Beer aficionados the world over flock to Belgium for its internationally renowned brews. The tiny country of less than 12,000 square miles has more than 800 years of experience – monks first began brewing behind abbey walls back in the 12th century. This ancient tradition of Trappist beer still lives on today alongside centuries-old family breweries scattered across Belgium. Belgian breweries’ time-honored methods produce outstanding beer, but they’re not always equipped to welcome curious visitors. In fact, most abbeys prohibit guests from entering altogether. But these seven breweries are more than ready to welcome you on your next trip. This family brewery in Anderlecht has been in operation since 1900 and is famous for its lambic beer made with wild yeast strains and native bacteria. Visitors can drop in anytime between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and do a 45-minute self-guided tour with a tasting for seven euros ($8) per person. You might even catch them brewing using the same 100-year-old equipment. Some of the favorites are beers flavored with fruit such as raspberries, peaches or strawberries, or the traditional gueuze, a blend of lambic beers of different ages combined for a secondary fermentation in the bottle. Belgian beer & Belgian food: Tram route 81 delivers passengers across the canal to Friture René, another neighborhood stalwart in operation since 1932. It serves Belgian classics like mussels and fries and Flemish meatballs to diners seated at tables draped in red-and-white tablecloths. Of course, Cantillon beer is on the menu, too. Cantillon Brewery, Rue Gheude 56, 1070 Brussels; +32 25 20 28 91 Friture René, Place de la Résistance 14-15, Brussels; +32 2 523 28 76 Medieval Bruges is a jewel of a town near the Belgian coast with a thirst-quenching brewery visit for the avid beer lover. The De Halve Maan brewery offers a stair-heavy, 45-minute tour (available at 11 a.m .and 4 p.m. daily for nine euros – $10 – per person) rewarded at the end with a tasting of their Brugse Zot Blond, a golden ale with subtle flavors of fruit and spice. True beer enthusiasts might want to splurge on the XL tour with a guide who leads you through a tasting of three different specialty beers in the cellars of the brewery. Reservations are encouraged. Beer in a pipe: The brewery is home to the world’s first beer pipeline. The two-mile pipe opened last year and connects the brewery to a bottling plant in the suburbs, cutting down on the use of trucks rumbling through the city’s historic center. De Halve Maan, Walplein 26, 8000 Bruges; +32 50 44 42 22 This might be one of Belgium’s most accessible brewery tours, open between 10 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. daily except Monday. Although this amber-colored ale has been brewed at Antwerp City Brewery since 1883, the brewery tour got a 21st-century upgrade after the brand was purchased by the Duvel Moortgat company in 2010. The self-guided program (12 euros – $14 – per person, 75-90 minutes) walks visitors through 10 different rooms equipped with video and other interactive displays which explain the history of the brewery, its beers, and the importance of the bolleke (De Koninck’s famous goblet-shaped glass). The tour ends with a beer tasting, while the full portfolio of Duvel Moortgat’s beers, including the golden Triple d’Anvers, is available at the on-site cash bar. Beer, chocolates and cheese: The brewery also houses top-notch food shops where you can try handmade chocolates at Jitsk, Belgian cheeses at Van Tricht, and cured sausages at De Laet & Van Haver butchers. De Koninck, Mechelsesteenweg 291, 2018 Antwerp; +32 38 66 96 90 MORE: The world’s best beer-brewing countries Between Antwerp and Brussels lies the rural town of Puurs on the River Scheldt, home to the Duvel Moortgat brewery. The guided tour (nine euros per person, 2-2.5 hours) includes an introductory film, a walk through the brewery and bottling plant (except on Saturdays), and a lesson in correctly pouring this iconic Belgian ale into its corresponding tulip-shaped glass. Founded by Jan-Leonard Moortgat in 1871, the recipe for Duvel was inspired by English ales using a yeast strain procured from a Scottish brewery. It’s still used in every bottle of Duvel today. Visitors are welcome Mondays through Thursdays at 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m., Fridays at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., and Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. What’s in a name?:  Duvel was originally called Victory Ale when it was released soon after World War I. The name was only changed after a local shoemaker stated during a tasting session: “This is a real devil” (“duvel” means devil in the local dialect). The beer was then renamed in 1923. Duvel, Breendonk-Dorp 58, 2870 Puurs; +32 3 860 94 00 One of the oldest breweries in Belgium has operated inside an old beguinage (a sort of convent) in the historic city of Mechelen since 1471. The Van Breedam family then purchased it in 1872. They’re still running it today, producing beers like Gouden Carolus Classic dark ale and Lucifer, a strong and bitter blonde. The visit takes less than two hours, including a tasting, and ends on the rooftop with an unparalleled view of Mechelen’s famous St. Rumbold’s Tower. Soak up (or sleep off) the beer buzz:  A good sponge for all that beer is a plate of stoofvlees (Flemish beef stew) and other Belgian dishes at Het Anker’s brasserie. The brewery also has an on-site hotel. Het Anker, Guido Gezellelaan 49, 2800 Mechelen; +32 15 28 71 41 This brewery in the remote village of Watou on the border with France has been making dark and blonde abbey ales since 1946. It was thoroughly renovated in 2009, adding a tasting room and a hopfield right next to the brewery. The 90-minute tour (12.50 euros per person) includes a film and visit to the brewery, brewhouse and bottling plant. Then there’s a beer tasting in the café, with guests receiving a gift pack containing beers like their Tripel, Pater 6, Prior 8, Abt 12, and a distinctive balloon-shaped Belgian beer glass. Individual visitors should reserve a place in advance. Bonus beer: This brewery visit is easily combined with a stop at Saint-Sixtus Abbey of Westvleteren, home of the famous Trappist beer of the same name. Call to make a reservation in advance before visiting the abbey shop to purchase beer. St. Bernardus, Trappistenweg 23, 8978 Watou; +32 57 38 80 21 In the Wallonian town of Le Roeulx, this 144-year-old brewery hosts visitors without reservation every Saturday at 2 p.m. or on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Admission is seven euros. Founded in 1873 by Stéphanie Friart, it’s been operated by the same family ever since, save for a short hiatus in the 1990s. The fifth generation of this family is still turning out abbey-style beers like a brown ale, a tripel and a farmhouse ale called Saison. Barges and beers: This tiny town near the French border has one other claim to fame – the 335-foot-high funicular boatlift of Strépy-Thieu along the Canal du Centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Experience crossing this feat of engineering by barge. St. Feuillien Brewery, Rue d’Houdeng 20, 7070 Le Roeulx;  +32 64 31 18 18


There are three billion people globally with no listed address, says tech entrepreneur Idriss Al Rifai. When you’re trying to receive a package, that can be a problem. The issue is particularly acute in the UAE, but Al Rifai, Dubai-based CEO of Fetchr, thinks his company have hit on a solution – and it’s in your pocket. Fetchr is a GPS-based delivery service utilizing your smartphone’s – sometimes unnerving – ability to track your every move. In theory that means you can have an item delivered directly to you, wherever you are. Related article Why Careem is bigger than Uber in the Middle East The company has already been called “the next desert unicorn” by Forbes, implying the Middle Eastern startup is potentially worth $1 billion or more. Investors clearly agree. In May the company announced $41 million in Series B financing – “the biggest … in the history of the Middle East” claims Al Rifai – with money coming from both the region and Silicon Valley. Fetchr’s concept has proved so successful because, despite Dubai’s rapid development, formalized postal addresses are not as extensive as you’d imagine. “In the United States and in Europe you’re used to having a mailbox,” says Al Rifai. “There are no mailboxes here. There are no mailmen.” The usual delivery process sounded painful, suggests Fetchr co-founder and creative director Joy Ajlouny. “You get a phone call and you have somebody, usually with a language barrier, asking ‘Where do you live?’ And you literally say ‘Make a left at the grocery store, make a right at this statue.’” GPS circumvents this problem. It’s a solution well suited to the region: according to one report from April, the UAE has the highest level of smartphone penetration in the world. Instagram post not found. Post has been removed or is no longer public. Like Uber, the app integrates with Google Maps and uses an algorithm to match couriers with pick up and drop off points. The basic service asks users to choose a time slot, with the option to deposit a package with a receptionist or in a safe space. On top of that, the company’s new initiative Fetchr Now will pick up your package in under 45 minutes and deliver immediately. In keeping with a regional trend, the company offers “cash on delivery,” still the preferred payment method for e-commerce in the UAE, the company claims. Fetchr was born in 2012, when Al Rifai and Ajlouny met in California. They started developing the software in Dubai with three employees and two desks. “We started off with five packages,” Ajlouny recalls. “It’s those moments that you really have to cherish and remember… we’re always humbled by where we started.” Fetchr’s personnel has since swelled to 1,500, growing by 100% in the last four months alone. The company’s plan is to work towards ubiquity. “In this region of the world, everything is about luxury,” says Ajlouny, “triple diamond and gold and platinum and exclusivity. We wanted to bring a little taste of Silicon Valley, which is accessibility. “We wanted to be the brand that everybody could relate to.” Fetchr currently operates in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Bahrain, but they’re looking beyond the region. Al Rifai refers to Africa, where Nigerian company Africa Courier Express is already operating in Lagos and Abuja with a similar mobile-based model. Related article 'Solar canopy' turns sunlight into electricity and art “If you look at most of the e-commerce companies now in the Middle East and Africa, it’s 80% mobile, which is higher than what you have in the US or in Europe,” he explains. “They are leap-frogging into technology.” Ajlouny admits that beyond tech evangelicals, there might be more work to convince others to jump on board. “Changing behavior is a process,” she says, “it’s not going to happen overnight.” “We feel like we’re only scratching the surface,” says Al Rifai of Fetchr’s $41 million injection. “We could go maybe 50 times bigger than we are today… We just achieve(d) 2%. Are you happy that you achieved 2%? No, we’re not.” “We’re more humbled,” adds Ajlouny. “Are we excited? Yes.”


