fan holds a smoke flare above his head in Cairo.Hide Caption 40 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A protester walks through a damaged school building.Hide Caption 41 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – A protester removes the net from a basketball goal in a Cairo schoolyard.Hide Caption 42 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Protesters and football fans clash with riot police near Egypt's interior ministry.Hide Caption 43 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Protesters and fans of Al-Masry football club take part in a demonstration in front of the prison in Port Said.Hide Caption 44 of 45 Photos: Photos: Egypt unstable after days of protestEgypt unstable after days of protest – Egyptian protesters and fans of Al-Masry football club wave their club colors as they take part in a demonstration in front of the prison in the Egyptian Suez Canal city of Port Said on Friday, January 25, calling for the prisoners who are suspected of killing 74 fans of Al-Ahly club during a football match in February 2012 not to be transferred to Cairo to attend their trial. A judge sentenced 21 people to death for their roles in the riot last year.Hide Caption 45 of 45Two-time African player of the year Yaya Toure scored two first-half goals to help his team come from behind, and substitute Wilfried Bony sealed victory in time added on.It meant Morocco missed out, despite winning 2-0 against Gambia on Saturday.South Africa, the 2010 World Cup host, also failed to make the playoffs after losing 2-1 to Group A winner Ethiopia thanks to a 70th-minute headed own-goal by Bernard Parker.Read: Bradley - 85M Egyptians praying for soccer salvationParker had put his side ahead in the first half but Getaneh Kebede equalized before the break to join Salah and Algeria's Islam Slimani on a leading five goals in the qualifiers.Ethiopia, which played at the Africa Cup of Nations in January for the first time in 30 years, has never gone to the World Cup.However, it is facing a FIFA investigation after being accused of fielding an ineligible player in last Saturday's 2-1 win away to Botswana. If it is found guilty, South Africa and Botswana could have another chance to go through.Football's world governing body has opened similar proceedings against Togo and Equatorial Guinea -- neither of which have reached the playoffs, but the outcome could affect the qualifiers from their respective groups.Ghana reached the quarterfinals in South Africa three years ago, and the Black Stars are on course for a third successive appearance after beating Lesotho 2-0 in Maseru.Christian Atsu and captain Asamoah Gyan.scored in either half to put Ghana one point ahead of Zambia in Group D ahead of their clash in the final round in September.Zambia stuttered with a 1-1 draw at home to Sudan on Saturday.Tunisia claimed a playoff place as winner of Group B after drawing 1-1 in Equatorial Guinea, with Sierra Leone's slim hopes having been ended by a 1-0 defeat against Cape Verde. Read: American is coach, protester in EgyptCameroon's hopes of a seventh World Cup outing hang in the balance following Sunday's 0-0 draw away to the Democratic Republic of Congo.With star striker Samuel Eto'o out injured, the Indomitable Lions dropped two points behind Group I leader Libya ahead of their clash in the last match.Libya beat Togo 2-0 on Friday.Algeria will try to earn a fourth World Cup appearance after reaching the playoffs with a 1-0 win in Rwanda, as Saphir Taider netted the only goal in the 52nd minute to seal top spot in Group H.Mali needed to beat Benin to delay the Desert Foxes' progress, but drew 2-2 at home after needing a second-half equalizer from striker Cheick Diabate.Senegal returned to the top of Group J with a 2-0 win away to Liberia, as striker Papiss Cisse scored in either half.It set up a last-round showdown with Uganda, a point back in second following Saturday's 2-1 win at home to Angola.Malawi's hopes of overhauling Group F leader Nigeria were dented by a 2-2 home draw against bottom team Kenya.Nigeria's Super Eagles hold a two-point lead ahead of the September 6 home clash with Malawi.The 10-team playoffs will take place over two legs in October and November, with the five winners earning a place in Brazil next year.

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Story highlightsAl-Harith reportedly carried out a car bombing in Iraq MondayBlair said he was paid compensation by a subsequent UK governmentLondon (CNN)Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has defended his attempts to secure the release of a UK citizen from Guantanamo Bay after reports that the former detainee carried out an ISIS suicide attack in Iraq this week.ISIS on its media affiliates claimed that Abu-Zakariya al-Britani -- a British citizen who initially went by Ronald Fiddler and later took the name Jamal Udeen al-Harith -- detonated a car bomb at an Iraqi army base southwest of Mosul this week.While a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said there had been no independent verification that the attacker was the former Guantanamo detainee, an official told CNN that UK intelligence services believe with "high confidence" that the bomber killed near Mosul was the former British inmate.CNN affiliate Channel 4 has verified the identity of the man through a family member as al-Harith, a 50-year-old from Manchester.Blair confirmed Wednesday that al-Harith was paid compensation by a subsequent UK government in 2010 for his time in the US detention facility, but did not confirm how much he was given.Read More"The fact is that this was always a very difficult situation where any government would have to balance proper concern for civil liberties with desire to protect our security, and we were likely to be attacked whatever course we took," Blair said in the statement. Former US President Barack Obama was unable to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, facing opposition in Congress.Al-Harith spent more than two years imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay before being released in 2004 after pressure from the UK government led by Blair. "The reason it did take a long time for their release was precisely the anxiety over their true affiliations."Former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also defended the government decision, telling Sky News that the government at the time was being attacked from both the right and left "suggesting we were being harsh and reasonable" for not pressing the US on UK citizens in Guantanamo.Former detainee denied violenceAl-Harith gave a harrowing account of life at the prison to a European Coucil parliamentary hearing in 2004, saying he had been regularly tortured, being forced to sit in stress positions, deprived of food and water, and given injections of unknown substances.In the same hearing, he said he had never "never engaged in any kind of fighting or planning or participating in any kind of violence or terrorist behavior."First on CNN: GOP senators push Trump on 'expansion' of Guantanamo BayAccording to US government figures, 122 of the 693 people released from Guantanamo Bay by mid-July 2016 went on to commit terrorist or insurgent activities. A further 86 are suspected of such activity, according to the figures, compiled by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence,.President Obama campaigned fervently to close down Guantanamo Bay before his election in 2009 but, faced by opposition in Congress, failed to do so over his eight-year leadership, though he reduced the number of detainees to 55 by the end of his second term in office. President Trump has vowed to keep it open, and is being pressured by Republican Party senators to expand it. CNN's Ryan Browne, Lindsay Isaac, Stephanie Halasz and Eliza Mackintosh contributed to this report.

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Story highlightsPeople were out and about in Athens in great numbers, exercising spending powerThe night before, their prime minister scraped by in a confidence vote in parliament"We need to show the Europeans that we support the euro," says a fisherman "I wouldn't mind going into bankruptcy; the country's lost anyway," says a taxi driverIf the rest of Europe is appalled by the high-stakes political poker played by Greece's politicians, your average Greek can't countenance it any longer.It is Saturday, the morning after the prime minister's confidence vote scraped through the parliament. A small group of thirtysomething Greek professionals sit in a cafe and talk about everything other than the nation's fiscal and political crisis. "Each day we discuss what happened the night before. We can't take it anymore, it's enough," says Sophia Tsekoura, 34, an independent consultant. "It needs the opposition parties to cooperate, it would help if they were all on the same side in the same country."But this is a moment in Greek history where you have to make a concerted effort to forget -- and everyone has a view if a journalist enquires. "All of us are very disappointed, not about the result of the vote but about the way it was handled," says Tsekoura's friend Anna Virvidaki, 31, who works in a training vocational center. "Unfortunately, the alternatives aren't great, either, so I'm not sure Papandreou going is the right thing. I don't know what the solution will be. It's the Greek mentality which is difficult to change."JUST WATCHEDGenerational divide in GreeceReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHGenerational divide in Greece 02:13JUST WATCHEDU.S. student in Greece during protests ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHU.S. student in Greece during protests 02:30JUST WATCHEDItalian youth discuss future of the euroReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHItalian youth discuss future of the euro 02:41Athens' main shopping streets are packed. It seems plenty are still keen to exercise their spending power. And it's clear there's still plenty of it about. The luxury yachts haven't left the marinas. A couple sipping beers onboard one prime maritime specimen don't appreciate the questioning. "We come down here to get away from it, get some peace and sunlight so we don't have to hear about it all the time," one says. A father-and-son duo fishing nearby are more ready to chat. "We need agreement between the politicians because we need to stay in the euro," says the father, Achilles Rinas. "We need to show the Europeans that we support the euro because we really believe in it and it's our only way out of the crisis."That's a view the majority share -- but there's increasing chatter about what a return to the drachma might mean."It may well happen now," says Alex Papakostas, a 50-year-old firefighter pilot who also owns a couple of small businesses in Greece. "The options we have are either a hard way to go or a catastrophic way. The next 10 to 15 years will be very hard for Greece regardless of which currency it has, but I believe the euro will give us a better future."When there are no demonstrations on the streets of Athens, the sun, busy traffic and bustling commerce are good at concealing the scale of the turmoil. The main indications of the crisis are only evident in what people have stopped doing. Taxi driver Irene Tsikimi, who has been driving a cab for five years, says business has shrunk, but the conversations she has with her clients all follow similar lines. "They say there are no politicians they can believe in," she explains. "They don't know who to vote for. It feels like it's a dead end. I wouldn't mind going into bankruptcy; the country's lost anyway."She says that austerity has impacted her, and her customers, a lot. "Now, not even rich people use taxis," she says, "or just very few. The middle class just don't take taxis anymore. It's a job that doesn't have a future here. "Tsikimi doesn't believe that Papandreou is the right man to solve the crisis -- but that there is little other choice. "It's not him who's deciding anyway, it's others internationally who are calling the shots."Yet like other Greeks she still supports the euro because "that was why the eurozone exists, so that countries can support each other under a common umbrella."The real Greek tragedy plays out behind closed doors, in the home of the pensioners who can't afford to fill their fridge, the public sector parents struggling to pay the bills, or the 820,000 unemployed -- from a nation of around eight million -- scouring the Internet for jobs.Most people have enough to survive but not to live the life they'd hoped for. This is not yet about a nation of people on the bread line, but about a people whose dreams and future have been taken away from them.

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(CNN)Dave McNeilly remembers the days when caddies bunked in four to a room at tournaments, earning just enough for beer money.In those days, many bag men turned up at tournaments stinking of booze.The job, and hence the professional approach, has changed immeasurably with the money at stake. At this week's British Open, the winner will walk away with a cheque just shy of $2 million and, with most leading caddies earning about 10%, it is a potentially gargantuan payday.McNeilly, at 66, is one of the oldest in the field and is confident his player Matt Wallace, who was tied third at the PGA Championship and tied 12th at the US Open, can clinch the ultimate prize. But he credits Tiger Woods almost entirely for the paydays on offer.Read More"Tiger's arrival changed the game, for caddies as well," McNeilly told CNN Sport. "In the past, back in the 80s, caddies would arrive smelling of drink, you don't see caddies arriving drunk now. "Caddies go to the gym instead of the bar. Me, I go for a drink of water in the gym. But we're so much more professional now, there's great incentives and a lot of money to be made."READ: How Special Olympics golfer inspired US Open champion Gary WoodlandREAD: Tiger Woods' 10-year plan to overhaul NicklausREAD: 'Double digits, easy:' Brooks Koepka targets major haulCaddie David McNeilly with player Matt Wallace at the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage.McNeilly has been around long enough to see a stratospheric change in his profession, caddying for the likes of former world No.1s Nick Price and Nick Faldo as well as Europe's next Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington before his most recent pairing with Wallace.For him, it was the Faldo connection that really sparked his career progression -- and one which he nearly screwed up on their first encounter."I was put in touch with him as he needed a caddie and, at the end of the conversation, he asked if I had a wheel [a device back then to measure the golf course]," said McNeilly. JUST WATCHEDTiger Woods' ideal day: 'Caddyshack,' oatmeal?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTiger Woods' ideal day: 'Caddyshack,' oatmeal? 01:35"I said, 'I don't have a car, I use public transport.' The phone went quiet for a good 15 seconds as he lay down on the floor laughing silently. Then he said, 'OK, David, bring your double-decker bus' and thankfully and amazingly it all worked out well in the end."A sense of humor is crucial in the caddie profession, according to McNeilly. So too, a rhino-like skin as driven sportsmen and women often take it out on those nearest to them."The stuff that Nick said to me on the golf course was hard to take," recalled McNeilly. "But I was so thick skinned and so desperate to learn, I didn't know any different and he'd apologize after the round -- 'Sorry, I was a bit hard on you.' I was OK with it but, if a person is a p**** off the golf course, then you think twice. It's important to have self respect."Valentino Dixon: How art and golf freed innocent man from life sentence Terry Mundy boasts one of the longest player-caddie partnerships in the game, having worked for 13 years with Englishmen Ian Poulter, who has won 17 times around the world and has finished in the top three at majors on three occasions.Mundy only got into working as a caddie when asked to stand in for a sick friend at his local pub. He became a bagman full-time when given voluntary redundancy from his job in the printing industry. At the time, he planned to do it for six months to a year and then find what he called "a proper job".So what does the job entail? "It's hard to define but a caddie is a little bit of everything really," he said. "First, it's our job to understand the golf course, it's a bit like the navigator to a rally driver. You're there as a support system, knowing the wind, how a shot is playing, where you need to land it and what it's going to do."But there's the psychology side. The conversations when a player's five over or five under are very different but you need to get the best out of any situation, to turn a 76 into a 74 or a 66 into a 64. You need to know when you need to speak up and, more importantly, you have to know when to shut up."READ: Woods' Masters win has Nicklaus 'shaking in my boots' Tiger Woods celebrates with caddie Joe LaCava after winning the 2019 Masters at Augusta. At 52, Mundy still loves the job -- "apart from being a sports person, it's the next best thing" -- although his body has felt its impact with three herniated discs in his back causing him to take time away in recent years.He has known caddies who have not liked their employers, but still click on the course. But his friendship with Poulter has been the secret to their success, he says."Like everyone else, I think I thought he'd be brash, cocky and arrogant," said Mundy, looking back at their first pairing."I had the same perception as everyone else but that's just his on-course persona. We have the odd giggle and he's a great family man. I knew within half an hour of working with him that we'd be good. I think of him as a great mate and our friendship has helped the longevity."When he began, Mundy was scrabbling to break even as a caddie, sharing a room with three others at tournaments to keep down costs. There are still times when caddies feel treated like second-class citizen, he says."You still get some things that happen and you think, 'You cannot be serious,' when you can't get food or a place to even stand inside when the weather's dire and play's been abandoned," he said. "But we're looked after better and better each year."READ: How Tony Jacklin hijacked CNN anchor's parents' weddingREAD: Using CBD a 'no-brainer,' says Bubba WatsonMundy (left) wearing Augusta's traditional jumpsuit while working for Ian Poulter at the Masters. Mundy and McNeilly have earned an impressive living from their craft, but caddies are often at the whim of their employers. Some golfers are often quick to blame their bag men and part ways with a caddie."It's never a nice feeling if you get the sense you're going to lose your job," said McNeilly. "It's a fickle game and I've been fortunate. I've been lucky with the players I've worked with. I work hard and I like the players I work for to work hard, too. And I'm always learning in a non-stop business. Once you think you know it all you're in trouble. My job is still to get the best out of my player."While most people of his age are in retirement, the Northern Irishman has no plans to hang up his caddie bib. The one thing missing from his resume is a major win, and he believes he can achieve that with Wallace before retiring."The reason I caddie is to have fun," said McNeilly. "But it's also to contend in the majors." As for Mundy, he thought an elusive major might finally come his way in the latter stages of the Masters in April, only for Poulter's challenge to falter late on as Woods came through to clinch his 15th major title. Both remain reliant on their employers to shine in order to earn a living, but with both players earning in excess of $1 million already on the PGA Tour alone this season, neither McNeilly or Mundy are likely to have to resort to the room shares of their early years.

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(CNN) She stunned the world with gold medals in two different sports at the Winter Olympics, but now Ester Ledecka has clinched her first World Cup ski racing title.The 24-year-old snowboarder and skier from the Czech Republic stormed to victory in a downhill at Lake Louise, Canada for her first skiing victory since Pyeongchang in 2018.At the Olympics, Ledecka pulled off a shock victory in the super-G skiing event before clinching gold in her favoured snowboarding parallel giant slalom to become the first athlete to win gold in two different disciplines at the same Games. In scenes reminiscent of her Olympic super-G victory, Ledecka set the fastest time from starting number 26 and shocked even herself to see the first place posted on the scoreboard. She beat Swiss Corinne Suter by 0.35 seconds with Austrian Stephanie Venier third in Canada."I was a little bit thinking it was some mistake, but it's OK. I'm maybe getting used to it," Ledecka said.Ester Ledecka won a World Cup downhill at Lake Louise.Read MoreLedecka's previous best result in a World Cup downhill was seventh in Lake Louise in 2017. She finished 24th in last season's World Cup downhill standings and 28th in super-G.Ledecka has won 17 snowboard World Cup races and clinched seven season titles. American star Mikaela Shiffrin finished 10th in Lake Louise as she chases a 63rd career World Cup win.Slalom specialist Shiffrin is tied with Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell in fourth on the all-time list of winners behind the retired trio of Marcel Hirscher (67), Lindsey Vonn (82) and Ingemar Stenmark (86).

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(CNN)Simone Biles made history more than once this weekend during the US Gymnastics Championships in Kansas City, Missouri.The five-time Olympic medalist and 14-time world champion became the first woman to ever land a triple-double in competition during her floor routine Sunday night. She also snagged her sixth national all-around title with a score of 118.500, nearly five points ahead of second place finisher Sunisa Lee.Biles' stunning floor routine Sunday included several astounding flips and jumps but it was her insane triple-double -- two backflips and three twists while in the air -- that wowed judges and fans alike.Forget the gold medals, GIVE THIS WOMAN A CROWN 👑@Simone_Biles makes history (again) as the first woman to land a triple double in competition on floor! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/TazpPJx41W— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 12, 2019 And that wasn't the reigning Olympic and world all-around champion's only history-making moment of the competition.Read MoreOn Friday, the 22-year old became the first gymnast to attempt and land a double-double dismount off of a high beam. The move involves two twists and two somersaults while dismounting.Biles had attempted the triple-double the same day she landed her double-double but just missed the landing.Now, she's nailed the landing, made history twice, and won her sixth national title all in one weekend. Next, it's onto the 2020 Tokyo Olympics which, Biles said, will be her last.

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London (CNN)Jeremy Corbyn has presented hundreds of pages of unredacted government documents that he says prove the UK's National Health Service (NHS) "is on the table and will be up for sale," as part of US trade talks.The Labour leader held up the documents during a speech in Westminster, which he said covered six rounds of talks in both Washington and London from July 2017 up until "just a few months ago."Opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn holds up redacted documents from the government's UK-US trade talks during a press conference in London."We are talking here about secret talks for a deal with Donald Trump after Brexit," Corbyn said. He said said this deal "could lead to runaway privatization of our health service."Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously denied that the NHS would be part of any US-UK trade negotiations and that his government would continue to fund it.Read MoreOn November 19, speaking in a televised head-to-head debate with Corbyn he said: "There are no circumstance whatever in which this government or any Conservative government will put the NHS on the table in any trade negotiation. Our NHS will never be for sale."Donald Trump is unpopular in Britain. That's why he's being used to attack Boris JohnsonAnd on Wednesday, Johnson repeated on Twitter: "Our NHS will not be on the table for any trade negotiations. We're protecting and strengthening our NHS with more investment and an Australian style, points-based immigration system."Later, he responded again to Corbyn's claim from Cornwall, southwest England saying that the Conservatives were "absolutely resolved that there will be no sale of the NHS, no privatization.""The NHS is not on the table in anyway. The NHS is in no way on the table, " he added.However, Corbyn said the uncensored documents -- totaling 451 pages -- are evidence of the Prime Minister's "secret agenda" and "leave Boris Johnson's denials in absolute tatters.""Now we know the truth when Johnson says 'Get Brexit Done,' it's a fraud on the British people."NHS workers -- including some in uniform and even one wearing a stethoscope -- handed out the unredacted documents to journalists in the room.NHS workers hand out documents on the Conservative government's UK-US trade talks during a a press conference by the opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn.Corbyn said the documents prove that "this election is now a fight for the survival of our National Health Service." "Labour will never, ever treat our NHS as a bargaining chip in trade talks with anybody," the opposition Labour leader told the crowd at the press conference. "We will never let Donald Trump get his hands on our NHS. Because our NHS is not for sale."Corbyn added that the documents also show that negotiations were ongoing to open the NHS up to American pharmaceutical companies -- potentially leading to a rise in UK drug prices."Lives will be put at risk as a result of this," he added.The Labour leader urged Johnson to "come clean on what the Conservatives' sell-out plan for our NHS is."CNN's Martin Goillandeau and Sarah Dean contributed reporting.

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(CNN)Paris Saint-Germain produced yet another memorable moment in the rich history of the UEFA Champions League after completing a late comeback against Atalanta on Wednesday.The French champion had been trailing 1-0 as the clock ticked toward 90 minutes but two late goals from Marquinhos and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting turned the tie on its head. The club wanting to 'bring a smile' back to 'damaged' regionIt was heartbreak for tournament underdog Atalanta, which was competing in the Champions League for the first time in its history.It had seemed Mario Pasalic's first-half goal was going to be enough but, after a whirlwind three minutes, its players were left crestfallen as the referee blew the final whistle.The club's Cinderella run had boosted morale in its home city of Bergamo, which became the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak in February.Read MoreREAD: Why it's now or never in Neymar's quest for European gloryParis Saint-Germain score two late goals to book its place in the semifinals.Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were involved in both goals. 'We can't go home like this'PSG was heavy favorite ahead of the tie with the disparity between the two clubs stark. Atalanta's record signing, Luis Muriel, cost an estimated $21 million while PSG's record signing, Neymar, cost some 12.5 times as much.However, the far superior side on paper was wasteful for most of the night with Neymar missing two gilt-edge chances in the first half when it looked harder to miss. It had seemed the team, brimming with talent after the introduction of Kylian Mbappe in the second half, had run out of ideas before striking late on. "It was a crazy game, a tough game, against a tough opponent. It wasn't easy. Neymar had a great game," match winner Choupo-Moting told BT Sport after the match."I thought when I was coming on 'we can't lose, we can't go home like this'. I was confident in myself and the team."READ: Borussia Dortmund digs heels to stop Man Utd signing SanchoAtalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello slumps to the ground after the game. Mbappe impact French sensation Mbappe had started the game on the bench as he continues his recovery from injury but his impact in the second half was pivotal. The 21-year-old injected speed into his side's attack -- a frightening prospect for Atalanta's tiring legs. Both he and Neymar provided the assists for the last-gasp goals which fired PSG to its first Champions League semifinal in 25 years.Apart from his two quite incredible misses, Man of the Match Neymar did show flashes of brilliance all night and was a constant source of creativity going forward. PSG boss Thomas Tuchel, on crutches for the evening, let out an almighty roar of relief as the night descended into chaos.Despite his team's domestic dominance, Tuchel will always be judged on his performances in Europe which, in recent years, have flattered to deceive. He now has the chance to reach the final when his side faces either RB Leipzig or Atletico Madrid in the next round on Tuesday.It's just a shame no fans were in the stadium to watch the memorable tie, with all remaining fixtures being played behind closed doors in Lisbon amid the pandemic.

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(CNN)To Bob Baffert, there's no better place than one he has visited a record seven times — the place where the Kentucky Derby winner gets adorned with roses and sport proclaims the horse and humans as heroes."If there's a heaven it's in that (Churchill Downs) winner's circle," he told CNN in 2019. "That's the most expensive piece of real estate in the world. It costs so much money to get into that small patch of grass but it's worth every penny of it."Preakness Stakes set to welcome fans and Medina Spirit after the colt's failed post-Derby drug testBut two weeks after spending a glorious evening in that winner's circle, the Hall of Fame thoroughbred trainer is dogged by questions following a positive drugs test in his most recent winner.Medina Spirit, who was a 12-to-1 favorite at post time for the Derby, had betamethasone — an anti-inflammatory corticosteroid sometimes used to relieve joint pain — in a blood sample. Kentucky horse racing rules don't allow that and tell trainers to stop using the therapeutic 14 days before an event.The test result cast an unwelcome spotlight on the Hall of Fame trainer who has had a handful of horses fail drug tests in the past year.Read MoreOne horse, a filly named Gamine, tested positive for betamethasone in Kentucky last year. An attorney for Baffert, W. Craig Robertson III, sent CNN a statement this week saying the trainer and his team acknowledged giving the horse the drug but did so before the 14-day withdrawal window."The vet gave it 18 days out from the race — adding an additional four day layers of safety — to make sure it cleared the horse's system," Robertson said. "However, for whatever reason, it did not clear Gamine's system."Robinson said after the Gamine experience, the Baffert barn decided not to use the betamethasone. "That's why this result was particularly shocking because we had specifically made a decision not to use that particular anti-inflammatory," he said.Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby win in doubt after failing postrace drug testBaffert said this week that in April an ointment used to treat Medina Spirit's dermatitis contained the steroid. "While we do not know definitively that this was the source of the alleged (amounts of the steroid) found in Medina Spirit's postrace blood sample, and our investigation is continuing, I have been told by equine pharmacology experts that this could explain the test results," Baffert said.In the past year, Baffert had four horses fail drug tests, including Medina Spirit and Gamine (which actually failed two). Baffert was suspended for suspended 15 days by the Arkansas Racing Commission due to Gamine and another horse failing tests because they had lidocaine in their systems, but last month the suspension was overturned, and the results were reinstated. In Medina Spirit's case, the horse is still listed as the Derby winner, and if the colt wins the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes on June 5, it will win Baffert his third thoroughbred Triple Crown. After a close loss at his first Derby, Baffert was crushedIt's been an amazing journey for the man who grew to love horses at a young age and came to seek the allure of the Triple Crown.The first time Bob Baffert, now 68, took a horse to the Kentucky Derby, in 1996, his thoroughbred Cavonnier looked like a winner only to be beaten to the finish line by the nose of Grindstone. It took a photo to see which horse won."I thought (Cavonnier) won, but he got caught and got beat an inch in the end," Baffert said two years ago. "It was a devastating loss. I just thought I'd blown my shot. For a year I was sort of depressed about it."He hadn't blown his shot. Bob Baffert pushes back on report that Justify should have been ineligible for Kentucky DerbyHe won with Silver Charm the next year and Real Quiet the year after that.Baffert has trained the winners of 17 Triple Crown races and four Breeders' Cup Classics. Four times he has been named thoroughbred racing's trainer of the year.Two legendary horses — American Pharoah and Justify — won Baffert his Triple Crown awards. (Justify's Derby qualifier win was called into question by the New York Times but California racing officials found no violations)Only two trainers have won more purse money than him. He has saddled more than 3,000 winners in his four-decade career.Started on an Arizona ranchBaffert grew up in the 1950s and 60s on a cattle ranch in Nogales, Arizona, on the border with Mexico."I wanted to be a horse trainer against my mother's will," he told CNN two years ago. "She said, 'How can you make living being a horse trainer in Arizona?' "I just love being around horses. Once it gets in your blood, the passion, you can't get out." Baffert and his father would take their cattle to shows in the region. Later they began to training quarter horses — American-bred horses known for their tremendous speed over a quarter mile — for races.JUST WATCHEDBob Baffert: Top tips for a Triple Crown winReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBob Baffert: Top tips for a Triple Crown win 01:14Baffert would sometimes race his horses in non-sanctioned meets around Nogales, then compete in some official races. But he outgrew the ability to take to the saddle."I was too big, I ate myself out of a job," Baffert said. After studying animal sciences in college in the early 1970s, he came home to train horses with his father. He thought his progress was slow. "I was really disgusted with it," he said, referring to his development as a trainer. Success began at California trackA short stint as a teacher didn't work out either, so he returned to the tracks, training some horses for a friend."I decided to give it one more go," he said. "I started winning and the next thing you know I've got five, 10, 15 horses and then I was going."In 1983, Baffert moved to California to train his nine best horses at the famous Los Alamitos quarter-horse track near Los Angeles."I was very intimidated because I knew how tough it was," he said.He told a friend that if the first race results weren't good, he would head back to Arizona. JUST WATCHEDBob Baffert: The Triple Crown legendReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBob Baffert: The Triple Crown legend 03:55His first day, with three horses competing, he had one win and two thirds.In the late 1980s, Baffert switched to training thoroughbreds, with dreams of going to the Kentucky Derby. For Baffert, training race horses isn't really work."Trainers go to sleep thinking about our horses and we wake up thinking about our horses," he says. "That's the beauty of it. We are working outdoors with these magnificent animals. It's the greatest therapy you can have. Whenever you're feeling down or depressed I just go to the barn and hang out with them. "I'm so lucky that I found something I totally love."

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Story highlightsKristina Kaufmann: After 12 years, many military families know nothing but warKaufmann: Military families live in continuous anxiety when loved one is deployedShe says 22 veterans take their own lives each day, but how many family members do?Kaufmann: We need to help spouses, children, parents and siblings who are sufferingWhen I married a soldier in June 2001, I knew my life was going to change. I moved from Berkeley, California, to Fort Sill, Oklahoma -- talk about a culture shock. But I was in love, and enthusiastically dove head first into a military life I knew nothing about. And then 9/11 happened, and my husband went to war. And then he went again, and again ... and again.After more than 12 years of sustained war and multiple deployments borne by less than 1% of the population, we now have an entire generation of military families that know nothing but war. And war comes home. I've known three Army wives who've taken their own lives. Kristina KaufmannAlthough we're certainly not the first generation of military families to deal with the aftermath of war -- there's simply no precedent for how repeated deployments have affected the mental health of military spouses, children, parents and siblings. It's like living in a continuous state of emergency for more than a decade and never being able to fully exhale in relief. As soon as your soldier comes home, you're just counting down the days until he or she leaves and returns to the battlefield.What is wars' true toll on the spouses and children? Incredibly, in spite of this reality, the majority of families thrive as they transition out of military service and re-integrate into civilian life. But too many others are struggling to cope with depression, anxiety and what some veteran spouses are calling Secondary Post Traumatic Stress. Recent research conducted by the University of Southern California found that military connected adolescents have a higher rate of suicidal thoughts than their civilian counterparts, and other studies indicate that military spouses -- particularly those serving as caregivers to support their wounded veterans -- are more at risk to suffer mental health problems.JUST WATCHEDAirman returns, sees son for first timeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAirman returns, sees son for first time 01:58In addition, the stigma that prevents many service members and veterans from seeking help is just as prevalent in the military family community. This is particularly true for career noncommissioned and officer spouses. Ask a military wife how she's doing, and most will answer, "fine" -- because, what other choice does she have but to keep it together? For some families, the line between "fine" and hitting the wall going 100 miles per hour can be a very thin one.I know firsthand how important it is that we have these conversations out loud. Back in 2006, when my husband was deployed to Afghanistan, I drove into our quiet neighborhood one evening to find many police cars and emergency vehicles. A fellow Army wife who had gone out of her way many times to make me feel welcome at our new post had taken her own life -- and the lives of her two young children.I threw up when I found out.As the spouse of a battalion commander, I had the opportunity to use this tragedy as a way to start an open dialogue about mental health, depression and asking for help with the wives in our unit. But I didn't. I didn't say a word. I was scared. If this lovely woman, who was widely regarded as a model volunteer and quiet leader, was capable of such an act, what did that mean for the rest of us? Better to sweep it under the rug. I remember feeling ashamed for even thinking about addressing it openly. It is a decision that I regret to this day.We can't fix what we don't acknowledge. We do know that one active duty service member and 22 veterans take their own lives every day. Neither the Departments of Defense nor Veterans Affairs tracks the number of family members who die by suicide. But that could be changing. Last month, at the request of both the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, the Defense Department Suicide Prevention Office published a report on the feasibility of tracking suicides among military family members. According to the report, it would cost less than $1.2 million dollars over a 24-month period to expand tracking capabilities to include active duty family members. Even in this era of sequestration and budget cuts, $1.2 million is a nominal price to pay to expand our knowledge and understanding about military family suicides.It's not a perfect solution, and it wouldn't capture the entire spectrum of National Guard, Reserve and veteran families, but it's a significant first step in the right direction. It's taken military family advocates years to just get this report issued. Now it's up to House and Senate Armed Service Committees to respond to the report and convene hearings to address the mental health of military families. This isn't just about ensuring military readiness, it's a moral imperative. Never has this country asked so much, of so few, for so long. Now, we need our country to stand for us.Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.

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(CNN)The "Indians" sign atop the left field scoreboard at Progressive Field that Cleveland baseball fans have known since 1994 started to come down Tuesday.The city's Major League Baseball team, which is in the process of changing its name and brand to the Guardians, said crews will spend the next several days removing the 80-foot aluminum sign. New LED lights were recently added to the Indians sign, the team said.The team decided in December 2020 to change its name, which it considered insensitive to Native peoples. The moniker drew criticism for decades from Native Americans. On July 23, the team announced that it would change its name to the Guardians starting next season. The team was known as the Indians for more than 115 years."We acknowledge the name change will be difficult for some of us, and the transition will take time," team owner Paul Dolan said at the time. "It is our hope and belief this change will divert us from a divisive path and instead steer us towards a future where our fans, city, and region are all united as Cleveland Guardians."In a video taken by CNN affiliate WEWS, workers on a raised platform dismantled the top portion of the letter "I," which was fully removed as of Tuesday.Read MoreWhile the Guardians work on designing a newly rebranded sign for the stadium, the "Indians" sign will be stored at Brilliant Electric Sign Company, according to WEWS.Removing references to Native AmericansThe team joined the NFL's Washington Football Team in moving on from a name referencing Native Americans -- Cleveland previously removed its logo of "Chief Wahoo" from uniforms following the 2018 season.Although the club will retain its colors, it will adopt the name Guardians because of Cleveland's Guardians of Traffic statues that adorn the city's Hope Memorial Bridge. The team surveyed 40,000 fans and conducted 140 hours of interviews before settling on the new name. It will be the franchise's fifth name, following the short-lived Blues, Bronchos and Naps.Like Cleveland, the Atlanta Braves have also received criticism over the years for its name, which was first used by the team in 1912 to reference a Native American warrior. Cleveland Indians changing name to Cleveland GuardiansMany have also criticized fans' use of the "tomahawk chop," a game day tradition since 1991, considered offensive to many Native Americans. The Braves, who won the World Series Tuesday night against the Houston Astros, said last summer they were reviewing the chop amid calls from the Native community.MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred defended the Braves' name and symbol last week. He noted that the Native American community in the Atlanta region is "wholly supportive of the Braves program, including the chop. For me, that's the end of the story." Many tribal and Native groups, though, have recently advocated for removing the team's symbols and mascots.In 2019, the Braves organization announced it was taking steps to "reduce" the tomahawk chop after St. Louis Cardinals player Ryan Helsley, a member of the Cherokee Nation, called it disrespectful.Little has been said about when the Cleveland team will officially start calling itself by the new name, or when the new sign will be built and put up. Through the end of the 2021 season, the players' uniforms and the team's social media were still using the Indians branding. Progressive Field will host the first home game of the Guardians on March 31, 2022.Cleveland MLB team to drop 'Indians' from its name, though not immediatelyIn September, the team submitted a new scoreboard sign for approval by the Cleveland Planning Commission, according to WEWS. The sign will be made of fabricated aluminum letters mounted on the existing scoreboard and painted red with a white border. The border will include exposed white LED lamps to light up the sign at night.Alongside the removal of the sign, Progressive Field is set to receive $435 million in renovations and improvements as a result of a newly extended lease that goes through at least 2036, according to WEWS. This will include a redesign of the upper deck concourse and construction on a larger dugout-level social space.

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(CNN)Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals during his first game back at Manchester United on Saturday against Newcastle United in the Premier League. The Portuguese superstar rejoined the club from Juventus this summer. He scored 118 goals in 292 games during his previous six-year stint with Manchester United before leaving for Real Madrid in 2009 for what was then a world record fee.In the first half of his second debut, the 36-year-old delighted the home fans, tapping home a rebounded shot from Manchester United superstar youngster Mason Greenwood. In true Ronaldo form, he ran to the Old Trafford corner to perform his now-famous "Siuuuu" celebration. His debut took a turn after the halftime break, however, as Javier Manquillo equalized for Newcastle after a swift counterattack. Read MoreHowever, Ronaldo showed again why he was brought back to Manchester, getting his second goal of the game with a powerful low finish to once again give United the lead. Ronaldo's Portugal teammate Bruno Fernandes extended Manchester United's lead with a thunderbolt of a strike from about 30 yards out from goal before Jesse Lingard scored to make it 4-1. Ronaldo said he was "super nervous" before making his first appearance back at the club. "I didn't expect to score two goals. I expect one but not two. I have to appreciate the fans and what they did to me today. I feel so proud for that," he told BBC Sport afterwards."It is unbelievable. When I started the game I was so nervous, I swear. It is normally because I did not expect that they would sing my name all game. I was very nervous but maybe I didn't show but I was. The reception is incredible but I am here to win games and help the team."It was unbelievable moment. I was super nervous and was thinking last night that I wanted to play good and show I was still capable of helping the team. This club is unbelievable and I am so proud. I am going to give everything to make them proud of me."Everyone knows the football in England is different than in any part of the world and to be honest it is the most special one. I arrived here at 18 and they treated my unbelievable and that is why I am back."Ronaldo celebrates after scoring Manchester United's second goal.Hottest ticket in townIt was the game all Manchester United fans wanted to see: the return of Ronaldo. Shirts with his name and the famous No. 7 had flown off the racks and the Old Trafford stands were full of fans hoping for a glimpse of the five-time Ballon d'Or winner. The excitement grew further when, an hour before kickoff, it was announced that Ronaldo would be starting. The roar that welcomed him on the pitch ahead of kickoff almost lifted the roof of the famous stadium, and Ronaldo's first few touches in the red kit of Manchester United were cheered as if he had scored. The fans only had to wait until just before halftime to get what they'd come to see: Ronaldo scoring once again for their club. A fan holds aloft a 'CR7 Welcome Home' sign up during the match between Manchester United and Newcastle.Some good work from England international Greenwood resulted in Newcastle Freddie Woodman saving the attempt, only for it to fall at the waiting feet of Ronaldo, to score his first goal for the club 12 years and 124 days. In celebration, Ronaldo delighted fans by performing his now customary celebration, where he jumps, spins and thrusts his arms out while exclaiming, "Siuuu."But after halftime, Newcastle showed they weren't going down without a fight. Managed by former United player Steve Bruce, some slick counterattacks threatened to level the game, before Manquillo's low finish did eventually restore parity. It didn't last long though, as Ronaldo once again displayed why he's the top goalscorer in men's international football. Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosA slick through ball from Luke Shaw fell at his feet, which he powered between the legs of Woodman in goal for his second goal of the game. A wonder strike from Fernandes extended the lead to two before Lingard made it 4-1. Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a former teammate of Ronaldo's, lauded the combination of his two Portuguese stars. Ronaldo celebrates with teammates after scoring."Good players can always play together. They have a mutual respect and play for Portugal together," Solskjaer told Sky Sports afterwards."It's too early for me to predict where we'll end up. We have to be consistent and let's see where we are. It's changed [the atmosphere]. A few months back you think how it was here. This is what Man Utd supporters should feel like."

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Story highlightsAt a question-and-answer session, he says Russia helped the Syrian army retake PalmyraThe Russian President denies Russian wrongdoing regarding doping in athletics (CNN)Ever wonder what the fuss over the Panama Papers is all about?Well, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin, it's all part of an American plot to destabilize Russia before elections are held there in September. That's what he said Thursday during his annual televised question-and-answer session in Moscow.The Russian President denied any wrongdoing, saying the leaked documents "have not specifically accused anyone of anything. They've just said, 'someone there did something,' implying officials, including the president." Photos: Panama Papers: Which leaders were linked to documents? Photos: Panama Papers: Which leaders were linked to documents?UK Prime Minister David Cameron – After it was revealed that David Cameron's father, Ian, had set up a Panamanian-based trust, the UK Prime Minister told broadcaster ITV he and his wife had profited from shares held in the trust, but denied he had attempted to conceal it or avoid taxes. British PM David Cameron on Panamanian trust: Nothing to hideHide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: Panama Papers: Which leaders were linked to documents?FIFA President Gianni Infantino – Swiss police raided UEFA headquarters after the Panama Papers allegedly revealed a controversial television rights contract with Gianni Infantino's signature on it. FIFA boss Gianni Infantino denies wrongdoing in Panama Papers claimsHide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: Panama Papers: Which leaders were linked to documents?Iceland Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson – Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson announced he was stepping down amid mounting protests and calls for his resignation after leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm revealed his links to an offshore company.Iceland swears in new PM amid Panama Papers falloutHide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: Panama Papers: Which leaders were linked to documents?Russia President Vladimir Putin – The Kremlin accused Western media of "Putinophobia" after the Panama Papers revealed an alleged clandestine network that connects associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin to hidden wealth in secret offshore companies.Putin and the Panama Papers: Why power means more than moneyHide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: Panama Papers: Which leaders were linked to documents?China President Xi Jinping – Beijing began censoring all online searches related to the Panama Papers after President Xi Jinping and other top officials were mentioned in the reports. China censors reports on the Panama PapersHide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: Panama Papers: Which leaders were linked to documents?Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko – According to the ICIJ, in August 2014, as Russian troops were rolling into Eastern Ukraine, Poroshenko became the sole shareholder of Prime Asset Partners Limited, which Mossack Fonseca set up in the British Virgin Islands.Panama Papers leaks: Whose heads may roll next?Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: Panama Papers: Which leaders were linked to documents?Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif – Three of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's children were named in the documents as linked to offshore companies that owned properties in London, according to local news organizations. Some opposition leaders called for Sharif to be investigated regarding his family's "wealth stashed abroad." Panama Papers leaks: Whose heads may roll next?Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: Panama Papers: Which leaders were linked to documents?Lionel Messi – Leading European football club Barcelona has promised to give its star player Lionel Messi legal and financial support, as the Argentine international considers whether to sue after he was linked to the Panama Papers leak.Barcelona: Club promises Lionel Messi legal and financial backing over Panama Papers claimsHide Caption 8 of 8And he blamed the United States for the revelations.Read MoreOpinion: Panama Papers and America's problem"We know that members of the American intelligence community are involved," Putin said. "The German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung is owned by a holding company, and that holding is owned by the American financial company Goldman Sachs. The closer we get to the elections, the more such attacks we will see."In a 3½-hour Q and A session, Putin took questions from citizens on a variety of topics.Whom to save -- Erdogan or Poroshenko?It might not be the most pressing question in international affairs. But it's interesting to ponder. And out of the mouths of babes come great questions.A 12-year-old girl asked Putin this: If he saw Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan drowning, which one he would save?Putin is known to dislike both men. And he dodged the question."If someone decided to drown, so it will be impossible to save him," he replied. "However, we are ready to help everyone if they want it."On Obama Photos: Tense moments between Obama and Putin Photos: Tense moments between Obama and PutinBarack Obama and Russian President Valdimir Putin toast during a luncheon hosted by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during the 70th annual U.N. General Assembly on September 28 in New York City.Hide Caption 1 of 7 Photos: Tense moments between Obama and PutinObama and Putin shake hands while posing for a photo ahead of their meeting at U.N. headquarters on September 28 in New York.Hide Caption 2 of 7 Photos: Tense moments between Obama and PutinPutin speaks with Obama during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing, China on November 11, 2014. U.S.-Russia relations have descended to a new low since Russia annexed Crimea in March. Hide Caption 3 of 7 Photos: Tense moments between Obama and PutinObama and Putin share a comical and awkward moment on a large split-screen during an international ceremony on the stretch code-named Sword Beach, in Ouistreham, France, to commemorate the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 2014. Obama and Putin had an informal 15-minute chat during lunch at the ceremony that marked the 70th anniversary of the D-day landings. "It's a positive thing that they spoke, but more needs to be done," a senior U.S. official said at the time.Hide Caption 4 of 7 Photos: Tense moments between Obama and PutinPutin greets Obama at the G-20 summit on September 5, 2013 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The United States and Russia have been squaring off over the bloody civil war in Syria.Hide Caption 5 of 7 Photos: Tense moments between Obama and PutinObama listens to Putin after their bilateral meeting in Los Cabos, Mexico on June 18, 2012 on the sidelines of the G-20 summit. The meeting was the first time Obama and Putin held face-to-face talks since Putin returned to the president's office earlier that year. Obama said he and Putin discussed the conflict in Syria and "agreed that we need to see a cessation of the violence, that a political process has to be created to prevent civil war."Hide Caption 6 of 7 Photos: Tense moments between Obama and PutinObama, who had become U.S. President six months earlier, enjoys tea with then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and members of the American delegation at Putin's dacha on July 7, 2009 in Moscow.Hide Caption 7 of 7The relationship between Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama has been notoriously difficult. But Obama did win plaudits from the Russian strongman for having admitted that his biggest mistake in office was having failed to plan adequately for the aftermath of the toppling of the Moammar Gadhafi regime in Libya."Once again," Putin said, "this affirms that the current President of the United States is a good man."But he's not really taking sides in American politics. Putin has in the past had kind words for the Republican contender Donald Trump, calling him last December "a very colorful and talented man."Doping in athleticsPutin said Russian athletes have done nothing wrong in regard to doping.Meldonium, a banned performance-enhancing drug, "never belonged in the category of doping," Putin said. "It does not affect the result; it simply helps the heart keep in good condition under heavy strain. Meldonium was invented in the USSR. The drug is mostly used by Eastern European athletes. (The World Anti-Doping Agency) has adjusted its position, saying it will undergo trials to understand how rapidly meldonium is excreted."Russian tennis champion Maria Sharapova was suspended from play by the International Tennis Federation after testing positive for the drug at the Australian Open in January."We understand that our athletes are in a difficult situation," Putin said. "WADA is reviewing its approach to the use of the drug, and we are working for a fair decision. The Ministry of Sport is working with good lawyers."Travel for Russians to Turkey and Egypt"It is not dependent on us," Putin said. "In Egypt, authorities are struggling with radicals. We are working with Egyptian authorities to find a way to screen passengers, baggage and food. At the moment, we have not found the answer.""With Turkey, we see a similar picture. The current leadership is not struggling as much with radicals. There is a security problem. ... There is use of heavy weapons and terrorist attacks. We have to tell our citizens that Turkey is dangerous. We tell our people to holiday in Crimea, the Caucasus and other countries."War and terrorism have strained relations between Russia and the two countries. In October, Metrojet Flight 9268 from Egypt to Russia was downed over Egypt's Sinai, killing 224 people. ISIS claimed responsibility for bombing the Russian airliner. And in November, Turkey shot down a Russian warplane near the Turkish-Syrian border. Afterward, Putin advised Russians not to visit Turkey, and Russia's Federal Agency for Tourism told travel agents to stop selling tours to the country.On Russian help for the government of SyriaPutin took credit for the Syrian government's ability to regain control of Palmyra from ISIS."We left the Syrian army in such a state that they are able to carry out offensive operations, and we have seen that after our withdrawal they took back Palmyra," he said.JUST WATCHEDRussia to pull its troops out of SyriaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRussia to pull its troops out of Syria 01:52But other aspects of Syria's civil war are tougher, he said."Around Aleppo, the situation is very difficult," Putin said. "It is the second-largest city and commercial capital. The opposition is trying to improve its position, while everything is fine with the Syrian army there. We are closely monitoring the situation and will do everything to make sure it does not deteriorate."Follow @Don_Melvin

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St. Petersburg, Russia (CNN)Russian police arrested 290 protesters in 26 cities as marches took place against President Vladimir Putin on the leader's 65th birthday, according to independent monitoring group OVD.Thousands attended the marches on Saturday, held by supporters of Putin's only real political opponent, activist Alexei Navalny, who is serving a 20-day jail term for organizing an unauthorized public meeting. It is very difficult to legally organize protests in Russia, where public assembly laws have been tightened several times since Putin's current presidential term began in 2012.Demonstrators gather by a statue of poet Alexander Pushkin in an anti-Putin rally in Moscow on Saturday.Navalny, 41, has said he intends to run for president in the next election, despite carrying an embezzlement conviction that prevents him from doing so. He claims that conviction was bogus and politically motivated to block his presidential bid.Russian activist Alexei Navalny in court for organizing unauthorized rallies, in Moscow on June 12, 2017.Navalny has been jailed three times this year.Read MorePutin is widely expected to run in the March vote. He has served as either Prime Minister or President of the country since 1999.A protester wearing a rubber Putin mask in St. Petersburg on Saturday. 'We don't have freedom of speech'Protesters on Saturday called for him to retire and for Navalny to be released from jail.Dozens of protesters detained have since been released. The highest number of arrests were in Putin's birthplace of St. Petersburg, where 68 people were taken into police custody, according to OVD.Riot police follow protesters in Moscow on Saturday. "I'm not satisfied with the current situation in the country. I'm not happy with the authorities. We practically don't have freedom of speech. We have strict censorship on television, and the only contender opposed to Putin isn't allowed in any way to take part in the elections," one woman at the St. Petersburg rally told CNN.A woman protesting in the rain Saturday in support of jailed activist Alexei Navalny.A man at the rally said that it was very unlikely that Navalny would actually be allowed to run in the next vote. "But there is a chance to change everything in Russian political life," he said. Navalny has throngs of supporters, largely because of his anti-corruption campaigning, which has thrived online. He has been running an unofficial election campaign across the country.

