More than 20,000 foreigners have flocked to fight for ISIS, the radical Sunni group that controls portions of Iraq and Syria. They hail from 90 countries, and an estimated 3,400 fighters come from Western states, according to Nicholas Rasmussen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Those are the numbers – estimates, of course. But who is actually going? What are their names? What do they look like, where are they from and – perhaps most importantly – why are they going? These are some of the individuals we know have traveled or tried to join ISIS. National Intelligence Director James Clapper says 180 Americans have tried to go to fight in Syria. It’s unclear how many of those were attempting to join ISIS. We don’t know the identity of any Americans who have successfully made it to ISIS-controlled lands, but we do know the identities of a handful of people who have been accused of trying. Related video FBI: Three men attempted to join ISIS On Wednesday, three men from New York – Abdurasul Juraboev, 24; Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19; and Abror Habibov, 30 – were arrested and charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. An unsealed criminal complaint accused one of the men of discussing a potential attempt to assassinate President Barack Obama. One had discussed hijacking a flight and handing it over to ISIS, the complaint said. Four women from Colorado have been accused of attempting to join ISIS. Three Denver teenagers, who investigators say were recruited via social media, were stopped in Germany last October and sent back to the United States. After being arrested in spring 2014, Shannon Maureen Conley was one of the first Americans sentenced for conspiracy to support ISIS. Two men who have appeared in horrific ISIS propaganda videos could be from the United States or Canada, according to analysts. The individuals – both of whom are shown wearing masks covering everything but their eyes – spoke in what sounded like North American accents. One was in a video entitled “Flames of War,” which shows the execution of a handful of men. The other militant is the speaker in ISIS’ first propaganda video out of Libya, which ends with the graphic beheading of more than a dozen Egyptian Christians. Canada’s intelligence agency estimated in 2014 that more than 130 of its citizens had traveled to the region to join ISIS. Damian Clairmont was killed fighting in Aleppo last year. His mother, Christianne Boudreau, told CNN that Clairmont converted to Islam after high school and was gradually recruited by the group. Related video Mother: My son went to Syria to help women and children “He was compelled to go there to help save women and children to stop the torture,” Boudreau said. She says that over time, he was brainwashed by ISIS. John Maguire and and Khadar Khalib – both in their early 20s –  were charged in absentia by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with knowingly participating in the activities of a terror group and counseling a person to knowingly participate in a terrorist activity. They’re believed to be fighting with ISIS, according to authorities. A woman who goes by the alias of “Toronto Jane” was tweeting support for the terror group in Toronto until November. After a brief hiatus, her tweets (which were geotagged) started coming in from Syria. Perhaps the most well-known French national who is presumed to be in Syria is Hayat Boumeddiene, the widow of Amedy Coulibaly, the man who killed four people in a Paris kosher market in January. An ISIS propaganda magazine says Boumeddiene safely reached the Islamic State, the name the group calls itself, but offered no proof. Boumeddiene is believed to have disappeared into Syria before the attack. Of the other roughly 1,200 French fighters who have joined ISIS, French authorities have so far only named one man. They say Maxime Hauchard appeared in a video that depicts the graphic beheading of men who ISIS says were Syrian government pilots. French authorities have backed off a claim that another national, Mickael Dos Santos, was believed to be member of ISIS. Related video 'Jihadi John' still at large About 600 UK nationals are believed to have gone to Iraq and Syria, according to research groups. Among them: – A man who has been dubbed Jihadi John, the black-clad, masked militant who has appeared in the majority of ISIS’ beheading videos. He was identified Thursday as Mohammed Emwazi, believed to be from west London, the Reuters news agency reported, citing The Washington Post and the BBC. One of Emwazi’s close friends disclosed his name to the Post, that newspaper reported. London’s Metropolitan Police declined to confirm the reported identity. – Three classmates from London – Shamima Begum, 15; Kadiza Sultana, 16; and Amira Abase, 15 – left the UK on February 17 bound for Istanbul. Police said on Tuesday they believe the girls have reached their intended destination, Syria. – Aqsa Mahmood, 19, left her home in September, bound for the ISIS battlefield. She hugged her parents goodbye, and four days later crossed the Turkish border into Syria, hoping to become a martyr. Australia, where a number of individuals have been charged with terror offenses in recent months, has seen more than 50 of its nationals travel to the region to become ISIS fighters. But the case that perhaps stands out most prominently is that of Khaled Sharrouf. “That’s my boy,” he wrote on Twitter this past summer – posted alongside a photo of his 7-year-old son holding up a man’s severed head. Related video German ISIS member speaks with Jürgen Todenhöfer Author, journalist and former German politician Jürgen Todenhöfer traveled to ISIS-controlled Syria and Iraq in December. He spoke with CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen and shared video of a conversation he had with a German ISIS militant, one of an estimated 600 from the country. Todenhöfer spoke with the man over Skype for months. “He says what they want him to say,” Todenhöfer said. “He is sure that he is on the right way.”


A US-owned local radio station has been shut down for insulting women in Rwanda, authorities say. The Amazing Grace Christian Radio, a radio station that airs religious sermons, had its broadcasting license revoked after one of its presenters, Nicolas Niyibikora, repeatedly referred to women as evil, Rwanda officials said. The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) announced it had taken away the station’s license on Tuesday. #RURA has revoked the broadcasting license of Amazing Grace Christian Radio after this station failed to comply with #RURA’s sanctions taken after a sermon aired by the radio on January 29, 2018 in which a radio presenter repeatedly insulted women referring to them as evil#RwOT pic.twitter.com/NjggGmMnsc “The revocation follows failure by Amazing Grace Christian Radio to comply with RURA’s sanctions taken after a sermon aired by the Radio on 29 January 2018 in which a radio presenter Nicolas Niyibikora repeatedly insulted women referring to them as evil,” the statement read. The radio station’s founder,  an American evangelist Gregg Schoof, has filed a lawsuit to get the radio back on air. The court case will be heard Thursday in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. Schoof responded to news of the license removal with a statement saying he had done nothing wrong. He added that he was ordered to plead guilty against his conscience and that Pastor Niyibikora has not been found guilty yet. “I am not Pastor Nicholas. Pastor Nicholas must apologize for himself,” Schoof said. “Pastor Nicholas was not found guilty yet. There has been no testimony, no hearing, and no court case for his message. So RURA wants me to apologize for someone who is still presumed to be innocent?” Schoof has distanced himself from the “evil” comments and stated that he does not support the use of such language on women. Related article French officials accused of 'complicity' in Rwanda genocide “I am against any kind of language that is against women,” he said to the Rwandan Media Commission (RMC) ethics committee, The East African reported. “The bible protects and promotes women’s rights. But I have not got the entire translation of the sermon since it was in Kinyarwanda.” Immediately after the show’s original airing in January, complaints followed on social media. Women’s rights groups, the National Women’s Association and Rwanda Women Journalists’ Association, filed complaints to Rwanda Media Commission the media regulatory body in Rwanda, The East African reported. Related article Fake nude photos were used to 'silence me', disqualified Rwandan candidate says In February, RURA imposed sanctions on the station, including a one month suspension, a $2,300 fine and an apology to the public. When the station failed to comply with the sanctions, RURA said it had no choice but to withdraw the station’s license. Rwanda is seen as making positive strides towards gender equality. It has the highest percentage of women in its parliament in the world. The move also comes amid the closure of over 700 churches in Rwanda by local authorities, Rwandan newspaper The New Times reported. The country is seen as making significant progress since the genocide in 1994, but there are media restrictions and self-censorship, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Political opponents and journalists remain largely vulnerable, with reports of disappearances, according to Amnesty International. Rwanda currently ranks 156 out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index.


As World War II looms, a six-year-old Jewish boy escapes Nazi-occupied Europe on a rescue train to Britain. Five decades later, a woman in war-ravaged Sarajevo takes a United Nations flight to London, where she’s given a scholarship to study. In 2015, a young Syrian man pays smugglers thousands to get to Europe, waiting months for a visa to work. As the UN draws up a blueprint to address the global refugee crisis at a summit in New York, we speak to three generations about why the quest for refuge is harder than ever. Thaer Batal spent three months in “The Jungle” camp in France before hiding on a train bound for Britain. “I woke up to the sound of two rockets and suddenly the building started to shake,” said Thaer Batal, who had returned to his family home in Idlib to protect it from looters when it was destroyed by airstrikes in June 2015. A week later, the IT engineer and English literature graduate left Syria in the hope of making a new life in the UK. After crossing the border into Turkey on foot, Batal paid smugglers $1,000 to take a 7-meter rubber dinghy to Greece, which the group of 54 refugees inflated under the watchful gaze of men with guns. Batal later spent three months living in “The Jungle” migrant and refugee camp in Calais, northern France, along with thousands of other refugees from the Middle East, all hoping to enter the UK illegally. Night after night he attempted to find a way to get to Britain, eventually hiding out on a freight train headed for London. Despite his easy smile, life in the UK hasn’t been a walk in the park for Batal who for seven months wasn’t able to work or study until the government approved his refugee visa. “At the start I’d say ‘I’m a refugee looking for a room’ and people would say ‘no,’” said Batal, who almost a year after arriving is studying computer science at Westminster University. “Now I can tell them I’m a student. It changes everything.” Zrinka Bralo was a journalist in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war before fleeing to London in 1993. “It was very difficult to get pictures out of Sarajevo because these were the days of analogue and all the transmitters were destroyed,” said Zrinka Bralo, who in her early 20s worked as a radio presenter in Bosnia. “There were occasions where big massacres were happening and camera people were there by chance – but the international networks wouldn’t transmit the images because they was considered too gruesome,” she said of the war. The violent breakup of Yugoslavia, fought between Serbs, Muslims and Croats, claimed the lives of over 100,000 people – many of them Muslim. As a journalist, Bralo was able to escape on a UN flight to Britain where she was given a scholarship to continue her media and communications studies. “Hard as it was, compared to refugees now it was easy,” said Bralo, who today is chief executive of charity Migrants Organise. “They get stuck in this administrative mess where they have to wait for years before they’re allowed to study or work.” “From my experience in Sarajevo, and watching Aleppo now, it’s hard to fight the cynicism that as a species we don’t really learn from history,” said Bralo. “So we’re destined to repeat it.” Alf Dubs was a six-year-old aboard a Kinderstransport train from Prague to London. “I remember my mother seeing me off on the train and there were German soldiers with swastikas standing in the background,” said Alf Dubs, who fled Czechoslovakia on a Kindertransport train shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Around 10,000 mostly Jewish children were saved by the trains, which ran from central Europe to Holland and Belgium – from there catching a ferry to the UK. “The train left Prague around midnight,” said Dubs, a former member of British parliament. “When we got to Holland the older ones all cheered because we were out of the reach of the Nazis – I didn’t understand what that meant at the time.” Dubs’ Jewish father greeted him in London, having already fled Czechoslovakia when the Nazis arrived. His mother, who was not Jewish, joined the family shortly after. “I was lucky because some never saw their parents again,” he said. Dubs never returned to Czechoslovakia – “my future was in Britain” – and after a lifetime in politics he was appointed a Labour peer in 1994, earning him the title of Baron Dubs. The father-of-two has twice visited “The Jungle” in France, where many inhabitants are not much older than Dubs was on the Kinderstransport train. “It’s shocking that people are living in such conditions,” he said. “And exhilarating because there’s something about the triumph of the human spirit to survive.” Is there a modern-day equivalent to Nicholas Winton, the British stockbroker who founded the Kindertransport scheme? “Sadly, I don’t think there is,” he said.