Editor’s Note: Juliette Kayyem, a CNN national security analyst, is a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, a former assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and founder of Kayyem Solutions, a security consulting firm. She also is the host of the “Security Mom” podcast. The opinions expressed in this commentary are hers. Juliette Kayyem: Paris attacks raise issues and consequences new -- and familiar -- in age of terror ISIS may claim responsibility, but attacks recall al Qaeda's modus operandi, too, Kayyem says And social media showed its value in aiding in response to attacks, she says Friday’s terror attacks in Paris are as consequential as they are devastating. They will change the trajectory of efforts to combat the threat as well as how nations protect and defend their citizens. It is too early for universal pronouncements of a path forward, especially since it is likely that accomplices will be rounded up and we’ll learn how such a well-planned and coordinated effort could have been initiated without being detected. But the range of issues they raise are sadly familiar. Here are five: 1. ISIS is already taking credit for these attacks. Its claim means something but is not conclusive. The attacks in France were well-planned and highly coordinated, requiring military training that is consistent with skills seen from ISIS members in Syria and elsewhere. But the nature of these attacks also is eerily comparable to al Qaeda’s past modus operandi, in particular during 9/11 and the London bombings on July 7, 2005. We’ll learn in time if there is any connection, but what is clear is that any notion that the terrorist threat has been reduced to a mere lone wolf element – random men popping up here and there but whose impact and violence is minimal – is now put to rest. Is ISIS moving into realm of international terrorism? 2. Social media can be used as a tool for good and bad: Over the last few years, counterterrorism officials have warned about the use of social media to radicalize adherents.  But throughout the events in Paris, citizens used social media – Twitter, in particular – to help warn others, describe events as they unfolded and guide first responders’ actions, whether in  a concert hall or a stadium. By using the “wisdom of the crowd” in this way, we can begin to modernize government response capabilities that build on the good faith efforts of the very citizens they are trying to help. Facebook’s promotion of a “safe” status so people can know their loved ones are accounted for is an equally important contribution as it lowers the level of anxiety of family members. Social media reacts to Paris attacks 3. Already, most major American cities are responding by putting more security at major airports and any major events. That is part of a well-orchestrated plan, so it should not be viewed as proof that we might be facing a similar attack or as merely security theater. When major attacks happen, even abroad, it serves as an automatic trigger for a “ratcheting up” of resources. These more visible responses are only part of America’s response; intelligence is being shared across oceans and throughout the world, and the United States has satisfied information requests from France. I would anticipate we will see this continuing visible security presence through the holidays as the travel season picks up. U.S. officials say no known threat after Paris attacks 4. This isn’t over: The magnitude and sophistication of this attack is troubling not simply because of the number of terrorists that were part of this plan. The number of people who knew, or should have known, of the planning, organization, purchases and travel of the terrorists may well be double or triple the size of the group that perpetrated the attacks. The race to find the accomplices will be intense. The world turns blue, white and red 5. Finally, while Paris mourns, it will also be planning. These attacks will take on two very different paths in the political space. First, France – facing strong right-wing elements – will, with its European partners, begin a serious reassessment of immigration and refugee rules that have been so controversial over the course of the Syrian war. On the other hand, France will also be focused on ensuring that hate crimes against French citizens by those who take their rage and focus on a particular population do not rise. It is a delicate balance, and one that is not easily performed. As facts and details are unearthed, the storyline will continue to expand. It is essential that fact and rumor, reality and perception are distinguished; the consequences are too great and the likelihood that this will happen again is too certain. Complete coverage on the Paris attacks Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.Read CNNOpinion’s Flipboard magazine.


Editor’s Note: John D. Sutter is a columnist for CNN Opinion who focuses on climate change and social justice. Follow him on Snapchat, Facebook and email. This story is part of CNN’s “Vanishing” series. Learn more about the sixth extinction and get involved. It’s the tallest land-based mammal in the world. Its construction-crane neck, toothpick legs, knocked knees and two-story stature make it an awkwardly lovable favorite of children’s book authors and cartoonists. This animal brings an odd sort of wonder to the savannahs of Africa. But perhaps it’s best for us to start imagining a world without the humble giraffe. The International Union for Conservation of Nature on Thursday up-listed this goofy creature – known for its craning neck, which helps it reach tree-top leaves its competitors can’t – to its “vulnerable” status, meaning the animal is at high risk for extinction. It moves up from the category called “least concern.” The reason: a sharp 36% to 40% decline in giraffe populations in recent decades. In 1985, the group said, there were as many as 163,452 giraffes. Now the estimate is 97,562. This puts the giraffe in good company. The elephant, the orangutan, certain bees, coral – so many of the Earth’s mind-blowingly cool creatures face extinction risk these days. If poaching rates continue, some fear African elephants will be extinct in 20 years. Scientists worry coral reefs will mostly vanish by 2050 because humans continue pumping fossil fuels into the atmosphere, warming up the oceans and making them more acidic, and making life hard for coral. I’ve spent much of 2016 reporting on the mass extinction event that’s brewing all around the world for a CNN series called “Vanishing.” That reporting will debut on CNN International on Friday and on this website Monday morning. If there’s one take-away from my travels, it’s this: We can’t take species for granted. We too often assume they’ll survive one generation to the next – that those elephants or giraffes will be out there, somewhere. They won’t. Not unless we humans drastically change our ways. In California, I met with Anthony Barnosky, executive director of Stanford University’s Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, and a global expert on extinction. He told me that we humans have – at the very most – 20 years to change the way we treat nature or we will bring about the sixth mass extinction event in the entire history of Earth. We are talking dinosaur-ending stuff here – as in three-quarters of all known species, not just the cute and iconic ones, could vanish in a couple of centuries. Having trouble imagining that world? “The best way to envision the sixth mass extinction is to look outside and then just imagine that three out of every four of the species that were common out there are gone,” he said. “That would be a very impoverished landscape.” It certainly would. If you’re not moved by that, consider the consequences for humans, too. “We are basically annihilating the life on our planet – and that is the only known life … in the entire universe,” Paul Ehrlich, also of Stanford, told me. “It’s life that shaped the planet, that made it possible for us to live here. It’s life that still makes it possible for us to live here. (If) we don’t have the diversity of other organisms, we’re done.” What’s causing the collapse? Barnosky has boiled it all down to three words: “power, food and money.” Power, meaning we’re burning fossil fuels for electricity, transit and heat. That’s warming the planet and wreaking havoc all over the world. We’re not just talking polar bears here – amphibians, oceans, everything is affected. By food, he’s referring to the fact that humans have plowed up or otherwise altered about 40% of the Earth’s surface, he said, for agricultural production, much of it for livestock. Some biologists think we have to set aside huge chunks of land – 50% of the Earth, according to Harvard University’s E.O. Wilson – to stop the sixth extinction from occurring, or to lessen its scope. Add the population boom to this and you can see why farms are going to be a big issue this century. Finally, money. That means poaching – illegal networks are decimating the populations of some animals, including elephants, rhinos and the pangolin. And it means thinking of nature as an endless vat of cash. “How do we get off of treating nature as this bottomless checking account and begin to treat it as an investment account, where we’re living off the interest?” Barnosky asked during our interview. I’m not sure how we’ll change. But I have to hope that understanding the scope of this crisis is part of moving toward solutions. Giraffes are constricted by human development; they’re poached for their tails, which are used as bracelets, and for their meat, according to the African Wildlife Foundation. We shouldn’t see the giraffe’s plight as an isolated crisis. Humans are reshaping the face of Earth as never before. It happens in slow motion, making us easily distracted from the cumulative destruction one generation passes to the next. And many of us are so disconnected from nature – we see it through car windows, from the suburbs, on safari – that we don’t realize the scope of our responsibility in this collapse. Imagine a world without giraffes. In the long term, without big changes, that’s what we reasonably can expect.