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When a 22-year-old Japanese college student launched an online campaign against the powerful Tokyo Olympics chief and the sexist remarks he made, she was not sure it would go very far.But in less than two weeks, Momoko Nojo's #DontBeSilent campaign organised with other activists gathered more than 150,000 signatures, galvanising global outrage against Yoshiro Mori, the president of Tokyo 2020.He quit last week and has been replaced by Seiko Hashimoto, a woman who has competed in seven Olympic Games.The hashtag was coined in response to remarks by Mori, an octogenarian former prime minister, that women talk too much. Nojo used it on Twitter and other social media platforms to gather support for a petition calling for action against him."Few petitions have got 150,000 signatures before. I thought it was really great. People take this personally too, not seeing this as only Mori's problem," said a smiling Nojo in a Zoom interview.Read MoreHer activism, born from a year studying in Denmark, is the latest example of women outside mainstream politics in Japan taking to keyboards to bring social change in the world's third-largest economy, where gender discrimination, pay gaps and stereotyping are rampant."It made me realise that this is a good opportunity to push for gender equality in Japan," said Nojo, a 4th-year economics student at Keio University in Tokyo.Yoshiro Mori, the former President of Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committee (TOGOC) speaks to reporters at the JOC headquarters in Chuo Ward, Tokyo on Feb. 4, 2021.She said her activism was motivated by questions she has often heard from male peers like, "You're a girl, so you have to go to a high school that has pretty school uniforms, don't you?" or "Even if you don't have a job after graduating from college, you can be a housewife, no?"Nojo started her nonprofit "NO YOUTH NO JAPAN" in 2019, while she was in Denmark, where she saw how the country chose Mette Frederiksen, a woman in her early forties, as prime minister.The time in Denmark, she said, made her realise how much Japanese politics was dominated by older men.Keiko Ikeda, a professor of education at Hokkaido University, said it was important for young, worldly people to raise their voice in Japan, where decisions tend to be made by a uniform group of like-minded people. But change will come agonisingly slowly, she said."If you have a homogeneous group, it's impossibly difficult to move the compass because the people in it don't realise it when their decision is off-centre," Ikeda said.Nojo dismissed a proposal this week by Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party to allow more women in meetings, but only as silent observers, as a poorly-executed PR stunt."I'm not sure if they have the willingness to fundamentally improve the gender issue," she said, adding that the party needed to have more women in key posts, rather than having them as observers.In reality, Nojo's win is only a small step in a long fight.Japan is ranked 121st out of 153 countries on the World Economic Forum's 2020 Global Gender Gap Index -- the worst ranking among advanced countries -- scoring poorly on women's economic participation and political empowerment.Activists and many ordinary women say drastic change is needed in the workplace, and in politics."In Japan, when there's an issue related to gender equality, not many voices are heard, and even if there are some voices to improve the situation, they run out of steam and nothing changes," Nojo said."I don't want our next generation to spend their time over this issue."

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Story highlightsTMZ posts video of 15-year-old Justin Bieber telling a racist jokeNow 20, he says he's sorry for the "childish and inexcusable mistake"Bieber: "I was a kid then and I am a man now who knows my responsibility to the world"Justin Bieber was in serious damage control mode Sunday after a video of him telling a racist joke to friends surfaced.In the video, posted to TMZ.com, the pop star, then 15, asks: "Why are black people afraid of chain saws?"He answers his own question: "Run n*****, n*****, n*****, n*****," he says, imitating the sound of a chain saw. Then he laughs.TMZ reported it got the video four years ago but decided against posting it then because of Bieber's age and because he "immediately told his friends what he did was stupid." It was reportedly shot backstage at a promotional event."As a young man, I didn't understand the power of certain words and how they can hurt. I thought it was OK to repeat hurtful words and jokes, but didn't realize at the time that it wasn't funny and that in fact my actions were continuing the ignorance," Bieber, now 20, said in a statement.JUST WATCHEDJustin Bieber apologizes for N-word jokeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHJustin Bieber apologizes for N-word joke 01:16He added: "I take my friendships with people of all cultures very seriously and I apologize for offending or hurting anyone with my childish and inexcusable mistake. I was a kid then and I am a man now who knows my responsibility to the world and to not make that mistake again."JUST WATCHEDBieber being sued by photographerReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBieber being sued by photographer 03:10JUST WATCHEDBieber accused of attempted robberyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHBieber accused of attempted robbery 01:02The video is the latest in a string of troubles for the star, who shot to fame as a fresh-faced teen.There was a DUI arrest in Miami, an assault charge in Toronto and a felony vandalism probe in Los Angeles.Also, the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating allegations that Bieber and other passengers aboard a charter flight from Canada to New Jersey's Teterboro Airport interfered with the flight crew.None of the criminal charges that Bieber faces appear to threaten his freedom. Probation sentences, fines, community service and counseling are routinely given in such cases.Opinion: Bieber, don't argue with the lawyers

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(CNN)The All England Club (AELTC) will decide the fate of this year's Wimbledon at an emergency meeting to be held next week. The tournament organizer says it has been evaluating all possible scenarios, including both postponement and cancellation, amid the escalating novel coronavirus outbreak. The grass-court grand slam is due to begin June 29 but a statement released by the AELTC Wednesday acknowledged the difficulties that lie ahead, especially since the UK government imposed lockdown restrictions on the country. "The unprecedented challenge presented by the COVID-19 crisis continues to affect our way of life in ways that we could not have imagined, and our thoughts are with all those affected in the UK and around the world," said AELTC Chief Executive Richard Lewis in a statement. "The single most important consideration is one of public health, and we are determined to act responsibly through the decisions we make. Read More"We are working hard to bring certainty to our plans for 2020 and have convened an emergency meeting of the AELTC Main Board for next week, at which a decision will be made." READ: French Open criticized for 'selfish, arrogant' reschedulingThis year's Wimbledon is due to begin June 29. Further disruptionThe possibility of the tournament being played behind closed doors has been formally ruled out by organizers, who have also admitted the relatively short grass-court season would make postponement difficult. The French Open, due to start on May 18, has already been pushed back until September, while all professional tennis has been temporarily suspended until further notice. While the world of sport has been severely impacted by the spread of Covid-19 -- most notably with the postponement of Tokyo 2020 -- athletes have been rallying together to raise funds for those fighting the virus. Roger Federer and his wife, Mirka, are to personally donate 1 million Swiss Francs ($1.02 million) to help the most vulnerable families in Switzerland impacted by the outbreak.

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Story highlightsPSG sporting director Leonardo says David Beckham will not join French clubLeonardo says Los Angeles Galaxy veteran does not want to move his familyBeckham had been expected to return to Europe ahead of the 2012 OlympicsThe 36-year-old's contract with the Galaxy expired at the end of 2011Soccer superstar David Beckham will not be leaving the U.S. to join Paris Saint-Germain, the French club announced on Tuesday.The 36-year-old had been widely expected to sign for the Qatari-owned side during European football's January transfer window, but PSG sporting director Leonardo said the former England captain would likely stay in Los Angeles."It's over. It's a shame," Leonardo said from the team's mid-season training camp in Doha, according to the website of French sports paper L'Equipe."But the welfare of his family in Los Angeles, the wish not to change everything in his life, weighed heavily."Beckham is now expected to negotiate a new contract with Los Angeles Galaxy, the Major League Soccer team he joined in 2007 and led to the MLS Cup title in November last year.The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder's previous five-year deal expired on December 31, and he was tipped to return to Europe in order to secure a place in the Great Britain team for the 2012 Olympics in his native London.However, it now appears that Beckham would prefer not to uproot his wife Victoria and their four children.The youngest, daughter Harper, is the only one to be born in the "City of Angels" after her arrival in July 2011.Confirmation that Beckham would not join the French league leaders was not a surprise as Leonardo and new coach Carlo Ancelotti had both denied reports that a deal had been done in the past few days.The PSG squad are in the Middle East preparing for Wednesday's friendly match against one of Ancelotti's former clubs, Italian champions AC Milan, in Dubai.

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(CNN)From the courtroom to Australia's Gold Coast, Vicky Glover has been on a rollercoaster ride over the past year to become Scotland's first female boxer at the Commonwealth Games. In July, the boxing champion from Hamilton, Scotland, was found guilty of assault after attacking two men with a baseball bat. The 18-year-old was ordered to serve 200 hours of community service and 18 months of supervision. Follow @cnnsport Since then, the teenager, known for her power in the ring, has thrown herself into the sport she loves -- as well as mowed some lawns and painted houses along the way -- to make history as her country's first female boxing representative to the games, the multisport event for members of the Commonwealth underway through April 15 in the Australian state of Queensland. Opening ceremony celebrates 'oldest living culture on earth'Targeting gold, she started the games by defeating Valerian Spicer of Dominica, who is twice her age, in a split decision. Read MoreVicky Glover of Scotland competes against Valerian Spicer of Dominica.Boxing Scotland tweeted that Glover's win was "absolutely fantastic."Absolutely fantastic win for Team Scotland's Vicky Glover against vastly experienced Dominica boxer Valerian Spicer. Vicky won with a split decision winning the first and third rounds.Massive congratulations to Vicky who progresses to the Quarter final stage. @Team_Scotland pic.twitter.com/I64fC7R5gt— Boxing Scotland (@bringbackboxing) April 7, 2018 Team Scotland called the victory "historic."Boxing: It's a historic win for #TeamScot2018's @VickyGlover99 as she becomes Scotland's first female Boxer to win at a Commonwealth Games! #OneTeam #GC2018Boxing pic.twitter.com/pMbreYujJr— Team Scotland (@Team_Scotland) April 7, 2018 Glover now progresses to the quarter finals. Team Scotland's Vicky Glover post bout win @Team_Scotland pic.twitter.com/yGQ0puIJTh— Boxing Scotland (@bringbackboxing) April 7, 2018 The rest of day three of the Commonwealth Games was dramatic, with world records broken and upsets all over the place. Here are some highlights: She Cranes make historyPeace Proscovia of Uganda and Loreen Ngwira of Malawi compete Saturday in a netball match.We wrote Friday of the amazing story of Peace Proscovia, the Ugandan netball captain who defied her father and her country's cultural norms to follow her dream of competing in the sport she loves. With Proscovia and her teammates, Uganda fielded a netball team for the first time at the games.And Saturday, the She Cranes made history all over again by defeating Malawi 54-52. Proscovia put in a captain's performance, inspiring her team with an amazing shot accuracy of 92%.Peace Proscovia: Ugandan defies cultural norms and father's wishes to follow netball dreamBrownlee brothers bounce back to win silverEngland's Alistair Brownlee, Jess Learmonth, Jonny Brownlee and Vicky Holland display their medals. After a disappointing individual event where neither won a medal, triathlete brothers Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, who have dominated the sport over the past few years, bounced back with an impressive performance in the mixed triathlon relay to win silver for England.The mixed event consists of nation teams of four -- two women and two men -- who each have to complete a 300-meter swim, 7.5-kilometer cycle and 1.5-kilometer run before handing over to a teammate.Alongside the Brownlees, Jess Learmonth and Vicky Holland made up the English team, which finished second behind host nation Australia.How viral moment redefined the Brownlee brothersWorld record for Scotland Scotland's Neil Fachie, right, and pilot Matt Rotherham celebrate their world record.There was a lot of excitement in cycling Saturday as Scotland's Neil Fachie and pilot Matt Rotherham broke a world record, completing 1,000 meters in 9.568 seconds in the qualifying round of the men's blind and visually impaired sprint. The team went on to win the gold medal, its second of the games so far.Upsets galoreBill Chaffey of Australia loses part of his handle after a crash into a barricade Saturday.There was a huge upset in the paratriathlon as five-time world champion Bill Chaffey of Australia crashed into a barricade, breaking his hand cycle in bits. England's Joe Townsend won the gold, Australian Nic Beveridge took silver, and Chaffey remarkably battled back for the bronze. There was another big upset for the Aussies in cycling as Matt Glaetzer, the world champion of the men's sprint who set a world record in qualifying, was knocked out by Malaysia's Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom. Malaysia had a knack for upsets Saturday as countryman Nafiizwan Adnan defeated top seed and two-time Commonwealth champion Nick Matthew of England in the men's squash quarterfinals in an incredible game that finished 11-7, 6-11, 12-10, 4-11, 11-6. Squash is brutalEngland's Nick Matthew breaks his racquet during his quarter final loss to Malaysia's Nafiizwan Adnan.And while we're on the subject, what a sport squash is!The ball can get up to speeds of 170 mph, and you'll burn 1,000 calories in an hour's worth of play.It's a brutal game of twists, turns, rallies, racket-throwing, arguments with the umpire -- think John McEnroe playing tennis but worse -- and a lot of sweat. Athletes are going through five tops a match, plus countless headbands and wristbands. There are even teams of about a dozen people who are sent to clean the court after every game.If you haven't checked it out yet, make sure you do. It's amazing.

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Story highlightsAlmost 200 police officers injuredResidents try to keep protesters from looting storeHamburg, Germany (CNN)Protesters at the G20 summit in Germany set a series of bonfires in the streets, looted shops, and stacked up blocks of pavement to use as projectiles as tension between demonstrators and police ratcheted up Friday night.At first police stayed back while the protesters took a hit-and-run approach, groups of them running up the road, throwing rocks and bottles, and quickly retreating. But about 30 minutes before midnight, police moved forward, firing teargas, water cannons and setting off flash-bang grenades.Protesters hurled bottles of looted champagne into the fires, Hamburg police said, causing popping noises that sounded like fireworks. At one store, residents of the area tried to stop people from stealing from the shop windows.From where a CNN crew was positioned, the mass of protesters appeared to stretch for at least 1 mile. CNN saw people who were injured but police tweeted there were no totals available for how many people were hurt.Read MoreIt was a much more aggressive atmosphere than earlier when police sought to prevent small groups of mostly anti-capitalist protesters Friday from disrupting the summit world leaders including President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin met for talks.Police said 197 officers have been injured since Thursday and reinforcements from outside Hamburg have been requested. At least 83 people were arrested and 17 have been detained since the protests began, police said on Twitter.Earlier, officers dressed in riot gear intervened as protesters tried to enter the red zone -- a blocked-off area close to the summit venue -- while other small groups staged sit-ins across the city.Fire on the streets in Hamburg's Sternschanze area now pic.twitter.com/sgtvEeHVFw— Kara Fox (@karadaniellefox) July 7, 2017 At one of the sit-ins, a little more than a mile from the summit security zone, water cannons were deployed against protesters who came armed with umbrellas and rain gear. Protest organizers had told CNN they would try to storm police barricades around restricted areas.JUST WATCHEDPolice deploy water cannons on G20 protesters ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHPolice deploy water cannons on G20 protesters 01:20Members of the "Color the Red Zone" protest said they were trying to make it difficult for G20 participants to travel to the talks."We are living in a democracy, and the red zone is not a democracy," said Karl S, a student protester from Dusseldorf who declined to give CNN his full name."I'm sure we can't stop all these leaders from meeting, but if we can stop them from getting their food or catering shortly, we've achieved something." Christian, a protest organizer who also declined to give his surname, said the "point is to disturb the G20," adding: "It's not right that a few countries get to decide what happens to the rest of the world at this summit."Video from nearby showed police dressed in riot gear aggressively pushing protesters and journalists away from the scene."This is what democracy looks like," protesters shouted amid the chaos.From @karadaniellefox at protests near #G20: Police aggressively kettling in protests, who are shouting "This is what democracy looks like." pic.twitter.com/yx0Lh57Y2J— Josh Berlinger (@j_berlingerCNN) July 7, 2017 Melania Trump's schedule affectedSome small groups of people were pushed back as they tried to march down streets to be used by G20 delegates. They said their objective was not to get close to the summit but to block the delegates' routes to it.Police have fired pepper spray, w at least one demonstrator w a head injury at demo against g20 this am pic.twitter.com/4qdjvFrB2A— Kara Fox (@karadaniellefox) July 7, 2017 Volunteers could be seen treating people with saline solution, possibly due to tear gas or pepper spray, and tending to others injured. One woman could be seen bleeding from her neck or head. Police told demonstrators they were in a forbidden area.Protesters appeared to disrupt some G20 visitors' movements around the city.Melania Trump's spokeswoman told reporters the US first lady was unable to take part in scheduled events with other G20 spouses because of the protests."Hamburg police couldn't provide clearance for us to leave," Stephanie Grisham said.The spouses were due to take a river cruise and tour a climate change center, according to media reports.Police say protesters have set vehicles and other objects on fire in Hamburg.Hamburg police tweeted Friday afternoon that some officers were attacked with iron bars in the Reeperbahn, the city's famous entertainment district. Other officers were attacked with fire bombs in Holstenstrasse, farther north, police said, and barricades were set afire.Festive atmosphereA big crowd, including leftist groups from elsewhere in Europe, gathered Friday afternoon amid a more festive atmosphere in Millerntorplatz, a square off the Reeperbahn. Many held banners or flags aloft as they listened to music. As the world's bosses meet only a few kilometres away, thousands have gathered at Hamburg'sMillerntorplatz to say #NoG20 pic.twitter.com/DE7pdPGz0P— Kara Fox (@karadaniellefox) July 7, 2017 But fresh confrontations soon broke out nearby as protesters throwing stones and water bottles clashed with police near the waterfront. Violence also flared earlier in the Altona district, a couple of miles to the west of the summit security zone.Past G20 protestsSome G20 summits have been marked by violence.More than 100 people were arrested during demonstrations at the G20 summit in London in April 2009. Tensions flared as police kept protesters "kettled" in the streets for hours.There were more than 80 arrests at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh later that year.Hundreds of protesters were arrested at the June 2010 summit in Toronto as violence and vandalism broke out.Since then, G20 summits have been largely peaceful. Some have been in more remote locations -- such as Brisbane, Australia -- or protesters have been kept far from the venue amid tight security. Last year, China ramped up security for the summit in Hangzhou and reportedly gave residents a week's vacation.Hamburg police said one of their helicopters was targeted with a flare that only narrowly missed it. Two police vehicles carrying officers were also attacked, with paint thrown and windows smashed. Bottles and fireworks were flung, injuring some officers, police said.The tires of a Canadian delegation car were slashed, police said, although a Canadian official disputed that account. Police earlier asked the public to avoid the area near the Hamburg-Altona railway station, where authorities said people had set vehicles on fire and thrown Molotov cocktails. Smoke could be seen across the skyline from fires said to have been lit by protesters.The latest round of demonstrations, though unruly, are smaller and more dispersed than Thursday night's violence, during which at least 111 police officers were hurt, according to police. Water cannons were deployed to disperse protesters, and 29 arrests were made. Police did not give the reasons for the arrests.Security is tight in the city of 1.8 million as leaders from around the world convene for the G20 summit.The Group of 20, which includes 19 countries and the European Union, accounts for about 80% of the global gross domestic product. Around two-thirds of the world's population live in a G20 country.Leaders are expected to discuss climate change, terrorism and migration during the two-day meeting in what is the birthplace of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.CNN's Kara Fox reported from Hamburg, while Josh Berlinger wrote from Hong Kong and Laura Smith-Spark from London. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen, Atika Shubert and Nadine Schmidt in Hamburg contributed to this report as did Stephanie Halasz and Kevin Liptak.

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New York (CNN Business)Home Depot was the Dow's best-performing stock in 2021, soaring more than 55% thanks to strong demand from consumers in what was a red hot housing market. But shares are off to a bumpy start this year.Shares of Home Depot have fallen 24% because of fears about eventual rate hikes from the Federal Reserve hurting the housing market and consumer spending. Mortgage rates have already started to climb. Concerns of a housing slowdown may be overblown, however: Home Depot (HD) reported fourth quarter earnings and revenue Tuesday that topped Wall Street's forecasts, with profit surging 17% and sales at stores open at least a year climbing a healthy 8.1%.The home improvement retail giant also announced a 15% increase in its quarterly dividend to shareholders and issued a cautious, but mostly upbeat outlook for 2022. Home Depot said it expects "slightly positive" sales growth and that earnings will grow in the low single digits.Home prices skyrocketed by nearly 19% last yearThe stock was down 9% Tuesday morning, though...largely due to the more guarded guidance.Read More"While we are encouraged by the consistent and resilient demand we've seen for home improvement, broader uncertainty remains with respect to the impact of inflation, supply chain dynamics and how consumer spending will evolve through the year," said Home Depot chief financial officer Richard McPhail in a conference call with analysts. But CEO Craig Menear said in the earnings press release that the 2021 results were "a testament to investments we have made in the business, our ability to execute with agility, and our associates' relentless focus on our customers." This is Menear's last quarter as Home Depot CEO. Menear, who has been the head of the company since November 2014, is stepping down as CEO on March 1 but will remain chairman. Home Depot's long-time chief operating officer, Ted Decker, is succeeding Menear as CEO.Menear's tenure was a lucrative one for Home Depot investors. The stock has surged more than 255% since November 2014, easily outperforming both the S&P 500 (SPX) and a broader index of retail stocks (XRT) during that time. Home Depot did lag rival Lowe's (LOW), though. Thinking of buying a home in 2022? Here's what to expectLowe's, which will report its latest earnings Wednesday morning, has soared nearly 290% since November 2014. Lowe's, which is now run by former Home Depot and JCPenney executive Marvin Ellison, outperformed Home Depot slightly in 2021, too. Shares of Lowe's fell 4% Tuesday.In addition to tough competition, Home Depot also has to contend with the impact that inflation and supply chain concerns are having on consumers' wallets. While rising prices for lumber, copper and other housing materials helps boost sales, some shoppers may start to pull back on spending because of inflation."Demand from regular consumers is now somewhat choppier that it was during the height of the pandemic," said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, in a report Tuesday."Most people are still fairly committed to spending on their homes, but the number of projects they want to undertake and the amount of money they are prepared to commit to home improvement going forward is less certain than it was a year ago," Saunders added.

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(CNN)The discovery of a giant marine reptile skull in the United States has revealed new theories about the speed of evolution and how quickly the process can produce diversity. The giant ichthyosaur fossil -- with a skull measuring almost two meters (6.6 feet) in length, an estimated body length of more than 17 meters (55.7 feet) and a weight of 45 tonnes - was found in Nevada. Ichthyosaurs are large extinct marine reptiles that dominated the sea more than 200 million years ago. Analysis of the skull of this particular ichthyosaur fossil has revealed a new species: Cymbospondylus youngorum.The skull analysis was part of a larger research effort undertaken by an international team in order to understand how quickly body size evolved in ichthyosaurs when compared to the body size evolution of whales -- another group of originally four-legged land vertebrates that returned to life in the sea, just like the ichthyosaur.The skull of the new ichthyosaur species Cymbospondylus youngorum is nearly 2 meters long and weighs 45 tonnes"Ichthyosaurs attained giant body size in a very short amount of time, evolutionarily speaking—just about 3 million years. In comparison, whales took about 45 million years to reach their largest body sizes," Lars Schmitz, an associate professor of biology at the W.M. Keck Science Department -- the shared science department for Claremont McKenna, Pitzer and Scripps colleges in Claremont, California -- said in a press release. Read MoreSchmitz is part of the team that have been researching the fossil."What this fossil discovery shows is that, if ecological conditions are just right and there's a certain amount of environmental stability, evolution can proceed remarkably quickly."Schmitz worked with a team of international researchers to analyze the fossil, identify the ichthyosaur as a new species, create a phylogenetic tree -- a diagram which shows the evolutionary relationships among various biological species -- and then led a computational analysis comparing the speed and type of the evolution of body size in ichthyosaurs to that of whales.'Giant flying murder heads' and other creatures that ruled the ancient skyCymbospondylus youngorum was part of a group of reptiles that returned to the ocean during the Triassic Period -- the beginning of the age of the dinosaurs -- and totally adapted to marine life. Schmitz describes it as a "fish lizard."The ichthyosaur fossil found in Nevada -- which includes a preserved skull, shoulder and an arm similar to a flipper -- was discovered in rocks that have preserved a cross section of fauna that existed approximately five million years after "the Great Dying." That happened around 252 million years ago, when 81% of the world's marine life went extinct. When the skull was discovered, the research team was initially unsure as to how an animal as large as this one could have evolved and survived so soon after the most severe extinction event on Earth.A life reconstruction of Cymbospondylus youngorum, in a Triassic ocean teeming with life. Ammonites and squid were abundant in this open ocean environment."The oceans of that period were extremely different from our modern oceans," Schmitz explained. "The modern marine ecosystems that feed today's whales consist of very large-body plankton, which didn't exist when Cymbospondylus youngorum was around. We found a gigantic ichthyosaur that had lived in an era when oceans were considered unable to sustain that size of animal."The finding has provided Schmitz and the research team with a new insight into just how quickly evolution can take place and lead to variety."This fossil is an example of how fast evolution can produce diversity," Schmitz said. "You can go from zero to 100 in a few million years, which is very fast in evolutionary terms."The research was published in the journal Science on Thursday.

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CNN is committed to covering gender inequality wherever it occurs in the world. This story is part of As Equals, a year-long series. San Salvador, El Salvador -- From afar, it looked like a breakdown. A few cars gathered at the side of a highway on a Tuesday morning. But this gathering, made up of police patrolmen and photographers, disguised a ghastly but all too common fact of daily life in El Salvador -- the murder of a young woman.In this tiny Latin American country, women bear the brunt of a brutal gang culture. They are the drug mules and forced foster parents of children of gang members who are either in jail or dead.Sometimes women are forced into the gangs themselves, subjected to violent initiations that can comprise rape, beatings and murder.That morning, on the side of a highway in Apopa, a district north of the capital San Salvador, lay the body of 22-year-old Jennifer Landaverde, her exposed painted red toenails poking out from a white sheet. Read MoreNeighbors say Landaverde was "in trouble" with the local gang, Barrio 18. She had left home at dawn to walk to her job at market stalls in the city. Her mother heard the gunshots and then found the body. The scene at the side of a highway where Jennifer Landaverde, 22, was found dead. Landaverde had been shot eight times. Police say there was no sign of the sexual assault that blights many communities in El Salvador. But pictures of her body, snapped by news photographers at the scene, showed her clothes around her ankles. Officers dragged Landaverde into the back of a police pickup. The dead woman's shoes were handed to her mother, who wept as she received them.At the wake the next day, in a tiny village in Apopa where a few years ago the gangs would never have bothered extending their tentacles, little more was said about how Landaverde came to be there. Landaverde's wake in the village of Apopa. A woman is murdered in El Salvador every 19 hours; a murder -- more generally -- occurs every two hours.Yet this slight statistical advantage does not lessen the brutality women face in a society where 10% of people are, according to one government estimate, said to be in a gang or under the influence of one. The United Nations' special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Agnes Callamard, told CNN that women's "bodies are treated as a territory for revenge and control. Gangs are male-dominated and girls and women parts of the territories they control." Callamard also noted that about one in 10 murders of women results in convictions. "I also received troubling information of increased numbers of enforced disappearances of women and men alike, which may indicate even higher numbers of killings," she said."It is of concern that this number may be underreported due to lack of complaints being lodged because of fear of reprisals," added Callamard.Gangs are not exclusively male however, and female members convicted of crimes end up in prisons such as Centro de Readaptación para Mujeres, in Ilopango, central El Salvador.The women's prison is a large, sprawling series of compounds, littered with laundry, and -- oddly -- the constant buzz of light aircraft that appeared to swoop from the sky throughout our visit.Aerobics. Haircuts. More laundry. The courtyard bustled with activity, the women keen to get out of their tiny dormitories.There was a time here when the gang members were kept apart from the normal prisoners. Now they are mixed together. Back then, Roxana was the de-facto head of the women's gang section. Roxana, photographed wearing a blue bandana, said she has retired from gang culture.Roxana, who was wearing a bright blue bandana on her head and matching eyeliner, said her father died when she was young and her alcoholic mother left her to care for her five siblings. She ended up on the streets, easy prey to the gangs. "I thought it was a game but... in the end it was... Sometimes you're forced to walk the streets and you are being discriminated for being what you are, so you're forced to rob or kill people... and sometimes things happen because of the alcohol and drugs," she said from behind a wire fence."We're drunk and drugged and did many things that I now regret having done," she added.Roxana recalled the moment when she committed the murder that left her incarcerated for the rest of her life. "It was a rival gang and if I didn't do what they asked me to do there were consequences for me," she said. "So, I was obliged to do it in that moment. What I did to him he wanted to do it to me," she added of the man she killed. "So, I had to defend myself. Yes, I had to defend myself."Since she has been in jail, Roxana has lost not only her mother, but also her son, Rafael. Rafael spent some time in jail, and was murdered shortly after he got out, four months ago to the day before we talked with his mother. His name is tattooed on the inside of Roxana's right upper arm. "It was very painful for me because I didn't want him to follow my very same path but, before I realized, he had become a gang member already and I wasn't able to do anything for him," she said.When I started in the gang I didn't have children and thought everything was pink and sweet. I was just a teenager.RoxanaRoxana said she was initiated into the infamous gang Barrio 18 through an 18-second beating -- in keeping with the obsession gangs have with inflicting punishments that honor their name. "Eighteen seconds... I got kicked out and hit, that was necessary to be part of it. There are women that go through worse," she said. "Sometimes they're raped, beaten up, mistreated."Roxana said she has now retired from the gang culture. "When I started in the gang I didn't have children and thought everything was pink and sweet. I was just a teenager," she added."But as time passed I realized this wasn't just a hobby -- with the killings and murders," she said. "By the time I wanted to leave the gang I couldn't, my life was in danger. Maybe I should be thanking God to have brought me to this place." The As Equals reporting project is funded by the European Journalism Centre via its Innovation in Development Reporting Grant Programme. Click here for more stories like this.

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London (CNN)A boy who was thrown from a viewing platform at London's Tate Modern gallery last year has started to walk with a cane, his family has announced.The French child, a tourist who was 6 at the time, was hospitalized with "catastrophic injuries" after being hurled from the 10th floor balcony by teenager Jonty Bravery in August 2019. Bravery, 17 at the time of the incident, was jailed for at least 15 years in June.The injured boy's family said he is feeling less pain, has had his medication lowered and is trying to sing, in an update to well-wishers."Our son's memory is once again greatly affected. He no longer remembers what he did that day or what day it is," they said Monday in a statement posted on a fundraising page created to support the family."Despite everything, he continues to make efforts and progress: he begins to walk with a tetrapod cane while we hold him by the back of the coat for balance."A teenager who threw a 6-year-old boy from London's Tate Modern museum has been jailed for at least 15 yearsRead More"He also has less pain, so the doctors were able to lower his medication. He tries to do more and more things with his left arm like holding his tube of toothpaste or his glasses case to close it.""He continues to recover his breath. He still speaks very slowly, but now speaks word by word and no longer syllable by syllable," his family added. "He tries to sing and make up songs with rhymes. And he was able to start using the blowpipe with the rehabilitators to continue improving his breathing."The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered life-changing injuries as a result of falling five floors from a 10th-floor viewing platform, including a bleed to his brain and a number of fractured bones.In an initial hearing in August last year, a court heard that the child was visiting the modern art museum with his family on August 4 when he was approached by a stranger, who picked him up and threw him off the viewing platform.At the hearing it emerged that the child's life was probably saved by the slant of the fifth-floor roof on which he landed.Bravery was sentenced to at least 15 years in June. "You had intended to kill someone that day," Justice Maura McGowan said in her judgment. "The injuries you caused are horrific. That little boy has suffered permanent and life-changing injuries."McGowan noted that a clinician said Bravery had an autism spectrum disorder and a personality disorder, which were "overlapping," but, she said: "Those conditions alone do not explain your offending and your general behavior."She noted that Bravery searched the internet on the day and day before the attack "for information about killing people and what effect autism would have on sentencing." CNN's Schams Elwazer, Amy Woodyatt and Samantha Tapfumaneyi contributed reporting.

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Story highlightsArchaeologists found a lead coffin within a stone coffin near Richard III's graveThe identity of its occupant is unknown, but there are three prestigious contendersThe confirmation this year of the discovery of Richard's remains drew global interestThe excavation site is at a parking lot in the central English city of LeicesterFirst came the dramatic discovery of the long-lost remains of King Richard III.Now, there's the mystery of the coffin within the coffin.Archaeologists working at the site in central England where Richard III's body was found underneath a parking lot are currently puzzling over a sealed lead coffin containing the remains of a yet-to-be-identified person.The lead coffin was found encased in a larger stone coffin. The smaller coffin is intact "except for a hole at one end of the casket through which we could tantalizingly see someone's feet," said Mathew Morris, the fieldwork director at the site.New discovery just as excitingLast year, archaeologists unearthed a body buried beneath a nondescript parking lot in the city of Leicester. In February, they confirmed the body was that of Richard III, the last king of England to die on the battlefield.The news drew global attention and set off a debate over Richard's bloodthirsty reputation. Photos: The remains of King Richard III Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIIn 2012, experts began digging away at the area and established that it was part of the friary and that a skeleton, hastily buried in an uneven grave, was that of King Richard III, who was killed in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field.Hide Caption 1 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIMitochondrial DNA extracted from the bones was matched to Michael Ibsen, a Canadian cabinetmaker and direct descendant of Richard III's sister, Anne of York. Hide Caption 2 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIScientists at the University of Leicester say their examination of the skeleton shows Richard met a violent death: They found evidence of 11 wounds -- nine to the head and two to the body -- that they believe were inflicted at or around the time of death. Here, the base of the skull shows one of the potentially fatal injuries. This shows clearly how a section of the skull had been sliced off.Hide Caption 3 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIThe lower jaw shows a cut mark caused by a knife or dagger. The archaeologists say the wounds to Richard's head could have been what killed him.Hide Caption 4 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIA wound to the cheek, possibly caused by a square-bladed dagger, can be seen here.Hide Caption 5 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIThis hole in the top of the skull represents a penetrating injury to the top of the head.Hide Caption 6 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIITwo flaps of bone, related to the penetrating injury to the top of the head, can clearly be seen on the interior of the skull. Hide Caption 7 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIThe image shows a blade wound to the pelvis, which has penetrated all the way through the bone.Hide Caption 8 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIHere, a cut mark on the right rib can be seen. Hide Caption 9 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIAs the skeleton was being excavated, a notable curve in the spine could be seen. (The width of the curve is correct, but the gaps between vertebrae have been increased to prevent damage from them touching one another.)Hide Caption 10 of 11 Photos: The remains of King Richard IIIThe body was found in a roughly hewn grave that experts say was too small for the body, forcing it to be squeezed into an unusual position. The positioning also shows that his hands may have been tied.Hide Caption 11 of 11JUST WATCHEDThe king in the parking lotReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHThe king in the parking lot 02:47JUST WATCHEDTracking down Richard III's remainsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTracking down Richard III's remains 02:30JUST WATCHEDThe woman who found Richard IIIReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHThe woman who found Richard III 05:09Archaeologists from the University of Leicester, who have been toiling away at the site this summer, say the discovery of the double coffin is just as exciting.They only uncovered the lead coffin last week after eight people hauled the heavy lid off the stone coffin. But figuring out who's inside looks set to be a much tougher task."This inner coffin is likely to contain a high-status burial, although we still don't know who it contains," Morris wrote in a blog post. "No writing was visible on the coffin lid but it does bear a crude cross soldered into the metal."There are three main contenders for the identity of the coffin's inhabitant: a medieval knight named Sir William de Moton of Peckleton, and two leaders of the English Grey Friars order, Peter Swynsfeld and William of Nottingham.Beneath the parking lotThe Leicester site is where a church, known as Grey Friars Friary, once stood. Over the centuries, the whereabouts of the friary's remnants were forgotten, but it remained in the records as the burial place of Richard III.Last year, experts began digging away at the area, which had taken on the less illustrious role of a parking lot. They went on to establish that it was part of the friary and that a skeleton, hastily buried in an uneven grave, was that of Richard.The archaeologists who undertook a new dig this summer think the double coffin, located near Richard's grave, was buried during the 14th century, more than 100 years before Richard was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Of the coffin's three likely occupants, Swynsfeld died in 1272, William of Nottingham died in 1330 and Sir William de Moton died between 1356 and 1362.'A first for all of us'Besides the puzzle of who lies within, the archaeologists were excited about the coffins themselves."This was a first for all of us on site," Morris said. "None of the team had ever excavated an intact stone coffin before, let alone a lead coffin as well."They have now wrapped up their four weeks of digging at the site. The lead coffin has been taken away so that experts can carry out tests to figure out the best way of opening it without damaging its contents.But, Morris said, other parts of the friary that the archaeologists tried to investigate this summer appear to have been completely destroyed -- meaning that some of the site's mysteries may never be solved.

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The series on Japan's demographic reckoning is supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Yokosuka, Japan (CNN)The first time 22-year-old Teruko Hirayama stepped on board a navy ship, she was transfixed by the hardware."I was so amazed by all the torpedoes and missiles on the ship and its labyrinthine layout," said Hirayama. "I'd never seen anything like that before."Hirayama, a former airport security guard now aged 23, had swung by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's (JMSDF) public festival out of curiosity. Six months later, devastating floods submerged her hometown in Okayama prefecture in western Japan. Moved by how Japan's Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) helped her family and friends during the relief operations, Hirayama decided to join up.With more than 300,000 personnel, the JSDF was the world's eighth most-powerful military in 2018, according to an armed forces strength ranking site globalfirepower.com. Formed after World War II to defend Japanese territory, its visibility has grown in recent years amid escalating tensions with North Korea and China.The JSDF is -- perhaps controversially -- adding new units, ships and aircraft to meet those threats, but it also faces a challenge from within: A shrinking population.Read More"In the international arena, many people think that North Korea or China is the bigger threat to Japan," said Robert Eldridge, an author and expert on US-Japan military relations. "But it's the demographics that pose a bigger challenge."Japan's population is expected to fall from 124 million to 88 million by 2065. Faced with the prospect of having fewer potential recruits, the JSDF is accepting a wider age range of candidates. Previously, recruits had to be under 27 years old, but now anyone over 18 and up to 32 years old can join. And it's increasingly turning to women to fill its ranks. Smashing stereotypes Teruko Hirayama, 23, used to be an airport security staffer. Moeka Yoshinaka, 26, worked as a nurse. Kokoro Isomura, 23, used to act. Hirayama is one of 39 new recruits based at a women's boot camp at Yokosuka naval base on the outskirts of Tokyo. Clad in blue overalls, the women are up at the crack of dawn and their days are filled with lessons in everything from martial arts to cyber security.After saluting their unit leaders and the Japanese flag, they haul boats weighing 1.5 tons each from the docks of Yokosuka naval base and row them out to sea."This can be a dangerous exercise if they don't pay attention so they have to concentrate really hard," Commander Hiroki Hasegawa, a pilot and navy spokesman, said from the sidelines of the dock. Currently, women make up just 6.1% of Japan's non conscription military compared with 16.5% in Australia, 12.2% in the UK and 16% of US enlisted forces. Japan wants to boost that number to 9% by 2030. Kokoro Isomura, 23, joined the Japanese navy after a 2018 trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where visible traces of a 1992-1995 war that left more than 100,000 dead made a deep impression on her. "I didn't want something like that to happen to Japan ... I wanted to be in a position to defend the nation," said the former actress, who was finding life at the navy base tougher than expected. "I'm not that good at running the 3,000 meters and doing pushups, but I'm working on it," said Isomura, who hopes to work on a submarine.Former nurse Moeka Yoshihara, 26, joined up out of a sense of adventure. "I really want to go to the Antarctic aboard a ship called the Shirase (an icebreaker). I think that working here will help me fulfill that dream," she said. Yoshihara said that in Japan, there's a view that the military's job is dangerous and laborious, but she values the navy's commitment to letting women balance their careers and family life.Yoshihara also feels a sense of duty to the country."My parents and friends were worried about me joining up, but who'll protect Japan if we don't?" Updating a male spacePreviously, Japanese women were traditionally relegated to household duties or desk-bound administrative roles. However, in 2013 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to empower working women through a policy dubbed "womenomics."That policy spread to the military, with the Defense Ministry launching a series of initiatives in April 2015 where money was allocated for everything from gender awareness programs to the establishment of daycare centers for children of JSDF employees. Recruits engage in hazard training. The SDF have mixed units. When the JSDF was first formed in 1954, women were recruited exclusively as nurses. Japan's navy accepted its first female recruits in 1977. And in the early 1990s, most roles -- except those requiring combat -- opened up to women. Now the only restrictions for women remain in the Ground Self-Defense Force, in roles where they might risk exposure to dangerous and toxic substances. In 2018, the government announced an end to male-only submarine crews. However, women will only be allowed aboard when facilities such as private dressing quarters for them are installed. As of January 2019, no specific date had been set for the upgrades.But with previously restricted positions opening up in the country's mixed units, woman are taking on more prominent front line roles.Capt. Ryoko Azuma became the first female naval squadron commander in March 2018, with four warships and around 800 personnel. In the same year 1st Lt. Misa Matsushima, a self-confessed "Top Gun" film fan, became Japan's first female fighter pilot. High female postings aren't seen as unusual any more, according to Lt. (j.g.) Misako Yamada, who heads up the female boot camp at Yokosuka. "When I first joined (in 2012), we'd hear about a lot of pioneering women in various SDF fields, but these days, it feels normal for us to see more women in leadership positions. It's a given that they are there," she said.Pvt. Hiroki Yasugahara (left) and Pvt. Katsunari Takahashi (right) are both new recruits. Despite accusations of institutional sexism in parts of Japanese society, opposition among soldiers to female front line roles has yet to materialize. "I read about the first female pilot in the SDF's magazine and thought it was cool," said Pvt. Katsunari Takahashi, 22, a new recruit on the transportation unit at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Camp Asaka in Tokyo. "We have women driving our transport trucks here. I just find it normal working alongside them." But while gender equality appears to be slowly improving within the military, female leaders remain few and their numbers are not representative of the six percent of the female population in the SDF, according to Eldridge, the US-Japan military expert.Changing role of the JSDFWomen are joining the forces at pivotal point in Japan's military history when regional tensions are rising, and the role of the JSDF is in some ways being redefined.In 2017, North Korea test-fired missiles over Japan, and China's air force now regularly carries out provocative flights near southern Japanese islands.Analysts say the JSDF is highly competent and able to mount a strong defense. But after Japan's defeat and aggressive role in World War II, which left some 30 million dead in the Pacific, the country asserted its pacifist stance under Article 9 of the 1947 constitution. The country's post-World War II constitution says the "Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes." The armed forces were to be purely for self-defense, as their name implies. But in recent years Japan's military has been expanding its vision.Laws passed in 2015, which sparked anger in China, allowed Japanese troops to be deployed overseas for the first time since the war and come to the aid of allies such as the United States, if they are under attack. The Japanese helicopter destroyer JS Kaga participated with a British frigate in exercises in the Indian Ocean in September.The JSDF is now making itself more visible thousands of miles from home, sending ships as far away as the Indian Ocean for exercises with allies and contributing ground troops and amphibious vehicles to drills on Philippine islands.By 2020, Abe aims for a controversial revision of the constitution which will codify the role of the JSDF and eliminate any uncertainty over the country's ability to defend itself.In Japan, however, the majority of people oppose this constitutional revision. An April 2018 survey conducted by Japan's national broadcaster suggests that only 29 percent of the public thinks constitutional revision is necessary. In terms of its international activities, the SDF is seen as a body that assists people in other countries but does not fight wars.Japan's military also doesn't have push for a more aggressive stance. Globally, armies are becoming more involved in peace-keeping and disaster relief missions over fighting in wars.Patients of Mabi Memorial Hospital are rescued by Self-Defense Force members on July 8, 2018 in Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan. "It's important to keep an eye out for international developments, not just compare the SDF to the US armed forces, which have been more or less at war for decades. Most military establishments have not," said Sabine Fruhstuck, the author of "Playing War: Children and the Paradoxes of Modern Militarism in Japan.The new female recruits at Yokosuka all watched on TV as the SDF operated rescue missions after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami tragedy. Such broadcasts have helped shift public attitudes towards the SDF. 'Peace at any price' (heiwa boke) A man captures shots of JASDF planes. Crowds enjoy the airshow. Many fans come equipped. At the Hamamatsu Air Fest in November 2018, excited crowds gathered to marvel at military hardware and watch Blue Impulse, Japan's Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) aerobatic display team, streak patterns in the sky.The military's popularity is increasing at home. A survey of 1,893 people in 2012, found that 92% had a positive view of the SDF compared to 81% in 2009, according to a Ministry of Defense report.Shinji Akiyama is here to snap photos of his favorites jets with friends and family."I can't imagine Japan wanting to adopt an aggressive military posture again," said Akiyama, whose two sons are in Japan's air force. "That would be the end of Japan as we know it if it did that."Behind the airfield, pop-up stalls selling T-shirts, baseball caps and JASDF-branded paraphernalia stretch for 200 meters. Festival visitors pose for a photo. Shinji Akiyama meets a Blue Impulse pilot. In the fried noodle line, Takeshi Kamiyama, a businessman in his 30s, said he'd come from Yamanashi prefecture, near Tokyo, for the day."We're not hardcore military fans but we just came out to check out the festival's atmosphere," said Kamiyama, who visited with friends."A lot of older generations think we've forgotten about World War II, but nobody in Japan wants a return to that kind of past. Besides, young people are too busy trying to make ends meet these days." Female recruits wake up at the crack of dawn. New recruits learning field skills. Each boat weighs 1.5 tons. Back in Yokosuka navy base, the new female recruits are also focused on their career ambitions. "I really want to get on a destroyer!" said Hirayama, her eyes expanding like saucers, as she speaks in front of a model replica of a ship that was retired in 2007.She said she wants to help out during disaster relief missions, but isn't afraid of facing anything that gets thrown her way."I don't feel anxious (about the international security situation). If I was, I wouldn't be able to defend the nation." Correction: the name Teruko Hirayama was amended to accurately reflect the full Japanese translationEdited by CNN's Brad Lendon in Hong Kong. Photo-editing by CNN's Jason Kwok. Video-editing by CNN's Effie Toh. CNN's Hidetaka Sato,Tara Mulholland, Sara Delgrossi and Alexandra Field contributed to the digital video.