There’s still no sign of the New York escapees. Donald Trump is running for president. And the Golden State Warriors are the golden boys of the NBA. It’s Wednesday, and here are five things to know for your New Day. Who knew what?: Did Joyce Mitchell’s husband know about the escape plan from an upstate New York prison? And did he know about the additional plot to kill him? Lyle Mitchell says no, he didn’t know anything; Joyce Mitchell says yes he did because she told him. Either way, authorities are taking a closer look at him and other inmates at the Clinton Correctional Facility, as the manhunt for Richard Matt and David Sweat stretches into its 12th day. The Donald’s in: The race for the White House just got a lot more interesting (at least on the GOP side) yesterday when Donald Trump announced he was running. The bombastic, boastful billionaire pretty much promised to fix everything in the country his way. In-your-face battles with China and ISIS, a wall for Mexico and a job for everybody were just a few of the pledges Trump made during his circus-like announcement. His top qualification for being president? “I’m really rich.” Well, that may be enough to get him into the first couple of GOP debates. Black or white: A week ago, no one had ever heard of Rachel Dolezal. Now, no one can seem to stop talking about her. Yesterday, Dolezal – fresh off of stepping down as head of the Spokane NAACP chapter over criticism that she’s portrayed herself as black, even though she was born white – stood by that self-assessment. She insisted, “I identify as black.” ‘Didn’t see it coming’: Hunter Treschl, who lost an arm in a shark attack over the weekend, said yesterday he was going to “fight and live a normal life” despite what had happened to him. The 16-year-old said he was playing Sunday in waist-deep water with his cousin when he was attacked and didn’t even see the shark until it bit his left arm. A 13-year-old girl also lost part of her arm during a shark attack that same day. Hoop heroes: The Golden State Warriors are the new kings of the NBA. The “Dubs,” as they’re affectionately called by their fans, beat Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-97 last night to claim the NBA title. James, despite his courageous performance, wasn’t the Finals MVP. That honor went to Andre Iguodala, who scored 25 points. As for the Cavs, and the city of Cleveland, they will have to wait yet another year for James to make good on his promise to bring home a championship. Surprise duet: Ed Sheeran sings a song with a young fan. Happy dancer: A young boy steals the show while dancing next to Pharrell Williams. Ouch!: A saluting solider causes a 6-year-old girl’s meet-and-greet with Queen Elizabeth to go horribly awry. Good dog: Millie the dog helps carry shopping bags from the car to the house. Good dog, part 2: Indy the dog gets super excited before dinner, yet shows great discipline.


A Singapore Airlines Airbus A330-300 with more than 180 passengers on board temporarily lost power to both of its engines as it passed through a storm, the airline has said. Flight SQ836 was en route to Shanghai from Singapore on Saturday when it “encountered bad weather at 39,000 feet about three and a half hours after departure,” a spokesperson for the airline told CNN Wednesday. “Both engines experienced a temporary loss of power and the pilots followed operational procedures to restore normal operation of the engines. The flight continued to Shanghai and touched down uneventfully at 10:56pm local time,” the spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that both engines were thoroughly inspected and tested upon arrival in Shanghai with no anomalies detected. According to Flightradar 24, the problem caused the Airbus to descend 13,000 feet before the crew was able to power up the engines – though Singapore Airlines did not comment on this. The carrier said it was in the process of reviewing the incident with engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, as well as Airbus. Airbus could not be reached for comment at this stage. The airliner was carrying 182 passengers and 12 crew. READ: Air France jet has near miss with volcano CNN’s Matthew Hoye contributed to this report.


Editor’s Note: David L. Phillips is director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. He served as a senior adviser and foreign affairs expert for the State Department during the administrations of Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his. David Phillips: Lebanon is faced with a political crisis The United States has an interest in stabilizing the country, he says Lebanon faces a political crisis. Its presidency, elected by parliament, has been vacant for 23 months. Parliament has convened 39 times over the past two years, but it has failed to elect a president due to lack of a quorum. Absent a president and a functioning parliament, Lebanon is in a downward spiral. It is struggling to assist the more than 1 million refugees from Syria. The central and municipal governments cannot provide basic services. Garbage is piling up on the streets. Socioeconomic conditions are worsening. Having just returned from Beirut, I’ve seen the consequences of Lebanon as a fragile state, under the influence of Iran with Hezbollah acting as its proxy. Parliament is hopelessly deadlocked between the “March 8 Alliance,” including Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement, led by Michel Aoun, and the “March 14 Alliance,” a coalition of political parties including Saad Hariri, the son of assassinated Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. These political groups are militias, masquerading as political parties. Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah is a warlord, not a politician. And while parliamentary elections are scheduled for summer 2017, Lebanon’s 1960 electoral law is outdated and needs upgrading. Plus, elections could be postponed, which would deepen the political crisis. Lebanon’s problems can be fixed. After all, Lebanon is pluralistic, but it is not an inherently divided society. Lebanese are unified by a common language (Arabic), a common ethnicity (mostly Arabs and some Armenians) and common values in support of freedom, equality and civil rights. Lebanon is also rich in human resources. Its people are highly educated and skilled in industries such as banking, construction and textiles. Lebanon also has a beautiful coastline, bountiful agro-industries, and great potential for tourism. The United States could enhance the country’s independence by working with Russia to mitigate external influences. It could also promote good governance by encouraging Lebanon’s political factions to implement the Taif Agreement, which established a power-sharing formula ending Lebanon’s civil war in 1989. After all, the United States has an interest in stabilizing Lebanon. Although Lebanon borders Syria, it has managed to withstand pressures from ISIS. But Lebanon is at a fork in the road. It can continue as a bulwark against extremism, or become a failed and fragmented state, exploited by extremists. Of course, Lebanon’s challenges do not occur in a vacuum; they are part of a broader sectarian conflict in the region. Iran and Saudi Arabia, for example, project their rivalry for regional influence in countries such as Lebanon. But ultimate responsibility rests with the Lebanese themselves. To move forward, progress could occur in steps, starting with the election of an interim president who would serve for 12 months. The interim president would oversee the drafting of a new electoral law, and parliamentary elections would occur in  summer 2017 (as scheduled), followed by the election of a president for a regular six-year term. In the past, the Lebanese people wanted the United States to stay out of their internal affairs. But during my meetings in Beirut, senior officials were imploring for more proactive U.S. engagement. The Obama administration has single-mindedly pursued a nuclear deal with Iran. But while Washington has looked the other way, Iran has projected its power and influence, establishing a Shiite crescent from Tehran to Baghdad, to Damascus and Beirut. This acquiescing to Iran explains the Obama administration’s tepid response to atrocities by the Iranian-backed Alawite government of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus; Syria is a platform for Iran to project power in the region. Related article How art can help diffuse Middle East tensions The Obama administration also appears to be tolerating Iran’s influence in Iraq, fueling Sunni concerns. And although the United States lists Hezbollah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, it has apparently turned a blind eye to Hezbollah’s undermining of democracy in Lebanon and crimes in Syria. Still, despite America’s accommodation of Hezbollah, the organization may be in decline. It did not perform as well as some expected in last week’s local elections, while the killing of its top commander in Syria, Mustafa Badriddine, is also a significant setback. Badriddine’s killing is allegedly the work of Sunni insurgents, backed by Saudi Arabia, and comes as the Saudis, in an effort to reaffirm their relevance, have looked to intensify support for Sunnis in Iraq and Syria as well as exert pressure on Lebanon. Why? Because the Obama administration’s tilt toward Iran makes Saudi Arabia feel abandoned by the United States. And it is that reality that underscores the need for the United States to have a more balanced approach between Iran and Saudi Arabia, while working more closely with Russia to address crises in the region. The multitude of problems confronting the Middle East are interconnected. While the United States is pursuing a peace deal for Syria, it should not forget Lebanon. Stability there could be a linchpin to progress in the region. It is therefore important for the United States to take a more comprehensive approach to conflict resolution in the region. Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.Read CNNOpinion’s Flipboard magazine. David L. Phillips is director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights. He served as a senior adviser and foreign affairs expert for the State Department during the administrations of Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.


