Tim Naftali, a CNN presidential historian and clinical associate professor of history and public service at New York University, is writing a new biography of President John F. Kennedy. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.
(CNN) In the last few weeks the two presidential nominees have received their initial intelligence briefings. Although the experience must have been different for each -- it was Donald Trump's first, whereas Hillary Clinton is an experienced intelligence consumer -- they were both recipients of a product authorized by President Barack Obama, the intelligence community's most important customer and the official who more than anyone else controls how intelligence is shared inside and outside the US government.
For years the CIA shielded from public view every single one of the briefings that it produces daily for the president's eyes only, arguing that even letting go one 50-year old briefing could harm national security.
Only in recent years did the CIA revise its traditional stance, releasing in September all of the daily, classified newsletters it had produced for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. And on Wednesday, the releases continued , with the posting on the Web of the 28,000 pages prepared for Richard Nixon and his successor, Gerald Ford.
While a considerable amount remains edited out for national security reasons there are some historical gems, which not only hint at how well our intelligence community did in the Cold War but give us decades later a sense of the awesome responsibilities that come with being president. Whoever occupies the White House in January will receive a similar product, tailored to his or her interests and designed not only to keep the White House informed but to lower the probability that the president will be surprised. And in this era of international terrorism, the cost of surprise is potentially as high as it was in the worst moments of the Cold War.
The President's Daily Brief, as these daily classified newspapers came to be called -- Obama apparently reads his on an iPad -- emerged out of Kennedy's anger at how the CIA had bamboozled him into authorizing an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro that came to be known as the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
Since June 1961, the CIA has prepared for 10 presidents a special digest of information on subjects it believes the chief executive wants and needs to know about. It includes data collected across all intelligence platforms -- from spies to spy satellites to Alan Turingesque code breaking. As far as the intelligence community is concerned it is its Tesla or Breitling.
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Kennedy may not have read every one of his reports, but when he did, he often reacted energetically, sending questions back to the CIA for clarification. Indeed one of the last things he did before leaving for Texas in November 1963 was to send a request for more information on something he had read in his daily intelligence briefing.
The two presidencies covered in Wednesday's release involved leaders who had diametrically opposed views on this source of highly sensitive knowledge. Nixon, it seems, hardly read his. Nixon who did not like to be around people outside his inner circle, insisted that the briefings go to him indirectly , through Henry Kissinger, his national security adviser.
As a result, the agency was never quite sure what he thought of the product. Whatever presidential feedback there was came from Kissinger to the CIA, not from Nixon himself. (Although I was director of the Nixon Presidential Library when we processed Nixon's personal copies of the briefings for eventual review and release, I did not look at any of them. The personal copies might have his marginalia, telling us more about how he absorbed or didn't absorb this material. The CIA released only its copies of the reports prepared for Nixon.)
Ford, on the other hand, had far less self-confidence in foreign affairs and relished these documents as a source of tutoring not only about what mattered in the world but how those issues and areas were developing. Until late 1975, a CIA officer stood by him practically every day as he read the Presidential Daily Brief, ready to answer any question Ford might have.
The complex and conspiratorial Nixon brought a prejudice against intelligence, especially the CIA, to the job. He was convinced the Ivy League leadership of the CIA had not only voted for Kennedy but had sabotaged him in the 1960 election. There is evidence that Nixon tended to let the briefings pile up, unread.
But Nixon's issue with the Presidential Daily Brief was not just social insecurity. In his chatty and absorbing memoir, Nixon's first CIA director, Richard Helms, wrote that his boss "showed little interest in an independent intelligence service" and was "perpetually cranky in his relations with CIA." Now that we can read most of these briefings, we see a major source of the crankiness. It must have annoyed Nixon that in a number of high-profile areas, the agency was routinely telling him things he certainly did not want to hear.
The bad news on the Vietnam War
Practically every morning, the Presidential Daily Brief reminded Nixon that North Vietnam and its communist allies in Southeast Asia were winning and that US military strategy was failing.
US intelligence had broken enough North Vietnamese ciphers to be able to follow the infiltration along the Ho Chi Minh trail (via Laos and Cambodia) of North Vietnamese regular troops into South Vietnam. The number of troops was staggering and belied the Pentagon's estimate that US bombing raids had a net effect of reducing the number of North Vietnamese soldiers fighting in the south.
After Nixon decided in April 1970 to send US troops 20 miles into Cambodia to clean out North Vietnamese bases along the border, the CIA reported that these operations were failures. The North Vietnamese just abandoned the bases and retreated farther into Cambodia, rather than pick a fight with the better-equipped US army. "Communications intelligence," the CIA writers noted on June 4, "provides nearly a complete picture of these movements (11 regiments). ... Most, but not all, of these relocations appear to have been in direct response to allied operations, reflecting the enemy's anxiety to avoid contact while dropping back to more secure areas."
Warning about Chile and Allende
Throughout 1970, the CIA warned Nixon and Kissinger that the Chile's Salvador Allende might be the first Marxist to gain power through the ballot box.
On January 24, 1970, the Presidential Daily Brief noted that "if the leftist parties can submerge their difficulties, (Allende) might be in a strong position to win the presidency."
Six months later, on July 18, the agency added that though the conservative candidate appeared to be slightly ahead, "there were no reliable polls on which to base predictions" and Allende was running a strong campaign. It was a three-man race, and if no one won a majority of the vote, the selection of the president would go to the Chilean Congress. Allende was expected to strike a deal with the other leftist candidate if that happened.