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(CNN)Texas has opened nine alleged abuse investigations of minors receiving gender-affirming health care, Patrick Crimmins, a Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) spokesman, confirmed to CNN Thursday. Civil rights groups said in a court hearing last week they were aware of at least three families facing investigation. The Dallas Morning News was the first to report the state was investigating nine reports of alleged abuse. In late February, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton declared gender-affirming surgical procedures in children and prescribing drugs that affect puberty to be considered "child abuse." In response to Paxton's stunning legal opinion, Gov. Greg Abbott directed DFPS "to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of any reported instances of these abusive procedures in the State of Texas." The news out of Florida and Texas exemplifies a larger conservative trendThe actions have been criticized by many as an attack on transgender children. DFPS is scheduled to hold a public comment hearing Friday morning in Austin, where advocates are expected to voice opposition to the latest steps by Abbott and Paxton to investigate families seeking gender-affirming health care for their transgender children. Also Friday morning, a district court judge will weigh in on whether to block the practice statewide. Read MoreJudge Amy Clark Meachum ruled last week the state had to stop a child abuse investigation of a DFPS employee and her family who were named in a lawsuit against the state.Abbott and Paxton appealed her decision, but the state's Third Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal over jurisdiction.

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Story highlightsThe Repository for Germinal Choice was an elite sperm bank that closed in 1999Its founder recruited only men of high intelligence and strong athletic abilityThe so-called "Nobel Prize sperm bank" drew criticism"This is Life with Lisa Ling" features some of the children born as a result (CNN)It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood movie: An eccentric millionaire creates a sperm bank with donations from only extraordinary men -- Nobel laureates, an Olympic athlete and geniuses with off-the-chart IQs. The mission? To create a generation of smarter, healthier, more productive members of societyBut this was no movie plot. This actually happened.Robert K. Graham -- a businessman who made his fortune after inventing shatterproof eyeglasses -- founded the Repository for Germinal Choice in 1980. It operated until 1999, two years after his death. JUST WATCHEDDid 'The Genius Experiment' work?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDid 'The Genius Experiment' work? 02:05JUST WATCHEDCourt: Sperm donor to pay child supportReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCourt: Sperm donor to pay child support 01:58JUST WATCHEDNew mom sues lab over sperm mix-upReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNew mom sues lab over sperm mix-up 04:15JUST WATCHEDShould you worry about switched sperm?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHShould you worry about switched sperm? 01:40Graham was very clear about his motives: He wanted to improve the human gene pool.Read More"The better the human gene pool, the better the individuals who will come out of it," Graham said. "And the poorer the human gene pool, the more useless and detrimental individuals will come out of it."Not surprisingly, the so-called "Nobel Prize sperm bank" attracted controversy and accusations that Graham was a racist, resurrecting the ideas that gave rise to Nazi Germany -- something he denied.On Sunday, some of the men and women who were born as a result of Graham's project reveal how their lives have evolved on this week's episode of "This is Life with Lisa Ling."Here are some interesting facts about the Repository for Germinal Choice:It didn't cost that much Women who applied for Graham's genius sperm only had to come up a $50 application fee and $10 a month for storage and shipping costs, according to a 1984 New York Times article on the sperm bank.The moms didn't have to be geniuses They had to be married (although there was an exception made for at least one single mother), but the mothers did not have to take an IQ test or go through any genetic screening. Donors were recruited on college campusesJulianna McKillop, who worked for the repository from 1980 to 1985, recalls traveling up and down the West Coast visiting elite college campuses looking for sperm donors. "I'd take the tanks of liquid nitrogen in Dr. Graham's Cadillac and drive up to CalTech and talk to the students (and professors)," she told Lisa Ling. If someone was willing, she provided him a cup and some private time. She'd store the donation in the back of the Cadillac with the liquid nitrogen."Can you imagine doing that? It wasn't easy to get a donor, they'd kind of go like, 'Why are you in my office?' And I said, 'Well you have some genetic material and there's some people out there that can use that, they would like to have a child.'" All the donors were white While most of the donors remain anonymous, Graham did acknowledge that they were all white, according to David Plotz, author of "The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank." But Graham strongly denied that he was a racist or a Nazi. "We aren't thinking of a superrace," Graham said at a 1980 news conference, according to Plotz's book. "We are thinking in terms of a few more creative, intelligent people who otherwise might not be born."The sperm bank produced some 215 children -- and many lead quite ordinary lives todayJUST WATCHEDSperm swap may affect 1K familiesReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSperm swap may affect 1K families 02:07 Photos: Photos: Super-smart celebrities Photos: Photos: Super-smart celebrities Famous faces with brains to match – One of Mensa's most famous members is Oscar-winning actress Geena Davis. As if being really smart isn't enough, she also nearly qualified for the women's Olympic archery team. Hide Caption 1 of 9 Photos: Photos: Super-smart celebrities Famous faces with brains to match – Funnyman Steve Martin once considered becoming a philosophy professor instead of a comedian. Another Mensa member, he has a self-reported IQ of 142. Hide Caption 2 of 9 Photos: Photos: Super-smart celebrities Famous faces with brains to match – Beauty and brains: Actress Natalie Portman completed her degree at Harvard University while filming the "Star Wars" movies. Since graduation, she has lectured at Columbia University on counter-terrorism and hasn't ruled out a career in psychology. Hide Caption 3 of 9 Photos: Photos: Super-smart celebrities Famous faces with brains to match – "Modern Family" child star Nolan Gould is just 15, and as of 2012 had already graduated high school. The young member of Mensa has stated his IQ is 150. Hide Caption 4 of 9 Photos: Photos: Super-smart celebrities Famous faces with brains to match – Although she first became famous for her iconic persona on TV's "Laugh-In," Goldie Hawn is nothing like the ditsy woman she portrayed. The actress is a reported member of Mensa and recently published a book on raising children. Hide Caption 5 of 9 Photos: Photos: Super-smart celebrities Famous faces with brains to match – Many consider Oscar-winning director Quentin Tarantino a genius for his work on the silver screen. But less known? He's a card-carrying Mensa member with an IQ of 160. Hide Caption 6 of 9 Photos: Photos: Super-smart celebrities Famous faces with brains to match – The star of MTV's "Awkward," Ashley Rickards says she joined Mensa after a competitive ex-boyfriend made her feel intellectually inferior. Hide Caption 7 of 9 Photos: Photos: Super-smart celebrities Famous faces with brains to match – Brains don't lie: Colombian singer Shakira reportedly has an IQ of 140, which qualifies her for Mensa. Hide Caption 8 of 9 Photos: Photos: Super-smart celebrities Famous faces with brains to match – Best known as Russian boxer Ivan Drago in "Rocky IV," Dolph Lundgren has a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney. With an IQ of 160, this Mensa member was once offered a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT. Hide Caption 9 of 9 Photos: Celebs with fancy degrees Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesAshley Judd attends a basketball game at her alma mater, the University of Kentucky, where she got an undergraduate degree in French. She later completed a master's degree in public administration at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Hide Caption 1 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesCelebrities aren't just pretty faces. Many of them have some pretty big brains to go along with all that fame. Emma Watson, for example, received her degree in English literature from Brown University. (No word on whether she studied the Harry Potter books.) Here are some other stars who have mastered matriculation.Hide Caption 2 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesActress Lupita Nyong'o, who won an Academy Award for her work in "12 Years A Slave," has a master of fine arts from the Yale School of Drama.Hide Caption 3 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesJames Franco has a bachelor's degree from UCLA and a master's in fine arts from Columbia University, and he is pursuing a Ph.D. in English from Yale. Hide Caption 4 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesMayim Bialik doesn't just play a genius on "The Big Bang Theory." She also triple majored as an undergrad at UCLA in Hebrew, Jewish studies and neuroscience and then earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience.Hide Caption 5 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesThat's Ken Jeong, M.D.: The "Hangover" star has a medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has been a practicing physician. Hide Caption 6 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesActor and author Hill Harper holds a bachelor's degree from Brown University, a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School and a master's in public administration from Harvard University.Hide Caption 7 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesDolph Lundgren has played brawny lunkheads in a few films, but in real life he has a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney in Australia.Hide Caption 8 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesBad Religion singer Greg Graffin double-majored in anthropology and geology at UCLA and went on to earn a master's in geology and a Ph.D. from Cornell University.Hide Caption 9 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesPorn star Ron Jeremy completed an undergraduate degree in education and obtained a master's degree in special education from Queens College in New York.Hide Caption 10 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesModel Christy Turlington Burns has a bachelor's degree in comparative religion and Eastern philosophy from New York University and a master's in public health from Columbia University. Hide Caption 11 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesBrian May of Queen completed a Ph.D. in astrophysics at Imperial College London. Hide Caption 12 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesAngela Bassett honed her acting skills at Yale, where she graduated with a degree in African-American studies from Yale College and a master's degree from Yale School of Drama.Hide Caption 13 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesSinger Art Garfunkel earned a bachelor of arts degree from Columbia College and later a master's degree in mathematics at Columbia University.Hide Caption 14 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesActor David Duchovny went all-Ivy League with a bachelor's English literature from Princeton University and master's in the same subject from Yale University.Hide Caption 15 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesBill Cosby has been a huge proponent of education and walks the walk. He holds a bachelor's degree from Temple University as well as a master's and doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.Hide Caption 16 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesDexter Holland of the Offspring has both a bachelor's and a master's in molecular biology from the University of Southern California.Hide Caption 17 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesThey don't call him "The Philosopher" for nothing. Shaquille O'Neal is best known for his basketball skills, but after promising his mother he wouldn't neglect his education, he earned an undergraduate degree at Louisiana State University, an MBA online through the University of Phoenix and an Ed.D. in human resources from Barry University.Hide Caption 18 of 19 Photos: Celebs with fancy degreesRowan Atkinson has a master's in electrical engineering from Queen's College, University of Oxford in the UK.Hide Caption 19 of 19Most of the progeny of the "genius sperm bank" who have spoken publicly say they did quite well in school. Today, as adults, many seem to be pretty ordinary: Tom runs a roofing business, Leandra is an opera singer, Courtney is a dancer, Logan has a form of autism. And several claim to feel pressure to do something extraordinary with their lives. As Tom puts it, "I have to do something with the gifts that I've been given." But Adrienne -- mother of Leandra, Courtney, and Logan -- says having "genius sperm" is no guarantee for happiness and success. "There's only so much you can control when it comes to genetics," she says. "It all has to do with what you give to your family." Graham paved the way for how many sperm banks operate todayDespite all the criticism, Graham paved the way for couples to have more of a choice in determining their sperm donors -- something that is commonplace today, as more and more men and women seek fertility treatment. At the Fairfax Cryobank, less than 1% of the men who apply to be donors actually become active donors, according to lab director Michelle Ottey. "It's a rigorous screening process, which is a good thing because we want really high-quality guys in the program," she explained. "Statistically it's easier to get into an Ivy League school than it is to get into the Fairfax donor program."

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Story highlights Police announce the arrest of a man in the case but decline to identify him Gerry Adams has vehemently denied any role in the killing Jean McConville was abducted, killed and buried in 1972Adams: "I am innocent of any part in the abduction, killing or burial of Mrs. McConville"Police on Wednesday arrested Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams for questioning in connection with the 1972 Irish Republican Army abduction and slaying of a widow, a move that could shake Northern Ireland's fragile peace.In a statement released shortly before he surrendered for questioning, the 65-year-old Adams vehemently denied any involvement in the killing of Jean McConville. The Police Service of Northern Ireland announced the arrest of a 65-year-old man whom they declined to identify but described as a suspect in the McConville case. Adams has long denied having any role in the death of McConville, a widowed mother of 10 who was reportedly killed by the IRA because the group believed she was a spy for the British army. "I believe that the killing of Jean McConville and the secret burial of her body was wrong and a grievous injustice," Adams said in the statement posted on his party website. "Malicious allegations have been made against me. I reject these."The questioning of Adams was not unexpected. Adams said he told authorities last month that he was willing to meet with investigators. Long associated with the IRA, once considered the armed wing of Sinn Fein, Adams is a prominent Catholic politician who helped broker peace in Northern Ireland. Today, Sinn Fein is Ireland's second-largest opposition party. "While I have never disassociated myself from the IRA and I never will, I am innocent in the abduction, killing or burial of Mrs. McConville," Adams said. Northern Ireland is part of the UK, and Protestant fighters wanted to keep it that way. Catholics were fighting to force the British out and reunify the north with the rest of Ireland.Known as the Troubles, the conflict lasted 30 years, ending in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement that brokered peace. The agreement provided a political framework for power-sharing among the parties. The IRA admitted in 1999 to killing a number of people who have become known as "The Disappeared" -- those who vanished during the Troubles. Among the victims was McConville, whose remains were found partially buried on a beach in County Louth in 2003. She died of a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.McConville, 38, was taken from her home in Belfast in December 1972, her daughter, Helen McKendry, told CNN in 2012. "They came about tea time and they dragged her out of the bathroom and dragged her out," said McKendry, who was a teenager at the time. "...All I ever wanted was to know the reason why they killed my mother."The investigation into McConville's killing was revived by authorities after the release of interviews given by members of the IRA, who implicated Adams. The recordings were made by Boston College as part of the Belfast Project, which is a collection of interviews conducted with former Northern Irish paramilitary fighters. They provide an oral history of the decades of fighting.Participants in the project believed their recorded interviews would be kept secret until their deaths. One of those featured was Brendan Hughes, a now-deceased former commander of the IRA, a Catholic paramilitary.Hughes told his interviewer about McConville: "I knew she was being executed. I knew that. I didn't know she was going to be buried or disappeared as they call them now."Hughes went on to allege Adams was involved: "The special squad was brought into the operation then, called The Unknowns. You know when anyone needed to be taken away, they normally done it. I had no control over this squad. Gerry had control over this particular squad."Adams has called the allegations libelous.

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(CNN)The New York City Police Department launched an internal review of two active officers after their names and phone numbers were reportedly found in leaked data that apparently belongs to the Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government militia, a law enforcement official told CNN. The leak came to light earlier this week when Distributed Denial of Secrets, an anti-secrecy group, published 5 gigabytes of apparent Oath Keepers data. The data leak appears to include emails between Oath Keepers and prospective members, records of member fees, and copies of members' online chats on political issues. Members of extremist Oath Keepers group planned attack on US Capitol, prosecutors say"The incident is under internal review," a spokesperson for the NYPD said when asked for a response to the report claiming two officers names appeared in documents associated with the Oath Keepers. It's unclear in what context the NYPD officers were associated with the data from the leak, or if they are current or former members. Read MoreNeither officer is being investigated for any potential participation in the January 6 insurrection. To date, no active NYPD officer has been found to have participated in the riot.The Daily Dot first reported details of the hack this week, and the Gothamist/WNYC first reported the apparent connection to NYPD officers. Mayor de Blasio: There will be full investigationWhen asked about the report Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said "there will be a full investigation to find out if any officer was involved, how were they involved, what did they do, what did they say, if it's the kind of thing that would disqualify them from serving." Officials at the daily mayoral briefing were also asked if there was ever a comprehensive review of the NYPD, its members and their possible ties to extremist groups.JUST WATCHEDDOJ: Oath Keeper leader waited for Trump's directionReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDOJ: Oath Keeper leader waited for Trump's direction 02:40In the context of that question, NYPD Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes, on hand at the mayor's daily briefing for a separate announcement, said, "if we receive an allegation of someone being affiliated with those particular groups, then that would definitely automatically trigger a thorough investigation." The Gothamist also reported that two Republican Party members in New York state were named in the hacked database. Thomas Zmich, a Republican candidate for Queens Borough president, told CNN that he was a member of the Oath Keepers from 2015-2018 and that he joined because he believes in the Constitution and the Second Amendment right to bear arms. He said there is no longer a New York chapter of the Oath Keepers. "It was dissipated," he said.When asked if he was concerned about the optics of being a former member of the Oath Keepers, Zmich said, "you can call me anything you want, just don't call me late for dinner." CNN has reached out to a lawyer who has represented the Oath Keepers organization in several insurrection-related lawsuits.CNN's Brynn Gingras, Mirna Alsharif, Laura Ly, and Brian Vitagliano contributed to this report.

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CNN is committed to covering gender inequality wherever it occurs in the world. This story is part of As Equals, a year-long series. Blantyre, Malawi — David Minyatso holds the voter registration card of his late wife, Selina.The last time he saw her, she had just found out she was pregnant with their fourth child."She told me she was feeling symptoms of pregnancy. She left for her home village two days later to visit her parents," 36-year-old Minyatso said, standing in the doorway of their thatched-roof home in Kaseleka village, his daughters playing in the dirt yard outside."I was later told that she went to a traditional healer to seek abortion-induced drugs which killed her." Selina Black is among hundreds of women who die every year in Malawi as a result of the government's restrictive abortion law, which only permits the procedure in cases where the woman's life is at risk. Obtaining an abortion for any other reason is punishable by seven to 14 years in prison; while people supplying drugs or instruments to procure abortion can face three years in jail.Read MoreIn Malawi, home to one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, unsafe abortion is estimated to account for 6%-18% of all maternal deaths, according to research conducted by Guttmacher Institute, a US-based reproductive rights think tank, and the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Malawi College of Medicine. Entrance to maternity ward at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.But a draft "Termination of Pregnancy" bill is seeking to loosen the country's 157-year-old law. If approved, the bill would allow an abortion when the pregnancy threatens the physical or mental health of the woman, fetal abnormalities affect the life of the baby, or in cases of rape, incest and defilement.The bill, which is currently being scrutinized by Cabinet ministers before it moves to Parliament for debate, has faced strong resistance from influential religious bodies in the country. About 81% of Malawi's population is Christian, according to a 2014 national survey.In the three years that have passed since the draft bill was first introduced thousands more women have resorted to risky clandestine abortions -- 141,000 in 2015 alone, according to the Guttmacher report.Minyatso says he was devastated when he heard that Selina was dead. The couple were still contemplating whether they would keep the baby, and he believes Selina's decision to go ahead with the abortion was influenced by other family members. Minyatso with his children at their home in Kaseleka."I don't have any plan to marry again," Minyatso, who struggles to work as a farmer and tend to his young family, said. "I will never find a woman who will take care of the children as Selina did."Chrispine Sibande, a human rights lawyer and former coordinator for the Coalition for Prevention of Unsafe Abortion (an abortion rights body comprising 45 health rights organizations lobbying for liberalized laws), says the draft abortion bill would allow women like Selina Black to access legal abortion safely."The 1861 law, under section 243 of the penal code, says abortion can only be performed by a skilled person through operation. Now you and me would ask 'who is this skilled person'? So the new law clarifies that," he said, underlining that while the current law allows abortion to save the life of the mother, the language is unclear.In the absence of legal routes, many women seeking abortion in Malawi, like Selina Black, turn to traditional healers.A traditional healer shows some of the abortion-inducing concoctions.A healer, who asked not to be identified for fear of being arrested, said he has been providing abortion services to women since he started his trade a decade ago."I assist these women because they are currently desperate," he said, adding that doing so is against the constitution of the International Traditional Medicine Council of Malawi, a group of accredited traditional healers of which he is member.He gives the women a concoction of what he calls "abortion-inducing" herbs."But still I advise my clients to immediately seek medical help if they notice any serious complications," he explains. Chisale Mhango an obstetrician at Malawi's largest referral health facility, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, says he receives between 20 and 30 patients with post-abortion complications every day."The complications include injury to reproductive health organs because some of them use sticks to poke [the fetus] so that they can cause an abortion. And through that, they get infection which is a serious problem that would lead to things like surgery that may require removing the womb. And there is hemorrhage," he said.Mhango says the post abortion care is also costly for the national health system. "In 2015, the studies suggested that we were spending more than $2 million just to manage complications of unsafe abortion and yet the Ministry of Health budget is not increasing," he said. One recent report estimated that the Malawi government spends closer to $1 million annually on post-abortion care. Gynecologist Dr. Mhango in his office at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre.Margret Kawala, the head of Kawala village, about an hour drive from the capital Lilongwe, says she lost her uterus after taking a concoction given to her by a traditional healer for an abortion."I was rushed to the hospital," Kawala, a 46-year-old single mother of of three, said. "There, the doctors said I was losing a lot of blood because my uterus had burst and they had to remove it."A year after she lost her uterus, her husband left her."He said he wanted a wife who could give him another child. He left for good, and now, he has married another woman," Kawala said.Margret Kawala preparing porridge at her home.Though she struggles to feed her three children, and wishes she had the help of a partner, Kawala says she still feels lucky. Many other women in her area have died as a result of unsafe abortions."I have nothing to hide. That's why I speak openly about my situation. I want government authorities to know the gravity of harm that restrictive abortion laws have caused to women," Kawala said.Still, parliamentarians are noncommittal about their position on the draft bill, and refer to their religion when discussing its merits.Aisha Mambo of Mangochi-Nkungulu Constituency said she wouldn't comment until she had scrutinized the final bill: "And I will base my position on what my religion says about abortion because I can't act against the teachings of my religion." Back in Malawi's largest referral health facility, Mhango says the issue has nothing to do with religion."The debate is not about whether abortion is good or not," Mhango said, adding that the law needs to change if it can't be properly enforced. "The debate is women are dying in increasing numbers in spite of the fact that there is a law in this country specifically to prevent women dying from unsafe abortion when their lives are in danger." The As Equals reporting project is funded by the European Journalism Centre via its Innovation in Development Reporting Grant Programme. Click here for more stories like this.

2health

(CNN)Manchester United has won the race to sign coveted Dutch talent Memphis Depay from PSV Eindhoven, the 20-time English champion confirmed Thursday.The fee is reported to be in the region of $34 million and Depay will join in June off the back of an impressive season, notching 24 goals in 34 games in all competitions for PSV -- which was recently crowned Dutch champion.United manager Louis van Gaal is well acquainted with the 21-year-old having included Depay in his squad for the 2014 World Cup while coach of the Dutch national team. During the tournament, Depay became the youngest Dutch player to score at a World Cup as he notched two goals on the way to a third-place finish.Follow @cnnsport He becomes the third player to make the switch from PSV to United, following in the footsteps of defender Jaap Stam and prolific striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.Read MoreLiverpool was widely reported to be interested in bringing the winger to Anfield but a statement on PSV's website confirmed his move to Manchester.OFFICIAL: PSV has reached an agreement with Manchester United for the transfer of Memphis. #psv #memphis @ManUtd— PSV (English) (@psveindhoven) May 7, 2015 "We are very proud of this upcoming transfer," said Marcel Brands, PSV's sporting director. "Memphis has gone through all the teams of the PSV youth academy and has played an important part in the national title this year. "He's a wonderful exponent of our training and will make a nice transition to a magnificent club in a beautiful competition. Regarding sports, we lose obviously a fantastic player, which is of great value to the team. But very PSV grants him these wonderful step."Memphis dropped the "Depay" part of his name from the back of his shirt in an alleged attack on his father, who has been absent from a large part of his life.The player is due to fly to Manchester on Thursday to complete a medical and finalize the contract.Read: Twitter maps English Premier League clubs' global fan basesRead: Finland: The world's most orderly football league?

5sport

Story highlights"I did not have a drug problem, I had a life problem," says Nigella LawsonLawson admits using cocaine during two periods of her lifeEx-husband said he'd "destroy" her if she didn't "clear his name," Lawson tells courtItalian sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo deny embezzling large sums Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson used cocaine during two periods of her life, she admitted Wednesday as she testified in the fraud trial of two former personal assistants in a London court. She told the court she had used the drug about six times with her late husband, John Diamond, when he learned that his cancer was terminal, in order to give him "some escape from his treatment."She also used cocaine once in July 2010 when she felt subject to "terrorism" by her then-husband Charles Saatchi, she said.At that point she felt trapped, isolated and unhappy, she said, and a friend offered her the drug.But, Lawson said, "I've never been a drug addict, I've never been an habitual user. ... I did not have a drug problem, I had a life problem."Saatchi had claimed in an e-mail that Lawson had used drugs regularly, but in testimony Friday he backed off that claim.Lawson's admission of cocaine use came after she earlier testified that Saatchi had threatened to "destroy" her if she did not "clear his name."She had been asked about her reluctance to attend court as a witness in the assistants' trial -- a case that has gripped the media as claims emerge about the couple's troubled personal life."I have been put on trial here where I am called to answer, and glad to answer the allegations, and the world's press, and it comes after a long summer of bullying and abuse," Lawson said. "I find it's another chapter in that."Referring to Saatchi's request for her to attend the trial, made in a letter sent by his lawyers, Lawson said: "He had said to me if I didn't get back to him and clear his name he would destroy me." JUST WATCHEDNigella Lawson's ex in courtReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNigella Lawson's ex in court 01:52JUST WATCHEDDrug allegations against celebrity chef ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDrug allegations against celebrity chef 02:20Lawson said she felt she had to do her civic duty. "It's difficult for me, it's very difficult for my children, but I want to do the right thing," she added.The former aides, Italian sisters Francesca and Elisabetta Grillo, deny embezzling hundreds of thousands of pounds on company credit cards while employed by Lawson and Saatchi.'No hard evidence'In his testimony last Friday, Saatchi addressed the claim made in an e-mail he sent to Lawson in October that alleged she had used drugs.He told the court he never saw his wife taking drugs during their 10-year marriage and he had no hard evidence she had done so. He also said he was "utterly heartbroken" by the end of their relationship.In the e-mail, which was shared with the court by the defense in a pretrial hearing, Saatchi wrote that the assistants would likely "get off" because Lawson was using cocaine and marijuana on a daily basis and "allowed the sisters to spend whatever they liked."The allegations emerged in June, around the time the couple were photographed in a restaurant having an argument. In the photos, which were splashed across the front pages of national newspapers, Saatchi is seen with his hand around Lawson's throat. Saatchi accepted a police caution for assault, and the couple announced they would divorce soon afterward.'She was a rock'The two defendants, who worked for Lawson and Saatchi for a number of years, were supposed to use the cards for household expenses, but allegedly spent large amounts on themselves.Lawson acknowledged Wednesday she wasn't familiar with every detail of the purchases made by the Grillo sisters.She told the court she had employed Elisabetta, also known as Lisa, while her ex-husband had hired Francesca. "I loved Lisa. She came to me in a difficult time in my life. She was a rock," Lawson said.She said Elisabetta Grillo had left her job for a while, and when she came back she'd been increasingly bitter and unhappy."I do not think her bitterness was towards me personally. I think it was towards her life," the chef said.Lawson ignored the crowd of reporters and photographers waiting outside Isleworth Crown Court as she entered earlier, wearing black and looking somber.Transactions top $1 millionSaatchi's accountant gave details of the sisters' alleged spending on luxury goods in court last week, including purchases from Prada, Miu Miu and Louis Vuitton.The prosecution also showed Saatchi a list of the top 50 transactions made by the sisters, totaling more than $1 million, which he said he did not recognize and had not authorized.He did not know whether Lawson had approved them, he said.Lawson, whose culinary skills and flirtatious manner have long entranced UK audiences, has also appeared as a judge on ABC show "The Taste" in the United States. A second season of the show is due to air in January.

3news

Story highlightsJustin Rose wins the U.S. Open at Merion by two shots from American Phil MickelsonEnglish golfer earns his first major title after finishing on one-over-par 281 at MerionFour-time major winner Mickelson is runner-up at the tournament for the sixth timeOn his 43rd birthday, Mickelson ends in a tie for second with Australia's Jason DayJustin Rose became the first English golfer in 43 years to win the U.S. Open on Sunday as Phil Mickelson failed to conjure up a 43rd birthday present for himself.The American finished as runner-up at the tournament for the sixth time, while the 32-year-old Rose ended his long wait for a major title as he triumphed by two shots after a tense final round in Pennsylvania.Mickelson needed to birdie the last hole to force a playoff -- which no-one had managed during the final round -- but he ended up dropping a shot and tying for second with Australia's Jason Day.World No. 3 Rose, who moved to Britain from South Africa as a five-year-old, launched himself onto the golf scene when he finished fourth at the 1998 British Open as the leading amateur.However, he missed the cut in his first 21 tournaments as a professional and took time to find his way after losing his father and mentor Ken to cancer in 2002.Read: U.S. Open final leaderboardJUST WATCHEDRose bests Mickelson in U.S. OpenReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRose bests Mickelson in U.S. Open 01:35JUST WATCHEDHistoric club to host U.S. OpenReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHHistoric club to host U.S. Open 07:34JUST WATCHEDDavid Graham's 1981 U.S. Open victoryReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDavid Graham's 1981 U.S. Open victory 00:58"You saw me look to the heavens, with it being Father's Day -- I was just trying to remember my dad," Rose told reporters.He became the second first-time major winner this season, following Australian Adam Scott's victory at April's Masters, as he made up a two-shot deficit on Mickelson going into the final round.Mickelson made a terrible start, with two double-bogeys either side of a birdie within his opening five holes, and Rose had a share of the lead with Day at the halfway stage.Mickelson regained the lead with a superb eagle at the par-four 10th, but Rose bounced back from a bogey with birdies at 12 and 13 before dropping back to level with his rival.However, Mickelson paid for a poor shot at 15 as he dropped back to two over and Rose responded with pars at 17 and 18 -- the latter chipping from off the green with a three-wood to give himself a tap-in for an even par round of 70.That left Mickelson needing to produce the kind of putting heroics that Rose displayed against him in last year's decisive singles match at the Ryder Cup at Medinah, but the left-hander will have to wait another year to win his national tournament -- having also been bridesmaid in 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2009."Very heartbreaking," Mickelson said. "This is probably the toughest for me."Read: Woods, McIlroy trail Mickelson at U.S. OpenWorld No. 1 Tiger Woods endured his worst performance at the U.S. Open since turning professional as he closed with 74 to be 13 over for the tournament -- his highest score when making the halfway cut."There's always a lesson to be learned in every tournament whether you win or lose," said Woods, who had been seeking his fourth U.S. Open win and 15th major overall. JUST WATCHEDTrevino: Merion win changed meReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTrevino: Merion win changed me 01:08JUST WATCHEDRecreating golf's most iconic photographReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRecreating golf's most iconic photograph 01:09JUST WATCHEDTour stars on God and golfReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTour stars on God and golf 06:04"I'll look back at the things I did right and the things I did wrong. I did a lot of things right. Unfortunately I did a few things wrong as well."Second-ranked Rory McIlroy also had a miserable week, and ended it by breaking a club after making a quadruple bogey during his closing 76 -- which left him a shot behind Woods in a tie for 41st."What you don't want to do as a golfer is follow one mistake with another, and that's what I did," said McIlroy, who won the first of his two mjaors at the 2011 U.S. Open. "I think that's what this tournament does to you. At one point or another it's got the better of you, and it definitely did this weekend."Veteran South African Ernie Els finished tied for fourth with Americans Hunter Mahan, Jason Dufner and Billy Horschel, with the British Open champion closing with 69.Mahan had been in contention for his first major title but he faded on the home stretch, with a double bogey at the 15th before dropping shots at his last two holes to card 75.Dufner shot 67 for the equal best score of the final day -- which was matched by 10th-placed Hideki Matsuyama of Japan.Michael Kim was the leading amateur as he finished in a tie for 17th on 10-over 290.The 19-year-old, born in South Korea but raised in San Diego, suffered a double bogey at his last hole as he signed for a 76.

5sport

(CNN)Manchester United has appointed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as its new permanent manager after a successful spell as temporary boss. The club legend had initially taken over until the summer, replacing Jose Mourinho in December after a series of poor results and uninspiring performances. Follow @cnnsport But with the Norwegian at the helm, United has experienced an upturn in form. Solskjaer was unbeaten in his first 11 games in charge and his side produced a historic display to beat Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League Round of 16.In his 19 games in charge, United has won 14, drawn two and lost three, while scoring 40 goals and conceding 17. He has a win percentage of 73.7%.Read MoreUnited announced the news of Solskjaer's permanent appointment on Twitter on Thursday, stating: "Ole's at the wheel."Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (right) with midfielder Paul Pogba.Speaking to the Manchester United website, Solskjaer said he "felt at home at this special club." As well as scoring 126 goals in 366 appearances for the Red Devils between 1996 and 2007, he also coached the club's reserve team until 2010. "It was an honor to be a Manchester United player, and then to start my coaching career here," he continued. "The last few months have been a fantastic experience and I want to thank all of the coaches, players and staff for the work we've done so far. "This is the job that I always dreamed of doing and I'm beyond excited to have the chance to lead the club long-term and hopefully deliver the continued success that our amazing fans deserve."READ: Rooney hails 'fantastic' SolskjaerREAD: Liverpool or Manchester City -- who will win the Premier League title?Solskjaer's place in the hearts of United fans has never been in doubt given his heroics in the 1999 European Champions League final where he scored a last-minute winner to secure a historic treble.After coaching United's reserve team, the 46-year-old went on to manage Molde in his native Norway before a short and rather unsuccessful spell at Cardiff City in 2014.Solskjaer returned to Molde in 2015 before the option to take over at United arose in December. Photos: Solskjaer's Old Trafford careerOle Gunnar Solskjaer (L) joined Manchester United from Norwegian side Molde in 1996. At the time he was relatively unknown outside of Norway.Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Solskjaer's Old Trafford careerThe striker became a vital member of the team, scoring 126 goals in 11 seasons at Old Trafford. He was nicknamed the "baby-faced assassin" for his youthful image and killer instinct in front of goal. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Solskjaer's Old Trafford careerHe became a United legend for scoring the winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final. His last-minute volley completed a stunning comeback against Bayern Munich. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Solskjaer's Old Trafford careerSolskjaer (L) retired in 2007. He won six Premier League titles, two FA Cup trophies and a Champions League during a glittering playing career. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Solskjaer's Old Trafford careerThe Norwegian didn't leave the club entirely though. He spent three years managing the Manchester United reserve team, learning from Alex Ferguson. Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Solskjaer's Old Trafford careerIn 2011, Solskjaer returned to Molde as the club's new first-team manager. He won consecutive domestic titles in a successful spell at his old side. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Solskjaer's Old Trafford careerA return to the Premier League soon followed. In January 2014, he took over Cardiff City but his time in Wales was less successful. His side were relegated into the Championship and Solskjaer was sacked after a bad start to his second season.Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Solskjaer's Old Trafford careerFollowing his dismissal, Solskjaer returned to Molde to retake his position as first-team manager. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Solskjaer's Old Trafford careerOn 19 December, 2019, Solskjaer was appointed as United's caretaker manager until the end of the 2018/19 season -- following Jose Mourinho's dismissal. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Solskjaer's Old Trafford careerWith the Norwegian at the wheel, Manchester United's players looked rejuvenated -- with the likes of Paul Pogba shining under the new regime. United won its first eight games under Solskjaer and climbed back into contention for a top-four finish in the English Premier League. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Solskjaer's Old Trafford careerHis credentials for the permanent job were given a boost after staging a stunning comeback to defeat PSG in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Solskjaer's side overturned a two-goal deficit at the Parc des Princes stadium, courtesy of a last-gasp penalty by Marcus Rashford. Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Solskjaer's Old Trafford careerOn 28 March 2019, Manchester United appointed Solskjaer as its new permanent manager.Hide Caption 12 of 12He was due to return to Molde at the end of the English domestic season but United's performances over the past few months means he will be staying on indefinitely. "Since coming in as caretaker manager in December, the results Ole has delivered speak for themselves," Manchester United executive chairman, Ed Woodward, said in a statement."More than just performances and results, Ole brings a wealth of experience, both as a player and as a coach, coupled with a desire to give young players their chance and a deep understanding of the culture of the club. This all means that he is the right person to take Manchester United forward."I want to thank Ole and the coaching team for everything they have done so far and congratulate him on this richly deserved appointment. The fans and everyone at the club are behind him as he looks to take us where we need to be and build the next stage of our history."READ: Why Lionel Messi is the world's best playerREAD: Bayern signs Lucas Hernandez for $90 millionI'm delighted for Ole . I didn't think this would happen when he was appointed . However the results and spirit in the club have been incredible since he arrived and he deserves it. He now needs support in the transfer market in terms of finance and the right resource! ❤️👹— Gary Neville (@GNev2) March 28, 2019 Former United defender Gary Neville, who played alongside Solskjaer at Old Trafford, applauded the appointment"I'm delighted for Ole," Neville tweeted. "I didn't think this would happen when he was appointed. However the results and spirit in the club have been incredible since he arrived and he deserves it. He now needs support in the transfer market in terms of finance and the right resource!"READ: Sterling and Southgate want action on racist abuse in MontenegroREAD Footballer banned for racist abuse quits sportAnother of Solskjaer's former teammates, Peter Schmeichel, tweeted: "Congratulations my friend, it is well deserved. Up and onwards lets chase some trophies."Mikael Silvestre, who played for United between 1999 and 2008, told CNN that Solskjaer's permanent appointment was a "positive" move. "It is a three-year commitment from the club towards Ole, and vice-versa. That should give him enough time to bring the club back to where it belongs and where it should be, which is winning titles," Silvestre added. Current United striker, Marcus Rashford, whose goals have been central to United's uptick in form since Solskjaer arrived tweeted simply: "Congrats boss."United's next Premier League game is against Watford at Old Trafford on Saturday.CNN's Eoghan Macguire, James Masters and Nick Friend contributed to this report.