human impact on biodiversity and extinction


President Donald Trump’s blistering tongue and stinging tweets spare almost no one. But there are two blatant exceptions to his saturating rhetorical fire: Vladimir Putin and Stormy Daniels. The President never shrinks from slamming his perceived foes from Rosie O’Donnell to the cast of “Hamilton,” to slain political enemies like “low energy” Jeb Bush and estranged political guru “sloppy” Steve Bannon. He’s jabbed allied leaders such as Britain’s Theresa May and Germany’s Angela Merkel, torched whole nations, such as Pakistan and Belgium, and teed off against retail giants including Macy’s and Amazon. But the ex-KGB man in the Kremlin, who is accused of meddling with US democracy and ordering a nerve agent attack in Britain and the porn star who told 20 million “60 Minutes” viewers she had unprotected sex with Trump each get a mysterious pass from the President’s attacks. Related article US punishes Russia but Trump hedges bets on Putin Those omissions were especially noticeable on Monday as the Russian President and Daniels were vying for top billing on news shows. As tempting as it must have been to hit back at Daniels, Trump kept quiet, possibly seeking to avoid being drawn any deeper into a thicket of litigation by three women who have brought sex-related civil cases to which he is linked. Also Monday, Trump’s White House rolled out its toughest action yet on Russia, kicking out 60 diplomats over the attempt by suspected Kremlin agents to assassinate a former Russia spy in the sleepy English city of Salisbury. But Trump, consistent with his practice of never personally calling out or criticizing Putin, was nowhere to be seen. The reasons for Trump’s reticence were not clear, since he’s not talking. But there will be suspicions that he’s keeping quiet because both Putin and Daniels may know something about the President’s past that could hurt him. After all, Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti insists he has evidence supporting her claims about an alleged 2006 affair with Trump as she seeks to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement. Trump has denied the affair, the White House says. And special counsel Robert Mueller’s request for documents on Trump Organization business in Russia could suggest he wants to know if there is any activity the President would be keen to cover up and that could help provide a motive for a potential attempt to obstruct justice. Trump, again, has denied any wrongdoing. When it comes to Daniels, Trump’s aides have advised him that lashing out would only fuel to the story. He appears to be taking a similar approach to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who revealed an alleged affair with Trump in a CNN interview last week. The President believes the Daniels allegations are a ‘hoax’ designed to damage him politically, Chris Ruddy, a close Trump ally and CEO of Newsmax, told ABC News on Sunday. Trump has also seized on Avenatti’s Democratic connections to portray him as an operative with an ax to grind. In recent conversations Trump has asked friends and outside advisers whether he should publicly defend himself, indicating that he’s eager to put the allegations to rest. But even allies who ordinarily reinforce the President’s combative instincts have warned that wading into such a torrid matter would appear unpresidential. That has not stopped Trump from complaining about constant news coverage of Daniels and a lack of allies on television defending him. There could also be legal implications – after all, former NBC “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos was able to launch a defamation action even after the statute of limitations had passed on her original harassment suit because Trump branded women who accused him of inappropriate behavior as liars. At least for now, Trump plans to heed warnings to stay quiet and he is not scheduled to take questions from reporters this week. But in a possible sign of his concern, he invited his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, who is embroiled in the Stormy Daniels case for dinner at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night. Still, Trump routinely changes his mind quickly, and could easily throw his aides for a loop by tweeting or offhandedly commenting on the issue. The White House wouldn’t say on Monday whether Trump had viewed the “60 Minutes” interview on CBS in which Daniels described playfully spanking him with a magazine and reluctantly having sex. But there were indications Trump spent Sunday evening and Monday morning reacting to the allegations. So much Fake News. Never been more voluminous or more inaccurate. But through it all, our country is doing great! “So much Fake News. Never been more voluminous or more inaccurate,” he tweeted. Later, White House spokesman Raj Shah said Trump “doesn’t believe that any of the claims Ms. Daniels made in the interview are accurate.” Rumors that Russia could have some material about Trump’s past have been floating around Washington since 2016 and were followed by revelations the next year about a dossier written by former British spy Christopher Steele. US intelligence officials have said that they have reached no conclusion on whether the Russian government does have any compromising information about the President. Trump has slammed the document as “bogus” and says it was part of a Democrat-funded bid to derail his election victory. John Brennan, who served as CIA director in the Obama administration, last week sparked a furor by warning that Russia may have damaging material, known as Kompromat, on Trump. “The fact that he has had this fawning attitude toward Mr. Putin, has not said anything negative about him, I think continues to say to me that he does have something to fear and something very serious to fear,” Brennan said on MSNBC. While Brennan did not cite any evidence, Trump’s warm relationship with Putin is a puzzle and at times has verged on hero worship – even as US-Russia relations have plummeted. Related article Ex-CIA boss says Russians could have personal dirt on Trump The President has enthusiastically sought out Putin at international summits, repeatedly praised his authoritarian leadership style during the campaign and pointed out that the Russian strongman once called him a “genius.” Trump has also repeatedly spoken about his desire to forge a strong relationship with the Russian leader even though Washington and Moscow’s geopolitical interests are diverging. Trump said last week his call with Putin was “very good” and hopes to meet him soon to discuss Ukraine, Syria, North Korea and a US-Russia arms race. But the President’s failure to raise the nerve agent attack in Britain and his decision to defy advisers and congratulate Putin on his election victory sparked another flurry of speculation about their cozy relationship. Related article Trump and Putin, closer than ever There are other credible explanations for Trump’s felicity towards Putin. One could be stubbornness, since most of Washington is trying to force him to toughen up and the President reacts poorly to such pressure. Another might be the President’s inability to divorce the question of US-Russia relations from what he believes are unfair allegations that Moscow intervened in the US election to help him win. Given Trump’s unpredictability, and impulse driven behavior, there’s no guarantee that even Putin and Daniels will remain safe from attack forever. Trump has discarded his aides’ advice in the past to remain silent on a variety of issues, most notably on Mueller. And his personal definition of what constitutes presidential behavior has never adhered to norms. Avenatti understands his foe well and appeared to be goading the President into lashing out, highlighting two areas where Trump has historically struggled to remain on the sidelines. Since this is what really matters (LOL), the ratings for my client's @stormydaniels appearance on @60minutes last night CRUSHED (BY MILLIONS) any Apprentice show in the last ten years as well as Mr. Trump's Nov 2016 appearance. #priorities https://t.co/JYVODdZKUH “The ratings for my client’s @stormydaniels appearance on @60minutes last night CRUSHED (BY MILLIONS) any Apprentice show in the last ten years as well as Mr. Trump’s Nov 2016 appearance,” he tweeted Monday. Earlier, he hinted at revelations that could also spur presidential outrage. “She can describe his genitalia,” he said on NBC’s “Today” show. CNN’s Jim Acosta and Gloria Borger contributed to this report.


Anyone and anywhere feels like it could be a target in Paris The mood is different from the defiant celebration of diversity after Charlie Hebdo France is trying to fix shocking gaps in security revealed by the Paris attack The prevailing emotion in Paris now is fear. Fear that anywhere and anyone could be a target. A sudden noise, and hundreds flee from a square. The air is thick with sirens. Controlled explosions of suspect packages are routine. Public gatherings are banned. One week after terror attacks took the lives of 130 people in Paris, the French capital is in a somber mood – and the French government is set on revenge. “France is at war,” declared President Francois Hollande, ordering dozens of airstrikes against ISIS, which claimed responsibility for the attack. The aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle arrived in the eastern Mediterranean, tripling France’s ability to bomb, and at home sweeping new security powers were introduced. The contrast with January is striking. Then – after the gun attack on the magazine Charlie Hebdo – the French people rallied with massive demonstrations in defense of free speech. Charlie Hebdo was targeted for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The response was a celebration of diversity, a coming together of faiths and ethnicities in this most multicultural, but fractious of European societies. “We can draw anything, including a prophet, because in France, the France of Voltaire and irreverence, we have the right to make fun of religions,” Justice Minister Christiane Taubira said. The solidarity hashtag #jesuischarlie went viral. A dozen world leaders joined a march through Paris. And sales of Voltaire’s Treatise on Tolerance leapt. Since then the landscape has changed. Tens of thousands of would-be refugees have abandoned Syria and other countries blighted by conflict and trekked north. ISIS has consolidated its hold on vast tracts of Syria and Iraq, and has also shown ever greater ambitions beyond. Its mantra – “remain and expand” – now sounds much more menacing. Related gallery Increased security following Paris attacks Some in France sense an erosion of trust. One of the lasting images of the past week was that of a man standing blindfolded in the Place de la Republique, where flowers and tributes have been laid. A sign beside him read: “I’m Muslim, but I’m told that I’m a terrorist. I trust you, do you trust me? If yes, hug me.” A quiet line of people, some in tears, queued to hug him. But the point was made. In the square where a million gathered after Charlie Hebdo, there was a subdued resignation that the world had changed, most eloquently expressed by one of France’s leading philosophers, Bernard-Henri Levy. “Each of us, this time, is a target, a frontline, a soldier without knowing it, a cell of resistance,” he wrote. The Charlie Hebdo attack – and that by Amedy Coulibaly against a Jewish supermarket – seemed random acts by individuals who had only loose associations with terrorist groups. The November attack inflicted 10 times more casualties, showed more sophisticated planning and co-ordination, and deployed suicide vests in addition to automatic weapons. Above all, it involved terrorists trained and presumably financed in Syria, and infiltrated into Europe. Related gallery The search for Paris terror suspects It was a shocking display of Europe’s failure to track the young men who had left to wage jihad with ISIS and later came home. More disturbing still, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, whose face and name were well known and who had been involved in at least four plots against France this year alone, had reached the French capital undetected. Only after the attacks did French authorities discover the plotter of the attacks was in Paris, and that thanks to a tip from Morocco. The Belgian federal prosecutor was candid about the security situation: “We can hardly keep an eye on people who came back from Syria because there are more than 130 of them,” Eric van der Sypt told CNN. “You can’t expect judicial authorities or security services to keep an eye on the hundreds of people who have been radicalized and whom you might suspect will go to Syria,” he said. These security failures, and ISIS’ clear intent to strike Europe, have chastened the French. There are more French citizens associated with ISIS than any other European nation. How many more may have come back? There is a palpable anxiety that more episodes of violence will follow, and unease that the reforms and resources promised after January’s attacks did not prevent another just months later. Anxiety has been heightened by the comments of Prime Minister Manuel Valls that the ISIS threat could extend to chemical and biological weapons. Challenged on this claim, Valls insisted it was important to “know the capacities of this enemy.” The government will spend nearly $700 million on beefing up the intelligence and police agencies and invest in cyberdetection. According to United States officials, the phones of last week’s attackers were equipped with encryption technology. There is also concern that terror groups are exploiting products like Playstation and Telegram to hide their communications. Related gallery Paris attack suspects: What we know But these investments – and reforms of the intelligence services – will take years to bear fruit, and the threat is immediate. The Socialist government is also demanding better security at Europe’s external borders. “These individuals took advantage of the refugee crisis … of the chaos, perhaps, for some of them to slip in,” said Valls – crossing multiple borders without detection. Some in the opposition have accused the government of deflecting blame for its own failures by criticizing the border controls of others. The far-right National Front senses an opportunity. It has warned that the migration crisis will bring terrorism and is hoping to benefit from a “Fortress France” mentality in regional elections in December. This sense of siege is perhaps best demonstrated by the declaration of a State of Emergency for the next three months, passed almost unanimously by the National Assembly, France’s lower house of Parliament on Thursday. It gives authorities new search powers and allows for house arrest of individuals for “their behaviors or their acquaintances, their comments or projects.” Over the course of five nights, nearly 800 searches were conducted and 200 weapons seized. The targets are invariably in the blighted banlieues that ring many towns and cities, where low-income immigrant communities – especially the young – feel divorced from and disowned by society. They inhabit a world of unemployment, petty crime and weapons. A tiny minority become radicalized, online or in shabby buildings that pass for mosques. The pattern is repeated time and again – in Toulouse, Grenoble, Marseille, Lille and other cities. On Friday, a neighborhood in the town of Sens south of Paris was placed under curfew for the whole weekend so that police could conduct searches following the discovery of weapons. Local authorities told CNN that the curfew was imposed because authorities “feared trouble to public order.” An hour’s drive away, in the Place de la Republique, a statue of France’s national symbol, Marianne, looks down on the world’s media. She holds an olive branch and is surrounded by three statues representing liberty, equality and fraternity. At her feet, for the second time this year, flowers are being laid and prayers said. They are for the victims – and also, perhaps, for France’s ideals.