One day before the election, September 3, the CIA predicted that no one would win a majority and that what the Congress would decide was "anybody's guess." Although Allende won with only 36.2% of the vote, the CIA told Nixon on September 7 that he was likely to become president.
Not only was it likely that the Congress would select him, the CIA cautioned that "there is no indication at this time that military leaders are planning to move to prevent Allende from becoming President." When the head of the Chilean air force approached the US Embassy a few weeks later, saying that the military would only oppose Allende if this could be done constitutionally, the CIA poured cold water on any hopes the White House might have of a coup, saying that this man had not been successful in rallying the Chilean armed forces before.
Kissinger would later write that the White House's reaction to Allende's victory was "stunned surprise" and that Nixon was "beside himself." We now know that had they been doing their daily reading, it should not have been a surprise at all.
Yom Kippur War and superpower confrontation
Wednesday's release was not just about misconceptions and missed opportunities. There were also revelations from the 1973 Yom Kippur War showing how the White House can act on intelligence in a crisis. There was a moment, at the tail end of that war, when the two superpowers seemed to come close to a clash, possibly one involving nuclear weapons.
For some time we have known that in late October 1973 the United States feared the Soviets might be preparing to intervene to help the beleaguered Egyptian Third Army, which was surrounded by the Israelis near the city of Suez.
The Nixon administration, on the recommendation of Kissinger, decided to lift the worldwide US military alert late in the night of October 24-October 25 to DefCon III , its highest worldwide level since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
With Nixon mired in Watergate -- this was the period of the Saturday Night Massacre when he decided to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox and the leadership of the Justice Department collapsed -- Kissinger worried that the Soviets doubted US resolve and needed a reminder.
The declassified Presidential Daily Briefs provide startling new evidence on what exactly US intelligence had discovered about Soviet activities and why the Nixon administration had reason to be concerned. In the second volume of his memoirs, Kissinger hinted that he made his alert recommendation because of "ominous reports in especially sensitive areas" but didn't reveal more.
It turns out Kissinger and Nixon worried that the crisis might go nuclear. American intelligence had detected a Soviet ship headed for Egypt that it believed was carrying nuclear weapons. In addition, the United States detected two Soviet amphibious ships nearing Egypt. Ultimately, Soviet troops never landed in Egypt, and the Soviet flotilla 100 miles off the coast of Egypt dispersed within hours of the US alert. The full story of the ship thought to have nuclear weapons remains to be told. It arrived in Egypt on October 24. Its fate and that of its cargo may be in the still classified sections of what was released Wednesday.
The picture drawn by the CIA in Nixon's briefings was not always accurate. The agency failed to predict the Egyptian and Syrian attack on Israel. On October 5, 1973, the day before attack, the White House was told, "Military exercises now going on in Egypt are larger and more realistic than previous ones, but the Israelis are not nervous."
In Southeast Asia, the agency predicted that local communists, Khmer or Lao, would never be able to defeat America's allies without the support of the North Vietnamese, who were an effective fighting force. This would prove to be a mistaken assumption once the United States withdrew militarily from the region.
And some potentially key gaps for us remain in the intelligence picture given to Nixon. There are many sections on the Middle East and some tantalizing items about Palestinian terrorism and presumably the Black September Organization -- one called "Fedayeen-US" from just after the Munich massacre and another involving a foiled bomb plot in New York in March 1973 -- that are still largely classified.
There are also sections on North Vietnam and quite a few on South Vietnam that remain closed, especially from the tragic period in the fall of 1972 when Saigon intervened politically to prevent Washington and Hanoi from ending the war. There are also some sections where even the name of the country involved is still not declassified.
Ford's different approach to CIA
When Ford became President in August 1974, the White House's relationship with CIA improved dramatically. He choose to have these briefings in person, and their tone reflects the fact that US intelligence believed the President was listening.
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When Ford headed to Indonesia in December 1975, the CIA warned him that Indonesian President Suharto would ask him about the US position on Indonesia's plans to invade the former Portuguese colony of East Timor: "Suharto will undoubtedly raise the question of Timor during talks with you in an effort to determine US reaction to overt intervention."
The agency made clear that though determined to use military force to incorporate the colony into Indonesia, Suharto was sensitive to US criticism and was even preparing to act without using US-supplied weapons to avoid later trouble with the US Congress. Jakarta needed continued American military assistance. The agency never felt close enough to Nixon, and was so often kept in the dark about his foreign policy initiatives, that it had rarely provided similar guidance in a President Daily Brief before his trips abroad.
In this case, Ford made up his mind not to stand in the way of Indonesia's invasion -- an event that would lead to a brutal 25-year occupation causing an estimated 200,000 deaths -- a decision he would later tell historian Douglas Brinkley he understandably regretted.
"I mean I truly," Brinkley quotes him as saying in his fine biography of Ford, "honestly feel for those families which suffered losses. I'm sorry for them. The whole thing was tragic but I only learned the extent to what happened there after I left Washington. Then it was too late." Not only did Ford read his briefings, he also could admit his big mistakes.
The world of the Presidential Daily Brief only got more complicated for a president after 9/11. Not only must you read about what adversarial countries with armies are planning and doing, you have to keep track of dozens of byzantine plots involving shadowy figures with often similar names. And you have to do that six days a week, for four or, if you are lucky, eight years. No wonder presidents seem to age fast.

