An audio message purportedly from the Taliban's new leader has surfaced A second round of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban was postponed on Friday U.S. intelligence community believes Mullah Mohammed Omar is dead, White House says The reported new leader of the Taliban denies that the Sunni Islamist group is attempting to work toward a peace process with the Afghan government. “When we hear about different processes including the peace process, they are all the propaganda campaigns by the enemy,” an audio message from the apparent new leader says. “They are spreading their propaganda by spending money, through media and some scholars to only weaken our jihad, but we will not pay attention to any of those including the peace process. We will continue our jihad and we will fight until we bring an Islamic rule in the country.” A Taliban spokesman confirmed on Friday that Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour was named the group’s new leader. Earlier this week, multiple sources confirmed that the group’s former leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had died two years ago. Michael Semple, a professor at the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice at Queens University Belfast, told CNN that rumors that Mansour is steering the Taliban toward the peace process may be naive. “People should perhaps reassess the line which has been put about that he was leading the movement towards peace,” Semple said. “He is the one who has presided over the movement during a period of escalation of the violence. Actions speak louder than words.” Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has made peace negotiations with the Taliban a top priority. In a statement on Omar’s death, a spokesman for Ghani said the government was optimistic about the talks “and thus calls on all armed opposition groups to seize the opportunity and join the peace process.” The latest developments come weeks after the Afghan government held its first face-to-face talks with Taliban representatives in an attempt to work toward a peace process. The first round of formal talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban took place in Murree, Pakistan, at the beginning of July. A second round of talks was slated to take place in Islamabad on Friday but was postponed after the Taliban confirmed Omar’s death. Will Taliban fall apart after Mullah Omar’s death? CNN Security Analyst Bob Baer says that Omar’s death may force the Taliban to put the current round of peace talks on hold. “What we’re seeing is the breakup of the Taliban,” Baer said. “With the announcement of Mullah Omar’s death, there’s a real power struggle at the top.” “I would doubt that negotiations with Kabul are going to continue in the middle of a fight like this, but we’ll have to wait and see.” The White House released a statement Friday saying the U.S. intelligence community’s assessment was that Omar had in fact died. “While the exact circumstances of his death remain uncertain, it is clear that his demise, after decades of war and thousands of lives lost, represents a chance for yet more progress on the path to a stable, secure Afghanistan,” the White House statement said. The elusive leader had not appeared in public since the Taliban regime’s overthrow in Afghanistan 14 years ago and made no video or authenticated audio statements in that time. Under Omar’s leadership, the Taliban offered shelter to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, precipitating the U.S. military action in Afghanistan after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. That led to a Taliban insurgency that continues to this day, even as U.S. and other NATO troops are drawing down their numbers in Afghanistan. The U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan ended last year, leaving the Afghan military to lead the fight against the Taliban. The thousands of NATO troops that remain in Afghanistan are there in a training and support role. Bergen: The man who wouldn’t hand over bin Laden Mansour formerly headed the council, also known as the Quetta Shura, which is composed of longtime leaders who direct the Taliban’s operations from Pakistan’s Balochistan province, according to the Jamestown Foundation, a global research and analysis group. Related gallery Leaders of deadliest terrorist groups According to the U.N. Security Council sanctions list, Mansour previously was the Taliban’s minister of civil aviation and transportation and is considered “a prominent member of the Taliban leadership.” “He was repatriated to Afghanistan in September 2006 following detention in Pakistan. He is involved in drug trafficking and was active in the provinces of Khost, Paktia and Paktika in Afghanistan as of May 2007. He was also the Taliban ‘Governor’ of Kandahar as of May 2007,” the U.N. document said. He was an active recruiter in the Taliban’s fight against the Afghan government, and before his appointment as Omar’s deputy in 2010, he was chief of military affairs for a regional Taliban military council that oversees operations in Nimruz and Helmand provinces, the United Nations said. The Western source said senior Taliban leaders met in Quetta, Pakistan, this past week to discuss the death of Omar and the ongoing Afghan-Taliban peace talks. CNN’s Eliott McLaughlin, Laura Smith-Spark, Jason Hanna, Samira Said and Sophia Saifi contributed to this report, as did journalist Zahir Shah.


Editor’s Note: Paul Callan is a CNN legal analyst, a former New York homicide prosecutor and currently is counsel at the New York law firm of Edelman & Edelman PC, focusing on wrongful conviction and civil rights cases. Follow him on Twitter @paulcallan. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. When I was a homicide prosecutor in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, my most challenging assignment was “riding” homicide cases. I’d get paged (often in the middle of the night) and a patrol car would pick me up and take me to the grisly scene of a recent murder. If a suspect was in custody, it was my job to evaluate the evidence and authorize an arrest if one could be legally supported. I had to be careful because the case would be mine to prosecute before a jury. A mistake would put an innocent suspect in prison while the true murderer roamed free. The stakes were high. Sometimes in cases of all kinds, as in the Carter Page matter currently at the center of the controversy over a GOP memo on FBI surveillance, a search or surveillance warrant requiring the approval of a judge is required to gather critical evidence. I remember one night knocking on the door of an elegant Brooklyn Heights townhouse seeking such a warrant from a tough, respected judge at approximately one in the morning. I had tried many murder cases before this judge and I was hopeful she would grant a search warrant in my case.  She looked a little angry when answering the door in her bathrobe with cigarette and scotch in hand. After berating me for bothering her at such an hour, she scrutinized my warrant application. It was based on the observations of a drug addict who claimed to have seen the defendant return to his apartment gun in hand after the murder and then leave without the gun shortly thereafter. The addict was known to the cops and had provided reliable information in the past. Related video Rep. Hurd pressed over holding Democratic memo The judge wasn’t happy about the quality of my witness, but she had been around long enough to know that witnesses in criminal cases often have credibility problems themselves. She granted us the warrant. A search of the suspect’s apartment led to a recovered murder weapon and a conviction. I learned that night that search and surveillance warrants are often issued on information supplied by even the sketchiest of sources. Unlike the street addicts whose testimony often sends criminal defendants to prison for life, the now-notorious Christopher Steele – a former British intelligence agent – appears to be, by comparison, a seasoned professional highly adept at gathering reliable information. Even assuming all the claims in the Nunes memo are true, the grounds supporting issuance and reissuance of the FISA warrants were easily met. The FISA statute, designed to deal with national security issues, permits the secret court to authorize surveillance of a US person if there is probable cause that the person is an “agent of a foreign power…knowingly engag[ing]… in clandestine intelligence activities.” Although the activities might be “spying” for a foreign power, there is no explicit requirement of criminality needed to get a warrant as in a conventional criminal case. The number and suspicious nature of Carter Page’s activities and contacts with Russian operatives during the Trump campaign would have caused any reasonable judge to issue a surveillance warrant. Page, a former Trump foreign policy adviser, denies having any illegal interactions with Russian officials. Related article Trump moves toward releasing memo he hopes will undermine Russia probe The Supreme Court has stated that the issuance of a search warrant can be supported by the “totality of the circumstances” presented to the court at the time a warrant is issued. The Nunes memo glaringly omits any revelation of what other supporting information might have been submitted to the FISA judge, choosing instead to focus on cherry-picked alleged omissions. Many of the other criticisms hyped in the memo may not even be relevant at all.  For instance, the claim that the judge was informed that Steele was paid by a named US citizen was accurate. The court was free to to ask the assistant US attorney submitting the Steele information any questions about whether others were involved in the payments. Nothing, incidentally, is revealed about questions from the judge. Other points raised in the memo are interesting background material but would not render the surveillance warrant to be illegal in any way. There was no illegality in Steele talking to the press (Yahoo in this case) or even in the fact that he disliked Trump. That sentiment seems to be shared by a majority of the American public as the President in his first year earned historically low approval ratings. It certainly would not require disqualification of an FBI source if the “totality of the circumstances” supported the warrant application. Related video Nunes says he didn't read FISA applications The rest of the Nunes memo’s criticisms that were purportedly earth-shattering, Watergate-like revelations are equally empty claims. The fact that the Steele dossier was “salacious and unverified” doesn’t mean that the portions of it relating to Carter Page were untrue. The surveillance was authorized so that law enforcement authorities could confirm or deny through other evidence the accuracy of the claims against Page. This was a case in its investigatory stage, not the finished product. Fusion GPS demonstrates the good sense to turn the Steele material over to the FBI … in essence making a 911 call … because as the Department of Homeland Security likes to remind us, “If you see something, say something.” The dossier on the President, whether true or false, could subject him to blackmail by foreign powers. The FBI was correct in telling the President about the threat, even if “salacious and unverified.” If there is anything shocking in the Nunes memo, it can be found in its faulty reasoning, writing and sourcing.  The American public needs to know the “totality of circumstances” presented to the FISA judge in order to fairly evaluate the conduct of the DOJ and the FBI. Sign up for CNN Opinion’s new newsletter.Join us on Twitter and Facebook If I had presented such a document to that Brooklyn Heights judge so many years ago, she would have thrown me out of her house with no warrant and a stern reprimand. Congressman Nunes and his fellow Republicans deserve the same.