Warning comes after an international tribunal ruled against China's South China Sea claims U.S. says close calls between U.S. and Chinese warships growing more frequent Secretary of State John Kerry says U.S. does not take sides in territorial dispute The U.S. will continue freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, a senior Navy officer says, as the region continues to react to a landmark Hague ruling on territorial claims in the disputed waters. The Obama administration has made it “absolutely clear” to China that the U.S. will continue engaging in flights and naval activities in the disputed waters despite objections from Beijing, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said Tuesday. This month, an international tribunal in the Hague deemed the bulk of China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea to have no legal basis under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The case was brought by a fellow South China Sea claimant, the Philippines. China immediately dismissed the court decision as “null and void” and said it would not affect its claims. Speaking in Vientiane, Laos, following the ASEAN Regional Forum, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that the peaceful settlement of disputes in the South China Sea is “absolutely critical.” The U.S. “does not take a position on the side of one claimant or another claimant,” Kerry added. “What we are pushing for is absolute support for rule of law, for the legal process, and for diplomacy to work out the differences that people have.” Kerry said he had a “constructive meeting” on how the U.S. and China would proceed on this issue with Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Forum. Richardson, who just returned from a visit to China, said that he also made clear to his Chinese counterpart that any attempt by China to declare an air identification zone, or ADIZ, over the South China Sea, or efforts to build artificial islands in the Scarborough Shoal in disputed waters closer to the Philippines, were “clearly identified as concerns” for the US. Richardson said that as close calls between US and Chinese warships grow more frequent, US and Chinese protocols for such encounters have been effective at avoiding escalation or misunderstanding. Altogether, he said, “I see the relationship as progressing rather than at an impasse.” CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the name of Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson. CNN’s James Griffiths contributed reporting from Hong Kong.


Operation to retake Sinjar from ISIS is approaching Tempo of air strikes against ISIS positions in and around the town has picked up Yazidi fighters, now numbering some 5,000, want to retake their homeland Sharu Baharu, an 80-year-old with a magnificent handle-bar mustache, is facing his second winter on Mount Sinjar, where a bitter wind kicks up as the sun sets over the barren cliffs. Until last year, he had lived his entire life in the town of Sinjar below. Then, over a few days during August 2014, 5,000 men and boys in Sinjar and nearby villages were massacred, according to U.N. estimates. “We fought as long as we could, but we had no weapons and they had so many,” Baharu says, gesturing with his index finger for emphasis. “We saw so many killed, but we escaped at night and came to the mountain.” Thousands fled across the mountain and escaped through a narrow corridor forced open by Syrian Kurdish fighters who came to their rescue. Baharu is a Yazidi, a tiny minority living around Mount Sinjar in Iraq. They are considered heretics by conservative Muslims and were an obvious target for ISIS as it spread across Iraq and Syria. Baharu recalls how one Arab neighbor, whose family had lived next to his for generations, helped at least 60 Yazidis escape the advancing ISIS convoys. But another neighbor turned on the Yazidis. “He raised the Daesh [ISIS] flag and took his gun. He killed nearly 20 people as they tried to leave,” Baharu says. Around him, nine granddaughters play and gaze at the strange visitors. They suffer the cold on Mount Sinjar and have no schooling, but they are lucky to be alive, and the older girls are lucky not to be owned by ISIS fighters. As many as 7,000 young women and girls were abducted to become sex slaves; even today there are reports of their being sold in the ISIS stronghold of Mosul. Sinjar is now a chaotic jumble of demolished buildings whose only inhabitants are a few hundred ISIS fighters facing off against small detachments of Kurdish Peshmerga forces. Yazidi girl remembers horror of helicopter escape from ISIS But on the other side of the mountain, it is a different story. The village of Snuny sits in the shadow of Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq, close to the holiest Yazidi shrine. It is a dusty, rundown place, surrounded by multiple checkpoints set up by Kurdish Peshmerga forces who drove ISIS from the village in December last year. The rubble of conflict is everywhere, and even today ISIS positions are only a few kilometers away to the east and west. In February, when I last visited Snuny, it was empty of civilians. The last had scribbled appeals like “We need internationally help” before fleeing from ISIS. It was silent, dark and deserted at night, an outpost of the Peshmerga amid hostile ISIS-held territory. Now the electricity supply has been restored, there is running water, and the first trickle of Yazidi civilians are returning to the homes that were not blown up by ISIS. The fields that hug the Syrian border are being plowed; street kiosks sell vegetables, water and rice to Kurdish and Yazidi fighters and the few civilians who have dared come home. There is even a shisha café. The Yazidis are an ancient people; over the centuries they have been persecuted by or fought against Sunni Arabs, Kurds and a host of other adversaries. Their children are brought up learning about a history of attempted genocides. Until ISIS tried to exterminate them, about a half-million Yazidis lived within sight of Mount Sinjar, which looms above the plains of Nineveh and is home to their shrines and ancestral villages. The Yazidi religion borrows from several traditions, and includes some Islamic beliefs, Persian Zoroastrianism and Mithraism. Its origins are unclear, but it is believed to have emerged in the 12th century when a Sufi Muslim leader called Adi ibn Musafir settled in the area. ‘Hundreds’ of Yazidi women killing themselves in ISIS captivity Every Yazidi you meet has a harrowing tale. Kji Am Silu lived in the village of Kojo, a few kilometers south of Sinjar. On August 2, 2014, he says, his uncle had welcomed Arabs from nearby villages to a feast. “The next morning, everywhere we see the black flag of Daesh,” he says. Most of their neighbors had turned against them, encouraged by ISIS sleeper cells. For the next 10 days the Yazidis of Kojo were under siege, hopelessly outgunned and with no way of escape despite repeated appeals for help from the outside world. When ISIS finally entered the village, they shot 600 men and abducted as many as 1,000 women and girls. Silu says he survived because he pretended to be dead under a pile of bodies. His uncle did not survive. Silu and other Yazidis say they have no issue with Arabs from Iraq’s Anbar province and elsewhere who now share their refugee camp near Dohuk in northern Iraq. But they cannot imagine ever sharing their villages with the Arabs who turned on them. “We cannot go back without international protection,” Silu says. “We will never be safe.” Sitting next to Silu at the refugee camp is Khalil Jindil, a teacher in his early 50s with a careworn face and a cigarette always between his fingers. He says he has no faith the Iraqi legal system will bring justice. The word on his lips is revenge. It is a debt of honor to those lost. Another Yazidi serving in a volunteer battalion on the frontline near Sinjar declares with an icy stare: “When we return to Sinjar, there will be no Daesh prisoners.” There is no mistaking what he means. ISIS ‘forced pregnant Yazidi women to have abortions’ The operation to retake Sinjar is fast approaching. At night in Snuny, the yapping of wild dogs competes with the drone of C-130 aircraft and high-pitched murmur of coalition strike planes, invisible thousands of feet above. The tempo of air strikes against ISIS positions in and around the town has picked up; CNN witnessed one strike against what was described as a vehicle suicide bomb on the outskirts of the town. On Wednesday alone there were nine strikes. Sinjar matters existentially to the Yazidis, but it’s also important in the wider effort to defeat ISIS. The artery that passes through the town links Mosul – ISIS’ prized possession – with cities it holds in Syria. Cutting this route is big one step toward dividing the “Caliphate” that ISIS claims it is establishing. But the road also carries badly needed supplies to the 1.5 million people who still live in Mosul, where prices are rising and activists report hunger. The more optimistic Peshmerga commanders think that ISIS fighters will melt away within hours once the attack on Sinjar begins, and retreat to nearby Tal Afar – another stronghold of the group. Others fear that the network of tunnels they have built and the landmines and booby-traps they have planted will mean a painstaking street-by-street advance, especially if battle-hardened Chechen fighters are hiding in Sinjar. And the buildup to the attack has not been entirely smooth. For the drones and strike aircraft, it is often impossible to distinguish between an ISIS vehicle and other traffic, which has complicated the task of degrading ISIS’ presence in the area. According to some accounts, ISIS has even been able to reinforce its defenses in Sinjar. The timing of the offensive has been further complicated by discord among Kurds from different countries. The Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq has told the Syrian Kurdish fighters of the YPG, who are closely allied with the Turkish Kurds of the PKK, to leave the area. “No need for them here,” tweeted Hemin Hawrami, head of foreign relations for the dominant party in Iraqi Kurdistan. And the Peshmerga Forces’ Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Jamal Mohammed said: “We have already ordered other parties not to intervene.” But the YPG units were still very much in evidence at their checkpoints and small bases around Mount Sinjar early in November, as was their distinct yellow flag with a red star at its center. They feel they have played the main role in fighting ISIS here and claim that Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani wants to claim the glory for recapturing Sinjar. The Kurdistan Regional Government has been similarly insistent that Yazidi fighters, now numbering some 5,000, fall under Peshmerga command. As for the Yazidi men themselves, going through their drills at a small camp near the village of Hardan, zero hour cannot come soon enough. But at the same time there is trepidation – not about the battle soon to begin, but about what they may find in the ruins of their homes. Fleeing ISIS tyranny: Agony of the Yazidis


