Thae Yong Ho is one of the highest-ranking defectors from North Korea His family in Pyongyang says he's being used as a propaganda tool by the South Thae Yong Ho says he defected from North Korea for the future of his family. His sister says it makes him a “rotten scumbag… not even an animal.” Thae, the former deputy ambassador at the North Korean embassy in the United Kingdom, became the highest-ranking defector in nearly 20 years when he left his post last year. He told CNN he defected because he could not miss the opportunity to “cut off this slavery chain” for his sons. But Thae, who fled with his wife and children, worried about his family back home. Relatives of defectors are often sent to prison camps or used by the regime as propaganda tools. “Kim Jong Un abuses even the love between parents and children,” Thae said. But back in North Korea, Tae Ok Ran, Thae’s sister, calls that answer “100% evil propaganda.” Not one person in the family has been punished, the 57-year-old housewife said. Thae’s brother and sister spoke to CNN for their first-ever interview, which was organized by the government. The pair say it’s being done voluntarily. CNN made Thae aware of the interview but did not get a response. “It’s good to be able to show how we are living,” Tae Ok Ran said. “I want to warn him the whole family won’t forgive him.” Tae and her brother, Tae Yong Do, say they believe their brother is now a propaganda tool for South Korea and has brought shame upon their family. Thae’s name has been erased as a caretaker on the family tombstone and he has been disowned. “If I don’t wash this sin away by myself, my sons and generations will have to work harder to pay for this,” said Tae Yong Do, 53. Even if families do not view defectors as traitors, contact between North Korean defectors and relatives back home is difficult, if not impossible. It’s like losing a member of the family. Thae’s siblings spoke with a fervor that would have been expected of them, by a government that demands loyalty. North Koreans are often encouraged to report their neighbors for lacking patriotism, defectors say. “Our society is one big family with leader Kim Jong Un as the father. So because we are all in one big family, we will work harder to repay to the society and the group,” Thae’s brother said. The Tae siblings expressed a resolve and reverence to their leader that’s common among those on Pyongyang’s streets. “As long as we have that strong slogan, and as long as we are guided by the Supreme Commander comrade Kim Jong Un, we think we can be very victorious in our struggle and the difficulties in the bilateral relationship,” Yu Bong Suk, a teacher, told CNN in February. “We are not afraid,” a retired North Korean army officer told CNN last month. “It’s a grave situation, but we’re ready to counter the American threat with an all-out war and nuclear attack.” The grave situation he’s referring to is the ongoing antagonism and standoff between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un. With Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs making rapid progress, Trump has taken a hard line on North Korea, sending warships to the region in a show of force, dispatching top aides to reassure allies of US commitment to the region, as well as engaging China’s help. North Korea says it’s not deterred. Sok Chol Won, a North Korean government official, told CNN that the country’s nuclear tests would not stop until the United States abandoned what he called “acts of aggression.” The rogue communist state has also continued to test missiles in the hopes of developing one that can reach the United States. As President-elect, Trump vowed that wouldn’t happen, but Thae says Kim is moving forward. “He will never give up his nuclear development,” he said. CNN’s Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report


Boko Haram from Nigeria kidnaps 80 people after attacks on villages in Cameroon The attacks come as troops from neighboring Chad arrive in Cameroon to help fight the terrorist group Boko Haram insurgents have kidnapped 80 people in northern Cameroon, officials said, an attack that comes as troops from neighboring Chad entered Cameroon to join the fight against the terrorist group. The attacks happened in the villages of Mabass and Makxy in the Mayo-Tsanaga Division of the Far North Region of Cameroon on Sunday morning, Saiid Abdulkarim, a journalist for the state broadcaster, told CNN. Three of those kidnapped were found dead, Abdulkarim said. The Cameroonian government did not immediately comment. Meanwhile, thousands of Chadian troops arrived in Cameroon to join that country’s soldiers in the fight against Boko Haram. The governor of Cameroon’s Far North Region, Mijiyawa Bakary, told CNN that the first contingent of Chadian troops arrived in a convoy of more than 400 vehicles, and a second wave of soldiers were expected to arrive soon. The Chadian soldiers “are coming in with dozens of tanks, armored vehicles and other military equipment,” Cameroon defense ministry spokesman Col. Didier Badjeck said. The Chadian parliament unanimously voted Friday to send troops to Cameroon and Nigeria to join in the fight against Boko Haram. The move comes after Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya, made a strong call for international cooperation in the fight against Boko Haram. Biya told diplomats recently that Boko Haram was “a global threat” that calls “for a global response.” “Such should be the response of the international community, including the African Union and our regional organizations,” he said. Chadian officials concluded that Boko Haram also poses a danger to Chad. Chadian President Idriss Deby said attacks on Cameroon by the terrorist group could destroy Chad’s economy. “We can’t remain indifferent to what is happening to our neighbors,” Deby said. “Cameroon is the entry and exit point for Chad economically.” Much of what is imported to Chad comes through the Cameroonian seaport of Douala, and Chad’s crude oil is transported through a pipeline that runs from southern Chad to a floating facility 11 kilometers (almost 7 miles) off the Cameroon coast. The presence of Chadian troops on the front could be key to reversing the gains so far made by the terrorist group. Trained in desert combat, Chadian forces played a critical role in fighting jihadists in northern Mali, where they became major allies to French troops in the fight against terrorists there. In fact, they were instrumental in the killing of some high-profile jihadists. The involvement of Chadian troops marks a major shift in Cameroon-Chad anti-terrorism cooperation. In the past year, it focused mostly on securing individual borders. While Chad is the first country to put boots on the ground in Cameroon, the international community and regional bodies are also expressing concern. On Friday, the Russian ambassador to Cameroon, Nicolay Ratsiborinski, said his country will supply Cameroon with modern and sophisticated military weapons. He said the equipment will include heavy artillery, armored cars and missiles. Michael Stephen Hoza, U.S. ambassador to Cameroon, also said his country would help train Cameroon soldiers and offer equipment for the fight. Boko Haram has been staging cross-border raids on Cameroon, the latest being the attempt by the insurgents to take over a Cameroon military base in Kolofata. Cameroonian troops killed 143 of them, and lost one soldier. On January 3, Boko Haram fighters briefly took over control of a military base in Achigashia, forcing Cameroonian soldiers to retreat and then for the first time use airstrikes against the insurgents. Attacks on military installations mark a big shift in Boko Haram operations in Cameroon. Initially,they would cross the border and either attack to steal food or kidnap nationals and expatriates in exchange for ransoms. Cameroon has already deployed about 7,000 troops across the Far North, where Boko Haram has scaled up attacks over the past six months.


Moscow blasts US over "veil of confidentiality" around civilian deaths in Mosul US has frequently criticized Russia's air campaign in Syria's civil war Russia is stepping up its criticism of US military action in Iraq – calling Pentagon comments about civilian casualties in Mosul “absurd.” Russia’s Ministry of Defense issued a statement Sunday that derides US officials’ comments about the US-led coalition’s possible role in more than 100 civilian deaths in Mosul last month. “Absurd statements of the Pentagon representatives justifying civil casualties caused by American bombing in Iraq give more information on the operation planning level and the alleged supremacy of the American “smart” bombs,” the statement reads. The Russian ministry’s statement references coalition spokesperson Col. Joseph Scrocca’s comments from last week, when he told reporters that “”ISIS is smuggling civilians into buildings so we won’t see them and trying to bait the coalition to attack.” Scrocca said the coalition had observed the new ISIS tactic on video surveillance, but US officials have not released the footage. The Russian ministry statement questions why the US military is only now revealing ISIS’ alleged new tactic – and asks why the coalition proceeded with the strike despite knowing about it. “First, what are the motives of the American Command putting the veil of confidentiality and keeping secret the crimes of terrorists from the international community? Second, why (did) the US-led coalition, having this information, make strikes with their ‘smart’ bombs on buildings with civilians dooming them to a terrible death?” Russia’s ramped-up criticism follows reports of heavy civilian casualties in Mosul following a US airstrike in the city’s al-Jadidah neighborhood on March 17. Col. Mohammad Shumari, head of Iraqi civil forces working in the area, told CNN last week that 141 bodies had been removed from the location of that strike. Last week Scrocca acknowledged “a coalition strike contributed in at least some way to the civilian casualties” in Mosul. The US has expanded its investigation into a formal review of all airstrikes in the area over a period of several days, the US military said Thursday. The investigation was broadened after a US team visited the site of the March 17 airstrike and determined that there was evidence that the strike hit a house where civilians were located, a defense official told CNN. US-led coalition: 229 civilian deaths in strikes since 2014 The official said they are looking at any other factors that might have played into the civilian deaths, including the fact that ISIS tries to deceive US targeting. The US believes it can develop some “indicators” of when civilians are present, but the official declined to specify details due to security concerns. Related video Mosul survivor: Death is better than this life Russia’s withering condemnation of US actions in Iraq reverses a trend in the two countries’ military campaigns in the Middle East. The US frequently criticized Russia for its “indiscriminate” airstrikes in Syria after Moscow began its air assault against rebel groups in late 2015. Sunday’s condemnation of US military action in Iraq comes on the heels of more scathing criticism from Moscow. Last week Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson challenged the integrity of US foreign policy after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that NATO needed to discuss “Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and elsewhere.” The rising tensions are seen as an indication that the prospect of a new era of US-Russian relations under President Trump is under threat. Two administration officials told CNN on Thursday that Trump’s hopes of striking a grand bargain with Russia have faded. According to one senior administration official, this isn’t necessarily because Trump’s view of Russian President Vladimir Putin has evolved. But Trump believes in the current atmosphere – with so much media scrutiny and ongoing probes into Trump-Russian ties and election meddling – that it won’t be possible to “make a deal,” as the President himself has framed it, the official said. CNN’s Tim Lister, Radina Gigova, Barbara Starr and Ryan Brown contributed to this report