Not so long ago, France was nothing but a lily-livered punch line in Washington. So it has surprised some to see it emerge as the tough-talking bad cop in nuclear negotiations with Iran. A decade ago, conservatives loved to mock France as a symbol of weakness, ‘effete’ liberal internationalism and what they regarded as “Old Europe” appeasement of hostile forces in the Middle East. READ: Progress made, but can an Iran nuclear framework deal be reached? But French-U.S. relations have traveled a long way since the days when America’s oldest ally was lambasted Simpsons-style as a home for “cheese-eating surrender monkeys” and Capitol Hill menus listed “Freedom Fries.” Twelve years after that estrangement, sparked by Paris’s opposition to the Iraq war, France has shifted from being to the dovish left of America on key foreign policy questions to its hawkish right. Related video Kerry: Still 'tricky issues' to work out with Iran This new trend is playing out in Switzerland, where France is adopting a firmer public line on the deadline-busting nuclear talks with Iran than the Obama administration – which by comparison looks much more eager for a deal. While Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met yet again Wednesday to thrash out an agreement long past its Tuesday midnight deadline, the top French negotiator left and spent most of the day in Paris. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, said on Wednesday that “things have progressed, but not enough” to produce an immediate deal. “We want there to be an agreement, there’s no doubt about that, (but) this agreement can only happen if it is robust and verifiable,” he said, speaking in French. A French source said that late Wednesday Fabius headed back to Lausanne, where the talks are taking place. Though what France has said behind closed doors at the negotiations remains unknown, Paris is now seen as more skeptical of the chances of a firmly binding Iran deal than the Obama administration, which has invested enormous political capital in the agreement and faces intense opposition from Republicans back in Washington. In fact, the end-of-the-March milestone seems more rooted in President Barack Obama’s need to show progress as skeptics in Congress fight to kill the deal than representing a true inflexion point in a negotiating process that has as its final deadline June 30. There are signs that the French believe that Washington could in fact get a better political deal than the one that is currently on the table. READ: 21 questions on Iran nuclear talks: What’s going on? What’s at stake? “The French understand the value of time, and essentially they know that the longer this goes on, within reason, the more reasons the Iranians have to give things up,” said Atlantic Council senior fellow Nicholas Dungan. “The French feel that we can ask for an agreement on specifics which the Iranians might be reluctant to give but which the French believe they probably will give in order to get the deal done.” And France isn’t just playing the bad cop role for the sake of stiffening negotiations – it has its own unique view of power politics in the Middle East. For one thing, it has been burned by Iran before. Paris has actually been engaging Tehran on its nuclear program for years longer than the U.S., and therefore has had more time to see its expectations dashed. It was part of negotiations with Iran along with Germany and Britain in 2004 and 2005. And it learned hard lessons when it was revealed in September 2009, during a visit to the United States by then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy, that Iran had built an underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordow – despite previous denials. Related gallery Iran: Key players in the nuclear talks “The French do not necessarily trust the commitment that the Iranians might actually engage in,” said Guillaume Xavier-Bender, a Transatlantic Fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. “They don’t trust that every element will be respected because of their history of negotiation with the Iranians – they have been deceived multiple times.” That French preoccupation was revealed in an earlier stage of the current round of nuclear talks with Iran that now also include the U.S., Russia and China. Washington was angered at France’s last-minute reluctance to sign on to an interim nuclear deal that was finally agreed to in late 2013. READ: White House readies Iran nuclear deal sales pitch to skeptical Congress Back then, Fabius insisted on the toughening of language on Iran’s right to enrich uranium and on its plutonium reactor at Arak, changes to a draft deal that Washington later embraced. There are also broader political and diplomatic forces at work between France and the United States behind the scenes, which, according to both sides, have brought relations to their strongest point in years, the differences over the Iran negotiations not withstanding. France has emerged as Washington’s most reliable European partner in power projection outside its backyard, better even than Washington’s ‘special relationship’ ally Britain. A fundamental shift in French foreign policy took place after the Iraq meltdown when Sarkozy took power. “Some of it was down to diplomatic tactics and some of it was a genuine policy decision,” said Dungan, author of a forthcoming book titled “Why France Matters.” “One of the reasons why the U.S. could be suspicious or dismissive of France was that it could say ‘the French aren’t going to fight,’” he said. Related video France: You've got a friend “Right away on taking office, Sarkozy took a much harder line.” So in 2011, it was the conservative Sarkozy who led the charge on Western intervention in Libya to avert what was seen as a possible massacre by Moamer Gadhaffi’s forces in Benghazi and convinced Obama to join in. The trend continued when the socialist Francois Hollande became president in 2012, only to be embarrassed when Obama climbed down from threats to punish Syria for chemical weapons violations while French pilots were strapped into their cockpits to begin bombing runs. Nevertheless, France was the first European nation to send its planes into the skies over Iraq to bomb ISIS alongside American jets this fall. Paris also has a narrow self-interest at play in Switzerland that also shapes its hawkish stance. It’s a longtime member of the nuclear club and any widening of the membership – and a possible Middle Eastern arms race – would tarnish its own relative prestige and power. READ: Boehner: New Iran sanctions ‘very’ quickly if no nuclear deal And there may also be some wounded feelings at play. Though they are under an international umbrella, the Iran nuclear talks have effectively boiled down to a bilateral negotiation between longtime enemies Washington and Tehran – with Europe partially sidelined. So France’s pride dictates that it is unlikely to accept any outcome that appears imposed by the United States. But that desire to preserve its own primacy in transatlantic affairs is also the reason, experts said, that France would never totally derail nuclear talks so vitally important to Washington. Such a move would cause a new rupture in ties with Washington that France has spent much of the last decade trying to mend.


Here’s a look at the life of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first democratically elected president of Haiti. Birth date: July 15, 1953 Birth place: Port Salut, Haiti Birth name: Jean-Bertrand Aristide Father: Joseph Aristide, farmer Mother: Marie (Pierre-Louis) Aristide Marriage: Mildred (Trouillot) Aristide (January 20, 1996-present) Children: Michaelle and Christine Education: Grand Seminaire Notre Dame, Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Universite d’Etat d’Haiti, B.A.; University of Montreal, Canada, M.A.; University of South Africa, Pretoria, Ph.D. Religion: Roman Catholic Elected president of Haiti twice. Both administrations were overthrown. Former Roman Catholic priest, a member of the Society of St. Francis de Sales. His wife, Mildred Aristide, is a Haitian-American lawyer from New York. Studied in Israel. 1974 - Enters the priesthood with the Society of St. Francis de Sales (Salesians) in the Dominican Republic. 1983 - Is ordained and assigned to St. Jean-Bosco, a poor parish in a Port-au-Prince, Haiti, neighborhood. 1986 - Is held hostage by Salesian followers for two weeks for condoning and supporting the opposition to the new post-Jean-Claude Duvalier regime. September 11, 1988 - The St. Jean-Bosco parish church is attacked during morning mass, with 13 dead and more than 70 injured. December 15, 1988 - Aristide is expelled from the Society of St. Francis de Sales for his “incitement to hate and violence.” December 16, 1990 - Is elected president of Haiti with more than 67% of the vote. February 7, 1991 - Takes the oath of office as the 40th president of Haiti. October 1, 1991 - Flees Haiti for Venezuela, after a coup led by Brigadier General Raoul Cedras overthrows the government. October 15, 1994 - Is reinstated as president of Haiti, after a US-brokered agreement. Cedras and his staff resign and are exiled. October 17, 1994 - Under pressure from the Vatican, submits a letter formally requesting to leave the priesthood. February 7, 1996 - First smooth transition from one president to another in Haiti’s history as Rene Preval is sworn in as the 41st president of Haiti. 1996 - Founds the Aristide Foundation for Democracy. November 1996 - Forms and leads the Fanmi Lavalas political party. November 26, 2000 - Aristide is reelected as president with 91.69% of the vote. February 7, 2001 - Is sworn in as the 42nd president of Haiti. December 17, 2001 - The presidential palace is stormed during an attempted coup believed to be led by Guy Philippe. Seven people are killed. January 13, 2004 - Announces new legislative elections after his administration comes under fire for rigging previous elections. February 25, 2004 - Philippe and rebel forces surround Port-au-Prince and announce plans to arrest Aristide. February 29, 2004 - Resigns as president and leaves Haiti with his wife on board a US military plane to the Central African Republic. 2007 - Receives Ph.D. in African languages from the University of South Africa. November 26, 2009 - Haiti’s electoral council bans Aristide’s party from participating in the next legislative elections. January 12, 2010 - A 7.0 magnitude earthquake strikes 14 miles west of Haiti, destroying most of the capital of Port-au-Prince. January 15, 2010 - From Pretoria, South Africa, the exiled Aristide announces his wish to return home to help Haitian earthquake survivors. March 18, 2011 - Aristide returns to Haiti after seven years in exile. May 8, 2013 - Appears in court in Port-au-Prince in connection with the investigation of journalist Jean Leopold Dominique’s murder. June 21, 2021 - Le Nouvelliste reports that Aristide has tested positive for Covid-19 and will seek treatment in Cuba.


