On the 92nd day of his presidency, Donald Trump has decided the idea of his first 100 days in office as a critical yard marker is bunk. Just before 7 am eastern time, Trump tweeted this: No matter how much I accomplish during the ridiculous standard of the first 100 days, & it has been a lot (including S.C.), media will kill! But! Wait! There’s a bunch of things wrong with this Trump tweet. The most obvious is that the media didn’t create the idea of the first 100 days as an important moment, Franklin Delano Roosevelt did. Roosevelt saw the first 100 days of his term in 1933 as an absolutely essential moment to re-build momentum and optimism in a country that was still reeling from the Great Depression. He helped pass 15 major pieces of legislation through a willing Congress. Related video What if FDR had lived through his fourth term? Now, onto the other problems with Trump’s tweet. If you recall the 2016 campaign, one of Trump’s central arguments during it was that the nation’s capitol was horribly run by incompetent people. That if you elected someone who knew their way around a boardroom, you’d see a rapid improvement in peoples’ quality of life. “You’re going to have such great healthcare at a tiny fraction of the cost, and it is going to be so easy,” Trump promised at a Florida rally in October 2016. “So simple. So simple,” Trump said of his plan to get Mexico to pay for the border wall in an interview with Bill O’Relly in August 2015.“You know the Great Wall of China, built a long time ago, is 13,000 miles. I mean, you’re talking about big stuff. We’re talking about peanuts, by comparison, to that. Mexico will pay for the wall. I will make sure it gets done properly.” “This money can all be saved through simple, common sense reforms,” Trump said by way of explanation of how he would cut $800 million from government spending in order to make his tax plan add up. Nothing in Washington is that easy. There’s a reason, for example, that six previous presidents failed to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system and it cost the seventh, Barack Obama, control of the House and Senate to get it done. Big, complex issues are, well, big and complex. You don’t just snap your fingers and get them done. Then there’s the specific construct of the 100 days as a critical way station by which to judge a president. Trump, today, says it is a pointless media construct that henever bought into. A speech he gave in October 2016 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania shows that’s simply not true.  And I quote: “On Nov. 8th, Americans will be voting for this 100-day plan to restore prosperity to our country, secure our communities and honesty to our government. This is my pledge to you. And if we follow these steps, we will once more have a government of, by and for the people. And importantly, we will make America great again. Believe me.” He expressly said that that the 2016 election was a referendum on his 100-day plan! That if he won it would be because of a promise to implement a series of changes that would give power back to the people, and, in Trump’s own famous words “Make America great again.” Hell he even had a 100-day action plan on his website! Related article A detailed analysis of the Trump-Palin-Nugent-Kid Rock photo And, for the previous 90 days or so, all of the reporting coming out of the White House made clear just how important Trump viewed the 100-day mark. This, from a Politico story published earlier this month, is telling: Related video Reagan's first 100 days “President Donald Trump has far more than three years left in his first term. But inside his pressure cooker of a White House, aides and advisers are sweating the next three weeks….The date, April 29, hangs over the West Wing like the sword of Damocles as the unofficial deadline to find its footing — or else.” So, President Trump was for the 100 days mark mattering before he was against it. It doesn’t matter now and it’s a media creation now because the report cards on Trump’s first 100 days aren’t so rosy.  You can bet that if Trump was getting good marks for his first 100 days in office, this marker would be a critical and essential judgment on his presidency.


Grab a cup of coffee and settle in. Here’s what you might have missed in a busy news week: At refugee camps in Bangladesh, the stories are similar: “You could hear the children crying,” recalled Omar Ali. “There were so many bodies in the water, they were floating down the river like pieces of wood.” Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled violence in their villages in Myanmar in what the UN has deemed “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” Here are stories from some of the people who survived. Nobel Peace Prize winner and de facto leader of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi was considered a democracy icon in the country. Now, she faces massive criticism and protests over her failure to act while Myanmar’s military carries out alleged atrocities on the minority Rohingya Muslims. Health care is in the spotlight – again. And one of the biggest points of contention remains how insurers treat people who have pre-existing conditions. Before Obamacare became law, insurers were allowed to charge people with pre-existing conditions more or not insure them at all. As Republican Senators grapple over a last-ditch effort to repeal Obamacare, here is a look at 10 of the most common pre-existing conditions and the stories of people who live with them. David Axelrod, a senior adviser to former President Obama, recalls his daughter’s struggle with epilepsy and high cost of her medical care and his emotional reaction the night Obamacare passed the House. He fears the new GOP bill would plunge many Americans into the same situation he and his family dealt with. “No sighting.” It’s a phrase this trio who work for the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society are depressingly used to. Researchers are sent out into the city’s waters to search for an ever-shrinking population of dolphins. Saving the pink dolphin may mean reinventing Hong Kong itself. Young Mormons looking for love now have a way to find it in the digital era. Mutual, and app monitored by members who ensure only faithful Mormons participate, is supplementing the usual singles wards that help members socialize and ideally, get married. The drama was palpable. Somewhere, under a collapsed school building in Mexico City, a little girl named Frida Sofia was trapped. Rescuers scraped through the rubble, racing to set her free. We were riveted. The problem was, Frida Sofia didn’t exist.


The Soviets invaded Poland in World War II and deported hundreds of thousands of people Tomasz Lazar photographed some of these Poles and listened to their stories Their eyes reflect childhoods marked by tragedy. Their faces show wrinkles made deeper by pain and the passage of time. Tomasz Lazar spent hours photographing and interviewing adults who were ripped from their homes as children in the 1940s and forced to live thousands of miles away in Siberia. “For me those faces are like maps,” Lazar said. “The more you look at them, the more you are discovering.” Soviet authorities invaded Poland during World War II and deported hundreds of thousands of Poles. Some were sent to prison camps in the frozen wilderness of central Russia. Many were children. In effect, Moscow stole much of an entire generation of young Poles, a handful of whom Lazar has located seven decades later. During Lazar’s interviews, many of the survivors broke down in tears. “It was very traumatic for them,” he said. “Some lost mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters – killed by the Soviets.” Lazar remembers hearing 84-year-old Boguslaw Dokurno recall his grandfather’s dying wish. Dokurno’s grandfather asked his grandson to return home to Poland after his death to retrieve Polish soil and bring it back to his Siberian gravesite. Another exile, Sofia Bocian, told Lazar how her brother escaped their prison camp, leaving her with the horrifying experience of being interrogated by Soviet secret police. Lazar began his professional photography career in 2006 after fully realizing the medium’s storytelling power. “For me when you’re doing photography – whether it’s conventional journalism or other types – you want to share something with people,” he said. Social mediaFollow @CNNPhotos on Twitter to join the conversation about photography. Lazar said the interviews surprised him. Despite his subjects’ traumatic experiences, “they welcomed me with open arms,” he recalled. “They really wanted to share their stories.” Fearing for their safety, they couldn’t tell their stories publicly until the fall of the Soviet Union. Now that they’re in their 80s, time is running out for them to document their struggles. Look at Lazar’s images. The faces fill each frame. Each portrait is unique. Before taking each photo, he waited “for the moment when they really started going inside themselves,” he said. “Those people are really strong in their souls.” Their stories should be documented for history, he said, to remind future generations “not to make the same mistakes.” Tomasz Lazar is a Polish photographer. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.


Elian Gonzalez captured the world's attention in 2000 The US sent him back to Cuba to live with his father Elian Gonzalez, who was at the center of a controversial international custody dispute when he was a boy, saw the late Fidel Castro as a father figure. “He is a father who like my father, I wanted to show him everything I achieved, that he would be proud of me,” the 22-year-old Gonzalez said in a TV interview this weekend after Castro’s death late Friday. “That’s how it was with Fidel. If I learned something and wanted to show him. And there are still many things I want to show him.” Elian’s situation captured the world’s attention in 2000 and his story became a flashpoint between supporters and opponents of Castro. In November 1999, the boy was found clinging to an inner tube after the tiny boat he was traveling in from Cuba sank on the way to the United States. His mother and nine other people in the boat drowned. After his rescue, he was placed with relatives in Miami, who wanted to keep him in the United States. But Gonzalez’s father fought to bring him back to Cuba. Then-Cuban leader Fidel Castro led massive protests in Cuba demanding Gonzalez’s return. The US government removed him at gunpoint from his relatives’ home in Miami and after a legal battle, the government sent him back to Cuba in June 2000 to live with his father. Today, Elian Gonzalez is well-liked and prominent among pro-Castro Cubans. Opponents of the Cuban government see him as a prop for the regime and he’s not warmly viewed in the Cuban exile community.