The Republican front-runner will drop his off-the-cuff style in favor of reading prepared remarks Trump's speech may also help skeptical foreign policy experts drill down on the details of his vision Donald Trump had a foreign policy sales pitch for U.S. voters and a blunt message for the world Wednesday: America comes first. The Republican presidential front-runner proposed a sweeping redirection of America’s global role in a major speech, part of a string of planned addresses designed to flesh out what a Trump administration would look like and to establish leadership credentials ahead of an increasingly probable general election clash with Democrat and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. RELATED: Trump’s foreign policy speech: What the world says about him The billionaire businessman simultaneously addressed restive American voters and global elites worried by his fiery rhetoric on national security: He stressed that the United States would always put its economic and foreign policy interests first but said that allies in Europe, Asia and the Middle East would benefit from a much stronger, less ambiguous U.S. role in the world – as long as they were prepared to pay up. “America first will be the overriding theme of my administration,” Trump said in his remarks at Washington’s Mayflower hotel, delivered from a prepared text and in a subdued fashion starkly at odds with the free-wheeling rhetorical style that has powered his political rise on the campaign trail. “Under a Trump administration, no American citizen will ever again feel that their needs come second to the citizens of foreign countries,” Trump said. He added, “My foreign policy will always put the interests of the American people and American security first.” Related gallery The Donald Trump guide to the rest of world The speech appeared to be a multi-pronged attempt to reach out to a host of important constituencies. First, he appealed to a Republican foreign policy establishment that has been highly critical at points of his credentials on global national security policy. Second, he tried to reach wavering Republicans who may be excited by his harsh critique of the “Obama-Clinton” foreign policy. And third, he sought an affirmation to loyal supporters who have flocked to his “Make America Great” slogan amid claims that the United States is weak and not respected by its enemies or foes. His remarks immediately elicited criticism from Democrats, but some GOP insiders offered positive words that have until now been in short supply for Trump. He spoke the morning after a sweep of five primary states that drew him markedly closer to the delegate total needed to claim the Republican nomination and at a time when his campaign has begun a broad effort to cast him in a more presidential light. But Trump often lacked specifics, delivering little in the way of a recognizable foreign strategy and repeating many of his campaign trail declarations, and did not explain in detail how his ideas would be implemented or touch on the likely response from American allies and enemies to his sharp reorientation of U.S. global principles. RELATED: Japan and South Korea hit back at Trump’s nuclear comments In comments likely to cause shockwaves among U.S friends in Europe and Asia, Trump previewed early attempts to cut deals with Russia and China – seen by many adversaries as bent on overthrowing the current security order guaranteed by America. If there was not a good deal to be had, Trump warned, he would be prepared to walk away. But he also said he would not rush to war, striking an isolationist note that contrasts with the last Republican administration of George W. Bush. However, Trump was introduced by Zalmay Khalilzad, President George W. Bush’s former ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the permanent representative to the United Nations. “I will never send our finest into battle unless necessary, and I mean absolutely necessary, and will only do so if we have a plan for victory with a capital V,” Trump emphasized. Trump opened his speech vowing to “shake the rust off America’s foreign policy” and said he would outline a vision for a U.S. foreign policy “that replaces randomness with purpose, ideology with strategy and chaos with peace.” OPINION: Does Donald Trump mean what he says about Muslims? The billionaire then tore into Obama’s foreign policy, panning the Iran nuclear deal and claiming the President has “weakened our military by weakening our economy.” He sought to wrap Clinton in his criticism of the Obama administration as well, referring to the “legacy of the Obama-Clinton interventions” as one of “weakness, confusion and disarray.” At the same time, he offered an olive branch of sorts to Muslim allies of the United States in rare remarks pointing to the ways in which the U.S. can have constructive relations with the Muslim world. “We’re going to be working very closely with our friends in the Muslim world, which are all at risk for violent attacks,” he said. His comments on Muslims and Middle East partners have been lightning rods throughout the campaign. Trump had previously called for a temporary ban on Muslim foreigners entering the United States and suggested that U.S. Middle East allies need to shoulder more of the cost of American military involvement in the region. But he added that these countries also need to acknowledge America’s contributions. “This has to be a two-way street,” he said. “They must also be good to us. It’s no longer one way, it’s two way.” Trump also put America’s allies elsewhere on notice that they, too, must start making a more tangible financial contribution. He said he would call summits in Europe and Asia to discuss “a rebalancing of commitments.” He previewed a substantial shift toward two of America’s most important global rivals, China and Russia. He vowed to reverse China’s “assault on America’s jobs and wealth” and to use America’s “economic power” over China to bring Beijing into line. But he also pledged to fix relations with the rising Asian giant, saying that a stronger America would win more respect from its Communist leaders. But if that didn’t work, Trump said he would be prepared to walk away, without offering specifics on the economic and national security consequences that would entail. “We can both benefit or we can both go our separate ways. If need be, that’s what’s going to happen,” he warned. OPINION: Trump’s China approach ‘stuck in 1990s’ Retired Adm. Charles Kubic, a member of Trump’s national security advisory committee, conceded Wednesday that many world leaders have been “shaken” by Trump’s brash rhetoric and at-times radical policy positions. “Sometimes it’s hard when you believe a narrative for such a long time, and you have another narrative forced upon you. When somebody’s saying, ‘No, we’re not going that direction,’ it’s very difficult to understand it,” Kubic told CNN. But Kubic said that while it might sound “harsh” at first when Trump “speaks the truth,” it begins to make sense once you think about it more. RELATED: Donald Trump unveils foreign policy advisers Reaction to Trump’s speech from his political foes was swift and scathing. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who supports Clinton, described his comments as a “simplistic” mixture of slogans and contradictions. “He just underscored the fact that he is running the most reckless and dangerous presidential campaign in modern history,” Albright said on a Clinton campaign conference call. On the same call, Democratic Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said that the last thing the world needed was an “unpredictable” United States, saying allies needed to know they could count on Washington and adversaries needed to understand there will consequences for acting against America. Trump’s main Republican rival, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, said the speech showed that Trump “fails the presidential test” and pressured the billionaire to force any foreign policy advisers who have worked as lobbyists to declare their links to foreign governments. But GOP Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, praised the speech. “Today, Donald Trump delivered a very good foreign policy speech in which he laid out his vision for American engagement in the world,” Corker said. “I look forward to hearing more details, but in a year where angry rhetoric has defined the presidential race on both sides of the aisle, it is my hope that candidates in both parties will begin focusing not only on the problems we face but on solutions.” And former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich tweeted that though elites would ridicule the speech, Trump had delivered a “serious” foreign policy address worth thinking and arguing about. Trump later thanked Gingrich on Twitter for his tweets. Related gallery Trump campaign: 11 outrageous quotes Though Trump noted ahead of time that he wouldn’t be outlining a “doctrine,” he did criticize Obama for too often telegraphing its military moves in advance, thereby tipping off enemies, a practice he pledged to end. “We have to be unpredictable. And we have to be unpredictable starting now,” he said. And he offered a glimpse into his political purpose, saying it was time to flush out ineffective establishment foreign policy operatives, striking a similar note to his themes on domestic issues. “We have to look to new people because many of the old people frankly don’t know what they’re doing, even though they may look awfully good writing in the New York Times or being watched on television.” He closed by expanding on his trademark slogan: “We must make America respected again. We must make America truly wealthy again and we must, we have to and we will make America great again,” he declared. “And if we do that, perhaps this century can be the most peaceful and prosperous the world has ever ever known.” CNN’s Jim Acosta and Julia Manchester contributed to this report.


Editor’s Note: Jack Forster is editor-in-chief of online specialist watch magazine Hodinkee. For the last few years, the watch industry has witnessed the resurgence of vintage-inspired watches and more affordable timepieces. However, at this year’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie Genève (SIHH), the impressive selection of technologically advanced offerings suggest that the appetite for innovation – and the high prices it commands – has not disappeared completely. One of the most talked-about watches at SIHH 2018 comes from Piaget. The company publicly unveiled the flattest mechanical wristwatch ever made: the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Watch, which is just 2 millimeters thick. (While the company is best known for its fine jewelry, it has a long history of specializing in extra flat watches.) Audemars Piguet also introduced a slim new model: Royal Oak RD#2 Perpetual Calendar Ultra-Thin. The self-winding watch comes equipped with a perpetual calendar (a mechanism that can correctly detect the length of each month, and doesn’t need to be manually reset at the end of the month) and a 2.89-millimeter movement. Both watches are concept pieces and not available commercially – at least for now. But German watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne has displayed two notable complicated watches that are available for purchase. One, the 47,000-euro ($57,550) 1815 Homage to Walter Lange, was produced in honor of the company’s founder, who passed away last year. Its second hand jumps once per second, and, because it can be stopped and reset to the zero position, can also be used as a timer. SIHH 2018: How luxury watch brands are seducing millennials At a higher price point is the A. Lange & Söhne $147,000 Triple Split, a watch with a simple name but a lot of parts – 567 in the movement, to be precise. This is a type of watch known as a split-seconds chronograph, which lets you time two events simultaneously. Most split-seconds chronographs can only “split” times less than a minute apart, but the Triple Split can do so over seconds, minutes and hours. Among the most visually stunning watches on display at SIHH is Van Cleef & Arpels’ Lady Arpels Planetarium. The $245,000 watch puts the planets of the inner solar system on your wrist, showing the actual positions of Earth, Mercury and Venus around the sun, and the position of the moon around the Earth. The time is displayed by way of a comet that moves around the dial once per day. Astronomical watches: The whole of the night sky, strapped to your wrist Continuing the out-of-this-world theme, Officine Panerai debuted the highly complex L’Astronomo Luminor 1950 Tourbillon Moon Phases Equation of Time GMT. It’s the company’s first watch with a moon phase complication. But this year’s SIHH has also shown that small independent brands are often willing to take bigger risks than their larger rivals. (Van Cleef & Arpels, Officine Panerai, A. Lange & Söhne and Piaget are subsidiaries of Richemont.) Greubel Forsey, who specializes in exotic complicated timepieces with elaborate hand-finishing, displayed the new GMT Earth world-time watch, which features a miniature globe rotating inside the mechanism. It’s more a wearable art object than a watch and, at around 610,000 Swiss francs ($635,760), is priced as such. Luxury lost and found: The international service aiding the war on watch theft Catering to more understated tastes, independent Belgian brand Ressence has unveiled its Type 2 e-Crown Concept. The watch, which was created with iPod co-designer Tony Fadell, contains a solar-cell chargeable electric motor, and connects to an app that can automatically set the time or change time zone. These models are all notable departure from the classic watches that have been in style recently. But watch enthusiasts of any taste and budget can appreciate the inventiveness the industry’s watchmakers and designers still have to offer. Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie is on until Jan. 19, 2018.