Prince Harry visits damaged palaces, camp for quake homeless on first trip to Nepal Harry will pay tribute to Gurkha soldiers, who have fought in British military for 200 years The visit comes a month before first anniversary of devastating earthquake Prince Harry paid tribute to the resilience of the people of Nepal in recovering from last year’s devastating earthquakes, before visiting destroyed cultural sites on his first visit to the Himalayan nation. Speaking Saturday in the capital, Kathmandu, at a government reception to mark the start of his five-day visit, the prince told assembled dignitaries he had long wanted to visit the country. “I’m sure you hear this all the time, but your country holds a special place in the imagination for so many people,” he said. Related video Survivors pulled out of rubble in Nepal He noted his visit was occurring as Nepal was preparing to mark the first anniversary of the April 25 earthquake, which killed more than 8,000 people. An aftershock 17 days later killed more than 200 more. Harry said he planned to see how locals were recovering from the disaster. “I pay my respects to those who perished and hope to do what I can to shine a spotlight on the resilience of the Nepali people,” he said. On Sunday, the prince visited Patan Durbar Square, a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring an ancient royal palace and temples that were badly damaged in the quake, to view ongoing efforts to restore one of Nepal’s cultural treasures. Receiving a traditional welcome in Kathmandu's Historic Patan Durbar Square #HarryinNepal pic.twitter.com/6Kg7HmjaW4 Sitting alongside artisan carvers, he used traditional tools to attempt to restore carvings damaged in the disaster. The Apprentice, Kathmandu style. #HarryinNepal tries his hand at restoring ornate wooden carving pic.twitter.com/pOIBfFBGSq He then visited a temporary camp sheltering about 250 people, a quarter of them children, made homeless by the quake, according to a statement from the royal family. He was given a tour of the site by a teenager who lives there. At a camp for families whose homes were destroyed by the earthquakes. The guide is 15 year old Purushottam Suwal pic.twitter.com/mMItNjz57U Earlier Sunday he met with Bidya Devi Bhandari, Nepal’s first female president, at the Presidential Palace in Kathmandu. HRH tells President Bhandari he's delighted to be in Nepal & looks forward to opening the Girls Summit later in week pic.twitter.com/OLcvHQh4hs Last year marked the bicentennial of the first recruitment of Nepalese soldiers known as Gurkhas, renowned for their fighting prowess and bravery, into the British armed forces. Gurkhas have served in every major conflict involving the British military for two centuries. Harry is scheduled to visit the home of the Brigade of Gurkhas to pay personal tribute to “the extraordinary bravery and commitment that Gurkhas have shown in the last 200 years,” according to the statement. Related video Lumley: Nepalis are a 'brave and resilient people' The statement said the visit would be “a particularly important moment” for the prince, as he had “such a huge amount of respect for Gurkha soldiers,” since he served with Gurkha troops in Afghanistan in 2008 and knew Gurkhas who had been injured fighting for Britain. Prince Harry’s visit to the mountainous republic comes during the bicentennial year of formal bilateral relations between Britain and Nepal. In 1816, following two years of war between Nepal and the British East India Company, Nepal signed a treaty ceding about one-third of its territory. The view welcoming Prince Harry on landing in Kathmandu to start his official tour of Nepal #HarryInNepal pic.twitter.com/nfnkGgthZR