Three treatments don't seem to work Four drugs have had mixed or unknown results Despite a massive international effort, several treatments that once held great hope for fighting Ebola have turned out not to work against the dreaded virus that killed more than 11,000 people in the most recent outbreak. The “harvest of that massive effort is thin,” writers in the journal, Science, recently commented. But researchers are looking into some other options, with more studies coming out just in the past week. Here’s where various Ebola treatments stand, both the losers and those still up for consideration. Studies show these three treatments don’t seem to work: Infusing an Ebola patient with blood products from an Ebola survivor was a treatment that met with great fanfare and publicity in the United States.  Dr. Kent Brantley, the first American Ebola patient, received a transfusion from a Liberian boy, and then donated his own plasma to at least four others: fellow charity worker Dr. Rick Sacra, Dallas nurses Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, and NBC videographer Ashoka Mukpo. Another charity worker, Nancy Writebol, donated her plasma to Dr. Craig Spencer in New York City. A study in last week’s New England Journal of Medicine, which looked at 84 patients who received plasma donations, found it didn’t help save lives. American doctors treating patients in the U.S. all said they could not attribute the recovery of their patients to a single or combination of treatments, and would never know what worked. That several Americans survived after receiving plasma is generally chalked up to the fact that their disease was caught early and they were kept well hydrated, a key factor in surviving Ebola. Mukpo, the NBC camerman, was given Brincidofovir. The experimental drug has worked for some patients with various viral infections, but a study on brincidofovir and Ebola ended abruptly last year. Chimerix, the U.S. company that makes it, withdrew its drug from the trial without clearly explaining why, according to Martin Friede, who leads the World Health Organization’s coordination of Ebola treatment research. The cancellation of the much-heralded study was “embarrassing,” Friede said. But he added that it taught the research world a lesson: Don’t start studies with human beings based on thin evidence that the drug might work. “The trials were started based on a single piece of data, and one piece of data isn’t sufficient,” he said. Sacra, the doctor who does charity work in West Africa, received this experimental drug in 2014, but a study was halted last year when it became clear the drug didn’t help people with Ebola, Friede said. The Canadian company that made TKM-Ebola changed its name from Tekmira to Arbutus and switched its focus away from Ebola and toward hepatitis B. Experts are cautiously optimistic that one of these three drugs might be an effective treatment for Ebola: When asked to name the leading candidate drugs to fight Ebola, Friede with the WHO has a swift answer: “There’s only one real leading candidate, and that’s Zmapp.” Last February, the National Institutes of Health and the Liberian government announced a clinical trial to study whether the American drug works. Experience outside the study has been decidedly mixed. American aid works Brantly and Writebol were given Zmapp and survived. But a Liberian doctor and a Spanish priest who received the medication died. The Zmapp study is still in progress, which Friede notes is a good sign, since studies get canceled if it becomes apparent the drug doesn’t work. “The fact that it hasn’t been stopped indicates there must be some signal of efficacy,” he said. One potential problem with Zmapp is that it’s costly and time-consuming to produce. This drug from Gilead, a California biopharmaceutical company, is so new it doesn’t even have a name yet.  In animal studies, 100% of Ebola-infected monkeys who received the medicine survived, according to the company. In October, Gilead said they’d begun studies to determine if the drug is safe for humans. This is another drug so new it doesn’t yet have a name. The National Institutes of Health is spending millions researching whether BCX4413 works against viruses like Ebola, according to BioCryst, the North Carolina company that makes the medicine. According to a company statement, the drug has had success fighting Ebola in non-human primates. These four drugs have had mixed or unknown results, and experts seem pessimistic about their potential for treating Ebola: A study last year suggests this Japanese influenza drug might work against Ebola as long as patients have relatively low levels of the virus in their blood and are not terribly sick. While the French sponsors of the drug trial were enthusiastic about the results, others said because of the way the trial was conducted, it’s still murky whether the drug works even for those with low viral loads. “It resulted in that nebulous data zone that we were so fearful about,” said Dr. Luciana Borio, an official with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in the recent Science article. “We’re left with not knowing whether the product helps, hurts, or does nothing.” Canadian researchers have studied the use of this multiple sclerosis drug for Ebola but haven’t yet published the results. According to Friede, there were only nine patients in the study, so he said he doesn’t think the results will be meaningful. A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that Ebola patients who took this anti-malarial drug had a lower risk of dying than those were took a different anti-malarial drug. But experts are cautious for two reasons. One, the difference was not large: Those who took artesunate–amodiaquine were only 31% less likely to die than those who took the other drug, called artemether–lumefantrine. Two, the increased survival rate among those who took artesunate-amodiaquine might not be because the drug works – it might be because artemether–lumefantrine made Ebola patients more likely to die. Interest in this HIV drug grew when CNN reported that at the height of the Ebola outbreak, a Liberian doctor, desperate to save his patients, began using it, which he had in plentiful supply in his hospital pharmacy. Dr. Gorbee Logan reasoned that the two viruses, Ebola and HIV, share some similarities in the way they replicate and spread throughout the body. He told CNN in September of 2014 that he’d given the drug to 15 Ebola patients and all but two survived – this during a time when 70% of Ebola patients were dying in West Africa. The world’s leading experts on Ebola dismissed Logan’s experience. About six weeks after CNN’s story, WHO issued a statement that “lamivudine has no antiviral activity against [Ebola] and should therefore not be administered for the treatment of Ebola.” A few months later, the NIH published a letter in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases reporting that because of CNN’s story they tried lamivudine in the lab, and it didn’t work. CNN’s article about the Liberian doctor nevertheless piqued the interest of Stephen McCarthy, a graduate student in the department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology at the University of Toronto. Last spring, McCarthy tried lamivudine in the lab and found that it worked against the Ebola virus. Since he didn’t have access to one of the world’s few top-level biosafety labs, he had to use a toned-down version of the virus that wasn’t infectious and wouldn’t get humans sick. Experts at the NIH and WHO were skeptical of McCarthy’s findings, since he didn’t use the actual Ebola virus but McCarthy was not deterred. He and his supervisor, Donald Branch, managed to secure access to Canada’s BSL-4 lab, where infectious Ebola can be used. Their new study, published Monday in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, suggests that lamivudine does work against Ebola in the laboratory. Their study found the drug works even better when paired with another HIV medication, called AZT, or with interferon beta, used to treat multiple sclerosis. The combination of all three drugs was the most effective against Ebola. The study was co-authored by Thomas Hoenen, an NIH virologist who specializes in hemorrhagic fever viruses such as Ebola, and by Gary Kobinger, a widely respected Ebola researcher who led the animal research on Zmapp. But leaders at the WHO and NIH were unenthusiastic, because not only did lamivudine not work in the NIH’s lab, it also didn’t work when they gave it to 12 guinea pigs infected with Ebola. In science, as a general rule, animal studies trump lab studies, but the NIH researchers themselves called their animal work “a small pilot study.” McCarthy said he still thinks lamivudine is worth further study, especially since it’s inexpensive, already available in Africa, and has been used safely for decades. He added that as an HIV researcher, he doesn’t understand why authorities continue to study single drugs, rather than combinations. “The greatest success in HIV therapy is combination therapy. No one in HIV would give one drug,” he said. But Hensley and Friede say in their opinion there’s no reason at this point to continue studying lamivudine. Friede puts lamivudine in the same category as countless other Ebola “remedies” that people latched onto during the horrific outbreak. “If we should do further studies on lamivudine, then we should also have done them on homeopathy and snake venom and ozone injections,” he said. No cases of Ebola have been reported since November of last year, when a cluster of three cases arose in Liberia, according to the World Health Organization. That’s obviously good news, but it also means there are nearly no patients to test the drugs on, so scientists have to rely on lab and animal studies. And they are inferior substitutes. Treatments that work on cells in laboratories (in vitro studies) don’t always work in animals (in vivo studies), and those that work in animals don’t always work in people. “It’s important to stress that one of the challenges for the research scientists is understanding what the various in vitro and in vivo screens mean,” Lisa Hensley, a top NIH Ebola researcher wrote to CNN in an email. Dr. Donald Thea, director of the Center for Global Health and Development at the Boston University School of Public Health, agrees. Without human study subjects, he said, you can only go so far. “It absolutely limits you as to how close you can get to a home run without humans,” he said. The trick, he said, is to be ready to hit the ground running with strong potential drug candidates if and when another large Ebola outbreak occurs – and it’s not clear if such candidates currently exist.