5sport

Washington (CNN)A diehard New York Democrat sits in her congressional office, looking over details of one of her pet bills. In walks a far-right Republican, a woman from the West who was part of the Tea Party Caucus -- the sort who'd seem an obvious adversary. Is now the time?When CNN's Jessica Ravitz last thought about the Equal Rights Amendment, she was a kid tagging along with her mom to marches some 35 years ago. What happened to the crusade to enshrine women's rights in the Constitution? Join Ravitz as she meets the women and men behind a renewed push to pass the ERA.Female, 30 and on a mission: The ERA's new warriorsThe politics of feminism: An unlikely partnershipWomen in the world: Where the U.S. falters "Nice view, missy!" the visitor says, taking in the postcard-perfect sight of the U.S. Capitol. The two greet each other with big smiles and settle in for a nice long chat, vowing to work together.The host is Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a staunch pro-choice veteran of Capitol Hill who created a stir in 2012 when she demanded of a panel of men testifying on birth control: "Where are the women?" Beside her, exuding warmth, is Rep. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, an equally proud conservative Republican who boasts of her "100% pro-life voting record." Here in Washington, where party politics divide and erect thick walls, these two are pushing aside barriers for a common goal: They both want to see the Equal Rights Amendment -- language that would explicitly protect women's rights and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex -- in the U.S. Constitution. Read MoreTheir backgrounds and what motivates them may differ; one raises the specter of sharia law, the other illegal abortions. But partisanship has no place when it comes to the importance of the ERA, these unlikely allies insist."The key here is just reminding people that equal rights have to be fought for, sought and obtained in writing," Lummis says. "If we don't do it, who else is going to do it?" says Maloney. "The best legislation is always bipartisan."'Men don't like to ask women for money'Maloney, 69, remembers when classified ads in newspapers separated job listings by gender. She's heard too many accounts of women who became sick or died after getting back-alley abortions. She never participated in athletics at school while growing up in North Carolina because the option didn't exist for girls."When I first started working, discrimination and harassment was part of the job. There was no one there to protect you," she says. "It wasn't really long ago when you couldn't get credit in your own name."Framed art featuring Eleanor Roosevelt, an early women's rights advocate, decorates Rep. Carolyn Maloney's office on Capitol Hill. It was a gift from Rep. Patricia Schroeder, a fervent ERA supporter and a co-founder of the Congressional Women's Caucus.All of this fuels the fight she brings to the Hill, where she's been for 22 years. She's worked to combat sex trafficking, clear the backlog of untested rape kits and eliminate campus sexual violence. She's introduced bills to boost access to child care and expand family and medical leave. She's been at the forefront of legislation to create a National Women's History Museum. But so much of the time, she says, she's battling to hold on to rights women have already won. Without a constitutional basis to protect women and enshrine their rights, she says, legislation can be rolled back and judicial decisions changed. "You can have rights, and they can be taken away," she says. Her concerns helped drive the formation of the new ERA Coalition, which is mobilizing a renewed crusade to finish business that started more than 90 years ago.The ERA, first introduced in 1923, finally passed in Congress in 1972. It was sent to legislatures for ratification, but only 35 of the necessary 38 states ratified it before a 1982 deadline. The movement to pass it, after coming so close, seemed to grow quiet. Maloney is among those beating a drum to stir up noise. "I'm becoming too tired, too old, too fat to keep on with these fights," she says with a laugh. "I'd just like to get into the Constitution and get it over with." Since 1997, Maloney has been introducing the ERA in every congressional session. Last time around, she got 176 House members to sign on -- only five of them Republicans. But Lummis was one of them, and she's stepping up to help build Republican support. "Equality, rights and opportunity are basic values in our country," says Maloney. "And the world is changing. We can't compete and win in the global economy if we don't use the skills of all of our people."Not since the early '80s has the ERA made it out of committee in the House and onto the floor for a vote. Supporters can't -- or won't -- point to specific adversaries; they just know the amendment hasn't gotten the traction they feel it deserves. The ERA needs to be seen as a priority, they say. It needs to be seen as separate from hot-button issues that divide, like abortion. Men and women, liberals and conservatives alike, must realize its value for all Americans.Lummis, 60, gets this. The relative Washington newbie -- she entered office in 2009 -- came to know Maloney when they were both active in the Congressional Women's Caucus. Both women are mothers to daughters -- Lummis has one, Maloney two -- and have long careers in politics.Lummis, too, has advocated for the women's history museum and brings with her a heavy dose of Wyoming pride. Her state, before it was even a state, was the first to grant women the right to vote in 1869. When that right threatened Wyoming's admission to the union in 1890, she says, "The quote was, 'We're not coming into the union without the women.' " Wyoming boasts the nation's first woman governor, first woman bailiff and first all-woman jury. It had the first woman statewide elected official, the first woman justice of the peace and sent the first woman delegate to the Republican National Convention. Women in the world: Where the U.S. falters in quest for equalityThe state's motto is "Equal Rights," and Wyoming ratified the ERA in January 1973. Supporting the ERA, Lummis says, "is very much in keeping with Wyoming's history, its tradition and its commitment to equality." She, though, is no stranger to discrimination. Approaching her graduation from the University of Wyoming, Lummis interviewed for a job as a loan officer. She was told she wouldn't get it because "men don't like to ask women for money," she remembers. "I was just stunned. ... When you face those kinds of realities in life, they stay with you."Lummis, who insists on being called congressman, not congresswoman -- "only because it is a title, not a statement of gender" -- says her state cannot rest on its history of women's rights and female firsts."My state currently has the largest gap in pay between men and women of any state in the nation," she says. "My state has fallen behind in understanding the importance of equal pay for the same job, for equal work. So it makes clear to me that these are rights that should not be taken for granted." Religious freedom vs. women's rightsThe heart of Maloney's bill reads: "Women shall have equal rights in the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." While many supporters of the ERA, Maloney included, might argue that constitutional protection of women is necessary to beat back state attempts to chip away at women's reproductive rights, Lummis insists she can remain steadfast against abortion while advocating for the amendment. The two issues, she says, are separate -- and that's a pro-ERA argument she plans to take to members of her party.Maloney's reading glasses and "Equal Means Equal," a new book by ERA Coalition President Jessica Neuwirth, rest atop ERA talking points on a couch in the congresswoman's office."It's a heavier lift for me in that the Republican Party and its platform and many of its elected members are pro-life, and they don't want to give a camel's nose under the tent to the pro-choice position," she says. But after pointing out her "100% pro-life voting record," she says, "I'm not the least bit afraid of this legislation, and I'm happy to work with them to ensure that this is not intended in any way to expand abortion rights." Furthermore, Lummis adds, the ERA would protect against sex-selective abortion, a concern she says weighs on conservatives. What also drives her stance is what she sees happening around the world. A visit to China, where the country's one-child policy means many girls are given up for adoption, if not aborted, increased her commitment to making sure both genders are equally valued. And in Europe, she sees the influx of groups she fears may someday try to institute "sharia law, which is very unfavorable to women," she says. "I want to make sure that here, in the United States, if we have those sorts of religious communities forming, that there is a clear line between freedom of religion and women's rights," she says. An economic argumentMaloney may not wade into the ERA discussion the same way as Lummis -- she's more prone to raise issues such as pregnancy discrimination or college campus rapes -- but that's what they say makes their alliance so important. They can approach conversations with their respective colleagues differently. The end goal, however, remains the same."Equality, rights and opportunity are basic values in our country," Maloney says. "And the world is changing. We can't compete and win in the global economy if we don't use the skills of all of our people."Signing on to support the ERA doesn't hurt anyone, Maloney adds."This is something you can do to strengthen the country, and it doesn't run up the deficit," she says. "It just runs up women's self-esteem." And the effort fits perfectly with what matters to her party, Lummis says.Rep. Cynthia Lummis prefers the title "congressman" and is an unlikely but open supporter of the ERA, noting that her state of Wyoming has the largest gender pay gap in the nation."One of the Republican themes is, 'A rising tide lifts all boats.' This is a rising tide, and it will lift all boats," she says."Wow," Maloney says, her eyes and smile wide. Lummis continues: "When women are out of poverty, their families are out of poverty, their children, their husbands, their significant others are out of poverty. ... Why wouldn't we want their tide lifted? They'll lift the entire economy." Maloney looks at her colleague and agrees."It's an economic bill," she says. "When women succeed, America succeeds. And, another thing: I would say countries that treat women well and empower them have less terrorism. ... We're a positive force."As of April 1, Maloney's bill has 111 co-sponsors, with another 25 lined up pending confirmation, a Maloney aide says.When she introduces her bill in the coming weeks, Maloney won't stand alone. She'll be flanked by other lawmakers proposing similar legislation: Rep. Jackie Speier and Sens. Robert Menendez and Ben Cardin.Maloney's House bill, along with sister legislation to be introduced in the Senate, proposes that the ERA process start from scratch -- with Congress first voting to pass it by two-thirds, followed by a new push to ratify the amendment in 38 states. Another strategy is also being floated which calls for lifting the 1982 deadline that stopped the last push when it fell three states short.The lawmakers, though, insist there is no competition. Whatever approach gets the job done, they'll take.Turning trauma into toolsJackie Speier traces her connection to the ERA back to her early 20s, when she was first working in Rep. Leo Ryan's office. The California Democrat was deciding if he'd support the ERA when it came up for a House floor vote in 1972, and she grew nervous as she watched him "like a hawk" from the gallery.JUST WATCHED'Shouldn't be a heavy lift'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH'Shouldn't be a heavy lift' 00:23"It was the one time in my time with him when I was unsure whether or not he was going to do the right thing," she says. "I sat there thinking, 'What am I going to do if he votes the wrong way?' " He was slow to vote, making her squirm, but when he did, he didn't disappoint her."I have a very vivid recollection of that experience," Speier says. "It was the quintessential issue around womanhood." A lot happened to Speier in the years that followed. She was a congressional staffer with Ryan in November 1978 when a fact-finding mission in Jonestown, Guyana, turned deadly. They were investigating the Rev. Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple followers when they came under fire. Five people were gunned down and killed, including Ryan. Speier was shot five times. As she barely clung to life, more than 900 people died that day in a mass murder-suicide.Speier went on to have her own political career, eventually filling the seat once held by her mentor, Ryan. The Democrat believes what scars a person can be turned around and used as a tool for empowerment. The new women warriors: Reviving the fight for equal rightsSpeier, 64, has worked on behalf of women survivors of military sexual trauma. She's taken on campus sexual assaults and human and sex trafficking. She's advocated for women small-business owners and for access to insurance-covered birth control. She once spoke openly on the House floor about the time she underwent an emergency abortion because of complications in a wanted pregnancy.Last spring, she became the latest lawmaker to introduce ERA legislation when she proposed lifting the 1982 deadline. Speier dove into the cause, co-hosting a rally with Maloney outside the U.S. Supreme Court in which they handed out red bandanas and had all the young women around them tie up their hair like "Rosie the Riveter." The congresswoman talks about how Republican women lawmakers are beginning to flex their collective muscle. She knows there's support among them for the ERA and is hopeful that more of them will step forward."There's no downside risk. And there's a lot of upside to our daughters and our granddaughters and our great-great-granddaughters who have yet to be born," Speier says. "I'm in the business of optimism," she adds. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't." Fighting on, under a cloud The political future of Sen. Robert Menendez may be up in the air -- the New Jersey Democrat is facing federal corruption charges -- but his support of the Equal Rights Amendment stands on solid ground. Staffers say he's "150%" committed to continuing the fight and sponsoring legislation this spring,JUST WATCHEDWhy men should back the ERAReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHWhy men should back the ERA 00:31He took up the ERA charge from Sen. Ted Kennedy after he died in 2009 and plans to reintroduce a sister bill to Maloney's start-from-scratch approach.The senator says his interest is rooted in the experiences of his own mother, who emigrated from Cuba like his father and worked in a New Jersey factory. "She ultimately rose within the factory to do what, in essence, was the manager's job. But she never got paid as the manager, and the other guys who were on the floor with her, they did," Menendez says. Though he didn't fully appreciate the significance then, he says as he grew older he understood this was "a real life example to me of the challenges that women have in our society." He fights this fight because he believes without explicit language in the U.S. Constitution, too much can be left up to interpretation. And the lack of such language can prove a roadblock for women seeking their rights."It's about remembering my mother. It's about the history of what this means," he says. "It's about my daughter being able to fulfill all of her capabilities with no limitations placed on her by our society or our government." His daughter, Alicia Menendez, wrote her Harvard honor's thesis on women's social capital and is a TV host for Fusion, a cable partnership between ABC and Univision. Passing the ERA, Menendez says, requires more from constituents across the country. They -- women and men alike -- need to be reaching out to their own members of Congress who may have not made the ERA a priority themselves."I believe in Adlai Stevenson's admonition that 'When I get the heat at home, I see the light in Washington,' " Menendez says. "If daughters and wives spoke to their dads and husbands, that would be a great start." A Republican issueBack when he served in the Maryland State House of Delegates, Ben Cardin fought to get a lavatory for women members.Sen. Ben Cardin says opposition to the ERA may stem from fears over religious conflicts or government intrusion.He grew up in a progressive household and around strong women. His mother, a teacher, was active in issues affecting women in education and health care, he says. She died young but left an impression. All his female cousins, who he says were older than him, went to college. His oldest aunt was the chief financial officer of the family business. Cardin, now 71 and a U.S. senator, wants his two granddaughters to have every opportunity available to them, just as he's wanted the same for his wife and daughter.He first introduced a Senate bill to lift the ERA deadline in 2012, and he plans to introduce it again along with Speier's sister legislation in the House.He points to the history of the 27th Amendment as a precedent for the approach. That most recent amendment, which prohibits members of Congress from giving themselves raises during the session in which they're serving, was ratified in 1992 -- more than 202 years after it was introduced -- and was clearly unencumbered by a deadline.While a number of states have Equal Rights Amendments in their own constitutions, including his home state of Maryland, "it's not the same as having the federal umbrella protection," Cardin says. The ERA represents a fundamental value, Cardin says, one that should be embraced by Republicans and Democrats alike -- just as it once was. Its original author in 1923, Alice Paul, was a Republican. For decades, it remained on the Republican Party platform. It was signed by President Richard Nixon as soon as it passed in Congress in 1972. "I really don't think these are partisan issues. Only in Washington do they become partisan; not with the American people. So Republicans out in the communities are rooting for us," he says. The opposition, he speculates, comes from those who worry that the ERA would somehow conflict with religious beliefs, lead to big government intrusion or foster a slew of lawsuits. Or, he says, maybe those who haven't yet signed on simply don't see it as a priority. But it should be a priority for everyone, says Cardin."It's just not fair to say someone can't achieve their full potential because they happen to be a woman," he says. "There are so many times we turn a blind eye because we say, 'Is it really our fight?' The answer is: It is our fight."

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Story highlightsYuri van Gelder "gravely violated" Dutch Olympic team rulesGymnast also served suspension for cocaine use in 2009Dutch chef de mission: "athletes are role models"London (CNN)Yuri van Gelder lived up to his reputation as the bad boy of gymnastics after he was thrown out of the Rio Olympics by the Dutch team for an unauthorized night out drinking. Having reached the men's rings finals on Saturday, the former world champion -- nicknamed the "Lord of the Rings" -- left the Athletes' Village a few hours later to celebrate. When he returned, he admitted he'd consumed alcohol.Read: Full Olympics coverage The Dutch gymnastics association, KNGU, and the Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC-NSF) said in a joint statement Van Gelder, 33, had "gravely violated" team rules and that they had "no other choice" but to put him on the first plane home.'Unacceptable behavior'Read More"It was a very difficult decision," chef de mission Maurits Hendriks said in a statement on the KNGU website. "It's terrible for Yuri, but this sort of behavior is unacceptable."Read: Rio marriage proposal will melt your heartHendriks admitted the departure of the former world champion and triple European champion on the rings was "a bloodletting" for the Dutch team.But, he stressed, "our athletes are role models." Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, gestures after winning the 200-meter butterfly on Tuesday, August 9. It was the 20th gold medal of his Olympic career. Later in the night, Phelps won his 21st gold -- and his 25th medal in all -- after swimming the anchor leg in the 4x200 freestyle.Hide Caption 1 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Phelps' win in the 200-meter butterfly avenged one of the few losses of his Olympic career -- a second-place finish to South Africa's Chad Le Clos in 2012. Le Clos finished fourth in Tuesday's race.Hide Caption 2 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4American Katie Ledecky smiles after winning the 200-meter freestyle. It is her second gold in the Rio Games. She also won the 400-meter freestyle.Hide Caption 3 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina reacts after her third-round victory over top-ranked Serena Williams. Svitolina won 6-4, 6-3.Hide Caption 4 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Williams won gold in singles and doubles in the 2012 Olympics. But she is already out of both tournaments in Rio de Janeiro.Hide Caption 5 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4U.S. gymnasts -- from left, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and Laurie Hernandez -- celebrate after winning the team all-around. The United States also won gold in 2012.Hide Caption 6 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Brazilian basketball player Marcus Marquinhos, in green under the basket, tips in the winning basket to upset Spain 66-65.Hide Caption 7 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Synchronized divers Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia won the 10-meter platform event for China.Hide Caption 8 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4The diving pool, right, had turned from blue to green since Monday. The cause is still under investigation, but water tests showed there were no health risks, Rio organizers said.Hide Caption 9 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Egyptian beach volleyball players Doaa Elghobashy and Nada Meawad, left, switch sides with Italy's Marta Menegatti and Laura Giombini.Hide Caption 10 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Kosovo's Majlinda Kelmendi, right, defeated Italy's Odette Giuffrida in the 52-kilogram (115-pound) judo final. It is the first Olympic medal in Kosovo history.Hide Caption 11 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Japanese rugby player Katsuyuki Sakai scores a try against Great Britain.Hide Caption 12 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Brazilian rider Ruy Fonseca, on Tom Bombadill Too, hits an obstacle during the jumping round of the team eventing final.Hide Caption 13 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Australia's Rowie Webster, right, mugs Russia's Anna Timofeeva during a water polo match.Hide Caption 14 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Japanese canoeist Takuya Haneda is congratulated after a ride in the C-1 slalom final. He won the bronze medal.Hide Caption 15 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Germany's Sideris Tasiadis competes in the C-1 slalom.Hide Caption 16 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Mexico's Jorge Alejandro Barajas serves the ball during a volleyball match against France.Hide Caption 17 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Italy's volleyball team is introduced before its match against the United States.Hide Caption 18 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Iran's Zahra Nemati shoots an arrow during the women's individual archery competition.Hide Caption 19 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Hungarian fencer Geza Imre, left, competes against France's Gauthier Grumier during an epee semifinal. Imre won 15-13 to advance to the final, which he lost to South Korea's Park Sang-young.Hide Caption 20 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Moldovan weightlifter Serghei Cechir celebrates after finishing in first place in the 69-kilogram (152-pound) weight class. He lifted 144 kilograms (317.5 pounds) in the snatch and 178 kilograms (392.4 pounds) in the clean and jerk for a combined 322 kilograms (709.9 pounds).Hide Caption 21 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4The Ivory Coast's Thibault Amani Danho competes in the 100-meter freestyle.Hide Caption 22 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Mexico's Misael Uziel Rodriguez, left, takes a battering from Iraq's Waheed Abdulridha Waheed Karaawi during a middleweight boxing match. Rodriguez won the match, however, and advanced.Hide Caption 23 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Track cyclists from Great Britain put their heads down during a training session inside the Olympic Velodrome.Hide Caption 24 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Zimbabwe's Sean Michael Gunn dives in for a 100-meter freestyle race.Hide Caption 25 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4South Korean archer Chang Hye-jin takes part in the women's individual competition. Earlier this week, she and teammates Choi Mi-sun and Ki Bo-bae took gold in the team event.Hide Caption 26 of 27 Photos: Rio Olympics: Day 4Volleyball player Demian Gonzalez is embraced by Argentina fans after his team beat Russia in a preliminary round. They will next face Poland on Thursday.Hide Caption 27 of 27Cocaine useVan Gelder wants to bide his time before commenting on his dramatic exit from his first Olympic Games. Let the #games begin on #saterday 👊 lets #rock #in #rio 🇧🇷 #teamnl  #gymnastics  #rio2016  👊 https://t.co/zSNhfrRDCU pic.twitter.com/nWGDJYhJdE— Yuri van Gelder (@yvangelder) August 4, 2016 "Yuri can't and doesn't want to respond to the situation," said a statement on his website. "He wants to process the events in a closed environment and will make a statement after that. When he will do that, is not yet clear."The gymnast had told Dutch television last month that his wild past was well and truly over and that he was "older and wiser."An immensely talented athlete who was named Dutch Sportsman of the Year in 2005 for winning the rings world title, Van Gelder has been anything but a role model since then. JUST WATCHED41-year-old gymnast competes in 7th OlympicsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH41-year-old gymnast competes in 7th Olympics 01:22He tested positive for cocaine use in 2009, which cost him a spot on the Dutch Olympic team for the 2012 London Olympics and ended his career in the Dutch army as well as leading to a suspension from his sport for a year. After an 11-week spell in a rehab clinic in Edinburgh, Scotland, his return to competition was chaotic, with the gymnastics union withdrawing Van Gelder from the 2010 world championships for "relapsing" just four days before the event. 'Lord of the Pints'Van Gelder "is sensitive to the use of stimulants" his former coach, Remi Lens, told De Telegraaf newspaper on Tuesday. "The staff of the Dutch Olympic team should have known that." Lord of the Drinks #vangelder pic.twitter.com/qTwZksZFbI— Rens Muller (@RensMuller) August 9, 2016 By now overshadowed on the Dutch team by Epke Zonderland, the reigning Olympic champion on the horizontal bar, Van Gelder finally achieved his goal of competing in the Olympics when he qualified for Rio in April.Only to throw it all away with what Dutch media said on Tuesday was a night out to meet his Brazilian girlfriend. "It took Yuri a long time to get here, but unfortunately he won't be able to finish it," said KNGU technical director Hans Gootjes. Still, there is support for Van Gelder on social media, with dozens of fans criticizing the Dutch team for being too strict. Though Van Gelder has also acquired another nickname -- "Lord of the Pints."

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(CNN)The son of Germany's ex-president Richard von Weizsäcker was stabbed to death while giving a lecture in Berlin on Tuesday night, local police have confirmed. Fritz von Weizsäcker, a 59-year-old medical doctor, was delivering a lecture at the Schlosspark-Klinik hospital in the west Berlin district of Charlottenburg, a Berlin police spokesman told CNN. At about 7p.m., a man approached von Weizsäcker in the lecture room and stabbed him with a knife. Despite efforts to save him, von Weizsäcker died at the scene. Police said a 57-year-old German man was arrested. A 33-year-old off-duty police officer overwhelmed the attacker, allowing him to be taken into custody by police, authorities said. In the course of intervening, however, the policeman was seriously injured and subsequently required medical treatment. His injuries were not thought to be life threatening.Read MorePolice have since launched a murder investigation but a possible motive for the attack remains unclear. The suspect is due to appear before a magistrate Wednesday.Von Weizsäcker specialized in internal medicine and gastroenterology. He began his career as a resident at the University Medical Center at the University of Freiburg, and had studied and worked at a number of hospitals overseas including Harvard Medical School in Boston and the University Hospital of Zurich. Since 2005, he had held the position of chief physician of the department of internal medicine at Schlosspark-Klinik.He was one of the former president's four children. Richard von Weizsäcker held the largely ceremonial position of president between 1984 and 1990 and was in post during the fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany's reunification. One of the country's most respected heads of state, he is remembered for his thoughtful speeches, including an address in 1985 when he warned against forgetting Germany's past in a speech marking the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II.

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Story highlights Venezuela says it has detained three members of the National GuardThe cocaine traveled in 30 colorful suitcases from Venezuela to FranceThe bags weren't registered to any of the passengers on the flightSeveral people have been taken into custody, France's interior minister saidThere was something odd about the 30 suitcases that showed up on a flight from Venezuela. The colorful bags weren't registered to any of the passengers on the plane.When French officials opened them up, they discovered why -- 1.3 tons of pure cocaine were stuffed inside the anonymous bags.The street value of the stash? About 200 million euros, or $270 million. $2.6 million in cocaine found in British woman's luggageThe catch was made on September 11, but French authorities didn't publicize the find until Saturday. JUST WATCHEDCoast Guard makes $20 million cocaine bustReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCoast Guard makes $20 million cocaine bust 01:19JUST WATCHEDHuge drug bust off the coast of FloridaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHHuge drug bust off the coast of Florida 01:32JUST WATCHEDDrug busts at sea: 4 tons of cocaineReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHDrug busts at sea: 4 tons of cocaine 02:25On Sunday, Venezuela's Public Ministry said that authorities had detained three members of the National Guard in connection with the incident.It wasn't immediately clear exactly what they are accused of doing.Woman busted in Spain for cocaine in breast implantsThe suitcases came from Caracas aboard an Air France flight to Paris, but did not match any of the passengers on board, CNN affiliate BFMTV reported. "Several" people have been taken in custody, French Interior Minister Manuel Valls told reporters Saturday. Authorities worked with Spanish, British and Dutch police on the investigation, BFMTV said. This case "illustrates the importance of strengthening International cooperation in the fight against traffickers," Valls said. Venezuelan authorities are also investigating. The Public Ministry said prosecutors will investigate, along with the Counterdrug Command of the National Guard in Simon Bolivar International Airport, to see if any criminal activity took place.Suspected drug smugglers sail to jail

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(CNN)Grammy award winning singer Ciara and rap star Macklemore of "Thrift Shop" fame have joined Seattle Sounders' new ownership group. Ciara's husband Russell Wilson, the 2014 Super Bowl winning quarterback with the Seattle Seahawks, is also part of the group.Eleven families with "direct ties" to Seattle are now involved in the contingent that already included majority owners businessman Adrian Hanauer and comedian Drew Carey. View this post on Instagram A Day I'll Always Cherish! @DangeRussWilson and I are fired up to announce we are Team Owners of the Seattle @SoundersFC one of the best soccer franchises in the world! We can't wait for our kids to grow up loving Soccer! Family is everything! Football and Futbol is Family! #SoundersIsFamily ⚽️💚💙 A post shared by Ciara (@ciara) on Aug 13, 2019 at 10:03am PDT "It's an honour to join the Sounders team and have the unique opportunity to represent female ownership within major league sports," said Ciara, who entered mainstream prominence with her platinum-selling debut album "Goodies" in 2004.Seattle native Macklemore was equally excited.Read More"Man, to be part of this organization, it's pretty surreal," he said. "I'm very honored. This team is building an incredible legacy and I'm just excited to be a part of it."READ: Frank de Boer calls equal pay in international football 'ridiculous'Wilson, who is still playing a prominent role for the Seahawks after seven seasons in the National Football League, was clear in his rational in joining the group."We want to bring the best soccer players in the world to Seattle," he said.The new ownership group steps into the vacancy left by the departing Joe Roth, the film director and producer, who served as the majority owner of the club from 2007 to 2015. Under Roth, the Sounders lifted the MLS Cup on four occasions -- in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014 -- and signed the former US Men's captain Clint Dempsey in 2013 following his departure from Tottenham Hotspur.Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosThe Sounders currently find themselves in second place on the Western Conference table but trail the Carlos Vela led Los Angeles FC by 16 points.READ: Mohamed Salah's message to Pep Guardiola: The Champions League is football's 'biggest competition'

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(CNN)Goal-machine Robert Lewandowski notched up his 43rd of the season with a double as Bayern Munich crushed Fortuna Dusseldorf 5-0 to go 10 points clear and heading for an eighth straight Bundesliga title Saturday.The visitor to the Allianz Arena was the only Bundesliga team Lewandowski had never scored against prior to the match but he put that right in a one-sided rout.Follow @cnnsport In-form Bayern might well have been contesting the Champions League Final, which was scheduled for this Saturday before the coronavirus pandemic played havoc with the season, but its performances since the Bundesliga resumption a fortnight ago will give the Bavarian giant great confidence when Europe's premier club competition does gets underway again.A midweek 1-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund has left Bayern in the driving seat in search of yet another German title, with Dortmund needing to win at SC Paderborn Sunday to reduce the gap to seven points with only five rounds of matches to play.Bayern Munich under Hansi Flick:25 games22 wins1 draw2 losses80 goals scored16 conceded67 points won pic.twitter.com/JIegcEEJHT— DW Sports (@dw_sports) May 30, 2020 Home teams had only won five of 27 matches since the Bundesliga restarted,heading into Saturday's round of fixtures, but that statistic was never going to worry Hansi Flick's team.Read MoreThere was a touch of good fortune for the opener on 14 minutes as Mathias Jorgensen turned Benjamin Pavard's mis-hit shot into his own net.French defender Pavard did make it 2-0 just before the half hour mark as he met Joshua Kimmich's corner with a trademark thumping header.Bayern Munich's Polish forward Robert Lewandowski celebrates his opener and his side's third in the 5-0 rout of Fortuna Dusseldorf.With Fortuna in retreat, a brilliant Bayern team goal saw the third on 43 minutes with Lewandowski getting in the act by converting after unselfish work by Thomas Muller.The Polish star's second came soon after the break as he flicked home a low cross from Serge Gnabry. It was a 29th Bundesliga goal for Lewandowski and his 43rd in all competitions, equaling his best for the season with several matches still to play.The rout was completed soon enough by flying Bayern defender Alphonso Davies, who picked up a loose ball and beat two men before scoring the fifth.Bayern's Alphonso Davies celebrates with Robert Lewandowski after scoring his team's fifth goal against Fortuna Dusseldorf.Muller missed a golden chance for a sixth, but it was of no significance as Bayern eased to victory and made its full complement of five substitutions to save legs for further challenges to come at home and in Europe, holding a 3-0 first leg lead over Chelsea in their Champions League last 16 tie when the season was halted in March.Werder sinks struggling SchalkeEarlier, Werder Bremen gave itself further hope of survival with a 1-0 win at David Wagner's Schalke to move within a point of Fortuna Dusseldorf, which is in the relegation playoff spot in 16th.Former Huddersfield Town coach Wagner is under pressure after presiding over a desperate run of form at slumping Schalke, winless in 11 games and plummeting down the table since the restart.READ: Werner hat-trick for RB LeipzigMidfielder Leonardo Bittencourt scored the first-half winner for Bremen.Hertha Berlin continued its fine form under new coach Bruno Labbadia with a 2-0 win at home to Augsburg, while Wolfsburg slipped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosHoffenheim are seventh after their 1-0 win at Mainz, while on Friday Bayer Leverkusen improved to third with a 1-0 win at Freiburg.Rising star Kai Havertz became the first player in Bundesliga history to score 35 goals before his 21st birthday with the winner for Leverkusen.

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(CNN)Chelsea has strongly condemned the fans who "shamed the club" after a section of supporters were heard chanting anti-Semitic songs in Hungary during Thursday's Europa League match against MOL Vidi.It comes just days after four Chelsea fans were banned by the club for allegedly racially abusing Raheem Sterling in Saturday's Premier League match against Manchester City. Visit CNN/com/sport for more news, features and videosSome sections of the 1,273 traveling Chelsea supporters who had traveled to Hungary sung songs about London rivals Tottenham Hotspur using the word "Yid," a derogatory term for Jewish people. "Anti-Semitism and any kind of racial or religious hatred is abhorrent to this club and the overwhelming majority of our fans," a Chelsea statement said.Read MoreREAD: People feel free to be 'openly racist,' says former football starREAD: Raheem Sterling accuses British newspapers of helping to 'fuel racism' in footballJUST WATCHEDRise in anti-Semitism casts shadow over EuropeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRise in anti-Semitism casts shadow over Europe 06:25"It has no place at Chelsea or in any of our communities. We have stated this loud and clear on many occasions from the owner, the board, coaches and players."UEFA confirmed to CNN Sport that it is awaiting the reports of its officials before deciding on whether to investigate.On Monday, Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck visited Parliament in London to show the club's support for a project honoring non-Jewish people who risked their lives during the Holocaust saving Jews.The project is part of Chelsea's "Say No To Anti-Semitism" campaign, inspired by its Jewish owner Roman Abramovich."Any individuals that can't summon the brainpower to comprehend this simple message and are found to have shamed the club by used using anti-Semitic or racist words or actions will face the strongest possible action from the club," the statement said.Part of Chelsea's "Say No To Anti-Semitism" provides education courses and could require fans found guilty of anti-semitic behavior to visit the site of Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz.Thursday's match finished 2-2 thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Willian and sees Chelsea qualify top of Group L.Chelsea and the Metropolitan Police continue to investigate the allegations of racial abuse towards Sterling on Saturday.

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Story highlightsHeavy rain turned normally-calm stream to raging riverFlooding damaged zoo and allowed animals to escape (CNN)Flooding left five people dead and several others missing Sunday in the Georgia capital of Tbilisi, according to a news agency funded by the European Union and the United Nations.The city's zoo was also flooded. Wolves, bears, big cats and even a hippopotamus escaped and have been roaming parts of the city. Some animals have been re-captured and others killed, according to the news agency, Civil.ge. Officials are still searching for escaped animals. Georgia's Prime Minister, Irakli Garibashvili, asked residents to stay home while the creatures are rounded up.The flooding was centered in the Vake and Saburtalo neighborhoods. Heavy rain started just before midnight, and water poured into what is normally a small waterway that runs through both districts. A hippopotamus escaped its enclosure after flooding in Tbilisi, Georgia. Read MoreA man helps rescue a dog during flooding in Tbilisi, Georgia.The swollen waterway flooded a large portion of major highway in Tbilisi, sweeping away cars and at least one structure, according to the news agency. Flooding has also extended to parts of the Kura River (also known as the Mtkvari). Images on Tbilisi City Hall's Facebook page showed roads washed away, collapsed hillsides and multiple vehicles tossed like toys. Rescue workers carried people on their shoulders through water that was up to the waist. Cars are partially submerged during flooding in Tbilisi, Georgia.nThe country's Secretary of State Security and the Crisis Management council, Mindia Janelidze, warned residents not to use their cars Sunday, as many main roads will remain closed.

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Michael A. Smerconish is host of "Smerconish," on CNN Saturdays at 9 a.m. ET and of "The Michael Smerconish Program" on SiriusXM Channel 124, Sunday columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer and an author. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his. View more opinion pieces at CNN. (CNN)It happened 31 years ago, but I remember the conversation like it was yesterday. I sat on one side of the oval kitchen table inside the back door of 8919 Crefeld Street, Philadelphia, home of Frank and Carmella Rizzo. We were just days removed from the bruising 1987 mayoral general election, a crushing defeat for Rizzo at the hands of W. Wilson Goode, and emotions were still raw. I was then visiting the house on a daily basis, akin to sitting shiva. Except to walk his dog, which we often did together, the burly former mayor did not leave his home. Instead, he would sit with his back to a bay window next to a sill. On it sat a yellow push button phone with several lines that often illuminated. Friends and supporters were still calling with election condolences. Mrs. Rizzo would dutifully fill our coffee cups and then leave the two of us alone. I was a 25-year-old recent law school graduate who had just served as political director of the ill-fated campaign and was about to learn that I'd passed the bar in the midst of the election. I was unmarried, unemployed and unsure of my future. The only certainty was my continued devotion to Frank Rizzo, and even in defeat there was nowhere I would rather have been. Rizzo was then 47 years my senior, a political legend, albeit controversial, who had famously risen from patrolman to police commissioner, and then been twice elected mayor of what was the nation's fourth-largest city. Rizzo had governed as a Democrat but after losing to Goode in a 1983 Democratic primary, had switched to the GOP so as to ensure their 1987 rematch would be waged in a general election. To working-class whites, he was a protector of their values. To urban blacks, he was perceived as insensitive, or worse. Read MoreOne day, with just the two of us present, the mayor told me he had something special to share. A letter. Handwritten. Personal. From his friend, former President Richard Nixon. Rizzo retrieved the letter from a nearby room and brought it to the kitchen table and handed it to me in a deliberate way that let me know he regarded it as something of great value. I read the words to myself and was touched by them, so much so that I have remembered and quoted them often in the intervening years. "When you win you hear from everyone; when you lose you hear from your friends. Count me in the latter category." Mayor Frank Rizzo paid an unannounced call on President Richard Nixon on January 24, 1972.Months after Rizzo showed me the letter, we had a very public falling out over which of the two of us would be the chairman of the 1988 George H.W. Bush presidential campaign in Philadelphia. The split came just after Rizzo agreed to accompany me to a private dinner at the Union League of Philadelphia where -- ironically -- President Nixon would be speaking.This would have been Rizzo's first public appearance since the election loss. But just days in advance of the dinner, after our seating at Nixon's table had been confirmed, Rizzo told me on the phone that he would not attend, saying "f--k you and your Nixon dinner" before hanging up. Not only didn't we go to the Nixon dinner, we didn't speak for three years, and only repaired our relationship just before his passing. Frank Rizzo died on July 16, 1991. The morning that he passed, his office called with word that he wanted to see me. I'd been recently appointed to a position in the Bush administration (41 had been elected without either of us serving as his campaign chair). Rizzo was himself running again for mayor and had recently won an improbable victory in a three-way Republican primary. He was now about to face Democrat Ed Rendell in the general election. Early in the afternoon, just moments before I arrived for my appointment at his office at 1528 Walnut Street, he collapsed. I learned this news when entering the office suite and together with a friend and campaign aide, Bob Kutler, we greeted the paramedics at street level and then escorted them on the elevator. When we told them who they were about to treat, they were initially disbelieving. The saleCarmella Rizzo would live another 27 years before finally passing at age 101 in July 2018. Soon afterward, the Rizzo children, Frank Jr. and Joanna, decided to sell all the contents of 8919 Crefeld Street to prepare for a sale of the home itself. Advance word of the three-day event was itself a big, local news story. The first day of the sale was Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. I could not attend because I was preparing for my Saturday morning CNN program. One friend, William F. McLaughlin, Jr., was among the first through the door and gave me several colorful accounts of the scene. Warrior for justice: Why fugitives would surrender to Chuck StoneHe himself acquired a special sign referencing the home Rizzo controversially built but never moved into on Summit Lane in Roxborough, four American flags and a cigar ashtray that McLaughlin wanted me to have. The sale attracted hundreds of buyers and curiosity-seekers. People paid between $1,250 and $1,500 for Rizzo police billy clubs. Someone spent $5,000 for one of his single-digit license plates. A Rolodex commanded $2,500. With my middle son, Wilson, I visited on day two, mostly to take one last look at the interior of the house, the kitchen in particular. The décor was just as I remembered, unchanged from three decades prior. The table where we'd sat so many times was itself for sale for $750. (I'd have bought it out of a sense of nostalgia, only I knew the reaction I'd have gotten at my own home.) JUST WATCHEDHow did Watergate unfold?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHHow did Watergate unfold? 04:49I nevertheless enjoyed reminiscing with Frank Rizzo Jr., who was watching with astonishment as hordes of people continued to traipse through his family home. Another friend was present while I was there, veteran criminal defense attorney William J. Brennan, jealously guarding an SUV full of memorabilia he'd purchased, including a Rizzo fedora and walking stick, the former of which he told me he hoped Rizzo was wearing during the famous "crumb bum" exchange with television reporter Stan Bohrman. And when the sale ended, another 20 boxes of ephemera were reportedly found in the attic, including Rizzo's passports and more Rolodexes. By the time I got to Crefeld Street that Saturday, the most prized items had already been sold. I learned that the first few people in the door on the first day of the sale acquired some special things, including signed photographs sent to Rizzo by J. Edgar Hoover and Nixon, and a handwritten letter from Nixon to Rizzo. The text of the letter was exactly as I recalled. "Dear Frank: I have learned that when you win you hear from everybody; when you lose you hear from your friends. Count me in the latter category.You fought a great fight against heavy odds. The pollsters - with their landslide predictions -- hurt you badly. You have many good years left. Keep the faith- Sincerely, RN"The letter I remembered so well and had quoted so often had been sold to one of the first attendees of the estate sale for $2,000. I was disappointed and wanted to own it. Soon after the sale ended, I contacted John Romani from the auction firm, Sales by Helen, to ask if he would put me in contact with the purchaser. He graciously agreed. Charles "Chuck" Bentham, a retired Philadelphia homicide detective-turned-private investigator (who also once investigated the famous murder of Carol Neulander on behalf of Camden County, New Jersey, which resulted in the conviction of her husband, Fred) was that lucky person. Bentham had a great personal affinity for Rizzo stemming from his own days as a cop. He'd been present when the mayor famously broke his hip at the 1975 Atlantic-Richfield oil refinery fire and had helped load the mayor onto a stretcher that night. Bentham had acquired a number of items at the sale besides the Nixon letter, including a spectacular coffee table specially made for Rizzo by inmates serving life terms at Graterford Prison. Bentham readily took my call and after a few days of deliberation, said he was willing to sell the Nixon letter to me for what he'd paid, due to my personal connection with the artifact. Former President Richard Nixon's letter to Frank Rizzo in 1983.Just one problemThere was just one problem: The letter was dated May 18, 1983. That was one day after Rizzo lost a Democratic primary to W. Wilson Goode -- four years before the 1987 race on which I worked. The corresponding 20- cent stamped envelope bore the date May 19, 1983, which confirmed that Nixon sent this letter to Rizzo immediately after Rizzo lost the primary in 1983, not after the general election loss in 1987. That didn't jibe with my memory. In 1983, I was an undergraduate at Lehigh University. And although that spring I did drive to Philadelphia to attend Rizzo's final, election eve rally outside his childhood home at Rosewood and Ritner Streets in South Philadelphia, I had nothing formal to do with that campaign and was certainly not in his house in the days immediately after. Trump could learn a hard lesson from NixonThe date discrepancy hit me hard and made me seriously question my memory. If asked, I'd have given sworn testimony as to the events as I've described. I've always told the same version of the story and consistently quoted the letter verbatim.As one who himself lost an election, Nixon's words resonated with me. I did not embellish that in a poignant moment with just the two of us present in his kitchen in 1987, Frank Rizzo showed me a handwritten letter he'd recently received from Richard Nixon. But the date on the letter was at odds with my recollection. If this event didn't occur as I recalled, what else in my memory and repertoire of well -worn stories was inaccurate? There is no chance that Rizzo misrepresented the date of the letter when showing it to me in 1987. That's not who he was and besides, the date is plainly evident in the upper right-hand corner of the letter, which I would have seen. So I am left with two possibilities: 1) that I misremembered critical facts -- namely that in 1987, Rizzo showed me an "old" letter from Nixon dated 1983; or 2) there was a second, similar, 1987 version of the 1983 letter. Could it be that Nixon's standard patter in consoling friends who lost elections was to tell them "when you win you hear from everybody; when you lose you hear from your friends."I decided to investigate that possibility. 'A fun question' Two heads of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California (where I have visited) have been guests on my SiriusXM radio program. The most recent was historian Tim Naftali, who is now teaching at NYU. By email, I shared with him the short version of this story and asked whether he knew if Nixon used standard verbiage to friends who lost elections. His reply: "What a fun question...As you know he was a big fan of Rizzo's, so it is also plausible that he wrote him twice. Moreover Nixon had his favorite cliches--"keep the faith"--so I would not doubt he wrote Rizzo duplicative handwritten messages."Now knowing that Nixon was prone to using favorite clichés, I next wrote to Michael Ellzey, the current director of the Nixon library and museum. He immediately promised to have his "crack research team to weigh in." Soon thereafter, I heard from Jason Schultz, the supervisory archivist: Michael,Through an internet search I was able to find a number of articles which not only mentioned such language from Richard Nixon, but one which also quotes him as saying, "I have often said that when you win, you hear from everyone -- when you lose, you hear from your friends." The examples below show that contacting the loser in political races was often on his mind.Richard Nixon to Gerald FordRichard Nixon to Coach Woody HayesRichard Nixon to Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver (phone call)"Let me tell you," Nixon continues, "I've lost a few and you don't get many calls when you lose."Richard Nixon and Ted Williams"In politics, you find that when you win, you hear from everyone; when you lose, you hear from your friends."Remarks at a Republican fundraising dinner, May 9, 1973"And that brings me to a personal note referring to everybody here. I have had, as you know, some political ups and downs during my 27 years in politics, and I have known times when I wondered if I had very many friends. And every man or woman who has been in politics knows that when you win, they are all your friends, and when you lose, it is pretty had to find them, except when you lose and they are still there, they are the real friends."So it was Nixon's custom to say to others what he said to Rizzo in the 1983 handwritten letter. Did he write it again, in 1987? Was there a second letter also handwritten by Nixon, similarly saying, "When you win you hear from everyone...."? Both John Romani and Frank Rizzo Jr. assured me they had no knowledge of a handwritten, 1987 letter from Nixon to Rizzo. But nor do they have a typewritten letter after the 1987 election and you'd think it likely that there was some kind of communication from Nixon after Rizzo's general-election loss. Stay up to date...Sign up for our new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and FacebookAfter all, Nixon was still alive (he didn't pass until 1994) and when Rizzo died in 1991, Nixon sent Mrs. Rizzo a typed condolence letter. I know. I bought it from Romani. It was among the items discovered after the estate sale. And I also acquired condolence letters sent to Mrs. Rizzo from President George H. W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle. As for the 1983 letter, I bought that, too, from Chuck Bentham, who graciously sold it to me for what he paid, asking only that I give him first option to buy it back should I ever decide to sell. (I readily agreed, but asked for a similar pledge concerning his Graterford coffee table.) No matter how fallible my memory might be, nor the possibility that another letter was sent, I can't imagine anyone else will have my affinity for the document.

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(CNN)Thousands of fans have congregated in Stockholm to watch two of Europe's most recognizable clubs -- Manchester United and Ajax -- contest Wednesday's Europa League final.Games like this are normally a cause for celebration, a chance for a club's supporters to travel to a different city and see their team lift a prestigious trophy.Follow @cnnsport But Monday's terror attack in Manchester has changed everything."Words don't really do justice for how we all feel," said United's executive vice chairman Ed Woodward. "We're numb. The events were sickening and all our thoughts at the moment are with the victims and the families affected by it."#WeStandTogether pic.twitter.com/Ro0ohU9PI6— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 23, 2017 United manager Jose Mourinho added that the players can't get the victims and their families "out of our minds and hearts."Read MoreThough, as the world remains defiant in the face of terror, United chairman Ed Woodward said the club has still "got a job to do, no question about that, and that hasn't been changed."While United in recent years have strayed somewhat from promoting youth players into the first team, instead opting for marquee signings, Ajax have stuck to their roots and academy players now form the crux of a youthful starting XI.Few players, then, are better placed to talk about the Dutch giants' famed academy than Edgar Davids.Still sporting his thick, dreadlocked hair and trademark glasses, Davids looks barely a day older than the athletic midfielder who became a footballing icon in the 1990s.READ: UEFA plays down security fears ahead of Europa League finalREAD: Pep Guardiola's wife and daughters escape terror attackDuring the middle part of that decade, Davids -- nicknamed "The Pitbull" by then manager Louis Van Gaal -- was part of unquestionably the best team in Europe.ROAD TO THE FINAL: 1992 | Deel 7 van de serie over het bereiken van 10 Europese finales ➡️ https://t.co/2gPKx0Vxqg #UELfinal pic.twitter.com/jPFxh7zIty— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) May 21, 2017 His Ajax team reached two consecutive Champions League finals -- in 1995 and 1996 -- winning the first against AC Milan and losing the second against Juventus en route to becoming one of history's most iconic teams.The starting XI in both finals reads like a who's who of footballing legends, though that side wouldn't remain together for much longer.Wednesday's final marks the first time Ajax have reached a European final since Davids and Co. suffered shootout heartbreak against Juve in Rome.The ties with that golden generation still run deep today. Eighteen-year-old sensation Justin Kluivert is the son of former striker Patrick, scorer of the winning goal in that famous victory over AC Milan.The goalkeeper in both finals, Edwin Van der Sar, recently returned to the club as chief executive, while Marc Overmars is also back at the Amsterdam Arena as director of football.Ajax's assistant coach is Dennis Bergkamp, another product of the club's famed youth academy, and the current young squad -- the average of the the starting XI in the semifinal second leg was 22.81 -- provide the perfect blank canvas for the former players to implement the club ideology.Shall we do it the Kluivert way? 💫#UELfinal #ajaman #WeAreBack pic.twitter.com/L603QvSCQ3— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) May 24, 2017 "What a lot of clubs lack is the ability to instill the club culture (in players) -- to teach somebody that is hard and it takes time," Davids told CNN at London's Hackey Marshes."But if you already have players that understand the culture of the club, and have been part of the culture, it's easier for them to have that motivation and they can motivate other people to move in the right direction."As is so often the case in modern football, Ajax's team was ripped apart after the final in 1996 and its star players departed for Europe's biggest clubs.Within three years of that second final in Rome, none of the players in the starting XI were still at the club.In fact, after the defeat against Juventus, Davids would become one of Europe's first high-profile players to benefit from the Bosman ruling, moving from Ajax to AC Milan. That Davids sees Wednesday's final against Manchester United as the perfect springboard for the current crop of young stars to reach a bigger club is perhaps reflective of his own experience in an Ajax shirt.Met de sfeer zit het wel goed in de fanzone in Stockholm! 👏#UELfinal #ajaman pic.twitter.com/PiDAhKmWwI— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) May 24, 2017 "It's always an opportunity if you're so young and you're already playing a final -- you know that the chances of getting an opportunity abroad is very high," he says."So the next step is to evaluate if you're ready or not and which team it's going to be. They (the team) have done very well, but I think that a couple of players still need time to develop."The weight of expectation in Wednesday's final is firmly on the shoulders of Jose Mourinho and his Manchester United players.Having conceded, somewhat bizarrely, several months ago that finishing in the Premier League's top four was out of reach, winning the Europa League final now provides the only route for Mourinho into next season's Champions League.But while the Portuguese has more than 15 years experience managing in European competition, 2016-17 has provided Ajax coach Peter Bosz with his first foray into Europe.Having taken over at the start of the season, Bosz initially struggled to implement his philosophy onto this young team, but a resurgence in the second half of the season saw Ajax run Feyernoord close to the Eredivisie title and qualify for a first European final in more than 20 years.JUST WATCHEDFootball star discusses Europa League finalReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHFootball star discusses Europa League final 02:36While Davids believes Ajax should still be wary of United's star players, he is convinced they have nothing to be afraid of."It's definitely going to be very hard, but I've seen United play so far this season and I was definitely not impressed -- absolutely not impressed," he says."Even last week when I saw the game (against Southampton), they didn't look like Man United. So that definitely gives Ajax a big chance to win, as does Ajax's style of play."But on the other hand, they still have two or three players than can decide a game in a second."This Ajax team may not boast the same star names as their predecessors, but a win will go a long way to finally placing the club back on the European map.