Editor’s Note: Max Fraser is a design expert, curator and special correspondent for CNN Style. Paris Design Week is one of the more significant design weeks to take place in Europe each year. It’s a citywide celebration of furniture and interior products that has grown out of the city’s biannual industry trade fair, Maison & Objet, located in the Parc des Expositions on the outskirts of the capital. Here, enormous halls are filled with aisle after aisle of new product launches to adorn every imaginable interior. Celebrating 100 years of innovative Finnish design While an important commercial platform, these vast hangars of stuff have the ability to sap the energy from or overwhelm visitors. The events and exhibitions dotted across this romantic city act as a sort of antidote and are encouraged (and promoted) by the trade fair organizers. Occupying shops and showrooms, empty warehouses and small ateliers, the ‘fringe’ events often have less emphasis on trade and more on culture. As someone who travels the world visiting design weeks throughout the year, strangely I haven’t been to Paris Design Week for over a decade. With the CNN Style film crew in tow, I spent a day moving across a handful of events in the city. Starting with a whistle-stop tour of the cavernous Maison & Objet,  we headed to the center and took in a few more exhibitions and venues before zipping back to my hometown London.


"There is a military option," White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters A key question for military planners and intelligence analysts is what military option would actually work as a deterrent North Korea’s latest ballistic missile test has renewed discussion at the highest levels of the Trump administration about how military force could be used to stop Kim Jong Un’s development of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles. “For those who have said, and been commenting about a lack of an military option, there is a military option,” national security adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters Friday, adding: “Now, it is not what we would prefer to do.” At the same press briefing, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley acknowledged that if sanctions and diplomatic pressure don’t work, the UN may not be able to do much more. “So, having said that, I have no problem with kicking it to (Defense Secretary) Gen. James Mattis because I think he has plenty of options,” she said. Speaking Friday at Joint Base Andrews, the Air Force installation outside Washington, President Donald Trump emphasized the robustness of US military options. “After seeing your capabilities and commitment here today, I am more confident than ever that our options in addressing this threat are both effective and overwhelming,” he said. According to North Korea’s news agency, after the launch, Kim told top officials that the final goal of Pyongyang’s efforts “is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the US and make the US rulers dare not talk about military option for the DPRK,” the acronym for the country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. “And he stressed the need to run at full speed and straight, continuing to qualitatively consolidate the military attack capacity for nuclear counterattack the US cannot cope with.” For years, much of the work on US military options for deterring the North Korean nuclear threat has centered around key initiatives, such as missile defense systems like the ground based Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and long-range interceptors, as well as Aegis radar-equipped ships to shoot down incoming North Korean missiles. Once the Trump administration came into office, there was a renewed look at so-called rapid-response options, such as “shows of force” that involve flying bombers over the Korean Peninsula to convince Kim the US means business. But with no sign Kim is responding to diplomatic or sanctions pressure – or the threat of force – one of the key questions for military planners and intelligence analysts is what military option would actually work as a deterrent to Kim. One senior US official says the problem right now in relying on a deterrence theory is “no one knows” what would actually deter the North Korean leader. The accepted theory in the military and intelligence community is Kim’s top priority is his own preservation and that of his family. That goal, the US believes, would keep him from attacking the US outright. Mattis acknowledged earlier this month that Trump has been updated on all military options, saying: “Any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam, or our allies will be met with a massive military response – a response both effective and overwhelming.” But what has emerged are two problems: first, knowing exactly where Kim has hidden his weapons so the US can use determine exact target locations for precision weapons to hit; and second, getting past hefty North Korean defenses to get to those weapons. The target set is massive. The former chairman of the House intelligence committee, Mike Rogers, told CNN’s Jake Tapper there is in fact a so-called “decapitation option.” Rogers says it means the US would “strike the leadership, including Kim and some of the senior leaders around him – take them out of the equation.” There are also options for a ‘limited strike” on nuclear and other weapons sites. And despite media reports several top US officials tell CNN there is no immediate consideration to putting tactical nuclear weapons into the region for use against North Korea. If the crisis reached the point of needing nuclear weapons, the US routinely keep submarines with nuclear tipped missile on covert patrols offshore, US officials privately acknowledge. Numerous interviews with current and former administration officials reveal a list of options that could all result in massive civilians casualties even if US targeters knew where Kim has hidden all his weapons. To get into North Korean airspace to attack any known missile or nuclear sites that can be located, the US would rely on cruise missiles and fighter jets to begin by attacking air defense missile and radar sites, officials say. US officials are now looking again at any possible means for destroying thousands of artillery tubes and weapons Kim has arrayed just north of the demilitarized zone. “There are literally thousands of tubes of artillery along the demilitarized zone that are aimed south, some of them directly at Seoul,” says Col. Steve Warren, a former Pentagon spokesman. “And, frankly, some of these artillery pieces are very simple, it’s simply an old-fashioned cannon that cannot be jammed, it cannot be interdicted any way other than with a direct strike.” Internal Pentagon estimates calculate it could take a complex air bombing and cruise missile campaign a week or more to destroy whatever weapons can be found from satellite surveillance, although US officials believe they know where much of his weapons inventory is located. The US would likely rely on the F-35 fighter jet, the most advanced in the inventory, and bombers to try to strike along the demilitarized zone, officials say. Trump touted the aircraft while speaking at Andrews. “Now, when our enemies hear the F-35 engines, when they’re roaring overhead, their souls will tremble, and they will know the day of reckoning has arrived,” he said. But an internal Pentagon estimate calculates an air campaign could take several days, meaning the North could still launch attacks causing massive civilian casualties even as some fighters, bombers and submarine- and ship-launched cruise missiles tried to attack key weapons sites. Current military planning also relies heavily on South Korean cooperation officials tell CNN. If there are ground combat operations, every effort would be made not to have US troops to go into North Korea due to Chinese sensitivities about any US presence in the event of conflict. South Korean leaders have long said they are strongly opposed to war on the peninsula. Beyond diplomacy and all-out war, there is another possible option. “There could be a cyberattack that the North Koreans don’t even understand … was a cyberattack from us,” said Warren. “They simply find themselves confounded by a problem that they didn’t anticipate. And this is just another tool. Sometimes when you attack, you want your enemy to know that you punched them in the nose, other times you want them simply to fall down and wonder why they fell.”

United States military options against North Korea


Former FBI Director James Comey said Wednesday that he does not believe President Donald Trump will fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. “I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Comey said when he was asked on ABC’s “The View” about the possibility. “The President would have to fire everyone in the Department of Justice and the FBI to stop an investigation,” Comey said. “So it doesn’t make any sense to fire Director Mueller and bring the kind of storm that would bring. So I actually don’t expect that to happen … I don’t expect it.” It’s been speculated, particularly since the FBI raided his personal attorney last week, that Trump might attempt to fire the special counsel as a way of ending what he frequently calls a “witch hunt.” The media appearance is Comey’s latest as part of a promotional tour for the release of his new book, “A Higher Loyalty.” The former FBI director, who was abruptly fired by Trump last year, offers up a scathingly critical portrayal of the President in the book — and has not let up on that criticism in recent interviews. On Sunday evening, Comey was asked by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos what would happen if Trump tried to fire Mueller. Comey responded that the potential move “would, I hope, set off alarm bells that this is his most serious attack yet on the rule of law.” But Comey also told Stephanopoulos that he didn’t think that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller, would carry out that order. The President has unleashed a forceful counterattack against Comey via Twitter. On Wednesday morning, Trump said that Comey was “not fired because of the phony Russia investigation,” contradicting his statements last year when he told NBC News that he had “this Russia thing” on his mind when he decided to fire Comey. Slippery James Comey, the worst FBI Director in history, was not fired because of the phony Russia investigation where, by the way, there was NO COLLUSION (except by the Dems)! Trump’s allies, meanwhile, have launched a campaign to undermine Comey’s credibility. As Comey was explaining his take on Mueller’s job security Wednesday, one of “The View” hosts interjected to say, “well, we didn’t think he’d fire you.” “I just thought the same thing,” Comey replied, adding, “I’m not the best judge.”


Scott Walker will offer his foreign policy vision in a speech Friday mostly by contrasting it with what he terms a “retreat” from the world stage by the Obama White House. “With all of the challenges we face around the globe today, now is not the time for untested leadership. I have been tested like no other candidate in this race,” the Wisconsin governor will say, according to excerpts released early Friday morning. “As President, I will send the following message: the retreat is over.” The speech at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, gives Walker, who has fairly limited foreign policy experience and has raised some eyebrows with prior comments, a chance to shore up any nagging doubts. Walker will chastise President Barack Obama for misunderstanding Iran’s relationship with ISIS and, more broadly, displaying a passivity and false hope that the world will order itself without American leadership. READ: Walker hits back at Rubio over whether a governor can be ready for presidency “We’ve had enough of a President who proclaims that the greatest threat to future generations is climate change,” Walker will say. “We are at war with radical Islamic terrorism. It will not go away overnight. This is a generational struggle. And these radical groups will continue to grow if we do not destroy them.” Walker will speak on foreign policy about a 15-minute drive away from Marco Rubio, who will be sharing his own vision at nearly the exact same time, also in Charleston. READ: Rubio takes on China in op-ed ahead of foreign policy speech


