Bogota, Colombia (CNN en Español) Many Colombians have known nothing but a time of conflict between the government and the guerrillas of FARC.
Now there is a promise of a time of peace, with a deal signed in Havana , Cuba, between officials and a leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to end one of the world's longest-running conflicts, a 52-year war that has claimed 220,000 lives
In the Colombian capital, Bogota, hundreds celebrated the agreement in a park. On social media, hashtags like #AdiosalaGuerra (farewell to war) and #PazenColombia (peace in Colombia) trended, but other users expressed their dismay.
Some agreed with opposition complaints that the Havana deal fell short.
Rickshaw driver John Fernando Menesses said it was ironic that the government would now look after the people it had been fighting.
"It was dishonest for the country that President (Juan Manuel Santos) handed seats (in Congress) to the guerrillas," says John Fernando Menesses, who drives a rickshaw in northern Bogota. "Now the army has to take care of the guerrillas. So many soldiers were killed by the guerrillas, (and) now they have to look after them -- what an irony!"
Jose said there could not be peace without prosperity for all,
For Jose, a peddler in the capital, peace in Colombia will come only when there is equality.
"Peace is a word politicians talk about all the time. But in Colombia, there is no peace. I come from the lower classes and there is no peace. As long as we have to be desperately seeking bread, doing whatever it takes to survive, there will be no peace."
For millions of Colombians, peace is something unknown; there hasn't been a peaceful period in half a century, and entire generations have grown up watching the horrors of the conflict.
Jorge Bermudez said he hopes for peace but is skeptical it will come.
Jorge Bermudez, a retiree in Bogota, says he yearns for a peace that the younger generations have never seen. But he says he does not trust the process.
"Peace would be very nice if it finally becomes true. We need it," he said.
"I do not think it will become true, however. I don't think the agreement will become a reality because dealing with people who have killed so many children, that have maimed people and suddenly they are in government ... how will this country end up with such people?"
Others said just the hope of a different country was enough to take the risk.
Julio Correal, a Colombian musician, said the deal was an opportunity. He is also the creator of the "'Adiós a la Guerra" (Farewell to War) campaign, a government-led initiative to educate people on both sides about the peace process.
"We artists have to be builders of identity, of memory, and in this particular case serve as means of reconciliation," he told CNN.
In the campaign, about 20 artists sing for peace and join the so-called "largest conversation in the world" to spread information about the agreements.
"The opportunity we are offering is unique. These agreements are the most important in our recent history," he said.
"It is the opportunity to end a cycle of this terrible violence -- this way of resolving conflicts by force of arms -- and give the opportunity to the country, the state and society in general to enjoy a real development. It will not be easy, it has never been easy, but it is easier than a war scenario."
Freddy Socarras said the deal was a new dream for Colombians.
Freddy Socarras, from Bogota, said he thinks the agreements are a first step toward a different future.
"It's a dream, a hope that we haven't been able to live out as Colombians. For new generations it is an opportunity to rebuild the country, to live in peace. It is a historic day for Colombia and for all young people who will have a different country than the one I lived in."
Gladis said she hopes her daughter and younger generations will benefit from peace.
Gladis, who is retired and mother of a daughter, says that peace is for new generations. "I think of my daughter, of the children, they will continue this. It will not be for us."
The peace deal came after four years of negotiations. The next step is to put it to Colombian voters in a referendum October 2.
Naira Rodriguez said she is willing to give peace a chance and will vote yes.
"I will vote yes," said Naira Rodriguez. "It is the hope of the whole country. I believe we deserve this. It brings uncertainty, but we must take risks. We have to take risks."

Colombians react to peace deal with FARC


In Colombia, the peace deal between FARC rebels and the government to end a 52-year conflict is met with hope, celebration and skepticism.


(CNN) The death of Latin American music legend Juan Gabriel is heartbreaking news for throngs of fans who've followed his music career for decades.
Others are learning about the late singer for the first time as tributes pour in.
Whether you're a longtime fan or a new convert just getting acquainted with Gabriel's work, here are five things you should know:
1. His chart-topping music set a record.
Gabriel led Billboard magazine's Top Latin Albums charts five times in the past 18 months.

Juan Gabriel: 5 things about the late music legend


Whether you're a longtime fan or a new convert just getting acquainted with Juan Gabriel's work, here are five things you should know about the late music legend.


Story highlights Vice-President Joe Biden will campaign for Clinton in Ohio on September 1
The events will be the president and vice president's first solo campaign events of 2016
Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will hit the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine in September, the Clinton campaign announced Friday.
Obama, according to the campaign, will stump for Clinton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 13, while Biden will campaign for Clinton in Ohio on September 1.
Neither Clinton, nor Kaine, will be at either Obama or Biden's event, making these both the president and vice president's first solo campaign events of 2016.

Obama to campaign for Clinton on September 13 in PA


President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will hit the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine in September, the Clinton campaign announced Friday.


Story highlights Barbra Streisand took the stage with Alec Baldwin on 'The Tonight Show'
Streisand released an album of duets on Friday
(CNN) As Barbra Streisand proved earlier this week, when she calls, her famous friends answer. And on Thursday, she recruited "30 Rock" actor Alec Baldwin for some musical backup on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon."
The two teamed up for a performance of the Broadway standard "The Best Thing That Has Ever Happened," a duet that also happens to be featured on Streisand's new album, "Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway."
And Baldwin wasn't the only one to share the stage with the legendary singer.
Streisand was also joined by 'Donald Trump,' as played by Fallon.
The bizarre duo bickered about walls and wigs in a brief duet of a modified version of "Anything You Can Do."
Read More

Barbra Streisand and Alec Bladwin duet on 'Tonight Show'


As Barbra Streisand proved earlier this week, when she calls, her famous friends answer. And on Thursday, she recruited "30 Rock" actor Alec Baldwin for some musical backup on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon."