A man on a United flight from Houston to Calgary was allegedly stung by a scorpion Flight attendants quickly corralled the venomous creature and flushed it down an airplane toilet It’s been a rough week for United Airlines. The same day a passenger was infamously dragged off a United plane in Chicago, a man on a United flight from Houston to Calgary was allegedly stung by a scorpion. The venomous creature fell from an overhead bin and landed on Richard Bell’s hair as he was eating lunch Sunday in his business class seat, according to his wife Linda. “My husband felt something in his hair. He grabbed it out of his hair and it fell onto his dinner table. As he was grabbing it by the tail it stung him,” she told CNN. She said her husband shooed the scorpion off his tray and it landed in the aisle, catching the attention of a nearby passenger who cried, “Oh my god, that’s a scorpion.” It’s not clear how the scorpion got on the plane. The airplane had flown to Houston earlier in the day from Costa Rica, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking platform. The Bells were returning home from a vacation. Linda Bell said flight attendants quickly corralled the scorpion and flushed it down an airplane toilet. “Our flight attendants helped a customer who was stung by what appeared to be a scorpion on a flight last week,” United said in a statement. “Our crew immediately consulted with a MedLink physician on the ground who provided guidance throughout the incident and assured our crew that it was not a life-threatening matter.” United Airlines said medical personnel met the aircraft when it arrived in Calgary. According to Linda Bell, another passenger gave her husband a Benadryl pill in case he had an allergic reaction to the sting. Linda Bell said United reached out to her husband Wednesday to apologize and to offer compensation for the incident. She would not elaborate on the terms of that compensation. Such incidents are rare, but not unheard of. A scorpion reportedly stung a woman in 2015 on an Alaska Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon.


Bill Clinton is ignoring Donald Trump's attacks on his past personal conduct The former president says he plans to ignore the presumptive Republican nominee Bill Clinton signaled his strategy for dealing with Donald’s Trump’s attacks on his personal conduct Tuesday: ignore, and move on. On a campaign swing through Puerto Rico Tuesday, the former president was asked by a reporter whether he had any response to Trump’s latest attack on Twitter – alluding to his past infidelities and charging that he was the “worst abuser” of women in U.S. political history. “No. I think people are smart enough to figure this out without my help,” Bill Clinton replied. Trump on Tuesday used the new ads aired by the pro-Clinton super PAC, Priorities USA, as an opening to needle the former president about his personal conduct. “Amazing that Crooked Hillary can do a hit ad on me concerning women when her husband was the WORST abuser of (women) in U.S. political history,” Trump tweeted, referring to Bill Clinton’s past indiscretions. Amazing that Crooked Hillary can do a hit ad on me concerning women when her husband was the WORST abuser of woman in U.S. political history While many political strategists believed that the Clintons’ marital travails amounted to old news that would not be central to the 2016 campaign, Trump has tried to change that equation – continually attempting to engage the Clintons on the topic. After Trump tweeted about the Clinton scandals of the 1990s earlier this month, Hillary Clinton was asked during a campaign appearance in Virginia whether she would attempt to correct the record on his provocations. “I am going to let him run his campaign however he chooses,” she said. “I have nothing to say about him and how he is running his campaign.” Her campaign stuck to that approach Tuesday, issuing no formal response to Trump’s trolling on Twitter.


The Trump Tower gathering included eight people Each identification has led to many new questions The group of Soviet-born individuals that top Trump campaign officials met last summer include a cast of characters accused of tactics that read like a Cold War spy novel – including allegations of secret lobbying campaigns and links to money laundering investigations and counterintelligence. The meeting went undisclosed for over a year, until it became public this month. Donald Trump Jr. confirmed many details when faced with reporting about its occurrence. The Trump Tower gathering brought together eight individuals who have slowly been identified as more details have come to light. Each identification has led to many new questions. The assemblage of shadowy Russian figures with a history of allegations of underhanded work has vastly intensified scrutiny of the meeting and the decision by top Trump campaign officials to attend. From the Trump camp was Trump Jr., then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Also in the room were Rob Goldstone, the man who organized the meeting and a publicist for an Azerbaijani-Russian pop star who has done business with Trump; Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, who has been alleged by one of her toughest critics of leading a shadow lobbying campaign in the US pushing the Kremlin’s interests; Rinat Akhmetshin, a Soviet-born US citizen who has been tied to the same lobbying scrutiny, acknowledges his past work for Soviet military counterintelligence and was accused by a corporate rival of orchestrating a hacking scheme, which he denied; Ike Kaveladze, who has been linked to thousands of bank accounts that were investigated by the Government Accountability Office for possible money laundering; and Anatoli Samochornov, a translator who reportedly served as the interpreter for the meeting. The purpose for the meeting, as Trump Jr. says he understood it, was to meet with a Russian-government attorney regarding information about the Hillary Clinton campaign that the Russian government wanted to provide the Trump campaign as part of its efforts to help him defeat Clinton, according to an email chain publicly released by Trump Jr. on Twitter. Those who have spoken publicly about the meeting, including Trump Jr., have said the conversation quickly turned away from Clinton information, to Russian adoptions and the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 US law that penalized Russian officials for human rights violations. The topic of Russian adoptions itself carries a loaded history that adds to the intrigue. Russia banned adoptions by Americans as a retaliatory response to the Magnitsky Act. As a result, the adoption issue has always been connected to the Magnitsky Act. Weakening or repealing the law is a considered a top priority of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump Jr.’s attorney has dismissed the meeting as “much ado about nothing” and said “nothing came of it.” The Russian individuals have all denied any wrongdoing, accusing their critics of spreading misinformation about them. Veselnitskaya sits at the center of the web. Her participation in the meeting was the first to be disclosed, and she appears to be the person Goldstone referred to as a “Russian government attorney” in setting up the sit-down, though she has denied any links to the Kremlin. The Russian national has been an active lobbyist internationally against the Magnitsky Act, and founded an organization called the Human Rights Accountability Global Initiative Foundation (HRAGIF), which works on the issue. She also represented a Cyprus-based holding company, Prevezon, which was targeted by US prosecutors in connection with alleged tax fraud worth $230 million that was uncovered by Sergey Magnitsky, the Russian attorney who was jailed and later died in a Moscow prison under suspicious circumstances. Veselnitskaya’s work for HRAGIF and Prevezon has come under scrutiny. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has been seeking more information about her work since this spring, before the Trump Tower meeting became public, following up on a Foreign Agents Registration Act complaint that mentioned Veselnitskaya, Akhmetshin and Samochornov. The complaint was filed last year by American-born financier Bill Browder, whose company worked closely with Magnitsky. US lawmakers passed the Magnitsky Act in 2012 to punish the Russians allegedly responsible for his death. The complaint alleges that HRAGIF and Prevezon, along with Akhmetshin, Veselnitskaya and others, engaged in an undisclosed lobbying campaign to weaken the Magnitsky Act to the benefit of Kremlin interests. While they were registered lobbyists, the allegations are that they failed to disclose certain activities on behalf of a foreign agent. In May 2017, Prevezon settled its case with New York prosecutors after agreeing to pay a $5.9 million. In the settlement, Prevezon and its business associates did not acknowledge any wrongdoing, and the government agreed to “release” them all from any future lawsuits in connection with this case. Akhmetshin is a Soviet-born US citizen, who moved to the states in 1994 and was naturalized in 2009, according to a statement he provided to Radio Free Europe. His military history has drawn scrutiny. He served in the Soviet Army from 1986 to 1988 as a draftee, saying his unit was serving in the Baltics and was “loosely part of counterintelligence,” according to The Associated Press. According to The New York Times, Akhmetshin has bragged about his counterintelligence work for a special division of the KGB. A civil lawsuit unrelated to the issues drawing attention currently described him as “a former Soviet military counterintelligence officer.” The Browder complaint called him “a former member of the Russian military intelligence services (GRU).” The registered lobbyist has denied that characterization, telling The Washington Post in an interview that he never worked for Russian military intelligence or for the Russian government. But he acknowledged that his military unit was involved in “law enforcement issues” and “some counterintelligence matters.” But it’s not just his military background has drawn attention. Some of his work has entangled him in international legal disputes. In 2015, a mining company registered in the Netherlands, International Mineral Resources, accused Akhmetshin in a lawsuit of “organizing the hacking” of its computer systems and “searching for specific information” on behalf of a Russian fertilizer-producer company. The allegations, which arose out of a business dispute, were withdrawn in early 2016, according to court documents filed in New York’s Supreme Court. In a related federal case, Akhmetshin denied the claims and stated in a 2014 affidavit, “I am not a computer specialist and I am not capable of ‘hacking.’” He added that his previous work has included running a pro-democracy organization in Washington, consulting a government of a former Soviet territory as well as the “surveillance of undercover agents and suspected undercover agents.” The allegations that Akhmetshin organized a hack-and-leak campaign against a corporate adversary – which he fully denied – have raised suspicion because one week after the Trump Tower meeting, Russian hackers started leaking material they stole from the Democratic National Committee. But no links have emerged to connect the Trump Tower meeting’s attendees and Guccifer 2.0, the hacker persona that US intelligence says was a front for the Russian military intelligence agency known as the GRU. Kaveladze was the last person identified in the meeting, confirmed by his attorney, as a representative of the Russian family, the Agalarovs, who had asked Goldstone to set up the meeting. He is a senior vice president at Crocus Group, the real estate development company run by Azerbaijani-Russian oligarch Aras Agalarov, according to Kaveladze’s LinkedIn profile. His personal website says he “holds responsibility for multiple elements of the company’s Russian development project.” Kaveladze was previously linked to US bank accounts that came under congressional investigation for possible money laundering in 2000. A Government Accountability Office report outlined how Kaveladze’s firm created US-based shell companies for Russian brokers, and then those companies opened 236 bank accounts through which more than $1.4 billion was deposited between 1991 and 2000. The GAO did not name Kaveladze in the report. According to a November 2000 report in The New York Times, Kaveladze opened the accounts legally. He told the Times at the time that the GAO investigation was a “witch hunt” and said he engaged in no wrongdoing. He was never charged with any crimes. He studied at the Moscow Academy of Finance and also got an MBA from the University of New Haven in Connecticut, according to his website. Kaveladze has worked for the Agalarovs’ business since 2004, which means he was with the company when it partnered with the Trump Organization to hold the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. Kaveladze was asked to go to the meeting with the understanding he would be Veselnitskaya’s translator because she didn’t speak English, his attorney told CNN. He then realized at the meeting that she already had a translator whom she had brought with her. CNN’s Curt Devine, Adam Chan, Ivan Watson and Pamela Brown contributed to this report.