Editor’s Note: Congressman Steve Chabot, a Republican, represents Ohio’s First Congressional District and is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. He is also the Chairman of the House Small Business Committee. Follow him on Twitter @RepSteveChabot. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his. Rep. Steve Chabot: Trump is right, it would be nice if we got along with Russia We must not forget that Russia is driven by a desire to restore its former status, he says During and after the recent presidential election, Donald Trump said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually got along with Russia?”   (At the time, the Republican standard-bearer stood in stark contrast to Mitt Romney, who called Russia “our number one geopolitical foe.”) Previous Presidents have attempted to charm the ex-KGB agent into a better relationship.  They wound up with little to show for it.  President Obama’s feckless handling of Russia has been so embarrassing that it may have emboldened Putin to annex Crimea, and terrified NATO allies along Russia’s border. When Trump takes office on January 20, he will have to contend with a slew of issues that demonstrate the extent to which Russia and America are strategically interdependent: from arms control to China, from radical Islamic terrorism to cyber threats and from nuclear proliferation to the price of energy. For all of the liberal media’s mockery of Trump, he’s right that dialogue with Moscow is essential, although dialogue with Moscow will be productive only if we talk about the tough issues we disagree on. Getting along with Russia is a worthy goal, so long as the purpose is to attain a specific set of ends, not friendship for friendship’s sake. In international politics, going along to get along can be deadly. Just ask the inhabitants of Czechoslovakia in 1938, Georgia in 2008, or Crimea in 2014. That does not mean eschewing engagement, abandoning confrontation, or reflexively utilizing one to the exclusion of the other.  Instead, engagement and confrontation should each be seen as tools to be used to advance our interests. Related article Gergen: Trump swings wildly at wrong target In order to have a more productive relationship with Russia, we need to realize four things.  First, Russia is still reeling from its loss of great power status.  While Winston Churchill famously said, “Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” our problems with Moscow are driven by its search for prestige, and its loss of relative military and economic power. Second, do not expect any reset to resemble a resurrected German Ostpolitik or South Korean Sunshine policy.  Even a successful reset will not see a Russo-American relationship resemble our relationship with Britain.  We may, however, be able to cooperate with Russia on some issues, like terrorism, arms control, and perhaps stabilizing Central Asia. We may differ on others, such as protecting our allies in NATO, or on Russia’s misbehavior in Ukraine. Related article Donald Trump versus the spies: Is there friction ahead? Third, despite Russia’s relative decline, the Kremlin has a series of instruments at its disposal that give it leverage.  For example, because of Obama’s position on Syria, Russia may be calling the shots there, and may try to leverage this in other sensitive regions, such as the Baltics. And fourth, America does not have a Putin problem. Putin is a fairly typical Russian authoritarian leader, although more effective than most.  If he were to pass away or be overthrown tomorrow, his successor would likely pursue a substantively similar foreign policy.  America has a Russia problem, in that we have a difference in interests. Sign up for CNN Opinion’s new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and Facebook In conclusion, President-elect Trump is right: it would be nice if we got along with Russia.  Every President since the end of the Cold War has had a similar sentiment.  It is important to see dialogue and engagement as tools for achieving our objectives, not ends in and of themselves. If flattery can grease the wheels of cooperation, Trump should continue as planned. But we must never lose sight of our primary objective – the pursuit of a policy that puts US interests first.  We must not forget that Russia is driven by a desire to restore its former status. America and Russia share some interests but not others, and even a successful reset will see bouts of disagreement. While leaders matter, Putin is not an anomaly for Russia. One thing is for sure – anything would be an improvement over the disastrous Obama policy vis-à-vis Russia.


Many passengers aboard the ship St. Louis were Jewish refugees escaping the Nazis Twitter account posts names, photos of Holocaust victims aboard vessel in 1939 It only took Russel Neiss about an hour and a half to create the automated Twitter account that brought to life Friday a decades-old tragedy – more than 250 tragedies, really – on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It began at 2:15 a.m. ET with this from the @Stl_Manifest account.  “My name is Herbet Ascher. The US turned me away at the border in 1939.  I was murdered at Auschwitz.” My name is Herbert Ascher. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz Every five minutes, the name of a passenger aboard the St. Louis who died in the Holocaust is posted. By Neiss’ math, it takes 21 hours to post every name. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the St. Louis sailed from Hamburg, Germany, on May 13, 1939, to Havana, Cuba. Many aboard were German Jews seeking asylum from Hitler’s Third Reich. Upon arrival, most Jewish refugees were refused permission to disembark by Cuban authorities.  Shortly after, the Cuban president at the time, Federico Laredo Bru, ordered the ship out of the port of Havana and Cuban waters. The ocean liner then floated off Miami, so close that passengers could see the city’s lights. Some of those passengers pleaded in telegrams to the White House and State Department for asylum. The United States did not allow them to disembark, and the ship was forced to return to Europe. Efforts by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum found 254 passengers from the St. Louis died in the Holocaust.  The Twitter bot, automatically moving from name to name, from life to life, uses the museum’s information, and photos, as a sobering reminder of those passengers’ fate. My name is Erich Dublon. The US turned me away at the border in 1939. I was murdered at Auschwitz pic.twitter.com/wlVcCiUt2P “Today’s the National Holocaust Remembrance Day,” Neiss said Friday. “My primary motivation, quite frankly, was to honor the memory of these folk.” Although Neiss says the aim of the Twitter account is not political, comparisons are being drawn by others to an executive order President Donald Trump signed Friday limiting refugees from certain countries. The repeated language from tweet to tweet does lend itself to use by those who oppose the executive order: “The US turned me away at the border.” “I think it’s impossible to ignore the current political reality,” said Neiss. “But I’m not the one that planned on signing the executive order today.” The museum, despite repeated efforts, could not be reached Friday for comment. Neiss, a Jewish educator living in St. Louis, hopes the Twitter bot provides education. “There’s been a very effective campaign, #WeRemember,” said Neiss. “I think when you say those things it’s important to mean those things.  It’s very important to make sure those words are not empty platitudes.”