For $400, a dinghy and danger
A few miles directly south of the MOAS ship, hordes of people collect themselves on Libyan beaches for the crossing. After long journeys by land, their moment of reckoning has finally arrived.
They are herded from walled-in compounds to the surf by Libyan smugglers wielding AK-47s.
One of the migrants is Mogahid Sabeel of Sudan.
Sabeel tried to sleep on the dirt floor of a warehouse where he had been taken but he was too anxious, cold and hungry -- it's Ramadan and he's been fasting since sunrise.
The smugglers promised Sabeel that his $400 would buy him passage on a cargo container ship or a fishing trawler. There are no such vessels in sight; only a 20-foot-long inflatable dinghy powered by an outboard motor.
Sabeel can tell the dinghy poses danger But by now, his fear of the Libyan militias and smugglers outweighs the risks on the open sea.
He asks for a life jacket.
Yes, yes, you will get one, the smugglers say. They also promise a satellite phone for emergencies.
No more questions, they yell, pointing their guns. They toss five or six plastic jerry cans of fuel into the boat.
It is 2:30 in the morning when Sabeel marches to the water's edge with 75 men, 53 women and four children. They are ordered to take off their shoes and carry the dinghy out into the surf. The smugglers arrange them in three rows. Those on the outside edges of the boat place one leg in the water and one leg inside. Some of the women lie down in the center with people on top of them so that 133 people can squeeze into a dinghy built for 25.
The human arrangements almost resemble the drawings of people packed into the slave ships that once sailed to the Americas, only on a smaller scale.
One of the smugglers hops into the dinghy, starts the motor and steers the migrants out to sea. After an hour he gets off and boards a fast boat that has arrived to take him back to land.
"See those stars," he says, pointing upward. "They mean north. Follow them."
Suddenly ocean and sky are the same color: black.
There are no life jackets, no working phone. No water. No food.
Reality descends with such a heavy crush that most people cannot even panic out loud. They sit silently, too afraid to utter a word. They drink salt water to quench their thirst.
Sabeel sits in the stern, his right leg in the water -- and begins to tremble. He is 33, too young to die.
Already, he has endured so much. From his native Sudan he has traveled many months and through three countries in search of a better life.
A bloody civil war ended his plan to run the family farm in Darfur; his family abandoned their land to escape the bloodshed and moved south to start anew. That venture ended, too, after South Sudan gained independence in 2011 and internal conflict ensued.
Sabeel, who studied agricultural science at the University of Gezira, tried his hand at small business enterprises in Ethiopia and Dubai but struggled. He finally fled to Cairo in 2014 after being targeted in Sudan for his participation in Arab Spring protests. He thought of himself as a liberal Muslim and was sure he would face arrest back home.
He heard the employment situation was better in Libya and paid money to enter the country illegally, but things didn't go as planned and he fell into the hands of militias and smugglers. He says they demanded more money, held him hostage and locked him up for days at a time. After weeks of harrowing experiences, he managed to make it to his cousin's house in Tripoli.
But he knew he couldn't stay in Libya. The political vacuum after Gadhafi opened the way for militias and even ISIS to establish power. The few jobs that were to be had were hardly stable. He lived in fear of being abducted or killed.
He learned that ships left Libya for Italy, so he put two shirts, a pair of shorts and underwear in an etched leather shoulder bag made by an artist friend in Sudan and arranged for passage. Smugglers sent a driver in an old white Nissan Maxima who took him and two other Sudanese men west along the coast. They maneuvered through checkpoints until Zawiyah, where they changed cars and routes to avoid heavily armed militiamen. They finally made it to the warehouse in Sabratha at about the same time that John Hamilton was going to bed on the Responder.
Now, under the stars, Sabeel tries to calm himself. If only they can get to Europe by some miracle, maybe someone will recognize his college degree and he can finally make a decent living. But two hours have passed and behind him, he can still see the lights of Libya. In the bow, one of two plywood reinforcement boards is beginning to crack from the weight of the passengers. The boat is listing.
2nd Officer Danny Sebastian points to the Responder’s location. Rescue vessels stay away from Libyan waters.
The stench of human misery
The first blip on the radar comes at 3:45 a.m. Everyone on the Responder jumps into high gear.
A drone is dispatched from the nearby MOAS sister ship, the Phoenix. It is a military-grade Schiebel drone with an infrared camera capable of spotting vessels at night. Almost 70% of the migrant boats MOAS rescues are located by drones that scour the sea.
Hamilton and his rescue team cover themselves with white protective jumpsuits, helmets and life jackets and report to the main deck. The medical staff does the same -- it's important to maintain sanitary conditions onboard, especially when picking up people with unknown or undiagnosed illnesses.
The Responder races toward the coordinates pinpointed by the drone. Hamilton orders the Ghalib, one of the fast orange rescue crafts, lowered into the sea. He hops in with a certified rescue diver, Nick Romaniuk.
Romaniuk gave up a profitable commercial job after his experience at a refugee camp in Greece. There, he met a Yazidi boy in a Sesame Street shirt who'd been thrown into a fire by ISIS fighters and bore scars up and down his arms. A week later, Romaniuk signed up with MOAS.
The Responder's searchlight finally has the migrant boat in sight. It is nothing but a small dinghy with people packed together in the heat. The smell is pungent; they had nowhere to relieve themselves, and some are sick from the motion. Others are bleeding from injuries suffered in their journeys to this moment.
Hamilton and Romaniuk begin throwing life jackets overboard. That's always the first step, in case the dinghy capsizes during the rescue. The migrants clamor after every jacket tossed into the air, thinking each may be the last.
Romaniuk boards the dinghy, sits in the bow and tries to keep everyone calm. If his English compatriots who spew hate toward migrants could be here now, he thinks, they too would jump in the water to save someone.
Hamilton decides the sea is calm enough to maneuver the dinghy to the Responder and unload the people directly, instead of moving them onboard the Ghalib.
"Listen to me," he shouts. "What we're going to do is bring this boat next to the big boat so I need for you to put your legs inside."
The migrants move around and some try to stand up. The dinghy rocks from side to side.
"Stay calm," Hamilton yells again, knowing most of the migrants probably can't understand English. "Don't stand up. Sit down. Don't fight. Everybody, shut up."
He hates having to be aggressive with people who are so vulnerable, but there is no other way to control the situation. The dinghy could capsize, or someone could fall into the water and get crushed between the boats.
As the dinghy comes alongside the Responder, everyone tries to get out all at once.
"Wait, wait," Hamilton tells them. "There is no hurry. You are all safe now."
One by one, 108 people are pulled out of the dinghy, starting with the children and women. Hamilton waits anxiously.
At times he has watched a migrant boat empty only to expose the bodies of those who have died of suffocation, dehydration or sheer exhaustion. On this morning, he feels relieved.
Everyone has survived.
Many migrant families make the risky journey by sea with their young children.
They are from Africa: Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Senegal, Nigeria, Mali.
One man wears nothing but underwear. Another has on a gray North Face puffer jacket intended for winter slopes. Most are barefoot, their ebony legs powdered with a white mixture of dust and encrusted sea salt. They carry few possessions -- a toothbrush tucked in a chest pocket, a plastic pouch containing photos of loved ones left behind.
Three Muslim men face east toward Mecca and fall to their knees in prayer. A Catholic man makes the sign of the cross.
The MOAS crew pats down the men to make sure no one is carrying a weapon or cigarette lighter. The Emergency nurses ask if they have any injuries. One man from Guinea says smugglers beat his legs with an iron bar.
Nurse Yohanes Ghebray leads patients into an exam room set up inside the ship's cabin. He knows the plight of the migrants. He was one himself years ago when he fled his native Eritrea on a rickety boat and was rescued in similar fashion.
He is assisted by Jean de Dieu Bihizi, who studied philosophy at home in Burundi but felt it wasn't enough to theorize about the world's problems -- he needed to do something more practical. He remembers a rescue in which two women from Mali looked him in the eyes and said: If we die, please take our children and make sure they are educated. Bihizi was taken aback by their trust.
Inside, Dr. Mimmo Risica scribbles a number on red masking tape and sticks it on the chests of the most serious medical cases. When the Responder transfers the migrants to another vessel or docks somewhere in Italy, doctors will tend to the tagged patients first.
Risica is a retired cardiologist from Venice, a quiet man who volunteered time to do something good and brought with him a hunk of his favorite Parmigiano-Reggiano that he shaves onto his pasta every night at dinner. He stays remarkably calm as he sees patient after patient.
Soon, one third of the Responder's main deck is filled with people. But the day is young. Hamilton senses more will come.
'Where are you taking us?'
At 7:10 a.m., the helicopter drones confirm two more boats near the Responder's location. One -- carrying Mogahid Sabeel -- is 17 miles north of the Libyan coast.
It's daylight now but Sabeel cannot figure out what to make of the Responder. His fellow passengers think it's a Libyan pirate boat and are frightened they will be taken back to Libya or killed and left to rot at sea. They scream at their driver to steer west, away from the Responder.
But then, they see "MOAS" written in English lettering on the ship's side.
As the Responder gets closer, the migrants spot the fast rescue craft Ghalib descending into the water. They see white people standing on deck. They realize the ship is European.
Sabeel glances at his rapidly draining mobile phone: It's 7:35 a.m. As the rescue craft rushes toward them, he feels a kind of solace he has not known in many months.
He sees Hamilton standing near the bow of the Ghalib and sees life jackets flying through the air. Then the Ghalib nudges the dinghy toward the Responder. One by one, the migrants board the MOAS ship. First aboard are the Nigerian women. Their knees have locked up from hours of sitting and they limp across the deck, begging for water. Sabeel is one of the last to be pulled out.
The Responder brims with humanity; 366 people rescued on this morning.
Their faces show shock, disbelief, anxiety and relief.
"Where are you taking us?" they ask.
Sometimes rescued migrants are transferred onto bigger vessels in the area. Other times, the Responder transports them to a port in Italy, where they are processed at immigration centers. Hamilton is waiting for instructions from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, the agency in Italy that oversees traffic in the Mediterranean.
The Responder’s main deck fills quickly with people rescued at sea.
Almost everyone rescued today says their families paid large sums of money -- as much as $5,000 -- to smugglers. For many, the money was their life savings.
Bada Mbye, 19, left home in the Gambian capital, Banjul, after his father was arrested for political reasons. He traveled through Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger to reach southwest Libya. He's wearing a bright red England shirt and says he wants to become a famous footballer in Europe, maybe in Berlin where he has an older sister.
He echoes others when he talks about the abuse inflicted on black Africans in Libya, documented recently by the human rights group Amnesty International. Traffickers and smugglers are known to rape, abduct and torture migrants. The migrants also face religious persecution and exploitation by employers.
Esther Iroghama and her brother traveled by road from Nigeria's Edo state to Libya. Smugglers put them in the back of a pickup truck but somewhere in the desert, gunmen fired shots at the tires and then at the body of the truck. She survived; her brother did not.
There are about 30 Bangladeshis who paid labor agents up to $2,500 to take them from their impoverished villages to work in Libya's ceramics industry. They fled after being forced to work without pay.
"I am one of the lucky ones," Sabeel says, looking around the Responder's main deck.
He tiptoes over people to refill a plastic water bottle from a container on deck. He gazes across the Mediterranean.
Somewhere out there is Europe.
"At least now," he says, "I will go to a civilized place and be treated like a human being."
'Maybe we would have made it to heaven'
From the Libyan coast, it can take the Responder up to 36 hours to reach a port in Sicily. That's a long time to sit on a hard surface in close quarters. By the second day onboard the Responder, many of the rescued migrants have grown visibly restless.
The Emergency crew hands out soda crackers and raisins but there are no facilities on board to serve meals to this many people.
Hamilton steps out on deck when it's his turn to keep watch. He says hello to Mbye, the young Gambian man wearing the England football shirt.
"Don't play for England," Hamilton jokes. Everyone around laughs. They know about England's humiliating defeat by Iceland in the Euro Cup. Hamilton enjoys the joviality amid an otherwise grim atmosphere.
"I like to support underdogs like Iceland," Hamilton tells them. "But most of the time I support Malta and Scotland. My father is Scottish."
Sabeel has been listening to the conversation and is eager to meet Hamilton.
"My favorite movie is 'Braveheart,'" Sabeel says of the Mel Gibson blockbuster.
Suddenly, a commotion breaks out on the ship. Hamilton fears that a fight has erupted and is happy to see he is wrong: People are climbing over each other to glimpse a school of dolphins swimming alongside the Responder.
"I see dolphins as good luck," Hamilton tells Sabeel. "When I see them, we always come across a migrant boat."

The tale of one rescuer and one desperate day at sea


The moon is but a faint sliver on this early July morning and, without its glow, sky and sea meld into a darkness so deep that before John Hamilton can clearly see the people he has come to save, he can smell them. It is the sour stench of human misery. Of sweat, urine, vomit, blood. He prays it is not also the smell of death.


(CNN) The President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, was hospitalized Saturday morning after suffering a brain hemorrhage, according to the long-time strongman's daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva.
On Monday, she posted a family photo on her official Facebook page with an announcement about her father's illness.
"I would like write here about the sad events that befell our family last weekend. My father was hospitalized after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage on Saturday morning, and is now receiving treatment in an intensive care unit. His condition is considered stable.
"At the moment it is too early to make any predictions about his future health. My only request to everyone is to refrain from any speculations, and show respect to our family's right to privacy. I will be grateful to everyone who will support my father with prayers."
The Uzbekistan presidency's press service issued a statement Sunday on its website claiming Islam Karimov "is currently hospitalized. According to experts, a full medical examination is necessary."
Read More

Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov hospitalized after stroke


The President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, was hospitalized Saturday morning after suffering a brain hemorrhage, according to the long-time strongman's daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva.


Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

King: 'Happy to hear' Trump clarify immigration policy


Rep. Steve King said Friday he's been "happy to hear" Donald Trump clarifying his immigration policy.


The Italian Coast Guard says it has rescued around 6,500 migrants in just over a day. CNN's Barbie Nadeau reports.


This Ghanaian drummer is catching the attention of international audiences with his unique beat.


(CNN) It all began at the Newport Casino Club on Rhode Island way back in 1881 and since 1978 the US Open has been held at Flushing Meadows.
The last grand slam of the season has been contested on grass, clay as well as the current hard courts but only one player has won the title on all three surfaces.
This year marks another milestone for the tournament as the Arthur Ashe Stadium gets a roof for the first time — making rain delays a thing of the past.


It all began at the Newport Casino Club on Rhode Island way back in 1881 and since 1978 the US Open has been held at Flushing Meadows.


Clinton, Trump supporters in heated exchange over race


New York Times columnist Charles Blow and Republican political commentator Paris Dennard engaged in a fiery exchange about race in the Clinton and Trump campaigns.


Amatrice, Italy (CNN) The summer sun beats brightly down on the streets of the picturesque Italian mountain town, but the people who walk them are not on holiday. Amatrice has become a mausoleum.
The town -- home to the beloved Spaghetti all'Amatriciana -- should have been full of pasta-loving foodies this weekend for the annual festival. But instead, locals sway through the streets -- disorientated, confused and disheveled.
At least 281 people have died across the region -- the majority killed in this rural town -- after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Many more remain unaccounted for.
An emergency responder passes by the rubble of the building in Amatrice where Roberto Partenza and his family lived before the earthquake struck in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, August 24.
Builder Roberto Partenza's home was pancaked by the disaster. He described waking up to "a huge sound."
"Everywhere was shaking," he said. "I hugged my wife because I thought that was going to be the last moment of my life."
They scrambled out from beneath the debris, scooped up their children, along with a few items of clothing, and escaped to safety.
Others were not as lucky.
It's been a race against time for emergency responders. The town's isolated location meant that the first people to dig survivors from the rubble, were those like Partenza. He and many others began excavating with whatever tools were available.
"I hugged my wife because I thought that was going to be the last moment of my life." Roberto Partenza
"At the beginning we started digging with our hands," he said. "We could hear sounds of people asking for help."
"After a while the first rescue teams started to arrive from the area."
There is now only one route into the once-charming town -- a winding circuitous road busy with emergency vehicles hurtling around the small cliff-facing lanes.
Many roads are cordoned off and bridges are perilously unstable, with rock falls making travel more difficult.
At the church in Amatrice, Franciscan monks sit huddled together in the hot summer sun too exhausted to maintain a façade of calm and strength.
Arturo Filippi pets rescue dog Sam Sam at a volunteer camp in Amatrice. Fillipi, who lives in Venice, is a logistics coordinator with 16 years experience in disaster response, including this earthquake and two others.
Around 6,600 rescuers are at work in the region, according to authorities, but they know time is against them. With each passing hour, the likelihood of finding survivors diminishes.
"This city will become a museum city, for people to see that an earthquake happened here," said Arturo Filippi, an emergency response volunteer with 16 years experience.
Marisa Di Tommaso and husband Michelo Giuseppe pose together near the makeshift headquarters of the Italian Red Cross in Amatrice.
The earth continues to shiver three days on. And with aftershocks, comes the unrelenting fear for residents.
"The future is finished. It's finished. The future is finished," said Marissa Di Tommaso, 58, a resident who used to work at one of the local schools.
"My son had two businesses here ... Everything's destroyed."
Tears fall from her eyes.
"What we do?" she asked. "I wanted to stay here but if everybody leaves ... We don't know."
JUST WATCHED Life in the rubble Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Life in the rubble 01:57
Some have returned to survey the damaged remnants of their homes. They gathered quietly at squares, where women sobbed as they clutched each other, grateful to find their friends had survived.
Men stood in silence staring absently at the detritus at their feet, too upset to speak to reporters.
Afterwards they quietly walked back to one of the few camps set up within the town limits for displaced locals.
Dominico Betterelli, 33, is a baker who lived in Amatrice before the earthquake destroyed the shop where he worked. He says "there are no words to describe [the quake]. Many deaths, many destroyed houses, a disaster."
Makeshift campsites have sprung up anywhere open space can afford safety. In one park, an untouched playground is surrounded with pitched tents where volunteers lie as they hope to steal just a few minutes of respite.
While a few of the residents remain, most have fled to the safety of nearby cities, such as Rome, to shelter with friends and family.
Stray sheep wander past the wrecked shells of homes in Accumoli.
Outside of Amatrice, displaced locals have taken refuge in a number of newly-erected campsites. One sits in a field near the commune of Accumoli.
Here AnnaMaria Volpetti, 52, explained that she had been visiting her family's hometown when the quake hit.
"We are lucky," she said. "The earthquake was brutal. It came in waves."
The earthquake was brutal. It came in waves. AnnaMaria Volpetti
Along with her mother, father, son and daughter, the family have been staying in the camp for a few nights.
In the immediate aftermath of the quake, amid screaming and terror, AnnaMaria and her family were trapped within their house. They waited until neighbors were able to break their door down.
When the quake struck, she said it was like the walls of the house had turned to cardboard.
Cecilia d'Alessio takes a moment to grieve for three family members who died in the earthquake in Amatrice. She owns a home in Amatrice city center which she says has now been destroyed.
"I am very scared of that house now, I'm not going back in," AnnaMaria whispered as she recalled the moment.
"I told my father that he should get it demolished ... that he has to get a small wooden one."
She blamed the age of the regions' buildings for the level of destruction.
AnnaMaria tends to her cat near a staging area for the camp's emergency supplies. In the immediate aftermath of the quake, she and her family were trapped in their holiday home.
"These houses are very old and were made with stones from the river."
"It's sad for everyone," she said.
"We grew up here for four months a year when we were kids. But those people who live there have had many deaths: friends, relatives ... And they don't have a house to live in."
Vivek Kemp, Sara Delgrossi and Tim Lister contributed to this report from Amatrice.

Italy earthquake survivors: "The future is finished"


The summer sun beats brightly down on the streets of the picturesque mountain town, but the people who walk them are not on holiday. Amatrice has become a mausoleum.


Family: Gene Wilder has died of Alzheimer's at 83


The family of Gene Wilder says the iconic comedian died of complications from Alzheimer's today. CNN's Sara Sidner reports.


Story highlights Amy Sharp, 18, was wanted by police after she escaped from a corrective services complex in Sydney
Police released two mugshots, but the teenager asked a TV station on Facebook to use a different image
(CNN) An 18-year-old woman who was wanted by police in Australia has responded to a post on Facebook asking a TV station to use a different picture of herself.
Amy Sharp escaped from Sydney's Surry Hills Corrective Services Cell Complex August 19 and police released two mugshots of the teenager taken at the facility, draped in a red blanket.
Sharp then commented underneath the post from her personal profile, which called for her arrest, politely requesting that they use a different photo of herself.
She wrote: "Can you use this photo, please and thank you. Yours Truly, Amy Sharp xx"
Read More

Australian escapee Amy Sharp requests different mugshot


A teenager, who escaped from a police station in Sydney, has asked the media to use a different photo of her.


Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Defiant child? How to sway them your way


CNN's Kelly Wallace asks parenting expert Tricia Ferrara for tips and tricks on dealing with a defiant child.


-- A man carries a child as another lies dead after an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City beach in July 2014. At least four boys, ages 9 to 11, were killed. The Israeli military investigated the tragedy and reported that the location of the attack was known to be a compound of Hamas police and naval forces. "Tragically, in the wake of the incident it became clear that the outcome of the attack was the death of four children who had entered the military compound for reasons that remain unclear," the report stated.


These photos are equally stunning and horrifying. They bring into focus the sometimes abstract understanding of what war truly costs.