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(CNN)US national security adviser Jake Sullivan met Monday with top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome, Chinese state broadcaster CGTN reported. The Chinese state media report provided no further details on Monday's meeting, including the exact timing, what was discussed and whether the meeting had concluded.Experts say the meeting between senior American and Chinese officials could have far-reaching consequences not only for the ongoing war in Ukraine, but for China's role in the world and its relationship with the West. The meeting has also taken on additional urgency as concerns grow in the West that Beijing is not only siding with Russia by not condemning its aggression in Ukraine but could take further steps to aid its strategic partner. A senior US official told CNN Sunday that Moscow has asked Beijing for military assistance in Ukraine, including drones. Such aid, while providing a significant boost to Russia, would pose an enormous risk for China, which has so far sought to portray itself as a neutral actor in the conflict. China has denied it was asked by Russia for military equipment or other assistance to support its war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday also denied allegations Russia requested military assistance in Ukraine from China. Read MorePointing to reports that Russia asked China for military help, Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said such a choice would be a "defining moment" for China and the 21st century."To do so (provide support) means China would open itself to substantial sanctions and make itself a pariah; to refuse would keep open the possibility of at least selective cooperation with US and West," said Haass, writing on Twitter.As war breaks out in Europe, China blames the USRussia has also asked China for economic support, according a US official familiar with the matter. That request and the one for military support came after Russia's invasion of Ukraine had occurred, said the official, who declined to detail the Chinese reaction, but indicated Beijing had responded. Sullivan told Dana Bash on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that the US was "watching closely" to see whether China provides any support to Russia."It is a concern of ours. And we have communicated to Beijing that we will not stand by and allow any country to compensate Russia for its losses from the economic sanctions," Sullivan said.The potential economic risk associated with support for Russia is unlikely to be lost on Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who is widely expected to secure a historic third term in power during the Communist Party's 20th National Congress in Beijing this fall. During such an important year, the Chinese government will be wary of becoming entangled in Western sanctions, which could be a blow to its economy -- during a time when Beijing has already set the lowest official target for economic growth in three decades.A group of prominent China specialists in the US on Friday called for Washington keep the door open for diplomacy with China and "impress on Beijing that its long-term interests will not be best served by tying itself to a pariah" such as Russia that is reviled by most of the Western world."By using diplomatic outreach to Beijing ... the US will be able to lay the groundwork for more effective pressure against China if Xi more openly supports [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's brutal aggression," wrote the group, convened by Asia Society's Center on US-China Relations and UC San Diego's 21st Century China Center.When asked whether Russia had asked China for military assistance, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Monday called the claims "disinformation" peddled by the US against China "with sinister intentions.""China's position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear, and we have been playing a constructive role in promoting peace talks. It is imperative for all parties to exercise restraint and cool down the tension, rather than adding fuel to the fire; it's important to push for a diplomatic solution, rather than further escalating the situation," Zhao said at a regular press briefing. A key meetingJUST WATCHEDSullivan vows consequences if China gives lifeline to RussiaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSullivan vows consequences if China gives lifeline to Russia 01:36Monday's meeting between Yang and Sullivan is seen by both sides as furthering a move toward better communication laid out by Xi and US President Joe Biden in their summit late last year.The two sides will discuss "ongoing efforts to manage the competition between our two countries," as well as "the impact of Russia's war against Ukraine on regional and global security," US National Security Council Spokesperson Emily Horne said in a statement on Sunday.Zhao, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, did not mention Russia or Ukraine in a statement about the meeting posted online on Sunday, but noted that the two sides would "exchange views on China-US relations and international and regional issues of common concern." The "key issue" of the meeting would be to implement the "important consensus" reached by Xi and Biden in their virtual summit, according to Zhao, adding that the two sides have been coordinating the meeting since late last year. Sullivan and Yang, who is director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, last met in Zurich in October for a meeting preceding the Xi-Biden video summit. That summit was widely viewed as a bid to reset the tone of relations between the two global powers, and became an opportunity for both sides to express their interest in bolstering communication to better manage a relationship that has been riddled with tensions over trade, technology, and China's human rights record.But some four months later, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has become a pivotal international issue, bolstering the coordination and solidarity between the US and its allies and also throwing into the spotlight the divergent approach from China. China sought to portray itself a neutral party, often stressing that "all countries' legitimate security concerns" should be addressed," but its decision not to go along with a raft of sanctions leveraged by the US and its allies against Russia, and its amplification of Russia misinformation, risk placing it at further odds with the West.This story has been updated with additional developments.CNN's Sam Fossum, Kaitlan Collins, Jim Sciutto and Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.

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(CNN)The Cleveland Browns have defended their signing of embattled quarterback Deshaun Watson, saying they carried out a "comprehensive evaluation" beforehand. The trade of 26-year-old Watson from the Houston Texans was confirmed on Sunday. The quarterback heads to Cleveland along with a fifth round draft pick, while the Texans receive three first round picks, a third round pick and a fourth round pick. According to NFL.com, Watson told the Texans he is willing to waive his no-trade clause for the move and will reportedly receive a five-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract from the Browns. It would be the highest guaranteed money given to an NFL player, according to ESPN.Last week, a Harris County grand jury declined to charge Watson over allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct. Watson still faces 22 civil lawsuits, many of them alleging sexual assault and misconduct.The NFL is also investigating the accusations and if Watson is found to have violated league rules, he likely would be suspended.Read MoreNews of Watson's trade and signing led to a swell of backlash from fans, primarily on social media, directed at the Browns hierarchy, with some saying it marks the end of their fandom with the team. However, in the statement announcing the details of Watson's trade, Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said the team had done a "comprehensive evaluation" before signing off on it, with the general manager saying they had completed "extensive investigative, legal and reference work.""We are acutely aware and empathetic to the highly personal sentiments expressed about this decision," Dee and Jimmy Haslam said. "Our team's comprehensive evaluation process was of utmost importance due to the sensitive nature of his situation and the complex factors involved. We also understand there are still some legal proceedings that are ongoing and we will respect due process. "It was pivotal that we, along with Andrew Berry and (head coach) Kevin Stefanski, meet with Deshaun to have a straightforward dialogue, discuss our priorities, and hear directly from him on how he wants to approach his career on and off the field. He was humble, sincere, and candid. In our conversations, Deshaun detailed his commitment to leading our team; he understands and embraces the hard work needed to build his name both in the community and on the field."Watson drops back to pass during the first half against the Tennessee Titans at NRG Stadium on January 3, 2021.Shortly after the trade was announced, Tony Buzbee -- the attorney for the 22 women who are suing Watson -- told CNN that no NFL teams reached out to him or his clients in an attempt to research Watson."The Browns organization did not reach out to me. I didn't expect them to do so and can understand why they didn't. But, knowing what I know, they probably should have," Buzbee said.Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosBrowns head coach Kevin Stefanksi said the team understands "the concerns and questions that exist" but are "confident in the extensive work Andrew (Berry) and his staff have done to feel confident about him joining our organization."During his five seasons playing for the Texans, Watson established himself as one of the best young quarterbacks in the league. He has been voted to three Pro Bowls and led the NFL in passing yards in 2020.

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Story highlightsLee Slattery cards a six-under-parr 66 to lead the Madrid Masters after 36 holesThe Englishman is one stroke ahead of Francesco Molinari and Eduardo De La RivaWorld number one Luke Donald is five strokes off the pace after a round of 70England's Lee Slattery carded a six-under-par round of 66 to hold a one-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the Madrid Masters at the El Encin Golf Hotel.The 33 year old Slattery, who has never won a tournament on the European Tour, lies on a 36-hole total of 133 (-11), one stroke ahead of European Ryder Cup star Francesco Molinari of Italy and Spaniard Eduardo De La Riva.Another Italian, Lorenzo Gagli, is a further stroke back in fourth place, with Australian Brett Rumford and overnight leader Ross McGowan (72) tied for fifth position another shot behind. World number one and defending champion Luke Donald is one of five players on 138, five strokes off the pace, after posting a 70.Slattery is another one of those players trying desperately to finish in the top 115 of the Race To Dubai, to ensure he retains his European Tour card for 2012.In 2007, Slattery lost his card by just €77, and he faces another fight on his hands as he currently lies out of the qualification places in 136th position.He told the official European Tour website: "I've putted well today, and I seemed to hole everything. "I drove the ball well too. You can give it a good smack off the tee and you feel yourself trying to hit it harder and harder. "I was actually getting too cautious with my game but round here you can't be, you just whack it. This suits me because I just enjoy it and don't think too much -- that's the key. "I've been so relaxed out there, I don't think I've ever walked off the course feeling so relaxed after shooting a 66.HSBC Champions winner Molinari was pleased with his five-under-par 67, saying: "It was a good solid round, I'm hitting the ball better than I was this summer. Today's round was trickier than yesterday's because of the wind." Meanwhile, U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, defending champion YE Yang and American Rickie Fowler are among a group of vie players who share the lead after the second round of the Korea Open in Cheonan.The trio are joined by veteran Korean Mo Joong-Kyung and Australian Bronson La'Cassie on 137, three strokes clear of Kim Meen-Whee, who leads the chasing pack.

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London (CNN)Amid the UK's grave second wave of Covid-19 and its final act of Brexit, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, has resigned, a source at Downing Street told CNN on Friday.Pictures showed Cummings carrying a box as he left the Prime Minister's office at 10 Downing Street on Friday.The PM's special adviser had been rumored to be leaving his post before Christmas in another sign of tumult within the UK's Conservative government. Cummings, a divisive figure, has often been painted as the mastermind behind the Brexit campaign and Johnson's rise to the premiership.Johnson has mismanaged Covid, Brexit and the economy. Now his inner circle is falling outHis resignation follows that of Johnson's communications director, Lee Cain. After news broke of Cain's resignation on Wednesday, rumors began circulating that Cummings was threatening to resign himself. Cummings told the BBC that "rumors of me threatening to resign are invented," though he added that his "position hasn't changed since my January blog."The blog post he is referring to stated that Downing Street was aiming to "improve performance and make me much less important — and within a year largely redundant."Read MoreAccording to Downing Street, both Cummings and Cain will continue to work for the British Prime Minister's office until mid-December."The Prime Minister has today asked Sir Edward Lister to take on the role of chief of staff for an interim period pending a permanent appointment to the post," said a No 10 spokesman.Both Cain and Cummings were key members of the Vote Leave team that followed Johnson into Downing Street in 2019, having successfully campaigned for UK voters to reject EU membership in the 2016 Brexit referendum.Conservative MPs have been alarmed at Johnson's loyalty to Cummings, despite various scandals surrounding the adviser. The most famous of those came when Cummings drove hundreds of miles from London with his wife and child after having Covid-19 symptoms while the country was in a national lockdown.The political storm surrounding Johnson and his team of advisers first broke on the same day that the UK's coronavirus death toll passed the eyewatering 50,000 figure.England entered a second, month-long national lockdown on November 5. Strict measures have also been imposed in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in recent weeks.This breaking story has been updated with additional reporting.

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Story highlightsToto Wolff praises Lewis Hamilton's 'personal development' off the trackBut Mercedes director has 'a lot of worries' ahead of new seasonWolff calls it 'healthy skepticism'F1 season starts March 25 in Australia (CNN)Lewis Hamilton just gets better and better.That's the view of Mercedes chief Toto Wolff, who has presided over Hamilton and his team's recent domination of Formula One.The German manufacturer has won 62 of the last 79 races, completing a clean sweep of the Formula One drivers' and constructors' world titles since 2014, with Hamilton taking the championship on three occasions in that time."One of the things that impresses me the most with him is his personal growth," Wolff told CNN's The Circuit during testing in Barcelona. "He gets better within the team every year. He has become an integral part. He's motivating the guys if they need to be motivated, rather than the other way around."Read MoreJUST WATCHEDF1 champion Lewis Hamilton on his veganismReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHF1 champion Lewis Hamilton on his veganism 02:22 Hamilton's relationship with teammates in the past, particularly Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso, has sometimes been fractious. "Don't expect an easy ride," Rosberg memorably said last year, when asked to offer his Finnish successor Valtteri Bottas advice on dealing with Hamilton at Mercedes. One of the things that impresses me the most with Lewis Hamilton is his personal growth. Toto Wolff, Mercedes Executive DirectorToday, though, Wolff contends that you cannot underestimate the importance of the reigning world champion behind the scenes.There is a "a superstar phenomenon" in sport where some athletes "are not really part of the team and with him it's the opposite," said Wolff, who is officially Mercedes' executive director. "For a year, he has been a very important pillar."It's like all of us -- if we are good in the head, everything is much easier. He is a high-performance person. He needs to be in the right spirit, energized and motivated. In the last few years, he has been there. And as far as I'm aware, he is in a good place." READ: How Lewis Hamilton inspired NASCAR star Bubba WallaceBottas 'stepping up'For all of Hamilton's "personal growth," Wolff still believes Bottas can be a "strong challenger" this season, despite finishing the last championship 58 points behind in third place."We tend to underestimate that he was drafted in very late last year," says Wolff, having lured Bottas in January 2017. "Insofar as that, he has had a good season: Three race wins, three dominant race wins. "He's become a solid part of the team and now it's about stepping up a little bit and seeing where he is."JUST WATCHEDIce fishing with the Flying FinnReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHIce fishing with the Flying Finn 04:11Asked whether contract renewal would hinge upon a good start to the current campaign, Wolff wouldn't be drawn."I wouldn't want to think about the drivers' situation for next year because the moment you start to think about another pairing, you are not pushing enough anymore to give your drivers the best possible support," he said. "We discuss it all the time, but with these guys, at Formula 1 level, you don't need to remind them. They know exactly."'Keeping the diva'For Wolff, "the moment you stop improving is when you should call it a day."No wonder he is eager to hone the winning formula of the current car -- despite 15 pole positions and 12 wins last season. I would like to keep the character traits of the diva, but make her behave a little bit more.Toto Wolff, Mercedes Executive Director"I've said she was a diva because she was very quick, but not behaving," smiles the Austrian. "I would like to keep the character traits of the diva, but make her behave a little bit more." Photos: Formula One 2018 seasonFerrari – Sebastian Vettel (Germany), Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: Formula One 2018 seasonRed Bull Racing – Daniel Ricciardo (Australia), Max Verstappen (Netherlands)Hide Caption 2 of 10 Photos: Formula One 2018 seasonMercedes – Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain), Valtteri Bottas (Finland)Hide Caption 3 of 10 Photos: Formula One 2018 seasonMcLaren – Stoffel Vandoorne (Belgium), Fernando Alonso (Spain)Hide Caption 4 of 10 Photos: Formula One 2018 seasonHaas F1 Team – Romain Grosjean (France), Kevin Magnussen (Denmark)Hide Caption 5 of 10 Photos: Formula One 2018 seasonToro Rosso – Pierre Gasly (France), Brendon Hartley (New Zealand) Hide Caption 6 of 10 Photos: Formula One 2018 seasonForce India – Sergio Perez (Mexico), Esteban Ocon (France)Hide Caption 7 of 10 Photos: Formula One 2018 seasonWilliams – Lance Stroll (Canada), Sergey Sirotkin (Russia)Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos: Formula One 2018 seasonSauber – Marcus Ericsson (Sweden), Charles Leclerc (Monaco)Hide Caption 9 of 10 Photos: Formula One 2018 seasonRenault – Nico Hulkenberg (Germany), Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spain)Hide Caption 10 of 10Wolff acknowledges the divisive "halo" cockpit safety system -- implemented this year to protect drivers from flying debris and other potential hazards -- "doesn't look very good" but he concedes you "can't compromise" when lives are at stake. "It's a massive improvement for driver safety," Wolff says. "It has an effect on the car because it's pretty high up. The center of gravity has come up a little bit, which makes the setup of the car a little more tricky, but it's not a massive difference."READ: Fernando Alonso gives blessing to 'halo'A team of '1,500 superstars'Wolff demands high standards from himself as well as the car and drivers, looking into the mirror "every evening." Ready for our #F1Testing stats debrief? Delving into some of the important numbers from testing, with a little help from @PET_Motorsports 👇#F1 #DrivenByEachOther pic.twitter.com/4LCXl6WOFM— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) March 10, 2018 "Once you stop questioning and doubting yourself, you will not grow and you will not improve," he says. "You just have to find the right balance.""I think I do it myself a lot, it's part of me, but I have a wife at home who will always push me back to the ground if needed."The growth Mercedes subscribe to is holistic. It's important, he stresses, to remember the German marque is a team not of two superstars but of "1,500 superstars.""Within the team we have a very open management culture," he explains. "We are able to spot and call the inefficiencies and deficits."Who will win the 2018 Formula One Championship? Have your say on CNN Sport's Facebook page Emulating Ferrari?Fans and rivals alike have condemned the dearth of close competition in the last four years, with F1 managing director Ross Brawn warning he foresees "a continuation of the steamroller."Only Ferrari have achieved the double in five consecutive occasions, from 2000 to 2004 when Michael Schumacher was at the peak of his powers. Photos: Four-time champion Lewis Hamilton celebrates at the Mexican Grand Prix after winning a fourth F1 drivers' title. Hide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: Four-time champion Hamilton clinched his third world title at the 2015 United States Grand Prix at Austin. Hide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: Four-time champion The previous year, he won his second drivers' championship, beating Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. Hide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: Four-time champion The Briton's first triumph came in only his second season in the sport. Hamilton is seen here celebrating with his father, Anthony (left) and brother Nick after winning the 2008 world drivers' title with McLaren.Hide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: Four-time champion Hamilton has finished runner-up on two occasions. In 2007, his rookie season, he was pipped to the title by a single point in the final race by Kimi Raikkonen (right). Hide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: Four-time champion In 2016, Hamilton had to settle for second after Nico Rosberg took the title before announcing his retirement from F1. Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: Four-time champion Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel embrace at the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix. The season looked set to go down to the wire until Hamilton stormed to five wins in six races during August, September and October, ending Vettel and Ferrari's hopes of glory. Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: Four-time champion Hamilton poses for the cameras signaling his four world titles. How many more titles can the Briton win?Hide Caption 8 of 8But while he claims there's "zero" chance of complacency from his team, Wolff says he still has "a lot of worries.""We are always skeptical about whether we have done a good enough job with the car," says the 46-year-old. "Whether we have taken the right decision and not overseen any potential technological loopholes... it's that healthy skepticism where you constantly doubt yourself."Wolff has been criticized for his part in overseeing this current period of hegemony, with the former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone saying: "I blame Mercedes and Toto for putting us in the s**t we are in terms of the competition." The Austrian, though, just wants to keep on winning. Visit CNN.com/motorsport for more news and features"You need to set targets, especially after having four years of success," Wolff says. "You need to set the right objectives in order to energize yourself and the company."And yes, we want to continue be at the very forefront, win races and eventually be in a position to fight for the championship."

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Story highlightsPolice conduct search in north LondonGems, cash stolen from a safe deposit firm in London's Hatton Garden area in April Four have pleaded guilty in connection with heist; three pleaded not guilty and will face trialLondon (CNN)It's been six months since someone nabbed cash and gems -- reportedly valued at up to £200 million, or $300 million -- from safe deposit boxes in London's Hatton Garden jewelry district.Now, it appears, authorities have at least some of that loot back.The Metropolitan Police said Friday that "property was recovered" by officers the previous day in north London. The statement did not elaborate about what was found, noting the search was "part of an ongoing investigation."In April, over the four-day Easter holiday, thieves gained access to a basement vault through an elevator shaft and used a drill to bore through a 6-foot wall to reach safe deposit boxes at Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd., according to investigators. Police said that 60 to 70 boxes were opened during the burglary. How a heist is mastermindedRead MoreAuthorities declined to specify the value of the stolen money and gems, though British media reported the $300 million figure. Police faced criticism over the spectacular heist for failing to respond promptly despite a burglar alarm going off. Photos: 9 notorious multimillion-dollar heists Photos: 9 notorious multimillion-dollar heistsThieves plundered millions in valuables over Easter holiday from the vault of a safety deposit company in Hatton Garden, London's exclusive jewelry district. Stolen cash and jewelry could be worth almost $300 million (£200m), a former Scotland Yard commander told the BBC, though numerous British news organizations put the loss vastly lower, in the hundreds of thousands of pounds. Hide Caption 1 of 9 Photos: 9 notorious multimillion-dollar heistsIn July 2013, an armed robber held up a jewelry exhibition at the Carlton Hotel in the French resort city of Cannes, stealing jewels worth an estimated 102 million euros ($136 million). Hide Caption 2 of 9 Photos: 9 notorious multimillion-dollar heistsIn 1978 gangster Jimmy "The Gent" Burke stole $8 million in cash and jewels from John F. Kennedy International Airport. It was considered the largest robbery in U.S. history at the time. Burke died in 1996 while serving 20 years to life in a New York prison when he fell ill with cancer. In January 2014, five alleged mobsters were arrested on racketeering charges related to the 1978 heist.Hide Caption 3 of 9 Photos: 9 notorious multimillion-dollar heistsIn 1990, robbers posing as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's security door, then handcuffed the guards on duty to pipes in the basement. The 13 pieces of stolen artwork, including works by Rembrandt and Vermeer, were valued at $500 million, and are yet to be recovered, despite a $5 million reward offered by the museum for their recovery. Earlier this month, the museum offered $100,000 for the return of one stolen item: a 10-inch-tall gilded bronze eagle -- a finial dating from the Napoleonic era.Hide Caption 4 of 9 Photos: 9 notorious multimillion-dollar heistsA gang of robbers posing as a landscape company dug a tunnel underneath Banco Central in Fortaleza, Brazil. On a Saturday in August 2005, they broke through concrete and steel into a vault and stole $69.8 million (165 million Brazilian reais). A few involved have been caught, but it remains an open case.Hide Caption 5 of 9 Photos: 9 notorious multimillion-dollar heistsCybercriminals from New York stole $45 million from banks globally by breaking into the banks' systems to drastically increase the amount available on the cards, and then used the information about the cards to withdraw money at banks around the world. Seven were charged and the group leader, Alberto Yusi Lajud-Peña, was killed in April 2013. The photo shows suspects Elvis Rafael Rodriguez (left) and Emir Yasser Yeje, pose with bundles of cash.Hide Caption 6 of 9 Photos: 9 notorious multimillion-dollar heistsWearing suits and in professional disguise makeup, two men stole 43 items worth $65 million in the middle of the day from Graff Jewelry Store in London in 2009. They threatened employees with handguns while collecting the merchandise, then drove off in a BMW. The two men were later arrested and jailed. Among the stolen items was this platinum diamond pendant hat.Hide Caption 7 of 9 Photos: 9 notorious multimillion-dollar heistsJust hours before the United States began bombing Iraq in 2003, Saddam Hussein's family took $1 billion from the country's central bank. People who lived near the Central Bank at the time told CNN that they saw three or four trucks backed up to the bank, and that people appeared to be load money onto them. Since he was acting as an absolute ruler at the time, it may have seemed to him more like a withdrawal than a robbery.Hide Caption 8 of 9 Photos: 9 notorious multimillion-dollar heistsIn 1983, six thieves broke into the Brink's-MAT warehouse at Heathrow Airport in London, thinking they would grab a few million in cash. However, they found gold ingots, diamonds and cash worth a total of 28 million pounds (about $50 million at the time). The thieves tied up three guards, doused them in gasoline and said they would light the guards on fire if they didn't give the pass codes to the vault. Just three of 15 men involved in planning and executing the robbery were ever convicted.Hide Caption 9 of 9Nine people were arrested in May in connection with the heist. And last month, four -- John Collins, 74, Daniel Jones, 58, Terence Perkins, 67, and Brian Reader, 76 -- pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.Three other defendants denied conspiracy to commit burglary and were scheduled to go on trial starting November 16. They also face a charge of conspiracy to convert or transfer criminal property between April 1 and May 19. CNN's Simon Cullen reported from London, and CNN's Greg Botelho wrote from Atlanta.

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Story highlightsRyding first skied on dry slopesHas enjoyed recent breakthroughWon World Cup silver medal in KitzbuhelHarbors hopes of an Olympic medal (CNN)In skiing terms, Dave Ryding is something of an anomaly.While most pros were raised in Alpine countries, or Scandinavia or North America, Britain's Ryding first found his skiing legs on a dry, plastic slope in northwest England.Follow @cnnsport Forget groomed pistes and cozy alpine huts -- you're unlikely to see even a smattering of snow at the Pendle Ski Club in Lancashire. But, from these humble beginnings, Ryding has worked his way onto the international circuit and is already making history for Britain. The slalom racer enjoyed a major breakthrough at the start of 2017 when he finished second in one of skiing's most prestigious World Cup events -- the Kitzbuhel slalom in Austria.Read More"My life changed in Austria after that, people started to recognize me which was a different stress because you're trying to train and people are coming up for photos," Ryding tells CNN Alpine Edge. Ryding learned to ski on the dry slope of Pendle Ski Club near Burnley, England. "But it's what you dream of as a kid. "All the good guys were coming up to me and congratulating me and telling me what a great journey I've had. They were appreciative of where I've come from."READ: I'll be back -- Why Arnie is a regular fixture in Kitzbuhel READ: Swiss racer wins world's longest downhill in WengenREAD: 2018 Olympics -- what you need to knowOlympic dreamRyding returns to Kitzbuhel this week with hopes of replicating, or even bettering, last year's blistering run. There's an added incentive of performing this year with an Olympic Games just around the corner."I only ever dreamed of competing at the Olympics when I was a kid. I never dreamed of a medal," he says.JUST WATCHEDThe coolest things to do in LaplandReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHThe coolest things to do in Lapland 03:09"It would mean the world to me ... I try not to think too much about it. I'll start dreaming coming up to it and try and live it on the day."He may be 31, but Ryding has produced some of his best ever performances this season, finishing in the top 10 at World Cup slalom events in Zagreb, Croatia and Madonna di Campiglio, Italy. That race in Kitzbuhel was the best World Cup finish in 36 years for a British athlete, and Ryding came agonizingly close to going one better earlier this season when a crash on his second run cost him his comfortable lead in Levi, Finland. READ: Stunning images from a color blind ski photographer Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideTyrolean treasure: Kitzbuhel is the home of the infamous Hahnenkamm World Cup ski race every January, but the charming Austrian town offers much more than just a death-defying downhill. Hide Caption 1 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideSparkling gem: Kitzbuhel is a former silver mining town and a medieval jewel in the heart of Austria's Tirol, 60 miles east of Innsbruck.Hide Caption 2 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideHahnenkamm hysteria: The annual World Cup race on the Streif run is the scariest and hairiest on the circuit with thrills and plenty of spills to entertain the huge crowds that flood in. Hide Caption 3 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideBlue riband: The Hahnenkamm downhill is the highlight of the World Cup circuit and race weekend creates a carnival atmosphere in Kitzbuhel.Hide Caption 4 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideHe's back: Celebrities and the jet-set turn out in force to see and be seen. Austrian native and Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger is a regular fixture at the Hahnenkamm finish.Hide Caption 5 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideNerves of steel: The Hahnenkamm race requires guts and a no-fear approach to tackle the Streif's huge jumps, and steep, icy terrain as it plunges back towards the town. Hide Caption 6 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideFever pitch: Just making it to the bottom is a feat in itself. Plenty of racers' seasons have been ended in spectacular crashes on the treacherous descent.Hide Caption 7 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideNo guts, no glory: Winning at Kitzbuhel is the ultimate for a downhill racer. Austrian great Franz Klammer did it four times but Swiss Didier Cuche (pictured) holds the record with five wins.Hide Caption 8 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideChocolate-box charm: Away from the madness of race weekend, Kitzbuhel is one of the most beautiful settings in the Alps with a pretty, cobbled medieval center.Hide Caption 9 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideAfter dark: This being Austria, the bar scene is buzzing with plenty of watering holes to refresh thirsty skiers and snowboarders after a long day on the mountain. The Londoner pub is an Alpine institution.Hide Caption 10 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideStreet party: Kitzbuhel's pedestrianized center is perfect for ambling and taking in the upmarket boutiques, cafes and restaurants. Hide Caption 11 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideWhite playground: Kitzbuhel's skiing area is linked with that of Kirchberg. Together they offer 54 lifts and about 180 kilometers of skiing with endless backcountry opportunity. Hide Caption 12 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideSki safari: As well as the runs on the Hahnenkamm mountain, the ski region includes slopes on the Kitzbuheler Horn, as well as the interlinked areas of Jochberg, Resterhohe and Pass Thurn. Hide Caption 13 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideCruising grounds: Much of the skiing is tree lined and suits mileage hungry intermediates, although beginners and experts are well catered for.Hide Caption 14 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideAustrian hospitality: Kitzbuhel is home to myriad four and five-star hotels with a wealth of upmarket eateries and plenty of cosy huts for on-mountain refreshments.Hide Caption 15 of 16 Photos: Kitzbuhel, Austria ski resort guideMulti talented: Kitzbuhel is more than just a ski resort, with activities such as polo on ice as well as a thriving summer scene including hiking, golf and tennis.Hide Caption 16 of 16Friction burnsHis recent form is helping put his country on the skiing map, "debunking the myth," according to one British Ski and Snowboarding Association official, that Great Britain can't be competitive alongside the traditional heavyweights of the skiing world. JUST WATCHEDThe dangers of being an Alpine skierReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHThe dangers of being an Alpine skier 03:03Ryding admits that transitioning onto snow, which he first did at the age of 12, takes some getting used to after years of skiing on the same dry slope. "It's slightly different. You can transfer it to snow and, OK, you have to learn the rolls, the steeps, the ice, the slush -- the variables that come with snow," he says.READ: Lindsey Vonn -- I won't be representing President Trump in South KoreaVisit cnn.com/skiing for more news and videosHaving started his skiing career on what's essentially a stretch of carpet -- or, in his own words, "a lot of toothbrushes" that give "a hell of a friction burn if you crash" -- Ryding is reluctant to stray too far from what he knows best during the off-season as he heads indoors to practice. "People laugh at me for going indoors because [the runs are] short, it's in like a fridge, and it's not the nice surroundings we have in the mountains," he says."But I like it, I was brought up on 120 meters of ski slope and making it work. So I go there and do the same thing."

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Story highlightsPerformance can boost language learning for kids with hearing difficultiesEarly intervention means better speech outcomes for children with hearing loss.[Video: closed caption version]Culver City, California (CNN)Twenty years ago, Michelle Christie directed a stage performance. The actors were all students with hearing loss.CNN Hero Michelle ChristieAs a teacher, Christie had been helping them learn to speak -- and listen. Theater, she realized, brought a noticeable improvement in their oral language skills and self-esteem."When you have characters in costume and they're all with all their friends who had a hearing loss, they felt like they belonged," Christie said. "I remember just looking at the audience a lot and seeing parents just weep. They're just so happy to see that their child can do this."The theater group was such a success that Christie was asked to continue the program and replicate it in other cities. So, in 1997, she founded No Limits Theater Group. She traveled the country, bringing together groups of children with hearing loss to rehearse and perform plays written specifically for them.From place to place, Christie says she noticed a trend: Students who'd had more early intervention also had improved speech and reading ability. She found that low-income students were falling through the cracks because families couldn't afford the resources their children needed to succeed.Read More"It just didn't seem fair. I decided I wanted to start an educational center really helping families in poverty," she said.Today, her No Limits organization has three education centers -- located in California and Las Vegas -- offering free support and enrichment programs to children with hearing loss. The organization works with about 600 children and their families each year. No Limits has also produced 100 plays in 13 states. The group has reached more than 200,000 people nationwide."Many kids are enrolled in college or have already graduated from college. It's so exciting to see it, because now they are the future. ... I want them to dream big for their lives," Christie said. "We have kids who are pilots. We have scientists. We have lawyers. We have psychologists. There are so many successful people with hearing loss."CNN's Allie Torgan spoke with Christie about her work. Below is an edited version of their conversation.CNN: No Limits is considered an oral program. How does that work?Michelle Christie: I think there's a myth out there that when a child gets a hearing device, like hearing aids or a cochlear implant, that immediately they're fixed. It's not like wearing glasses. You put a pair of hearing aids on, that doesn't mean that you're automatically going to learn language. Some of our kids are not getting a hearing device until age 3. So, they haven't heard anything for three years, and that's a very long time. You need somebody there to help you and guide you to understand the sounds around you. For the kids from low-income families, they haven't received a lot of that early intervention. A lot of our kids tend to have low-reading skills. Parents are often told that their child's never going to learn to speak.We're building up the vocabulary; we're teaching them how to speak. We're filling in all the language, the grammar, and also teaching them how to read and write. And we also have an academic program here, so as the kids get older if they need some refreshing and academics, we're going to help them. CNN: How do you involve families in their children's progress? Christie: It's so expensive to have a child with a hearing loss. Most parents try to work more jobs and do whatever they can to pay for it. But then they're spending less time with their children. And that's what they need to do is be with their child. So the system's broken.JUST WATCHEDMeet John: From moonwalking ... to 'Glee'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMeet John: From moonwalking ... to 'Glee' 02:20 [Closed caption version]It was so important to me to make sure that the parents were involved. So when they come to No Limits, we offer a free program to allow their kids to have an equal playing field. Parents are driving, sometimes taking the bus, two hours to get here. We're teaching them what they can do with their child. They come into the speech classes; they learn from our teachers so they can apply what we're doing. It's involving the entire family, not just focusing on the child with the hearing loss. Everyone here is about believing in their potential.CNN: What inspires you to do this work?Christie: When I was a little girl I was really morbidly shy. I spent a lot of time by myself and always felt a little isolated and unconnected to the world. For me, theater broke me out of that isolation; it broke me out of that shyness. Playing somebody else seemed a little easier. It really got me through those rough, challenging childhood years.No Limits challenges kids with hearing loss to improve language skills and self-esteemI say to the parents all the time, "Whatever I can do to try to understand what you're going through, I'll do. Whatever I can do to help your child not feel alone." I don't want those children to feel the way I did.I think sometimes you look at these kids and maybe they're not speaking very well quite yet. But they will. They may be the next Picasso. They may be the next inventor. They may cure cancer. We don't know unless we give them all the tools to do well in life. Want to get involved? Check out the No Limits website and see how to help. To donate to No Limits, click the CrowdRise widget below.Michelle Christie, No Limits on CrowdRise

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Story highlights The mother of a victim vows to continue the fight for a new inquest verdict"These families have suffered a double injustice," PM David Cameron saysA panel finds that police and ambulance services sought to deflect blame to the fans96 people died and hundreds were injured in the crush at Hillsborough StadiumUK police and emergency services were heavily criticized Wednesday for their handling of a tragedy at a soccer ground in 1989 in which 96 people died, after an independent panel for the first time reviewed thousands of documents previously kept out of public sight.The crush at Sheffield's Hillsborough Stadium on April 15, 1989, has cast a lasting shadow over Liverpool and the surrounding Merseyside area.The families of those killed and injured have for two decades battled to get to the truth about what happened on that awful day -- and to overturn what the independent panel found were "strenuous attempts" by police to deflect responsibility for the disaster to Liverpool fans by falsely claiming they were drunk and aggressive.The report released Wednesday reveals serious failings by police and emergency services and casts doubt on the original inquest's finding of accidental death. The panel also says the evidence indicated as many as 41 of those crushed could potentially have survived. "A swifter, more appropriate, better focused and properly equipped response had the potential to save more lives," the report said.Prime Minister David Cameron said he is "profoundly sorry" about what happened and apologized for the long delay in giving answers to all those affected by "one of the greatest peacetime tragedies of the last century." "The new evidence that we are presented with today makes clear that these families have suffered a double injustice," he told lawmakers in the House of Commons. "The injustice of the appalling events -- the failure of the state to protect their loved ones and the indefensible wait to get to the truth. "And the injustice of the denigration of the deceased -- that they were somehow at fault for their own deaths."Cameron's apology on behalf of the government was the first offered to those whose lives were devastated by the Hillsborough disaster.The tragedy occurred when thousands of fans were let in through a gate into an already crowded standing area, leading many to be crushed against metal fences and concrete walls.Horrifying images from the scene showed panicked men, women and children pushed and trampled with nowhere to go as police lost control of the crowd. Of some 25,000 Liverpool fans who had traveled to Sheffield to watch their team play, 96 never came home.The victims' families, whose long campaign for justice led to the establishment last year of the Hillsborough Independent Panel, were the first to see its report Wednesday morning. Speaking at a vigil held in Liverpool Wednesday evening, Margaret Aspinall of the Hillsborough Family Support Group said the families' journey was nearly over but one more step remained: for a new inquest to be held.Anne Williams of the group Hope for Hillsborough said her teenage son Kevin was one of those who might have lived with appropriate medical help.She also insisted on the need for a new inquest. "My son and 95 Liverpool fans did not die in an accident. They were unlawfully killed at the least," she said.In its study of about 450,000 pages of documents, the panel found evidence that South Yorkshire Police sought to deflect responsibility for the disaster to Liverpool fans, presenting a case that emphasized exceptional levels of drunkenness and aggression among them.There is no evidence to support this view, the report said."A narrative about hooliganism on that day was created which led many in the country to accept that it was somehow a gray area," Cameron said."Today's report is black and white. The Liverpool fans 'were not the cause of the disaster.'"The panel's analysis of the evidence found that substantive amendments were made by South Yorkshire Police to remove and alter comments unfavorable to their organization.Of 164 police statements that were "significantly amended," 116 were doctored to remove negative comments about the force's response and leadership, the report said.The insult was compounded by a story published at the time in The Sun newspaper, headlined "The Truth," in which it was falsely reported that Liverpool fans had been drunk, violent and had stolen from the dead.Those false claims have for the first time been traced back to South Yorkshire Police sources, Cameron said.The current editor of The Sun, Dominic Mohan, said in a statement released Thursday that the newspaper is "deeply ashamed and profoundly sorry" for having reported that untrue version of events."Twenty-three years ago The Sun newspaper made a terrible mistake. We published an inaccurate and offensive story about the events at Hillsborough. We said it was the truth -- it wasn't," he wrote.The report also shows for the first time that South Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service documents were subject to the same kind of alterations as those of police, and that the ambulance service failed to implement its major incident plan properly. Relatives have long believed that some of those caught up in the crush could have lived if they had received timely medical treatment.An investigation by safety officers found that the grounds were structurally unsafe and that the stadium, which is home to the Sheffield Wednesday football club, should not have been used for the match, in which Liverpool played Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semifinal.Severely restricted turnstiles, poor conditions on the terraces and inadequate safety barriers with virtually no means of escape all contributed to the deadly crush, the panel found.The panel's report also raised profound concerns about the conduct of the original inquest into the deaths, held in 1991, which operated on the assumption that all the deaths occurred within 15 minutes of the crush.Cameron said the attorney general would study the newly revealed evidence immediately, and could choose to request a new inquest.He said that while the panel found the language used in government papers at the time was "insensitive," it found no evidence that the government, then headed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, tried to conceal the truth of what had happened.Cameron said the report would make "harrowing" and uncomfortable reading for many people, but it was right that the truth had finally been revealed.The Right Rev. James Jones, bishop of Liverpool, who chaired the panel, said it had produced the report "in the profound hope that greater transparency will bring to the families and the wider public a greater understanding of the tragedy and its aftermath." "For it is only with this transparency," he added, "that the families and survivors, who have behaved with such dignity, can with some sense of truth and justice cherish the memory of their 96 loved ones."A two-minute silence will be held in Liverpool on Wednesday afternoon in memory of those killed.The current chief constable of South Yorkshire Police, David Crompton, said he is "profoundly sorry" for what had happened on April 15, 1989, and for what had followed."On that day South Yorkshire Police failed the victims and families. The police lost control," he said."In the immediate aftermath senior officers sought to change the record of events. Disgraceful lies were told which blamed the Liverpool fans for the disaster."Statements were altered which sought to minimize police blame. These actions have caused untold pain and distress for over 23 years."However, the force is "a very different place in 2012 from what it was 23 years ago," he added, and it is committed to being open and transparent as the panel seeks answers.An online archive of the documents is to be made available to the public beginning Wednesday.Sheffield Wednesday, which still plays at Hillsborough, also offered its "sincere condolences and an apology to all the families who have suffered" as a result of the tragedy, in an online statement.The impact of English football's darkest day lives on in the tributes still paid by Liverpool to its lost sons and daughters, husbands and fathers.But the tragedy also forced the sport to change on a national basis, and in a way still felt today, with stadiums modernized and made more family friendly, leading in turn to greater investment from sponsors and TV broadcasters.

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(CNN)Andy Murray dedicated his Montreal Masters victory over Novak Djokovic Sunday to his coach Amelie Mauresmo, after the Frenchwoman became a mother for the first time.Mauresmo giving birth was the second bit of baby-related news Murray has received recently, following reports wife Kim Sears is pregnant with their first child.Follow @cnnsport "I'm not sure she will have stayed up to watch this one but, Amelie, this one's for you," Murray said while holding his trophy. "Novak made it extremely difficult out there."The Serb had complained he smelt cannabis on court in his semifinal clash but he's now getting used to the whiff of a rare defeat.The world number one, the winner of two of three grand slams this season, was beaten 6-4 4-6 6-3 by the Scot, who moved to No.2 in the rankings Monday.Read MoreMurray, who has found Djokovic an immovable hurdle since his triumphs of 2012 and 2013, recorded a win over the Serbian for the first time since his Wimbledon victory two years ago.With two weeks to go to the U.S. Open it is a major confidence boost for Murray, who won his first grand slam title at Flushing Meadows in 2012.JUST WATCHEDScotland's Royal WeddingReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHScotland's Royal Wedding 03:38He closed out victory after three hours on his fifth match point as Wimbledon champion Djokovic -- who beat Murray in the French Open semis and the Australian Open final -- battled in typical fashion, having been broken early in the deciding set.Murray's victory also ended a number of streaks by Djokovic, who had won 12 straight Masters 1000 finals and was in the middle of a 30-match winning run at this level, with victories at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Rome this year.The pair had exchanged the opening two sets, both achieved after taking early leads, being broken back but then securing a further break of service.Murray has also secured his spot at the end of season ATP World Tour Finals with his 35th career crown and third at the Rogers Cup in Canada.Assistant Jonas Bjorkman was in the stands in Mauresmo's place as their charge won his fourth title of a resurgent 2015.Bencic triumphMeanwhile, Swiss teen Belinda Bencic added to her growing reputation by grinding down Simona Halep to win the women's WTA event in Toronto.Bencic, who upset world number one Serena Williams in the semifinals, won 7-6 6-7 3-0 when the Romanian retired because of the effort of battling in the extreme heat.The 18-year-old Bencic, mentored by Martina Hingis, has won 21 of her last 25 matches on the WTA Tour and is rapidly rising up the rankings to 12th after her Rogers Cup success, the youngest winner since 2006.

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Story highlightsPuig close to achieving new fund-raising target of $100,000Initial goal of $25,000 for 'Help Rebuild Puerto Rico' was reached She has reached out to pop star Luis Fonsi Puig: 'We need help and we need it now' (CNN)Monica Puig is closing in on her new goal of raising $100,000 to assist Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria battered the island, insisting that the US territory needs all the help it can get -- and immediately. Follow @cnnsport And the tennis ace -- who became Puerto Rico's first ever Olympic gold medalist at last year's Rio Games -- says she has been in touch with pop superstar and fellow Puerto Rican Luis Fonsi to see what else can be done to help a week after Maria battered the island with torrential rains and 155-mile-per-hour winds."I have gotten in contact with some big names in Puerto Rico, for example Luis Fonsi, trying to decide what other things we can do to raise funds, trying to discuss different projects to continue to help Puerto Rico in any way we can," Puig, who turned 24 on Wednesday, told CNN. "This really means so much, not just to have these Puerto Ricans helping but they have big names and they are globally known, so we can continue to grab the attention of the people and say, 'Help Puerto Rico, they're in crisis now.'"Hurricane Maria may have cut the lights in Puerto Rico but not the fire in our hearts. Together we will rise! https://t.co/7idjtL4fZq ❤️🇵🇷 pic.twitter.com/h6z9OVy6aT— Monica Puig (@MonicaAce93) September 24, 2017 Fonsi's hit single 'Despacito,' which features Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee, has been viewed more than 3.8 billion times on YouTube. The video was filmed in San Juan.Read More"Watching the images of the video and comparing it to the images I've seen so far -- it's devastated," Daddy Yankee told CNN in a separate interview, adding that he donated $100,000 to Feeding America and another $100,000 to the Red Cross."I know a lot of people are struggling. There's no communication, no power on the island, the hospitals are not working."We need the government to be more proactive."Monica Puig is pictured in action at the Wuhan Open.'We need help and we need it now'JUST WATCHEDExclusive look at island devastated by Maria ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHExclusive look at island devastated by Maria 02:31Puig chose her words carefully when asked if the US's response has been fast enough but the world No. 77 said: "The only thing I can say is that we need help and we need it now. I don't want to see suffering in Puerto Rico."We need all the help we can get from wherever we can get it. I just don't want to see lives lost due to this crisis. It means a lot, anyone who is willing to help."We just need their help as quickly as possible."The death toll in Puerto Rico from Maria stands at 16 and as of Wednesday, 97% of the population remained in the dark, according to Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló. Half of the commonwealth's 3.4 million people didn't have running water.Rosselló said the energy grid "has been destroyed" and that that "does not get rebuilt in days." Photos: Golden girl's tennis riseTennis player Monica Puig waves to the crowd after arriving back in Puerto Rico from the Rio 2016 Olympics, where she became her country's first gold medalist.Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Golden girl's tennis risePuig, who has never reached the quarterfinals of a grand slam tournament, was a shock winner of the women's singles event. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Golden girl's tennis riseAfter seven decades of waiting, Puerto Rico's anthem -- "La Borinqueña" -- finally heralded an Olympic champion. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Golden girl's tennis riseRanked 34th, she was overcome with emotion after upsetting second seed Angelique Kerber in the final. Puig earlier defeated world No. 4 Garbine Muguruza and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Golden girl's tennis risePuig became the first Puerto Rican woman to win an Olympic medal of any color and the first unseeded player to become champion since women's tennis was reintroduced at the 1988 Olympics.Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Golden girl's tennis risePuerto Rico's Olympic team -- which won just one medal in Rio -- was welcomed back home after the August 5-21 Games. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Golden girl's tennis risePuig told CNN's Open Court show that she hopes the US territory, which is beset by economic and social problems, will take hope from her triumph.Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Golden girl's tennis risePuig took part in the Arthur Ashe Kids' Day with fellow tennis pros Steve Johnson and Venus Williams, but her first tournament after the Olympics ended with first-round defeats in both singles and doubles at the US Open.Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Golden girl's tennis riseBefore 2016, Puig had just one career title on the WTA Tour -- but she reached the final in Sydney at the start of the new season. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Golden girl's tennis riseAfter reaching the third round at the Australian and French Opens, Puig lost her opening match at Wimbledon.Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Golden girl's tennis riseAs a junior, Puig was a losing finalist in the 2011 Australian Open and French Open (pictured) girls' events. Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Golden girl's tennis risePuig is not the first Puerto Rican tennis player to win Olympic gold. Gigi Fernandez (left) was a two-time women's doubles champion representing the United States at the 1992 and 1996 Games. She played for her native country at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, when tennis was a demonstration sport, before switching allegiances. Hide Caption 12 of 12US President Donald Trump intends to visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday, by which time Puig could well reach her fund raising target of $100,000 after her initial goal of $25,000 was quickly achieved. Early Thursday, the "Help Rebuild Puerto Rico" fund stood at just over $82,000.READ: Puerto Rico had half as many people the last time it saw a hurricane this badVisit CNN.com/sport/tennis for more news and features "I've been talking countlessly with my agent and my parents to see what exactly it is that we want to do (with the money)," said Puig."I think the thing we're going to focus most on is getting medicine, solar-powered lamps, portable stoves, because Puerto Rico is going to be out of power for a very long time."These are essentials people need in order to have food, light, power, somehow. It's very important and these are some of the essentials I plan to give to the people of Puerto Rico as soon as possible."Interview by CNN's Christina Macfarlane. Click here if you would like to donate to Monica Puig's cause, Help Rebuild Puerto Rico

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(CNN)A 16-year-old was arrested Tuesday and charged with murder for selling a fentanyl-laced pill to a child who died of a drug overdose, California prosecutors said. The 12-year-old girl who ingested most of the pill was the youngest person to overdose and die in 2020 in Santa Clara County, the district attorney's office said in a news release. The child, who was not identified, bought and consumed a pill with a label consistent with the painkiller oxycodone. She was declared dead after she was rushed to a hospital. "After thousands of deaths, everyone should know that fentanyl is a deadly poison," District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in the statement.The 12-year-old, along with two teens, contacted the suspect on November 14, 2020, and bought an "M-30" pill, according to statement from the district attorney's office.Read More"The group videoed her lining up the crushed pill for ingestion," the statement said. Afterward, the girl passed out and began snoring, which is a sign of fentanyl overdose, the statement said.Fentanyl is a synthetic drug that can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, and it's commonly used to resemble prescription drugs, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is often added to other drugs by dealers "because of its extreme potency, which makes drugs cheaper, more powerful, more addictive, and more dangerous," the CDC said.Drug overdose deaths top 100,000 annually for the first time, driven by fentanyl, CDC data showOverall, opioids continue to be the driving cause of fatal drug overdoses in the United States. Last year saw a record high of drug overdose deaths, with more than 100,000 people dying from April 2020 to April 2021, according to provisional data published in November by the CDC.It was a 28.5% spike compared to the same period a year earlier and nearly doubling over the past five years.Synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl, also caused nearly two-thirds of all drug overdose deaths in the same 12-month timeframe period, according to the data. Prosecutors around the nation have signaled a greater willingness to bring the serious charge of murder against dealers who supply buyers with potent drugs that can easily kill."These dealers are essentially handing a loaded gun to unsuspecting victims knowing that they will probably die and they don't care," said Orange County California District Attorney Todd Spitzer late last year in announcing a more aggressive prosecution effort by his office.