Don't stress about having tons of sex -- research suggests once a week may be enough to reap the benefits Some people may need sex more or less than weekly; finding the right amount requires experimenting Experts say scheduling sex could be a good way for couples to make sure to get busy Are you having enough sex? You might have wondered if you should up your bedroom activity after reading about other couples’ resolutions to have sex every day or about all the health benefits of getting horizontal. In what might be welcome news for everyone exhausted from work and frazzled from kids, research suggests you don’t have to get down every day to reap the rewards of sex, at least in terms of happiness and relationship closeness. A recent study found that, although married people or people in committed relationships who had more sex tended to report feeling happier, the benefit leveled off at a sexual frequency of once a week. Those who said they did the deed four or more times a week did not report feeling any happier than those who had trysts only weekly. Related article The science of a happy marriage “I do think couples can end up feeling pressure to try to engage in sex as frequently as possible,” said Amy Muise, a postdoctoral researcher studying sexual relationships at Dalhousie University in Canada. Once a week “is maybe a more realistic goal to set than thinking you have to have sex everyday and that feels overwhelming and you avoid it,” said Muise, who is lead author of the study, which was published in November in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. The study found that sex could boost happiness because it makes people feel more satisfied in their relationship, based on survey data from two separate cohorts, including 2,400 married couples in the U.S. National Survey of Families and Households. Related article Couples who share the burdens of childcare are happier together “For people in relationships, their romantic relationship quality is one of the biggest predictors of their overall happiness,” Muise said. “Having sex more than once a week might not be enhancing that (relationship connection), although it is not bad.” However, there are a couple of rubs with this research, Muise said. One is that it is not clear which came first, sex or happiness. It may be that people who have sex once a week or more were happier in their relationship and life to begin with, and not that the sex helped make them happy. Or both may be true: Sex enhances happiness and happiness enhances sex. The other catch is that, although a weekly romp might be just what some people need, it might be too much or too little for others. “Certainly there are couples for whom having sex less frequently will be fine for their happiness, and there are couples who will get increases in happiness if they have sex more than once a week,” Muise said. “One of the best effects of an article like this (by Muise and her colleagues) is that it opens up conversations with couples” about their sex life, said Vanessa Marin, a sex therapist based in Berlin. For some couples, the question of how often they should have sex might not have come up, which could be a sign they feel sufficiently close and satisfied – or that they are just too busy or disconnected to think about it. “Most couples want to be having more sex and I think this is really a result of how busy and full most of our lives are,” Marin said. Marin avoids prescribing an amount of sex that couples should have, because every couple is different, and instead recommends couples test it out for themselves. “I’m a big fan of having clients experiment, like, one month try to have sex twice a week and see how that goes, or once a week, try to play around with it,” Marin said. Related article Will same-sex marriage make America healthier? As for those lucky couples that are content with how often they get busy under the sheets, one study suggests they may not want to change a thing. Researchers asked couples that were having sex about six times a month to double down on getting down. Couples that doubled their sexual frequency were in worse moods and enjoyed sex less at the end of three months than couples who had stuck to their usual level of bedroom activity. “Being told you should do something always makes it less fun,” said George Loewenstein, a professor of economics and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University and lead author of the study. That is another reason Marin does not make recommendations to couples about sexual frequency – for fear they could worry they are not living up to expectations and lose their mojo. However, there’s a far bigger relationship problem than couples worrying they aren’t having quite enough sex – “couples that have pretty much stopped having sex,” Loewenstein said. For these couples, “I think once a week is a good final goal. … It is almost like a natural constant to do it once a week,” he said. Even if these abstinent couples want to be having more sex, they may lack the desire for their partner. These couples can try conventional strategies, such as scheduling more quality time together or trying a change in scenery. “What couple has not had the experience that you go to a hotel in a new location in a new environment and the person you’re with seems different, and different is good when it comes to sex,” Loewenstein said. But if these tricks aren’t enough, couples may have to appeal to their rational rather than lustful side and tell themselves to just do it. “These couples might be surprised how enjoyable it would be if they restarted,” Loewenstein said. It might sound like the least romantic thing in the world to pencil in sexy time with your partner. But if you and your partner are game to try, there is no reason not to make a sex schedule. “For some couples, scheduling sex works really well, it gives them something to look forward to, they like the anticipation, they like feeling prioritized,” Marin said. “Then other couples (say) scheduling sex feels horrible to them, like sex is transactional and just another item on their to-do list.” Related article Polyamory: When three isn't a crowd Again, Marin recommends couples experiment with scheduling sex to see if it helps them, as long as neither is opposed to it. A good idea for all couples, whether they like the idea of scheduling sex, is to plan for quality time together – just the two of them. Ideally, this would be about 20 minutes a day with the TV off and cell phones away, but for extra busy couples, it can help to reserve just five minutes a day for a tete-a-tete, Marin said. This time is also the “container for sex,” the time and privacy when sex can be initiated, but you don’t have to feel pressure about it, she added. Although scheduling sex can help couples that want to be having sex but just can’t find the time, it can make things worse for some. “If there are relationship issues or psychological issues such as stress or anxiety, then scheduling sex might just add to the pressure,” said Acacia Parks, associate professor of psychology at Hiram College. See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter. As for when to schedule the sex, the best time is probably the time when you are least likely to be pulled away by life’s obligations. One of the perks of rise-and-shine sex is that testosterone levels are highest in the morning, and this hormone drives sexual desire. On the other hand, tuck-you-in sex could help lull you to sleep, as hormones released during orgasm could help you relax and feel tired. According to Muise, the participants in her research typically reported having sex at night before going to sleep, which is not that surprising. But it has to work for both parties. “This is another point of negotiation between partners,” Muise said. “One of them is just too exhausted. That might be something to play around with, is there a time on the weekend that we could try instead.”


President Donald Trump banned travel from Yemen, Libya, Iran, Somalia, Syria and Sudan Those six countries are majority Muslim but the administration denies its a 'Muslim ban' The two Muslim members of Congress swiftly blasted President Donald Trump’s new version of the travel ban as still targeting Muslim-majority countries – raising the critical issue which stalled the first ban in court. “Here we go again…Muslim Ban 2.0 #NoBanNoWall,” tweeted Democratic Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana, the second Muslim elected to Congress and a member of the House Intelligence Committee. Here we go again...Muslim Ban 2.0 #NoBanNoWall https://t.co/HTALRTKZYO And Rep. Keith Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat and the first Muslim elected to Congress a decade ago, tweeted: “On Campaign, @realDonaldTrump called for ‘total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.’ Now, says ‘what Muslim Ban?’” On Campaign, @realDonaldTrump called for "total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Now, says "what Muslim Ban?" Ellison later reiterated his tweet to CNN, calling it a “lawyered up” version of his first executive order. “It’s a Muslim ban,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s a revised one. It’s a lawyered up one. The man said he wanted a complete and total ban of Muslims. And then it gets struck down … and then he comes back a few days later with something else. He is trying to restrict access to the United States because of their religion. The people that it does ban are banned because it’s Muslim.” Trump signed a new ban late Monday morning that excludes Iraq from the list of targeted countries and also dropped troublesome language from the first ban that promised to promote Christian refugees, but fed into the successful legal argument that Trump had targeted Muslims. The new order bans immigration from six Muslim-majority countries: Iran, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Libya and Sudan. Administration officials said Monday that they do not see the ban as targeting a specific religion. “(The order is) not any way targeted as a Muslim ban. … [W]e want to make sure everyone understands that,” an official told reporters. New travel ban includes 8 countriesSupreme Court to hear argumentsMarch travel ban exempted IraqHow the March ban was different   March travel ban: The full executive orderJanuary travel ban: The full executive order New travel ban includes 8 countriesSupreme Court to hear argumentsMarch travel ban exempted IraqHow the March ban was different   March travel ban: The full executive orderJanuary travel ban: The full executive order Unlike the rollout of the first travel ban, which caught many of Trump’s Republican supporters off-guard and stunned, the new version won the immediate backing of top Republicans. “This revised executive order advances our shared goal of protecting the homeland. I commend the administration and (Homeland Security Secretary John) Kelly in particular for their hard work on this measure to improve our vetting standards. We will continue to work with President Trump to keep our country safe,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who along with Sen. John McCain, had been an outspoken critic of the original travel ban, congratulated Trump on the new ban, which he said doesn’t discriminate based on religion and instead focuses on immigrants from “compromised governments and failed states.” “I have always shared President Trump’s desire to protect our homeland,” Graham said in a statement. “This Executive Order will achieve the goal of protecting our homeland and will, in my view, pass legal muster.” But Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer predicted Monday that the improved coordination and narrower scope would have little effect on the new ban’s chances in the courts. “Despite their best efforts, I fully expect this executive order to have the same uphill climb in the courts that the previous version had,” the New York Democrat said in a statement. “A watered-down ban is still a ban. Despite the Administration’s changes, this  dangerous executive order makes us less safe, not more, it is mean-spirited, and un-American. It must be repealed.” CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Kevin Liptak and Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.


An Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps patrol boat trained its weapon on a Navy helicopter It's hardly the first such scrape near the Strait of Hormuz A US Navy Seahawk helicopter had what the Navy is calling an “unsafe and unprofessional encounter” with an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps patrol boat Saturday near the Strait of Hormuz. The helicopter was flying overhead when the Iranians trained a weapon on it, according to a defense official. The Iranians did not fire. The event took place as the helicopter was escorting the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower on its way out of the Persian Gulf. Iranian ships regularly approach US Navy vessels in that area of the strait. In August the USS Squall fired three warning shots into the water after boats belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps came within close proximity to American warships. The US military has expressed its concern regarding what it sees as Iran’s provocative naval actions in the gulf. “If they continue to test us, we are going to respond, and we are going to protect ourselves and our partners,” Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command, said at a Pentagon news conference in August following the incident with the Squall. A US defense official told CNN in August that the number of these unsafe incidents had already surpassed the entire amount for 2015. Votel, the senior US military commander in the Middle East, calculated that “about 90% of these unsafe, unprofessional activities” are by the IRGC navy and not Iran’s general navy. Related video 7 Iranian boats swarm US Navy ship again “So this is, in my view, is not about the Iranian people,” Votel said. “It’s about the Iranian regime and their desire to continue to do these types of things that stoke instability or attempt to stoke instability in the region.” The gulf and narrow Strait of Hormuz are considered key strategic bodies of water given the high volume of commercial oil that is shipped through them. Iran’s chief of staff of the armed forces said Saturday that Tehran might establish naval bases in both Syria and Yemen, according to the semi-official Tasnim news organization. In October, missiles were fired at the USS Mason off the coast of Yemen. The missiles originated from Houthi-controlled territory and the Houthi rebels are backed by Iran. That attack merited a retaliatory US airstrike against radar installations in the area.