Photos: Infamous serial killers John Wayne Gacy killed 33 men and boys between 1972 and 1978. Many of his victims, mostly drifters and runaways, were buried in a crawlspace beneath his suburban Chicago home. Here's a look at some other notorious convicted serial killers. Hide Caption 1 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Jeffery Dahmer was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms for the murders of 17 men and boys in the Milwaukee area between 1978 and 1991. Dahmer had sex with the corpses of his victims and kept the body parts of others, some of which he ate. Dahmer and another prison inmate were beaten to death during a work detail in November 1994. Hide Caption 2 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Law enforcement officers meet in San Francisco in 1969 to compare notes on the Zodiac Killer, who is believed to have killed five people in 1968 and 1969. The killer gained notoriety by writing several letters to police boasting of the slayings. He claimed to have killed as many as 37 people and has never been caught. Hide Caption 3 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Authorities said DNA recovered from the body of Mary Sullivan matches that of her suspected killer, the confessed Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo. After a sample was secretly collected from a relative, DeSalvo's body was exhumed in July 2013 for more DNA testing. From mid-1962 to early 1964, the Boston Strangler killed at least 13 women. DeSalvo was stabbed to death in 1973 while serving a prison sentence for rape. Hide Caption 4 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Ed Gein killed at least two women and dug up the corpses of several others from a cemetery in Wisconsin, using their skin and body parts to make clothing and household objects in the 1950s. Hide Caption 5 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers In 1973, Juan Corona, a California farm laborer, was sentenced to 25 consecutive life sentences for the murders of 25 people found hacked to death in shallow graves. Hide Caption 6 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Joseph Paul Franklin was convicted in 1997 of murdering Gerald Gordon outside a St. Louis synagogue in 1977. Franklin was also convicted of at least five other murders, receiving a string of life sentences, but he suggested that he was responsible for 22 murders. He was best known for shooting Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, who was paralyzed from the attack. Franklin was executed in November 2013. Hide Caption 7 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers In 1977, David Berkowitz, also known as Son of Sam, confessed to the murders of six people in New York City. Berkowitz, now serving six consecutive 25-to-life sentences, claimed that a demon spoke to him through a neighbor's dog. Hide Caption 8 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Cousins Kenneth Bianchi, seen here, and Angelo Buono were charged with the murders of nine women between 1977 and 1978. Also known as the Hillside Stranglers, the cousins sexually assaulted and sometimes tortured their victims, leaving their bodies on roadsides in the hills of Southern California. Hide Caption 9 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Wayne Williams killed at least two men between 1979 and 1981, and police believed he might have been responsible for more than 20 other deaths in the Atlanta area. Williams was convicted and sentenced to two life terms in 1982. Hide Caption 10 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers After serving 15 years for murdering his mother, Henry Lee Lucas was convicted in 1985 in nine more murders. Lucas was the only inmate spared from execution by Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Hide Caption 11 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Richard Ramirez, also known as the Night Stalker, was convicted of 13 murders and sentenced to death in California in 1989. The self-proclaimed devil worshiper found his victims in quiet neighborhoods and entered their homes through unlocked windows and doors. Hide Caption 12 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers During a routine traffic stop, a police officer found a dead U.S. Marine in the front seat of a car driven by Randy Steven Kraft. Kraft was linked to 45 murders and sentenced to death in 1989. He would pick up hitchhikers, give them drugs and alcohol, sexually assault them and then mutilate and strangle them. Hide Caption 13 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Ted Bundy raped and killed at least 16 young women in the early to mid-1970s before he was executed in 1989. A crowd of several hundred gathered outside the prison where he was executed, and they cheered at the news of his death. Hide Caption 14 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Joel David Rifkin was stopped by police for driving without a license plate when a body was found in his pickup. Rifkin killed 17 women in New York between 1991 and 1993 and was sentenced to life in prison. Hide Caption 15 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Charles Ng, seen here, and accomplice Leonard Lake tortured, killed and buried 11 people in northern California between 1984 and 1985. After the men were arrested for shoplifting, police found bullets and a silencer in their car and took them into the police station for questioning. Lake killed himself there with a cyanide pill. Ng was later sentenced to death. Hide Caption 16 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Robert Lee Yates Jr. killed 15 people, most of them between 1996 and 1998. He buried one of them in a flower bed by his house in the Spokane, Washington, area. Most of his victims were prostitutes or drug addicts he killed in his van. He is on Washington's death row. Hide Caption 17 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Gary Leon Ridgway, also known as the Green River Killer, confessed to 48 killings after his DNA was linked to a few of his victims. Remains of his victims, mostly runaways and prostitutes, turned up in ravines, rivers, airports and freeways in the Pacific Northwest. Hide Caption 18 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Aileen Wuornos was executed in Florida in 2002 for the murders of seven men whom she had lured by posing as a prostitute or a distressed traveler. Hide Caption 19 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Derrick Todd Lee was accused of raping and killing six women in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, between 2001 and 2003. He was arrested in Atlanta for the murder of Charlotte Murray Pace, convicted in 2004 and sentenced to death. Hide Caption 20 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Danny Rolling pleaded guilty to the 1990 murders of five students he raped, tortured and mutilated in Gainesville, Florida. Rolling was also found responsible for a 1991 triple homicide in Shreveport, Louisiana, and was executed in 2006. Hide Caption 21 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Angel Maturino Resendez, also known as the Railway Killer, was a drifter from Mexico. During the 1990s, he would rob and kill his victims near railroad tracks on both sides of the border and then hop rail cars to escape. Resendez was executed in 2006. Hide Caption 22 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Pig farmer Robert Pickton was charged with 26 counts of murder after police found the bodies of young women on his farm in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. He was convicted of six murders in 2007, and he is serving a life sentence. Hide Caption 23 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers The BTK Strangler, Dennis Rader, killed 10 people between 1977 and 1991 in the Wichita, Kansas, area. He was sentenced to 10 consecutive life terms in 2005. Rader named himself BTK, short for "bind, torture, kill." Hide Caption 24 of 26
Photos: Infamous serial killers Police found the decomposing and buried bodies of 10 women and the skull of another woman at the Cleveland home of ex-Marine Anthony Sowell. He was convicted and given the death penalty in 2011. Hide Caption 25 of 26

'China's Jack the Ripper' caught after 28 years on the run


A suspected serial killer accused of the rape and murder of 11 women has been caught after almost three decades on the run.


Senator: Philippine crackdown 'not going to be the norm'


Alan Peter Cayetano, a close ally of President Rodrigo Duterte, says the violent war on drugs is a temporary but necessary period.


Story highlights Selena Gomez says she's taking time off to deal with "anxiety, panic attacks and depression," stemming from her Lupus
The singer just finished up several months of touring
(CNN) Selena Gomez is taking time off to deal with issues stemming from her Lupus.
"I've discovered that anxiety, panic attacks and depression can be side effects of Lupus, which can present their own challenges," Gomez said in a statement to CNN. "I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off."
Gomez had been scheduled to perform for two dates in Canada at the beginning of September and tour in Europe and South America through the end of the year. Her representatives have not said whether she plans to cancel or reschedule the dates.
The singer revealed her battle with Lupus last year.
"Thank you to all my fans for your support," Gomez added. "You know how special you are to me, but I need to face this head on to ensure I am doing everything possible to be my best. I know I am not alone and by sharing this, I hope others will be encouraged to address their own issues."
Read More

Selena Gomez taking time off for health reasons


Selena Gomez is taking time off to deal with issues stemming from her Lupus.


Story highlights UEFA guarantees top leagues four Champions League group-stage spots
Spain, Germany, England and Italy currently set to benefit
UEFA also "significantly" increasing financial distribution to clubs
(CNN) Life just got a little bit easier for the clubs of European football's top four leagues after UEFA, the sport's governing body on the continent, announced that each division will have four guaranteed places in the Champions League group stage from the start of 2018-19 season.
The current top four leagues in Europe -- according to UEFA's coefficient rankings -- are the Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, English Premier League and Italian Serie A.
Under the present system, La Liga, the Bundesliga and the Premier League are guaranteed three places in the group stage, with a fourth spot possible through the playoff round, while Serie A is sure of two places and a third available through the playoff round.
JUST WATCHED Leicester's Fuchs on UEFA Champions League Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Leicester's Fuchs on UEFA Champions League 03:08
France's Ligue 1, Russia's Premier League and Portugal's Primeira Liga sit fifth, sixth and seventh respectively in UEFA's coefficient rankings, although they currently remain some distance behind the top four divisions.
The new changes mean that 16 of the 32 Champions League group-stage spots will now be guaranteed to teams in Europe's top four leagues.
OFFICIAL: The top four teams from the four highest-ranked leagues will enter the #UCL group stage from 2018. pic.twitter.com/TUva8MIGiE — Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 26, 2016
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Champions League: Top leagues guaranteed extra spots


UEFA has announced that Europe's top four leagues will have four guaranteed places in the Champions League group stage from the 2018-19 season.