Trips to Israel allow candidates to look like statesmen abroad and bone up on a major strategic region It remains unclear whether any Democratic candidates will visit Israel during this campaign It’s become as much a campaign ritual as chowing down on fat-laden food on a stick and working the rope line at rallies: the pilgrimage by White House hopefuls to the Holy Land. Serious presidential candidates, especially Republicans, now routinely extend the campaign trail to Israel to vow solidarity to the Jewish state, bolster their foreign policy credentials and impress pro-Israel donors and evangelical voters back home. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who Tuesday started a trip to the country, is only the latest in a long line. The trips allow the candidates to look like statesmen abroad and – nowadays – draw contrasts with President Barack Obama and his estranged relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But are the hassles, expense and time off the trail really worth it for the candidates? Related gallery Who's running for President? Fred Zeidman, a businessman and board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition, which often helps facilitate visits of high-profile Republicans, said that it was smart for presidential candidates to go to Israel to brief themselves on a region that he said provides the single biggest threat to the United States. Washington battle rages over Iran nuclear deal’s fate “It is a genuine need on their part to truly understand not only the issues that are facing Israel, but the issues that are facing the U.S. You have got to have an understanding of them,” said Zeidman, adding that those who argue the trips served merely as a political stage are wrong. “You gain more by eating a corn dog in Iowa for three days than by going to Israel,” Zeidman said, referring to the domestic political payoff to a campaign for visiting Jerusalem. But politics often seem to be at the forefront of many visits. The former Arkansas governor actively used his visit to Israel as a political platform, telling CNN in an interview that the Iran deal that Obama says will stop the Islamic Republic from obtaining a nuclear weapon was a capitulation and would actually lead to an Iranian bomb. “We caved on all of it,” Huckabee said on “The Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer. And in the highly polarized environment whipped up by the open feud between Netanyahu and Obama amidst the fallout over the nuclear deal, the trips by Republican candidates have become even more politically explosive. Huckabee’s visit comes just a few weeks after he charged in an interview with Breibart News that by agreeing to the deal, Obama was marching Israel to the “door of the oven,” using stark Holocaust imagery to condemn the agreement. But RJC spokesman Mark McNulty said that the trips have an important educational component. Candidates, especially those with scant experience of international diplomacy, are often taken aback by Israel’s physical geography, which gives them new appreciation for the risks it faces. “When you get there and you are able to drive or fly from one side to the next – it gives you a real factual and instinctual feeling for how small it is and how precarious a position it is in as a country,” McNulty said. Related video Anger in Israel over Iran nuclear deal Former President George W. Bush experienced such an epiphany during his first visit to Israel in 1998, when he was taken on a helicopter ride over Israel by Ariel Sharon, then an Israeli minister and prime minister during Bush’s term. The episode hinted at a delayed diplomatic value for trips to Israel by White House hopefuls who later become president. “He knew every inch of the land and it didn’t seem like he intended to give any of it back,” Bush wrote in his memoir “Decision Points” of Sharon. “I was struck by Israel’s vulnerability in a hostile neighborhood,” continued Bush, who went on to become one of the most pro-Israel U.S. presidents in modern history. In addition to such helicopter tours showcasing Israel’s perilous geographic perch, candidates usually sit down with Israeli prime ministers and opposition leaders, scout areas in the firing line for Hamas rockets and visit the iconic ancient religious sites. In addition to Huckabee, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a foreign policy neophyte, visited Israel in May – riding in a helicopter close to borders with Lebanon and Syria. Walker said that the trip, during which he met Netanyahu and Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog, made a deep impression on him and, though he supported a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian question, the Middle East was “not ready” for that right now. Walker rival Marco Rubio was in Israel as part of Middle Eastern tour in 2013, a year when fellow Republican candidates Rick Perry and Rand Paul also visited. The only woman in the GOP field, Carly Fiorina, frequently name drops about her friendship with “Bibi Netanyahu” and Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, has visited Israel multiple times. Candidates often earn more than just an enhanced geopolitical perspective. Critics of Republicans see them as means to rack up points – and dollars – from pro-Israel and Jewish donors. “People are going to Israel not on fact-finding missions, not to make themselves smarter on foreign policy, they are going to Israel to show to some very, very large donors they can pass their litmus tests for hawkish views on Israel,” said Matt Dorf, who formerly worked as a liaison to the Jewish community at the Democratic National Committee. When 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney visited, he held a fundraiser where seats cost five figures. Israel’s security is a preoccupation of a number of big donors who fund super PAC committees able to spend vast sums to support candidates. “There is clearly a Sheldon Adelson primary,” said Daniel Kalik, vice president of political affairs at J Street, a progressive pro-Israel advocacy group in Washington, referring to the casino magnate who has spent millions of dollars supporting Republican politicians. But it’s not only Jewish heavyweights like Adelson who progressive activists see as the target for Republicans’ visits. “Someone like Huckabee is also doing it for conservative primary voters,” said Dorf, referring to Christian conservatives who revere the land of Israel for religious reasons and who play a significant role in nominating contests in early states like Iowa and South Carolina. Obama’s Iran nuclear deal rhetoric troubles American Jews But it’s not only Republican candidates who travel to Israel. In 2008, Obama stopped there as part of a European and Middle Eastern tour, meeting top political leaders including then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and then-President Shimon Peres. He also visited with Netanyahu, then the Likud Party leader who headed the Israeli opposition – the opening gambit in a political relationship that would develop into a bitter estrangement over Iran and the peace process and severely test U.S.-Israel ties. Unlike many Republicans, Obama also traveled to the Palestinian administrative center in Ramallah in the West Bank, laying the groundwork for what would be several intense but futile attempts to solve the Palestinian question during his presidency. The fact that Republican candidates rarely meet Palestinian politicians is in part a sign that they tend to side more closely with Israelis in the right-wing Likud Party of Netanyahu. But it’s also a sign that with the fractured peace process, their cause has become less prominent in the United States and throughout the wider Middle East, which is wracked with sectarian conflict, said Hussein Ibish, senior scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. “Nobody cares about them, because there is no peace process,” Ibish said. It remains unclear whether any Democratic candidates will visit Israel during this campaign. The favorite for the nomination, Hillary Clinton, would not need a visit to familiarize herself with the place, having served as secretary of state and dealt with Israeli leaders dating back to her husband’s administration. And Clinton, like other Democratic candidates, already has a strong standing with Jewish voters, who tend to be socially liberal and side overwhelmingly with the Democratic Party in general elections. Republicans are aware of this, and Zeidman said they hold few illusions about winning over the constituency by taking pictures of themselves at the Western Wall. “They are unequivocally not going because they think they are going to woo the Jewish vote,” said Zeidman.

Republican presidential candidates' visits to Israel


Editor’s Note: Now you can get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here. Maybe it wasn’t an H-bomb… Maybe Ted Cruz can’t be President… And maybe your Wall Street friends are gonna have a really bad day. It’s Thursday, and here are the five things you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. Did it really happen?: North Korea bragged to anyone who’d listen yesterday about the success of its nuclear bomb test. But was it a hydrogen bomb? The White House isn’t buying it, and Norsar, a group that monitors nuclear tests, said the blast was too small to have come from a hydrogen bomb. We’ll probably never know for sure, since North Korea continues to play the role of the world’s biggest recluse. Birthers are back!: Ted Cruz birtherism is officially a thing now, after Donald Trump said he wasn’t sure Cruz – who was born in Canada to an American mom – was even eligible to be president. And John McCain of all people agrees with Trump, saying it’s “worth looking into.” Remember, McCain faced his own birther questions during his 2008 run because he was born in Panama (but on a U.S. military base). Another reason why McCain is jumping into the fray: he pretty much hates Cruz’s guts. This time will be different: That’s what the GOP says after Congress passed Obamacare repeal legislation that will finally get to the President’s desk – where it will go down in flames. President Obama has vowed a veto, and the GOP doesn’t have enough votes to override it. So why even do it at all? House Speaker Paul Ryan said it shows a contrast with the Dems and highlights the need for a Republican president. Think that point’s already been made after 60+ votes to repeal the law. Bad advice: Germans were shocked by New Year’s Eve sex assaults and muggings in a number of cities. Groups of men of Arab or North African descent preyed upon women out celebrating the holiday. More than 100 complaints were filed in Cologne, while dozens of other attacks were reported in Hamburg and Stuttgart. The whole thing has reignited the debate over Germany’s open embrace of migrants. And Cologne’s mayor is in hot water after advising yesterday that women protect themselves by holding strange men at “an arm’s length.” Pfui! Winter’s coming:  Brace yourselves, investors. It’s probably going to be another crappy day. Once again things started off badly this morning in China, where stock trading was halted just 30 minutes after markets there took a 5% dive. Over here, the Dow dropped 252 points yesterday, as Wall Street tried to absorb not only the Chinese turmoil, but also North Korea’s alleged nuke test along with the latest belly flop in oil prices. It’s the Dow’s worst start to the trading year since 2008, and we all remember how great that turned out. People are talking about these. Read up. Join in. Quote of the day: “It’s the same battles that my ancestors had. And now it’s just a bunch of different cavalry wearing a bunch of different coats.” Jarvis Kennedy, council member of the Burns Paiute tribe, talking about the armed group that’s taken over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. The land belonged to the Native American tribe’s ancestors long before ranchers and farmers had it. Attention, future millionaires Don’t even bother checking your Powerball ticket. You didn’t win last night. Nobody did. But cheer up: Saturday’s jackpot is now $675 milllion, the largest in U.S. history. Can’t be too careful A 10-year-old girl gets a 2-minute pat down from the TSA, and boy is her dad ticked off. He posted the video of the whole thing online. The TSA said it had to do it because … she had a Capri Sun drink in her bag. No, really. Back to the future At the Consumer Electronics Show, Sony has shown us the future, and it’s a … turntable? OK, it’s a “hi-res” turntable that can convert vinyl records into digital files, but still, it’s a turntable. (She’s) Alright Ms. Jackson doesn’t have cancer. That’s the word, via Twitter, from Janet Jackson yesterday as she shot down rumors she had throat cancer. Imma let you finish, but … Some random guy did his best Kayne West impersonation last night at the People’s Choice Awards.