A Polish man is arrested in the case He demanded $300,000 to stop the auction, police say A 20-year-old British model was kidnapped in Milan, Italy, to be auctioned off on a pornographic website on the dark web, the Italian State Police said Saturday. The model, who has not been named, was assaulted, drugged, handcuffed and stuck in a travel bag, police said in a statement. A 30-year-old Polish national who resides in the United Kingdom was arrested on kidnapping charges. Lukasz Herba was arrested July 17 outside the British consulate in Milan while accompanying the woman, said Lorenzo Bucossi, the head of the Milan Police Mobile Command unit. It was not immediately clear why the suspect took the model to the consulate. Authorities said they are searching for at least one more person in connection with the kidnapping. The model arrived in Milan on July 10 and already had a photo shoot booked through her agent for the following day, according to the police account. When she walked into the apartment where the photo shoot was supposed to take place, two men attacked her, police said. She was loaded into the trunk of a car and taken to a cabin on the outskirts of Lemie, a remote town in the Italian Alps, she told authorities. The woman was kept handcuffed to a wooden chest of drawers in a bedroom for a week, police said. According to the Italian police, the suspect used encrypted accounts to ask the model’s agent for $300,000 to stop the online auction from going ahead. He also allegedly told the agent that he was operating on behalf of “the Black Death group,” an organization involved in illegal trafficking on the dark web, a layer of the Internet accessible only through anonymizing networks like Tor. Italian investigators have since established that the suspected kidnapper had already organized several online auctions for the sale of abducted girls, referring to them as “prey.” The websites for the auctions included a description of the victim and a starting price but police said it was still unclear whether the suspect had made them up. Investigations in the case are ongoing in Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. The British Foreign Office said only that it is providing consular support to a British woman in Milan and that it is in touch with local authorities. The Foreign Office declined to provide additional information on the woman, her condition and whether she is back in the United Kingdom. CNN’s Steve Almasy contributed to this report.


Australia has had no mass shootings since enacting gun law reforms in 1996 One researcher says gun deaths can be tackled "like any other public health problem" After any mass shooting, whether it’s the recent Orlando massacre or the terror at a Charleston church or the killings in Newtown, Connecticut, one statistic is often cited: Australia has had zero mass shootings in two decades, while America faces frequent bloodshed. Indeed, Australia has long been referenced in the ongoing debate over how to stop mass shootings in the United States. Related article This is what happened when Australia introduced tight gun controls After a shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon in October, President Barack Obama said, “We know that other countries, in response to one mass shooting, have been able to craft laws that almost eliminate mass shootings. Friends of ours, allies of ours – Great Britain, Australia, countries like ours. So we know there are ways to prevent it.” A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Wednesday not only offers a detailed timeline of Australia’s reduction in mass violence, it confirms that the country experienced a rapid decline in firearm homicides and suicides after enacting gun law reforms in 1996. “The results are clear,” said Simon Chapman, a professor at the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health and lead author of the study. “Gun deaths are a problem amenable to reduction like any other public health problem,” he said. “International differences in rates between countries show this. The United States has the worst record of gun deaths of any [Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development] nation, exceeded only by that in chaotic nations with massive law and order problems.” Related video Gun control and public health For the study, researchers in Sydney examined gun-related incidents and death reports from the Australian Bureau of Statics and news articles, dated from 1979 to 2013. They determined how many fatal mass shootings, gun-related suicides and homicides occurred during that time period and analyzed the data. The researchers noticed that after the enactment of nationwide gun law reform in May 1996, there were no mass shootings in Australia. The researchers defined mass fatal shootings as those with five or more victims killed, not including the perpetrator. (U.S. statutes define a “mass killing” as an incident resulting in three or more deaths. The commonly accepted definition – the one the FBI used up to 2013 – is a shooting that killed four or more people.) Also in the years that followed, gun suicides declined by an average of 4.8% per year, and gun-related homicides declined by an average of 5.5% per year. The data show a correlation between the gun law reforms and gun violence. But the researchers noted in their study that non-gun-related suicides and homicides also went down. So overall, the data alone weren’t enough to provide a direct causation. But if gun laws were reformed in the United States, where nearly a third of the world’s mass shootings took place from 1966 to 2012, could we see a decline in violence? Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health professor Daniel Webster wrote an editorial accompanying the study, also published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “Political, cultural, and legal challenges make it highly unlikely that the United States would implement comparable policies,” he wrote. “Yet the experience in Australia over the past two decades … provides a useful example of how a nation can come together to forge life-saving policies despite political and cultural divides.” Related article Are mass shootings preventable? These countries have tried So, it’s difficult to predict what would happen, especially since gun ownership and gun violence are at a much larger scale in the United States than Down Under. However, there’s no question that we would see a drop in the frequency of mass homicides, according to David Hemenway, professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health, who was not involved in the study. “If we had stronger laws, we’d have fewer gun problems,” Hemenway said. Related article Why the U.S. has the most mass shootings “But the key thing in Australia is that this was done by a conservative leader,” he added. “One would have hoped that after the Newtown or Orlando killings that a conservative legislator would have stepped up and said ‘we have to do something,’ but they really haven’t.” Australia implemented gun law reforms after a lone gunman killed 35 people at Port Arthur, a historic tourist site in Tasmania, on April 28, 1996. Under the leadership of conservative Prime Minister John Howard, rapid-fire rifles and shotguns were banned across the country, gun owner licensing was tightened, and a national buyback program was implemented to encourage firearms owners and dealers to surrender their weapons. “It’s rare to see such a strong effect from an intervention in any field of public health, let alone firearm violence,” said Garen Wintemute, an emergency medicine physician at the University of California, Davis, who was not involved in the study. “This intervention targeted mass shootings. In the pre-intervention period, there were 13 mass shootings, and in the post-intervention period, there were none.” See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter. Previous studies also have analyzed how these gun law reforms affected violence in Australia, but the new research seems to be the most comprehensive yet, said Wintemute, a gun violence expert. “This is arguably the strongest study in the literature on the effect that policies addressing specific types of firearms might have on firearm violence,” he said. “Mass shootings account for less than 1% of fatal firearm violence in the United States. Policies here should address firearm violence generally, with mass shootings as a subset of that violence.” The National Rifle Association, however, disagrees. In a statement to CNN, NRA spokesperson Jennifer Baker said, in part, “The study did not find a statistically valid relationship between the gun ‘reforms’ and the homicide rate and concludes that the impact of the gun ‘reforms’ cannot be estimated because suicides and homicides from all causes began decreasing before the gun ban and confiscation program was in place.”


It’s the only flight I’ve ever been on where the attendant walked down the narrow aisle holding a notepad asking, “Does anyone need a taxi booking for when we land?” As introductions go to this quiet corner of South Australia, it speaks volumes. This is a part of the world where friendliness comes as standard, where people will do anything for a neighbor – or a stranger. At the tiny regional airport of Mount Gambier, where only a handful of flights come and go each day, it also stretches to ensuring no one waits too long for a cab on arrival. Mount Gambier lies almost halfway between the cities of Melbourne and Adelaide. It’s the biggest town around for more than 200 miles but has a population of fewer than 30,000. That means that there’s an awful lot of countryside and coastline, providing the perfect backdrop for award-winning local produce including Coonawarra wines, rock lobster and the much sought-after sea snail known as abalone, the world’s most valuable shellfish. The region’s most famed culinary export, however, is high-end Wagyu beef from cattle that are partly fed, toward the ends of their lives, on an unusual mixture of sweet treats: chocolate, candy and cookies. You read that right. It’s a distinctive but successful approach, imparting a unique taste to the super-premium meat from Mayura Station that draws fans thanks to its remarkable flavor and lineage. Mayura Station – ranches are known as stations in Australia – sits in picturesque and gently rolling green hills that are frequently carpeted in yellow flowers. It’s located just a few miles from the coast, meaning cooling sea breezes offer welcome respite from the often intense heat. An aquifer provides water purified through natural filtration through limestone caves and caverns that act as large natural filters. Combine that with the cleanest air you can imagine and consistent weather patterns, and you can see why there’s a real sense of terroir. That’s the French term for a location’s particular ecosystem which helps make wines – or other things such as beef – so distinctive. Mayura Station has been farmed in some form since 1845, but today only 20 people work across the entire property of more than 3,000 hectares. It’s tiny compared with some Australian cattle ranches, such as Anna Creek Station, which covers a mind-blowing 6,000,000 acres – roughly the same size as Israel. “Wagyu” translates simply as “Japanese cow.” The animals trace their lineage back to beasts of burden used for heavy labor, often in rice paddies. There are two main types, black and red, with black known as being the highest quality. Mayura Station’s cattle originally came from Shogo Takeda, seen as Japan’s foremost breeder and someone who has more than 50 years experience behind him. At Mayura the cattle are full-blood Wagyu, single source, meaning that both parents are 100% Wagyu blood. If they don’t breed it on the farm, they don’t sell it. The key difference, however, compared with beef anywhere else in the world, is that for the last two months of their lives Mayura feed their animals around 2 kilograms of chocolate, cookies and candy every day. They grow more than 70% of their regular feed on site, a mix of wheat, hay, rye grass, maize and broad beans. But the sweet mixture comes from recently expired or imperfect batches from factories, including the popular Cadbury’s brand. MORE: Australia’s stunning landscapes Up close, it smells great – good enough to eat. Mayura Station owner Scott de Bruin tells me to take a few bits between my fingers and try it. I assume he’s kidding. But no – and it’s surprisingly moist, subtly sweet. A bit dusty, but otherwise not bad. “When I first started feeding it to the cattle, people would say, ‘your beef has this really unique flavor, we love it,’ ” de Bruin says. “I always thought it was due to the region here, or because people hadn’t tried full-blood Wagyu. “They both contribute to the taste – but the sweet mix is undoubtedly the biggest part. The cattle just love it. They definitely know when it’s feeding time!” By the time the cattle get to eat the sweet mixture, they’ve stopped growing and are no longer putting on weight, so the feed is 100% about the flavor. This is borne out in The Tasting Room, the simply named restaurant at Mayura Station open three days a week. The restrooms are labeled “heifers” on one door and “bulls” on the other, while cabinets on the wall feature beautiful selections of knives belonging to repeat diners. A huge range and grill is the main draw and home to Chef Mark Wright, clearly in his element preparing some of the world’s best meat. As he explains: “From one carcass there are 32 different cuts of meat that all have very different flavor profiles and textures, so they need different styles of cooking or butchery.” He plates up a succession of breathtaking dishes including a a sublime carpaccio, faultless tartare, but most of all the greatest cut of beef I’d never heard of. It’s known as a “blade” or, in the industry, “the butcher’s cut” – because they know more than anyone else about the very best eating. The whole animal is used at Mayura, in one way or another. From a 700 kilogram beast they produce approximately 300 kilograms of meat, only 30 kilograms of which are the top end cuts. That goes some way to explaining the exclusivity – and price – which can reach upward of $300 per pound for their top-of-the-range Signature label. Genetics determine the all-important intense marbling that makes the beef almost more white than red, rich in omega 3, omega 6 and unsaturated fats. Not to mention the most tender you’ll ever eat. MORE: What does the world’s most expensive meat taste like? Diners and chefs agree. Some 70% of Mayura’s annual production is exported, notably to China, as well as to Dubai. Hong Kong is another key market and restaurants including Otto e Mezzo, Arcane, Serge et le Phoque and Caprice all serve it. It’s one thing to have cows eating candy, and some may dismiss it as cute marketing, but what does it really taste like? The last word goes to Chef Andrea Accordi at Hong Kong’s Four Seasons Hotel: “I’ve tried a lot of marbled meat, but sometimes the flavor isn’t present.  Mayura, however, gives a perfect balance of fat and meat. It’s a very interesting and unique flavor, very nutty, and I feel the hint of chocolate. “We cook it in The Lounge at Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong between two layers of cedar wood. “We grill it slowly until the wood starts to burn which gives a light, sweet smokiness to the meat. When you eat meat it should always have some bite, meaning not totally melting in your mouth. Mayura has a great bite balanced with great tenderness.” MORE: Ultimate Japan Wagyu beef guide