The incident occurred 40 miles west of Mogadishu near the town of Barii The US troops were part of an ongoing US military program to advise and assist Somali ground forces A US military member was killed and two others wounded in Somalia when they were attacked while on a mission advising Somali National Army forces, US Africa Command confirmed Friday. The US service member killed in action was a Navy SEAL, a US defense official told CNN. A US military official confirmed that this is the first US service member killed in action in Somalia since 1993, when two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and 18 American soldiers were killed in the Battle for Mogadishu. Related article Mike Durant: More than just the 'Black Hawk Down' guy The incident occurred Thursday during an operation against local al Qaeda affiliate al Shabaab 40 miles west of Mogadishu in the Shebelle region. The wounded, including an interpreter who was also a US citizen, are receiving medical attention, another US defense official told CNN. The troops came under small arms fire. The US troops were part of an ongoing US military program to advise and assist Somali ground forces. The mission was not part of the stepped-up effort in Somalia to conduct airstrikes and ground missions against terror targets. “This was an operation targeting an al Shabaab group that had been associated with attacks on US, Somali and AMISOM forces,” US Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Friday, referring to the African Union mission there. The US Navy SEALs and their Somali National Army partners were flown in via helicopter and came under fire “in the early phase of the mission” after landing near their target, an al Shabaab compound, according to Davis, adding that “the attackers were quickly neutralized on the ground.” “This was done under the same authorities that we’ve had since we began our operations there in 2013, which is to advise and assist on these types of missions,” Davis said. Related article US sending dozens more troops to Somalia “US forces are assisting partner forces to counter al Shabaab in Somalia to degrade the al Qaeda affiliate’s ability to recruit, train and plot external terror attacks throughout the region and in America,” according to a news release from US Africa Command. US Africa Command announced last month that it was sending sending “dozens” of additional troops to Somalia to train and equip the Somali National Army and the forces participating in the African Union Mission there. A US military official has told CNN that the new contingent would consist of about 40 soldiers. The US troops will join the small number of US Special Operations Forces already there providing counterterrorism support to local forces battling al Shabaab. That advisory mission, consisting of about 50 Special Operations Forces, has been underway since 2013. The new training effort comes as US military leaders see opportunities to work with Somalia’s newly elected president, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, a dual US-Somali citizen who has embarked on a series of aggressive military reforms amid an ongoing al Shabaab bombing campaign that has repeatedly struck Mogadishu. CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to reflect that the incident took place on Thursday. CNN’s Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.


Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz "largely in hand of enemies," interior ministry spokesman says. Taliban freed more than 500 prison inmates in Kunduz, police spokesman says Attack began in early morning and lasted into the evening, before waning, official says At least four civilians reported killed; 25 Taliban fighters dead, 2 Afghan policemen killed, official says The Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz has largely fallen into “the hand of enemies,” Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said late Monday. Sediqqi had said earlier that Afghan security forces, backed by air power from the Afghan army, were holding Taliban insurgents who were targeting a prison at bay, the provincial police chief’s compound and some other targets. Fighter planes still were flying over Kunduz, but the gunfights had ended, and authorities were preparing to recapture the city from the Taliban as soon as possible, Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, a spokesman for the Kunduz police chief, said. Earlier Monday, the insurgents seized the main roundabout in the city and made it to the prison, where they freed more than 500 inmates, who flooded the streets of Kunduz, Hussaini told CNN. One of the released inmates told CNN, “We were hearing gunshots throughout the day, but it was 4:00 p.m. when the Kunduz prison guards left the compound. Then, the inmates broke all the doors and fences and started running towards the main gate.” “As soon as we opened the main gate, we saw a group of armed Taliban outside the gate. They told us that we were free and could go home. … We all headed towards our homes,” he said. The Taliban also claimed to have seized a 200-bed hospital – posting photos to social media that they claimed proved their control of the facility. Sediqqi said at least four civilians had died and 50 others were wounded as Taliban forces were firing heavy weapons indiscriminately throughout the city. In addition, 25 Taliban fighters were killed, Sediqqi said, and two Afghan policemen died and four others were wounded. Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour issued a statement, congratulating fighters for successfully taking over Kunduz, and urging them to keep residents safe. “All mujahideen (Taliban fighters) after taking over military targets and finishing the military operation should put their attention on keeping the lives, wealth and dignity of common people safe. Most of the times some opportunists and burglars misuse such opportunities to harm civilians and their wealth. Mujahideen should be conscious and shouldn’t allow anyone to harm the lives and wealth of civilians and the public wealth,” the statement read. The aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said Monday that its trauma center in Kunduz had received 66 patients, including eight who were declared dead on arrival and 17 who were in critical condition. Monday’s assault is the latest in a series of clashes between Taliban and government fighters in the northeastern province. Taliban forces, boosted by an influx of fighters from Pakistan and elsewhere, have battled government forces throughout the province since spring. The assault comes a day after a suicide bombing killed at least nine in the eastern province of Paktika. The Taliban denied responsibility for that attack. CNN’s Masoud Popalzai reported from Kabul and and Brian Walker reported from Atlanta. Michael Pearson and Mark Morgenstein wrote from Atlanta.


For over 120 years Hamzeh AlMaaytah's family have promoted reading in Amman and Jerusalem His store al-Maa, in Amman, has become an institution for book-lovers in the Jordanian capital This year it was saved from closure by an Indigogo crowd-sourcing campaign Nestled in between the crumbling buildings that line the ancient streets of Amman lies a haven for book lovers that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The al-Maa Bookstore (or Mahall al-Maa in Arabic) is owned by Hamzeh AlMaaytah, a fourth-generation book seller. Opened as Al-Jahith’s Treasury in the 1890s by AlMaaytah’s grandfather, in 1948 the family business moved from Jerusalem to Amman, where it became the Jordanian capital’s first lending library and was managed by AlMaaytah’s father, Mamduh AlMaaytah. “Every day I would return to find my father asleep with a book on his chest. It was as if he had an exam every day. He was a lover of books,” AlMaaytah, 36, tells CNN. Currently, al-Jahith’s Treasury has three branches in downtown Amman, owned by AlMaaytah and his brothers. AlMaaytah’s branch, nearby the Roman Nymphaeum, is in the original spot that his father relocated to. In 2016, AlMaaytah decided to split from the family brand and renamed his store al-Maa – meaning “water” – to better represent his philosophy: that books are as important to life as water, and should be just as accessible. As such, he refuses to price-tag any of his books, telling customers: “Take a book and read. Pay any price you please.” “I scrapped the idea of (dealing with) books as a commercial enterprise because the issue is bigger than that,” he tells CNN. “My idea is to make books available to everyone, even if I have to make them free.” To some, his store’s thousands of books and ancient manuscripts may look worn and old but AlMaaytah is unfazed by his tomes’ physical condition. “It’s a second-hand bookstore that takes the words ‘second hand’ very seriously,” Alan Elbaum, who discovered AlMaaytah’s store while studying Arabic in Jordan, tells CNN. “No matter how bad a (condition) a book is in, or even if it’s a fragment (of a book), he puts it in a special box because he knows someone might need that page 100 years from now.” Elbaum says he was initially astonished by AlMaaytah’s “cave of books.” “It just looked like it was from a different age but he welcomed me and spoke in the most eloquent Arabic.” “Somehow the human connection was there from the first moment. He welcomes you with such deep joy and really feels delighted that you are there, no matter who you are,” Elbaum says. “He’s one of the most original and creative thinkers I know and almost entirely self-taught.” AlMaaytah offers visitors tea, and sparks up debates on poetry and literary theory. “This is a home for people from different factions, with different opinions, and it is a wonderful intellectual meeting point. There is acceptance of other ideas,” AlMaaytah says. His passion isn’t limited to his own store. Over the past 17 years, AlMaaytah has experimented with new ways to promote reading. He’s held seven successful book fairs in different cities and universities across Jordan and hopes to expand this initiative into refugee camps. At AlMaaytah’s shop, the bulk of his stock is laid out on the sidewalk. Other tomes are sheltered by a Bedouin tent, while an extremely cosy indoor area houses the rest of the books. It is inside that AlMaaytah keeps his most prized possessions – family heirlooms and rare books or manuscripts. “The store takes many different forms,” Elbaum says. “In good weather, people will sit outside. Sometimes it’s a labyrinth, sometimes it’s a big open area with an armchair. There are musical gatherings, or poetry readings.” There are some books, however, that AlMaaytah refuses to stock, such as those that encourage hatred, including anti-Semitism, or promote “conspiracies”. He also runs a philanthropic exchange, where anyone can borrow or swap a book for 1 dinar ($1.41). “That’s part of Hamzeh’s soul. He’s not a merchant, or a bookseller in his heart. Which does make it difficult to run a bookstore,” Elbaum says. In 2016, due to a combination of economic conditions in Jordan, and a sudden illness that left AlMaaytah unable to work for several months, al-Maa came close to closure. “I felt pretty depressed for a few weeks after finding out,” Elbaum says. “It really is one of my favorite places in the world – a place that the Middle East can’t afford to lose.” It really is one of my favorite places in the world – a place that the Middle East can’t afford to lose. Alan Elbaum, customer Realizing that others might feel the same way, Elbaum started a campaign on crowd-sourcing website Indiegogo to raise $15,000. By April this year, he had received nearly $18,000 in donations from scholars, students and tourists – some who hadn’t even visited the store. AlMaaytah hopes to use that money to spread knowledge of books and promote literary culture in the Middle East, even taking book fairs into prisons and into remote communities via bicycle or donkey carts. Elbaum says the money will also be used to renovate and expand the store, so that AlMaaytah can host events there and perhaps open a museum for rare Arabic books. In the meantime, AlMaaytah says he’ll continue to fight for the written word in print. “When we read from the screen I believe that a person cannot remember the information – but when they read from a book, the reader doesn’t forget,” says AlMaaytah, adding that society needs to “rekindle its respect” for books. “Can you imagine all this knowledge just disappearing?” he says, referring to his dusty tomes. “It would be a big problem.”