Editor’s Note: This story contains graphic accounts of killing and sexual torture. Rurik Jutting seemed to have it all. He was a young, intelligent British banker earning half a million dollars a year, in the teeming metropolis of Hong Kong. Jutting was also overweight, perpetually intoxicated and increasingly depraved. On a balmy October evening in 2014, Jutting returned home with a 23-year-old Indonesian woman he’d met via Craigslist. Eight days later, she was found dead in his upscale apartment, her body stuffed in a suitcase on the balcony. Another Indonesian woman lay dead with her throat slit on the floor, which was covered in blood, cocaine and torture devices. “(These are) the narcissistic ramblings of Rurik Jutting, of the Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, newly soon to be unemployed and now a rapist and a murderer,” he said in one of the many drug-fuelled, manic videos he made on his iPhone over the course of that shocking week. Jutting, now 31, has been found guilty of two counts of murder in Hong Kong’s High Court. He will serve two concurrent life sentences. Although the major facts of the case were agreed by both sides, Jutting had pleaded not guilty to murder, claiming diminished responsibility, saying his psychological issues affected his judgment at the time of the killings The following account is based on court documents and evidence and testimony given to the jury. “He is almost boasting about what he has done” – Dr Richard Latham, forensic psychiatrist, at Jutting’s trial In October 2014, Jutting lived in an expensive, stylish apartment in the heart of Hong Kong’s Wan Chai, a busy commercial and residential area that’s home to the city’s red-light district. Like most Hong Kong apartments, it was small – just one bedroom, a toilet and a living area with open kitchen – but rent wasn’t cheap, more than HK$20,000 (US$2,580) a month. It was also a mess, just like its then-occupant’s life. By 2014, Jutting would later tell psychiatrists in prison, he was drinking up to two bottles of spirits every day, on top of several cans of the energy drink Red Bull. He told them he was using cocaine regularly – up to 10 grams in a 24-hour period – and spending large sums of money on prostitutes, especially ones who were submissive. His mother had named him Rurik, meaning “great one, special one,” and when he left the UK in 2013 he seemed likely to live up to it. But by the time he arrived in Hong Kong in 2013 everything was going downhill. He didn’t have a girlfriend, or any long-term friendships and his job was on the rocks after he was moved within the bank in 2012 when his section was deemed a “serious risk” due to “a violation of regulations,” the court heard. “(He was) boastful, had a high opinion of himself (but it was) a thin shell that can be broken. Underneath he can feel pain and despair, had a fragile sense of self-esteem,” forensic psychiatrist Dr Richard Latham told the jury. Latham diagnosed Jutting with a narcissistic personality disorder – he didn’t feel empathy like normal people – and determined that he was developing into a sexual sadist. “She was a really, really nice person,” Jutting in an iPhone video after the murder Sumarti Ningsih, known as Alice, did not want to go home with Jutting when he contacted her on October 25. They’d had sex for money before, after Jutting found her listing on Craigslist. That time, Jutting told police, he had been rough with her – he held her down, used sex toys on her. Feeling uncomfortable, she asked to leave early, even though it meant she had to pay back half the money. He had agreed. “(It was) the first time I got sexual satisfaction from hurting another person,” he would tell police. Ningsih first arrived in Hong Kong in 2011 to be a domestic helper, working for subsistence wages as maids and child minders for Hong Kong’s families like tens of thousands of other Indonesian and Filipina women. Ningsih had a young son of her own, living in Indonesia with her family. He was just five years old when he lost his mother. Her cousin, who asked not to be named out of concerns for her privacy, told CNN she’d been like a big sister to her. They left together for Hong Kong to make a better life for themselves. “We wanted to make a change, wanted a better life, and to help our family,” she said. The same cousin would later be called to identify her body. Her mother told CNN Indonesia last month she had been the family’s breadwinner. “I’ve lost my child and I won’t see her again,” she said. In 2014, after a brief return to Indonesia, Ningsih flew back to Hong Kong on a tourist visa. When Jutting contacted her on October 25, the Indonesian woman was very reluctant to see him. She hadn’t forgotten his vicious treatment of her last time – and asked if she could bring a friend, according to what Jutting told police. Jutting refused, offering her as much as HK$10,000 (US$1,290) to spend the night. Eventually she agreed. Security cameras captured the two entering the J Residence apartment complex at 3.38 a.m. on October 25. “Why did I kill her?” – Jutting interrogation tape, Hong Kong police, November 2 Jutting couldn’t get an erection after they took cocaine together – he never could when using the drug – so he took a different tack. “We played a bit,” Jutting told police. “I got rough with her in the course of that – it went from consensual to non-consensual.” Using purple rope, he tied Ningsih up, sending photos of her to his cocaine dealer. For three days, in escalating degrees of cruelty, Jutting tortured his captive, telling her he’d kill her if she didn’t cooperate. He filmed her on his phone as he debased her, in videos so shocking the judge at his trial wouldn’t allow some of them to be shown to the public gallery. “Do you want me to hit you?” he asked her on the tape. “If you say yes, I’ll hit you once. If you say no, I’ll hit you twice.” At other times, he goes from asking if she loved him, commending her for being a “good girl”, to threatening her with harsher violence. In a postmortem examination, the coroner would say there were signs he had clamped her nipples with pliers and whipped her repeatedly with a belt. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, October 27, Jutting slit her throat, He later told police he had thought about letting her go, in his more lucid moments, but in the end he killed her in the shower, her hands tied behind her back. “My name is Rurik Jutting, about five minutes ago, I just killed, murdered this one … oh s**t” Less than five minutes after he had killed Ningsih, Jutting was filming himself, flustered and shirtless. He moves the phone from his face to her motionless body on the bathroom floor. Jutting said he hadn’t planned to kill her. He thought about jumping off the balcony, then and there. But he couldn’t deny he had enjoyed the torture, the feeling of being in complete control. “She was my property and there to please me,” Jutting spoke into his iPhone camera in one of his first videos after the killing. “Frankly, I am addicted.” Worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong KongIn 2012 flagged as ‘serious risk to organization’From at least September 2014 took cocaine dailyA graduate of Cambridge UniversityJutting said his childhood was “unremarkable”His father attempted suicide when he was 16Aged 12 was forced to give oral sex to a boy at his schoolSource: Testimony given by Dr Richard Latham, Forensic Psychiatrist Worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Hong KongIn 2012 flagged as ‘serious risk to organization’From at least September 2014 took cocaine dailyA graduate of Cambridge UniversityJutting said his childhood was “unremarkable”His father attempted suicide when he was 16Aged 12 was forced to give oral sex to a boy at his school Over the next three days, he takes more cocaine, courtesy of his dealer who was making regular visits to his apartment, and made more videos on his iPhone. In some he details his plans for further torture and rape, in others he talks about how he is going to go to prison for life. “Don’t think I should watch my videos … I am an ugly fat f**k now. Used to be good looking but now (I’m) an utterly f**ked up loser.” At one point, he moves Ningsih’s body from the shower, tying it up in cords and wrapping it in sheets before putting it in a suitcase, out on the balcony. At some stage, he changes his automatic work email message. “I’m out of the office. Indefinitely. For urgent enquiries, or indeed any enquiries, please contact someone who is not an insane psychopath. For escalation please contact God.” On October 31, Jutting came up with a plan – he would leave the body in his apartment, block up the doors and then fly back to the UK. He would say goodbye to his parents before going into a police station to hand himself in. He never booked the tickets though – instead, he went out to buy torture instruments to use on his second victim. “I don’t know why I chose her … she was at that point simply prey” – Jutting in police interviews, November 2 Jutting’s first stop was a sex shop, then on the way home, he stopped off at a hardware store. Back in his apartment, iPhone recording again, he showed off his haul. “In this bag we have cord, zip ties, what’s this, oh it’s a big hammer,” Jutting said while recording on his iPhone. He showed off sandpaper, pins, nails and pliers. Seneng “Jesse” Mujiasih, 26, was working as a waitress at New Makati, a bar in Wan Chai, on that Friday night. A friend of hers, Wan Chai bar owner Robert Van Dem Bosch, saw her. She told him she was going to have “great night.” He described her as strong, a “beautiful, happy, good-looking woman.” “She was trying to make a better life for later, the money she made here, she didn’t throw away on all kinds of things,” he said. “Maybe make up and nice clothes to look good, but the rest of the money she saved and sent to her home country of Indonesia to build a house,” he told CNN. She was going to retire to Indonesia, Van Dem Bosch said. Jutting offered her as much as HK$20,000 (US$2,580) to stay for the weekend. Security cameras captured Jutting ushering his second victim inside the apartment complex just before midnight. After they entered the apartment she immediately commented how messy it was – he joked she should be his regular cleaner. She removed her clothes and they sat on the couch – where she saw his makeshift gag, hidden under one of the pillows. Mujiasih leaped up, shocked, yelling in Bahasa Indonesian, Jutting would later tell the police. In response, he grabbed the knife he’d hidden underneath a cushion and held it to her throat, telling her to shut up or he’d kill her. She ignored him, continuing to yell for help. He killed her, shoving the blade down onto her throat. “I am just very high on coke and feel zero emotions,” Jutting in iPhone video after second murder One woman lay dead on the floor of his living room. Another was decaying in a suitcase on the balcony. His apartment was covered in blood, cocaine and torture tools. Jutting walked out on the balcony, where he thought he could see people looking at him. He was sure they had called the police. Looking through the peephole in his apartment door, he saw two police officers outside. He barricaded the door with boxes. Still he could see the door handle moving. On early November 1, Jutting called the police on his Blackberry. He’d soon hand over his iPhone, including all his recorded videos, for evidence. “My name is Rurik Jutting, I’m sitting in my flat in Wan Chai. I’m trying to surrender myself to the multiple, I don’t know if they are the police, or army, or special forces around me and I don’t really know what they want me to do,” he told the responder. The responder had no idea what was happening. There were no police at Jutting’s apartment. He had imagined them. He called the cops on himself. “I am sure you will never forget the reality of the horror that those women had to endure” – defense attorney Tim Owen, closing argument In Hong Kong’s High Court, two years later, Jutting appeared largely composed. His parents appeared not to have attended the trial, or any family members, but it was packed with journalists, many of whom had been flown half way around the world by the British tabloid media to cover the case of Hong Kong’s “American Psycho” killer. His appearance shocked those in the public gallery – his once curly hair has been cut short and he had lost a significant amount of weight since 2014. When his videos of his torture of Ningsih were played to the jury – drawing audible gasps –  he closed his eyes. At other times, especially during his defense, he appeared more animated, chatting to and exchanging notes with his lawyers. His defense attorney Tim Owen, told the jury their defense of diminished responsibility was “a concession to human frailty.” “I am not asking you to feel sympathy for Rurik Jutting. I am not asking you to feel sorry for him,” he said in his closing remarks. “(But by October 2014) Rurik Jutting was about as far from normal as it is possible to be.” The prosecution attorney, in his summing up, shifted the jury’s attention from Jutting to the two women who had been buried in unremarkable graves in Indonesia, two years before. “They were living human beings. They weren’t sex objects.”