The delay comes as Congress prepares to vote on a sweeping tax reform bill Palestinian and religious leaders said they would refuse to meet Pence during his visit US Vice President Mike Pence has delayed his upcoming visit to Israel for several days, spokespeople for the Speaker of the Israeli Parliament and Foreign Ministry and Pence’s office told CNN on Thursday. The delay comes as Congress prepares to vote on a sweeping tax reform bill, and amid an ongoing outcry over President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy to the holy city. Pence’s vote could be crucial to Republican hopes of passing a major tax reform bill before the end of the year. With Republicans holding a slim 52-48 majority in the Senate – and some key Republican senators still uncommitted – Pence holds the tiebreaking vote in the event of an even split. Delaying the Jerusalem visit and keeping the vice president in Washington allows Pence to cast that vote if tax reform moves forward next week. Pence’s office confirmed he will now leave Washington on Tuesday, stopping in Egypt for a brief visit before arriving in Israel for a multi-day visit. His schedule includes an address to the Israeli Knesset on Thursday. He will cap off the trip with a stop at a US base in Germany and return Saturday. Related article Tax win will be huge for Trump, but don't bank on political windfall Trump’s announcement last week delighted Israeli leaders but was heavily criticized by many key US allies and Palestinian leaders who see East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Pence had originally been scheduled to arrive in Israel on Sunday and address the Parliament, or Knesset, the following day. But Palestinian and religious leaders said they would refuse to meet Pence during his visit. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki told reporters last week that the leadership had decided there would be “no formal communications” with US officials in the wake of Trump’s Jerusalem decision. Speaking at an emergency summit of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul on Wednesday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said: “We shall not accept any role for the United States in the peace process. They’ve proven their full bias in favor of Israel.” Related article Muslim leaders call for recognition of East Jerusalem as Palestinian capital The OIC called on the international community to recognize East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state. On Wednesday, the custodian of the key to one of the holiest sites in Christianity, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also said he would not welcome Pence to Jerusalem’s Old City, though he added he knows of no specific plans for Pence to visit the Church. Adeeb Joudeh al-Huseini wrote in a public letter that he would “totally refuse to officially welcome [Pence]” into the church. “We say to Trump that it is insane that someone who doesn’t own [Jerusalem] is giving [it] to one who doesn’t deserve [it],” al-Huseini wrote. He also called on other church leaders in Jerusalem to turn Pence away. Related article Netanyahu: European countries will follow Trump on Jerusalem Tensions have simmered ever since Trump’s controversial declaration last week, with many world leaders fearing it will mean the end of a two-state solution to the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Deadly protests broke out in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem following Trump’s announcement. There has also been an increase in the number of rockets fired from Gaza towards Israel. In the latest incident, on Wednesday evening, the Israel Defense Forces said it had intercepted two rockets, and that a third landed in open territory. The Israeli army responded by targeting what it described as three military facilities in Gaza used as training and weapons storage sites by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza.


Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's White House roles are growing The couple is among Trump's most trusted advisers When President Donald Trump left the confines of the White House Saturday night – in the wake of his humiliating health care setback just the day before – he headed to a place of comfort: A table for three at BLT Prime in his own hotel, joined by his daughter Ivanka, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The pair have long been top advisers to Trump, but both now seem ascendent. Ivanka Trump, who is getting her own West Wing office, is heading to Berlin in April at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to attend the W20 Summit. Kushner, it was announced Monday, will lead an “innovation” office tasked with making government more efficient. Kushner, Senate investigators to meet Even as Trump courts chaos and competing factions among his top staff, the couple is often referred to as “moderating forces,” and “Donald Trump whisperers.” The phrases “inner circle” and “power couple” often accompanying reports about the two, who live just two miles from the White House in DC’s Kalorama neighborhood. With Kushner’s higher profile now comes a higher level of scrutiny – he volunteered to testify before senators investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, because of his role in arranging meetings between top campaign advisers and Russian ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak, the White House said Monday. Ivanka Trump and Kushner have rarely spoken at any public events or participated in on-the-record media interviews since Trump took office, but behind the scenes, they continue to have the President’s ear now that he’s in the White House. To get a sense of how rare it is to hear from Jared Kushner, consider that he spoke exclusively to Forbes Magazine following the election for its December 2016 issue. That was the first time he publicly talked about the campaign and his role in Trump’s victory, and only after it was over. In Trump’s first two months in office, Kushner, 36, has taken a broad portfolio within the West Wing, where he has an influential purview over a range of both foreign and domestic policy issues. In his second media interview, Kushner told The Washington Post that the new office will be “an offensive team” in streamlining government. “The government should be run like a great American company. Our hope is that we can achieve successes and efficiencies for our customers, who are the citizens,” he told the Post. Ivanka Trump’s husband was raised in New Jersey, the son of Charles Kushner, who found success in the residential real estate industry. The elder Kushner went to prison for nearly a year in the early 2000s for criminal tax evasion and witness tampering. Jared Kushner’s father may have stoked his political interest at a young age – Charles Kushner was a prominent Democratic donor. When then-Vice President Al Gore attended a fundraiser at the family home, 19-year-old Jared introduced the candidate, one attendee told New York magazine in a January profile. The President’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, has long been a key adviser to her father, through her young adulthood to her time as executive vice president of real estate development and acquisition at the Trump Organization, and, ultimately, during his 2016 presidential campaign. While she doesn’t have an official White House title, Trump, 35, is moving into a West Wing office and obtaining security clearance, an administration official told CNN last week. She will also receive government-provided communications devices, although she will not draw a salary or technically be a government employee, per the official. Trump will continue to serve in that capacity, acting as the President’s “eyes and ears,” per her attorney, Jamie Gorelick. In the first several weeks of the administration, she’s already been on hand for key happenings, including roundtable discussions with Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a Florida school visit with her father and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, an Oval Office bill signing encouraging women in STEM, a visit to the National African American Museum of History and Culture and West Wing meetings on human trafficking and manufacturing, among others. She announced Sunday evening that she will be making her first international trip representing the Trump administration, attending the W20 Summit in Berlin in late April. Looking forward to promoting the role of women in the economy and the future of our workforce globally #W20 https://t.co/1OB9TK6poH She was in attendance and made brief remarks in front of cameras Monday at a women’s economic empowerment roundtable with the President and Vice President Mike Pence at the White House. “I feel very blessed to have met so many of you,” she said to the female entrepreneurs at the table, kicking off the discussion. “You truly exemplify women’s economic empowerment.” Together, Trump and Kushner have been active presences in and outside the White House, roles that continue to expand. They are frequently on hand for official events, speeches, bill signings, and news conferences with foreign leaders. They accompanied the President to a Boeing manufacturing plant in South Carolina, and they’ve joined the President at his Mar-a-Lago resort with their three small children, blurring the lines between work and family time. Trump and Kushner have also been notably absent during some of Trump’s most tumultuous moments. The Orthodox Jewish couple is not able to work or use technology from sundown Friday to Saturdays, the timing of some of Trump’s most controversial tweets and actions. For instance, Trump’s tweet alleging President Barack Obama “had my ‘wires tapped’ in Trump Tower just before the victory,” came early one Saturday morning. Rare media leaks about the couple have also crafted the pair’s image as a moderating force when it comes to social issues. In early February, The New York Times reported that Trump and Kushner “helped kill a proposed executive order that would have scrapped Obama-era LGBT protections, according to people familiar with the issue.” Earlier that week, the White House released a statement, saying that Trump was “determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community. President Trump continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights, just as he was throughout the election.” The Wall Street Journal reported in late February that “language critical of a global climate deal was struck from an executive order that Mr. Trump is planning to sign soon,” at Ivanka Trump and Kushner’s urging, “according to multiple people familiar with the move.” And Ivanka Trump has carefully crafted images of Washington family life, evoking comparisons to the Kennedy era with photos of their children at museums across town and glamorous shots from date nights. CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Tom LoBianco, Sara Murray and Evan Perez contributed to this report.