The bodies of the three US soldiers killed in an apparent insider attack in Afghanistan returned to American soil on Monday. Their flag-draped caskets were brought off the plane at Dover Air Force Base as Vice President Mike Pence attended, standing with his hand over his heart. The three men belonged to the 101st Airborne Division and were all in their 20’s. The Pentagon identified them as Sgt. Eric M. Houck, 25, of Baltimore, Maryland; Sgt. William M. Bays, 29, of Barstow, California; and Cpl. Dillon C. Baldridge, 22, of Youngsville, North Carolina. They were shot during an attack on Saturday when an Afghan army commando opened fire, in what’s known as a “green-on-blue” incident, according to US officials. This is when members of the Afghan security forces turn their weapons on US and other NATO soldiers who are training them and fighting along their side. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack saying that an “infiltrator” had joined the Afghan army and attacked the American soldiers, according to its spokesman. The incident is under investigation. “I feel betrayed,” Chris Baldridge, who was mourning the death of his son, Dillon Baldridge told WTVD. “(Dillon’s) over there training people to take care of themselves and then they turn on us.” The attack occurred during a joint US-Afghan military operation in the Nangarhar province, officials said. It was in the Achin District, where US and Afghan troops have been carrying out an offensive against a local affiliate of ISIS, officials said. Houck, of Baltimore, had left for his first overseas deployment and was due to come home next month, his father Mike told CNN affiliate WBAL. He joined the Army in 2013. Houck married his high school sweetheart and they had two children, ages 5 and 3. He enlisted as a way to support his family and to serve his country, Houck told the Baltimore Sun. “He grew up to be a tremendous human being, just a great father, loving son, husband,” Mike Houck said of his son. “He was very compassionate, caring, and was concerned about people. He fought for the underdog. He was just a tremendous young man.” Related video Taliban attack kills, injures more than 100 “He is a hero,” he told the TV station. The Army posthumously awarded him the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Action Badge and Army Commendation Medal with a second oak leaf cluster for his end of tour awards. “Our sincere prayers go to his wife, Samantha, their children, and all of their family and loved ones in this time of grief,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan posted on Facebook. The governor said US and Maryland flags would be at half staff when Houck is laid to rest. Bays hailed from Barstow, California, and joined the Army in 2009. He was an infantryman in the 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was also a squad leader, according to the Army. Bays leaves behind a wife and three children, reported the Stars and Stripes. The Army posthumously awarded him the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge and Army Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster for his end of tour awards. Baldridge, of Youngsville, North Carolina, was due to return home this summer after deployment. Family members told CNN affiliate WRAL he went to Afghanistan in October and was set to be back in August. Baldridge had always dreamed of being a soldier, his father told CNN affiliate WTVD. “He’d be up at five in the morning watching the Military Channel on TV. What kind of kid does that?” said his father, Chris Baldridge said. “I was always impressed by Dillon. He was a motivated kid. Whatever he wanted to do, he was going to do it.” Baldridge graduated from Franklinton High School in 2012, said Russell Holloman, the principal. “He made an early commitment to the military during his high school career and maintained that focus and selfless dedication after graduation,” Holloman said in a statement. “Our community has truly lost a hero.” Baldrige joined the Army in 2013 and was assigned a squad leader. His father told WTVD that Baldridge was a top soldier in his class and turned down an offer to become a Ranger to join his team in its deployment to Afghanistan. “My chest was just out a little higher that day, beaming with pride,” Baldridge told WTVD. The Army posthumously promoted Baldrige to Sergeant and awarded him the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Combat Infantry Badge and the Army Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster for his end of tour awards. CNN’s Chuck Johnston, Ryan Browne, Barbara Starr, Ray Sanchez, Athena Jones, Spencer Feingold, Melissa Gray, and journalist Sune Engel Rasmussen in Kabul, contributed to this report.


Secretary of State Rex Tillerson celebrates one year in office on Thursday – a modest achievement by some standards, but one his critics had dismissed as unreachable just months ago. He has survived an epically rocky first year, during which he had to adjust to public sector life while serving under a mercurial boss who, at times, publicly undermined his diplomatic efforts on social media. Tensions between President Donald Trump and Tillerson seemed to reach a boiling point in October, after NBC reported that Tillerson called his boss “a moron,” leading some to speculate his tenure in Foggy Bottom would be short-lived. But Tillerson, who says he’s learning how to better communicate with the President, seems more determined than ever to keep his post, telling CNN in a recent interview he plans to be there at the end of the year. Tillerson was sworn in on February 1, 2017, after a relatively contentious confirmation process during which he clashed with fellow Republicans who expressed reservations about his commitment to promoting human rights and his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He was seen as an outsider, even by Trump administration standards. He had never held public office and was not part of the Trump campaign. Related article Ambassador candidate dropped over stark warning on North Korea Moreover, he was offered the post during his first ever meeting with Trump, reportedly because his silver coif and well-cut suits made him look the part. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he came recommended by several Republican foreign policy heavyweights. Addressing a skeptical State Department staff on his first full day in office, Tillerson paid tribute to the work of career professionals, and called for unity of purpose. “Hi, I’m the new guy,” he said, eliciting laughter and applause from the crowd, who seemed to respond warmly to his humility and self-professed CEO-mentality. “As such, I will depend on the expertise of this institution.” Tillerson immediately made it clear he wouldn’t be following in the footsteps of his recent predecessors, or upholding the diplomatic status quo. One of his top priorities in taking the job was to overhaul the State Department’s structure from top to bottom – streamlining the organizational chart, updating the technological infrastructure, cutting the budget by as much as 30%, and questioning the value of various positions and offices. The “redesign,” as he called it, weighed down morale at the agency and drew criticism from members of congress. Related article State Dept watchdog may investigate political retaliation claims after CNN report Tillerson also began to be viewed within the State Department as a distant figure, insulated from career officials by a small cadre of trusted advisers. In November, after a string of senior diplomats stepped down, the head of an organization representing the foreign service excoriated the State Department’s leadership in a letter, saying the agency’s senior tiers were “being depleted at a dizzying speed,” resulting in “a decapitation of its leadership ranks.” Critics also began to worry about the dearth of senior professionals in key posts, due in large part to the slow pace of nominations at the White House. He also ruffled feathers with members of the media, refusing to take journalists from the State Department press corps along on early foreign trips and avoiding interviews and press gaggles – opportunities to clarify foreign policies to the American people. After NBC reported Tillerson’s alleged “moron” quip in October, the State Department went into damage control mode. Tillerson faced cameras for an impromptu statement, but repeatedly declined opportunities to deny the comment. “I’m not going to deal with petty stuff like that,” Tillerson said from the State Department Treaty Room. “I’m just not going to be part of this effort to divide this administration.” Related article Texas Rex stands his ground in the face of Trump administration chaos His spokeswoman later denied the report on his behalf. Tillerson insisted he shared a close relationship with the President, who he met with regularly at the White house. But publicly, the President seemed to regularly undercut Tillerson’s efforts. At one point – before the NBC story – Trump tweeted that Tillerson was “wasting his time” attempting new dialogue with North Korea. Trump also seemed to contradict Tillerson’s statements on the dispute between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors, even as Tillerson was flying between Doha and Riyadh to try and broker a settlement. Tillerson has also acknowledged the lack of a decisive foreign policy “win” during his first year in office “Do we have any wins to put on the board? No,” Tillerson told a town hall meeting of State Department employees Tuesday after recounting work to date on North Korea, Russia, Syria, China and a slew of other issues. “That’s not the way this works. Diplomacy is not that simple.” In November, CNN and other outlets reported that the White House was considering replacing Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, citing multiple government sources who cautioned that a final decision had not been made. That shakeup, however, never came to fruition. Tillerson continued to conduct his signature “quiet diplomacy” from his seventh-floor office at the State Department, and on increasingly frequent foreign trips. In a wide-ranging interview with CNN’s Elise Labott in January, Tillerson insisted 2017 was a successful year for the State Department, and he plans to stay in office for the foreseeable future. “I intend to be here for the whole year,” he said, when pressed about his plans. He said he was baffled by the persistent rumors of his impending exit, but insisted that Trump has never given him any indication his job is in jeopardy, emphasizing: “None whatsoever.” Tillerson acknowledged, however, that he and Trump have “different management styles,” and that he’s had to adjust the way he communicates with the President. Related article Tillerson's new line: Trump is right on everything “I’m here to serve his presidency, so I’ve had to spend a lot of time understanding how to best communicate with him so I can serve his needs with information,” said Tillerson, who was CEO of ExxonMobil before joining the administration. “I do think one of my roles is to always give him all sides of the issues even when I know it’s not the side that he really wants to consider,” he added. “I think it’s part of making good decisions that I know he at least has had visibility to all aspects of the decision he’s about to make.” While Tillerson’s second year in office was by no means inevitable, he can’t afford to take a victory lap just yet. His critics still openly worry about the effects his redesign will have on American leadership in the years to come, and his management decisions to date have generated controversy within the agency’s Foggy Bottom headquarters. Just last week, CNN reported that several career officials had retained attorneys over complaints they had been sidelined into menial jobs for political reasons. But despite the controversy, the Texas oil executive is learning to adapt to the inside-the-Beltway world he so often claims to loathe.