Former naval officer was arrested in Pakistan in March 2016 India claims the man was kidnapped from Iran Pakistan has sentenced to death an Indian man accused of spying, further raising tensions between the two countries. India claims the former naval officer was “kidnapped” from Iran and said his execution would be an act of “premeditated murder.” Kulbushan Jadhav was arrested in March last year, “for his involvement in espionage and sabotage activities against Pakistan,” according to a statement released by the Pakistan armed forces Monday. The statement said Jadhav confessed that he was tasked by India’s foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), to “plan, coordinate and organize espionage / sabotage activities aiming to destabilize and wage war against Pakistan.” A military court found Jadhav guilty on two counts of espionage and sentenced him to death. India has vociferously objected to Jadhav’s sentencing, saying consular officials were denied access to him during his trial, in defiance of international law. New Delhi urgently summoned Pakistani diplomats Monday to discuss the case. “Jadhav was kidnapped last year from Iran and his subsequent presence in Pakistan has never been explained credibly,” the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement. The foreign ministry previously claimed Jadhav, a former naval officer, was operating a business in Iran prior to his arrest in Pakistan. Monday’s statement said there was no “credible evidence” against Jadhav and described his sentence as “farcical.” If the sentence is carried out, the statement said, “the government and people of India will regard it as a case of premeditated murder.” Amnesty International said military courts, which were used in this case, were linked to coerced confessions and unfair trials. Pakistan executed 87 people last year, making it the world’s fifth biggest executioner, according to an Amnesty report on the global death penalty this week. Jadhav was charged under the Pakistan Army Act 1952 and the Official Secrets Act 1923, both of which provide for the death penalty. Espionage has long been a tense subject between Pakistan and India. In 2013, Sarabjit Singh, an Indian man sentenced to death for spying, died in a Pakistan jail after being attacked by fellow inmates. More than 40 alleged Pakistani spies have been arrested in India since 2013, according to the government. While India does retain the death penalty, and hundreds of people were sentenced last year, only three executions have been carried out since 2007, according to Amnesty. Talat Hussain, an Islamabad-based defense analyst said Jadhav’s sentence could have “a very major impact” on the India-Pakistan relationship and further aggravate ties. “I think we are heading for a major crisis,” he said. “This will not bode well for both the countries and the region.” Tensions between India and Pakistan have increased in recent months over continued violence in the disputed region of Kashmir, control of which both countries claim. In November, Pakistan evacuated thousands of people from the parts of Kashmir administered by Islamabad, blaming “Indian shelling.” That came after an attack by militants on an Indian army base left 18 soldiers dead. Last month, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh called for the country to completely seal its border with Pakistan on the grounds that terrorists were using it to infiltrate the country. Sophia Saifi reported from Islamabad, Pakistan; Sugam Pokharel reported from New Delhi, India. James Griffiths reported and wrote from Hong Kong.


So we’ve watched a couple of movies starring Jackie Chan. Now we want to kick it like Jackie Chan. Where do we even start? China, obviously, but to the uninitiated the path to learning authentic kung fu is a treacherous one, full of potholes and tourist traps. The true kung fu disciple seeks not these things, but could still use some help figuring out where to go. Martial arts have been around for centuries, enduring huge political upheaval and splintering into various factions and disciplines. So getting to grips with how to approach learning it is a fight in itself. Enter Sascha Matuszak, a China-based journalist who is producing a new documentary on Chinese kung fu – “The New Masters,” is directed by Christopher Cherry and co-produced by Kira Leinonen. “As is the case with anything in China, if you just allow the tourism train to take you along, you’re not going to think China is cool, but if you take the time to investigate and stick around a little bit, talk to some people … your mind can easily be blown,” he says. Matuszak, also an avid kung fu practitioner, says finding that inspiring martial arts experience is a test that requires perseverance, intuition, and patience, just like in kung fu training. Especially for foreigners seeking a master in China. “Chinese masters are still quite insular about who they teach,” says Matuszak. “Chinese kids are coming from the countryside to get trained because it will help them advance their life in some way such as help them find a job. “Their training will usually be different from what foreign students will be accustomed to.” That doesn’t mean visitors can’t have an authentic traditional kung fu experience. “Tourists can go and train a bit and come away perhaps with a more decent horse stance [a basic kung fu pose]. Then there are guys who are serious and work hard to prove themselves and gradually move up to train with the real masters.” “Shaolin has it all,” says Matuszak. “You have a real Buddhist community, you have a tourism business with everything that goes with that, you also have real martial artists – their skills are nothing to be sniffed at.” The original hometown of Chinese martial arts, the Shaolin Temple in Henan province, is set in the forests of picturesque Song Mountain. It’s now a bona fide tourism hotspot. Visitors typically bus in, tour the temple and monastery grounds, walk around the Pagoda Forest, and bus out. “If you don’t stick around and explore, you can easily be underwhelmed,” sadds Matuszak. “But Shaolin is the place to see real kung fu. “Definitely try to watch a wushu performance when you’re there. The artists are athletes. The masters are the real deal.” Surrounding the temple are a dozen or so martial arts schools, including one of the largest in the country, the Shaolin Temple Tagou Wushu School which claims to have 35,000 students. The school offers tailor-made short term training, allowing students to choose what they want to study and for how long. Shaolin Temple Tagou Wushu School, Mount Song Shaolin Temple, Dengfeng City, Henan Province; +86 158 1282 7955 Hubei province’s Taoist stronghold of Wudang Mountain is the cradle of taijiquan, a style of martial arts that marries kung fu with Taoist principles, harnessing internal energy and practiced for self defense and health benefits. The mountain range is still relatively underdeveloped as a tourism hub, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “The mountains are stunning, like a classic Chinese painting. A relatively untouched area, it isn’t hard to imagine what it was like 150 years ago,” says Matuszak. Anyone interested in Taoism, will find inspiration here. dThere’s a lot of metaphysics to Wudang kung fu goals, which include immortality, health, and transcendence. “Finding transcendence on Wudang Mountain today will be difficult, unless you can really tune out what is going on around you,” Matuszak says. “But it will still create a believer out of you. “There are people doing taijiquan everywhere you look, and they will all tell you how Taoism and taijiquan have improved their lives, making them a better person, make them feel better, everything is better, and they want to share this with you. Everybody wants to teach you taijiquan, or point you in the right direction.” Check out Wudang Daoist Traditional Internal Kung Fu Academy, which holds classes in a historic location in Wudang. Wudang Daoist Traditional Internal Kung Fu Academy, Wudangshan, Shiyan City, Hubei Province; +86 135 9788 6695 The major style of tai chi traces its origins to this humble village in Henan province, named after the family that created it. “The village itself is a dusty little place with brick houses, but the tai chi here is world famous,” says Matuszak. “If you walk through the village, there are people doing tai chi in all corners, in fields, everywhere. Tai chi practitioners make pilgrimages to the village.” The undisputed Chen lineage is very important for practitioners who want masters who’ll teach them the correct forms of tai chi. “Practitioners believe that tai chi activates an internal energy source, so if you are not doing it right it can cause physical problems,” says Matuszak. “You want a real bona fide guy to learn from, particularly as Chen-style emphasizes the yang energy – it is powerful, it can be used in combat.” Look out for Chen Jia Gou Tai Chi School, run by Chen Xiao Xing, a direct descendent of famous practitioner Chen Fake, and check out www.china-taichi-guide.com for detailed reviews of more schools. According to Matuszak, the “uber master” Chen Xiao Wang returns to the village every March to hold seminars. Mount Emei in Sichuan province is famed for its sunrises and its historical importance in the development of kung fu. Many kung fu styles emerged from this scenic spot, including emeiquan, and the area is a popular setting for Chinese martial arts novels. Visitors looking to learn kung fu on the mountain might be disappointed as there is little to offer students. Surprisingly, it’s here Matuszak found his kung fu home. “If you pay attention, you could go to any province in China and find a kung fu master that will blow your mind. They are walking around but they are hidden. They could be the mail man,” says Matuszak. “You can find your own special experience away from the infrastructure.” He stumbled upon his own master at the recommendation of a friend. Master Li Quan has taught Matuszak for the past 12 years at his school on the outskirts of Sichuan’s provincial capital, Chengdu (+86 28 86716235). Training at the school, Matuszak has had the opportunity to visit Mount Emei on several occasions, seeing the mountain at its best during the tourism industry’s low season. “I’ve been there in the dead of winter in February. It’s a cold hike, the hotels don’t have proper heating, but a little bit of snow will fall and the temples are covered in an inch of pristine snow, suddenly a monk will scurry across with a lamp. That scene is unforgettable.” Hong Kong is where kung fu really left the shores of China and spread across the globe. It also played a huge role in conserving traditional forms of kung fu as Communism swept across the rest of China and masters fled. Today, Hong Kong is home to a healthy community of custodians of wing chun, a style of kung fu that originated in Fujian province. Related article 6 ways to enjoy kung fu in Hong Kong “Hong Kong is a critical point for martial arts. If it weren’t for Hong Kong, it would be hard to say what would have happened to kung fu. It might have become an obscure thing,” says Matuszak. The movies that Bruce Lee made in Hong Kong in the 1970s brought kung fu into the popular imagination and influenced martial arts around the world. The original kung fu superstar is honored in his hometown with a life-size statue on the harbor front and a five-year exhibition of a vast collection of memorabilia at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum (1 Man Lam Road, Sha Tin, Hong Kong; +852 2180 8188). Lee was himself one of the disciples of wing chun master Yip Man. For visitors interested in the lineage of wing chun, the charismatic Sam Lau is one of Yip Man’s surviving direct disciples. He can be found teaching at his school in Tsim Sha Tsui. Hong Kong-based freelancer Zoe Li writes regularly on art, culture, food and travel.