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Story highlightsBarcelona surpass Real Madrid's record for best start to La Liga season with 5-1 over BilbaoMessi scores twice to leave him one short of Gerd Muller's record for most goals in a calendar yearRonaldo and Ozil score for Real as they beat Atletico in Madrid derby Mauricio Pellegrino sacked as manager of Valencia following 5-2 defeat by Real SociedadA Lionel Messi brace helped Barcelona to a 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao and a new La Liga record on Saturday.With 13 wins and one draw so far, Tito Vilanova's side surpass the previous record for the best start to a season set by Real Madrid back in 1991-92.Gerard Pique put the home side ahead in the 22nd minute with Messi doubling the lead three minutes later. Adriano all but sealed the points with a goal at the end of the first half and Cesc Fabregas made doubly sure 12 minutes after the restart. Ibai Gomez goal in the 66th minute ensured Bilbao's trip wasn't completely wasted but it was Messi who once again had the final say putting away his second of the match moments later.The Argentine is now one goal away from equaling German Gerd Muller's record of 85 goals in a calendar year set in 1972. JUST WATCHEDRonaldo's best ever goal?ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRonaldo's best ever goal? 03:02JUST WATCHEDA different side of Cristiano RonaldoReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHA different side of Cristiano Ronaldo 01:14Read: Football remembers 'Christmas truce'Barcelona's nearest rivals in the title chase squared up to each other in the Madrid derby with Real overcoming Atletico 2-0 at the Bernabeu. A stunning 30-yard free kick from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 15th minute put Jose Mourinho's men ahead before Mesut Ozil securing all three points with a strike in the 65th minute. The result sees Real reduce their arrears with Atletico to five points with Barca still 11 points ahead. Earlier on Saturday, Mauricio Pellegrino was sacked as manager of Valencia following a 5-2 defeat at the hands of Real Sociedad. The result sees Philippe Montanier's side move up to seventh, one place behind Getafe who beat fourth-placed Malaga 1-0. Meanwhile in Serie A, Juventus extended their lead over Napoli -- who play Pescara on Sunday -- to five points with a 3-0 home win over Torino. The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 40th minute when Polish defender Kamil Glik was shown a red card. Juventus took full toll of the numerical advantage in the second half with two goals from Claudio Marchisio and one from Sebastian Giovinco.

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(CNN)President Joe Biden marked the one-year anniversary of signing the American Rescue Plan into law with a trip to Philadelphia, where he celebrated the pandemic recovery plan's passage with Democratic members of Congress and touted the law's educational funding at a local elementary school.During his keynote speech at the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference, the President credited members in the room for successfully passing the American Rescue Plan, saying, "Few pieces of legislation -- no hyperbole -- in American history have done more to lift this country out of a crisis than what you did." Biden discussed what times were like for many Americans before the landmark law was passed last year and Covid-19 vaccines were not widely available, recalling long lines at food banks, job insecurity and eviction fears. He underscored how Democrats passed the law without the help of any GOP members. "We did it alone, without one single solitary Republican vote. The American economy was flat on its back. It was the Democrats -- it was you -- that brought us back," he said. The Philadelphia visit also included a stop at the Hon. Luis Muñoz-Marín Elementary School, which was intended to highlight how that $1.9 trillion package's education funding delivers "critical resources to keep schools safe and open, combat learning loss and address student mental health," a White House official told CNN. Read MoreThe White House told CNN that the School District of Philadelphia received $1.1 billion from the American Rescue Plan's Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. The funds are being used for facilities, mental health supports, as well as before-school, after-school and summer programs. The President spoke with teachers about the school's use of the Covid-19 funds, visiting a classroom and hold conversations with students at the majority-Hispanic school. While visiting students in a classroom, one student thanked the President for being able to return to in-person learning. "Makes a big difference being in school than on a computer, doesn't it?" he asked. Muñoz-Marín Elementary School, the White House official said ahead of the visit, has used funding for a number of the measures he outlined. Already, the school has set up after-school reading intervention groups for students in first through third grades for those who are struggling to transition back to the classroom or are Spanish speakers, the official said. With the American Rescue Plan funds, the school has hired more academic coaches for teachers and funded after-school "enrichment programs" to improve classroom culture.Signed last year on March 11, the emergency assistance package secured about $128 billion for K-12 schools to help them facilitate remote learning or reopen and operate safely while combating learning losses. Money was also targeted to help students with disabilities and youth experiencing homelessness.Biden, in his State of the Union address last week, had called on the nation to "take on mental health.""Especially among our children, whose lives and education have been turned upside down," he said in those remarks. "The American Rescue Plan gave schools money to hire teachers and help students make up for lost learning. I urge every parent to make sure your school does just that."According to a fact sheet, the White House credits the American Rescue Plan with increasing school operations from 46% open before the measure to 99% of schools currently open. The White House also credits the emergency package with leading to record growth in local education jobs that it says "are critical to meeting students' academic and mental health needs," among other benefits."Although there is more work to do to address longstanding educator shortages and return to pre-pandemic levels, ARP has led to record jobs growth in the education sector," the fact sheet states. "Local governments added more than 279,000 education jobs in 2021 -- the best calendar year of jobs growth since records began in 1956 -- and added an additional nearly 46,000 jobs in the first two months of 2022."Earlier this year, the Biden administration sought to keep schools open as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus swept the US.The administration announced in January that it would distribute 5 million free rapid tests and 5 million free PCR tests to schools each month in an effort to keep classrooms open. In October, it had released a seven-point plan to address rising mental health concerns among students across the country.

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(CNN)LeBron James hit the game-winning shot on his return to Cleveland to give his team a 163-160 victory over Team Durant in the NBA All-Star Game.Team James was given a target of 163 to win the game after Team Durant led by 139-138 going into the fourth quarter, with 24 points added to the leading score in memory of Kobe Bryant's old jersey number.Steph Curry earned the new Kobe Bryant Trophy as the All-Star Game's most valuable player after hitting 50 points -- just two shy of Anthony Davis' all-time record -- and a new All-Star Game record 16 three-pointers.Curry shattered the previous record of nine set by Paul George in 2016.The Golden State Warriors guard and his All-Star game teammate James, who scored 24 points, were among the players honored at half time in the top 75 NBA players of all time, a list drawn up to celebrate the league's 75th anniversary.Read MoreREAD: Lebron James says final NBA season will be played with his son in interview with The AthleticSteph Curry and LeBron James put on a show in their home state."Steph, I mean, come on, man," James said. "This guy is from a different planet."He literally has an automatic sniper connected to his arm and, when he lets it go, not only himself but everybody on the floor, in the stands, on TV, on their phones, whatever you're watching on, you think it's going in every time."And nine times out of 10, sometimes 10 times out of 10, it does go in. So to be out there and watch that kid from Akron as well shoot the ball the way he shot it, it was unbelievable. It was pretty cool."Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo added another 30 points for Team James, with the Philadelphia 76ers' MVP candidate Joel Embiid leading Team Durant with 36 points.Michael Jordan and LeBron James share a moment after the 75th anniversary team selection.Curry's game-high 50 included hitting a remarkable five threes in just over two minutes of play, as the Ohio-born guard put on a show in his home state."This trophy has a very special meaning, honoring Kobe and Gigi, everybody that was lost two years ago," Curry said of winning the Kobe Bryant Trophy.Bryant and his daughter Gigi were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash in January 2020."I'm very humbled, very blessed and I really appreciate it."

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(CNN)Fifth seed Kiki Bertens left the court in a wheelchair Wednesday after her grueling, fiery three-set victory over Sara Errani in the second round of the French Open.Bertens struggled with cramps as the final set developed, eventually sinking to the clay in relief and pain following her 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 9-7 victory, which took three hours and 11 minutes.The Dutchwoman had to overcome a 5-2 deficit and save a match-point in the third set while struggling with cramps that became so bad she needed the wheelchair at Roland Garros. Errani, who appeared to mock Bertens' cramp during the game, left the court without tapping racquets at the net as is customary, and also shouted an obscenity as she departed. "After one hour, she's injured but then she's running around like never before," Errani, runner-up at the French Open in 2012, told the media.Read More"She leaves the court in a chair and now she's in the locker room and eating in the restaurant, perfect. She exaggerated. It made me very angry. So, well done to her, but she can win without doing that."READ: 'Wouldn't give to a dog to chew': Tennis players complain about new balls at French OpenBertens is taken off the court in a wheelchair after winning her marathon match against Errani.Easing throughFor the clay-court expert Rafael Nadal, it was more of the same Wednesday. The Spaniard dropped just four games as he breezed past American Mackenzie McDonald to advance to the third round, winning 6-1, 6-0, 6-3. It took Nadal just 35 minutes to win the first set and, after breaking McDonald's opening service game of the second set, he dominated the match.The 34-year-old faced zero break points and hit only 15 unforced errors.Nadal plays a forehand during his match against McDonald."I am just trying my best every single day. I am working hard in every practice to try to be better and better in every match," Nadal said. "Today was not that cold, so that's the main thing. Not that cold, the conditions are not that bad."Nadal has won the French Open a record 12 times and has lost only two French Open matches since 2005. Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosThe 19-time Grand Slam winner is aiming to lift the trophy for the fourth year in a row.The world No. 2 will face Kei Nishikori or Italian Stefano Travaglia in the next round.

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Story highlightsTrump does not see himself as a normal politician, Van Jones saysDonald Trump made comments Monday that 3 to 5 million votes in this year's election were illegal (CNN)It's only been five days since the inauguration of President Donald Trump and it's been a week filled with executive actions and demonstrations. In the CNN series "The Messy Truth," airing Wednesday night, host Van Jones asks whether it's week one of a Trump presidency or week one of anti-Trump resistance. Van Jones: Both political parties kind of suck"The truth has never been messier than it has been these past six days," he said. "We've got a boastful, strong man who plays fast and loose with the facts."Jones, an outspoken Democrat and former adviser to the Obama administration, argued that in a divided nation there must be an attempt to understand our new President. "Consider there may actually be a method to all this madness," he said. "Remember, Trump does not see himself as a normal politician. And he never had the strategy of a normal politician. A normal politician who wants to prove himself would just point to the Constitution and the Electoral College and be done with it. But notice something, Trump almost never mentions the Constitution. Instead, he talks about polls and ratings and crowd sizes. Why? Because Trump sees himself as the leader of a mass movement -- first and foremost."Van Jones: I have 'emotional whiplash' after Trump, Obama eventsJones said when tackling the unproven claims Trump has made since November's election, alleging millions of illegal votes were cast, Americans need to understand his mythology and strategy, which is to position himself as a populist president.Read More"It actually rational in his mind for him to talk numbers," he said. "It's not just psychopathy. It's also strategy.".@VanJones68: "The truth has never been messier" #TheMessyTruth https://t.co/rqiJJnTPkZ— CNN (@CNN) January 26, 2017 "The Messy Truth" is a trademark of Magic Labs Media, LLC. All rights reserved.

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(CNN)Liverpool came from a goal behind to beat Southampton 3-1 and regain its position at the top of the English Premier League. Despite being frustrated for much of the night, Jurgen Klopp's side could rely on Mohamed Salah to find a dramatic breakthrough in the 80th minute with the scores level at 1-1. The Egyptian's solo effort was his first goal in nine games and last season's top scorer celebrated breaking his drought by taking off his shirt in front of the delirious away supporters. The invaluable three points takes the Merseyside outfit two points clear of title rivals Manchester City in second, though Liverpool have played a game more.Liverpool's Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah celebrates after a wonderful goal. READ: Hillsborough: Jury fails to reach verdict in David Duckenfield trialRead MoreREAD: Tottenham opens $1.3 billion stadium in London with win The pressure of trying to secure its first domestic title in 29 years seemed to get the better of Liverpool in the early stages and, despite starting the night just five points from the relegation zone, it was Southampton that took the lead on an atmospheric night at the St Mary's Stadium. Striker Shane Long capitalized on some lackluster defending to open the scoring in the ninth minute -- securing his 50th English Premier League goal in the process. Liverpool found an unlikely source for its equalizer before the half-time whistle though. Naby Keita jumped highest to score his first goal for the club, heading in a wonderful cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold to settle the nerves -- albeit amid protests that Salah had strayed offside in the build-up to the goal. The stage was then set for the Egyptian to strike home his 50th English Premier League goal after a brilliant counter attacking move. Salah picked the ball up in his own half and drove at the retreating defenders before producing a crafted finish past static goalkeeper Angus Gunn. Substitute Jordan Henderson, who seemed to change the game when he came on, capped off an important night with a third goal in the closing stages."I knew it would be difficult. Southampton have been well organized. We scored two wonderful goals," Liverpool manager Klopp told BBC Sport. "What a goal [from Salah]. He couldn't pass because Firmino couldn't get into the right position. The defender could not concentrate on Mo. Wow, what a goal." Liverpool was made to work hard on an atmospheric night at the St Mary's Stadium. READ: England international Danny Rose 'can't wait to see the back of football'Money talksAs Liverpool vies for top spot in the English Premier League, the Merseyside club is the leader of the pack when it comes to payments on player agents' fees, according to England's Football Association.The club paid intermediaries or agents $57.2 million (£43,795,863) between February 2018 and January 2019 -- $22 million more than its nearest rival.Liverpool spent almost double the amount rivals Manchester United forked out and over $30 million more than title rivals Manchester City. Liverpool's outlay is a reflection of $226 million recruitment strategy that targeted the acquisition of Brazilians Alisson and Fabinho, Guinea international Naby Keita and Swiss international Xherdan Shaqiri ahead of the start of the 2018/2019 season.During transfers, clubs will employ agents to help facilitate deals. Intermediaries and agents will also represent players.As most agents' fees are paid in installments, that $57.2 million sum may also take into account the deals done for the likes of Virgil van Dijk, who joined Liverpool in the 2018 January transfer window, and Salah, who signed for Jurgen Klopp's team in June 2017. Liverpool spent $35 million on agents' fees for the previous period.Liverpool spent the most on agents' fees last year. In total, the 20 English Premier League clubs spent $340.7 million on such fees last year, eclipsing the 2017/18 record of $275.8 million. Despite being way off the pace in this season's title race, Chelsea spent the second-highest amount -- $35 million -- on agent's fees, while relegation threatened Burnley paid the least -- just over $5 million to intermediaries.Liverpool host Porto next week in the first-leg of its Champions League quarterfinal before resuming its title bid against Chelsea on Sunday.

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(CNN)Veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic fired AC Milan to a 2-0 victory over Bologna on Monday in its opening game of the new Serie A season. The 38-year-old, who referred to himself as Benjamin Button on social media, defied his age once again to score a brace and help extend Milan's unbeaten run in all competitions to 15 games. The striker netted a trademark header in the first half before converting a penalty in the second to put the game to bed. The Swede had the perfect opportunity to add to his tally but missed an open goal to somehow deny himself a hat-trick -- smartly rounding the keeper before blazing his shot off target. View this post on Instagram Benjamin Button A post shared by Zlatan Ibrahimović (@iamzlatanibrahimovic) on Sep 21, 2020 at 4:11pm PDT "If I was 20 years old, I'd have scored another two," he told reporters after the game.Read More"I don't want people to talk about my age, I want to be treated the same as everyone else. It doesn't matter if I am 38, I want to be treated like someone aged 20 and do the same work."Ibrahimovic on formIbrahimovic's performance was watched by a 1,000 spectators who were allowed into the San Siro stadium under the new regulations.Milan, which was hit hard by the pandemic, invited the city's healthcare workers to fill the designated seats. Such form from the Rossoneri suggests a push for Serie A's Champions League places is a possibility after it finished sixth last season. On current form, Ibrahimovic -- who now has 14 goals in 22 matches since rejoining Milan in 2020 -- will be central to the club's Champions League ambitions."They had Ibrahimovic and we didn't," Bologna manager Sinisa Mihajlovic told reporters after the game. "Everything they created came from him. Apart from that, it was an even match."Manchester City started the new season with a 3-1 win over Wolves. Great start for CityManchester City also began the new Premier League season in fine form.Pep Guardiola's team navigated a tricky opening match against Wolverhampton Wanderers, who beat City twice in the league last season, but were worthy winners on the night. Goals from Phil Foden and a penalty from the majestic Kevin De Bruyne put the visitors in the driving seat at halftime before Wolves began mounting a comeback. A wonderful header from striker Raul Jimenez made for an interesting end to the game but any hopes of a draw were distinguished by Gabriel Jesus, with the Brazilian's stoppage-time shot ricocheting into the net. The 3-1 win means Manchester City has equaled a record for the most consecutive opening game victories in English top-flight football. Aston Villa also won 10 season openers between 1891-92 and 1900-01.

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(CNN)A "dangerous and predatory" former English National Ballet principal dancer has been found guilty of sexually assaulting his teenage students.Yat-Sen Chang, 49, was on Tuesday convicted at London's Isleworth Crown Court of 12 counts of sexual assault and one count of assault by penetration, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement sent to CNN.Chang assaulted the four women, aged between 16 and 18 at the time, through inappropriate massages as he worked as part of the English National Ballet and Young Dancers Academy, the CPS said. The crimes took place from December 2009 to February 2016, and a police investigation was opened in April 2016 after a victim reported the abuse.In the UK, victims of sexual offences receive lifelong anonymity from the moment they make an allegation.Read MoreDuring one incident, Chang asked a victim to lie down and began massaging her leg before moving his hands higher up, the CPS said, adding that the victim became concerned and told him to stop.In another incident with the same woman, the CPS said, Chang led the victim to the men's changing area, got undressed and tried to hug her."Yat-Sen Chang used his position as a famed and trusted ballet teacher to groom and sexually assault teenage dancers under his training," Nahid Mannan, from the CPS, said."At 20 years their senior, Chang would have been well aware that his conduct was grossly inappropriate and predatory. Yet he used his power and influence to abuse and sexually intimidate his young victims," Mannan added.Yat-Sen Chang was described by police as a "dangerous and predatory" individual.Mannan said that, throughout the trial, Chang had claimed that, while he advised students to get massages or to stretch to help with tight calves, he didn't offer to massage students himself, and had only touched students to correct posture during lessons."However, the strong prosecution case which included evidence provided by the victims in pre-recorded video interviews, meant that the jury were able to convict Chang for his crimes," Mannan said.The Metropolitan Police said in a statement Tuesday that Chang was found unanimously guilty of 13 counts and acquitted of one count.Detective Constable Helen Larson, from the Met's West Area Child Abuse Unit, said: "Chang is a dangerous and predatory individual who targeted these young victims. He abused his position of trust and power to prey on them when they were most vulnerable."Judge Edward Connell told Chang his offending "escalated in seriousness" and said the dancer faces a "lengthy custodial sentence," PA media news agency reported. He will be sentenced on June 18.Chang is Cuban and lives in the German city of Kiel, PA said. He joined the English National Ballet in 1993 and was a principal dancer until 2011, where he danced in "The Nutcracker," "Coppelia" and "Sleeping Beauty," according to his Theater Kiel profile. Chang said during the trial that he had "no idea" why the allegations were made against him and denied touching any of the complainants in an inappropriate or sexual way, PA reported.CNN has attempted to contact Chang's representatives and has contacted the English National Ballet for comment. Following legal advice, the board of Theater Kiel has decided Chang will be "suspended immediately," a spokesperson told CNN in a statement. "The theater will be examining further steps," they added.

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(CNN)Austria's parliament has approved the European Union's strictest Covid-19 vaccine mandate, making it compulsory for the country's residents over the age of 18 to get the shot. The legislation is set to be ratified before it is expected to come into effect on February 4. However, Austrian officials will only begin conducting checks to see if the mandate is being adhered to from March 15. Starting then, those without a vaccine certificate or an exemption could be slapped with initial fines of 600 euro ($680).Pregnant people and those who cannot be vaccinated without endangering their health are exempt from the law, according to the Austrian Health Ministry's website. People who are recovering from a Covid-19 infection are also exempt for 180 days from the date they received their first positive PCR Covid-19 test.The bill passed by a vote of 137-33. Lawmakers debated for more than seven hours in parliament before the vote, in which 13 MPs did not participate. The Austrian government on Thursday introduced another incentive for people to get vaccinated: A lottery. Austrian citizens will get one lottery ticket for each vaccine shot they have had, meaning three tickets in total for those who have had their booster shots. Every 10th ticket will win a 500 euro ($568) gift voucher, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said.Read More"To put it bluntly, we have earmarked up to 1 billion euro for the vaccination lottery which is based on reward and incentive,'' Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said at a news conference hours before the vote in parliament. "I believe it's totally justified to spend this money."Cases of Covid-19 in Austria have soared to levels not seen since the start of the pandemic due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. On Wednesday, Austrian authorities recorded 27,667 new infections in 24 hours, according to data from the Austria's Health Ministry.The vaccine mandate legislation was, however, proposed in November as officials attempted to stem Austria's fifth wave.At the time, the country had some of the lowest vaccination rates in the EU. The country's immunization rate has since increased to 71.7%, higher than the EU average. The new law will last until January 31, 2024 and will be implemented in stages, according to the health ministry. Every Austrian household will receive a letter explaining the mandate from February 1, when the law goes into effect, until March 15, the day compliance checks begin. Austrian officials will be able to search a national database that lists the vaccination status of every resident, or the date that they must be vaccinated by.Unvaccinated people will eventually face a maximum fine of 3,600 euro ($4,000) for up to four times a year if they are not on the vaccine register by their assigned vaccination date. Authorities can waive the fine if a person gets vaccinated within two weeks of receiving the penalty notice.The law is among the most punitive measures rolled out by Western lawmakers in recent months as they attempt to curb the socioeconomic burdens of the pandemic. France is also cracking down on the unvaccinated. The French government recently passed a bill that requires people to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated in order to access a wide range of everyday activities, such as visiting restaurants and bars and taking long-distance public transport between regions. Italy has mandated that everyone above the age of 50 be vaccinated or risk a fine, and Germany requires anyone who has not received their booster to show negative Covid-19 test results before entering public venues. Correction: This story has been updated to correct the date that Austria's Covid-19 vaccine mandate is expected to come into force.CNN's Nina Avramova contributed reporting.

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Story highlightsNick Kyrgios wins Tokyo crownAussie still in contention to make year-end ATP finalsAttitude and on-court behavior questioned in past (CNN)Given his past, no one will be saying that Nick Kyrgios' controversial ways are long gone but the young Australian certainly had an uplifting week at the Japan Open. Indeed, for those who are pulling for Kyrgios to make the most of his immense ability, the signs were promising.Follow @cnnsport Kyrgios insists he likes basketball more than tennis -- he is a passionate Boston Celtics fan -- and said he plans to retire at the age of 27 yet his showing in Tokyo may have, too, upped his appetite on the tennis court. Kyrgios won the third and biggest title of his career Sunday when he dispatched Belgium's David Goffin 4-6 6-3 7-5, hammering 25 aces and saving 11 of the 12 break points he faced. He also won the rally of the tournament in the semifinals against tennis' ultimate showman Gael Monfils and endeared himself to the locals when he threw a bottle of water into the stands to help a supporter in distress. Congratulations to #NEXTGEN star @NickKyrgios on the #RakutanJapanOpen title! pic.twitter.com/ECPudpFH6B— ATP Next Generation (@ATPNextGen) October 9, 2016 The 21-year-old reached a new career high in the rankings, 14th, and boosted his chances of appearing at the year-end championships for the first time. He rose to 12th, four places and about 800 points behind 23-year-old Austrian Dominic Thiem who holds down the final spot. Read MoreHis 38 wins in 2016 have long surpassed last year's tally of 24. Read: Murray wins China Open'Long journey'Craig Tiley, the CEO of Tennis Australia, likely summed up what many are thinking when he praised Kyrgios but also seemed to adopt a wait-and-see approach. "It's a long journey, it's a long-term journey when it comes to Nick," Tiley was quoted as saying by Reuters at the media launch of the Australian Open, tennis' next grand slam that starts in January. "But he's certainly, we've felt, more recently turned the corner. His performances this past week have been tremendous in winning his third professional title."And that's fairly remarkable. There's a lot of pressure on him. We do what we can. We have a long-term view of it."JUST WATCHEDChamp Kerber sparks fan frenzy in GermanyReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHChamp Kerber sparks fan frenzy in Germany 04:17Meanwhile Lleyton Hewitt, the former No. 1 and now Kyrgios' Davis Cup captain, upped the ante, urging the player -- who has reached a couple of quarterfinals in his still young career -- to replicate his recent promising performances at ATP events at the four majors. "At the moment he's showing that he's good enough to make the quarterfinals at the grand slams, but he's got to take that next step now and really push to towards the semis and then the finals," Hewitt was quoted as saying by AAP. "But you're going to have to beat a few good players along the way, you're going to have to be able to bounce back after five-set matches physically and mentally, and that's something that he's getting better at."JUST WATCHEDAustralia's rising tennis star ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAustralia's rising tennis star 04:04Arguably that physical and mental resilience has been an issue for Kyrgios, who didn't make a grand slam quarterfinal this year and drew criticism from seven-time grand slam champion turned tennis analyst John McEnroe following his defeats at Wimbledon to Andy Murray and at the US Open to Illya Marchenko. Kyrgios fell to eventual champion Murray -- the one member of the "Big Four" he is friendliest with -- in the fourth round at SW16 in 1:43, which led the American to blast: "He doesn't know what it takes to be a top-10 professional to win grand slams."I'm hoping he sees the writing on the wall before this becomes chronic, irreparable, because to me it's getting to that point. He's got a lot of thinking to do, a lot of work to do."And after a hip injury led to Kyrgios retiring against the unheralded Marchenko at Flushing Meadows in the third round, McEnroe uttered: "Nick Kyrgios, if you don't want to be a professional tennis player, do something else," McEnroe said. "He's hurt because he's not training enough."Well done little fella @NickKyrgios Hard work and persistence pays off 💪👍 pic.twitter.com/PCBRnl6o5Q— Norlaila Kyrgios (@NorlailaKyrgios) October 9, 2016 Based on his matches in Tokyo, McEnroe might be more optimistic when it comes to Kyrgios' future.

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(CNN)Spanish club Villarreal can expect a fiery welcome when they visit Zenit St. Petersburg in the next round of the Europa League -- if the Russian side's last fixture is anything to go by. Zenit fans gave their team an impressively choreographed pyrotechnic guard of honor ahead of its must-win round-of-32 tie Thursday. Visit CNN.com/Sport for more news, features and videoScores of supporters lined the entire road to the Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg and let off flares as the team bus approached the stadium.The spectacularly warm welcome seemed to do the trick. Read MoreZenit overturned a 1-0 deficit from the first-leg to beat Fenerbahce 3-1 on the night and progress to the next round. Zenit St. Petersburg's players celebrate after round-of-32 win. READ: Chelsea handed transfer ban by FIFAVillarreal discovered its fiery fate as the draw for the round of 16 fixtures was announced Friday. Five-time Europa League champion Sevilla will play Czech outfit Slavia Prague, while Chelsea face a tough visit to Ukraine in their tie against Dynamo Kiev.Unai Emery's Arsenal -- which overturned a first-leg deficit in the last round against BATE Borisov -- have a favorable tie against Ligue 1 Rennes. The Spaniard is a Europa League expert, winning three consecutive titles with his former side Sevilla. The Gunners will be without striker Alexandre Lacazette, who has been banned for three matches following a direct red card in the round-of-32 first leg against BATE Borisov.The Frenchman has already served one match but will miss both legs of the tie against Rennes. READ: 'It's Pele' -- Arsene Wenger recalls seeing Kylian Mbappe play for first timeElsewhere, Italian side Napoli will face RB Salzburg and three-time champion Inter Milan take on Frankfurt.The next round of fixtures will be played on March 7 with the return legs scheduled for the week after.

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(CNN)New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara was arrested Sunday by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and charged with "battery resulting in substantial bodily harm," a news release from the department said. The investigation began when officers were dispatched to a hospital Saturday around 5:50 p.m. "where a person was reporting a battery," police said. "The victim reported being battered at a nightclub located in the 3500 block of South Las Vegas Boulevard," the release said. Police said their investigation led them to charge Kamara.He was located Sunday and taken into custody without incident, police said.Kamara, 26, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center and posted bail of $5,000, according to the Clark County Detention Center's website. Read MoreKamara is expected to make his initial court appearance Monday afternoon. Police say the investigation is ongoing and are asking anyone with information to contact their office. Shortly before the arrest, Kamara participated in the NFL Pro Bowl in Las Vegas as one of the top running backs in the league. Kamara has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of his five seasons in the NFL since being drafted in the third round by the Saints in 2017. CNN has reached out to the New Orleans Saints and Kamara's representative for comment.It is currently unknown whether Kamara has an attorney. CNN reached out to police to inquire about his legal representation. In a statement to CNN, the NFL said, "We are aware of the matter but will decline further comment at this time. "

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(CNN)Lindsey Vonn, the greatest female ski racer of all time, and NHL star P.K. Subban have announced they have broken up.The couple met around three years ago and made their relationship public in 2018.They got engaged in August 2019 when, according to Vogue, Subban proposed at home, in front of Vonn's three dogs, presenting her an emerald ring -- her favorite color and his birthstone.READ: Mikaela Shiffrin returns to skiing after grieving death of father Jeff View this post on Instagram A post shared by L I N D S E Y • V O N N (@lindseyvonn) "Over the past 3 years PK and I have had some incredible times together," Vonn wrote on Instagram.Read More"He is a kind, good man, and someone I respect a great deal. However, after much consideration we have decided to move forward separately. We will always remain friends and love each other immensely."New Jersey Devils defenseman Subban has also released a statement. It said in part: "Lindsey is one of the most kind and caring people I know. I will always treasure our time as a couple together and the many laughs we shared."Vonn, 36, retired from professional skiing in 2019. She finished her career with 82 World Cup victories. That's 20 wins ahead of the next best woman, Annemarie Moser-Proell of Austria, and second on the all-time list behind Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark.By winning a downhill bronze in her final race, Vonn became the oldest woman to secure a medal at a world championships and the first female racer to medal at six world championships. She also won three Olympic medals, including gold in the downhill in Vancouver in 2010.A Toronto native, the 31-year-old Subban is considered one of the top defensemen in the NHL.He was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the 2007 NHL draft with the No. 43 pick and was named to the NHL All-Star team in 2013 and 2015.Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features, and videosPK Subban and Lindsey Vonn attend as Harper's BAZAAR celebrates "ICONS By Carine Roitfeld" at The Plaza Hotel.In 2014, Subban won gold representing Canada at the Sochi Olympics and led the Nashville Predators to the franchise's first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 2017. He was traded to New Jersey in June.Vonn previously was married to US skier Thomas Vonn and later dated Tiger Woods.

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Story highlights Sarkozy tells French media he is "deeply shocked"Ex-PM Alain Juppe says he hopes Sarkozy's defense will demonstrate his innocenceFormer President Nicolas Sarkozy is placed under formal investigation, French media sayFrench Prime Minister Manuel Valls says it is a "serious situation"Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was placed under formal investigation early Wednesday in connection with suspected corruption and influence peddling, French media said.He appeared before a court overnight after a day of questioning in a Paris suburb, CNN's French affiliate BFMTV reported.He is reportedly the first French president to be held in police custody in connection with an investigation.Sarkozy, speaking to French broadcasters TF1 and Europe 1, said Wednesday he was "deeply shocked."In the taped joint interview, Sarkozy said that there is a "willingness to humiliate" him, and that he "never committed any act contrary to republican principles or the rule of law." JUST WATCHEDNicolas Sarkozy questioned by policeReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNicolas Sarkozy questioned by police 01:16The former President added that he "is not asking for any privilege" and that he "is not a man who escapes from his responsibilities." Sarkozy's lawyer, Thierry Herzog, and a high-ranking magistrate, Gilbert Azibert, were also placed under formal investigation Tuesday, BFMTV said. They were called in for questioning Monday, along with another magistrate who was not brought before a judge.Prime Minister Manuel Valls told BFMTV Wednesday that Sarkozy faced a "serious situation" and "serious facts." "No one is above the law, but it is important to remember that the presumption of innocence applies to everyone," he said.Investigators who have been looking into Sarkozy's campaign financing are trying to establish whether the former President obtained confidential information on legal cases concerning him from magistrates in exchange for the offer of a prestigious post, BFMTV reported.Sarkozy, who led the country from 2007 to 2012, lost in the 2012 presidential election to Socialist rival Francois Hollande.In recent months, speculation has grown that he might be positioning himself for a political comeback at the head of his center-right party, the UMP.The latest investigation into his actions could prove damaging to his ambitions even if no charge follows.Prime Minister Valls, in his interview with BFMTV, rejected any suggestion that the investigation was politically motivated, insisting that judges work entirely independently.It's not the authorities who have asked these judges to investigate, he said. The offense of "active corruption" carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine, under the French penal code. Influence peddling is punishable by up to five years in prison and a 500,000 euro ($683,000) fine. Bordeaux Mayor Alain Juppe, a UMP politician who formerly served as prime minister and foreign minister, said via Twitter that he was thinking of Sarkozy in a spirit of friendship."He is, of course, presumed innocent. His defense will demonstrate his innocence, I hope," he posted.

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Dublin, Ireland (CNN)In the last four and a half years, Michael Rossney has been to court 40 times and spent tens of thousands of euros on legal fees. Like some 118,000 people in Ireland, his marriage has broken down and he is separated from his partner. As the Dublin native seeks a divorce, his legal and financial situation may sound difficult, but this is not unusual in Ireland due to the country's divorce laws, which are among the most restrictive in Europe. Under current legislation, which is enshrined in the country's constitution, a person can only apply for a divorce after living separately from their spouse for four out of the previous five years. No one is exempt from this mandatory wait time, including those who are trying to leave abusive relationships, most of whom are women. Women suffering from domestic abuse could benefit from a shorter divorce process in order to protect themselves -- and their children -- from continued abuse from a former spouse, according to the National Women's Council of Ireland. Other individuals in the process of separating, like Rossney, argue that the minimum wait time creates unnecessary levels of anxiety, prohibits their ability to move on, wreaks havoc on their emotional well-being and is a terrible financial burden. Read MoreThat could all change on May 24 when Ireland goes to the polls in a referendum on divorce.A 'protracted war'Any changes to the Irish constitution must be approved by a public referendum and, in this upcoming poll, voters will be asked whether they support a government proposal to remove the four-year wait from the constitution. If passed, parliament will legislate on the future time period needed before couples can apply for a divorce.Voters will also be asked if they want to remove a law that doesn't recognize foreign divorces, a provision that prohibits people who divorced outside Ireland from remarrying. Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan said in March that "complex questions of social policy are best dealt with through detailed legislation in the Oireachtas (parliament) rather than within the confines of our Constitution." Flanagan added that the government intends to reduce the living apart period to two years so that both parties can "move forward with their lives within a reasonable timeframe."Forty-year-old Rossney told CNN that the long wait has fueled a hostile environment that has been exploited by the legal system, and that the proceedings -- and relationship with his ex -- could have been more positive if the mandatory period wasn't so drawn out."I don't think we would have hit such a low point if things hadn't dragged on so long," he said. "We knew we had a protracted war ahead of us." Rossney, a proud father of two, said that he believes that the current law means that legal teams don't have "any incentives to stop fighting until the money is gone." He said that Ireland's family court "is not fit for purpose" as "like any other court, it is ... a fight until one party wins and the other loses."A changing IrelandMany in the process of divorce support the government proposal. If it passes, it will be the latest in a series of measures reflecting modern Irish society that have recently questioned, and rejected, the historical role of the Catholic Church's doctrine on its institutions. They baptized their children for school places. Now regret is setting in.Ireland became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage through a popular vote, with more than 60% voting yes in a referendum in 2015. And, earlier this year, it opened its first abortion services following the 2018 vote that repealed a constitutional amendment that had placed a near-ban on terminations. While public support for the change in divorce law is high, a small minority fears that if it passes, it could lead to the demise of the institution of marriage.David Quinn, director of the Catholic advocacy group Iona Institute, told CNN that if the waiting period was taken out of the constitution, "politicians will eventually vote two years down to six months, in which case the difference between marriage and cohabitation, legally speaking, becomes ever finer."Speaking on Irish radio in December, Quinn said: "I don't think something as important as marriage should be too easy to get out of."There should be a kind of trip wire to really slow down and think about it," he added.'You're in a situation where you can't move on'Quinn's comments reflect Ireland's difficult relationship with divorce, and the upcoming vote will mark the third time the country has held a referendum on the subject. In a 1986 referendum, 63% of Irish voters rejected a proposal to end a total ban on divorce.Almost a decade later, Irish voters were asked again. The 1995 divorce referendum was a hotly contested campaign, vocally opposed by the Catholic Church. Marked by prominent signs reading "Hello Divorce, Goodbye Daddy," anti-divorce activists argued that Irish men would leave their wives en masse if it passed. That referendum did pass but only just: Ireland voted to repeal the country's 58-year-old constitutional ban on divorce by a razor-thin margin of less than 1% of the vote. In 1995, Ireland voted by a narrow margin to lift its 58-year-old ban on divorce.Some of that lingering anti-divorce sentiment, coupled with the current legal restrictions and the rise in cohabitating couples, are reflected in the country's current divorce rate, which is among the lowest in Europe. Married couples in Ireland tend to stay together at a far higher average compared to their EU counterparts, with a crude divorce rate of 0.7 out of 1,000 people, compared to the EU average of 1.9, according to Eurostat data. While the introduction of divorce has been viewed as a pivotal moment in Ireland's modern history, most of the Yes campaigners that CNN spoke to argue that the confines of the law continue to reflect an old Ireland, one whose constitution still has laws reflective of the Catholic Church's grip.This also includes a constitutional clause that states that a woman's place is in the home. A referendum on that was expected to take place last October in conjunction with a referendum that removed the offense of blasphemy from the constitution. It has since been postponed. Bishop Denis Nulty, chair of the Council for Marriage and the Family of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, said in a statement Saturday that "it is important to reflect deeply on the implications of this referendum which seeks to expedite the dissolution of marriage," adding that the government should "recommit resources to marriage preparation and invest resources into marriage enrichment." David Graham, 37, who is currently separated, told CNN that when Ireland first introduced divorce, the "outside world might have thought Ireland had become more progressive. But when you look at it, it's more regressive because they put in stipulations to make it very difficult to get a divorce."While he actively supports the upcoming referendum, he fears the new proposed wait time will still restrict separating couples' ability to move on at their own pace. "You go through that process and you just want to get through it, and you want to move on -- but you're in a situation you can't move on."

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(CNN)Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, made an official visit to London's National Theatre on Wednesday for the first time since becoming its royal patron.Former actress Meghan went back to her theatrical roots, looking on as attendees from across the city participated in a workshop, according to the UK's Press Association (PA) news agency.Palace asks social media firms for help with rising Meghan-Kate abuseThe Duchess also learned about the work of the theater and met members of staff, according to a statement from Kensington Palace.A heavily pregnant Meghan wore a pink dress and blazer during the visit, meeting with Rufus Norris, the National Theatre's director.The pair also met in December ahead of the announcement that the Duchess would become a patron of the establishment in January, according to PA.Read MoreMeghan Markle as Rachel Zane, Patrick J. Adams as Michael Ross on USA Network's "Suits"The new role is one of two patronages that have been passed on by Queen Elizabeth II, according to the palace.Meghan was named as patron of four charities supporting vulnerable women, education, the arts and animals in early January.As part of that role, Meghan will give the charities vital publicity and help gain recognition for their work.The Duchess had a decade-long career in television, notably playing Rachel Zane in Suits, a hit US legal drama series.Duchess of Sussex backs women, animals, arts in first charity patronagesShe also holds a double major in theater and international relations from Northwestern University, Illinois.US-born Meghan used to volunteer at a performing arts after-school club in Los Angeles, and believes that the arts can bring people together, according to PA.She has put her acting career on hold since dating, and later marrying, Prince Harry."I don't see it as giving anything up, I just see it as a change," she said in an engagement interview before the pair wed in May 2018. "It's a new chapter."The couple are expecting their first child in the spring of 2019, according to a statement from Kensington Palace.Queen Elizabeth will be the child's great-grandmother.

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(CNN)Gone are the stereotypical images of gun-toting, muscle-bound soldiers roughing it in the wild. Instead, the British Army's new animated recruitment campaign emphasizes the organization's emotional support, with a particular focus on minorities.The new advertisements feature questions such as "Can I be gay in the Army?", "Can I practice my faith in the Army?", and "What if I get emotional in the Army?"The TV ads are voiced by real soldiers and cost $675,000 (£500,000), a UK Ministry of Defence spokesperson told CNN.In one, a gay soldier talks about feeling accepted, while in another a Muslim soldier speaks about being free to pray at work.Read MoreThey feature the tagline "Find where you belong." However, the overarching motto of the army remains "Be the best." 'Onion soup' approach?The countries that allow transgender troops to serve in their armed forcesThe gentler advertising approach is part of the army's drive to recruit beyond its traditional "white, male caucasian 16 to 25 year old" demographic, according to Gen. Nick Carter, the army's top officer."Our society is changing and I think it is entirely appropriate for us therefore to try and reach out to a much broader base to get the talent we need in order to sustain combat effectiveness," he told the BBC.But retired Col. Richard Kemp questioned the advertising approach, saying on Twitter: "The main appeal to most people who want to join the army (maybe except some in tech corps) is the macho. "If they wanted to dish out onion soup they would join an NGO. If you volunteer for the Army it's because you want to fight."Falling short of recruitment targetsThe British Army has struggled with recruitment in recent years, resulting in a "hollowing out" in the ranks, according to a government report commissioned in 2017.It found that a combination of high employment, an aging population, young people staying in school longer, increased obesity and falling defense budgets had all contributed to recruiting difficulties.In mid-2017 the UK regular armed forces numbered 138,350. Of this, the Royal Navy and RAF fell 10% short of their recruitment target and the Army was 30% below its goal. Black, Asian and ethnic minority personnel represented just over 7% of the armed forces, the report found, versus 14% of the 53 million-strong population in England and Wales in the 2011 census. Minority percentages in Scotland and Northern Ireland are significantly lower, according to official figures.