THAAD missile defense part of US-South Korean attack plan, North says US defense chief promises "effective and overwhelming" response if North uses nuclear weapons The commitment of the US and South Korea to a new missile defense system is pushing the Korean peninsula to the “brink of a nuclear war,” North Korea warned Friday. Pyongyang said the missile system, also opposed by China, was part of a joint plot between Seoul and Washington to mount a “preemptive attack on the North”, according to a statement on the official KCNA news agency attributed to the National Peace Committee of Korea. The statement coincided with a a visit by new US Defense Secretary James Mattis to Seoul, where he pledged to deploy THAAD – the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system – to protect US and South Korean troops. Mattis promised an “overwhelming” response to any attack mounted by North Korea. “North Korea continues to launch missiles, develop its nuclear weapons program and engage in threatening rhetoric and behavior,” Mattis said at a press conference in Seoul on Friday. Speaking alongside South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo, he added: “Any attack on the United States or on our allies will be defeated and any use of nuclear weapons will be met with a response that will be effective and overwhelming.” The North Korean statement said THAAD was part of an offensive strategy between Seoul and Washington, alleging the two had “worked out a plan for a preemptive attack on the North and … desperately pushed forward it, pushing the situation on the peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war.” On Thursday Mattis said Pyongyang’s “provocative behavior” made THAAD necessary. China again called for the THAAD missile defense system to be halted. In his regular press conference on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Beijing “firmly opposed” the new system. “This has not changed and will not change. Our position is very clear-cut and straight forward,” he said. “We believe that the action by the US and the Republic of Korea will undermine the strategic and security interests of regional countries including China.” Later on Friday, Mattis traveled to Japan, which also feels threatened by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. Speaking in Tokyo at a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Mattis reaffirmed Washington’s support. “I want there to be no misunderstanding during the transition in Washington that we stand firmly, 100 percent shoulder to shoulder with you and the Japanese people, Mr. Prime Minister.” Mattis’ visit to the region comes at a time of relative quiet from Kim Jong Un’s regime, which hasn’t tested a ballistic missile since October 20. Earlier in 2016, it fired projectiles at a record rate. Related video US defense secretary arrives in South Korea North Korea nevertheless continues to make bellicose statements, including one from leader Kim Jong Un on New Year’s Day in which he said his military is on the brink of testing its first intercontinental ballistic missile – a rocket that could be equipped with nuclear weapons and is powerful enough to reach any part of the United States. Analysts point out, however, that Kim’s bluster is often more for internal consumption than an actual threat to South Korea and the US, which has 28,000 troops in South Korea. “He demands from his people and subordinates complete obedience to his leadership, because the country is on the verge of imminent invasion from the US and South Korea,” said Seung-Kyun Ko, a professor at Hawaii Pacific University and a former research commissioner in South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “He creates cohesion and unity among his people in facing the invasion.” CNN’s Sol Han contributed to this report.


Saudi Arabia’s purge of senior officials and royal family members highlights aggressive changes taking place in the 85-year-old kingdom and, some analysts say, possibly risks in the newly close relationship the White House has forged with Riyadh. Government ministers, former officials and princes were swept up in an anti-corruption campaign that some analysts said could raise the risk of internal conflict, particularly as the arrests looked more like a consolidation of power by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the force behind the kingdom’s most assertive new policies. The 32-year-old, popularly known as MBS, has forged a close working relationship with President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, while Trump himself has praised Saudi ruler King Salman, along with the relationship he’s developed with him, and made Riyadh the first pomp-filled stop of his first official trip overseas. Related video Trump on terrorism: We're going to end it The Trump administration has aligned the US more closely with Saudi Arabia, even as some of the kingdom’s policies – including a fight with Qatar, home to a major US military base, and a Saudi-led war in Yemen that is creating a catastrophic humanitarian crisis – have raised concerns among US national security officials and experts. “I would say there are other elements in US government that are concerned more significantly of the risks that some of MBS’ actions pose to regional security,” said Lori Plotkin Boghardt, a former CIA analyst who is now a fellow at the Washington Institute specializing in Arab Gulf politics. While those officials and experts may see dangers in aligning the US too closely with Saudi Arabia, Boghardt said, they “are not front and center and able to overcome the support of key elements of the White House” for the Saudi view of the way forward. Related video The 32-year-old trying to revamp Saudi Arabia Analysts point to risks of the war in Yemen, particularly if the US is identified as complicit, there is a strong possibility that the conflict will become a terrorist recruiting draw. Meanwhile, Saudis are pushing increasingly aggressive rhetoric toward Iran, coming close to accusing it of an act of war after Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen reportedly fired a missile close to Riyadh airport on Saturday. The spat with Qatar could create openings for Iran to sow division and, separately, difficulties for the US military, which uses its base there to fly critical missions to Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. None of that seems to have dimmed the White House affinity for Saudi Arabia or, analysts say, lessened national security officials’ wariness. “I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing,” Trump, who spoke with King Salman on Saturday, tweeted Monday evening, adding, “Some of those they are harshly treating have been ‘milking’ their country for years!” “I think that President Trump is putting his chips on MBS,” said Simon Henderson, director of the Gulf and Energy Policy Program at the Washington Institute, but added, “I don’t think institutionally, the State Department or Pentagon are.” The wariness isn’t just in the US. In December 2015, a German intelligence report leaked to news agencies identified bin Salman, who is also defense minister and leading economic reforms, as a potentially destabilizing force in the Middle East, given his youth, inexperience and the possibility that he might overreach. Indeed, bin Salman has been involved in some of the more aggressive moves since King Salman, his father, assumed power in January 2015. He’s been a driver behind the Saudi-led war in Yemen, the campaign to isolate Qatar, an overhaul of the Saudi economy, a move to allow women to drive and the anti-corruption purge that led to the arrests of 17 people on Sunday. The prince and his father have also invested heavily in relationships with the new White House team, with King Salman making one of his younger sons the new ambassador to Washington, and bin Salman cultivating close ties with Kushner. Related video Trump official stumbles over Saudi democracy Kushner worked closely with the crown prince on Trump’s May visit to Saudi Arabia, helped broker an arms deal to Saudi Arabia worth nearly $100 million that was announced in May, and traveled to the kingdom in August and October. The point of cultivating such a close relationship, said Boghardt, was to “try to get Trump to see their regional view, who are the good guys, who are the bad guys, who the US should have a tight relationship with, who are the trouble makers.” “They were very successful,” she added. That has meant continued strong support for the Saudi-led conflict in Yemen, where more than 10,000 people have been killed and support systems so badly crushed that famine and disease are ravaging the country. “The longer the war continues without an endgame, the more strongly the US will be viewed as complicit in the humanitarian tragedy and as not doing enough to save civilian lives,” Boghardt said. “There are also major security implications for the US that accompany that view,” she added, including the possibility of radicalization. Perhaps the most public example of a difference in outlook on Saudi Arabia might have been early in the ongoing fight between members of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Saudi Arabia and others accused Qatar of supporting terrorists and cut diplomatic relations. During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar - look! State Department officials privately pointed to concerns that the dispute could be exploited by Iran to undermine Gulf cooperation and US security aims in the region. But even as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary James Mattis pushed for reconciliation and talks when the Gulf spat erupted in June, Trump dispensed with nuance and took to Twitter: “During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar—look!” For Henderson, it was clear that, “the Trump White House has supported the position of MBS” and allied Gulf countries “to the evident frustration of Mattis and Tillerson.” CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq and Flora Charner in Atlanta, CNN’s Nic Robertson in Tokyo, CNN’s Sarah El Sirgany in Abu Dhabi contributed to this report


Demonstrators across the globe took to the streets on Tuesday to demand better working conditions, as part of rallies marking International Workers’ Day. Held on May 1 each year – known as May Day – the rallies date back to the 1880s. At the time, labor movements around the world were campaigning for safeguards such as eight-hour workdays and trade unions. The date of May 1 was chosen as it coincided with the anniversary of the Haymarket affair in Chicago, where police killed four people at a peaceful protest after someone threw a bomb into the crowd. Today, trade unions and human rights campaigners continue to mark the day with rallies – here’s a look at this year’s protests. What is May Day, anyway? About 1,200 hooded protesters took part in May Day protests, during which a McDonalds restaurant was attacked with a Molotov cocktail, police said. Photographs show extensive damage to the building, with protesters kicking in smashed windows. Footage also showed damage to a Renault car dealership, as well as other businesses. Opinion: Protect the Bangladesh workers who make our clothes Written by Sheena McKenzie. Photo edit by Sarah Tilotta.