Quezon City, the Philippines (CNN) It's monsoon season in the Philippines and in a ramshackle neighborhood in Quezon City, near Manila, a sudden downpour has left gray puddles in the rutted streets and fat, dirty drops of rainwater steadily dripping from corrugated metal roofs.
It's getting late as Leny Glivano, the neighborhood captain, a small woman with a zeal in her eye, coordinates with police Senior Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar. Together they go through a master list of suspected drug users in her barangay -- a Filipino word for neighborhood -- as they have done nightly for six weeks.
Soon, they are ducking down dark, narrow, trash-strewn alleyways into the heart of the Barangay Libis slum, accompanied by a slew of uniformed officers and as many as 10 helmeted, assault rifle-toting SWAT officers.
Officers and the neighborhood "captain" Leny Glivano talk to a resident of Barangay Libis during a late night visit.
'Knock and plead'
They're on a "tokhang," or "knock and plead" operation -- a tactic adopted from new President Rodrigo Duterte 's hometown of Davao City, where he was mayor for more than two decades.
The United Nations last week condemned Duterte's violent crackdown on drugs since he assumed office in late June, urging the Philippines government "to protect all persons from targeted killings and extrajudicial executions."
"Knock and plead" involves going to the homes of those suspected of using shabu -- the local name for methamphetamine -- and, with practiced, almost comically overwrought politeness, inviting those inside to accompany the police to the barangay hall.
"You're on our list," Eleazar says to one, who seems disoriented by the visible show of force at his front door.
"When was the last time you used?"
It's been a long time, the dazed occupant says. He's wearing shorts and holds a thin, grubby tank top as he blinks in the light.
"We'd like to invite you to the barangay for some clarifications," Eleazar says. The man meekly complies. The armed entourage moves on to the next address on the list.
Photos: 'Knock and plead': Persuading Quezon City drug users to register A Quezon City SWAT officer holds a shotgun during a "knock and plead" operation, as part of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs. Police officers knock on doors to ask drug users to voluntarily surrender. Hide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: 'Knock and plead': Persuading Quezon City drug users to register An armed officer accompanies a "knock and plead" operation in the Bangaray Labis slum in Quezon City. Hide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: 'Knock and plead': Persuading Quezon City drug users to register Officers and the neighborhood "captain" Leny Glivano talk to a resident during a late night visit. Hide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: 'Knock and plead': Persuading Quezon City drug users to register The "knock and plead" operations involve going to the homes of those suspected of using methamphetamine -- and inviting those inside to accompany the police to the local town hall. Hide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: 'Knock and plead': Persuading Quezon City drug users to register At the hall, those rounded up sit around a starkly lit room, waiting to be registered as drug users. They are interviewed by police about local dealers. Hide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: 'Knock and plead': Persuading Quezon City drug users to register Hands raised, the detainees recite a pledge that affirms that their surrender is voluntary. They promise to "undertake to stop all" drug-related activities. Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: 'Knock and plead': Persuading Quezon City drug users to register Mug shots are taken, and those surrendering are required to provide a urine sample for drug testing. Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: 'Knock and plead': Persuading Quezon City drug users to register The detainees are also fingerprinted -- but the Philippines National Police Chief, Ronald Dela Rosa, tells CNN that the surrenders are not arrests. Hide Caption 8 of 8
Registration, mug shots -- and ice cream
At the hall, those rounded up sit around a starkly lit room, waiting to be registered as drug users.
There's around 10 of them this night. They listen to a short orientation speech by Glivano while rubbing their heads and looking at the floor.
JUST WATCHED Philippines drug war sparks outrage, fear Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Philippines drug war sparks outrage, fear 03:36
There's disbelieving laughter when she shows them a video of those who previously surrendered dancing in unison -- part of an ongoing local rehab program that includes counseling and regular checkups to ensure they stay clean.
One tells CNN he hasn't used shabu for weeks but suspected the cops would pay him a visit. He waited to surrender, hoping they would forget about him but, and under the watchful eye of Eleazar, insists he's happy to be here.
"It's time for a new life," he says.
CNN Map
The surrender process involves signing an affidavit before undergoing interviews with police about local dealers. They then give a urine sample, get fingerprinted and are photographed.
Finally, hands raised, the members of the group recite, in halting English, a pledge that affirms that their surrender is voluntary. They promise to "undertake to stop all" drug-related activities.
Police then hand out ice cream and sodas.
An invitation or de facto arrest?
From the outside, the process smacks of an arrest (except for the ice cream). While the people on the list are invited to attend -- and the country's top police officer, Ronald Dela Rosa, tells CNN it is entirely voluntary -- few dare to decline.
Dela Rosa insists that those who turn themselves in aren't under arrest despite the mugshots, and the presence of an ink pad on the table at the neighborhood hall. He boasts there have been around 600,000 voluntary surrenders since the program went national.
There's a reason for his pride -- he initiated the program as Davao City's police chief before his meteoric rise to Philippine National Police chief under his old friend and colleague, Duterte.
JUST WATCHED A brutal war on drugs in the Philippines. Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH A brutal war on drugs in the Philippines. 03:24
Climate of fear
The new administration enjoys high public approval ratings for its crackdown on drug crime, but not all are convinced.
"It doesn't sound like proper police procedure to me," says rights advocate Jose Manue Diokno, chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG). "These are in our view warrantless arrests."
There's "a new (climate) of fear in the Philippines," where suspects who don't have legal representation are made to sign documents incriminating themselves, Diokno says. The process, he says, is "a violation of our bill of rights."
There's no doubt it's a dangerous time to be involved in drugs in the Philippines. Since taking office in June, Duterte's time in office has seen over 1,900 deaths -- at least 756 killings of suspected drug offenders by police, and at least another 1160 unsolved killings, many drug related and many by suspected vigilantes, according to senate testimony by PNP police chief Dela Rosa.
"Law officials are acting as judge, jury and executioner," Diokno says.
With voluntary surrenders reaching well over half a million in just a few weeks, it's clear that Duterte and Dela Rosa consider the program a success. But the simple fact is, Eleazar laughs, those turning themselves in in Barangay Libis this rainy night are simply "scared to die."


In a ramshackle neighborhood in Quezon City, police are knocking on doors, asking suspected drug users to turn themselves in voluntarily. "Law officials are acting as judge, jury and executioner," one rights advocate says.


Story highlights Trump has publicly produced few medical records
He and his allies have raised questions about Hillary Clinton's health
Washington (CNN) The doctor who has produced the only public medical record about Donald Trump during his presidential campaign reportedly said he spent only five minutes writing it.
Harold Bornstein, Trump's doctor who wrote a four-paragraph note last December declaring the GOP nominee to be the "healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency," said Friday that he spent very little time on the note.
"I try to get four or five lines down as fast as possible so that they would be happy," he told NBC News, explaining that he penned the note as he waited for a limo to pick him up. "In the rush, I think some of those words didn't come out exactly the way they were meant."
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Bornstein said he added some hyperbole to the note because "I think I picked up his kind of language and then I just interpreted it to my own."
Asked about Trump's health, Bornstein told NBC: "I don't think he's in any better or worse (shape) than the average person that goes and exercises every single day," he said. "Doesn't smoke, doesn't drink -- and that's simply the best advantage you can have to live -- and he's got a good family history."
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Doctor: I wrote Trump's bill of health in 5 minutes


The doctor who has produced the only public medical record about Donald Trump during his presidential campaign reportedly said he spent only five minutes writing it.


Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.


Maine Gov. Paul LePage left a profanity-laced voicemail for a Democratic lawmaker. CNN's Phil Mattingly reports.


Story highlights Next year's calendar features a dozen accomplished actresses
Photographer said it's different from shooting models
(CNN) The Pirelli calendar, the tire company's annual showcase of female beauty, continues to redefine itself.
While the 2016 calendar celebrated accomplishments beyond the world of fashion -- choosing to feature the likes of Serena Williams and Amy Schumer instead of models -- next year's subjects are award-winning actresses.
Photographer Peter Lindbergh shot Nicole Kidman, Lupita Nyong'o, Uma Thurman, Jessica Chastain, Lea Seydoux, Robin Wright, Zhang Ziyi, Helen Mirren, Rooney Mara, Penelope Cruz, Julianne Moore, Charlotte Rampling, Alicia Vikander, Kate Winslet and Moscow State University professor Anastacia Ignatova.
That's seven Oscar winners, if you're counting.
Read More


The Pirelli calendar, the tire company's annual showcase of female beauty, continues to redefine itself.


Celebrities on the red carpet for the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in New York on Sunday, August 28.


Photos: Best Low Cost: Peach/Pegasus Airlines – Nik Loukas's inflightfeed blog reviews airline meals. Among those rated are low cost carriers. "I'm torn between Pegasus Airlines from Turkey and Peach [pictured here] in Japan. I've sampled some amazing in-flight sushi on both airlines. I've also tried an amazing Wagyu beef salad on Peach, and one of the best steaks I've ever eaten in-flight was on Pegasus [see next slide]," says Loukas. Hide Caption 1 of 17
Photos: Best Low Cost: Peach/Pegasus Airlines – Here, courtesy of Pegasus, is one of the best steaks Loukas has tried on a plane. The Inflightfeed founder says, "Who would have thought that low-cost airline meals could be so good? You pay for it, of course, but the quality was far better than some business-class meals I've eaten." Hide Caption 2 of 17
Photos: Best first class: Singapore Airlines – Singapore's national carrier serves the best first-class in-flight meal, according to Loukas. "Singapore Airlines Suites, a truly amazing in-flight meal experience that just keeps on giving. I really enjoyed my lobster thermidor and the caviar that was offered to me on a flight recently in Suites on a Singapore to Melbourne flight." Hide Caption 3 of 17
Photos: Singapore Airlines: Book the Cook service – Loukas says, "If you can, take advantage of some of the delicious 'Book the Cook' meals exclusively available for passengers in first class or Suites. It's like dining in your own private restaurant at 35,000 feet." First-class meals aside, Loukas says Singapore Airlines serves the tastiest economy meals too. Hide Caption 4 of 17
Photos: Best for innovation: Air Baltic – Air Baltic's create-your-own-meal-tray food ordering system wins when it comes to in-flight meal innovation. "Passengers can select everything they want to eat on their upcoming flight, right down to the salad and dessert. It's a fantastic meal concept that really lets you choose what you want to eat in-flight (at a cost of course)." Hide Caption 5 of 17
Photos: Best for kids: Lufthansa/Eva Air – It's a tie between Germany's Lufthansa and Taiwan's Eva Air. "Lufthansa places a great emphasis on kids' meals and has a celebrity chef who creates the meals specifically for children. Eva Air has those amazing Hello Kitty kids meals on select flights, something that will totally keep kids entertained at meal time (and yes I've tried the meals!)." Hide Caption 6 of 17
Photos: Best overall: Turkish Airlines – "Politics aside -- hands down Turkish Airlines. It really does have some of the best in-flight meals in the world," says Loukas. "Its caterer Do & Co is known to create some of the best in-flight dishes in the world." Hide Caption 7 of 17
Photos: Turkish Airlines: Delicious even on short flights – "[Turkish Airlines] meals are always on point, delicious and there's plenty of it, even on short flights." Hide Caption 8 of 17
Photos: Best in Asia: Singapore Airlines/Japan Airlines – "Doesn't matter where in the world you may fly with these airlines, their in-flight meal quality and standard is always great, something that a lot of airlines find hard to do. Japan Airlines has teamed up with some great brands over the years to create some amazing economy-class meal experiences for passengers, like Mos Burger and the very strange KFC meal in-flight." Hide Caption 9 of 17
Photos: Best in Europe: Aegean – Greece's carrier Aegean offers fliers a great mid-air introduction to its cuisine. "It's like a taste of Greece every time you step on board one of their flights. It's a great ambassador for Greek food and products in-flight," says Loukas. Hide Caption 10 of 17
Photos: Aegean Airlines: Regional tastes of Greece – Aegean Airlines recently launched a campaign called "Closer to Greece." Loukas says, "It highlights a different region of Greece through culinary experiences at different touch points of the customer experience such as lounges, on planes and in in-flight entertainment. And the food is always typical of traditional Greek recipes. Yum." Hide Caption 11 of 17
Photos: Best in America: JetBlue/Virgin America/Alaska Airlines – "For business class it's gotta be Jetblue in its Mint class, and in economy I'd have to say Virgin America closely tied with Alaska Airlines [pictured here]," Loukas says.
Hide Caption 12 of 17
Photos: Best in America: JetBlue/Virgin America/Alaska Airlines – Loukas says he considers three airlines to be best in America because of their focus on locally produced food. New York-based Jetblue partners with local eatery Saxon + Parole to create the dishes for Mint. Virgin America (pictured) tries to focus on brands based in its home city. Alaska teams up with Tom Douglas, a well known restauranteur in Seattle, to create "some lovely economy class dishes" for sale in-flight. Hide Caption 13 of 17
Photos: Best upgrade: Air France – "On a recent flight from Paris to Singapore I truly enjoyed my pre-ordered upgrade meal. I paid 28 euros ($31) to upgrade my meal to a meal created by the chefs at the famed Lenotre in collaboration with Air France. A fine dining experience such as this is usually only reserved for those fortunate enough to travel in business class." Hide Caption 14 of 17
Photos: Best for wine: Qantas – "I think some of the best wines in the world come from [Australia] -- call me biased -- and Qantas has some of the best wine experts and mixologists from Rockpool deciding on what wines to serve you in-flight," says Loukas. Wines served in-flight are available for purchase on the airline's EpiQure website.
Hide Caption 15 of 17
Photos: Other tips: How to get freebies – "Most cabin crew will go find you extra snacks or meals if you ask nicely. It's worth getting up and having a stretch and checking out the in-flight galleys as the crew sometimes set up drinks and snacks that you can help yourself to. Most traditional long-haul airlines will do this even in economy class." Hide Caption 16 of 17