Editor’s Note: The story was published before the bombings in Belgium took place on Tuesday. For latest news on those attacks click here. Suspect Salah Abdeslam captured in Europe's worst terror attack in modern era Questions remain: Who else is out there? Why did it take so long to capture him? Can he shed light on what ISIS is trying to achieve? A wave of relief swept through Brussels – and the Belgian security services – when Salah Abdeslam was detained Friday. France will finally be able to hold to account one man allegedly involved in the Paris attacks in November. But in reality, Abdeslam’s arrest is a footnote in the larger battle against terrorism in Europe. Not that it’s insignificant. A suspect who had been on the run after the worst terror attack in Europe in the modern era is now behind bars. According to Belgian officials, he may have been planning fresh attacks. If he talks (and his attorney says he is cooperating), he could provide intelligence on ISIS’ methods and resources in Europe. “It is of the utmost importance that Abdeslam was captured alive, because we can now try to reconstruct the entire scenario,” Belgian State Security Chief Jaak Raes told Belgian network VTM on Sunday. Abdeslam allegedly was one of at least 10 men directly involved in the Paris terror attacks. Most had entered Europe on fake documents after training in Syria. Several, including Abdelhamid Abaaoud and Samy Amimour, were well-known to the French authorities. But none was known to be back in France on November 13. Question 1: How many others might have slipped into Europe under the radar? Several hundred Europeans who have joined ISIS and other militant jihadist outfits are thought to have returned home. French terror expert Jean-Charles Brisard wrote in December’s Sentinel, published by the Combating Terrorism Center, that 600 French citizens “are believed to be fighting alongside terrorist organizations abroad and 250 are believed to have returned” to France. Raes told VTM: “We know that a number of people are possibly on their way to Western Europe, with the intention of conducting an attack. … We need to stay very vigilant about that.” Related gallery Paris attack suspects: What we know Similar warnings have come from British and French officials. They see the Paris attacks as the opening salvo in an evolving terrorism campaign. UK officials estimate that about half the 800 British residents thought to have gone to Syria and Iraq to join militant groups have returned home. Paris demonstrated that ISIS operatives in Europe are able to finance extensive travel, “safe houses,” acquire weapons and build workable suicide vests using the volatile high-explosive TATP. Abdeslam is said to have spent the best part of three months last year traveling around Europe in rental cars, allegedly meeting others involved in the Paris plot. And a woman who met Abaaoud immediately after the Paris attacks said he had boasted of some 90 ISIS operatives already in Europe. ISIS is thought to have obtained hundreds and maybe more blank Syrian passports as it captured government offices. Many of those who have come to Europe have used high-quality forged documents. Last month, Eric Van der Sijpt, spokesman for Belgium’s federal prosecutor, said the suspects in the Paris attacks “were known to travel through Europe using false identity cards.” Question 2: Why did it take so long to catch Abdeslam? After the November attacks, Abdeslam left Paris and appears to have gone underground in the Belgian capital for 124 days despite being Europe’s most-wanted man. The trail seemed to have gone cold long before last week. Both French and Belgian investigators speculated that Abdeslam had managed to return to Syria and expressed surprise that he was still in Brussels. Related video Salah Abdeslam, Paris terror suspect, captured It appears that a network of sympathizers helped him hide in safe houses despite the risks of harboring such a wanted man. Such is the depth of the jihadist “community” in some parts of Europe. Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon told CNN on Sunday that there was clearly “a logistics network and maybe also a network of supporters that … are helping him and this is something we have to look at closer.” And Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said, “We have seen a new network of people around him in Brussels.” Uncovering these support networks is a monumental challenge for overstretched security services. For example, Belgian police shot dead a 35-year old Algerian during a raid Tuesday in the Forest neighborhood of Brussels. His name was Mohamed Belkaid. He had been in Syria with ISIS but was not on the intelligence services’ radar. Only after his death did Belgian security services establish he was one and the same as Samir Bouzid, an alias he had used to cross Europe and to wire cash in November to Abaaoud’s cousin, Hasna Aitboulahcen, in Paris. She and Abaaoud both died in the police raid in the Paris district of St. Denis days after the November attacks. Question 3: Who is still out there? Ten men are in custody in Belgium over alleged links to the Paris attacks. But two potentially key suspected figures remain unaccounted for. One is 31-year-old Belgian-Moroccan Mohamed Abrini, who allegedly drove with Abdeslam to Paris twice in the week of the attacks. The two had known each other as teenagers in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek. Abrini has a criminal record for violent theft. He was briefly in Istanbul last summer and may have traveled into Syria. His younger brother was killed fighting for ISIS in 2014. The French arrest warrant issued in November for Abrini described him as dangerous and probably armed. But there have been no reported sightings of him since November 12. Relatives insisted he was in Brussels the night of the attacks. The other is Najim Laachraoui, who operates under the pseudonym Soufiane Kayal. He crossed from Hungary into Austria with Abdeslam and Belkaid (the man shot Tuesday) in September. “Kayal” and Belkaid were together when they made a money transfer to Abaaoud’s cousin just before French police raided the St. Denis apartment where he was planning a second attack. Both “Kayal” and Belkaid were older than most of the suspects, suggesting they may have had planning roles. Investigators say text messages were sent to the pair from the Bataclan on the night of the attack, one of which read “On est parti, on commence.” (“We’ve left; we’re beginning.”) “Kayal” also allegedly had rented a property in the Belgian town of Namur used by the cell ahead of the attack. Could he have been one of two men who escaped when Belgian police conducted the raid last week against the house in the Forest neighborhood? Question 4: Who might be running these operations for ISIS? There’s no shortage of experienced jihadists from France, Belgium and elsewhere in Europe still thought to be in Syria. They include Salim Benghalem and Boubaker el-Hakim. Both have deep roots among French jihadist groups going back more than a decade. Hakim was involved with a Paris-based jihadist group in 2003-2004 and was close to one of the Kouachi brothers, who carried out the Charlie Hebdo attack last year. Released from a French jail in 2011 after serving a sentence for recruiting French jihadists to join the insurgency in Iraq, he left for Tunisia. He later claimed to have been involved in the 2013 killings of two secular politicians there. The same weapon was used in both attacks. Hakim then traveled on to Libya and Syria. He is suspected of a role in planning the deadly attacks in Tunis and Sousse,  Tunisia, last year. The United States designed Hakim a terrorist last year. There are plenty of other foreign fighters in ISIS with intimate knowledge of the jihadist scene back home: French citizens such as Fabien Clain, who was associated with a plot in 2009 to attack the Bataclan theater in Paris and whose audio recording declared ISIS’ responsibility for the November attacks. Just what if any role these men might have in ISIS’ “external operations” is unclear, but they and many others have the backgrounds to make a significant contribution. Question 5: What is ISIS trying to achieve? European intelligence services are convinced that ISIS is planning further terror attacks on the continent. It wants revenge for airstrikes on the “caliphate” amid growing pressure on the territory it has carved out in Iraq and Syria. It wants to spark a religious war between Muslims and Christians in Europe. And it knows it can infiltrate operatives into Europe using false documents amid the migrant influx. In an interview with the ISIS online publication Dabiq last year, Hakim appealed to European militants to carry out attacks, saying: “You would wake up and fight them if you came here and saw what they do with their planes, how they terrify the women and children, and how they strive day and night to destroy this state.” As the Paris attacks showed, ISIS is intent on attacking “soft” targets rather than military or government facilities. Hakim encouraged such attacks with the message: “Do not look for specific targets. Kill anybody.” British Prime Minister David Cameron said in November that ISIS had “a dedicated external operations structure in Syria …. which seeks to target both the UK and our allies.” And more recently a senior British police official, Mark Rowley, said ISIS had big ambitions for enormous and spectacular attacks in Europe. Many analysts said they believe ISIS will encourage and sponsor more such attacks as its core territory is threatened. The growing sophistication of its European plots is ample evidence of that intent. Question 6: Can Europe cope with the threat? Modern Europe has been about expanding the European Union and erasing border restrictions. The Paris plotters took advantage of that, each of them crossing several borders without incident after reaching Europe. In addition to the travel from Hungary, Abdeslam accompanied another man, Ahmed Dahmani, on a ferry from Greece to Italy last summer. Dahmani has since been detained in Turkey. Now the European Union is trying to tighten its external borders and hammer out a deal with Turkey on returning refugees who arrive in Greece. The task of tracking possible terrorists is made all the more difficult given the massive migration flows from Syria and Iraq and the economic crisis in Greece, where so many thousands arrive by boat. European security agencies have not been famous for cross-border cooperation even as those borders have effectively vanished. In November, French officials were quick to point out that much of the planning for the Paris attacks had been done in Belgium – although French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve on Sunday praised the cooperation between Belgian and French security services in the hunt for Abdeslam. However, even within borders there are rivalries among security agencies, with information-sharing patchy at best. Different spellings of names in a database handicap the tracking of individuals. And according to French counterterrorism analysts, monitoring just one individual can require some 25 agents. ISIS has also been effective in disguising its communications, using encrypted messaging services such as Telegram. The Paris attacks galvanized European security services and in France led to tougher anti-terrorism legislation and a surge in arrests. And yet the task is daunting. Jambon, the Belgian interior minister, told CNN on Sunday that “with every search of a house we find new information. We have to continue the trickle down of all this information.” There is a bigger long-term challenge, according to Jambon and many counterterrorism analysts: to counter the ISIS narrative that seduces so many young men. “We are doing that – but it will take some time before you have results in the field,” Jambon said. CNN’s Mick Krever and Frederik Pleitgen contributed to this report.


Editor’s Note: CNN National Security Analyst John Kirby is a retired rear admiral in the US Navy who served as a spokesman for both the state and defense departments in the Obama administration. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. John Kirby: It's a mistake to think Trump's hyperbole and the public chatter in the media and beyond don't have harmful effects If Trump's game of chicken fails, then amid the devastation we will be left to contemplate how we went from leak to tweet to war It is worth considering the degree to which public discourse – and President Trump’s contribution to it – have driven us to a potentially dangerous level of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula. Remember how this all started: with a Washington Post story on Tuesday morning that cited unnamed intelligence sources who divulged a classified assessment that Pyongyang had reached the ability to miniaturize a nuclear warhead. Mr. Trump was asked later that day for his take on the article. That’s when we got “fire and fury” and the nasty little exchange of threats and challenges between Bedminster, New Jersey, where Trump is taking his vacation, and Pyongyang, all of which culminated in this tweet Friday by the commander in chief: “Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!” Social and conventional media coverage of the tit-for-tat has fueled speculation, engendered discussion about worst-case scenarios, and at intervals prompted, if not provoked, President Trump to keep upping the ante. Here’s part of the exchange he had yesterday with a reporter outside his clubhouse: TRUMP: Let’s see what he does with Guam. If he does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody’s seen before, what will happen in North Korea. REPORTER: And when you say that, what do you mean? TRUMP: You’ll see. You’ll see. And he’ll see. He will see. Related article President Trump's 'fire and fury' is the new 'lock her up!' REPORTER: Is that a dare? TRUMP: It’s not a dare. It’s a statement. He’s not going to go around threatening Guam. And he’s not going to threaten the United States. And he’s not going to threaten Japan. And he’s not going to threaten South Korea. No, that’s not a dare, as you say. That is a statement of fact. You can see and feel in just this little give-and-take the frantic, tightening spiral toward yet another threat. Don’t get me wrong. This is newsworthy stuff. These are fair questions to ask the leader of the free world. And Trump should be made to comment and clarify his position. I do not fault reporters for doing their work, or commentators for providing their views. Nor do I question the Washington Post for publishing the original story (though I have grave concerns over the logic behind the leak itself. It wasn’t only criminal; it was reckless). As an on-air analyst, I have been party to the discussion. But I believe all of us – in and out of government – should be mindful that, as we talk about current events, the way we talk about them can and often does affect them. Words and tone matter and can drive more than just the story. They can drive actual events. Now, near as we can tell, no one’s finger is poised over any little red buttons. No US or coalition forces have been moved. No civilians have been evacuated. Aside from whatever preparations North Korea is making (or is not) to carry out its threat against Guam by mid-month, no other DPRK military action has been reported. Related article 12 things Trump should know about North Korea I’m going to choose to believe Mr. Trump is playing a game of chicken here, that he is trying to turn up the heat to a degree that even Kim Jong Un can’t stand, and that Washington is trying to force some sort of negotiated outcome. I hope it works. But it’s a mistake to think his hyperbole and the frenetic public chatter don’t have deleterious effects. The war of words has already caused a dip in the stock market. It has certainly affected the public mood in Seoul, Tokyo, Beijing, and Guam – where residents are now reading leaflets that tell them, for example, not to look at the airburst of incoming bombs. And it has prompted world leaders from Germany, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia, just to name a few, to publicly call for calm and dialogue. Indeed, just this morning Russia and China floated again the idea of trying to broker some sort of dialogue between the US and North Korea. Think about that for a moment: Russia and China playing the big boys to keep us little scrappers in line. And think about this: what was different between the time we went to bed Sunday night and woke up Monday morning? Nothing, really, except the public exposure of something most experts – and our President – already knew: that Pyongyang was racing ahead to build a nuclear-armed ICBM. Sign up for CNN Opinion’s new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and Facebook There should be a peaceful resolution to all this. If it must come by way of Chinese and Russian intervention, so be it. But if that happens, we cannot grouse anymore about diminishing US leadership. We will have had a hand in it. If I’m wrong, and this isn’t just a bluff, then amid the devastation we will be left to contemplate how we went from leak to tweet to war.