Rep. Frederica Wilson said Friday that White House chief of staff John Kelly lied when he criticized her for allegedly taking credit for securing funding for an FBI field office two years ago. Kelly, speaking at a briefing Thursday afternoon, denounced Wilson after the Democratic congresswoman publicly criticized President Donald Trump’s comments during a phone call with the widow of a fallen soldier. “I was not even in Congress in 2009 when the money for the building was secured,” the Florida Democrat said Friday on CNN’s “New Day.” “So that’s a lie. How dare he. However, I named the building at the behest of (then-FBI Director James Comey) with the help of (then-House Speaker John Boehner), working across party lines. So he didn’t tell the truth.” She earlier denied Kelly’s claim to the Miami Herald Thursday night. Kelly was referring Thursday to an FBI field office in Miramar, Florida, that was dedicated in 2015 to two FBI agents who were killed during a gunfight with drug traffickers. The chief of staff said he was “stunned” by Wilson’s public comments at the ceremony dedicating the building. Related article Kelly calls Rep. Wilson an empty barrel in recollection of 2015 FBI ceremony “And a congresswoman stood up, and in a long tradition of empty barrels making the most noise, stood up there in all of that and talked about how she was instrumental in getting the funding for that building, and how she took care of her constituents because she got the money, and she just called up President (Barack) Obama, and on that phone call, he gave the money, the $20 million, to build the building, and she sat down,” Kelly said. “And we were stunned, stunned that she’d done it. Even for someone that is that empty a barrel, we were stunned.” Related video Wilson: I wasn't 'listening in' on Trump call Wilson told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota that Kelly’s “empty barrel” remark was racist, but didn’t explain why. “We looked it up in the dictionary, because I had never heard of an empty barrel. And I don’t like to be dragged into something like that,” she said. Trump and Wilson have engaged in a public dispute over the past several days over a highly sensitive call placed to the late Sgt. La David Johnson’s family. The President, according to the congresswoman and a family member present during the condolence call, said Johnson “knew what he signed up for.” Wilson said Friday that is “not a good message to say to anyone who has lost a child at war.” “You don’t sign up because you think you’re going to die,” she told CNN. “You sign up to serve your country.” She was referring to how Kelly, a Gold Star father, said he was “brokenhearted” by the congresswoman’s criticism. He said he had advised Trump on what to say before he called the families of the four fallen soldiers who died during an ambush in Niger earlier this month, including the point that soldiers “knew what the possibilities were” of joining the military. Wilson said Friday that she didn’t misinterpret anything when she listened in on that call. Related article Kelly's defense of Trump calls into question 'fabricated' tweet “There’s nothing to misinterpret. He said what he said,” the Florida Democrat said. “I just don’t agree with it. I just don’t agree with that’s what you should say to grieving families.” On Thursday night, Trump again denied Wilson’s account of his call, deeming it a “total lie” hours after his own chief of staff said she mischaracterized the call. “The Fake News is going crazy with wacky Congresswoman Wilson(D), who was SECRETLY on a very personal call, and gave a total lie on content!” Trump tweeted Thursday evening. Wilson, who listened in on the call via speakerphone because she is close with the family, said that she wants to shift the focus on receiving more information from the Pentagon about the Niger attack. “My emphasis today is on my constituents and helping them lay our hero to rest,” she said. “That’s where my head is today. I’m also concerned about (Sgt. La David Johnson) and his last moments. I want to know why he was separated from the rest of the soldiers.” Related article Cillizza: John Kelly's stirring but incomplete attempt to clean up for Donald Trump She continued: “Why did it take 48 hours to find him? Was he still alive? Was he kidnapped? What’s going on? … I am distraught and so is the family. There are so many questions that should be answered.” Johnson was among the four US soldiers killed by 50 ISIS fighters in Niger in an ambush earlier this month. What we know and don’t know about the deadly Niger attack CNN’s Sophie Tatum contributed to this report.


For the umpteenth time, the New England Patriots march into the Super Bowl. So that means the Philadelphia Eagles are the nation’s last hope.  Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. (You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.) The premise of a game of chicken is that in the end, someone always flinches. But here we are on Day 3 of the shutdown and neither side is. Instead the divisions are deepening.  The Senate votes at noon on a bill that would reopen the government and fund it for three weeks, but Democrats aren’t jazzed about it. That’s because they still don’t have assurances that a fix for DACA, or at least a big vote on immigration, will come out of it. Vice President Mike Pence has said there will be no immigration talks until the government reopens. Today is really the first day the shutdown’s effects will be felt, as hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers stay home from their jobs. Over the weekend, President Trump took a hands-off approach to the crisis, preferring instead to speak through his favorite bullhorn: Twitter. He blamed the Democrats and said the Senate should just exercise the “nuclear option,” as in: no more 60 votes to end a filibuster. His reelection campaign released an ad accusing Democrats of being “complicit in all murders” committed by undocumented immigrants. So when this mess ends – and it will end, right? –  who gets the blame? Going in to the shutdown, the conventional wisdom was the GOP, since it controls the White House and Congress. But a new CNN poll offers several red flags for the Dems: More Americans think avoiding a shutdown is more important than continuing DACA, it found.  What’s more, the Dems’ advantage in the 2018 election is shrinking. This weekend, they marched. With one important goal: in November, they’ll vote. Tens of thousands of women rallied in marches worldwide over the weekend, highlighting the anniversaries of last year’s Women’s March in Washington and President Trump’s inauguration. The weekend demonstrations got new fuel thanks to the #MeToo movement. Power players like Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Natalie Portman and Viola Davis, shared their stories of sexual harassment. Meanwhile political organizations vowed to use the marches as a springboard to register one million voters this year. Gunmen hit the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, over the weekend, in a horrific attack that killed at least 18 people. Attackers roamed the halls of the hotel for hours, firing on guests and setting of explosives. Desperate hotel guests threw themselves to their deaths off balconies to escape the carnage. During the 12-hour standoff, Afghan security forces rescued 153 people and killed the attackers, who were part of the Pakistan-based terror group known as the Haqqani network. In 2011, terrorists attacked the same hotel over several hours, killing 11. A dangerous new front in the Syrian conflict may be opening up thanks to a key US ally: Turkey. The Turks hit US-backed Kurdish militia with airstrikes in northern Syria that killed at least eight people. Then, Turkish troops entered the area. This is sure to inflame tensions between the US and Turkey. The US supports and arms the Kurdish militias, because they help fight ISIS. But Turkey has long fought the groups because it doesn’t want them to create a Kurdish state along its borders. Turkey also considers the militia as part of the PKK, an outlawed Kurdish group responsible for major terror attacks in Turkey as part of its bid for national ethnic autonomy. The European Union and United States have both named the PKK as a terrorist outfit. Women took center stage at last night’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, with calls for gender parity and honesty in the industry. The show featured its first-ever host, Kristen Bell, and a slate of all-female presenters. Rosanna Arquette, who accused Harvey Weinstein of sex harassment, called out the names of other women who have accused other powerful men. Nicole Kidman said women over 40 should still have a place in Hollywood. The casts of “This Is Us” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” celebrated the night’s big wins. Check out a two-minute recap of the show, the full list of winners and the colors that returned to the red carpet. “I found out for the first time last night that the person who technically shuts the government down is me, which is kind of cool.” White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, who’s been tasked with negotiating a deal with congressional leaders to fund the government and end the shutdown. Wedding songs Sorry, ladies. Ed Sheeran’s off the market. He’ll need a shirt for this one Remember that shirtless Tongan guy who lit up the Opening Ceremonies at the Summer Olympics? He’ll be in Seoul next month – as a cross-country skier. Gotta go No cash needed. And no checkout lines. It’s just grab and go at the Amazon Go store, which opens today in Seattle. Royal time capsule Vintage cigarette packets and 130-year-old newspapers. When you rewire a place as historic as Buckingham Palace, bits of history just tumble out of the walls. Racial killing? An Oklahoma family hopes it will get justice today as their neighbor, whom they call a racist, goes on trial on hate crime and murder charges in the death of their son. $8 of every $10 The amount of last year’s wealth that went to the 1%. Sugar kisses Here’s something to get your mind off that pesky government shutdown: Sweet goodnight kisses from a sweet little parakeet. (Click to view) Correction: This piece has been amended to correct Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's last name.