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Story highlightsTillerson's remark appears to be the latest sign of a gap between the secretary of state and TrumpA GOP source said Trump is souring somewhat on TillersonWashington (CNN)Rather than walk back eyebrow-raising comments made by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday, an aide told CNN Monday that President Donald Trump speaks for himself when it comes to American values "because the Constitution speaks for the country."The Tillerson aide said the secretary of state was not criticizing Trump in the remarks."The secretary and President have expressed different points of view. He isn't being critical, but more so re-establishing without confusion what are known American values," the aide said. Tillerson: Trump 'speaks for himself'"The values start from the Constitution. The President's job is to uphold those values. Did he do the best job ever responding to Charlottesville? Nope. But that doesn't mean America changes."The aide added, "That is why the President speaks for himself because the Constitution speaks for the country."Read MoreSpeaking on "Fox News Sunday," Tillerson had said Trump "speaks for himself" when asked about the President's response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which he blamed "both sides" for the racial unrest. The secretary of state was asked about a United Nations committee issuing a warning to the United States about racism and hate crimes, saying US leaders had not sufficiently condemned white supremacy."I don't believe anyone doubts the American people's values," Tillerson said."And the President's values?" anchor Chris Wallace asked."The President speaks for himself," Tillerson said.Tillerson's remark appears to be the latest sign of a gap between the former globe-trotting oil executive and the freewheeling President, who ran an "America First" campaign. The comments also come as a GOP source in touch with the West Wing and familiar with internal discussions said Trump is souring somewhat on Tillerson. "He is in a tough spot. No doubt," the source said, referring to Tillerson. But the source, who, like Tillerson's aide, requested anonymity in order to discuss the President's thinking, pushed back on the notion that Trump is losing patience with Tillerson due to the comments on Sunday. Trump's concerns, this source said, have more to do with Tillerson's leadership at the State Department and the secretary's more "establishment" style. "What change is he bringing?" the source asked, referring to Tillerson.CNN's Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.

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Over the coming months as Britain Brexits from Europe, we'll be following six people in Romford, a town that overwhelmingly voted Leave, tracking their hopes and fears in this post-referendum reality. These are their stories. (CNN)On a sweltering summer's day, children with ice-cream dribbling down their arms dart between the various stalls at Romford Market.But, one month after the Brexit vote, stall owners have bigger concerns than sticky fingers -- the plummeting pound is taking its toll on those importing goods from Europe. This could mean bad news for the many market stallholders who voted Leave, but they're still sounding bullish about their choice, seeing the economic downturn as a temporary bump in the road to a stronger Britain.Romford is situated in Havering, a London borough where 70% of people voted to exit the EU, making it one of the places with the highest percentage of Leave voters across the UK.The last time we caught up with them, the country was still reeling from the shock of Brexit, David Cameron had announced his resignation and there was no new prime minister in sight.Read MoreJust over a month since the vote and all of that has changed. Leave and Remain voters are now coming to terms with Britain's new Prime Minister Theresa May and the so-called "Three Brexiteers" -- whether or not they asked for it. The fishmonger predicting a brighter futureDave Crosbie, 58, owner of "The Better Plaice" seafood stall in Romford Market."Great Britain's been great for 400 years. It might take a little time but we'll be great again," said Dave Crosbie."I think it's a bright future -- we've just got to throw the shackles off," says Leave voter Dave Crosbie, cheeks flushed from the day's heat.Looking down from his raised seafood trailer, Crosbie assumes the pose of a preacher at his pulpit.Less unemployment, less queues for the health service, more housingDave CrosbieHe outlines his ideal Brexit Britain: "Less unemployment, less queues for the health service, more housing.""It might even go back to the old days where you don't have to pay for university -- anything is possible now," he adds with a chuckle.The only thing dampening Crosbie's post-referendum jubilation is the "whinging" Remain voters."We live in a democracy. And more people voted to come out, than stay in," he says."So they need to live by the vote."Related: 'Brexit means Brexit' means what?The mom saddened by racismAngelina Leatherbarrow, 40, mother-of-two and former head of committees at nearby Newham Council."I don't want Great Britain to become isolated and inward-looking," said Angelina Leatherbarrow."I really feel that the community is not a place that I feel as happy or as comfortable in anymore," says Remain voter Angelina Leatherbarrow, pointing to an increase in racism following the Brexit vote.During a recent trip to the hospital with her daughter, Leatherbarrow was shocked to see the reaction of other patients when a Romanian family walked in.I just found it so disrespectful and indicative of how things are now Angelina Leatherbarrow"Someone who was already in the waiting room immediately says 'oh for f*** sake, here they all come,'" she recalls."I just found it so disrespectful and indicative of how things are now -- that people feel validated to say that sort of thing."More than one month on, Leatherbarrow says she feels more disappointed than ever that the country voted to leave the European Union."I still harbor this hope that now we have a new government hopefully we can start moving forward," she adds, trying to summon a glimmer of optimism.Related: Could NATO be the next alliance to unravel?The divided couple getting on with itEmma Hamblett, 45, marketing executive who voted Remain. Tony Bush, 54, gardener who voted Leave. They have been married for 14 years."It's a bit of a shock to the system that after 15 years this political animal has woken up," said Emma Hamblett of husband Tony Bush."Initially I was devastated, I was really upset," says Emma Hamblett after the country voted to leave Europe.A month on, the Remain voter is ready to roll up her sleeves and face Brexit Britain head on."We have to be optimistic, we have to pull together as a country, and we just have to live with the consequences," adds Hamblett.Husband Tony Bush has no regrets about voting Leave, and agrees it's time to get on with the job ahead.Union Jacks fly from the stalls in Romford Market.Where they disagree is on the new foreign secretary Boris Johnson -- a controversial figure in British politics both admired for his charisma, and derided for his offensive comments."He's a complete buffoon who shouldn't be allowed near important people," says Hamblett."I think he's entertaining," replies Bush, adding "Politics can be very stiff and sometimes you need someone like Boris who's a little bit out-there."However Bush admits foreign secretary may not be the most appropriate job for Johnson."What job would you give him?" asks Hamblett, adding "Head of clowns?"The pair erupt into laughter -- Brexit has challenged their relationship, but not broken it.Related: Who is the Brexit boss?The shopkeeper feeling the pinch Graeme Gibbons, 50, owner of Penny's household goods stall in Romford Market for 25 years."We'll be able to run our own country again," said Graeme Gibbons. With many of his products imported from Europe, the drop in the British pound has not been kind to Graeme Gibbons' business."A few lines have become more expensive," he says, in between rearranging bottles of washing detergent, toilet cleaner and bleach.We definitely made the right decision...it's about seeing the bigger pictureGraeme Gibbons"So I'm having to consider whether I run them anymore."Gibbons is yet to pass on the increased prices to his customers, instead taking the hit himself.Not that the Leave voter regrets his decision -- in fact, he sticks by it wholeheartedly."We definitely made the right decision," he says, adding "It's about seeing the bigger picture.""I think a lot of other non-European countries will be queuing up to trade with us."Related: The non-Brits guide to BrexitThe law student fighting Brexit fatigueConnor Crosbie, 21, works at family-run seafood stall in Romford Market and is studying law."I'm happy with my choice," said Connor Crosbie.More than one month after the referendum, Leave voter Connor Crosbie is starting to feel "Brexited out.""I think everyone's getting slightly bored of the Brexit coverage," he says, adding "There's been sooo much talk of it."I think everyone's getting slightly bored of the Brexit coverageConnor CrosbieAfter intense debates on the pros and cons with his university friends in the lead up to the referendum, Crosbie has no regrets about his decision to vote Leave.He thinks May is an "all right" choice for British prime minister, but is more enthusiastic about the idea of Johnson as foreign secretary."I like Boris," he says. "I think he'll do a good job because he fought and campaigned massively for Brexit."As for Crosbie's law course next year, the subject matter is now a little more up in the air."I was going to do competition between the UK and the EU," he says with a chuckle. "We'll see how that pans out."

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(CNN)The National Football League has suspended three players, including Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Antonio Brown, for three games without pay following a league investigation that determined the three violated Covid-19 protocols. Buccaneers safety Mike Edwards and free agent wide receiver John Franklin III, who has been on the Bucs' practice squad, were the other players suspended.In a Thursday news release, the NFL said its review of recent allegations that the players had "misrepresented their vaccination status" had supported the claims.NFL reviewing accusations Buccaneers' Antonio Brown obtained fake Covid-19 vaccination cardsOn November 18, the NFL announced it was reviewing accusations that Brown had owned fake Covid-19 vaccination cards in an attempt to usurp NFL protocols. The accusations were made by Steven Ruiz, Brown's former at-home chef in a Tampa Bay Times exclusive report.All three players have accepted the discipline and fines and will not appeal the decision, according to the NFL statement.Last month the NFL fined Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and receiver Allen Lazard after it found the two players did not follow league Covid-19 protocols.Read MoreThe NFL determined that Rodgers and Lazard attended a Halloween party despite being unvaccinated, a violation of protocols prohibiting unvaccinated players from gathering outside of team facilities in a group of more than three players.The Buccaneers released a statement on Thursday stating, "We appreciate the League's timely handling of this matter and recognize the importance of the health and safety protocols that have been established. We will continue to implement all league COVID-19 protocols."Stay informed on Covid-19What we know and don't know about OmicronCoronavirus variants: Here's what we knowCases, deaths, vaccinations by countryFAQ: Your top questions answeredAll the latest on the pandemicBrown's attorney, Sean Burstyn, tells CNN, "Mr. Brown is vaccinated and continues to support the vaccine for any person for whom it is appropriate. The NFL made its determination and, instead of going through the drawn out and distracting process of challenging the outcome, Mr. Brown wrapped this up promptly and he will use this time as an opportunity to treat his ankle injury. "Mr. Brown will be motivated, well rested, and in the best shape of his life when he returns in week 16."

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Story highlights On Syria, Putin says he and Obama "agreed to push the parties to the negotiating table" Obama says it's important to make sure chemical weapons don't proliferate in SyriaCameron: G8 summit aims to "fire up our economies and drive growth"Obama says negotiations for a U.S.-EU trade deal will start in WashingtonRussian President Vladimir Putin says he still doesn't see eye to eye with the United States on Syria.But "all of us have the intention to stop the violence in Syria ... and to solve this situation peacefully," Putin said Monday after a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at the Group of Eight Summit in Northern Ireland.Putin said he and Obama "agreed to push the parties to the negotiating table." But the Russian president didn't specify who could be involved in Syria talks, when they would take place or what their end goal would be.The G8 summit comes days after the United States pledged to play a greater role in assisting Syrian rebels, citing evidence that President Bashar al-Assad's regime used chemical weapons against the rebels and his own people. The move was backed by seven of the eight nations represented at this week's conference in Loch Erne, while Russia remains the sole G8 nation supporting al-Assad.JUST WATCHEDG8 leaders inspire new ice cream flavorsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHG8 leaders inspire new ice cream flavors 01:35JUST WATCHEDEconomic boost for G8 summit host ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHEconomic boost for G8 summit host 01:55JUST WATCHEDNorth Korea high on G8 agendaReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHNorth Korea high on G8 agenda 02:57And global leaders at the conference are poised to pressure Putin over his support for Syria's government. On Monday, Obama stressed the importance of making sure chemical weapons "are neither used nor subject to proliferation" in Syria -- a topic that Putin didn't mention in his public remarks after meeting with the U.S. president. Russia has downplayed the claims of chemical weapons use, and Putin has opposed outside intervention into the county's 2-year-old internal conflict.On Sunday, Putin sharply criticized the decision to provide arms to Syrian rebels, referencing a widely circulated video of an opposition fighter appearing to eat the heart of a dead solider.Speaking to reporters in London after meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron, Putin warned against arming Syrian rebels "who kill their enemies and eat their organs.""Do you want to support these people? Do you want to supply arms to these people?" Putin asked.Putin warns against arming organ-eating Syrian rebelsOpinion: A new breed of terror in Northern IrelandThe White House announcement last week that it was increasing the "size and scope" of its material support to Syrian rebels came after months of political debate over the U.S. role in the conflict. Great Britain and France, two other G8 members, were strong backers of the May decision to end the European Union arms embargo on Syria, and both countries asserted that al-Assad's regime had used chemical weapons before the United States did. The meeting between Obama and Putin Monday was the first time the two leaders have spoken face to face since last year's G-20 summit in Mexico."It's in Russia's interest to join us in applying pressure on Bashar al-Assad to come to the table in a way that relinquishes his power and his standing in Syria, because we don't see any scenario where he restores his legitimacy to lead the country," Obama's deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes noted before Monday's meeting.Other G8 nations have expressed similar viewpoints, calling on Russia to back United Nations intervention in Syria. Russia's permanent position on the United Nations Security Council has made action through that body difficult for countries intent on removing al-Assad from power.After meeting with Putin on Monday, Obama said the possibility of negotiations remains on the table."We want to try to resolve the issue through political means, if possible," Obama said.Before this week's meetings, the U.S. president spoke by videoconference with the leaders of Britain, France, Italy and Germany to discuss "ways to support a political transition to end the conflict" in Syria, the White House said.The White House has not yet publicly specified what exact steps it would take to support members of Syria's opposition, though sources have told CNN small arms, ammunition and possibly anti-tank weapons would be part of the assistance package.On Friday, Rhodes said further discussions with other nations were necessary to determine next steps.Though Syria will likely dominate discussions behind the scenes at this week's summit, leaders began the conference Monday by heralding a possible trade deal they said could create millions of jobs.The first round of negotiations for a trans-Atlantic trade agreement between the United States and the European Union will take place next month in Washington, Obama said."I believe that we can form an economic alliance as strong as our diplomatic and security alliances," he told reporters after the leaders of eight of the world's most powerful nations kicked off their meeting."The whole point of this meeting ... is to fire up our economies and drive growth and prosperity around the world. ... There's no better way than by launching these negotiations on a landmark deal between the European Union and the United states of America," Cameron said.Cameron, the host of this week's conference, named the problem of tax avoidance by large corporations as a central issue for G8 leaders to resolve at this year's summit. The British prime minister hopes to secure agreements among nations on sharing tax information, with the goal of ensuring global companies aren't able to dodge tax bills.The measure met resistance from firms' chief executives, though Cameron said he's willing to withstand corporate ire for a fairer global tax system."You don't get anywhere unless you are prepared to give the lead and perhaps make a few enemies along the way," Cameron said. "In setting the G8 agenda around trade, tax and transparency, yes, you are taking on some vested interests, you are taking on some difficult decisions. But actually will it help both the developing world and us in the West? I believe it can."While in Europe, Obama will also likely be forced to defend U.S. Internet surveillance techniques that were disclosed in a series of newspaper articles in early June. The intelligence programs, which were previously considered top secret, involved large tech companies who operate globally, including Facebook, Google and Yahoo.Snowden says online he had to 'get out' of the U.S. before leaks

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Story highlights Mario Monti says he'll present a government Wednesday Monti has been trying to round up political support to become prime ministerBerlusconi resigned over the weekend in the face of a debt crisisHe is the second European leader to fall this month over the crisisItaly's Prime Minister-designate Mario Monti says he will present a government to the country's president for approval on Wednesday after two days of negotiations with leaders of the country's major political blocs. The 68-year-old former European Union commissioner won the backing of outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's political party and Italy's largest left-wing party on Tuesday. He told Italian lawmakers Tuesday evening that he would be taking his proposed slate of ministers to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Wednesday."I am convinced of the capacity of our country to overcome this difficult time," Monti said. Berlusconi resigned Saturday night, prompting cheers, flag-waving and singing in celebrations outside his office, and ending an era in Italian politics. He was brought down by difficulties in pushing through budget cuts after 18 years in and out of the prime minister's office. Berlusconi's People of Freedom party remains the strongest force in parliament, and Berlusconi has said he plans to remain active in it. But the head of the party, Angelino Alfano, called his talks with Monti "positive" and said he thought Monti's effort to form a new government "is destined to be successful." Berlusconi's successor will face an arduous task, as Italy has one of the highest national debts in Europe at €1.9 trillion ($2.6 trillion) -- about 120% of GDP -- and has seen low growth in recent years. Monti suggested Monday that his government might not last much longer than a year, until scheduled elections in early 2013. And at any time, parliament could dissolve his government "because of lack of trust," he said.It is "obvious" that the task at hand is an emergency, and that to achieve economic growth and social equity "should be the priorities," Monti said.Berlusconi is the second prime minister to resign this month over the debt crisis sweeping across Europe, following last week's replacement of Greece's George Papandreou. Papandreou was replaced Wednesday by Lucas Papademos, a former European Central Bank official.

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(CNN)It's a question that has been asked for 50 years -- again and again."Why do these people continue to make a mockery of our culture?" The question in 1970 was posed by Dennis Banks in reference to the use of Native American heritage being used for names and mascots for American sports teams. Banks was a Native American activist and a longtime leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM).Banks devoted much of his life and attention to campaigning for the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins to change its name.He died in 2017, aged 80, with the team's name still intact.The Washington Football Team changed its name after 50 years of protests.Read MoreThe year 2020 put the issue of race front and center of political and societal debate.The killing of George Floyd also forced many sport teams that utilize Native American heritage to review that association -- be it their name or logo.Washington has changed its logo and is now known as the Washington Football Team. Additionally, the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, the Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves in the MLB, and the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL have all looked inwards and made changes.Changes also came in Canada. In July, the Edmonton Eskimos football team announced that the team would retire the "Eskimos" name. The Inuit -- Indigenous People of the Canadian Arctic -- often take offense at the term "Eskimo." "While many fans are deeply committed to keeping the name, others are increasingly uncomfortable with the moniker," said the club in an official statement. The club said it had engaged with Inuit communities in recent years to discuss the name and felt now the time was right to change it.The team has retained its recognizable "EE" logo, but is yet to choose a new name. For the moment, the club is called the Edmonton Football Team or the EE Football Team. While originally a placeholder name, Washington president Jason Wright said the "Football Team" name may remain the team's long-term name.But across the rest of the world, notably in Latin America, there's arguably been less willingness to engage with the idea of what these associations potentially mean for Indigenous communities.In Latin America, it isn't just the sporting world turning its back on Indigenous communities. According to a study prepared for the UN, poverty rates, morbidity rates and infant mortality rates are all higher among Indigenous people in Latin American than the non-Indigenous.For Native Americans, the use -- and abuse -- of their images, likenesses and culture in sports is a contemporary form of the marginalization they have historically experienced.The director of First Peoples Worldwide Carla Fredericks told CNN that a lot of the offense caused is due to false representation and outright racism."Of course, in the US, Native Americans have endured a really brutal history of colonization, marginalization, and so on," she says."And one of the kind of end results about that is that Americans really don't have a good grip on who contemporary Native American people are and so the only representative of us is the representation that we see in sport -- for many people. "And obviously that's troubling because that's a caricatured representation and not an accurate representation of living, breathing cultures." The use of indigenous culture in sport is, therefore, an act that reminds Native Americans of their historic oppression at the hands of colonizers.There is also evidence to suggest that caricaturing Indigenous culture in sports causes depression, low self-esteem, substance abuse and even suicide among Native American youth.According to a study prepared for the UN, poverty rates, morbidity rates and infant mortality rates are all higher among Indigenous people in Latin American than the non-Indigenous.Fredericks adds that "the notion of consent and stakeholder engagement" -- or lack thereof -- is central to the issue too.She says consent is key when considering the acceptability of the use of Indigenous Peoples' culture, pointing to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples."I think the right approach at this point in time is really to seek counsel from those communities and ask them, you know, 'Where do you stand on this? Is this something that you appreciate? Is it something that is harmful to you?'"The issue has long been the focal point of media and activist attention in the US, particularly over professional sports franchises. But it is not a uniquely American issue, and it is not a social phenomenon that affects just Native Americans. It is a global problem, and one that affects Indigenous people around the world. The story beyond North AmericaThe Exeter Chiefs rugby union team in the UK, the KAA Gent soccer team in Belgium and the Kaizer Chiefs soccer team in South Africa all use a Native American man in headdress as their logos.While teams in the US are reviewing and removing similar logos and names, these teams have each chosen to keep their logo. This is in spite of public pressure in some cases.The logos of soccer teams Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa, KAA Gent in Belgium and rugby team Exeter Chiefs in the UK all have a Native American wearing a headdress.A recent petition, launched by an Exeter fan named Ash Green, asked the Exeter Chiefs to change its "harmful use of Indigenous Peoples' imagery and branding." It initially gained 3,700 signatures and the club announced its board would meet to discuss a rebranding. However, that meeting resulted in only the retirement of the team's mascot, "Big Chief." The club released a statement saying that the logo would remain, and that the board took the view that it was "in fact highly respectful."As for the "Chiefs" name, the club said that the name "dated back into the early 1900s and had a long history with people in the Devon area," the English county in which Exeter lies.The Exeter Chiefs for Change, a group campaigning for the club to change its name and remove references to Native American culture, released a statement labeling the decision as "incredibly disappointing," and that the club had "thrown away an opportunity to show itself as an inclusive club." "We accept that the intention of the club for the branding was originally positive and not derogatory," they continued. "But now they know it is not perceived in that way, they are making a conscious decision to be intentionally offensive by continuing to use it."The group concluded its statement saying that they were "horrified" and that "the decision will not age well."In their statement, the Chiefs said the club will be making no further comment on the matter.Exeter Chiefs rugby team has retired its mascot "Big Chief" but will not remove the "Chiefs" part of its name. KAA Gent has an extensive section on its website that speaks to the historic oppression and present-day struggle of Native Americans. It also explains the history of the club's logo, and that the cultural context was "a positive one." It says that the club represents "respect, courage and honor. Values that they attributed to the Native Americans rather than to their White oppressor."Despite acknowledging the potential offense that its logo may cause, the club explains that it chooses to retain the logo as it "draws attention throughout Europe to the social situation facing the Native American population today."KAA Gent acknowledge potential offense the team's logo can cause, but said it would remain the club's logo.In addition, the club says through its foundation, it is "willing to investigate, along with representatives of the Native American population, if and how KAA Gent can organize a social partnership with an initiative in the United States that aims to bring about an improvement in the standard of living experienced by Native Americans, using football as a powerful instrument."CNN was told by the club that it reached out to "some [Native American] organizations/representatives" via Facebook in 2018 but received no rejection or acceptance of an "exchange of views."The club says if a Native American organization did reach out, representatives "would listen respectfully and try to establish such a partnership for the future."CNN contacted Kaizer Chiefs but did not receive a response at the time of publication.The Latin American storyIn Latin America, there is a case to be made that not only do the clubs not engage with Indigenous communities, but actively ignore scrutiny of practices. Only two of the five Latin American clubs contacted for this story responded to CNN.Guarani people are indigenous to South America, and live in Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Bolivia.The Guarani people represent the largest indigenous group in Brazil with a population of 51,000.They are one of the most vulnerable Indigenous groups in the world. In 2013, it was found that Guarani people suffer a murder rate four times higher than the national homicide rate in Brazil, according to the Brazilian non-governmental organization CIMI.Most of their land was taken from them during the twentieth century, and they have an unequaled suicide rate in South America.Guarani people in Brazil are one of the most vulnerable Indigenous groups in the world.In the world of soccer, there are numerous Brazilian teams named after the Guarani people.Second division side Guarani FC last played in the top division in 2010 and won the Serie A title in 1978.In Paraguay, the fourth most successful team is Club Guarani. These two sides represent the best known "Guarani" soccer clubs and it is unclear whether the clubs ever obtained the consent of the Guarani people. CNN reached out to both clubs to seek comment but didn't receive a response from either.Guarani FC is based in Campinas, and is named in homage to the opera Il Guarany by Campinas-born composer Carlos Gomes. While the name is born out of an opera, it still marks an appropriation of an Indigenous peoples' identity.Fans of Guarani sometimes use an ethnic slur for an Indigenous Brazilian when referring to the club.Guarani FC have been promoted back to the Brazilian Serie A after one season in Serie B. The club came second to Neymar's Santos in the 2012 Campeonato Paulista.There are numerous other examples across the continent where Indigenous culture is used by clubs without affiliation to Indigenous groups.Chapecoense made global headlines after a 2016 plane crash killed the vast majority of players and staff at the club.The club's stadium was formerly known as Estadio Indio Conda. Brazilian football historian and podcaster Matias Pinto says that in Latin America, Indio is often a word regularly utilized as a racial slur that connotes indigenous people. "In Brazil and other parts of Latin America, it depends how you say it. But when you chant 'Indio' it's derogatory," he says.He also adds that the club has no link to native people."Conda is an Indigenous leader from the past, so they honor this native hero in the West of Santa Catarina. But the Chapecoense fans are not native. They are mostly European descendants from the 19th century."The club's mascot is an indigenous person -- in reality, a person wearing Chapecoense kit alongside a mask of an indigenous person. One can also download a cartoon image of the mascot from the club's website, which is entitled "Indio."Chapecoense was contacted by CNN but did not receive a response at the time of publication.Chapecoense's mascot is an indigenous person."They were barbarians, they looked like the Xavantes."It isn't just appropriation that can cause problems for Indigenous People, as Fredericks says: "Unfortunately, because of the nature of sport, not only home team fans might behave in a way that's very disparaging and appropriative. But the opposing team fans might engage in behavior that's very insulting towards people."The Xavante are an Indigenous People in Brazil numbering approximately 22,000, according to Povos Indigenas no Brasil. Fans of the football club Gremio Esportivo Brasil, also known as Brasil de Pelotas -- which is based in the south of Brazil -- have been nicknamed Xavantes since 1946. According to an official statement made to CNN by the club, the nickname came about following a 1946 match against its main rivals Esporte Clube Pelotas. Down 3-1 at half time, Brasil de Pelotas came back in the second half to win 5-3. After the final whistle, fans of Brasil de Pelotas destroyed the fence separating the field from the stands and broke onto the field to celebrate.Following the game and the subsequent field invasion, an Esporte Clube Pelotas official gave a statement to the press, saying: "They were barbarians, they looked like the Xavantes."Fans of Brasi de Pelotas, who wear red and black, are known as Xavantes after an official of a rival used it as a slur against them in 1946.The name was soon adopted by Brasil de Pelotas fans with pride and the club says that "despite the pejorative" meaning behind the name, it sees the name as "an honor.""It relates to the bravery of the indigenous tribe with the team. In our history, we have as main characteristics the guts, the fight for every ball and not to give up any play."The fans and the club adhered to the nickname and the likeable figure of the Indian, and today we are known in the country as Xavante, the red-black gaucho. And we won't change it."Sao Paolo-based Pinto says that it goes further than that: "It started with a slur but nowadays Brasil de Pelotas fans are very proud [to be] Xavantes," as fans perceive themselves similarly to the Xavante people: warlike, brave and tough."Pelotas is a city that is facing an exodus," he says. "People are moving to other parts of Brazil. So they have a lot of supporters' clubs around Brazil and they always merge the name of the state/city with Xavantes."Pinto says that racist slurs against Indigenous People are most common in intercontinental football matches in South America."In the continental competitions it happens too. Here in Sao Paulo, we do not have a lot of Indigenous, in Buenos Aires and Montevideo too. In Sao Paulo we are more Black or White, not Indigenous. "So when a club from Bolivia or Peru or Ecuador [visits], countries in the middle [of the continent] are closer to indigenous traces, the supporters from Brazilian clubs, Argentinian clubs, Uruguayan clubs reference these people as 'Indios.'"Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has actively sought to limit the legal protections of Indigenous People.While racism against Indigenous People through sport continues across the continent, in Brazil Pinto offers that, "they have more urgent issues [with which] to struggle."He speaks with reference to president Jair Bolsonaro and the policies towards Indigenous People during his presidency."It was a promise that [Bolsonaro] made in his campaign," Pinto says. "He will not concede any land to the communities, that he will explore the surface for miners, and the environmental minister is very close to the farmers and miners. So the Indigenous, since the first day of this government, are very scared about these promises."During the Covid-19 pandemic, Bolsonaro has actively sought to limit protections of Indigenous People as well as devastating indigenous lands while the world is distracted. CNN contacted the Brazilian government but did not receive a response at the time of publication.Positive steps in Latin AmericaChile's most successful club Colo-Colo was founded by a White Chilean footballer but is named after Colocolo, a Mapuche tribal leader during the Arauco War fought against the Spanish colonizers.The club's badge also features the likeness of Colocolo.Colo-Colo's badge depicts its namesake, the Mapuche tribal leader Colocolo. Unlike many other clubs, Colo-Colo has actively engaged with the Indigenous community on which its name is based.In a statement, the club told CNN it believes there are "essential differences" from other teams around the globe which "have a negative or derogatory charge."According to Pinto, the club was founded by "rebels and workers", so it acts as a symbol of an oppressed people fighting against oppressive powers.The club told CNN that the "Mapuche identity is present and diluted in the Chilean population in a patent and documented way" and as such the club has taken steps to recognize that.Colo-Colo flies the Mapuche flag alongside the Chilean flag at its stadium, and signage around the ground is written in both Spanish and Mapuche.The club said it was making efforts "to seek an understanding and solution of the demands of the Mapuche people," along with "performing ceremonies such as the the Mapuche June Solstice celebration in the stadium together with partners, fans, Mapuche communities and club authorities."Tribe members march for indigenous territorial rights on November 11, 2015 in Angra dos Reis, Brazil. Members of the Pataxo and Guarani tribes in Rio de Janeiro state joined the march. Pinto is less optimistic that real change will happen soon. Speaking of indigenous communities in his local Rio state, he said: "They are very threatened by the Rio state ... they [Indigenous People] march and make demos but the majority of society doesn't give a sh*t."There is still a long way to go in Latin America for Indigenous People, let alone their representation in sports.

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(CNN)Even some of the most ardent supporters of Covid-19 precautions are ditching mask mandates as health officials release new guidelines and hospitalizations plummet.Across the country, more governors are letting go of mask rules -- including in states that have long held on to school mask mandates.New York indoor school mask mandate to be lifted this weekCalifornia, Oregon and Washington state will shift from mask requirements to mask recommendations in schools starting at 11:59 p.m. March 11, according to a statement from the governors Monday.California is also dropping its requirement for unvaccinated people to wear masks in most indoor settings starting Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said. But masks will still be strongly recommended for everyone in most indoor settings.And face masks will still be required for everyone in high transmission settings such as public transit, emergency shelters, health care settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters and long-term care facilities in California, the statement said. Read MoreAccording to California's top health official, the state's case rate has dropped 66%. Dr. Mark Ghaly, state Health and Human Services Agency secretary, said he's "pleased with how the data has come down." Los Angeles County is aligning itself with California's new masking guidance by no longer requiring masks in schools starting March 12, officials announced Monday. Up north, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) announced it will be keeping its mask mandate."Universal indoor masking will continue to be in effect at SFUSD as part of our layered approach to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our schools. Face masks are not required outdoors." Illinois lifted its mask mandate for restaurants, bars, gyms and stores on Monday. And Chicago ended its proof-of-vaccination requirement. But that doesn't mean everyone should get rid of their masks. For example, masks are still required on most public transportation nationwide."I would still recommend that if you are in indoor spaces, especially those that are crowded, that you put on a mask," said Dr. Rachel Rubin of the Cook County Department of Health.Growing number of states and major cities lift Covid-19 restrictionsIn Massachusetts, a statewide mask mandate for K-12 schools ends Monday. A similar mandate in Connecticut also ends Monday, and local school districts will be able to decide whether to require masks.Starting Tuesday, Washington, DC will no longer require masks indoors. But Mayor Muriel Bowser said individual businesses still have the option of requiring masks or mandating vaccinations. And New York state will no longer require students to wear masks in schools starting Wednesday. But Gov. Kathy Hochul said counties and cities with higher transmission rates can still require masks in schools, and students can still wear masks if their families choose. The news followed steep declines in statewide Covid-19 hospitalizations and new guidance Friday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicating healthy Americans in many counties don't need to wear masks indoors anymore. "If we see no unforeseen spikes and our numbers continue to show a low level of risk, New York City will remove the indoor mask mandate for public school children, effective next Monday, March 7," Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement Sunday.NYC plans to lift one of its indoor vaccine mandates, but Kyrie Irving still won't be able to play home gamesThe mayor said he also plans to lift the city's proof-of-vaccination requirement for indoor venues starting March 7, barring an unexpected spike in Covid-19 numbers this week. "But even as some jurisdictions lift masking requirements, we must grapple with the fact that millions of people in the U.S. are immunocompromised, more susceptible to severe COVID outcomes, or still too young to be eligible for the vaccine," said Dr. Gerald Harmon, president of the American Medical Association."In light of those facts, I personally will continue to wear a mask in most indoor public settings, and I urge all Americans to consider doing the same, especially in places like pharmacies, grocery stores, on public transportation -- locations all of us, regardless of vaccination status or risk factors, must visit regularly."What the new CDC guidelines sayThe CDC released new metrics Friday to help determine whether Americans should wear face masks indoors. Previously, indoor masking was recommended for those living in areas with "high" or "substantial" transmission of Covid-19 cases. That meant most Americans lived in counties where indoor masking was recommended. New CDC Covid-19 metrics drop strong mask recommendations for most of the countryBut the new guidance includes two new metrics: hospital admissions and hospital capacity. As of Friday, most Americans lived in areas where healthy adults didn't have to wear masks anymore. Of the 10 most populous counties, Los Angeles County and San Diego County were the only two where indoor masking is still recommended for everyone. Six states had no residents living in a county where the CDC still recommends universal indoor masking: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Rhode Island. But several states had more than 75% of residents living in a county considered to have a "high" community level: Kentucky, West Virginia, Maine and Montana. Transportation mandate is still up in the airMaking -- and muddling -- the case for mask and vaccine mandatesThe Transportation Security Administration's mask mandate for airports, commercial airplanes, public buses and passenger trains is set to expire March 18. It's not clear what will happen after that.Masks are not required on school buses, the CDC said Friday. But school systems "may choose to require that people wear masks on buses or vans."While mask mandates disappear in more states, that doesn't mean Americans can ditch masks entirely, the president of the American Medical Association said."Although masks may no longer be required indoors in many parts of the U.S., we know that wearing a well-fitted mask is an effective way to protect ourselves and our communities, including the most vulnerable, from COVID-19 — particularly in indoor settings when physical distancing is not possible," Harmon said. CNN's Virginia Langmaid, Deidre McPhillips, Sarah Moon, Elizabeth Cohen and Jacqueline Howard contributed to this report.

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London (CNN)At least 22 police officers were injured and emergency vehicles were damaged in London overnight, after a street party -- illegal under Covid-19 rules -- descended into violence.Officers arrived to break up the event in Brixton, south London on Wednesday evening, but clashes broke out and led to chaotic scenes that have been condemned by the mayor of London and the UK's Home Secretary.Footage appears show police cars being attacked and officers being chased away by revelers, with some throwing bottles towards the authorities. Unverified videos posted to Snapchat in the area appear to show police vehicles retreating from the crowds in the early hours of Thursday."Officers attended to encourage the crowd to leave the location but they did not engage with police. The event continued and more officers attended the scene and the group became hostile towards officers," the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.Two London police officers attacked in 'shocking' incidentNone of the officers were seriously injured but two required hospital treatment, the force added. Four arrests were made for assault and public order offences.Read MoreIllegal raves and street parties have been gaining popularity in Britain in recent weeks, even as the coronavirus pandemic has forced the country into lockdown. Police have urged people not to attend, but in some cases the large crowd sizes and impromptu nature of the events have left them unable to break up the gatherings."I'm in touch with the Met about the completely unacceptable events in Brixton overnight. Violence against the police will not be tolerated," London's mayor Sadiq Khan said on Twitter. "Large gatherings during COVID19 are deeply irresponsible and risk others' lives.""These are utterly vile scenes," the UK's Home Secretary Priti Patel added. "Just last weekend, the whole country came together to praise our heroic police officers for putting their own lives on the line to keep us safe."The London Ambulance Service said it received "multiple calls" to the area overnight, sending six ambulance crews to the scene and an advanced trauma team.Two patients were seen by paramedics and required further medical treatment, the ambulance service said. Eight police officers were treated -- two of whom went to hospital. Police have been involved in clashes with protesters on occasions during the past month, including during a far-right rally outside Parliament and to a lesser extent at Black Lives Matter demonstrations around the capital."Our officers work incredibly hard to engage and explain the public health message and regulations to prevent such gatherings occurring," Basic Command Unit Commander Colin Wingrove said in a police statement on Thursday. "The violence shown towards officers is totally unacceptable and we will not tolerate it in any form."

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(CNN)From the rubbish dump to the real deal -- Jason Day says the hardship of his early life and the sacrifices of his family propelled him to the U.S. PGA Championship title.The Australian, whose father gave him an old golf club he found in a trash tip when he was just three years old, told CNN that his success was all to do with the love and devotion of his family.Follow @cnnsport Day, now 27, claimed the first major title of his career with a record score of 20 under par at Whistling Straits on Sunday after carding a 67 in his final round.It marked a life-changing moment for Day, whose latest achievement marks a fairytale chapter in a story which began in adversity.When his father, Alvin, died from stomach cancer, Day was just 12 -- he was a young boy heading off in the wrong direction in a world which appeared to offer him little opportunity.JUST WATCHEDAn Emotional Day!ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAn Emotional Day! 04:49Read More"I was getting in fights at schools and I was drinking at a young age," Day told CNN's Don Riddell."You know when I lost my dad, there was no-one there to be the disciplinarian and we kind of ran amok."My sister ran away for four years, she was living on the streets. I didn't know where she was and then I was getting in trouble."My dad, he was very rough with us -- he wasn't the greatest dad. When we were together, we were kind of a broken family after my dad passed away because of all what had happened."A tearful Jason Day celebrates with his wife Ellie after winning the 2015 PGA Championship.While Day may not have spoken glowingly of his Irish-Australian father, he knows that had it not been for Alvin salvaging an old club then life may have turned out differently.Life at home was hard -- money was scarce. His mother, Philippines-born Dening, would have to boil water for hot showers in the winter.She would tend the grass by hand -- using a knife to cut each individual blade of grass as there was no money to fix the lawnmower.As a teenager, Day was a tearaway. He began drinking, getting into fights and stayed out late. Playing golf would eventually bring him back on the right path."Things really do happen a reason," said Day, who now has career earnings of over $23 million following his third tournament victory this year."Who knew that a kid from a farm in Beaudesert in Queensland, Australia, would be a PGA Championship winner? I didn't expect that and it's pretty amazing to me." The putt. The family. The tears. Congratulations, Jason Day. #PGAChamp http://t.co/66PtU8toHZ— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 16, 2015 Day, now the world No. 3 and $1.8 million richer after Sunday's victory, is clearly aware of his privileged position. Married to Ellie, they have one son, Dash, and are expecting their second child.Ellie, who live tweeted her husband's final round, travels with Day as much as she can, sharing in a life which barely looked possible when Day was a young tearaway.Sent to boarding school by his mother, who remortgaged her house and borrowed money from family, Day's life was transformed at the Kooralbyn International School.There he met the man who would guide him through the next phase of his life -- and eventually carry his bag on the pro circuit.Colin Swatton took on the role of coach, mentor and second father -- and the duo have never looked back.Day credits Swatton, the man who has been with him since the age of 12, with helping him progress not just as one of the world's top golfers but also as a human being.They have been inseparable since Day arrived as a tearaway kid who had developed a liking for alcohol and was prone to temper tantrums. "Colin is always open to learning and that's what rubbed off on me the most -- being able to really understand what is right and what is wrong, not only you know in golf but in life as well," Day said."It has been a pretty crazy ride from where I was to where I am now."A little perspective on Jason Day's historic week. #PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/nVOmKWDuIn— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 16, 2015 As Day approached the final stretch at Whistling Straits, the emotion of the occasion began to sink in.He began to think of those who had sacrificed so much for him to make this journey -- his mother, his sisters and his father.Day had been here before -- but never cleared the final hurdle.He finished second at the 2011 Masters and was runner-up at the U.S Open in the same year and also 2013.At the 2015 U.S. Open he was derailed by a bout of vertigo as he threatened to break his duck, and then at last month's Open Championship at St. Andrews he registered his ninth top-10 finish at a major, tying for fourth.But this was different -- this was his time. Ding dong the witch is dead. #PGAChampionship #winning pic.twitter.com/uwBFKRvWBn— Jason Day (@JDayGolf) August 17, 2015 "When the first putt went to half a foot, then I really started crying and I felt like a baby," he said of Sunday's final hole."I didn't expect that much emotion would ever come out of me. "You know, I'd see guys in major championships and they'd be sitting there crying. I'm like, 'Oh that guy's crying,' and I can't believe that guy's crying."I didn't expect that much emotion to really just come out because it's been such a long time. "I've come a long way through the heartbreaks and the frustration of not being able to get it done and being able to do it. It felt good. It felt really good." Read: 'Wild Thing' self-destructs at PGACan Day win another major? Have your say on CNN Sport's Facebook page

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Lord's, London (CNN)First came the boos, then came the cruise.Australian duo David Warner and Steve Smith were welcomed into one of the world's most famous sporting theaters as pantomime villains amid a cacophony of boos and jeers. By the time they took their leave, only the sound of Australian celebrations remained after an emphatic 64-run victory over England secured a place in the semifinals of the Cricket World Cup.Australia's Steve Smith was booed and jeered by England supporters at Lord's.Facing arch rival England for the first time since returning from a 12-month ban for ball tampering, both men walked out to boos and jeers, though the most forceful were reserved for Smith. Not that the extra attention from the crowd appeared to bother either man. Warner hit 53 to become the leading run scorer in the tournament, while Smith, whose dismissal was celebrated with a huge amount of glee by those in the stands, battled to 38.Read MoreBoth men played their part in Australia reaching 285-7 from its 50 overs before helping to skittle England out for 221.READ: England gave Jofra Archer 'all the respect' he deserves, says Viv RichardsAustralia's David Warner received some sledging from the home supporters.For England, yet more frustration. A third defeat in seven group games leaves its participation in the final four of the 2019 Cricket World Cup in severe jeopardy.It must now defeat either India or New Zealand, both unbeaten in the tournament so far, to ensure it does not suffer a similar fate to the last time it hosted the tournament in 1999 when it crashed out at the group stage.As so often in an international competition, the ability to peak at the right time is crucial. For England, so dominant in one-day cricket over the past few years, it appears that peak is now fading out of view.Already under pressure following two disappointing defeats by Pakistan and Sri Lanka, England was up against it from the start as Australia made a fast start at Lord's.Aaron Finch, the Australian captain, struck a century and his opening partnership of 123 with Warner allowed the visiting side to take control of the contest.READ: Why India vs Pakistan is the 'biggest game in world sport'JUST WATCHEDCricket legend Viv Richards on the 2019 CWCReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCricket legend Viv Richards on the 2019 CWC 02:54England, victorious in 10 of its past 12 one-day games against Australia, appeared rattled. Poor fielding, dropped catches and inaccurate bowling left it facing an uphill struggle.Chasing 286 for victory, England's task became nigh on impossible after losing its opening three wickets for just 26 runs.Ben Stokes offered some resistance by hitting 89 but once he was dismissed by Mitchell Starc, England's hopes of an unlikely victory were all but ended.More worrying for England will be the sight of Bangladesh, a point behind, coming up on the rails. Sri Lanka, two points behind but with a game in hand, will also fancy its chances of gatecrashing the semifinals. What was unthinkable only weeks ago -- that the top-ranked host nation could not make the final four -- is now becoming a more realistic possibility.And if that happens, you can bet you'll hear some boos.

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(CNN)"The time has come to open a new stage in my life," said Cristiano Ronaldo as it was announced he would be leaving Real Madrid for Juventus in a transfer headline writers in Italy were calling the deal of the century. At $117 million, now the sixth most expensive transfer of all time, the Portuguese star was not arriving in Turin at a bargain price but there was an expectation that Ronaldo, even in his 30s, would help the Serie A side achieve what had long evaded the club -- the Champions League trophy. Having helped Real to four Champions League titles in five seasons, scoring in the 2014 and 2017 finals, the forward was to be the missing piece in the Juventus jigsaw. The player who could sate what had become an obsessive pursuit. Has the digital age changed football fans?Juventus has reached nine finals in the competition's various guises, winning just twice. It is the first club to lose seven finals. Only Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Real Madrid have played in more finals, and all three clubs have a better conversion rate, winning at least six or more titles each. But despite Ronaldo's arrival in 2018, Juventus is yet to add a third European Cup to its roll of honors. Three years and three managers later, is the club further away than ever from winning Europe's biggest prize? Indeed, the best Juventus has achieved during the Ronaldo years is the quarterfinals (in 2018 and 2019). Read MoreDominant in its own league -- Juve has won nine Serie A titles in a row -- the club has been unable to transfer such authority onto the European stage. Inflicting a first home Champions League defeat on Barcelona since 2013 on Tuesday suggests this season could be different, but tougher opponents than a poor Barca await. "It almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. They are the team that will always lose in finals," says Adam Digby, author of "Juventus: A history in black and white." "Sometimes they do not help themselves. Back in the 2012/13 season they got to the Europa League semifinals, got a good result in the first leg and didn't rest any players and got eliminated in the second leg. "If they'd gone on and won the Europa League that season, they would've had the experience of playing in European finals. They were so far behind the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid, winning a trophy would've helped them compete."Casemiro celebrates as Real Madrid goes 4-1 up in the 2017 Champions League final. Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, videos and featuresUnlucky or lacking belief?Juventus' two most recent finals -- in the 2016/17 and 2014/15 seasons -- ended in defeats to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively. According to Digby, Juventus played those finals with an "inferiority complex." On its way to the 2017 final in Cardiff, Juventus performed brilliantly and started the final full of confidence. One of the great Champions League goals by Juventus' Mario Mandzukic leveled the match at 1-1, but after the break Juventus crumbled and succumbed to the club's fifth Champions League final defeat since last winning the trophy in 1996. The way the team folded suggests the issue is more than misfortune. "In both games, they managed to get on level terms, and then they just got blown away in the second half of both matches," adds Digby."That speaks to a lack of belief that they were the best team. As soon as they fell behind the second time in both matches, you could see that they gave up."Dejected Juve players after Barcelona scores its third goal in the 2015 Champions League final. But Barcelona and Real were the dominant teams of the era, boasting the likes of Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and those two most recent final defeats came before the Ronaldo era, and before a spate of other signings. In addition to Ronaldo, in recent years Juventus has bought the coveted Matthijs De Ligt in what was a coup for the Turin club, as well as Aaron Ramsey from Arsenal, midfielder Adrien Rabiot and defender Luca Pellegrini. On paper, it is a strong squad that should challenge Europe's best. Instead, under Maurizio Sarri last season -- the man who replaced Max Allegri after the Italian left having won five Scudettos in five years but, significantly, no Champions League -- Juventus lost to Lyon in the quarterfinals. "When it comes in Europe, they just don't seem to have the belief that they can do that. I think it all keeps feeding into that. The longer it goes on, the worse it gets almost," says Digby. "That Champions League win has almost become a necessity, to almost validate the things that they've done. Right now, it has never felt further away than it has at any point over these last 10 years."Big statementsJuventus players celebrate after wining the leaue title in April, 2019. The signing of Ronaldo, the changing of the club's badge, were indicators that Juventus was a team on the verge of making the next step, joining the likes of Real, Barcelona and Bayern in Europe's upper echelons. "A new era begins," declared the club's website when it announced its new logo. But after Sarri's departure following just one season in charge and the arrival of former player Andrea Pirlo in the dugout -- a man with no prior coaching experience -- to guide a young and much changed squad, Digby says the last few months have been a "restart.""There's a real feeling that it's moved further away than it was three years ago when Ronaldo first arrived, because the team's not as experienced and as proven as it was before," he says. Ronaldo, however, is still performing to a remarkably high level. Aged 35, he is still scoring -- four in four European matches so far this season, including two at the Nou Camp against Barcelona, and eight in five in Serie A. His is a star not on the wane. "Any team that has Ronaldo has got a chance to win the Champions League," says Digby. "I think that the opinion that you should be there or thereabouts because we've got Ronaldo is absolutely right.Ten years on from humiliating Real Madrid 5-0, Barcelona is a club in turmoil"People already think that you have this team who comes close to winning the Champions League and then falls short, usually in the final. They couldn't even do it with Ronaldo will be the next line of that. "It really is almost a damning indictment of Juve's struggles in the Champions League that even with Ronaldo ... with Juve failing to build a team around him that can even get to the final at the moment is pretty poor. "If they don't win it during Ronaldo's time at the club, that has to be seen as a massive failure. You don't sign a player of that caliber unless you want him to take it to the next level."Juventus has been far from flawless this season -- Pirlo's team is six points behind Serie A leaders AC Milan, having drawn five of 10 league games -- but the Italians have secured progress to the last-16 of the Champions League. The 3-0 defeat of Barcelona in the final game of the group stage ensured Juve qualified as group winners. Barcelona, despite its league struggles, had won each of its five group games this campaign prior to hosting Juventus, but the Italians overcame Lionel Messi and co with ease on Tuesday to suggest that this season a near quarter of a century quest to be recognized as Europe's best could finally end in success.