In Donald Trump’s administration, the President may be the only person not talking about Russian sanctions and the country’s response. The usually loquacious Trump has been markedly mum on Russia’s decision to expel hundreds of United States diplomats from the country, declining to use a series of events, his active Twitter account or his pen to respond to the action. That silence comes as the Trump administration considers when to sign bipartisan sanctions on Russia after the Senate and the House overwhelmingly approved the measures in July and sent the bill to the President’s desk. Related article Tillerson says US is willing to talk to North Korea White House officials say Trump intends to sign the bill, but is currently working out legal questions regarding the sanctions before he does so. It is unclear what those legal questions may be, but the sanctions were passed with language that limit how the President can alter the penalties. “There’s nothing holding him back,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday when asked about the delay in signing the bill. “There’s a review process, a legal process. They’re going through that. He’ll sign the bill and we’ll let you know.” Trump’s silence on Russia, however, has not extended to Vice President Mike Pence, who has repeatedly assured reporters and foreign governments during his trip though Eastern Europe this week that the president will sign the stepped-up sanctions on Russia. “In a further sign of our commitment, very soon President Trump will sign legislation to strengthen and codify sanctions against Russia,” Pence said in Tbilisi, Georgia, a former Soviet state. Pence went on to say that while the United States would like a “constructive relationship with Russia based on mutual cooperation and common interest,” the United States is “unified” under the idea that lifting sanctions on Russia “will require Russia to reverse the actions that caused the sanctions to be imposed in the first place, and not before.” Later, in a conversation with reporters, Pence said the sanctions send a clear message: “We mean what we say and we say what we mean.” The fact that Pence has made the comments in Georgia is significant. The country lives in near constant fear of Russian aggression after a 2008 conflict between the two countries after Russia moved forces into South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two breakaway republics in Georgia. The conflict lasted less than a week - a ceasefire was signed on August 12 - but it looms over Georgia to this day. Related article Trump 'weighed in' on son's statement about Russia meeting, White House says Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has also commented on the sanctions, saying Saturday that he hoped the legislation would spur Russia to seek a better relationship with Washington. “The near unanimous votes for the sanctions legislation in Congress represent the strong will of the American people to see Russia take steps to improve relations with the United States,” Tillerson said in a statement. “We hope that there will be cooperation between our two countries on major global issues and these sanctions will no longer be necessary.” In response to the so-far unsigned sanctions, the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded Friday that the United States cut its diplomatic staff in Russia and promised to seize two American properties. The plan, which would impact the US Embassy in Moscow and consulates in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Vladivostok, would reduce diplomatic and technical staff to 455 people, the same number Russia has in the United States. Trump has yet to weigh in on Russia’s response. “Right now we’re reviewing our options and when we have something to say on it, we’ll let you know,” Sanders said Monday. The delay in signing the Russian sanctions, and silence from Trump, are the latest in a long list of more muted responses to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, who the United States intelligence community said meddled in the 2016 election that saw Trump elected. Trump and his aides have framed stories about Russia with skepticism, saying the storyline is something Democrats are pushing to question the legitimacy of Trump’s presidency. Because of this, Russia has been one of the few countries spared from Trump’s usually blunt talk, on Twitter and otherwise. Since Russia’s decision to expel hundreds of diplomats, Trump hasn’t tweeted about Russia’s move, but has slammed China’s efforts to curb North Korea’s missile programs. “I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk,” Trump wrote over two messages. “We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!” The lack of response to Russia comes at the same time that White House aides have been inconsistent on how Trump feels about Russian sanctions. Former press secretary Sean Spicer said in June that Trump was still reviewing the possible sanctions but that the administration had concerns about Congress eroding the administration’s authority to determine such actions. Anthony Scaramucci, Trump’s communications director who departed the White House Monday, told CNN last month that Trump may veto the measure, a comment that was largely dismissed by Republicans on Capitol Hill. “He may sign the sanctions exactly the way they are, or he may veto the sanctions and negotiate an even tougher deal against the Russians,” Scaramucci said on CNN’s “New Day,” calling Trump’s strategy on sanctions part of his “counterintuitive, counterpunching personality.” After the sanctions passed both the House and Senate with veto-proof majorities, White House spokespeople said Trump planned to approve the sanctions in due time. Trump has until August 9 to sign or veto the bill, according to guidelines outlined in the Constitution that requires a bill sent to the President becomes law after 10 days, not counting Sundays. The Constitution also gives Trump the power to pocket veto the bill, which occurs when the president does not sign the measure, but Congress is out of session. That option is unlikely: Though the House has already left Washington, the Senate will likely not will formally adjourn, making a pocket veto impossible. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker said Tuesday that despite the delay, he does not have concerns about the President signing the measure. “I have no idea, it doesn’t matter. It becomes law in 10 days, whether it’s signed or not,” Corker told reporters when asked why Trump hasn’t signed the bill yet. “It’s going to become law, and every indication that I get is they’re going to sign it. Once you pass a bill, you kind of forget about it. It’s not like I’m calling over there every day asking about it.” CNN’s Jeremy Herb contributed to this report.


Bernie Sanders may not want to go after Hillary Clinton directly, but his presidential campaign has shown over the last two days that it is are more than happy to punch back against the world of pro-Clinton super PACs. Sanders tweeted Wednesday that his campaign will “stand with @MoveOn against attacks by David Brock, head of HRC super PAC.” The tweet linked to an MSNBC story on how Brock, the head of a number of pro-Clinton PACs and longtime Clinton operative, wrote in his new book that Move On’s efforts to draft liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for president were “cynical” and “misguided.” In “Killing the Messenger,” Brock writes that Move On “rather cynically see the opportunity to build their e-mail lists and make some money by backing ‘a more progressive alternative’ against Hillary Clinton.” RELATED: David Brock’s new book takes on GOP, New York Times For much of 2014, MoveOn and a coalition of other liberal organization were trying to draft Warren to run for president. While the movement failed to get Warren in the race – she has emphatically said a number of times she won’t run – it provided fodder for Republicans to call out Clinton for not being liberal enough for the Democratic Party. This is not the first time Sanders has hit back against pro-Clinton super PAC attacks. Earlier this week, Correct the Record – a pro-Clinton super PAC that works on messaging and research – sent an email to the Huffington Post that linked Sanders to Hugo Chavez, the late leader of Venezuela, and Jeremy Corbyn, the new United Kingdom Labour leader. The email was intended to be off-the-record, but the publication published a story on Monday, reporting that they received the email “without any agreement that it would be off the record.” In response, Sanders campaign sent two fundraising emails about the negative attacks against them. “Yesterday, one of Hillary Clinton’s most prominent Super PACs attacked our campaign pretty viciously,” read the fundraising email in Sanders’ name. “They suggested I’d be friendly with Middle East terrorist organizations, and even tried to link me to a dead communist dictator.” He added, “They’ll keep trying … unless we make them pay a price for their attacks. … They should not underestimate us.” Later in the day, Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager, sent a similar fundraising email that said “this will not be the last time a Super PAC considers attacking our campaign.” RELATED: Sanders ‘stunned’ over polls The back and forth between pro-Clinton super PACs and Sanders campaign appears very different from the public relationship between Clinton and Sanders themselves. Sanders has been hesitant to go after Clinton, stating instead that they have differences in policy opinions but that he likes and respects the former secretary of state. Sanders has been surging in the polls lately and has caught Clinton in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Asked on Monday if she was worried about the Vermont senator, Clinton said, “I am not.” “He is doing a great job,” Clinton said of Sanders.