Essaouira is a haven for tourists seeking activity holidays Surfing, quadbiking and horse treks bring together coast, desert and forest 'Game of Thrones' filmed in the city, and Jimi Hendrix is said to have visited When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Tourist numbers dipped in Morocco last year, with one report suggesting unrest and attacks across North Africa were to blame, according to the AFP. If that was the trend for the nation, someone forgot to tell Essaouira. The coastal city, now serviced by a direct flight from the UK, has bucked the downturn and is attracting new visitors in droves. Essaouira, known as a destination for surfers of all denominations, whether kite, wind or wave, is branching out and branding itself as a place for the wider adrenaline junkie community. By foot or helicopter, the High Atlas is one of the world's hidden ski gems Among the most established watersports operators is Explora Morocco. It offers surfing, windsurfing and kitesurfing lessons, equipment hire for the more advanced, and week long packages including accommodation and stopovers in Marrakech. It’s also one of the few places through which you can pursue wakeboarding and stand up paddling (SUP), an activity you’re more likely to see on the beaches of Hawaii. While aquatic types busy themselves off the coast, on terra firma Palma Quad operates quadbike tours, taking in dunes, forests and surrounding villages all within three hours of the city. For those after a more carbon-friendly approach, there’s horse riding treks by Equi Evasion. Running for up to six days, either circling Essaouira, skirting the Atlantic coast or following Berber trails from inland, you’ll ride through day and spend nights camping out under pristine skies. But if this all sounds like hard work, there are other options. Yoga classes, laidback souks and stellar seafood  in Essaouira make for an appetizing locale – especially if you’re after an adventure holiday replete with creature comforts. “[Essaouira has] a really good balance,” says Sara Jolly, co-owner of Explora Morocco. “You could be kiting and surfing, and then also experience real Morocco when you go into the Medina.” You can relax the pace and let a guide tell you about the city’s long and complex history. Essaouira has been occupied since before recorded history; visited by Carthaginian sailors, part of the Roman empire, and seized by the Portuguese in the 16th century. But there’s also plenty of pop culture crossover to both keep the tradition of storytelling alive and intrigue the ears of visitors. Locals are keen to capitalize on Jimi Hendrix’s visit in the 1960s (for how long depends on who you ask) and you’ll find his likeness scattered around the city. Visitors can even stay at the Jimi Hendrix Hotel or dine at Cafe Restaurant Jimi – only the former fares well with reviewers, however. More recently the city was transformed into the port town of Astapor, where (spoiler alert!) Daenerys Targaryen acquired her army of “unsullied” in HBO’s “Game of Thrones”. The crew shot scenes in the fortified Medina, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, easily accessible and part of Zicasso’s tailored 10-day Game of Thrones tour of Spain and Morocco. For the last 18 months a three-hour direct flight from Luton, north of London, to Essaouira has run twice a week via budget carrier EasyJet. Why Morocco is Africa's little Hollywood It’s flown 40,000 passengers so far, 60% of whom are British according to EasyJet’s commercial manager Neil Slaven. There’s a clear correlation to be found: Jolly reports 20% more business from Brits in the last year. This is music to the ears of the Ministry of Tourism. “Tourism is one of the main economic sectors in Morocco,” explains Nada Roudies, general secretary of the ministry. “We’re employing half a million people; we are bringing 10 million tourists a year approximately [to Morocco] and $6 billion in foreign receipts.” Roudies says the key to tourism success is nurturing both natural and cultural assets, “developing economic activities so that you can generate revenues for locals.” By that description, the rest of Morocco will be following in the footsteps of this once-sleepy coastal city.


Editor’s Note: Sajjan Gohel is the International Security Director at the Asia-Pacific Foundation, Senior Advisor to the multilateral Partnership for Peace Consortium’s Combating Terrorism Working Group, and a Visiting Teacher in the International History Department at the London School of Economics. The views expressed in this article are solely his. As American counter-terrorism officials piece together the planning behind Tuesday’s terrorist attack in Manhattan and possible connections between the Uzbek perpetrator and ISIS, the spotlight has fallen on the roles that Uzbekistan and Central Asia have played as recruitment bases and launch pads for transnational terrorist groups. The Manhattan attack is not unique in terms of the tactic of turning a vehicle into a lethal weapon, but neither is it unique that an Uzbek national – 29-year-old suspect Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov – has been involved in a major terrorist attack in 2017. In fact, the tragedy that has unfolded in New York is not an original starting point but a continuation of previous attacks in terms of scale, scope and the region from where the suspect hailed. Five former Soviet republics – Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan – are considered to be potent recruiting areas for ISIS to replenish its ranks, either through the remnants of the falling caliphate or through its affiliates. It is estimated that close to 5,000 Central Asia foreign fighters have traveled to Iraq and Syria, with around 1,500 from Uzbekistan, according to a report last month from the Soufan Group. Over a 16-month period, Uzbek nationals either inspired, directed or affiliated with ISIS have carried out numerous mass casualty attacks in the West. In April, Rakhmat Akilov, an Uzbek national and failed asylum seeker, mowed down pedestrians with a truck in Stockholm, killing four people. On January 1, 39 people were killed and 70 were injured in an attack at an Istanbul nightclub where hundreds of people were celebrating the New Year. The perpetrator was Abdulgadir Masharipov, an Uzbek citizen who was later captured. At his home, two guns, SIM cards, and a substantial amount of cash in dollars were discovered. In June 2016, 45 people were killed and more than 230 people were injured in a coordinated attack at Atatürk Airport in Istanbul. The assailants were from the Russian North Caucasus region, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Not all ISIS fighters from Central Asia are cannon fodder for attacks – some have attained senior positions within the terrorist infrastructure. Colonel Gulmurod Ghalimov from Tajikistan became one of the highest-ranking members of ISIS from the region. Previously, he was head of a Tajik police unit but defected to ISIS in 2015 and left the same year for Syria. Ghalimov has played an instrumental role in recruiting Tajiks and other foreign fighters from Central Asia to join ISIS. Related article New York terror suspect planned attack for weeks, police say ISIS’s media organs – including al-Hayat Media Center and Amaq News Agency – have released many messages acknowledging the significant number of suicide bombers from Central Asia who were deployed against Iraqi and Kurdish forces seeking to liberate the ISIS strongholds of Mosul and Raqqa. The successes by the international coalition against ISIS as well as the ground work by the Iraqi military and Kurdish fighters in Iraq and Syria has led to the capture and deaths of numerous Central Asian fighters. Those that survived and fled the battles, however, are believed to have either made their way back home through Turkey or attempted to travel westwards into Europe. Men from Central Asia have not been the only contributors for ISIS. The al-Khansaa Brigade – the all-female enforcement division formed by ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi himself – also has had Uzbek, Tajik, Kyrgyz, and Kazakh women as members. Increasing usage of children from Central Asia as suicide bombers has become a proliferating and disturbing trend by ISIS in grooming young impressionable minds for nefarious purposes. Related article 'Like coming back to life' says child soldier who escaped ISIS In November 2016, ISIS released a video depicting four children shooting and killing Iraqi and Kurdish prisoners. One of the them was a 10-year-old boy from Uzbekistan. Another was from Kazakhstan. The children in the video are wearing military uniforms, while the prisoners are in orange prison outfits. Worryingly, this is one example of many, and other terror groups have used children from Central Asia in their propaganda material. The decline of ISIS’s caliphate project has impacted on the movement of fighters to and from Central Asia, especially Uzbekistan. Consequently, the momentum of those leaving for the frontline in Syria and Iraq from Central Asian nations has markedly decreased. But recruitment through encrypted messaging and the dark web is ongoing and in fact increasing, particularly amongst Uzbeks based in Europe and potentially North America too. To assist this goal, ISIS developed “Istok,” a Russian language magazine aimed largely at Central Asians and highlighting residents of the region that have joined the terror group. ISIS is also using “Furat Media,” a Russian language social media to tap into and expand its Central Asian nexus. ISIS’s intelligence apparatus, the Emni, also act as recruiters for Central Asia either through physical or virtual networks. They principally target poor and underdeveloped regions based in areas with large bazaars. The government responses to radicalization in Central Asia, meanwhile, have frequently been paradoxical and ineffective. In Uzbekistan, the authoritarian government’s failure to reform, coupled with its heavy-handed security approach, has been seized upon by terrorist groups like ISIS and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) to further their own recruitment agenda. On October 30, ISIS released social media messages and banners in several languages calling for attacks on Halloween. Regardless of whether the terror group is found to have assisted in the attack in Manhattan, the incident fits with ISIS’ wider strategy and message to the West: the fall of Raqqa may lead to the dismantling of the physical caliphate, but the virtual caliphate will live on and expand. Indeed, for the past year ISIS has managed to generate a new cadre of jihadists, prepared to wage war against the West at short notice using low tech and low cost (but high intensity) attacks. The recruitment of Uzbeks from Central Asia plays an important part in this. ISIS’s ability to spread its tentacles within its Central Asian sphere of influence is partly dependent on its relationship with affiliates. ISIS established a branch in Afghanistan in January 2015, Wilayat Khorasan, which has attained notable momentum and notoriety whilst gaining territory from both the Quetta Shura Taliban and the Afghan government. ISIS has suffered setbacks in this realm. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan moved away from its proximity to al Qaeda and declared its support for ISIS in 2014. But two years later, some of those that had switched allegiance to ISIS again reversed their loyalty back to al Qaeda. As ISIS’s physical land mass continues to contract and it cedes its influence to affiliates across the world, careful attention needs to be paid to Central Asia. By ignoring the problem, it creates the potential of the region being used as a hub to recruit, train and plot terrorism globally. This in turn has a knock-on effect for countries like Afghanistan and, from a wider perspective, for blowback in the West. History has a disturbing way of repeating itself.