Myanmar is a major source of human hair, feeding the global demand for wigs, weaves and hair extensions But as the nation grows richer, there are fears that fewer women are willing to part with their locks Aye Aye Thein, 55, cuts hair for a living at Insein market in the north of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. But unlike most hairdressers, she doesn’t charge her customers. Instead, she pays them. The country is a major source of human hair, feeding the global demand for wigs, weaves and hair extensions. “Myanmar hair is the softest, most sought-after hair in Asia,” said Aye Aye Thein, whose hair stall is nestled between those of a greengrocer and a betel nut seller. Figures suggest the global trade in human hair was worth $87.4 million in 2016, with Myanmar the third largest exporter after India and Tunisia. In Myanmar, hair can be considered sacred: The gilded Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the Buddhist country’s holiest sites, is believed to be built on strands of Buddha’s hair. But it’s also common for women here to cut their hair to make ends meet and during Buddhist New Year celebrations, when some women and girls become nuns for a short time and cutting off their hair shows an absolute sacrifice, a detachment from any distractions. Much of this hair makes its way to China, where it’s processed and sold to hairstylists in the West. But as Myanmar grows richer, opening up after decades of military rule, there are fears that fewer women are willing to part with their locks. On an average day,  Aye Aye Thein says, she has seven to 10 customers. “Look at this hair! It’s really nice,” she said, gesturing at one thick clasp of hair in her palm. “It’s not oily, not too dry, small bits aren’t breaking off, light and fluffy.” She then gestured to the tops: “It should be solid, no frizz or split ends.” The pricing of hair depends on the quality and weight, which is weighed in “viss,” a traditional Burmese unit of measurement, roughly equal to 1½ kilograms. Huddled over a battered pair of scales,  Aye Aye Thein estimates the price of hair by its feel and a simple scrape of the bundle with an open scissor arm to test for firmness and smoothness. Placing the hair on the scales, she then measures it in viss with small weights before handing over a wad of money to a customer. Most transactions range from 15,000 kyat ($11) to over 200,000 kyat ($150) for hair over 10 inches. This income goes a long way in Myanmar, where the minimum wage is 3,600 kyat ($2.70) a day. The hair that fetches the highest price is usually from women with ankle-length hair whose locks can be divided into many bundles to be sold individually. Men occasionally grow their hair to sell it but it’s not common – although buyers don’t discriminate between male and female hair. China is the biggest importer of Myanmar hair, traders said. One Chinese buyer from Gungzhou on a buying trip to Myanmar who declined to give his name explained, “I will then sell this hair to wig or hair extension makers back home.” Buyers at Insein market say the reasons women want to sell their hair vary. For many, it’s a much-needed infusion of cash  – whether to save for a house, repay loans or simply have some pocket change. Phyu Phyu, a 21-year-old student, said she wanted to sell her hair “because it is too hot to have long hair.” She says that with the $45 she made for her long black locks, she will save some, buy clothes with some and donate the rest to the Buddhist monks who weave their way through the city each morning to collect alms. In the western region of Rakhine,  Myanmar’s second-poorest state, which has been riven by communal violence, the hair trade is seen as a reliable form of income in uncertain times. Khaing Yu Swe, of the state capital Sittwe, entered the hair trading market 17 years ago: “Before, I did weaving, but buying raw materials was very expensive, and the profit could not cover my family’s basic needs.” Anthropologist Emma Tarlo, author of “Entanglement: The Secret Lives of Hair,” says the trade has always relied on a mixture of poor women selling their hair and religious donations. “The fact that Myanmar contains large numbers of long-haired women poor enough to be willing to sell their hair is an important factor,” she said. During the Buddhist new year celebration, Thingyan, which usually falls in April, many women and girls choose to cut off their hair and become nuns for about 10 days. Yuzana Nyani, a nun, says that this act of selflessness and dedication to Buddhist meditation is a form of making merit to reach Nirvana. “To cut off your hair reminds us that [hair] really has no sense or spiritual value. … When it is removed from the body, it doesn’t have any worth,” Yuzana Nyani said. May Thet Chayay, 12, chose to become a nun show her parents that she is a good Buddhist. “We don’t need [hair], really,” she said. “It feels good. I feel free. You should try it.” A young woman gets her cut during Thingyan, the Buddhist New Year. May Thet Chayay, 12, has her hair shaved after choosing to spend a short period of time as a Buddhist nun. Traders in Yangon and Mandalay, a city in the north of Myanmar where hair sorting is big business, worry that demand is outstripping supply. “Before, I could just collect the hair myself from women in the city, but now I need to buy more hair from Bangladesh and other countries to mix with Myanmar hair,” said Htay Win, a hair merchant in Mandalay who has been in the industry for seven years. Htay Win is confident that the market will keep booming, although he is concerned about the shortage of good-quality hair. “It is getting harder and harder to buy long enough hair of 50 inches, because women are now choosing to cut their hair shorter and shorter.” He adds that the quest to find virgin or untreated hair is also becoming more challenging. “Women now are dyeing their hair, which affects the price.” Htay Win also collects small amounts of hairballs and strands from combs. This mishmash is not as valuable as cut hair, as it has to be untangled, brushed, washed, dried, conditioned and brushed once more until it shines. Tarlo says that traders in India and China, the main two processing centers of the hair trade are located, are also expressing anxiety about supplies drying up. But she adds that the trade is not likely to collapse anytime soon, given Myanmar’s close proximity to the two and its relative poverty. “People are getting wealthier, trendier, more concerned with their appearances and so forth,” she said. However, “when you look at historical sources, you find that even in the 19th century, hair collectors were always complaining that hair supplies were running out.” Edited and produced by Katie Hunt in Hong Kong.


Many of the provisions in the order are consistent with Trump's campaign pledges Here's a breakdown of what the executive order does With just a few quick strokes of the pen, President Donald Trump on Friday banned – temporarily, for now – roughly 218 million people from entering the United States. Trump barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for at least the next 90 days by executive order, which a senior White House official said later Friday is likely just a first step toward establishing a broader ban. Full text of Trump’s executive order All of Trump’s executive orders, memos and proclamationsWill the orders and actions stick?How Trump’s actions stack up against previous presidentsWhat Trump can and cannot doWhat’s the difference between and order and action? All of Trump’s executive orders, memos and proclamationsWill the orders and actions stick?How Trump’s actions stack up against previous presidentsWhat Trump can and cannot doWhat’s the difference between and order and action? It’s unclear how many more countries will be added to the list, but the official said the administration will be “very aggressive” as it weighs how many more countries to add to the list. Asked what criteria the administration will consider as it looks to expand the ban beyond the initial seven countries, the official said simply the “mandate is to keep America safe.” “Not going to take any risks,” the official added. That’s just one part of the controversial executive order Trump signed Friday dubbed: “Protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States.” Many of the provisions in the order are consistent with Trump’s campaign pledges. Here’s a breakdown of what the executive order does. Trump banned citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US for at least the next 90 days. The executive order bars all people hailing from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen – or at least 218 million people, based on 2015 data published by the World Bank – from entering the United States. Those countries were named in a 2016 law concerning immigration visas as “countries of concern.” But the executive order also makes clear those seven countries are just a starting point for a likely broader ban. The order exempts diplomats and members of international organizations from the ban. The order also directs the secretary of Homeland Security to conduct a 30-day review to determine which countries do not provide “adequate information” for its citizens to be issued visas to enter the US. During the campaign, Trump talked about these countries as “terror-prone” countries. During the GOP primary campaign, he called for banning all Muslims from the US – a statement he never retracted – before shifting toward calling for banning individuals from countries with terrorist links, though he never specified the countries. Trump also stopped the admission of all refugees to the United States for four months. During that time, Trump’s secretary of state will review the application and screening process for refugees to be admitted to the US. The process is already highly rigorous and often takes successful refugee applicants at least two years to be admitted into the United States, but Trump has argued the program could still be exploited by terrorists. Trump also more than halved the number of refugees who could eventually be admitted in 2017 to 50,000 from the 110,000 cap established under former President Barack Obama. Trump also states in the order that refugees should be prioritized for entry on the basis of religious persecution, “provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion.” That would open the door for Christian refugees from Muslim-majority countries to be accepted in the US while Muslims fleeing those countries would be excluded. “I hereby proclaim that the entry of nationals of Syria as refugees is detrimental to the interests of the United States and thus suspend any such entry,” Trump declared in Friday’s executive order. While Trump during his campaign called for banning Syrian refugees from the US – decrying their entry as a potential “Trojan horse” – he also called for establishing a safe zone in Syria where Syrians fleeing the war-ravaged country could live peacefully. Trump made no mention of that plan in Friday’s executive order, even though a draft of the executive order circulating in recent days called for beginning to plan for creating such zones. The executive order also calls for the secretaries of state and homeland security, the director of national intelligence and the FBI director to develop and implement new immigration screening procedures. 134 million banned from USWhat the ban says: The full textWhat to know about the restrictionsLegal battle beginsThe ban’s Christian focusA family’s plight just got more complicatedBergen: Trump’s big mistake All of Trump’s executive orders, memos and proclamationsComparing Trump to previous presidents 134 million banned from USWhat the ban says: The full textWhat to know about the restrictionsLegal battle beginsThe ban’s Christian focusA family’s plight just got more complicatedBergen: Trump’s big mistake All of Trump’s executive orders, memos and proclamationsComparing Trump to previous presidents Trump during his campaign called for developing new “extreme vetting” screening procedures that would weed out potential terrorists from visa applicants by asking questions about their views on the US and ensuring that individuals support the US’s pluralistic values. “In order to protect Americans, the United States must ensure that those admitted to this country do not bear hostile attitudes toward it and its founding principles,” Trump states in the opening section of the executive order. “The United States cannot, and should not, admit those who do not support the Constitution, or those who would place violent ideologies over American law.  In addition, the United States should not admit those who engage in acts of bigotry or hatred…or those who would oppress Americans of any race, gender, or sexual orientation.” Correction: The combined population of the seven countries named in the executive order -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen -- is roughly 218 million, according to 2015 data published by the World Bank. An earlier version of this story incorrectly used a lower figure.

Trump's executive order banning entry from seven Muslim-majority countries


Here’s a look at the life of Walter Mondale, 42nd vice president of the United States. Birth date: January 5, 1928 Death date: April 19, 2021 Birth place: Ceylon, Minnesota Birth name: Walter Frederick Mondale Father: Theodore Mondale, a Methodist minister Mother: Claribel (Cowan) Mondale Marriage: Joan (Adams) Mondale (December 27, 1955-February 3, 2014, her death) Children: William, February 27, 1962; Eleanor, (January 19, 1960-September 17, 2011); Theodore “Teddy,” October 12, 1957 Education: University of Minnesota, B.A., 1951; University of Minnesota, L.L.B, 1956 Military Service: US Army, 1951-1953, Corporal Religion: Presbyterian Nicknamed “Fritz.” Mondale announced during his acceptance speech at the 1984 Democratic nominating convention that he would raise taxes in order to reduce the budget deficit. “Let’s tell the truth…Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won’t tell you, I just did.” Colorado Sen. Gary Hart defeated Mondale in the New Hampshire primary in 1984 and had initial success positioning himself as the candidate of new ideas, until Mondale remarked, “When I hear your new ideas, I’m reminded of the [Wendy’s] ad, ‘Where’s the beef?’” 1956-1960 - Lawyer in private practice. 1960-1964 - Attorney General of Minnesota. 1964 - Appointed US Senator from Minnesota after Hubert H. Humphrey is elected vice president. 1966 - Wins reelection to the US Senate. 1972 - Wins reelection to the US Senate. 1975 - His book, “The Accountability of Power: Toward a More Responsible Presidency,” is published. July 15, 1976 - Jimmy Carter asks Mondale to be his vice presidential running mate on the Democratic ticket. January 20, 1977-January 20, 1981 - Mondale serves as vice president under President Carter. November 4, 1980 - Carter and Mondale are defeated in the presidential election by Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. 1981-1987 - Member of the firm Winston & Strawn. July 1984 - Democratic presidential candidate Mondale chooses US Rep. Geraldine A. Ferraro (NY) as his running mate, the first woman vice presidential candidate for a major party. November 1984 - Mondale and Ferraro are defeated in the presidential election by Reagan and Bush. 1987-1993 - Partner at Dorsey & Whitney in Minneapolis. 1993-1996 - US Ambassador to Japan under President Bill Clinton. 1997 - Rejoins Dorsey & Whitney as partner and senior counsel. 1998 - Envoy to Indonesia under President Clinton. October 30, 2002 - In Minnesota, becomes the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s candidate, filling the ballot position of the late Senator Paul Wellstone, who died October 25, 2002, in a plane crash. November 11, 2002 - Is defeated by Norm Coleman (R) in the race for the US Senate. June 24, 2008 - Accepts position as chairman of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes US-Asia relations. August 1, 2008 - Becomes Norway’s honorary consul general for Minnesota. October 16, 2008 - “Fritz: The Walter Mondale Story,” a documentary about Mondale’s life, premieres at the Minnesota History Center. January 20, 2010 - Resigns from Norwegian honorary consul general post. October 2010 - His memoir “The Good Fight: A Life in Liberal Politics” with David Hage, is published. February 12, 2014 - Undergoes successful heart surgery in Rochester, Minnesota. March 7, 2015 - Is released from the hospital after being admitted with influenza. April 19, 2021 - Passes away at the age of 93.