In comments likely to frustrate the White House, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany and China will stand by the existing nuclear accord with Iran, even as the US has withdrawn and expects its European allies to follow suit. Merkel made the statement during a joint news conference with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing, Reuters has reported. Her remarks come hours after Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, issued a set of demands to European powers in which he voiced skepticism that they would remain committed to the 2015 deal. He also warned that Iran would restart its nuclear activities if they failed to act swiftly. “The heads of European countries say different things. For our economy, we cannot rely on JCPOA and the Europeans,” Khamenei said in statements that were published on his official website. He was referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, otherwise known as the Iran nuclear accord. Khamenei said the JCPOA could only continue if the Europeans fulfill six conditions including: Promising not to ask Iran about its ballistic missile program or its regional activities; guaranteeing that Iran’s oil will continue to be sold and compensating for any losses and buying any remainining stock; and having European banks guarantee financial transactions with Iran. “If the Europeans linger over our demands, Iran has the right to resume its nuclear activities,” Khamenei continued. “When we see that the JCPOA is useless, one way forward is to restart those halted activities.” Khamenei said Iran had learned its lessons and could no longer “interact with the US.” Speaking with Iranian government officials on Wednesday, Khamenei said the US had “plotted various political, economic, military and propaganda schemes against the Islamic Republic,” all aimed at overthrowing the regime. “All their plots have failed …. just like Tom from the well-known Tom and Jerry cartoon; and they will fail again in the future.” Khamenei and other Iranian officials have been on the attack since US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iranian nuclear accord on May 9 this year. Trump had long excoriated the deal, claiming it didn’t go far enough in deterring Iran’s ambitions in the Middle East, or doing anything to curb its ballistic missile program. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, told reporters in Tehran on Wednesday that Iranian support in Middle Eastern countries was only there because those countries had requested it. “As long as these governments want us to maintain our presence we will help, and the aids we provide is to the benefit of the entire world,” Zarif said. Iran has funded and equipped proxy forces in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, as well as Houthi rebels in Yemen who are fighting pro-government forces. It has also provided for Shia militias and their commanders and politicians in neighboring Iraq. Rockets fired into Saudi Arabia from Yemen are reported to have been supplied to the rebels by Iran. And Israel has sustained attacks along its borders with Lebanon and Syria from Iranian-supported forces. Khamenei and Zarif were also reacting to comments from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who on Monday gave his first policy speech after assuming the role of the country’s top diplomat. He set out at least 12 conditions for Iran to meet if it wanted to avoid the painful “sting of sanctions” that would include “unprecedented financial pressure.” Related article Pompeo threatens US will 'crush' Iran through sanctions and pressure campaign Among Pompeo’s demands: Iran allowing a full account and verification of its nuclear program and the permanent and verifiable abandonment of it; an end to enrichment; access for the International Atomic Energy Agency into all weapons sites across Iran; the end of ballistic missile proliferation, the release of all detained US citizens; and the end of its support to militant groups including Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon. “The length of the list is simply a scope of the malign behavior of Iran,” Pompeo said in his speech at conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC. “We didn’t create the list, they did.” When it comes to Iran’s demands, it insists that its oil sales continue unperturbed regardless of the impact of whatever sanctions the US might impose. Right now, the biggest consumer of Iran’s oil is China. And with Li standing beside Merkel as she declared the two nations would remain committed to the deal, those sales seem less in doubt. In his comments on Monday Pompeo said he expected not only “European friends” to support the US strategy, “but much more than that.” “I want the Australians, the Bahrainis, the Egyptians, the Indians, the Japanese, the Jordanians, the Kuwaitis, the Omanis, the Qataris, the Saudi Arabians, South Korea, the UAE and many, many others worldwide to join in this effort,” he said. But so far, the responses have been muted. The Europeans and other world leaders had urged the White House not to walk away from the deal. Along with Merkel, the leaders of Europe and the European Union have said they intend to stick to the deal, while leaders in Russia and Turkey criticized the US decision. Votes of support are few, and have so far come from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE. CNN’s Hamdi Alkhshali contributed to this report.


Iraqi troops are battling to liberate the ISIS stronghold of Falluja Some 50,000 trapped residents are feeling the brunt of the attacks, after months of siege Those fleeing Falluja take almost nothing but risk everything. They describe a city without basic needs, where babies are born to a world without food and those in pain go to a hospital and get amputations instead of anesthetics. Their city has been an ISIS stronghold for months and is now in the crossfire of a major military operation – Iraqi forces, backed by the United States-led coalition, are trying to liberate Falluja from the terror group’s grasp. Some 50,000 people are that remained are trapped and in danger, according to a United Nations estimate. Hundreds have already fled the city and the surrounding area since the Falluja offensive began last week. More than 500 families have arrived in displacement camps outside the city, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said, including almost 300 since Sunday afternoon alone. All the recent arrivals are from Jumeila on the city’s outskirts. Here are some of their stories, as relayed by the Norwegian Refugee Council, which only released first names of those it interviewed. Iraqis ‘liberated’ from ISIS: Why suffering may not be over Mohammed, his wife and three children chose to leave a few days before the operation began. They left at 2 a.m. All they took were their IDs. “We walked all night through water networks,” he said. “When we got out of the water we kept walking with our wet clothes. We still have them on as we did not bring clothes.” Conditions are dire in Falluja, he says. “Hunger was our main motive to flee, as well as the constant fear of ISIS,” he said. Families flee as battle for Falluja rages on Last time we ate rice was four months ago, but we were not the worst off. Others have had no food for much longer. Mohammed There’s a shortage of food and medicine, and the water they drink comes from the river, which he says is “considered better than the water from the agricultural water network. Those channels are salty, dirty and they found animal carcasses floating in them.” “Last time we ate rice was four months ago, but we were not the worst off. Others have had no food for much longer. For the past months we fed on dried dates. ISIS controls all the dates business in the market. It was rotting, stale dates that we could find, so we had to dry it in the sun to remove the bad smell before eating it. Sometimes it was still impossible to eat and we used it as animal feed.” He feels safe now that he’s reached the refugee camp. “It’s the best thing that happened to me and my family and for the rest of the people who made it out with us,” he said. Road to Raqqa: Long struggle looms in battle for ISIS heartland Ishwaq, her four young children and husband were able to bring a bit more on their journey – two towels, one bag, and like Mohammed’s families, their IDs. They ran for three hours straight in order to reach a safe place. “My feet were very painful and tired after having to run all night,” Mohammed, 9, said. “In Fallujah we lived in constant fear of our lives and we heard and saw rockets and bombs go off everywhere,” Ishwaq said. “We can finally breathe again, finally sleep again.” Polaroids put personal touch on refugee crisis Suad and her family survived the crossfire. As the coalition began its push to take Falluja from ISIS, ISIS gunmen began going to go door to door in the city and yanking men, their wives and children from their homes. ISIS “kept moving us from one damaged, deserted house to another,” Suad said. She, her husband and her children ran as fast as they could to avoid being shot. “We tried going back to our house, but when we saw lots of other families fleeing we joined them,” she said. “I was carrying my 2-year-old daughter, Hana, as I ran barefoot to reach the other families. My husband was behind us all the time trying to catch up with us as he can’t run. That’s how we left, taking nothing with us, not even our money. I even forgot to take my mobile phone.” We left, taking nothing with us, not even our money. I even forgot to take my mobile phone. Suad Eventually, they made it to the refugee camp. “We feel safe here now,” Suad said. “My children are getting food, and my husband is getting treatment in (the) hospital. I can’t think of anything beyond that. Arriving here safely was what mattered, and it’s a big relief.” ISIS on Europe’s doorstep Baby Yousra, her parents and six siblings arrived at 4 a.m. local time Monday at the camp. “My baby was born when we did not have any food and still she was a happy child,” Yousra’s mother said. “Now I can finally feed her.” Yasmin, Yousra’s sister, “is so tired that she can only cry,” their mother said. Fareed Zakaria: Why they hate us Um Ahmed says Falluja is a ghost town. Related gallery The battle for Falluja “Social contact with family and friends has almost come to a halt,” she told the NRC over the phone. “People are not leaving their houses out of fear. I haven’t seen my other relatives in months.” Food prices are skyrocketing, electricity is lacking and hospitals have run out of supplies, she says. The doctor that is affiliated with the hospital is an ISIS sympathizer, and refuses to help “ordinary people,” she says. And treatment options have gotten barbaric. “Doctors often simply amputate a patient’s arms or legs if they are in pain. There are no anesthetics left in the hospitals,” she said. “We just want to leave the city,” she said. “We just want to leave.” CNN’s Ashley Fantz, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Abeer Salman contributed to this report