NEW: Ahmed Mohamed says he made the clock to impress one of his teachers NEW: The 14-year-old freshman says he is thinking about transferring to another high school Police handcuffed him after he told them it was only a clock; then said there was no evidence the clock was dangerous When Ahmed Mohamed went to his high school in Irving, Texas, Monday, he was so excited. A teenager with dreams of becoming an engineer, he wanted to show his teacher the digital clock he’d made from a pencil case. The 14-year-old’s day ended not with praise, but punishment, after the school called police and he was arrested. “I built a clock to impress my teacher but when I showed it to her, she thought it was a threat to her,” Ahmed told reporters Wednesday. “It was really sad that she took the wrong impression of it.” Ahmed talked to the media gathered on his front yard and appeared to wear the same NASA T-shirt he had on in a picture taken as he was being arrested. In the image, he looks confused and upset as he’s being led out of school in handcuffs. “They arrested me and they told me that I committed the crime of a hoax bomb, a fake bomb,” the freshman later explained to WFAA after authorities released him. Irving Police spokesman Officer James McLellan told the station, “We attempted to question the juvenile about what it was and he would simply only tell us that it was a clock.” The teenager did that because, well, it was a clock, he said. On Wednesday, police announced the teen will not be charged. Chief Larry Boyd said Ahmed should have been “forthcoming” by going beyond the description that what he made was a clock. But Boyd said authorities determined that the teenager did not intend to alarm anyone and the device, which the chief called “a homemade experiment,” was innocuous. Ahmed, who aspires to go to MIT, said he was pleased the charges were dropped and not bothered that police didn’t apologize for arresting him. After he said he was interrogated by police without an attorney present, his lawyer, Linda Moreno, told reporters they wouldn’t answer any more questions about the legal process. Ahmed is suspended until Thursday, he said, but is thinking about transferring to another high school. Outrage over the incident – with many saying the student was profiled because he’s Muslim – spread on social media as #IStandWithAhmed started trending worldwide on Twitter with more than 100,000 tweets Tuesday morning. The school’s Facebook page is roiling with sharp criticism of the way the teen was treated, and the hashtag #engineersforahmed is gaining popularity. Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great. President Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and thousands of others are showing support for Ahmed. “Cool clock, Ahmed,” Obama tweeted. “Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.” The President would like the teen to join him and other scientists next month for the White House’s annual Astronomy Night, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday. Ahmed said Wednesday he was going to the White House. Clinton tweeted that “assumptions don’t keep us safe” and urged the teenager to “keep building.” “I think this wouldn’t even be a question if his name wasn’t Ahmed Mohamed,” said Alia Salem of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “He is an excited kid who is very bright and wants to share it with his teachers.” If anybody has a spare STEM scholarship laying around, there's a very bright kid in Texas who could use your help. #IStandWithAhmed Many criticized the school on Facebook. Its creator, Mark Zuckerberg, posted his support. “Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest. The future belongs to people like Ahmed,” Zuckerberg wrote. “Ahmed, if you ever want to come by Facebook, I’d love to meet you. Keep building.” Kevin McKinney posted, “How did a bunch of complete idiots end up accidentally running a school? Were you all yanked out of a zoo and given paychecks? Learning centers are for teaching … not for ruining innocent people’s lives with your racism and pathetic stupidity! … “This kid is destined to be something great if the dimwits of Irving don’t ruin him first.” Mocking Irving Schools’ motto, Bill Cain wrote: “‘Where children come first’ … to jail in handcuffs. Way to go, Irving.” Chance Williams posted, “Ahmed Mohamed deserves a public apology from you, the school administrators, police, and teachers involved in his arrest. I hope he sues, and the school district has to pay for his college education.” Texas law stipulates that a person who commits a hoax bomb offense is one who “knowingly manufactures, sells, purchases, transports, or possesses a hoax bomb with intent to use” it or intentionally causes alarm or reaction. Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, who immigrated from Sudan and has twice run for that country’s presidency, told CNN Wednesday that he was upset the school did not contact him immediately to tell him about the situation. The first he heard of it was when he received a call from police, who said his son was being charged with having a hoax bomb, Mohamed said. He rushed to the police station, where he saw his son “surrounded by five police and he was handcuffed,” the father said.  Ahmed told his father he’d asked to phone him but the police told him he could not because he was under arrest, Mohamed said. “I asked if I could talk to or speak to my son and they told me, ‘No, not right now’ because they were taking his fingerprints and asking him questions,” Mohamed said. “I asked if I could see the thing they were calling a bomb. The police never let me even see it but I knew what my son brought to school. It was an alarm clock that he made. He wakes up with it most mornings. …” Police are holding the clock as evidence, Mohamed said. A reporter at a news conference Wednesday asked Chief Boyd about the allegations that Ahmed was told he could not call his father and was interrogated alone for some time at the station. “I’m not aware of that,” the chief said, adding that the incident isn’t being investigated. Boyd was also asked if the teen’s religious or ethnic identity played a role in how he was treated. The chief said it did not, and he praised the department’s relationship with Irving’s Muslim community. However, he said, “We live in an age where you can’t take things like that to school.” “My son is a very brilliant boy,” Mohamed said. “We need people like him in this country.” The teen has never been in trouble, the father said, saying he thinks this is a case of Islamophobia. “My son’s name is Mohamed – people just think Muslims are terrorists but we are peaceful, we are not that way.” “We live in the land of opportunity to grow and help and the people who did this to my son, they do not see him that way,” Mohamed continued. “My son said over and over that this was an alarm clock and my son only brought it to school to ask for help from his teachers, to show that he can do this amazing thing and maybe get appreciation and to show him (he can become) something bigger in the world – an inventor.” Mohamed said it wasn’t until after the fact that he received a call and an email from the school, telling him about Ahmed’s arrest and informing him that his son had been suspended for three days. Note to most people: Nearly everything is made of electrical circuits. Not just bombs. #EngineersForAhmed https://t.co/zdwxmtLIiS The father and others were meeting Wednesday with attorneys to decide what steps, if any, they might take next, Mohamed said. At the Wednesday news conference, a spokeswoman for the Irving Independent School District told reporters that the way the teen’s experience has been described in media reports is “unbalanced.” She declined to explain why, citing the need to protect a student’s privacy. The statement she made was posted on the district’s site Wednesday. When the family gives written permission to discuss the incident, the school will offer more information, she said. Earlier in the day, MacArthur High School provided a statement to CNN in which it said it was cooperating with authorities and said privacy laws prohibited it from sharing details about student discipline. “We can assure everyone that school administrators are handling the situation in accordance with the Irving ISD Student Code of Conduct and applicable laws.” Mohamed isn’t sure if his son will go back to school Thursday. He’s afraid the police will keep his invention and he’s worried about his son being called names. But he’s happy about the widespread outpouring of support. His family started the hashtag #Thankyouforstandingwithme. “It gives him hope,” the teen’s father said. “Right now he is trying to just stay positive and is listening to the news about him and reading about people’s comments him on social media. It’s really too much for him to take in right now, but long term it will be good for him. He doesn’t want to show he is a victim.” #IStandWithAhmed no child should be punished for trying to create. It was an English teacher who got spooked and reported Ahmed to the principal, the police said. “We always ask our students and staff to immediately report if they observe any suspicious items and/or suspicious behavior,” the school’s statement reads. “If something is out of the ordinary, the information should be reported immediately to a school administrator and/or the police so it can be addressed right away. We will always take necessary precautions to protect our students and keep our school community as safe as possible.” Please don't break this kid's faith in humanity and scientific temper. #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/kt1TA3y4Ny A reporter spoke with the boy in his bedroom, which is full of equipment that allows him to tinker and create. “Here in high school, none of the teachers know what I can do,” Ahmed told the paper while he soldered metal and played around with a cable. A middle school robotics club member, the teen has won awards for his inventions. He recalled showing one teacher the clock and her telling him that she thought it was “nice” but he shouldn’t show other instructors, according to the paper. The teen put the clock in his bookbag but an alarm beeped in the middle of sixth period and Ahmed showed the teacher what he had, the newspaper reported. “She was like, it looks like a bomb,” he said. “I told her, ‘It doesn’t look like a bomb to me.’” When Ahmed was called out of class, he said he was brought into a room with four police officers, one of whom said, “Yup. That’s who I thought it was.” Ahmed told the Dallas Morning News that he felt aware of what he looked like and his name as the officers fired questions at him. He recalled that one officer said to him, “So you tried to make a bomb?” He disputed that and kept telling them he’d created a clock. Meanwhile, the teen’s defenders continue to slam the school and police. “I really hope you guys are absolutely ashamed for possibly ruining the ingenuity of one bright kid who made a CLOCK for crying out loud. What kind of education does your professors have?” David Velez wrote on the school’s Facebook page. “It sounds like they are the ones that need to be going back to school!” “Shame on your school and its administration for arresting Ahmed Mohamed,” wrote Jillian York. “Way to stifle a kid’s creativity and energy. I hope you’re all replaced with compassionate, non-racist, administrators and teachers.”