Editor’s Note: CNN Travel’s series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile. However, CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports. Read the policy. Malaysian Borneo has long evoked visions of adventure in the West. Many a kid has thumbed through their parents’ National Geographic mags, dreaming that one day mom and dad might pass on yet another trip to Yosemite in the station wagon and instead take them to a land where headhunters lurk in ancient rainforests and wild orangutans play. Today Malaysian Borneo (East Malaysia, aka Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan) isn’t the unaccessible impossibility it once was – it’s now serviced by a range of airlines and filled with resorts to suit all budgets. The challenge is pinning down an itinerary. The place is huge. Malaysia shares the island of Borneo with Indonesia and Brunei. The Malaysian portion is home to two Malaysian states – Sabah and Sarawak – and the federal territory of Labuan. And it’s far from perfect. Logging continues to eat away at Malaysian Borneo’s natural resources. Some researchers estimate 80 percent of the rainforests in Malaysian Borneo have been heavily impacted by logging. Meanwhile, officials there continue to battle the illegal wildlife trade. But it’s still an adventure. These options give you a taste of what’s out there. Whether or not you climb to the summit, Kinabalu is worth a visit. Part of the UNESCO-listed Kinabalu Park, it sits 4,095 meters above sea level. Despite the altitude it’s a relatively easy trek, though guides and permits are required. A variety of overnight trek options range from one- to three-night climbs. More information on climbing the beautiful beast is available from the Mount Kinabalu Official Climb & Booking Information Centre. The waters off Malaysian Borneo are legendary, with dozens of dive sites offering pristine views of some of the world’s finest coral and sealife. If you want the best of the best, it’s Sipadan. A contender on any dive publication’s list of the “world’s best dives,” Sipadan lies 35 kilometers off the coast of Sabah. In order to protect Sipadan’s fragile ecosystem, in 2004 the Malaysian government ordered all dive resorts off the island, banned night dives and set a limit of 120 divers per day. The quintessential Malaysian Borneo experience – playing with primates at the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary. This rehabilitation center re-trains displaced animals for life in the jungle. The sanctuary is reached by bus or taxi, a 23-kilometer ride from Sandakan town. Famed naturalist and Darwin rival Alfred Wallace conceived his own theory of natural selection on Malaysian Borneo, following years of observation of the island’s rainforests. One of the best ways to experience the rainforests is to stay in an ecolodge. North Borneo’s Sukau Rainforest Lodge has its own generators and uses solar-heated water. Down south, Rimba Orangutan Eco Lodges offer rainforest walks and wooden boat rides. In terms of exploration, there are several protected national parks to choose from. Gunung Mulu National Park is Sarawak’s largest national park. It’s filled with caves and karst formations in a mountainous equatorial rainforest setting. It’s also Malaysia’s first World Heritage Area, given the honor in 2000. Gunung Gading National Park is a mountainous rainforest two hours from Kuching, Sarawak. It’s a popular spot to view rafflesia flowers in bloom. Another way to take in the rainforest is with a cruise down Kinabatangan River. This is the place to see pygmy elephants, often spotted moving along the shores. With an average height of 2.5 meters, Borneo’s 1,500 endangered pygmy elephants are smaller than most of their Asian brethren. Their habitat is under threat by encroaching plantations, logging activity and hunting. The Sukau Rainforest Lodge offers full wildlife tour and lodging packages. Let’s start with Pulau Tiga, part of the Pulau Tiga National Park. There’s a reason that name sounds familiar – it was the location for the very first season of “Survivor.” Richard Hatch might be a memory, but Pulau Tiga remains an incredibly beautiful destination. Another gorgeous and popular destination is Gaya Island, where you’ll find the Gayana Eco Resort. Erected above water on stilts, the luxury resort has a 130-million-year-old prehistoric rainforest for a neighbor and provides guides for jungle-trekking – if you’re lucky you might even spot the megapode, a native bird that looks like a chicken but meows like a cat. Selingan Island is home to green and hawksbill turtles that creep onto the beaches after dark to lay their eggs. Since access to Selingan Island is restricted, joining a day tour is the best option For those who like a little meow in their travel mix, there’s the Kuching Cat Museum. It has several thousand feline-related displays and memorabilia – including an Egyptian mummified cat. Kuching Cat Museum, Bukit Siol, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia; +60 (0)8 244 6688 At the Mari Mari Cultural village, a 25-minute drive from Kota Kinabulu, you can learn about Borneo’s infamous headhunters. Visitors to the Sabah attraction receive a traditional welcome by the headhunters at the Marut Longhouse before checking out a demo on blowpipe making. The real fun happens Inside, where you can jump and dance on the built-in “lansaran”  – traditional trampoline-like floor. More well-known is the Sarawak Cultural Museum, 35 kilometers from Kuching and set in the the foothills of Mount Santubong. Dubbed a “living museum,” the popular attraction is a celebration of all things Borneo – longhouses and headhunters included – and home to the annual Rainforest World Music Festival.


"I oppose, at this point, a unilateral American no-fly zone in Syria," Sanders said Clinton and Sanders have clashed on other policy positions as the race has tightened Bernie Sanders said Saturday that he opposes an U.S.-implemented no-fly zone in Syria, contrasting himself with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton on the issue. “I oppose, at this point, a unilateral American no-fly zone in Syria which could get us more deeply involved in that horrible civil war and lead to a never-ending U.S. entanglement in that region,” he said in a statement. “We do not want to make a very complex situation in Syria even worse. I support President Obama’s effort to combat the Islamic State in Syria while at the same time supporting those in Syria trying to overthrow the brutal dictatorship of Bashar Assad,” Sanders added. On Friday, Clinton recommended that the U.S. implement a no-fly zone in Syria. “I personally would be advocating for a no-fly zone and humanitarian corridors to stop the carnage from the ground and on the air,” Clinton said on CNN affiliate WHDH. President Barack Obama distanced himself Friday from his former secretary of state’s position, warning against “easy, low-cost answers” to ending the war. Asked to respond directly to her suggestion, he said that one’s perspective changes when they become president. “I think Hillary Clinton would be the first to say that when you’re sitting in the seat that I’m sitting in in the situation room, things look a little bit different. Because she’s been right there next to me,” he said. He also said, “I also think there’s a difference between running for president and being president.” The two leading Democratic presidential candidates have clashed on other policy positions as the race has tightened. Sanders has emphasized his opposition to the Iraq War, which Clinton helped authorize as a senator in 2002, and last month, the two traded shots over their education plans. CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Theodore Schleifer contributed to this report.


Editor’s Note: Richard Connolly is an associate fellow of the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House, a foreign affairs think tank based in London. The opinions in this article belong to the author. Late Monday night, the US Treasury Department released the so-called oligarch list, containing the names of officials and members of the business elite considered to be part of – or enjoy close links with – Russia’s political leadership. The list had caused considerable anxiety in Russian business circles before its release. Statements by leading Russian business figures in recent weeks indicated that inclusion on the list – which does not automatically result in an individual being sanctioned by US authorities but has been viewed as a “sanctions list in waiting” – might significantly raise the cost of being associated with President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. Of most concern was the prospect that business activities – especially accessing capital and other financial services in the West – might become more complicated and expensive for those included on the list. Related article The full 'Putin list' of Russian oligarchs and political figures released by the US Treasury It appears these fears may have been exaggerated. Included within the recently published list are 114 state officials and 96 “oligarchs.” Most of the named officials appear to be there simply by virtue of the fact that they occupy senior positions within the state. It seems no use of classified intelligence was made to identify key players in Russian elite politics beyond those already widely known. It is plausible that such a list could have been constructed using only English-language Wikipedia pages. The list of “oligarchs” also seems to have been shoddily prepared. As some have pointed out, the list of business figures appears to have been taken directly from last year’s Forbes list, with little effort made to discriminate between those who are close to the Kremlin and those who tend to focus primarily on business. Included on the list are many officials and business figures who are either widely regarded as of peripheral importance at most, or in other cases, as those such as Vladimir Yevtushenkov, who have experienced strained relations with the political leadership in Russia, and would therefore not usually be included in any list of Putin’s “inner circle.” There are also important omissions. For instance, any sensible analysis of elite dynamics in Russia would surely highlight the importance of the children of senior members of the elite who have been elevated to senior management positions in Russian business in recent years. But the list includes no such individuals. Taken together, the effort that has gone into the compilation of the list might lead to one of two obvious conclusions: Either that the Trump administration and US authorities more widely are inept and have only an extremely limited understanding of how Russia is ruled, or that they have no serious interest in identifying the real movers and shakers of Russian politics beyond the obvious figures, many of whom are already subject to US and European Union sanctions. The latter explanation is supported by the fact that the list’s publication was accompanied by a statement from a US State Department official indicating the Trump administration would not immediately impose additional sanctions on Russia. This was a curious development, given that Congress had demanded that President Donald Trump apply at least five from a list of 12 possible sanctions on Russia by the end of Monday. Trump instead chose to miss this deadline, with the State Department official claiming that existing sanctions were already achieving their desired effects. The worst fears of Russian officials and business figures have not been realized. No new sanctions have been implemented, and the oligarch list does not appear designed to probe at any real nodes of weakness within the Russian ruling elite. Related article Conway says Trump is 'not soft on Russia' While some Russian officials reacted angrily, labeling US actions as an attempt to influence the forthcoming presidential elections in Russia and as evidence of its “political paranoia,” Putin seemed relaxed. He joked that he felt slighted by his omission from the list, and stated that despite the “hostile step” Moscow remained eager to develop closer relations with the United States if his American counterparts are willing. All of which suggests that relations between the two administrations might not have been as severely damaged as many initially feared. How long this remains the case is unclear. By subverting the will of Congress through his refusal to implement new sanctions, and by refusing to apply real pressure on the Russian elite, Trump may only have further fueled suspicions of his close relations with the Kremlin. If so, further twists in the downward spiral of US-Russian relations can be expected.