Jeb Bush admitted Monday his views on immigration may not be “mainstream” in the Republican Party. But he praised the “vitality” of a multicultural society as other GOP presidential candidates find themselves in trouble over comments about minorities. “If we embrace a set of shared values, then it shouldn’t matter if you have a ‘z’ at the end of your name, or your accent might be different, ‘cause guess what? There are people in this country, that have accents different from mine and mine’s different from theirs. It doesn’t matter,” Bush said to a roomful of Hispanics. The former Florida governor, who boasts proudly of the bicultural family that he started with his wife, who’s from Mexico, was in his comfort zone when he addressed the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Houston. Though he was interrupted at the start of his remarks by pro-immigration protestors, Bush won applause from the audience when he re-asserted that he’s in favor of earned citizenship for individuals who were brought to the country illegally as children, also known as DREAMers. “And I’ll continue to be consistently for it, irrespective of what the political ramifications of that are,” he said, ending a tense moment with protesters who emerged from multiple corners in the ballroom. Fluent in Spanish, Bush mentioned his Republican rival Donald Trump by name at one point, mocking the real estate titan for scoffing at Bush’s use of his second language on the campaign trail. Bush blasted ideas the Trump has heralded like building a wall and deporting those who are here illegally, citing those costs of taking such action and arguing that it’s neither “practical” nor “conservative.” Instead, he laid out his plan to offer legal status to undocumented workers after they meet a long list of criteria like learning English, paying back taxes, and an additional fine. “That is the dignified, American way,” he said. “The practical way of solving the problem of 12 million immigrants.” He staunchly defended his wife, Columba, saying it’s “laughable” that some people don’t consider her American, and he chided the “louder voices” in his party who don’t have “any sense of what the immigrant experience is about.” His comments come nearly a week after Bush confronted Trump in the CNN debate for invoking Columba on the immigration issue. The former governor urged Trump to apologize to his wife, who was sitting in the audience, but Trump refused, saying he didn’t do anything wrong. On Monday, Bush said his wife is “American by choice” and just like he, a converted Catholic, has become “fierce” about his faith, he argued that immigrants who come to the United States are also “pretty fierce” about the United States. Bush has made his ties to Hispanic community a crucial part of his campaign. Last month he faced criticism for using the term “anchor baby,” but aside from Democratic attacks, the candidate has seen little fallout over using the term. Javier Palomarez, president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, praised Bush for being “a fine example of what is possible” in terms of broadening the GOP base. Meanwhile, Trump has taken heat for inflammatory rhetoric about immigrants from the start of his campaign. And most recently, he’s seen criticism for not denouncing a voter at a campaign rally who argued that President Barack Obama is a Muslim. Palomarez, who met with Trump in New York earlier this month, argued that he’s disappointed in Trump’s bombastic rhetoric, saying the GOP front-runner is using it to “coalesce and galvanize his base” in a “very negative fashion.” And while Trump is scheduled to appear before the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at a public event on Oct. 8, Palomarez told CNN that may not happen anymore. “He’s going to have to take responsibility for that kind of negative, divisive narrative before we’re going to sit down with him and have a Q&A session,” he said.


Scientists believe they have found world's oldest fossils Stromatolites are mounds formed by clusters of bacteria living on the sea floor Findings suggest similar life could have existed on Mars Scientists have discovered in Greenland the oldest physical evidence of life on earth – fossils that date back 3.7 billion years. If confirmed, the fossils are 220 million years older than any previously found, providing tangible evidence of ancient living organisms that offer potential clues about similar life on Mars. The researchers, who published their findings in the journal Nature, believe that the fossils are stromatolites – mound-like structures produced by photosynthetic bacteria. The microscopic bugs formed colonies on the sea floor, depositing carbonates and combining with sediment to make mounds that were eventually preserved in layers of rock. “For the first time, we can actually see an environment in which early life flourished,” said Allen Nutman of the University of Wollongong in Australia, one of the co-authors of the research. “In this case it was a shallow sea, probably quite close to a shoreline.” “If we got these communities of bugs 3.7 billion years ago, building structures you can see with your naked eye, there is a possibility the same thing could have happened on Mars.” About 3.7 billion years ago, Mars was made up of river and oceans. Nutman said the watery environment is shown by rock patterns consistent with wave action on sediment from the sea floor. Related video NASA: Mars had massive, mile-deep ocean “The fact that there’s increased possibility you could actually find some physical objects with the present generation of Martian rovers is certainly very exciting,” Nutman said. Though previous studies using isotopes (chemical elements) suggested life on Earth dates back 3.8 billion years, this is the first time that physical evidence supports these findings. Nutman was part of a group of Australian scientists researching the Isua supacrustal belt in southwestern Greenland – among the world’s oldest rocks, which he’d been studying for 36 years. However, Isua rock is metamorphic – formed by intense heat and pressure of shifting tectonic plates – which makes the scientists’ discovery even more surprising. It was only after a decades-old block of snow melted that the landmark fossils emerged. “When you look at most of the rocks in Isua, their features have been destroyed by the processes that have been superposed on top,” said Nutman. “We noticed that an area that for decades had been covered by a snow patch, even in the middle of the summer, was free of snow. We walked over and all immediately realized what we were looking at.” Related article Fossils reveal dinosaur-killing asteroid affected Antarctic creatures too Some scientists may argue that the intense metamorphic conditions could have deformed the rock, but the researchers are confident of their findings.  They actually made the discovery in the summer of 2012, but have waited for four years of further research and laboratory testing to support their theory. “The sum of everything points to them being stromatolites,” said Nutman. Dr. William Martin, head of the Molecular Evolution Institute at Dusseldorf’s Henrich Heine University, said that though the fossils lack clear isotope tracing to prove their biological nature incontrovertibly, it is nonetheless “a very exciting find.” “If they really are of biological origin – and I think they’re convincing – then it’s interesting in two ways. One, it would be the oldest fossils we have.” “Number two, they’re almost certainly photosynthetic. All signs indicate that stromatolites are growing in shallow waters and harvesting light energy. That would really put an ancient date on photosynthesis.” Related article New evidence of where life might exist on Mars Photosynthetic bacteria had a pivotal role to play in the evolution of life on Earth, explains Prof. Matthew Wills of the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath. “The early Earth would have been a fair vision of hell, much too hot initially to support the stable biochemistry that underpins all life as we know it,” said Wills. “Through their photosynthesis, [the bacteria] were responsible for producing oxygen and sequestering carbon dioxide, so transforming our atmosphere over hundreds of millions of years.” This process also cut out harmful solar radiation and paved the way for more complex forms of life to follow. “This is a really exciting find,” said Wills. “While there is evidence of life of this age from chemical studies, these microbial fossils are the oldest physical remains that bear scrutiny. “Rocks of this age are incredibly rare as they tend to have been drawn down into the molten interior of the Earth by the movement of tectonic plates. So although life may have originated earlier, the chances of finding fossils older than this are pretty slim.”

discovery of oldest fossils in Greenland


Defense Secretary Ash Carter makes announcement in Estonia 250 tanks, Bradley armored fighting vehicles and self-propelled howitzers will be sent Armor going to Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland The U.S. military will be sending dozens of tanks, Bradley armored fighting vehicles and self-propelled howitzers to allied countries in the Baltics and Eastern Europe in response to Russian actions in the Ukraine, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Tuesday. The equipment, enough to arm one combat brigade, will be positioned in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland, Carter announced at a press conference with U.S. allies in Estonia. Carter said the equipment will be moved around Europe for training and exercises. RELATED: Carter embarks on European tour with attention fixed on Russia Related video U.S. to send tanks to Europe to counter Russia The U.S. defense chief also said Washington and its NATO allies will be boosting cyber defense efforts. “We must prepare NATO and our allies for cyber challenges, particularly from Russia,” Carter said in prepared remarks. Carter’s announcement comes during a week-long tour of Europe. “We need to explain to those who doubt the value of our NATO commitments that the security of Europe is vital to everything else we hold dear,” Carter said at a press event with his German counterpart Monday. RELATED: U.S. - Russia military tit for tat raises fears of greater conflict While Carter won’t be visiting Russia on this trip, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s influence looms over the tour’s discussions. “One of [Putin’s] stated views is a longing for the past and that’s where we have a different perspective on the world and even on Russia’s future,” he told reporters en route to Germany, in response to a question about whether Putin is a rational actor. “We’d like to see us all moving forward, Europe moving forward, and that does not seem to be his stated perspective.” Carter also addressed comments Putin made last week, announcing the addition of 40 intercontinental ballistic missiles to Russia’s nuclear arsenal, a move Carter said reflected “posturing” on the Russian leader’s part. “Nuclear weapons are not something that should be the subject of loose rhetoric by world leadership,” Carter said. “We all understand the gravity of nuclear dangers. We all understand that Russia is a long established nuclear power. There is no need for Vladimir Putin to make that point.” Carter’s comments are just the latest in an escalating war of words between U.S. and Russian officials. Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday, Putin denied his government is behaving aggressively. “We are not aggressive,” Putin said. “We are persistent in pursuing our interests.” Last week U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah James addressed Russian actions. “The biggest threat on my mind is what’s happening with Russia and the activities of Russia,” James said during a visit to the Paris Air Show. “It’s extremely worrisome on what’s going on in the Ukraine.” Like what Carter said is planned for the U.S. Army’s tanks, U.S. Air Force planes have been rotating through Europe under Operation Atlantic Resolve. Participating in those exercises and rotations have been B-2 and B-52 bombers, F-15Cs and A-10 attack planes. James said the F-22 Raptor, the Pentagon’s premier fighter, could join that list. “I could easily see the day – though I couldn’t tell you the day exactly – when the F-22, for example, rotates in is a possibility. I don’t see why that couldn’t happen in the future,” James said, The Army, too, has been active in these exercises. In March, the Army sent a convoy of armored vehicles on an1,100-mile trek from the Baltics through Poland and the Czech Republic to Germany. Analysts said the size of the armor deployment Carter announced Tuesday was showed it was more symbolic than strategic. During the Cold War, the U.S. had the same amount of armor, a brigade, stationed in just one small part of what was then West Germany, said retired Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmit, the former military assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. “We are now talking about taking one brigade combat team and splitting it among these six countries. That should hardly be seen as a threat to Russia,” Kimmit said. But the symbolism was important, he said. “We’re sending a message of assurance to our NATO allies. We have obligations, under the NATO treaty, to defend those countries if attacked. I think those countries in the region are going to be welcoming the positioning of these - this equipment into their countries,” Kimmit said. Orysia Lutsevych, an analyst with the Chatham House think tank in London, said the U.S. and its NATO allies should have been making these kind of statement to Moscow sooner. The Obama administration “should have pushed the Kremlin before reaching to the kind of moment of escalation we are having right now,” Lutsevych said. “By trying to appease the Kremlin too long, we will be facing with a higher cost every day.” CNN’s Laura Koran and Brian Todd contributed to this report.