Late Thursday, The Washington Post reported that President Donald Trump is seeking to understand his pardon power, a development that seems directly linked to the ongoing special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the foreign power. The Post raises the possibility of Trump pardoning top advisers, family members and even himself. Friday morning, John Dowd from Trump’s legal team called the Post story about Trump considering pardons “nonsense.” But it is still a good question: Can he do that? To answer that question, I reached out to Brian C. Kalt. Kalt is a professor of law at Michigan State University and the author of a 2012 book entitled “Constitutional Cliffhangers: A Legal Guide for Presidents and Their Enemies.” Our conversation, conducted via email and lightly edited for flow, is below. Cillizza: Let’s start with the Constitution. What does it say, specifically, about presidential pardoning power? Kalt: Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution says that the president “shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.” So it doesn’t reach state crimes (only “offenses against the United States”) and it can’t stop or undo a congressional impeachment, but other than that the power is pretty broad. Contrary to what many people think, there is no requirement that a person must be charged or convicted before being pardoned. The only other limits are things that are implicit in the definition of a “pardon.” So, for instance, a pardon can only reach things you already did. It can’t suspend the law in advance, because that wouldn’t be a “pardon.” Cillizza: Can a president actually even be prosecuted in office? Kalt: It’s not clear. I (in Chapter 1 of my book, “Constitutional Cliffhangers: A Legal Guide for Presidents and Their Enemies”) and many others have argued that presidents cannot be prosecuted while in office, but the argument is complicated and there are points on both sides. The Constitution does not explicitly provide for presidential immunity, and that’s good enough for some people to say a prosecution would be fine. But the Constitution also makes the president the head of the executive branch that would be doing any federal prosecuting, so a president couldn’t really be prosecuted by the federal government unless he effectively consented. It is very awkward to have even an independent counsel go after the president, because the president’s ultimate control over the executive branch means that the president can derail the investigation as long as he is willing to pay the political price. State prosecutions are awkward too, because having one county district attorney haul the president of the whole country into one is structurally awkward. If you like the idea of one county DA whose ideology you share having that power and using it against a president you dislike, ask yourself if you would like it if the parties were reversed. Imagine a county DA with politics opposite yours, pursuing a president you like. Impeachment provides another structural piece of the puzzle. There is broader consensus that presidents can be prosecuted once they have left office, and impeachment can hasten that day. Cillizza: No president has ever pardoned himself. But what about the pardon of a top adviser? And what was the blowback if any? Kalt:  One example was President Bush (43)’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s sentence, but that did not make a very big splash. Another example is President Bush (41), when he pardoned Caspar Weinberger and other Reagan administration officials in December 1992 regarding the Iran-Contra affair. They were not his aides, but he had worked alongside them in the previous administration and Bush was swept up in the scandal to some extent as well. But Bush had already lost the election, so there was nothing much for the blowback to blow back on. Cillizza: Presidential pardons have become a late-in-the-term move due to the controversy they cause. Has that always been the case, historically speaking? Kalt: Historically, there does seem to be a slight increase in the use of the pardon power toward the end of terms, but not a lot of overly controversial ones. More recently, though, we saw very controversial lame duck pardons by Bush(41) (as mentioned above) and by President Clinton, who pardoned Marc Rich, Susan McDougal, and his brother, Roger Clinton, among many others, on his way out of office. Given what happened to President Ford – who pardoned President Nixon in 1974 and then lost the election in 1976 partly as a result – you can see why they might have wanted to wait until after the election (even if a president isn’t running for re-election, like Clinton in 2001, he might want to avoid harming his party’s prospects). But one of the reasons that the framers of the Constitution gave the pardon power to the president was that he is politically accountable. That makes it troubling when presidents wait until the end [of their term], when they are at their least accountable, to issue controversial pardons. Cillizza: Finish this sentence: “The chances of a president being able to pardon himself are roughly ______%.” Now, explain. Kalt: Ha! I have been studying self-pardons and writing about them for over 20 years now (including in Chapter 2 of my book), and I have thoroughly convinced myself that any court faced with the issue should rule against self-pardons’ validity. But “should” and “would” are two different things, and it is so hard to predict just what the Supreme Court would do that I can’t say with any precision. I’ll just say that I think it’s less than 50%, but not close to 0%. On the president’s side is the fact that the Constitution does not expressly prohibit self-pardons. The argument is a bit more complicated on the prosecution’s side – that’s how it would get to court; the president would have to pardon himself and the prosecutor would have to prosecute him anyway, presumably after the president had left office. First, as I said in my answer to [your first question], there are limits in the pardon power implicit in the notion of what a “pardon” is. So the prosecutor would say that a pardon is inherently bilateral – something you can only give to someone else. “Pardon” comes from the same Latin root as “donate,” and it doesn’t make sense to speak of donating things to yourself. Second, there is a venerable principle in the law that no one can be the judge in his own case. We would not permit a judge to preside over his own trial, for instance. So we would say here that if a president wants a pardon he has to get it from someone else, i.e., a successor. Third, there are some historical arguments that support the idea that the framers of the Constitution assumed presidents could not pardon themselves. One could also interpret your question more practically: What are the chances that a president would feel able to get away with a self-pardon. Given how bad it would look, how it provides grounds for impeachment, and how it could even be a crime of its own (similar to how a pardon given in exchange for a bribe could be prosecuted as a bribe, a pardon given to obstruct justice could be prosecuted as obstruction of justice), and given how it would not affect any state prosecutions, presidents have lots of good reasons not to try to pardon themselves.


President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani dismissed Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy’s defense of the FBI’s use of a confidential source to investigate potential Russian outreach to individuals connected to Trump’s presidential campaign, telling CNN on Thursday, “He’s drinking the Kool-Aid.” Giuliani went on to criticize Gowdy over his handling of a Republican-led investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attack, which has been criticized by Democrats as a partisan attempt to undermine Hillary Clinton. Gowdy oversaw the investigation as chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi. “I never understood what he did with Benghazi either. He really screwed that up. I don’t know what he was doing,” Giuliani said. Gowdy, the House Oversight Committee chairman, threw cold water on the President’s suggestions that the FBI improperly spied on his campaign earlier this week when the South Carolina Republican told Fox News that he is “convinced” that the FBI acted appropriately in its handling of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible connections to the Trump campaign. The President has attempted to advance claims, without offering evidence, that the FBI embedded an informant in his campaign to act as a spy. On Thursday, Trump tweeted, “The corrupt Mainstream Media is working overtime not to mention the infiltration of people, Spies (Informants), into my campaign! Surveillance much?” US officials have disputed this characterization to CNN, saying that a confidential intelligence source was not planted inside the campaign. Last week, Gowdy attended a Justice Department briefing on the confidential source and subsequently told Fox News that he believes “the FBI did exactly what my fellow citizens would want them to do.” Gowdy declined to comment on Giuliani’s comments. In his interview with CNN on Thursday, Giuliani said flatly that negotiations over any interview between the President and special counsel Robert Mueller are “at an impasse” and will remain so until they can see documents about the confidential source. “I will not accept a briefing. I only want to see the documents,” he said. “The only thing I can conclude is that the documents are going to show nothing connecting Donald Trump to the Russians. It’s exculpatory, which is why they don’t want to show us,” he said. Giuliani said he is not conducting regular interview preparations with the President yet, saying they were considering doing some practice at Camp David this weekend before North Korea summit talks were revived. He added that while he does talk generally about potential interview strategy with Trump, there are no plans to do any real prep work until after it becomes clear what will happen with a potential North Korea summit. The President told reporters on Thursday that meetings with a North Korean delegation in New York have gone “very well” so far and that negotiations ahead of the possible summit “are in good hands.” Shimon Prokupecz, Jim Sciutto, Laura Jarrett, Manu Raju and Nicole Gaouette contributed to this report.


Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery has won the highly coveted 2016 RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s best new building. Caruso St John Architects, who were presented with the award on Thursday evening, converted a series of listed buildings on a London street to house the artist’s private collection of work for public display. David Adjaye honored as new African American museum opens in Washington The architects won the prestigious prize ahead of five other shortlisted contenders, including a university campus building in Glasgow and a modernist concrete house deep in the English countryside. The original Victorian industrial buildings were former scenery painting workshops, standing alongside a railway viaduct in Vauxhall, south London. Two entirely new spaces act as bookends to the converted row of buildings – one featuring a spiky saw-toothed roof. Judges described the project as “irreverent yet sensitive…a poetic juxtaposition of the old and new,” in a statement issued by RIBA. Inside, the five interconnected structures form a seamless space to accommodate exhibitions of varying scales. “Newport Street Gallery has realized my ambition to create an unobtrusive and beautiful series of buildings that work perfectly as a space to exhibit great art,” Hirst said in a statement. “I wanted to stay true to the history and roots of the building and Caruso St John understood that from the start. “I am immensely proud of what we achieved and the reaction it has received in its first year of opening and hope people will continue to enjoy it,” he added. The free public gallery opened last October. An exhibition of work by American artist Jeff Koons is currently on show. It is the first time Caruso St John, who were behind the Tate Britain revamp, have won the Stirling Prize, although they were previously shortlisted in 2000 and 2006. Deyan Sudjic: 'The referendum result was a punishment to the capital.' Of the shortlisted contenders, the Outhouse – in Gloucestershire’s Forest of Dean – won the annual People’s vote, hosted by the BBC News website. “With Newport Street Gallery … not only has Damien opened up his enviable private art collection to the world, but he has commissioned a real work of art to house it in,” said RIBA president Jane Duncan. RIBA announced its inaugural International Prize in May this year, featuring projects from than 20 countries. The winner will be announced in December.