Human Rights Watch says people in Sirte, Libya, live in constant fear More than two-thirds of the city's residents have fled, the group says Of those executed, two were publicly beheaded for "sorcery" Public beheadings. Corpses hanging from scaffolding. Floggings for violating the law. This is life in the ISIS-held city of Sirte, Libya – a Mediterranean coastal city that’s about 350 miles away from Malta – according to a new report from Human Rights Watch. Many of the 45 former and current residents of Sirte Human Rights Watch spoke to say they live in a continued state of fear. “As if beheading and shooting perceived enemies isn’t enough, ISIS is causing terrible suffering in Sirte even for Muslims who follow its rules,” said Letta Tayler, a senior terrorism and counterterrorism researcher at Human Rights Watch. “While the world’s attention is focused on atrocities in Syria and Iraq, ISIS is also getting away with murder in Libya.” Seven reasons you should care about Libya Since February 2015, the Sunni terror group has “executed” 49 people, the report says. That number includes the 21 Coptic Christians that ISIS beheaded last year. Two elderly men who were accused of “sorcery” were publicly beheaded in October, the report said. Related video Fmr. CIA official: ISIS could be hiding across Libya “They encouraged people to watch,” one resident told Human Rights Watch. “When the big man [the executioner] finished the job he raised the head for the crowd to see.” ISIS released a video of the purported incident online. Many of those executed publicly were shot in the head, and those that were accused of being “spies” were killed and then dangled from scaffolding for a couple of days. The group even has a “kill list” of 130 names of its supposed enemies that sits in the Sirte courthouse, according to the report. Many on the list have been killed in drive-by shootings. Much of the chaos that’s engulfed Libya can be traced back to recent events in Sirte. The city was the home of the country’s former leader, Moammar Gadhafi. That’s also where he was killed in 2011, the year his regime collapsed. ISIS has gained a foothold in the country due to a power vacuum that hasn’t been filled since collapse of Moammar Gadhafi’s regime collapsed in 2011. Libya Fast Facts At first there were hopes that the country would follow a more democratic path like its western neighbor, Tunisia. Related video The National Salvation Government in Libya steps down But warring factions soon split over how to run the country, and civil war ensued. Two rival governments claimed to be the rightful leaders of the country before signing a U.N.-backed peace deal in December. As those sides and local militias jostled for power, ISIS saw an opportunity to claim territory for itself. U.S. officials estimate there are about 4,000 to 6,000 ISIS militants in the country. The Pentagon is providing additional resources to counter ISIS in Libya, according to a U.S. defense official familiar with the operation. The effort, which has been underway since late last year, involves sending in small teams of troops to try to establish relationships with groups that may be able to form a new nationwide government. The Human Rights Watch report describes life in Sirte as similarly brutal as accounts coming out of other ISIS strongholds like Raqqa in Syria or Mosul in Iraq. The terror group has diverted food, medicine, fuel and cash to its members and seized homes from residents who fled, Human Rights Watch says. “There are no vegetables or meat. Most shops are closed,” one resident told Human Rights Watch in an interview. “Meanwhile the Daesh [ISIS] is living in our houses and having barbeques.” Related video Libya's refugees on the run as ISIS moves in All banks have been shut but one, and only ISIS members can use it. Communication with outside world can only be achieved through ISIS-run call centers. And the group has been accused of looting and destroying homes of those it thinks are enemies. “There are spies on every street,” another resident told the humanitarian group. More than two thirds of Sirte’s 80,000 residents have fled, according to Human Rights Watch. “We need help – we have no more food or housing to host the people fleeing the fighting,” the mayor of nearby Misrata,  Mohamed Eshtewi, said. CNN’s Barbara Starr contributed to this report.


A London industrial designer molded the plastic stormtrooper helmets for "Star Wars" Andrew Ainsworth got the job because a neighbor of his worked with George Lucas Lucas sued him over copyright infringement decades later As the latest chapter in the “Star Wars” story continues to rake in the money at the box office, a man in the London suburb of Twickenham is rubbing his hands together at last. His name is Andrew Ainsworth, and he’s the industrial designer who crafted the plastic stormtrooper helmets used in the original “Star Wars” film in 1977. Way back then, no one foresaw that George Lucas’ low-budget flick would grow to become one of the most successful film franchises in history. “No one believed in him. Most of the film industry said it’s another no-hoper,” recalls Ainsworth, who took on the job to help prop up his fledgling plastic-molding business. He charged Lucas 20 pounds (about $30 at today’s exchange rates) for each of the stormtrooper helmets, packed the molds away and forgot about them. It was only when he needed money for his children’s school fees almost 30 years later that Ainsworth dusted the relics off and began making stormtrooper helmets for fans, who now pay 500 pounds (about $730) apiece. Every time a new “Star Wars” film is released, business booms, and “The Force Awakens” is no exception. “I think it’s probably increased the business by a factor of 10 or 20,” he says. But up until now, Ainsworth says, he hasn’t actually made any money from the growing stormtrooper army he builds. All of the profits have been spent on a legal bill he racked up over nine years in an epic fight against Lucas, who took him to three different British courts in a copyright battle. Rewind to January 6, 1976. Lucas began discussions with his design team about stormtroopers and other “Star Wars” characters. He had a clear idea of what he wanted Darth Vader’s soldiers to look like. Concept artist Ralph McQuarrie drew up some illustrations, while sculptor Liz Moore and puppeteer Nick Pemberton set about crafting sculptures of the helmet. Lucas ultimately chose Pemberton’s model, which would become a pivotal point in the legal battle three decades later. As the date to start filming in Tunisia fast approached, it was Pemberton who suggested that his neighbor, who made plastic kayaks, cars and fish ponds, could help the studio solve a major problem: how to actually make the helmets and armor. “The studios were making things out of plaster” and fabric, Ainsworth says. “They were guessing. They really didn’t know what they were doing very well, and so I suppose I was just a very good, easy solution, a one-stop shop.” Pemberton gave Ainsworth his clay sculpture and the McQuarrie illustrations, and within two days, Lucas was looking at his first white plastic stormtrooper helmet. “Nick took it to Lucas as a prototype, and Lucas just said, ‘Oh great, give me 50 of them now, in a hurry.’ But it was only ever meant to be a prototype,” Ainsworth says. He went on to make the stormtrooper armor and more than 200 other characters for the original “Star Wars” film in the space of just six weeks, he says. “We were very much talking on the same wavelength as far as enthusiasm went,” Ainsworth says of his one and only meeting with Lucas, at Elstree Film Studios back in February 1976. But that is where the synergy ended. Ainsworth began making replicas from his original stormtrooper molds in 2004 and had sold only 19 helmets when he received a legal document from Lucas for copyright infringement. At first, he didn’t think Lucas was serious, but then a bailiff turned up to collect $20 million that had been awarded to the filmmaker in a U.S. court. Ainsworth says he had no choice but to defend himself. “Ninety-nine percent of all legal advice said forget it. Big money always wins,” says Ainsworth. “But we honestly believed that nobody can stop you being the artist that you are. They can’t take it away from you. They can’t take your hands off so you can’t use them anymore. It was that ridiculous to us.” The case was fought on the grounds that the stormtrooper was an industrial design, not a piece of sculpture, which would have carried a copyright of 70 years. Lucas claimed the stormtrooper was his creation, designed by his team at the studio. After nine years defending himself in three British courts, Ainsworth ultimately won, but at the final hurdle in the UK Supreme Court, he wasn’t awarded costs. He also remains unable to sell his helmets in the lucrative U.S. market, where Lucas maintains copyright. He won’t say how much his legal bill was, only that it ran into the millions and that the hype around the latest “Star Wars” film has enabled him to finally pay it off. “We are now working for ourselves finally,” he says. “It is worth it now because we are on top of it and we have a product line that we created in the first place, albeit with the help of Ralph McQuarrie and Lucas and everybody else in the industry,” he says. And he’s proud of his role “in something that has become so iconic that I think there is probably more of the public that know what a stormtrooper looks like than the public who know what (Michelangelo’s) statue of David looks like.”