Iraqi forces and United States-led coalition


Sesame Street & the International Rescue Committee are teaming up to educate displaced children in refugee camps Elmo says "it's important to help people when they need help" Sesame Street’s Elmo says refugee kids are just like kids everywhere. “They like to play and learn just like Elmo and all his friends at Sesame street” he said during a Facebook Live interview with CNN on Monday. The 3 1/2-year-old Sesame street character visited a refugee camp in Jordan back in February, and described the trip as “really wonderful because Elmo got to meet a lot of new friends.” “Elmo thinks it’s important to know that everybody is the same deep down and that’s very important.” Elmo also noted some of the differences between kids here and there. “It was really sad because Elmo’s new friends told Elmo that they had to leave their homes because it wasn’t safe for them to stay,” he said. “And that made Elmo really sad and sometimes a bit scared.” We’re speaking to Elmo, Sesame Street and the International Rescue Committee about the work they’re doing to educate Syrian children in refugee camps. Leave your questions below! Elmo likened the experience to when Big Bird’s nest was destroyed. “That was really sad at first. But then the whole community came and rebuilt Big Bird’s nest and it was all better.” “It’s really important to help people when they need help,” he added. Elmo went to Jordan as part of a pilot program with Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee. The two organizations are partnering to provide preschool education along with educational materials to refugee children across the Middle East. Sherrie Westin, Sesame Workshop’s Executive Vice President of Global Impact, explained how the partnership came about. “Sesame has had a long history at looking at issues from a child’s perspective and given the staggering number of children who are displaced today, we knew this was an area where we really had to try to do something to help and we knew we couldn’t do it alone” she told CNN’s Clarissa Ward. We’re speaking to @elmo @sesamestreet & @theIRC about work they’re doing to educate Syrian children in refugee camps https://t.co/APvqDs95rQ pic.twitter.com/p4iC06DWwK Westin appeared alongside Elmo and David Miliband, CEO of the IRC. “Look at us all, we’re all smiling,” Miliband said. “Whenever Elmo is with his friends we smile and that’s the same for the children we serve around the world.” He went on to explain the global refugee and displacement crisis facing the world. “25 million refugees, 40 million more people inside their own countries displaced by war and persecution and half of that total is children. These are children who don’t just lose their homes, they lose their childhood really. They lose their chance at education of the kind of nurture and support that many people would take for granted.” He said projects like the one with Sesame Street give refugee children “a dose of normality.” “Even in the midst of terrible chaos, I’ve seen in tents that are run by IRC staff around the world in Lebanon, and Jordan, and all across Africa, even in clearings, the dose of normality that says there’s a teacher, there’s a class, there’s some paper, there’s some crayons.” Supreme Court allows parts of travel ban to take effect Miliband also addressed the US Supreme Court’s decision to uphold parts of Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban and the President’s stance on refugees. “It’s worth saying, perhaps especially today, that this country, the US, receives very few refugees and there’s a lot of fear and loathing being put out. Countries like Jordan, a million refugees. Uganda, where I’ve just been, a million refugees. People there see the refugees as their brothers and sisters, not as terrorists who are coming to get them, and there’s a real lesson in humanity and compassion from countries that are much poorer than us that are doing so much more.” “It’s a myth that most refugees are in rich countries,” he said. “They’re not. Most refugees, 90% are in poor countries. The Jordanians, the Ugandans, the Lebanese, they really are teaching a lesson of what it’s like to actually reach out and help people.” Ward asked Elmo about the importance of the project. “Elmo just thinks it’s really important to be kind to people and to treat people the way you would like to be treated,” he said. “Because it’s important to bring joy to everybody.” Watch the full Facebook Live interview here


The United States will have to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to remove him from power and bring the Syrian civil war to a close, Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview that aired Sunday. Kerry said the U.S. is working hard to ratchet up pressure on the Syrian regime to bring Assad to the table to negotiate a political transition and stem what Kerry called “one of the worst tragedies any of us have seen on the face of the planet.” READ: Mitch McConnell rebukes Iran letter criticism “We have to negotiate in the end,” Kerry said in an interview with CBS News. “And what we’re pushing for is to get him to come and do that and it may require that there be increase pressure on him.” Kerry’s comments come as the Syrian conflict is entering its fifth year and reaffirm the Obama administration’s belief that diplomatic efforts are the best way to remove Assad from power. The U.S. has previously tried to bring Assad and Syrian opposition forces to the table to negotiate and political transition, but those efforts never got very far. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki reaffirmed the same view in a press briefing Thursday. “As we have long said, Assad must go and be replaced through a negotiated political transition that is representative of the Syrian people,” she said. Her deputy, Marie Harf, released a statement Sunday after Kerry’s comments attracted significant attention, noting that U.S. policy “has not changed” and that administration officials have repeatedly said that a political solution is the only way to “bring an end to the suffering of the Syrian people.” But she also cleaned up Kerry’s remarks, pointing out that Assad would never be directly involved in negotiations. “By necessity, there has always been a need for representatives of the Assad regime to be a part of this process. It has never been and would not be Assad who would negotiate – and the secretary was not saying that today,” Harf said. Kerry responded that “we have to negotiate in the end” when asked whether he would be willing “to negotiate with [Assad].” Kerry said in the CBS interview that the U.S. would negotiate with Assad, “if he’s ready to have a serious negotiation about the implementation of Geneva I,” referring to initial international efforts in 2012 to negotiate a political transition. The conflict in Syria has been a massive source of instability in the Middle East, leading to the rise of extremist militant groups in the country and straining neighboring countries’ resources struggling to deal with the influx of refugees. The rise of ISIS brought a renewed focus on the Syrian conflict and pushed the United States to lead an international coalition that began bombing the militant group in Iraq and soon after in Syria last year. But the U.S. has resolved to keep its warring coalition out of the business of attacking the Assad regime, striking only ISIS and other extremist groups in Syria. The U.S. has trained some moderate rebel factions in Syria and is looking to arm some of those groups, but only so that they can combat ISIS – not the Syrian regime. The regime has been accused of war crimes and is believed to be responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians.


McCain said that in a shooting war, "the carnage would be horrendous" The US must pressure China to help persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions, he said Sen. John McCain says President Donald Trump should consider a preemptive strike on North Korea if the country is able to deliver a nuclear weapon by ballistic missile, but only as a final option. “I think that we have to consider that option as the very last option,” the Arizona Republican said Sunday in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, pointed to North Korea’s proximity to Seoul, the heavily populated capital of South Korea, saying that in a shooting war, “the carnage would be horrendous.” The Arizona Republican, who was held prisoner by the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War, said the United States must pressure China to help persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions and stop testing ballistic missiles. “Their capabilities of firing artillery on Seoul is absolutely real,” McCain said. “And this is, again, why we have to bring every pressure to bear, and the major lever on North Korea today – and maybe the only lever – is China.” “But to say you absolutely rule out that option, of course, would be foolish,” he said of the prospect of a preemptive strike. “But it has to be the ultimate last option.”


House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said some of President Donald Trump’s more inflammatory remarks have not only “raised eyebrows,” but have also raised concerns among US allies as to whether he’s serious about the military action he has threatened. “I’m not sure the President has understood that a president’s words weigh a ton and you can’t say things casually,” Pelosi told David Axelrod on “The Axe Files,” a podcast from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN. Last month, Trump warned that the United States was prepared to take “devastating” military action against North Korea, and in August, he said he was “not going to rule out a military option” in Venezuela. While Republican Sen. Bob Corker from Tennessee expressed concern this week that Trump was setting the country “on the path to World War III,” Pelosi was hesitant to agree. “That’s a big charge,” she said. “There could be a serious military initiation of serious military action, which would be most unfortunate.” But she added: “I thought it was quite interesting that a senior Republican leader in the Senate would say that about his President.” Pelosi, a Democrat from California, has worked with Trump in an effort to strike bipartisan deals, such as one last month that allowed for a three-month extension to the federal borrowing limit, and even encouraged him to tweet reassurance to DACA recipients after his decision to end the program. Though Rep. Linda Sanchez, a fellow Democrat from California, called for Pelosi to step aside earlier this month, Pelosi said her 30 years of experience as a congresswoman are an asset to the Democratic Party. “I think that the present occupant of the White House shows that experience counts for something, because he has none and he has not accomplished anything,” she said.