Airline food doesn't have to be gross and Nik Loukas's Inflightfeed blog can prove it... most of the time


Washington (CNN) Hackers have breached databases for election systems in Illinois and Arizona, according to state election and law enforcement officials.
In Illinois, hackers accessed a database for the Illinois Board of Elections, compromising up to 200,000 personal voter records according to Ken Menzel, General Counsel for the board.
The FBI is investigating the hack, which initially occurred in late June and was discovered in July. It was first reported by Yahoo . Officials with the Board of Elections are "highly confident they (the hackers) weren't able to change anything, although the investigation is still going on" according to Menzel.
The Illinois database included voters' names, addresses, sex and birthdays in addition to other information. Some of the records include either last four digits of a voter's social security number or drivers' license numbers. The database is comprised of records for 15 million individuals and is 10 years old. Not all outdated information has been purged, according to Menzel, so some of those records likely include information for deceased voters or those who have subsequently moved.
According to Matthew Roberts, Director of Communications for the Arizona Secretary of State, in late May, Arizona officials took the statewide voting registration system offline after the FBI alerted the Arizona Department of Administration that there was a credible cyber threat to the voter registration system.
When they took the system offline to review any vulnerabilities, they discovered that a county election official's username and password had been posted online publicly. It's believed that a worker may have inadvertently downloaded a virus which exposed the username and password. In this instance, the username and password information posted would only give individuals access to a localized, county version of the voting registration system, and not the entire state-wide system.
Roberts says there is no evidence that any data within the system was compromised and there was no evidence of malware present in the database.
The breaches are causing concern among election officials because of the voter personal information that could have been stolen, not because of any fear that an election could be stolen, law enforcement officials say.
States have a variety of systems -- some better than others -- but the voting machines and tabulating systems are generally not connected to the internet, which would be the vulnerability hackers would use to compromise the electoral system.
The Department of Homeland Security is unaware of any specific credible threat to the electoral systems, according to a law enforcement official.
Election databases are attractive targets to hackers because they contain personal information that can be cobbled together with other data to help criminals steal money.
DHS has offered to help states increase security of their systems, but states have rebuffed federal help and largely believe their systems are secure. DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson held a conference call recently to discuss whether DHS should declare electoral systems as critical infrastructure , which triggers more involvement from the federal government. States have resisted those moves.
In a statement, FBI spokesperson Jillian Stickels said, "While we cannot comment on specific alerts, what I can say is that in furtherance of public-private partnerships, the FBI routinely advises private industry of various cyber threat indicators observed during the course of our investigations. This data is provided in order to help systems administrators guard against the actions of persistent cyber criminals."
Illinois officials say it's been a challenge to identify everyone whose records were compromised as they have to sort through the 109 jurisdictions that may have been affected. According to Menzel, they are working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to figure out who was responsible.
Menzel says the board is not concerned about the integrity of the voting system and does not expect the breach to impact the upcoming general election.
Illinois voting machines are not connected to the internet in any way, according to Menzel. Most voters in Illinois use an optical scan ballot but some jurisdictions do have touch screen machines to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations. In some large counties, such as Cook County, at the end of the voting day, early unofficial voting results are reported back and sent via cell phone signal but they have encryption protection. Arizona largely uses paper ballots and also has touch screen machines.

Officials: Hackers breach election systems in Illinois, Arizona


Hackers have breached databases for election systems in Illinois and Arizona, according to state election and law enforcement officials.


Cynthia Hudson is vice president and general manager of CNN en Español. The opinions expressed in this commentary are hers.
(CNN) I cried a tear for "El Divo de Juarez," Juan Gabriel, when I heard Sunday night that he had died in California at 66 . His influence on generations of artists helped to propel Latin music across continents. His life and generosity helped to open our eyes to the injustice of poverty and the acceptance of art, regardless of sexuality.
He was the voice of many, and he helped me to realize that music and language are a part of what make us who we are.
He helped me to appreciate my own cultural heritage -- to learn more about myself. It was a song of Gabriel's that did it.
You see, my English name, blond hair, fair skin, hazel eyes and flawless English contrast with other parts of me -- my gestures, loud and passionate delivery and love of Latin music.
As a child, I was simply Cyndi Hudson, born in California and living in Georgia and Washington, D.C. But my mother, Ofelia Martin Llambi, was born in Cuba and had met my father, Donald Ray Hudson, when she was a visiting foreign student at Tulane University in 1958. They married soon after my grandparents and mother fled Cuba and its revolution in 1960.
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I grew up speaking both English and Spanish. My mother eventually got her doctorate and became a Spanish literature professor and my father got his Ph.D. in business administration after retiring from the Marine Corps, having served as a captain in Vietnam. My grandfather died when I was very young, and so my grandmother Titi lived with us while my family moved around to accommodate my parents' studies and later their jobs as university professors.
All my childhood my mother insisted that my brothers and I take private Spanish and French lessons, even though it was a financial burden for them. My mother was certain that being bi- or trilingual would be a great advantage to our futures.
In the early 1970s, we drove to Mexico from Miami, where we had just moved so that my father could take a full professorship at the University of Miami. It was our typical long summer vacation, and we would be visiting with cousins I had never met. These were other Cubans who had immigrated to Mexico due to Cuba's troubles and who were still close to our family.
I'll never forget the family traveling in the station wagon, my grandmother along for the ride, our group looking almost like a scene from a "Vacation" movie -- and hearing Mexican radio stations playing a catchy tune by the latest young star, Juan Gabriel: "Mi Guitarra."
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My brothers and I were humming and singing, hearing Spanish music in our car for the three weeks we toured Mexico -- from a trip to see the pyramids, the mummies in Guanajuato, the divers in Acapulco and more. It was amazing as we had never really listened to or thought about Spanish music, except to see our mom bringing home records every time she visited family in Miami.
Miami, where'd we moved for my father's job, was a strange place for us, as we met cousins we never knew and started to understand that there were lots of people who also spoke Spanish and English, as we had long done growing up, but in towns where it would elicit a strange look and where we rarely met others who spoke Spanish.
I had never really understood that I was different from anyone: It never came up at school, and my friends never questioned us. But now I recall that when others heard Spanish coming out of my mouth when I was talking with my blond, blue-eyed Cuban grandmother they would often quickly turn and ask: "What language are you speaking?" Of course, upon my response, we got the typical, "Oh, but you don't look Spanish." I really had no idea what that meant, because all the people I knew who spoke Spanish at that time looked like me.
Photos: Cuban-American views The Cuban-American generation gap – Cuban natives Estela and Arturo Bueno met and married after they were brought to the United States as teens by Operation Pedro Pan, a U.S.-sponsored move used by parents who feared what communism would do to their children. Here, the Buenos are shown in Los Angeles in 1969 when they were dating. They now oppose any U.S. ties with Cuba. Hide Caption 1 of 8 Photos: Cuban-American views The Cuban-American generation gap – Arturo Bueno, 8 years old in Camagüey, Cuba, in 1953. Now 69, he arrived in the United States at age 16 as part of Operation Pedro Pan, which airlifted 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children from the communist isle. Hide Caption 2 of 8 Photos: Cuban-American views The Cuban-American generation gap – Arturo Bueno in Miami in 1961. He was 16 years old. Hide Caption 3 of 8 Photos: Cuban-American views The Cuban-American generation gap – Estela Bueno in Camagüey, Cuba, in 1960, when she was 14. It was a year after Fidel Castro successfully led a revolution on the island. Operation Pedro Pan brought her to the United States when she was 15. Hide Caption 4 of 8 Photos: Cuban-American views The Cuban-American generation gap – Estela Bueno at Belmont High School in Los Angeles in 1964, when she was 18 years old. Hide Caption 5 of 8 Photos: Cuban-American views The Cuban-American generation gap – Estela Bueno in Los Angeles, at 18 years old in 1964. Hide Caption 6 of 8 Photos: Cuban-American views The Cuban-American generation gap – Estela Bueno in Camagüey, Cuba, taken at Colegio Teresiano in 1952, before Fidel Casto's successful 1959 revolution. Hide Caption 7 of 8 Photos: Cuban-American views The Cuban-American generation gap – Estela Bueno in Camagüey, Cuba, in 1960. Hide Caption 8 of 8
When I moved to Miami I realized that Cubans had become a powerhouse there -- educated, industrious and assertive. They were building a new city, and Cuban culture was revered, even though there was pride in being American and gratitude that this country had taken them in.
And a month after moving, I was humming to "Mi Guitarra" and asking my mom to buy me the album in Mexico. It would be my first Spanish-language album, taking its place next to the Partridge Family, the Doobie Brothers, Chicago and KC and the Sunshine Band.
"Mi Guitarra" was so simple. It was the pledge of youth to sing to your heart's content and the sound of one's guitar that could bridge all cultures, love and friendship -- the language didn't matter.
Juan Gabriel helped me to realize that I was more than just Cyndi Hudson, but also the daughter of a Latina, the cousin of Cuban-Mexicans and a person with a passion for that part of me that music, language and culture celebrated.
I have never forgotten how important that one song was in helping me to define myself and embrace every part of who I am, and how that immense blend of ethnicities and cultures has made me a unique and proud American.
After hearing the news of the singer's passing, I called my mother and thanked her for insisting that I speak fluent Spanish, as this has helped me build my career.
Descansa en paz, Juan Gabriel.