U.S. military deployment to Eastern Europe and NATO commitments


Editor’s Note: This story complements the Culinary Journeys TV series, airing monthly on CNN International. See more of the show here: www.cnn.com/journeys. Share photos of your own Culinary Journeys on Instagram with the hashtag #CNNFood for a chance to be featured on CNN. There are so many different ways to eat seafood. Fresh, quick to cook and a sure way to deliver vital Omega 3 oils, fish dishes are popular around the world. From succulent salmon to tiger prawns and shrimp, the range of ingredients is huge. Our latest #CNNFood challenge gathers the best home-cooked fish recipes shared on social media. Here are a few of our favorites: A post shared by N.J. & Reyes (@gourmethusbands) Manila-born, Vancouver-raised and Seattle-based foodie N.J. Soler has created an Instagram-perfect steamed lobster on a bed of buttery succotash. Steaming, rather than boiling, he insists, is best. “Steaming produces a more tender and flavorful meat, as it preserves the fresh ocean flavors of the lobster,” Stoler says. “Steaming is also a slower and gentle way of cooking lobsters, so the chances of overcooking the meat are lower.” When making succotash, Instagram user @eatingwithnj uses fresh ears of corn to add sweetness to the dish and fresh basil to give it a sweet and peppery aroma. To find the recipe, check out his blog here. A post shared by Vallery Lomas (@foodieinnewyork) Instagrammer @foodieinnewyork creates seasonal and travel-inspired recipes. Her grilled salmon skewers with lemon reeled us in. The salmon and lemon skewers are marinated in fresh dill, olive oil, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and spices. Not only are they easy on the eye, she says they’re “delicious, nutritious and easy to prepare!” Her blog, with the grilled salmon recipe that can be cooked in under 30 minutes, can be found here. A post shared by West African Food Products-Aftrad Village Kitchen (@aftradvillagekitchen) This fish dish by Instagram user @aftradvillagekitchen is not just everyday jollof rice. The foodie says she vividly remembers cooking this dish with her mother and is “going back to our roots” with the recipe. Jollof rice is said to be a traditional Nigerian meal and so this dish, the Instagrammer says, is unusual to her Ghanaian friends. The palm oil dish is similar to the Nigerian version but prepared with lots of locally sourced ingredients – including crayfish. A related blog full of delicious recipes can be found here. A post shared by Chidinma Okpara O. Nigerian Lazychef LLC (@nigerianlazychef) This easy fish curry comes to us from Instagrammer @nigerianlazychef. The dish is gluten-free and either basil or “nchanwu” (Nigerian scent leaves) can be added for extra flavor. For the adventurous, the fish can be seasoned with a pinch of cracked uziza seeds to taste. Although there are bones in the fish used in the recipe, chopped or whole fillets can be used. The basic recipe with bold flavors can be found here. Instagram post not found. Post has been removed or is no longer public. This one-pot shrimp and spiced couscous meal comes from Instagram user @phisayoade_phisbites. Ingredients needed include raw shrimp, salt and pepper, olive oil, an onion, garam masala, ground cumin, yellow pepper, chicken stock, couscous and parsley. For extra presentation points, the shrimps can be arranged on top of the couscous and sprinkled with a dash of parsley. The full list of ingredients and a breakdown of how to cook the one-pot shrimp can be found on their Instagram. A post shared by @jayskitchen1 Instagrammer @jayskitchen1 showed us her mixed okra fish dish. This soup is simple but delicious, she says, and is quick to make but always explosive in taste. It can be matched with some pounded yam or eba or can simply be eaten on its own. Eba is a Nigerian staple food eaten in West Africa and beyond. It’s typically made from cassava (manioc) flour – commonly known as garri. Instagram post not found. Post has been removed or is no longer public. Sunday, @bunkes_foodplatter says, is for stew. Tiger prawns are not only tasty but super-quick to cook too – they can be done in less than five minutes. This stew, presented impeccably in a star-shaped bowl with tomato garnish, comes from Bunke Eze-Echesi. Describing herself as a food enthusiast, this dish is a spicy homemade stew perfect for the weekend. A post shared by Kevin W S Kan (@kwskan) Paella originated in Valencia and is a traditional Spanish dish – with ingredients varying from region to region. The video, posted by @kwskan, shows an authentic seafood paella being served up to people on the streets of Ibiza. Often made with monkfish, king prawns and mussels, this rice and fish dish is perfect to enjoy by the sea. More from Culinary Journeys


Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Friday toughened her stance against Gina Haspel, President Donald Trump’s pick to be CIA director, saying she was “very wary” of promoting someone to run the agency who was involved in the George W. Bush administration’s controversial CIA detention and interrogation program. “To promote someone so heavily involved in the torture program to the top position at the CIA, the agency responsible for one of the darkest chapters in our history, is a move that I’m very wary of,” the California Democrat said in a statement. The California Democrat’s statement Friday struck a markedly different tone than her initial comments praising Haspel, who is currently the deputy CIA director and, if confirmed, would be the first woman to run the agency. It’s a sign that Feinstein, who is facing a challenger from her left in her reelection campaign, looks less likely to back Haspel’s confirmation. Related article CIA paints a fuller picture of director nominee Gina Haspel's biography Haspel, who has spent 33 years in the CIA, was in charge of a “black site” in Thailand in 2002 during the harsh interrogations of detainees, although she was not in charge when al Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah was waterboarded at least 83 times. RELATED: California Democrats deny Sen. Feinstein an endorsement Haspel was also chief of staff for Jose Rodriguez, director of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service, when he ordered the destruction of recordings of CIA interrogations in 2005. Those episodes have stirred up opposition to Haspel among some Democrats and at least one Republican, and the Trump administration is gearing up for a bruising confirmation battle. Sen. John McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, sent Haspel a letter Friday demanding she detail her role in detainee interrogations and the destruction of the CIA tapes, as well as asking whether she was ever “in a position of authority to stop, or prevent the future employment of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques.’” McCain is an important voice for Republicans, even with his absence from Washington while he battles cancer, and Feinstein could become a key vote for Democrats. As chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee from 2009 through 2014, Feinstein spearheaded the panel’s scathing 6,700-page report on the Bush-era interrogation program, which concluded that the use of tactics like waterboarding was not effective at obtaining accurate information or gaining cooperation from detainees. But when Haspel was picked to succeed Mike Pompeo as CIA director earlier this month, Feinstein praised Haspel’s record in her year as deputy director and said the two have discussed the issue of torture at length. Related article Paul vows to filibuster Pompeo, Haspel “I have spent some time with her,” Feinstein said at the time. “We have had dinner together. We have talked. Everything I know is that she has been a good deputy director of the CIA.” Her comments sparked criticism from the left, including from her opponent within her own party Kevin de León. “This should be an easy call. Not only should she be a NO vote on Trump’s CIA pick, she should also be a leading voice rallying all Dems against this nomination,” de León tweeted. The White House has also pointed to Feinstein’s remarks, with press secretary Sarah Sanders suggesting during a briefing last week that Feinstein backed Haspel’s nomination, though she quickly corrected herself. Last week, Feinstein sent a letter to the CIA demanding the declassification of Haspel’s records. And in her statement Friday, Feinstein specified there was a difference between praising Haspel’s record as deputy director and supporting her to run the CIA. “Her experience may have served her well as deputy, but the top position is another matter entirely,” Feinstein said.


Jeffrey Yohai provided information and documents to federal investigators The information has been turned over to special counsel Robert Mueller Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort’s son-in-law, Jeffrey Yohai, met with Department of Justice investigators in recent months, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Yohai provided information and documents to federal investigators in New York more than two months ago, according to one of the sources. The sources say the Justice Department was seeking cooperation related to the federal investigation into Manafort for possible money laundering or tax violations in his business dealings with pro-Russia parties in Ukraine. Related article Senate panel gets more details about Trump Tower meeting, reviews Comey memos The information has been turned over to special counsel Robert Mueller as part of his probe. It’s unclear if any of the information Yohai provided has been useful for the investigation of Manafort. Manafort spokesman Jason Maloni declined to comment on this story and an earlier Politico report Thursday that first discussed Yohai being approached about cooperation. Yohai has been under federal investigation for real estate deals he made with Manafort. Neither Yohai nor Manafort has been accused of any wrongdoing in either investigation. An attorney for Yohai declined to comment. Manafort’s daughter, Jessica Manafort, filed for divorce from Yohai in March. Related article FBI raided Manafort home as part of Russia probe Mueller’s team has never requested documents from Manafort, which people close to him say he’d be happy to provide. Last month, Mueller’s investigators executed a search warrant at Manafort’s Virginia home. A source told CNN the documents seized included financial and tax records and that at least some of the information had already been provided to Senate investigators. People familiar with the matter tell CNN that Manafort is hiring new lawyers whose expertise is in tax investigations, a signal that Mueller’s probe is focusing at least in part on possible tax crimes. The FBI and the special counsel’s office declined to comment. Republican strategist Roger Stone, a former business partner and longtime friend of Manafort’s, said Manafort is “never” going to testify against President Donald Trump. “Paul is 100% loyal to the President,” Stone said on Thursday. Related article FBI's Manafort raid means Bob Mueller means business Separately, Mueller’s investigation is seeking documents and talking to people regarding former national security adviser Michael Flynn, his lobbying group and work he did on behalf of a Turkish entity, a source familiar with the matter tells CNN. Investigators have been interviewing people associated with Flynn. Investigators have focused on Flynn’s lobbying work for the Turkish government, which he didn’t initially disclose as required by law. Flynn’s lawyers have since retroactively registered his lobbying. It was not clear whether Flynn, himself, was asked for documents and interviews. The request for documents, which was described to CNN, was returned with thousands of pages relating to Flynn and his consulting firm. Last week, The New York Times reported that investigators asked the White House for documents related to Flynn and have questioned some witnesses about payments Flynn may have gotten from the Turkish government. CNN’s Jeremy Diamond contributed to this report.