Trump praised Putin at a national security forum on Wednesday Ryan called Putin an "aggressor that does not share our interests" House Speaker Paul Ryan, pressed about Donald Trump’s praise of the strongman Russian leader, trashed Vladimir Putin, but wouldn’t criticize the GOP presidential nominee. “Vladimir Putin is an aggressor that does not share our interests,” Ryan told reporters at his weekly news conference on Capitol Hill, before listing what he viewed as the Russian leaders’ transgressions. “Vladimir Putin is violating the sovereignty of neighboring countries. It certainly appears that he is conducting state-sponsored cyber-attacks on what appears to be our political system. That is not acting in our interest. And that is an adversarial stance and he is acting like an adversary,” he said. What last night’s forum taught us about Trump and Clinton But when CNN pressed the speaker if he had concerns about Trump’s high regard for Putin, Ryan dodged. “I made my points about Putin clear right there. I’ll just leave it at that,” he said. Trump’s remarks about Putin were among a series of controversial statements the real estate businessman made at a national security forum hosted Wednesday by NBC News. He noted Putin’s high approval rating was at 82% and told moderator Matt Lauer he was a better leader than President Barack Obama. “I mean, the man has very strong control over a country. And that’s a very different system and I don’t happen to like the system. But certainly in that system he’s been a leader, far more than our president has been a leader,” he said. Trump defends tweet on military sexual assault Ryan has had a sometimes-rocky relationship with Trump. He initially held back an endorsement when he became the nominee in May and has criticized the businessman periodically when he’s voiced views that the speaker believes are detrimental to the party. But when asked again about the latest things Trump has said about military leaders and the other issues if he is reconsidering his support now, the speaker bristled. “You think I’m going to stand up here and be election pundit? I’ve got other things to do in this job,” Ryan said. RNC chief critique: Clinton didn’t smile during national security forum Trump is the GOP nominee “because he won our nomination fair and square,” Ryan said, repeating his past remarks on Trump. “I’m not going to sit up here and do the tit-for-tat on what Donald said last night or the night before and Hillary vs. Donald.” Ryan also seemed to give some cover to Trump when he was asked if the presidential candidate should present a detailed proposal to battle the terror group ISIS. “We have a plan to defeat ISIS,” referring to a proposal that is part of Ryan’s “Better Way” policy agenda. He added about his own 67 point plan, “look at what we are offering in conjunction with our nominee.”


Google is celebrating the birthday of Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka, who would have been 120 today. The search engine’s latest “Doodle” shows the painter against a backdrop of life in the 1920s and 1930s, complete with geometric Art Deco flourishes. Renowned for her hyper-stylized paintings, Lempicka is perhaps best known for the iconic self-portrait, “Tamara in the Green Bugatti.” Her style combined the abstraction of cubism with the more conventional traditions of neoclassicism and portraiture. Helping to define the era’s art, her bold figures and unusual compositions were often tempered by soft lines and muted color palettes. Her portraits and erotic nudes featured members of the aristocracy – and she became widely known as “The Baroness with a Brush,” after marrying the Austro-Hungarian Baron Raoul Kuffner in 1934. Celebrated during the earlier stages of her career, Lempicka’s art featured on magazine covers and in high-profile exhibitions in Paris, where she lived between the two World Wars. Although the painter’s Art Deco style fell out of fashion in the immediate post-war era, interest in her work was rekindled in the 1960s and has continued long after she died in 1980. Lempicka’s paintings regularly attract seven-figure sums at auction, with notable recent sales including “Le Rêve (Rafaëla Sur Fond Vert),” which went for $8.5 million in 2011, and “Portrait de Madame M,” which sold for $6.1 million two years earlier. The illustrator behind today’s Doodle, Matthew Cruickshank, said that he was “struck by the scale and skill” of Lempicka’s paintings, according to a Google page dedicated to the painter. “Few artists embodied the exuberant roaring twenties more than than Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka,” he explained. “Her fast paced, opulent lifestyle manifests itself perfectly into the stylized Art-Deco subjects she celebrated in her paintings.” First introduced in 1998, Google Doodle celebrates important events, holidays, anniversaries and historical figures. Other artists to have been honored in the last year include expressionist painter Paula Modersohn-Becker and the Indonesian artist Bagong Kussudiardja.


Editor’s Note: Arwa Damon is a senior international correspondent based in CNN’s Istanbul bureau.  In April, she received the World of Children’s 2017 Crisis Award for her work starting INARA, a charity which aids children affected by war.  While at the ceremony, Damon had the chance to spend time with a young man who holds a special place in her heart.  The opinions in this article are solely those of the author. Masked men doused Youssif with gas and set him on fire in 2007 After his story aired, CNN viewers donated to his cause Youssif had extensive facial reconstruction and counseling in the United States “Superman is one of my favorite superheroes because he also struggled to fit in and was different, but in the end he was accepted and made his mark and I can somehow relate to that,” said Youssif to those gathered at the World of Children gala in Los Angeles in April. Now in his early teens, he looked so handsome, confident and unwavering. This was the same young man we had met a decade ago who was sullen, angry and mad at a world he was too young to even understand. “All children should have a chance to make their dreams come true,” Youssif said at the conclusion of his speech. Related video Youssif's story captured the hearts of millions The beautifully dressed crowd burst into a standing ovation, and I was there on the stage next to him. I couldn’t help the tears that stung my eyes.  Tears of pride and awe. Tears at the injustice he had suffered and the thought that no one, no child should ever go through anything like he did.  Tears of hope stemming from the knowledge that we can still make a difference if we unite. And to echo what I said then, my voice cracking, “I think what is so amazing about this moment is that Youssif doesn’t realize how much he has given all of us.” We first met and reported Youssif’s story in August 2007. I remember him sitting in our kitchen at the CNN Baghdad bureau, his face a hardened mask of scar tissue.  He was pushing one grain of rice at a time through lips he could barely open. Related video 2007: 5-year-old set on fire Masked men had doused 4-year-old Youssif with gas and set him on fire as he played outside his Baghdad home.  His parents were at a loss.  All they wanted was their little boy back — and to hear him laugh again. I remember how anxious we all were before the story aired, not knowing what reaction it would generate.  And most of all, I remember calling his parents, the best phone call I have had the honor and pleasure of making, to say, “Your little boy is going to get help.” For the outpouring of support came from all over the world; it transcended boundaries, cultures and religions. The Children’s Burn Foundation in Los Angeles took on Youssif’s case and CNN viewers donated hundreds of thousands of dollars. For our Iraqi staff at the time, living in Baghdad under constant bombardment and threat, the tremendous response to Youssif’s story gave them hope.  It gave them hope that the world had not entirely turned away.  That there were people out there whose voices we may not always have the opportunity to hear, but who cared. For CNN, reporting Youssif’s story led to the launch of the Impact Your World initiative.  For the last 10 years, Impact has identified vetted organizations helping those in need across the globe so viewers can donate and make a difference. And for me, the public’s reaction after Youssif’s report aired served to remind me of the kindness of strangers and planted the first thoughts of how I could potentially engage that generosity.  Those thoughts led to starting my nonprofit, the International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance (INARA). INARA is turning two years old and has helped dozens of children impacted by war who have fallen though the gaps, who need life-altering or lifesaving medical care not provided by others.  Children like Youssif. Today, he no longer remembers the attack, but he remembers the people who helped him and his family.  Over the years, Youssif has undergone multiple surgeries and there is still the potential for many more to come.  He wants to be a doctor so he, too, can one day help others. That is the ripple effect of one little boy’s story, a story whose impact is not yet over – a true testament to the power we have when we remember our humanity and compassion.


About 12% of the massive ice sheet saw some melting, according to Danish researchers Previous melts began in May, scientists say Greenland’s massive ice sheet has started its annual summer melt earlier than ever before, according to stunned scientists who said they had to recheck their calculations before releasing the results. Nearly 12% of Greenland’s nearly 656,000 square miles of ice saw some melting this week, the earliest date on record for the start of the summer melt season, according to scientists with the Danish Meteorological Institute. The previous earliest dates were all weeks later, in May, according to Denmark’s polar research site, Polar Portal. “We had to check that our models were still working properly,” DMI climate scientist Peter Langen said. To be clear – the agency isn’t saying 12% of the world’s second-largest ice sheet melted away this week. Rather, researchers are saying that percentage of the ice melted just a bit, a millimeter or so, in most of the area. But while the total amount of ice lost isn’t huge in terms of total volume, such early melting sets up a feedback mechanism that contributes to further melting, said CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller “The melting and refreezing processes release additional heat and that can penetrate into the ice,” Miller said. It’s possible that the ice sheet could be in for another big meltoff like in 2012, when some 95% of the sheet saw some melting. Greenland’s ice sheet – roughly the size of Alaska – is important because it’s the second-biggest potential ice-melt contributor to sea-level rise, only behind Antarctica’s ice sheet. Climate change news: Arctic sea ice growth stunted again It’s been losing ice at an average pace of 287 billion metric tons a year, according to NASA. Should the entire thing melt – which isn’t imminent – sea levels around the world could rise by 20 feet. Related video NASA addresses importance of Greenland ice sheet Melting from Greenland’s ice sheet is also likely contributing to colder sea temperatures south of the island, and could have dramatic impacts on ocean circulation and even inhibit hurricane production. Such melting is an expected byproduct of climate change, according to scientists. Temperatures are going up around the world, but nowhere as much as in the Arctic, which has seen record warmth this winter. February shatters heat records, becomes hottest month for planet Recent reports have increased concern about the impact of rising sea levels from ice melt, including a study released this month in the journal Nature suggesting that melting ice in Antarctica has the potential to contribute to a rise in sea levels of more than 3 feet by the end of the century. In September, NASA said the world is likely facing sea level increases of at least 3 feet, regardless of efforts to slow climate change – surpassing projections from a few years earlier. Uncovering the secrets of Greenland’s ice