Cynthia Hudson writes that his music helped a fair-haired American Latina define herself and embrace every part of who she is.


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(CNN) A freshly made white chocolate and raspberry mix is carefully poured into a piping bag by chef Yasumasa Takagi, one of Japan's foremost patissiers.
After snipping the end of the bag, he squeezes the delicious pink paste into a tray of oblong, white plastic molds.
Surprisingly, Takagi isn't creating an elaborate confection for customers to his fashionable Tokyo cafe; this is something far more modest.
It's a KitKat.
Most of the world knows the KitKat as an ordinary coffee break snack made from wafers and milk chocolate.
In Japan, it's in a completely different league.
Here, gourmet versions, pioneered by Takagi, compete with a mind-boggling array of mass-produced flavors that to some palates might border on the bizarre.
Wasabi KitKat anyone?
How about lemon vinegar?
Or pumpkin pudding, green tea, Shinshu apple or adzuki bean sandwich?
It's a long way from the KitKat's humble origins in 1930s England.
Born in the northern city of York, the chocolate treat was relatively unknown globally until local manufacturer Rowntree was bought by Swiss food giant Nestle in the 1980s.
Winning formula
Even as it spread across the planet, success was never guaranteed in Japan -- a market notoriously difficult to break into for non-domestic brands.
So how has it become such a phenomenon?
That's down to some hard work and smart ideas from KitKat's Japanese marketing gurus in the western city of Kobe.
And also a lucky quirk of language.
KitKat sounds very similar to "kito kato," which in Japanese means "to surely win."
Chef Takagi mixes up new flavors in his kitchens.
It's a common phrase said to students sitting exams, particularly high-pressure university entrance tests.
Soon after they arrived in Japan, KitKats were being given by parents to their children and friends were giving them to each other with hand-written messages -- and not just around exam time.
"There was strong emotional bonding going on and the 'gifting emotion,'" says Ryoji Maki, marketing manager for KitKat in Japan.
Flavor riot
Rainbow of flavors: Japan's KitKat kaleidoscope.
He says Japan's gift-giving tradition and particular culinary habits -- prizing seasonal and regional products -- were tapped into.
But it wasn't until the early 2000s that KitKat in Japan began to show its true colors with a riotous expansion in flavors.
Consumers in Japan demand choice and novelty as much as they prize tradition.
According to Maki, about 2,000 new confectionery products are released each year in Japan, so it's not enough to just offer dark or milk chocolate variations.
To date there have been more than 300 different KitKat flavors.
Ingredients are sourced from regions across the country, often produced and sold to coincide with food seasons in limited edition boxes of KitKat minis.
Shizuoka prefecture provides the wasabi.
Okinawa gives up its purple potatoes and matcha green tea.
Other unlikely flavors are sakura (cherry blossom) and sake (non-alcoholic).
Taking the bars out of the shops and into Japan's eateries has also been another strategy.
Tie-ins have gone beyond straightforward desserts like cheesecake, resulting in curiosities like KitKat pizzas and "baking bars," designed to be cooked before eating.
Since 2012 KitKat has started to eclipse homegrown confectionery brands like Meiji.
Limited edition
Confectionery king: KitKat has become a best seller.
About four million KitKat minis (a smaller, two-finger version of the classic bar) roll out of the chocolate factory each day -- that's close to 1.5 billion each year.
And it doesn't stop there, which is where patisserie supremo Takagi comes in.
"After I gained training at various famous shops in France and Belgium, I thought that it was my mission to fill the gap between Western countries and Japan," says Takagi.
Initially approached about a collaboration with KitKat, he rejected it.
"I believed I couldn't create chocolate freely without ties," he says.
A decade of discussions and negotiations later, convinced he had free rein to experiment within his own high standards, Takagi agreed to open his kitchens to KitKat.
They now produce very limited edition high-quality KitKats, using couverture chocolate, that can only be found in his shops and eight of Japan's high-end department stores through KitKat "Chocolatory" concessions.
"Chocolatory" concessions around Japan sell the exotic bars under KitKat chandeliers.
The first opened in Tokyo in January 2014 and sold out of Chef Takagi's specialty bars in hours.
Since then he's been advocating for new flavors and pushing out new products, from the single-finger Sublime range to "special" flavors that include fruit or tea-infused minis.
Visitors to Japan can get their hands on Chef Takagi's current range from under KitKat chandeliers (yes, really) at the Chocolatory concessions.
Gift boxes in limited-edition flavors are on sale at major train stations and airports.
There are no concrete plans for export, but if Takagi is able to convince a global food giant operating in one of the most competitive markets in the world to change their approach, don't rule it out.
"What I would most like to achieve is to deliver Japanese KitKat Chocolatory with craftsmanship to the people around the world," he says.
Chocolatory, Seibu Ikebukuro department store, 1-28-1 Minami Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo; +81 3 5949 2026


Fancy a wasabi KitKat? Perhaps green tea or adzuki bean? England's humble chocolate snack has gone gourmet in Japan, with over 300 flavors to date


Story highlights The boys are British, Egyptian, Kurdish, Tunisian, and Uzbek, the video says
The men they kill are Kurdish prisoners, according to the video
(CNN) ISIS has released a video online showing five young boys killing five prisoners.
The video identifies the children, dressed in camouflage and holding handguns, as British, Egyptian, Kurdish, Tunisian and Uzbek.
The men they kill are Kurdish prisoners, according to the video.
The British boy, described as Abu Abdullah al-Britani, doesn't say anything. Only the child identified as being from Tunisia speaks in the video.
Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office declined to comment on the video.
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(CNN) Hope Solo has hit back at the United States Soccer Federation's decision to sanction her for controversial comments made at the Rio Olympics, saying she is "saddened" but will continue to play with the "same unrelenting passion."
The USSF announced late Wednesday that it had suspended the veteran US goalkeeper for six months after she described Swedish players as " a bunch of cowards " for what she viewed as their defensive tactics.
Solo then posted a statement on Facebook and Twitter shortly after revealing her contract had also been terminated.
The 35-year-old made the comments in question after the Swedes defeated the US on penalties following a closely fought 1-1 tie at the quarterfinal stage of the Rio tournament.
The suspension is Solo's second in two years. She was previously banned for 30 days in January 2015 for alleged indiscipline at a USNWT training camp.
"The comments by Hope Solo after the match against Sweden during the 2016 Olympics were unacceptable and do not meet the standard of conduct we require from our National Team players," read a statement from US Soccer President Sunil Gulati.
"Beyond the athletic arena, and beyond the results, the Olympics celebrate and represent the ideals of fair play and respect. We expect all of our representatives to honor those principles, with no exceptions."
"Taking into consideration the past incidents involving Hope, as well as the private conversations we've had requiring her to conduct herself in a manner befitting a US National Team member, US Soccer determined this is the appropriate disciplinary action."
Solo, who will now not be available for national selection until February 2017, responded by posting with her own statement , saying she was "saddened by the Federation's decision to terminate my contract."
JUST WATCHED 2012: Hope Solo: 'I have a bad rap' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH 2012: Hope Solo: 'I have a bad rap' 01:36
"I could not be the player I am without being the person I am, even if I haven't made the right choices or said the right things."
"My entire career I have only wanted the best for this team, for the players and for the women's game and I will continue to pursue these causes with the same unrelenting passion with which I play the game."
Despite defeat in Rio, Solo is a two-time Olympic champion, having picked up gold at the 2008 and 2012 Games in Beijing and London respectively.
She is also a World Cup winner, keeping goal for the USNWT during its successful 2015 campaign in Canada, and holds the USWNT record for most shutouts.
However, controversy has not been uncommon over the course of her career.
JUST WATCHED U.S. team suspends Hope Solo Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH U.S. team suspends Hope Solo 01:00
Fans at the Rio Olympics booed her after she posted pictures of herself on social media wearing a mosquito net alongside the words "#zikaproof" back in July.
Solo was cleared of an alleged domestic assault charge in 2015 while she was warned by the US Anti-Doping Agency in 2012 after she tested positive for a banned diuretic -- a substance she claimed she didn't know was in premenstrual medication prescribed by her physician.
Speaking to CNN in 2013, Solo spoke about perceptions of public image. "I have a bad rap," she said. "People look at me as selfish, outspoken. But I know who I am."
The latest sporting suspension will not prevent Solo representing her Seattle Reign club side over the coming months.