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(CNN)For all her singles titles on the grass at Wimbledon -- seven of them -- Serena Williams can still thrive on clay, despite its challenges. The surface known as "terre battue" in French softens power games and has a way of extending battles, which can create problems, especially at late stages of careers. On a blustery day in Paris on Monday, Williams looked in danger of losing in the opening round at the tournament for a second time, before defeating 83rd-ranked Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia 2-6 6-1 6-0 for her 800th main-draw professional win. Such comebacks have been a hallmark of Williams' unprecedented career. But showing rust in just her 10th match of 2019 -- against the same opponent who stunned Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon last year -- Williams appeared more vulnerable than usual. Ultimately she came through it during a stretch of the campaign Williams usually enjoys. Read MoreThe French Open buildup tournament of Rome, for example, holds special memories -- husband Alexis Ohanian first met and proposed to her in the Italian capital -- and Williams has long owned an apartment in Paris. She likes competing on clay, too. But that's not to say things have gone entirely smoothly for Williams at Roland Garros. Visit CNN Sport for more news and videosOf the American's open era record 23 majors, only three have come at the French Open. And the only time in three decades Williams ever lost a first-round grand slam match came at the same venue in 2012 against France's Virginie Razzano.READ: Federer makes winning French Open returnREAD: Naomi Osaka can win 10 grand slams, says Chinese star Li NaREAD: Nick Kyrgios throws chair during Italian Open meltdownJUST WATCHEDLawyer breaks down what Djokovic's team could do nextReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCH (15 Videos)Lawyer breaks down what Djokovic's team could do nextHear Djokovic's Serbian fans react to his Covid-19 scandal Djokovic trains as questions linger over eligibility to play in Australian OpenCNN anchor breaks down Djokovic's lengthy statement amid controversyHear from Djokovic's family as tennis star wins appealTennis stars react to Djokovic's Australian Open debacle'A disgrace': See how some Australians are reacting to Djokovic visa rowDjokovic's former coach: Novak should speak openlyTennis star Peng Shuai changes story on assault allegationsDaniil Medvedev on stopping Novak Djokovic's calendar grand slamEmma Raducanu speaks to CNN after US Open winPatrick Mouratoglou on Leylah Fernandez and Emma RaducanuDaniil Medvedev on the 2021 US OpenUS tennis star to miss Olympics after positive Covid-19 testAshleigh Barty on her Olympic 'dream'Turned it aroundWilliams admitted to more nerves than usual and having "concrete blocks on my feet," which could explain Monday's first set. The manner however in which she dominated the final two sets is promising for the 37-year-old, who is seeking to match Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 grand slams and dually win her first as a mom. JUST WATCHEDA rare audience with Richard WilliamsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHA rare audience with Richard Williams 05:11She will certainly hope to complete a second match, something she has failed to do at any tournament since January's Australian Open. A knee injury or illness ruled her out at Indian Wells, Miami and Rome, where the knee problem scuppered a meeting with older sister Venus. Her pivotal ankle sprain at the Australian Open got the injury ball rolling and Williams said "everything went downhill from there."A year after wearing a catsuit that displeased tournament officials -- there were medical reasons for the outfit -- Williams donned a zebra printed outfit on center court that eventually required a sweat top due to a dip in temperatures. A cape that went with it before the match had the words "mother, champion, queen, goddess." Let the Roland Garros begin. Here is my French Open look designed by @virgilabloh and @Nike. pic.twitter.com/niiyqoI94m— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) May 26, 2019 "Those are things that mean a lot to me and reminders for me and for everyone that wants to wear it," she said. "Just remind everyone that they can be champions and are queens. So I love that about it."And I don't know, my super power today was just hanging in there and staying positive for once."Williams appeared hot under the collar with some of her 14 unforced errors in the first set but in the last two combined for 20 winners and a mere 10 unforced errors. A roar and stomp of the foot after making one error at the start of the second set might have sparked the turnaround. "I just was so frustrated at that point, because I have been training well," she continued to reporters. "The past week and a half has been really good and it was like, 'This isn't the Serena I have been practicing with or that I see every day."I just let out this roar, and here I am."The famous Williams serve kicked in too, resulting in just three dropped points behind her first serve in the final two frames. Assuming Williams adequately recovers physically, it is difficult to envisage either Kurumi Nara or Dalila Jakupovic -- their match was suspended due to darkness -- ousting her in the second round. Greater tests could await in round three, through either Canadian Bianca Andreescu or another North American enjoying a breakout season, American Sofia Kenin. Williams has her sights set on a deeper stay. "There is only one way for me to enjoy it here. I don't enjoy places when I don't win, so that's why I like playing in all four Grand Slams," she said. JUST WATCHEDCaroline Wozniacki: "I have more belief" nowReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCaroline Wozniacki: "I have more belief" now 02:27Kvitova, Wozniacki outAs Williams focused on staying healthy on the court, another tournament contender, Petra Kvitova, pulled out ahead of her tussle with Sorana Cirstea due to a forearm injury. Then former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki departed in three sets to Diatchenko's countrywoman, Veronika Kudermetova, 0-6 6-3 6-3. Wozniacki and another former No. 1, Angelique Kerber -- downed Sunday by a Russian, Anastasia Potapova -- faced a race against time to play at Roland Garros due to calf and ankle injuries, respectively, so their departures weren't entirely surprising. Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic leaving proceedings in the first round would have counted as gigantic shocks but they both progressed, over Germany's Yannick Hanfmann (6-2 6-1 6-3) and Hubert Hurkacz (6-4 6-2 6-2). On paper the 44th-ranked Hurkacz presented a tough test but the Serb clinically dispatched the fast-rising Pole. Last year's finalist, Dominic Thiem, trailed American Tommy Paul 4-0 in a key third-set tiebreak but stormed back for a more difficult 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 win on his favored Suzanne Lenglen court. Follow @cnnsport It is still early going at Roland Garros but there was little to suggest from Monday's performances that Djokovic -- bidding to win four straight majors for a second time -- and 11-time champion Nadal won't face off in the final in under two weeks. Williams wasn't as convincing -- but no one dares count her out.

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Story highlightsSpaniard Pedro de la Rosa has joined Hispania on a two-year dealDe la Rosa has not completed a full Formula One season since 2002The veteran has spent 2011 as a test driver for McLarenVeteran Formula One driver Pedro de la Rosa has signed a two-year contract to race with Hispania, the Spanish team announced Tuesday.The 40-year-old will vacate his current position as a test driver for British marque McLaren to join Hispania -- who first entered F1 in 2010."This is a very important step in my sporting career," the Spaniard told the sport's official website."I'm at a very good stage in terms of maturity and am prepared to take on this challenge, which motivates me hugely. "I'm here to work hard, with modesty and humility, accepting where we are now but keeping in mind where we want to be in two years' time."De la Rosa has started 85 F1 races over 12 years, but has not completed a full season since racing for Jaguar in 2002."The team's objective has always been to reinforce itself in every aspect: economically, technically and in a sporting aspect," said team principal Colin Kolles."Without a doubt, the addition of Pedro de la Rosa for next year will be a fundamental foundation in the development of our project."Apart from being a great person he is an experienced driver, as his career and prestige in Formula One prove. I give him my most sincere welcome. I am sure that he will adapt perfectly and that together we will achieve great things."De la Rosa first entered F1 with Arrows in 1999 before joining Jaguar in 2001. He spent 2005 and 2006 with McLaren, but was then out of the sport for three years until racing for Sauber in 2010.The Barcelona native raced for Sauber as a replacement for Sergio Perez at this year's race in Canada, after the Mexican was injured during a crash at the Monaco Grand Prix.Hispania's second season in F1 has proved a struggle, with the team yet to score a point in 2011.The 2011 season will come to a close with the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos on November 27.

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(CNN)Cristiano Ronaldo says the editor of France Football, Pascal Ferré, "lied" after claiming the Portuguese forward told him of his ambition to retire with more Ballon d'Or awards than Lionel Messi. Ferré, who organizes the awards, spoke to the New York Times ahead of this year's ceremony and reportedly revealed information from a private conversation with Ronaldo."Ronaldo has only one ambition and that is to retire with more Ballon d'Or [awards] than Messi. I know because he has told me," Ferré reportedly told the Times. Ronaldo, who snubbed the event on Monday, posted a message on social media before Messi claimed his record-extending seventh Ballon d'Or, disputing what Ferré had claimed. "Today's result explains why Pascal Ferré's statements last week, when he said that I confided in him that my only ambition was to finish my career with more Ballon d'Or trophies than Lionel Messi," Ronaldo wrote. Read More"Pascal Ferré lied, he used my name to promote himself and to promote the publication he works for. "It is unacceptable that the person responsible for awarding such a prestigious prize could lie in this way, in absolute disrespect for someone who has always respected France Football and the Ballon d'Or."And he lied again today by justifying my absence from the ceremony with an alleged quarantine that has no reason to exist."Pascal Ferré was not immediately available when asked for comment by CNN.READ: Lionel Messi wins seventh Ballon d'Or, while Alexia Putellas wins her first women's titleLionel Messi was awarded with his record-extending seventh Ballon D'Or award during a ceremony in Paris.'I always win for myself and for the clubs I represent'The Ballon d'Or is voted for by 180 journalists and presented by France Football to the best men's and women's player of the year.Ronaldo is now two awards behind Lionel Messi after finishing sixth in this year's rankings. It was the first time he finished outside the top five since 2010. He added: "I always want to congratulate those who win, within the sportsmanship and fair play that have guided my career from the beginning, and I do it because I'm never against anyone.Cristiano Ronaldo benching for Manchester United causes fierce debate between pundits"I always win for myself and for the clubs I represent, I win for myself and for those who love me. I don't win against someone. "The biggest ambition of my career is to leave my name written in golden letters in the history of world football."This year's awards have sparked controversy with some questioning whether Messi deserved to win the award over runner-up Robert Lewandowski -- who netted 53 times this calendar year, more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues.There were also some who thought Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah, who was placed seventh, deserved to be ahead of Ronaldo.Despite his side not winning a trophy last season, Salah scored 22 league goals and has started this year with some eye-catching performances. Jorginho, who won the Champions League with Chelsea and Euro 2020 with Italy, finished third.Meanwhile, Barcelona's Alexia Putellas won her first Ballon d'Or title after the 27-year-old was instrumental in her side's treble-winning season.Her victory took center stage in Spanish media with Marca leading its coverage on her win, with the headline "Historic."Fellow Barcelona star Pedri also picked up the award for best young men's player.

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Story highlightsCristiano Ronaldo suffers disappointment on occasion of his 99th capGermany crushes Republic of Ireland 6-1Pedro hat-trick seals 4-0 win for World champion SpainBelgium secures stunning 3-0 win in SerbiaCristiano Ronaldo won his 99th international cap for Portugal -- but the Real Madrid superstar could not inspire his country as it slumped to a World Cup qualifying defeat in Russia.Only Luis Figo (127) and Fernando Couto (110) have made more appearances for Portugal than Ronaldo, who will hope to reach his century against Northern Ireland on Tuesday.Ronaldo had scored eight goals in his previous three games for Real Madrid, including a classy double against Barcelona in last Sunday's El Clasico.Messi and Ronaldo ensure honors shared in 222nd El ClasicoBut he was unable to prevent Russia from claiming a third consecutive victory in Group F to claim top spot as Fabio Capello's men recorded a 1-0 win.Alexander Kerzhakov's sixth minute strike was enough to secure Russia its first ever win over Portugal in the post-Soviet era.JUST WATCHEDMourinho on the enigma of BalotelliReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMourinho on the enigma of Balotelli 01:35JUST WATCHEDCristiano Ronaldo: I'm better than MessiReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCristiano Ronaldo: I'm better than Messi 01:50JUST WATCHEDCollymore on John Terry quitting ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHCollymore on John Terry quitting 03:07Playing on the synthetic surface at Moscow's Luzhniki Arena, Portugal struggled to make a breakthrough against a stubborn Russian defense.Russian keeper Igor Akinfeyev made two impressive saves to deny Ronaldo and Bruno Alves as the visitors pushed for an equalizer.But the home side held out and might have even extended their lead further had Denos Glushakov and Roman Shirokov made the most of their opportunities."I can't say that we looked bad tonight," Portugal manager Paulo Bento told AFP."In general we played a good match. We reacted well on the goal we conceded and we followed the plan which we worked out before the match."Of course Russia played a great match but I think the result wasn't fair as I know my team is capable of playing top quality football. We came here to win and are really upset now."FIFA Asia chief: 2022 Winter World Cup would 'make sense'Germany underlined its credentials as potential World Cup winners with a 6-1 thrashing of the Republic of Ireland in Dublin.The defeat, Ireland's heaviest at home since 1931, came with the hosts missing several key players including captain Robbie Keane.Marco Reus scored twice in eight minutes to give the Germans a 2-0 lead at the break, before goals from Mesut Ozil, Miroslav Klose and two Toni Kroos strikes left Ireland decimated.Andy Keogh grabbed a consolation for Ireland but that failed to tarnish a Germany performance which sees them top Group C with maximum points.Germany has not lost a World Cup qualifier in its past 16 matches with its last defeat coming against England in September 2001.World and European champions Spain eased to a 4-0 win in Belarus courtesy of a hat-trick from Barcelona's Pedro.Jordi Alba gave the visitors a 12th minute lead before Pedro stole the show with a classy treble to wrap up victory in the Group I encounter.France warmed up for Tuesday's World Cup clash with Spain by losing its friendly match 1-0 to Japan in Paris.Shinji Kagawa's 88th minute strike stunned the home crowd and left the French cursing an embarrassing defeat.Vieira questions young players' 'lack of love' for England teamWayne Rooney moved up to fifth place in the list of England's all-time leading goalscorers after netting twice in a 5-0 win against minnows San Marino.JUST WATCHEDJosé Mourinho on managing star playersReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHJosé Mourinho on managing star players 05:06JUST WATCHEDJosé Mourinho's press conference anticsReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHJosé Mourinho's press conference antics 06:08JUST WATCHEDMourinho: John Terry is not a racistReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMourinho: John Terry is not a racist 01:32Rooney, who took his tally to 31 goals for his country, scored a goal in each half with his Manchester United teammate Danny Welbeck also notching twice. "There are some great players there and to be in the England top five is something to be proud of," he told ITV1. "I am only 26 so hopefully I will score a lot more. "We created some good chances and maybe there was a bit of poor finishing but it's not that easy when they put 10 or 11 men behind the ball. "It's difficult to break them down and we had to create chances and we managed to do that, so obviously we'll take the positives and it wasn't a bad result."Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain grabbed his first international goal to complete a routine win over a San Marino side ranked 207th out of 207 in the world rankings.But there was bad news for Arsenal's Theo Walcott, who was taken to hospital for scans after being injured in a clash with San Marino goalkeeper Aldo Simoncini early on.Italy was made to fight all the way in Yerevan before escaping with a 3-1 win over Armenia in Group B.Juventus coach Conte has ban reduced to four monthsHenrikh Mkhitaryan had canceled out Andrea Pirlo's penalty kick to bring the hosts level, before second half strikes from Daniele de Rossi and Pablo Osvaldo secured victory for Italy.Sweden survived an embarrassing episode against the minnows of the Faroe Islands after recovering to sneak a 2-1 win in Group CRogvi Baldvinsson fired the Faroes ahead after 57 minutes to leave Sweden facing a monumental World Cup qualifying defeat against a team ranked 131 places below.Fulham midfielder Alexander Kacaniklic grabbed an equalizer before Zlatan Ibrahimovic bagged a 75th minute winner.Netherlands recorded a third consecutive victory with a comfortable 3-0 win over Andorra.'Pitbull' Davids joins BarnetRafael van der Vaart, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Ruben Schaken were on target as the Dutch made it nine points out of nine in Group DThey sit top of the group alongside Romania, which also has maximum points from its three games following a 1-0 win in Turkey. Belgium recorded a superb win after inflicting Serbia's first competitive home defeat since April 2001.The Belgians cruised to a 3-0 victory in Group A with goals from Christian Benteke, Kevin De Bruyne and Kevin Mirallas.Croatia sits joint-top on seven points with Belgium following a 2-1 win over Macedonia.Tottenham star Gareth Bale scored twice, including a stunning left-footed rocket, as Wales came from behind to defeat Scotland 2-1 in Group A.

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(CNN)Paddy Ashdown, the former leader of Britain's Liberal Democrats and former United Nations high representative for Bosnia, died Saturday evening after struggling with a short illness, according to a tweet from the Liberal Democrats' verified Twitter account. He was 77."This is a hugely sad day for the Liberal Democrats and for the very many people across political and public life who had immense affection and respect for Paddy," said Vince Cable, current leader of the party. "He took up unpopular causes where he was respected for his convictions, in particular promoting the rights of the citizens of Hong Kong, and -- later -- military intervention in Kosovo."British Prime Minister Theresa May said he served his nation with great distinction."He dedicated his life to public service and he will be sorely missed," she said. "My thoughts and condolences are with his family and friends at this difficult time."Ashdown served in the Royal Marines from 1959 until 1972. After he left the military he joined the UK Foreign Office for four years.Read MoreHe was first elected to office in 1983. Five years later he was elected leader of the Liberal Democrats, a position he held until 1999. He retired in 2001.He was the UN high representative for Bosnia and Herzigovina from May 2002 until January 2006, responsible for implementing the 1995 Dayton Peace Accord that ended four years of armed conflict in the country.CNN's Christiane Amanpour, who interviewed Ashdown many times, on Saturday called him a "gentleman, soldier, politician.""I first traveled to Bosnia with him to investigate war crimes. His unique brand of diplomacy will be missed," Amanpour wrote on Twitter.Paddy Ashdown: gentleman, soldier, politician. I first traveled to Bosnia with him to investigate war crimes. His unique brand of diplomacy will be missed. https://t.co/5SyGwyYSfN— Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) December 22, 2018 In 2017, Amanpour caught up with Ashdown shortly after former Bosnian Serb army leader Ratko Mladic was convicted of genocide for atrocities committed during the Bosnian war in the 1990s. Ashdown investigated genocide during the war and told Amanpour, "I didn't think they'd get him (Mladic) when I was in Bosnia. I worked very hard to make sure that we set the context in which he could be captured. So I was delighted that he was and delighted that this long process -- careful, steady, meticulous process -- be brought to an end and this man is where he should be, in jail for the rest of his life."

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(CNN)Mikaela Shiffrin sat at the side of the slope, her arms on her knees and her head bowed.The American, who is so accustomed to success as one of the greatest to ever put on a pair of skis, has now suffered two bitter disappointments in the space of three days in Beijing.Just two days after she crashed out of her first run in Monday's giant slalom, Shiffrin also failed to make it past five gates in Wednesday's slalom after skiing off line just seconds into her opening attempt."It's probably a culmination of the other day and today," she replied when asked what she thinking while sat at the side of the course. "It feels like a really big let down."I was trying to look back and think about the last days and what I've been trying to do, what I've been doing with my skiing that would suggest that on the fifth gate I would push myself a little bit too hard to actually be able to stay in the course. Read More"[But] my skiing has been really solid. My entire career has taught me to trust in my skiing if it's good skiing, and that's all that I have to rely on on these race days."And when the pressure is high -- and of course the pressure is high, but that didn't feel like the biggest issue today -- and there are some nerves and the feeling that I want to do well, I always just go back to that fundamental idea that good skiing will be there for me. "It's not the end of the world and it's so stupid to care this much, but I feel I have to question a lot now." READ: 'I won't get over this' -- Defending Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin crashes out of giant slalom on first runMikaela Shiffrin crashes out of her opening run in Monday's giant slalom.'Feels like a lot of work for nothing'Shiffrin had come into these Games with high hopes of making history as the first US alpine skier to win three medals at a single Winter Olympics. Those hopes are now appear to be all but over.The 26-year-old, who was the defending Olympic champion in the giant slalom and the 2014 Olympic champion in the slalom, has now had two of her best chances at a medal melt through her fingers.Prior to Beijing 2022, Shiffrin had recorded just two DNFs in the last four years. She now has two in three days."It's a let down of everything, letting down myself, letting down other people," she said. "I think there were some people that expected I might win, maybe hoped I might win. "I know that for the people working closest to me, we were all crossing our fingers and also doing all of the work I could possibly do to give myself the best chance. It's a let down for them, we came all this way. "We are not done yet but GS and slalom, those were my biggest focuses. It really feels like a lot of work for nothing. They will try to say: 'This happens and it's OK, and don't be too hard on yourself,' but it is a lot of work for a grand total of five gates in the GS and five gates in the slalom. That's not lost on me."READ: Mikaela Shiffrin doesn't want to have to choose between 'morality versus being able to do your job' at the 2022 Winter OlympicsJUST WATCHEDMikaela Shiffrin: Don't want to have to choose between 'morality vs being able to do your job'ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHMikaela Shiffrin: Don't want to have to choose between 'morality vs being able to do your job' 02:44'I don't know how to handle it'Wednesday's contest was supposed to be skiing's marquee event at Beijing 2022, with Shiffrin and Petra Vlhova -- by some distance the two best slalom skiers in the world -- competing in a mouth-watering clash for a gold medal.But despite Shiffrin's early crash it was still a brilliant battle at the top, as Slovakia's Vlhova came from behind after her opening run to pip Katharina Liensberger of Austria to gold by just 0.08 seconds, with Switzerland's Wendy Holdener securing bronze.Shiffrin had said before the Games that she planned to ski in all five individual alpine skiing disciplines, with the downhill, super-G and alpine combined still remaining in Beijing.However, a now downbeat Shiffrin hinted that may no longer be the case."I will try to re-set again, maybe try to re-set better this time but I also don't know how to do better because I just don't," she said. "I have never been in this position before and I don't know how to handle it. "The hill and the ski track looks pretty incredible and I think it will be a pleasure to ski, but I also have some teammates who are really fast and we have the athletes who can fill the spaces, so if I am going to ski out on the fifth gate, what's the point?"

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(CNN)Holiday overindulgence may not be an exclusively human weakness -- as a team of falconers discovered after rescuing an owl that was too fat to fly. Suffolk Owl Sanctuary in eastern England was called to rescue the female "little owl," known scientifically as athene noctua, after a concerned passerby found it sodden in a ditch.Head falconer Rufus Samkin told CNN that the team took in the owl on January 3.At first they thought she had been injured or that her flying was impeded by the fact she was wet -- but even after drying off and getting a clean bill of health, the tubby avian still struggled to fly up to the perches in the aviary. A Georgia family found an owl hiding in their Christmas treeThe team then considered whether the owl had been kept as a pet -- but it found "no evidence" of that being the case, as she refused foods commonly given to pet birds in favor of feed eaten by wild owls.Read More"It's quite relatable -- a plump owl that's overdone it," Samkin told CNN."We thoroughly examined it and found there was nothing wrong, other than it being extraordinarily overweight. It was very, very plump and very wet," he said. "Owls do have an issue with waterproofing -- so if they do get wet they can't fly as well. But this one couldn't really fly at all," he added."It was about one third bigger than the average female we'd get -- so significantly larger."In particular, the owl had lots of "fatty deposits" around its thighs and abdomen, he said.An animal shelter's adoption ad for a sassy cat: 'She's just a jerk'"When we dug a little deeper and looked into where she was found we discovered the place was crawling with wild mice. "It's been a really good year for prey species, so I think she's basically just massively overindulged, got really plump, and then got caught in a wet spell and was too fat to fly."The Suffolk Owl Sanctuary kept the owl on a diet for two weeks to bring her back within a healthy weight range and on Monday released her back into the wild where she was found, Samkin said."She definitely needed to go on a diet," he added. "Hopefully she's learned a thing or two."

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Pyeongchang (CNN)To be your country's only hope, the sole focus of attention. No-one else to carry the flag or share the burden of expectation. It can be a lonely life, it can be stressful. But, in the end, the glory is all yours. As she stood in the bowels of the Olympic Stadium, about to head into a brutally cold February night, 16-year-old Mialitiana Clerc's heart was beating faster than ever before as she heard the roars of 35,000 spectators.She knew millions around the world would be watching the opening ceremony, witnessing her walk around the circular track with Madagascar's flag, seeing her wave towards the flashbulbs lighting up the arena like fireflies in the half light. I'm ready to showcase on a larger scale what I'm capable ofHere she was, among some of the world's finest athletes, yet Madagascar's only representative in Pyeongchang. She was all alone. "It was very strange to take the flag," the Alpine skier, and the first woman to represent the African nation at a Winter Olympics, tells CNN Sport. Read More"I did practice holding the flag. Before the flag ceremony started I did a quick TV interview. I was thinking, 'I'm about to start one of the biggest thing in my life and I'm not ready for this.'"I was alone, but I don't really care about it because I'm lonely sometimes in this sport so it's not a problem for me. "I was stressed before they called out Madagascar, but once I walked out behind the girl with the white dress who was leading me out I relaxed and it became OK."Born in Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital, as one of eight children, she was adopted by Stephane Clerc and Sylvie Regat when she was 18 months old and grew up in the Haute-Savoie region of the French Alps. At the age of three she was scooting down the slopes, being taught by her father Stephane -- now her head coach -- and by nine she was competing with a local ski club, the Inter Club Magland Desert Blanc.Seven years later Clerc qualified for the Winter Olympics and can now lay claim to having competed on the biggest stage of all against her hero, two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin, finishing 48th and 47th in the slalom and giant slalom respectively. She performed well in both events, each boasting fields of more than 80 competitors. In the giant slalom, for instance, multiple World Cup winner Lara Gut crashed out, while 19 racers did not complete the slalom course. "It's my first experience and it's a bit overwhelming but it's been nice to be here and to see these athletes on a day-to-day basis," says Clerc, who has been home schooled for the last two years so she can focus on her skiing. "I just want to progress and show my capabilities at this level. Now I'm ready to showcase on a larger scale what I'm capable of."Though she is her country's only competitor, Clerc's existence in Pyeongchang has not been one of complete solitude. The skier is here with her father and Philippe Razanakolona, vice president and founder of Ski Madagascar.It is the pair's combined experience of 40 years in the sport which has helped Clerc gain access to world-class equipment. Jonathan & Fletcher, racing suit designers based near Clerc's home in Chamonix, designed the skier's white suit with green and red sleeves -- a nod to the flag of the country of her birth. Along with some input from the teenager herself. During the lead up to her events, Clerc was also training with the Belgian ski team.Once the teenager had achieved Olympic qualification there was thankfully no need to set up a Madagascan ski federation as the path had been paved by Mathieu Razanakolona, who became Madagascar's first representative at a Winter Games in 2006. However, there are still drawbacks to not being from a country which is a winter sports powerhouse."Madagascar will open doors and attain levels of skiing that would take years in countries that have more competition, but the flip side of that is you don't have the support," says Clerc."There's the emotional side of supporting Madagascar, of being from there and being adopted, and that doesn't happen if you support France." For the athletes flying solo at these Games there is one common experience they all share -- being the center of attention. Google Cheyenne Goh's name and there will be numerous articles on the 18-year-old, such as "12 cool facts about Singapore's first Winter Olympic athlete," or "Singapore's Goh blazing a trail on ice.""It's super cool."Just hours after arriving in South Korea, the Singapore-born speed skater, who emigrated to Canada aged four, was greeted by journalists eager to learn more about the teenaged history-maker. "I'm not very good at it," the high school graduate tells CNN Sport in reference to the numerous interviews she has had to handle. Admitting beforehand that she was "outclassed" in her event, Goh finished fifth of six in her 1500m heat. "The atmosphere is pretty overwhelming and completely new but it's super cool," says Goh, who trained with four-time Olympic champion Chun Lee-kyung before her race. "The atmosphere is pretty overwhelming"But for Goh, and others from countries without a history in winter sports, winning is not what matters. Albin Tahiri, a 29-year-old Alpine skier, is representing the country of his father's birth, Kosovo, a Balkan nation which declared its independence from Serbia 10 years ago.Kosovo's troubled history means that for this young country of about 2.4 million people, Slovenian-born Tahiri's participation at these Games reaches beyond sport. With high youth unemployment, perceived government corruption and continued problems with neighboring Serbia, Kosovo has had little reason to celebrate of late. But Tahiri has given his people momentary joy. "I like that Kosovoan's have taken it seriously and they're really proud"The amateur skier is receiving congratulatory messages from Kosovans, has a national broadcaster in Pyeongchang to follow his every move, and has a journalist living in the same apartment as him during these Games. "They're interested in me a lot, they're calling me all the time, texting me, many of the journalists," Tahiri, who recently graduated as a dentist, tells CNN Sport. "I just arrive from training exhausted and must do my protocol as usual, to stretch and rest, but I must take interviews. "Even if you like it or not, you've got to do it. I like that they've taken it seriously and they're really proud."It is, he says, an honor to be competing for Kosovo, but it's also sometimes stressful: "Not only am I making history, I'm the only athlete here. "I just try to forget it and focus on myself and not be too worried about the type of pressure that is behind all of that."Whatever happens, it's not only me, it's the whole team. It feels good. There's a lot of attention on me, which always feels good -- why not.""I won't be getting gold, but I think they will do a big celebration"Tahiri, who has been training with the Slovenians, a country where he still resides, entered all five Alpine skiing events, finishing 37th in the combined, 56th in the giant slalom, 47th in the men's super-G, 50th in the downhill and 39th in the slalom. Once these Games are complete, he expects a warm welcome when he visits Kosovo's capital, Pristina. "It was a big celebration when judoka Majlinda Kelmendi (won) gold in Rio [Kosovo's first Olympic medal]. I won't be getting gold, but I think they will do a big celebration," he said.At these Winter Olympics, there is no need to return home with a gold medal to be lauded as a champion.

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Laredo, Texas (CNN)Two of the biggest names in Texas politics could be headed to overtime in their efforts to fend off primary challengers.Texas kicked off the nation's 2022 midterm election calendar Tuesday, holding the nation's first primaries. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott easily defeated two vocal but poor-performing rivals and is now set for a marquee battle with Democrat Beto O'Rourke, the former congressman, in the fall, per CNN projections.But down-ballot, the primary fireworks aren't over yet: Texas requires candidates to top 50% in order to advance directly to the general election. Otherwise, the top two primary finishers square off in a head-to-head runoff in May. CNN projected that embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton will face a runoff against state Land Commissioner George P. Bush, the latest member of the Bush family's political dynasty to emerge in Texas politics. Paxton's failure to reach the 50% threshold was the only negative mark on Tuesday for former President Donald Trump, whose slate of endorsed candidates largely cruised in GOP primaries. And the Democratic primary in Texas' 28th District -- between Rep. Henry Cuellar, the party's most conservative member of the US House, and progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros -- was still undecided as of early Wednesday morning. Read MoreHere are six takeaways from the Texas primaries: Governor's race is setTexas is set for a heavyweight match-up between Abbott, a prolific fundraiser with a $50 million war chest, and O'Rourke, the former Democratic congressman who has been his party's only hope at winning statewide in recent years. Poll worker shortages and other glitches emerge as Texans kick off this year's primary election seasonAbbott, who is seeking a third term, was always the favorite to win his party's nomination despite far-right criticism of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic in its early days. But he spent $15 million to be sure of it, fending off former Florida congressman and Texas Republican Party chairman Allen West and former state Sen. Don Huffines. O'Rourke, meanwhile, is seeking office for the third time in five years. His near-miss in the 2018 race against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz ignited Texas Democrats' hopes that the state, with a diverse and growing population and suburbs that have moved leftward, would soon become a battleground. Now, with a campaign focused on Abbott's management of the grid failure that left much of Texas without power after a winter storm last year, he'll seek to deliver on that promise in a year in which the national political environment could be much tougher for Democrats. Embattled AG faces runoff against BushTexas Attorney General Paxton was unable to reach the 50% support he needed to avoid a runoff, and will face a head-to-head match-up with a member of the state's best-known political family. Paxton, a Republican with former President Donald Trump's endorsement thanks to the attorney general's lawsuit seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, faced a crowded field of challengers. The efforts to oust him center on his legal troubles: Paxton has been under indictment since 2015 on securities fraud charges, and is being investigated by the FBI after former aides accused him of abusing the power of his office to help a political donor. As votes were being counted late Tuesday night, the second-leading vote-getter was Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. He led former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman and US Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Trump ally. Bush had aligned himself much more closely with Trump than other members of the Bush family. He told supporters Tuesday night that Paxton "is going to divert attention away from his legal problems and personal challenges" during their runoff. Cisneros, Cuellar could be headed for another roundThe rematch between Rep. Henry Cuellar, the most conservative Democrat in the US House, and progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros, who nearly defeated him in 2020, was neck-and-neck Tuesday night. It could be headed for a runoff. Though Cuellar and Cisneros are both from Laredo, the race split along geographic lines: Counties closer to San Antonio overwhelmingly supported the more progressive Cisneros; along the border, Cuellar was dominant. Cuellar is a rare figure in Washington: a pro-gun rights, anti-abortion rights Democrat who outperforms the national party in an area where Democrats have rapidly lost ground to Republicans in recent presidential election cycles. The FBI searched Cuellar's house weeks before the primary election. He largely dropped off the campaign trail, relying on television ads. That progressives could not defeat a hobbled Cuellar offered a window into the party's left flank's struggles to connect with Latinos in South Texas. A silver lining for progressivesProgressives did have one victory to celebrate Tuesday night: Greg Casar, a former Austin city councilman, was projected to win the 35th Congressional District primary outright, avoiding a runoff. Casar, who was endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and campaigned with New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is the favorite to win the seat in November. The 35th District, which stretches from Austin to San Antonio, is a new one drawn by Texas lawmakers during last year's redistricting. It became a target for progressives after Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett, the incumbent who had represented parts of the new district, chose to run in a neighboring district. 15th District also heads to a runoffThe most competitive US House race in Texas this year could come in the 15th District, a South Texas district that stretches from towns east of San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley. A roadmap to the 2022 midterm electionsRepublican Monica De La Cruz, who came within 3 percentage points of defeating Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez in 2020, will win the Republican nomination, CNN projected. Gonzalez, meanwhile, is running in the neighboring 34th District. But Democrats will have to wait until May 24 to determine her opponent. On Tuesday, the results of the Democratic primary remained to be seen. Ruben Ramirez, an attorney and Afghanistan war veteran, led the field, followed by a tight contest between Michelle Vallejo, a progressive favorite, and attorney John Villarreal Rigney for the second runoff spot.Trump's 'big night in Texas'Trump took a victory lap Tuesday night after every candidate he endorsed in Texas either won or advanced to a runoff. "Big night in Texas! All 33 candidates that were Trump endorsed have either won their primary election or are substantially leading in the case of a runoff," Trump said in a statement. Faulty ballots and frustration: Texans confront 'nightmare' effects of new election law as early voting kicks offThat was partly by design: Trump only endorsed Republicans who were either already favored or were locks to win. His endorsement carried weight, but was not enough to help Paxton avoid a runoff. Trump did not involve himself in the 8th District race to replace retiring US Rep. Kevin Brady. But virtually all of his allies, and every other power player in the GOP, did.

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Story highlightsRoger Federer kick starts 2014 campaign with straight sets winBeats Finn Jarko Nieminen 6-4 6-2 in 69 minutes in BrisbaneUsing bigger-headed racket at start of seasonAndy Murray beaten in second round in QatarRoger Federer said he was "pleased" with his switch to a new racket as he began his 2014 ATP Tour campaign with a straight sets victory over fellow 32-year-old Jarkko Nieminen in Brisbane Wednesday.Federer used the larger-headed racket in a doubles match the night before, but this was his first significant test with the new equipment.Finn Nieminen was admittedly ideal opposition, he had lost 13 previous encounters with the Swiss star, and slipped to a 6-4 6-2 defeat in 69 minutes in the second round match.Federer is playing in Australia in the opening week of the season for the first time since 2000 and is proving a big draw in Queensland.He slipped to No.7 in the rankings in 2013 and has hired Stefan Edberg to his coaching team to help restore his fortunes.JUST WATCHEDRoger Federer: You can't always winReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRoger Federer: You can't always win 01:31JUST WATCHEDTennis greats gather for ATP reunionReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHTennis greats gather for ATP reunion 02:50JUST WATCHEDAzarenka on 'amazing' Australian winReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHAzarenka on 'amazing' Australian win 02:24JUST WATCHEDSerena: Venus was a great role modelReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHSerena: Venus was a great role model 01:55There has also been the introduction of a 98-inch racket head, an experiment he briefly tried after going out early at Wimbledon last summer.Read: All change in 2014 for FedererFederer is satisfied with the results and lost only five service points in the second set against Nieminen."I had a much longer time to get ready for this swing than I had last time around, after Wimbledon, before the American summer," he told the ATP Tour official website. "So I'm not thinking about it when I'm going out there, which is a great thing. I'm hitting the ball really well, so I'm very pleased with the racquet."He is competing in the doubles with Nicolas Mahut to ramp up his preparation for the opening grand slam in a fortnight."Now I have doubles tomorrow and the singles the next day, so it's really good for rhythm and good for your game."I expect myself to play a bit better in the next match, even though today was already very good for a first match in so many weeks, to be honest, and against Nieminen who can play very good tennis. Particularly here in Australia."Read: Serena beats Azarenka in U.S. Open finalIn the women's singles in Brisbane, second seed Victoria Azarenka scored an impressive second round success over Australia's Casey Dellacqua.The reigning Australian Open champion served notice she will battle to keep that title with a 6-3 6-1 win over the local hope to reach the quarterfinals where she will play unseeded Swiss Stefanie Voegele.A title match-up is looming against top seed Serena Williams, who is also into the last eight after beating Andrea Petkovic on New Year's Eve.Serena's elder sister Venus has reached the same stage of the WTA event in Auckland, New Zealand.The 33-year-old Williams trailed by a set and looked set for an upset defeat to Yvonne Meusburger before a typical rally.Read: Drug test nearly delays Murray's royal dateShe won 10 out of 13 games to clinch a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory. Later Wednesday, there was a shock defeat for Wimbledon champion Andy Murray at the Qatar Open to German Florian Mayer.Murray is playing his first competitive matches since back surgery last autumn, but looked well in control when he led by a set and 3-0.Mayer, ranked 40th in the world, refused to give up and proceeded to win 11 of the last 14 games for a 3-6 6-4 6-2 victory.Top seed Rafael Nadal survived a scare against another German, Tobias Kamke, dropping the second set in Doha before prevailing 6-3 6-7 6-3.

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Story highlightsLocal residents made the grisly discoveryAuthorities say a company had been hired to dispose of the remainsRussia's Health Ministry is investigating; lawmakers may join probeRussian officials are investigating how the remains of 248 aborted human fetuses ended up dumped in a forest in the Ural Mountains, state news outlets reported Tuesday. The remains were in plastic barrels in a remote woodland near Yekaterinburg, about 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) east of Moscow, according to the official news agency RIA Novosti. The drums contained medical waste from several clinics in the city that a company had been hired to destroy, the agency reported, citing regional authorities. Local residents discovered the barrels, which contained the fetuses ranging in age from 12 weeks to 16 weeks, RIA Novosti reported.The Russian Health Ministry has launched an inquiry, and a member of the Duma, Russia's parliament, says lawmakers want to investigate the discovery as well. "I hope that the Investigation Committee will establish where this happened: in what residential area, in which hospital and who organized these criminal activities," Olga Batalina, the deputy leader of the Duma's Women, Family and Children Committee, told the Russian newspaper Izvestia.

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Story highlightsFA Cup is soccer's oldest cup competitionFinal at Wembley starts hours after the royal weddingMan Utd face Chelsea in final (CNN)Millions will be watching around the world and fans dressed in red, white and blue will travel for miles to witness the special occasion. Without doubt, they will raucously cheer their heroes. But these hardcore supporters will care little about what is happening in Windsor, the scene of a certain royal wedding.Follow @cnnsport For new arrivals on this planet, Prince Harry -- sixth in line to the British throne -- is to marry American actress Meghan Markle on Saturday. It's to be quite the thing by all accounts -- a $1.4 million extravaganza which an estimated two billion people will watch.But 20 miles east of Windsor, in Wembley, another cherished British institution will be celebrated on the same day -- the FA Cup, the world's oldest national football competition. READ: The royal wedding mania paradoxRead MoreREAD: How Man City dominated English footballManchester United fans cheer their team in the FA Cup semifinal.Hours after Harry and Meghan (a couple the world is now on first name terms with) tie the knot, Manchester United and Chelsea will hope to seal their season with a trophy. Even in the absence of Prince William, who usually attends the final as president of the Football Association -- English football's governing body -- Wembley will arguably be a more regal affair than Windsor as a King, or perhaps Kings, will almost certainly be crowned. Score the winning goal in an FA Cup final, or produce a man-of-the-match performance, and yours is a different destiny. Manchester United last won the FA Cup in 2014Much like the British monarchy, the FA Cup has endured troubled times -- United did not take part in the competition in 2000, for example -- and questions over its relevancy in a modern world is a constant.But on a big occasion such as Saturday, talk about the decline of a nation's favorite knockout competition will be put on hold and its place in British society celebrated. Though the riches and the glamor of the English Premier League and the Champions League has, in the eyes of many, diminished the luster of the competition, for the teams taking part on Saturday -- and for their millions of fans -- the FA Cup matters. As former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov told CNN Sport this week: "You will see when they win it the joy, the satisfaction that they've won something. Everything matters."JUST WATCHEDRoyal wedding sparks race conversation ReplayMore Videos ...MUST WATCHRoyal wedding sparks race conversation 03:01But unlike the royal wedding -- which takes place just over five hours before the Wembley kickoff -- this FA Cup final will not be a cultural milestone or a modern fairytale. It is a battle between two English footballing aristocrats. United, one of the world's richest clubs and English football's most successful team, will take on Chelsea, seven-time winners of the competition and a club owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. As with all good season-ending finales, or modern Royal Weddings, there will be twists, sub-plots and potential flare-ups. Mourinho and Conte were embroiled in a nasty feud in JanuaryMuch has already been written this season about the animosity between United manager Jose Mourinho and Chelsea boss Antonio Conte. In January, Conte labeled his Portuguese rival a "little man" and a "fake," while Mourinho aimed low by bringing up the match-fixing case in which the Italian was exonerated after an investigation.The Chelsea manager, 48, said he would "not forget" Mourinho's words, though the Portuguese said this week that the feud between the pair ended after a face-to-face meeting at Old Trafford in February. Nevertheless, when the pressure is on and both are barking orders to their teams from the sidelines who knows what could happen. Adding to the intrigue is Conte's future as Chelsea manager. Many expect this match to be the Italian's swansong for the Blues -- even if he guides his team to victory. Last year's Premier League champions finished fifth in the league this season, consequently failing to qualify for the lucrative Champions League. It has been a difficult campaign for Conte and his team following his title-winning debut as Chelsea boss. Mourinho has enjoyed a relatively more fruitful campaign as United finished second in the league. Victory on Saturday would earn United a record-equalling 13th FA Cup trophy and secure a third major piece of silverware under Mourinho. Visit CNN.com/sport for more news, features and videosThere will be a loser at Wembley and hearts will be broken, which is why the saccharine of a royal wedding and the unpredictability of an FA Cup final, two treasured British events, are the perfect combination rather than an antidote.Best watched back-to-back to form what is being billed as the biggest TV day of the year in Britain.

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