Hong Kong’s annual memorial to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre is sparking a new kind of controversy, evident of a growing split within the city’s democracy movement that may upend Hong Kong politics. Attendance this year may be much lower than the tens of thousands of Hong Kongers that usually gather in the city’s Victoria Park to commemorate the massacre in a grand display of defiance to Beijing from inside China’s borders. Major pro-democracy organizations are abandoning the 26-year-old rally and rival events are being held around the city. Since 1990, the Victoria Park vigil – organized by the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China – has called for the rehabilitation of the 1989 pro-democracy movement, the end of one-party dictatorship, and the building of a democratic China. That last point has become a point of contention with many young people in the city, who object to equating Hong Kong with China and have called for the rally to focus more on local democratic development. While there have been rumblings for a number of years, and two small alternative rallies last year, the controversy got a major boost last month when the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) – the city’s oldest and largest student organization – announced it was leaving the Alliance and not taking part in the rally. “(HKFS) have been on the forefront of the pro-democracy movement since 1989, and have always participated in the vigils for over 26 years” says Lee Cheuk-yan, Labour Party lawmaker and secretary of the Alliance. “We feel sad this year that they’re not going to take part.” HKFS chairwoman Hillary Tjhan told the South China Morning Post that the Federation felt it should focus on the political development of Hong Kong, rather than building a democratic China. The Federation did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Speaking to RTHK radio, Chinese University of Hong Kong student union president Chow Shue-fung said the Victoria Park rally had become “rigid” and many in Hong Kong did not agree with how the Alliance “connects Chinese identity with building democracy in China and June 4.” “Vindication of the 1989 movement and building democracy in China are not moral responsibilities of Hong Kongers,” he said. Students at Shue Yan University took this criticism even further, issuing a statement saying the alliance has become “pimps and bawds in a brothel after they themselves were raped.” How covering June 4 Tiananmen Square crackdown kicked off ‘CNN Effect’ Mention of the Tiananmen Square massacre – in which the People’s Liberation Army bloodily cracked down on mostly student protesters, killing hundreds – is still strictly censored in China. Around the anniversary, online censors block mention of everything from 占占占占人 (symbolizing the famous “Tank Man” photo) to posts referencing “today” or “that day,” according to China Digital Times. Relatives of those that died are regularly harassed and even imprisoned. In a statement released this week, the Tiananmen Mothers, which lobbies for justice for the victims of June 4th, said members are “eavesdropped and surveilled upon by the police; we are followed or even detained, and our computers searched and confiscated.” This makes the Hong Kong commemoration – the biggest in the world and the only major one on Chinese soil (small rallies are also held in Macau every year) – all the more important. The controversy over the rally is related to the rise of so-called “localist” groups in Hong Kong, who advocate for greater autonomy for the city, with some pushing for full independence. Part of that push is disconnecting Hong Kong issues from wider Chinese political development, and moving away from the “one country, two systems” consensus under which most traditional pro-democracy parties in the city have always operated. That has put the rally in an awkward position, with some localists viewing attendance as implicitly accepting that Hong Kong is part of China and that the city’s residents are Chinese. Some have rejected this view, including Nathan Law, former HKFS secretary-general and current chairman of Demosisto, a localist party that argues for Hong Kong self-determination. Law says he had his “political enlightenment” attending previous rallies, and it has “huge meaning for me.” “Even though I don’t regard myself as ethnic Chinese, I still go to the memorial rally in Victoria Park,” he told CNN. “(The controversy) shows there’s some division between the younger generation and the 1989 democracy movement generation,” says Lee. “We believe the fight for Hong Kong democracy and the fight for democracy in China are the same fight.” He said he understands the “identity issue” many younger Hong Kongers felt, but said it “should not be a barrier to working together to fight authoritarian rule.” Related video 1989: Man vs. tank in Tiananmen square While the Victoria Park rally is ultimately just one event, there are concerns within the wider pro-democracy movement that the controversy is indicative of a bigger split that could effect the upcoming elections to the Legislative Council, Hong Kong’s parliament. “In a way this may be a prelude to the coming election, in terms of the differences between the two camps,” says Lee. While at least five new localist parties to emerge from the 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement have announced plans to join forces in the upcoming elections, others, including Demosisto and pro-independence party Hong Kong Indigenous, have not. “There’s a danger that when the vote is split too much the (pro-Beijing) camp will win more seats with less votes,” Lee says. “I think everyone will suffer.” CNN’s Vivian Kam contributed reporting.


Turnbull says Australia would have to consider before they committed more troops More than 26,000 Australians have served in Afghanistan since the US invaded in 2001 Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he is considering sending troops back to Afghanistan. Turnbull’s comments come in the wake of a US request for more support, which was made during his April 25 visit to Afghanistan. “While I was in Afghanistan, I had discussions with the commander of the NATO mission there, General Nicholson, I had discussions with the US Secretary of Defense James Mattis,” Turnbull told reporters Friday. “We have been asked to consider additional resources, and we are actively considering that. We’re open to that.” However, Turnbull added Australia would have to consider the commitments of their defense forces in the Middle East and other parts of the world before agreeing. US President Donald Trump is expected to make a decision within the next week on whether or not to deploy more troops to Afghanistan, possibly as many as 5,000. The Taliban has made gains against Afghan security forces in the past year, and now control about 36% of the country’s districts, according to the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. Australia was among the first countries to send troops to Afghanistan following the US invasion in October 2001. Related video What in the World: Afghanistan, US's longest war On November 1, 2001, Australia announced it would be sending forces to assist in the operation. More than 26,000 Australian soldiers served in Afghanistan between the first deployment and the country’s withdrawal in 2014. Of those, 41 were killed action and many others wounded. A small contingent of about 270 troops is, along with other NATO allies, still assisting Afghanistan’s army with training. Turnbull said he had visited the Australian troops working with the Afghan defense forces as part of his April visit. “It is very important that we continue … to work together to build up the capacity of Afghanistan’s own security forces so they can keep that country secure from the threat of terrorism, both ISIL and the Taliban,” Turnbull said Friday.

Australia's potential troop deployment to Afghanistan


Rohingya insurgents launched a series of attacks against Myanmar security forces Friday Since then, scores of people have been killed and thousands have fled Rakhine state Myanmar has increased security in western Rakhine state after violence erupted over the weekend, leaving nearly 80 insurgents, 12 security officers and six civilians dead, according to state media. Rohingya insurgents carried out a series of coordinated attacks against police outposts and an army base Friday. Since then security forces have boosted their operations in the state after “another wave of ambushes by extremist terrorists,” the government-owned New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Sunday, citing the Information Committee of the State Counselor’s Office. The restive Rakhine state is the home of the Rohingya community, or ethnic Muslims who have long faced persecution in the Buddhist-majority country, especially from the country’s Buddhist extremists. Related article Police killed in new violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State The insurgents had used firearms and improvised explosive devices in attacks that left at least six civilians dead, the newspaper said, including a child shot in front of a hospital. Insurgents destroyed 88 village homes in one attack, while police and residents of another settlement managed to fight off about 500 terrorists, New Light said. One insurgent was killed during an ambush on a police convoy, it said. “Extremist terrorists are setting up mines to impede the movement of security forces and are attacking the vehicles of security forces with improvised explosive devices and are also killing village officials they suspect of being government informants,” the newspaper said, quoting the State Counselor’s Office. “More security forces have been supplied to assist in operations being conducted in the areas where extremist terrorists are known to hide.” On Saturday it reported that 77 insurgents had been killed in Friday’s violence. Friday, the State Counselor Office’s Information Committee said on Facebook that at least 20 outposts and an army base had been targeted. Authorities alleged that an estimated 150 insurgents attempted to storm the base but “soldiers fought back.” The unrest has caused thousands of civilians to flee destroyed villages. The Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh said Saturday that “thousands of unarmed civilians” from Rakhine state had gathered near its border and were “making attempts to enter Bangladesh.” After similar violence broke out in October 2016, approximately 85,000 civilians fled to Bangladesh, the ministry said. Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mahbub Uz Zaman expressed “serious concern at the possibility of recurrence of such a situation” and urged Myanmar to protect its civilian population, according to a Ministry statement. The violence erupted hours after the release a long-awaited report into the treatment of Rohingya by the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, led by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The report warned unrest in the state could spiral out of control unless concrete action is taken soon. “Tensions remain high and they risk becoming worse,” Annan said. “The status quo cannot continue.” An insurgent group known as the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, formerly known as  Harakat al-Yaqeen – or “Faith Movement” – claimed responsibility on Twitter for the attack. “This is a legitimate step for us to defend the world’s persecuted people and liberate the oppressed people from the hands of the oppressors!” the group said. Related video Rohingya resistance: Inside "Faith Movement" (2016) The Rohingya are not formally recognized as citizens – the Myanmar government does not even use the term Rohingya, referring to the group as “illegal immigrants” from neighboring Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority country. State media has published columns in which Rohingya “terrorists” are referred to as “detestable human fleas.” The majority of Rohingya have been in Myanmar for multiple generations. Violence in Rakhine state has occurred in fits and starts in recent years, with the latest outbreak beginning in the wake of numerous attacks by militants on several government border posts in October 2016. The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine state thought to number about 1 million people.Myanmar does not recognize them as citizens or one of the 135 recognized ethnic groups in the country.Myanmar regards them as illegal immigrants, a view rooted in their heritage in East Bengal, now called Bangladesh. Though many Rohingya have only known life in Myanmar, they are widely viewed as intruders from across the border.According to Human Rights Watch, laws discriminate against the Rohingya, infringing on their freedom of movement, education and employment.They are denied land and property rights and ownership, and the land on which they live can be taken away at any given time. The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine state thought to number about 1 million people.Myanmar does not recognize them as citizens or one of the 135 recognized ethnic groups in the country.Myanmar regards them as illegal immigrants, a view rooted in their heritage in East Bengal, now called Bangladesh. Though many Rohingya have only known life in Myanmar, they are widely viewed as intruders from across the border.According to Human Rights Watch, laws discriminate against the Rohingya, infringing on their freedom of movement, education and employment.They are denied land and property rights and ownership, and the land on which they live can be taken away at any given time. The Myanmar military responded with a series of security operations to find what it claimed were terrorists hiding among the Rohingya population. ‘The Rohingya Alan Kurdi’: Will the world take notice now? Thousands fled across the border to neighboring Bangladesh, where refugees told stories of their villages being burned, mothers and daughters being raped and friends being summarily executed. The government has denied many of the allegations leveled against the military – including those of human rights abuses – and says it’s investigating others. The charges are difficult to corroborate, as most international media and aid organizations have been heavily restricted from traveling to the region.