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Shanghai (CNN) Hidden away in an old Shanghai neighborhood is arguably one of the most innovative restaurants in the world.
It's the brainchild of chef Paul Pairet, winner of the "Chef's Choice Award" at the 2016 Asia's 50 Best Restaurants Awards
Diners are brought to the restaurant on a bus and the Ultraviolet experience begins on the ride. We won't spoil the surprise, but it's clear that Pairet has taken into account every opportunity to influence his guests.
The dining room itself is fitted with video-screen walls, surround sound speakers, bespoke lighting and scent emitters.
Price of admission? Nearly $1,000.
It's tempting to dismiss it all as smell-o-vision theater for foodies who want to brag about their dining conquests on Instagram.
But... it's not.
JUST WATCHED How a top chef makes Peking duck Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How a top chef makes Peking duck 01:47
Foie gras cigarette
After sampling a few courses with its creator for a recent taping of CNN's "On China," I found myself savoring a foie gras cigarette served on an ashtray, deciphering the otherworldly scent of incense and rain and laughing at a reference to Super Mario Bros.
Each menu is painstakingly sketched out and rehearsed by Pairet and his team of chefs, servers and producers who activate sounds, scents, lights and videos from a nearby control room.
The meal is engineered like a live television program, with dishes served and aromas emitted on cue throughout an epic menu designed to engage all five senses.
"We will send 22 courses, and each will be surrounded by an atmosphere defined through the projection, the smell (eventually, but not always), and the sound," says Pairet.
The room transforms itself throughout the dinner, taking me from a space covered in vivid neon graffiti to a subterranean chamber and eventually to a white hall draped in a massive Union Jack with the Beatles blaring in the background.
"A lot of the dishes are based on memories," Pairet tells me over his interpretation of fish and chips.
"It's a caricature interpretation of the most caricature dish inside a caricature of the environment."
JUST WATCHED Secrets behind a Shanghai signature dish Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Secrets behind a Shanghai signature dish 01:44
Why Shanghai?
My mini crash course in Ultraviolet ends with the ultimate guilty pleasure -- dessert comprised of homemade gummy bears, and a race with the staff around the dining room set to a classic Nintendo theme.
"At the end of dinner, you need that kind of twist, that thing that really gets you and your palette at the same time. It's an important dish for me -- a celebration of some things that other restaurants do not accept."
Born and trained in France, Pairet came to Shanghai in 2005 to eventually launch Ultraviolet in 2012.
"I chose Shanghai because there was already the ingredients. Obviously, the power of Shanghai, the energy of Shanghai... to free up Western cuisine based on curiosity," says Pairet.
"All these ingredients are very important, especially for the avant-garde."
A foie gras cigarette is indeed avant-garde, but more importantly it was delicious.
It was a revelation for all senses, and an immersive dining adventure I won't soon forget.

Is this the world's most innovative restaurant?


Ultraviolet serves high-concept Western cuisine in a high-tech private dining room.


(CNN) Police were called to singer Chris Brown's Los Angeles home early Tuesday for a disturbance.
Officers responded to a woman's call for help at Brown's suburban residence, an LAPD spokesman said. LAPD's Robbery-Homicide division is handling the incident.
A large police presence could be seen outside Brown's home on aerial footage from CNN affiliates Tuesday.
Brown, 27, appeared to be inside his house in videos posted to his social media accounts Tuesday. In one video, the singer railed against the police and media and said he was being unfairly portrayed as a villain.
"Good luck. When you get the warrant or whatever you need to do, you're going to walk right up in here and you're going to see nothing, you idiots," he said in one video. "I'm tired of ... dealing with y'all."
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Erbil, Iraq (CNN) The graffiti artist works under cover of darkness, spraying the letter M on walls across Mosul.
M for Muqawama: resistance; M for Muaarada: opposition; M for Muwajaha: confrontation.
This small act of rebellion is enough to leave the painter at risk of torture, even death.
The Mosul Battalions' members risk torture or death to leave signs of their resistance on the city's walls.
Because that M is more than clandestine street art, more than simple vandalism. It is the Mosul Battalions' message to ISIS: We are here, we are among you, and we are watching.
Mosul has been under ISIS control since June 2014.
Iraq's army is fighting back; its troops are closing in on the city -- and say they hope to retake it by the end of the year. The Mosul Battalions are their allies inside the city.
The network -- so secretive that many of its own members do not know each other's identities -- carries out hit and run strikes, targeted assassinations, and bombings on ISIS targets in and around the city.
Risk of torture, death
The Arabic letter M painted on walls around Mosul is designed to show citizens they are not alone.
Abu Ali (not his real name), who we meet in Erbil, is deliberately vague about his role in the Mosul Battalions, describing himself as a liaison to the organization.
He contacts a member of the group on our behalf; the man, an engineer by trade, tells us he is in the orchards on the outskirts of Mosul, one of the few areas of the city where there is cell phone reception away from ISIS spies.
JUST WATCHED Iraqi army prepares to battle ISIS in Mosul Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Iraqi army prepares to battle ISIS in Mosul 02:59
Talking on a phone used to be a crime punishable by chopping the offender's hand off, he says. Now it means death.
"The group with me, we are all from Mosul," he says. "Saddam militarized the population, all Iraqi people have weapons training. But we do not have sophisticated weapons, we only have rifles and pistols."
He says the Battalions have support across the city: "Everyone gives us intelligence from their area. We conduct surveillance, we know when a guy has moved to a new place, when they are coming and going, we wait for the right time and carry it out."
On its Facebook page, the group posts details of its latest attacks, but getting messages out of Mosul is a challenge; at times the updates are a week apart.
"The Mosul Battalions men opened fire on a pick-up truck with a mounted machine gun with five ISIS members in it," the latest message reads. "The truck was demobilized, killing and wounding all of them."
Army's leftover weapons
The Battalions formed shortly after ISIS stormed into the city.
"It started as two friends who trust each other, and they would plot to hit ISIS at a particular point," says Abu Ali.
"There were others who had the same plans, and would hit ISIS in another area. Slowly they were able to organize themselves under the name of the Mosul Battalions."
JUST WATCHED Iraqi forces make gains on road to Mosul Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Iraqi forces make gains on road to Mosul 02:42
The group's arms and ammunition come from within Mosul itself -- much of it left behind by the Iraqi army as they fled.
"There were weapons all over the city," says Abu Ali. "A lot of civilians were able to gather these weapons. ISIS did search and collect them from people's homes, but some were able to hide them."
Only three of the group's members know each other.
"They work in two person formations and a third person is at a higher level to avoid compromising the group if one is captured," he says.
Rebellion comes at a hefty cost: "Many of them have been captured by ISIS and killed by drowning, blowing them up, and slaughtering them in other brutal ways."
Roadside bomb attacks
Videos provided to CNN and others posted online show the capture and assassination of ISIS members, and attacks on isolated checkpoints and other targets, often using ISIS's own weapons against them.
"The roadside bombs they used, they would steal from ISIS." Abu Ali says. "ISIS puts bombs in certain areas and those who have previous military experience go and steal these bombs and place them to target ISIS."
Abu Ali refuses to disclose specific numbers but says the Battalions have anywhere between 100 and 300 fighters -- former professionals, ex-military personnel, and young people.
They are also -- through intermediaries like Abu Ali -- providing intelligence and coordinates on ISIS positions for coalition airstrikes.
"We have other means to verify the information they provide," Abu Ali says. "They wanted to work with the coalition for a couple reasons. So that the coalition is precise and doesn't hit civilian populations but also to accelerate the elimination of ISIS."
Waiting for 'Zero Hour'
Another member inside Mosul says the group has "two sides that we are working on. First of all, militarily against ISIS. Secondly we are making preparations for when the assault happens, we will facilitate from inside."
The graffiti on this wall in Mosul reads: "Long live national Mobilization."
Once the Iraqi Army breaches the city, at what the battalion calls "Zero Hour," its members will intensify their attacks on ISIS. Another formation waiting to mobilize at "Zero Hour" calls itself the Peace Battalions. Its job is to mobilize and protect the public.
JUST WATCHED Peshmerga: ISIS could be out of Mosul in two months Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Peshmerga: ISIS could be out of Mosul in two months 05:40
"Known people are leading them, they have the trust of the population," Abu Ali explains. "Their role is to take control of the streets and prevent looting, also they will become a supporting force to back up the liberating forces."
He says they want to avoid the sort of chaos seen in Baghdad after the US-led invasion in 2003, and to help prevent widespread death and destruction.
"There is a broad organization that will go into effect when the operations start to happen," he says. "The style of their clothes and the signals will be known so that they will be differentiated from the enemy."
Battle for control
Iraqi Army commanders tell us that they are counting on the population of the city -- groups like the Mosul Battalions and ordinary citizens -- to stand up against ISIS.
JUST WATCHED Risking death to flee from ISIS Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Risking death to flee from ISIS 02:41
They say they need the support of the people to really succeed, not just in the upcoming battle for control of the city, but to prevent another ISIS (or worse) from emerging in the aftermath.
One Mosul Battalions member we spoke to via Facebook compared life under ISIS to life under former Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's army.
The fall of Mosul happened under his watch as did the alienation of the Sunni population brought on by the Iraqi security forces harsh hand and indiscriminate detention of Sunnis.
Those in the city say they do not want to live under either sort of rule.
One of the fighters we spoke to said the suggestion that citizens still in Mosul are supportive of ISIS is wrong.
"We want people to know that we reject ISIS," he said.

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Story highlights Andy Murray defended his Olympic title in Rio
Rival Novak Djokovic starts as favorite for US Open
Roger Federer missing through injury
(CNN) All eyes will surely focus on Andy Murray for the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the season.
The Scot has enjoyed something of a fabulous year, not least because he became a father for the first time -- his wife Kim gave birth to Sophia in February -- but also due to a bumper year of trophies.
Not content with winning Wimbledon for a second time, he was chosen to carry the flag for Team GB for the Rio Games and then successfully defended his Olympic title after an epic struggle with Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro, becoming the first man to retain the Olympic singles accolade.
After the gold medal match, he cast his mind back to another tough contest when he won the US Open in 2012, telling reporters: "I think the US Open final I played against Novak (Djokovic) when I won my first slam was very hard. But tonight I found really difficult.
"It was one of the toughest matches that I've played to win a big event, for sure."


All eyes will surely focus on Andy Murray for the US Open, the last Grand Slam tournament of the season.


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