CIA reveals its secret briefings to presidents


The documents prepared for Presidents Nixon and Ford shed important light on the crucial relationship between presidents and the intelligence world, Tim Naftali says.


Story highlights Police say girl's grandfather was likely target of killers on motorcycles
Philippines government criticized for hard-line campaign against drugs
(CNN) A 5-year-old girl has become the youngest reported victim of the war on drugs in the Philippines, according to Human Rights Watch.
Danica May Garcia was shot to death in her family's store by two men on motorcycles, said police in Dagupan in Pangasinan province.
Their likely target? The girl's grandfather, according to a local official.
Danica May Garcia
A community leader said that days before the shooting, the grandfather, Maximo Garcia, had turned himself in to police in an effort to clear his name, along with about a dozen accused drug users.
Garcia eventually returned to the family. The grandfather was later shot three times and injured, police said. He is in a hospital under police guard.

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A 5-year-old girl has become the youngest reported victim of the war on drugs in the Philippines, according to Human Rights Watch.


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Italy's death toll soars as aftershocks hit


The death toll in the Italian earthquake continued to climb as more aftershocks rattled the already-devastated areas. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen reports.


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(CNN) South Sudan is the world's youngest country, and it has witnessed immense change since gaining independence in 2011. The promise of peace has given way to civil war, and tribal rifts continue to run deep, permeating political affairs. Over two million people have been displaced according to the UN, and tens of thousands killed .
Amid the tumult is the Mundari, a people who would rather get on with doing what they do best: looking after their cattle.
Meat the family
It would be hard to find a more dedicated group of herdsmen than the tribe who live on the banks of the Nile, north of the capital Juba. Their entire lifestyle is geared around caring for their prized livestock, the Ankole-Watusi , a horned breed known as "the cattle of kings."
"The next time I met them, I brought my camera. They then told me, 'You're a part of this cult, but you can't take pictures.' It took me another couple of months in the cult before they let me take pictures."
"The next time I met them, I brought my camera. They then told me, 'You're a part of this cult, but you can't take pictures.' It took me another couple of months in the cult before they let me take pictures."
"This photograph is of the initiation. When I was initiated, they hit me a little bit with a stick -- hitting is an important part of the ceremony as it serves as a warning not to reveal the secrets of the Nyau. "They removed the fabric and started dancing and I danced with them. We danced the whole night, then they took me to their hidden place -- the cemetery. They told me, 'Now, you're Nyau.' They gave me my own mask and costume and started to teach me how to dance."
"This photograph is of the initiation. When I was initiated, they hit me a little bit with a stick -- hitting is an important part of the ceremony as it serves as a warning not to reveal the secrets of the Nyau. "They removed the fabric and started dancing and I danced with them. We danced the whole night, then they took me to their hidden place -- the cemetery. They told me, 'Now, you're Nyau.' They gave me my own mask and costume and started to teach me how to dance."
"Afterward, I had to kill a chicken with the other new members, so we could take the feathers and add them to our costumes later. Later, I was brought to a nearby village, where I was covered in a fabric and flowers, and the Nyau came out, already in costume."
"Afterward, I had to kill a chicken with the other new members, so we could take the feathers and add them to our costumes later. Later, I was brought to a nearby village, where I was covered in a fabric and flowers, and the Nyau came out, already in costume."
"First, I had to learn their password system, which involved secret hand signs. If you pass a Nyau on the road and use the hand sign, nothing bad will happen to you; they'll understand you're one of them."
"First, I had to learn their password system, which involved secret hand signs. If you pass a Nyau on the road and use the hand sign, nothing bad will happen to you; they'll understand you're one of them."
"Ofis talked to the chiefs, and they agreed I could be a spectator at first, but nothing more. I started to go every week and take pictures of the dances, but I wanted to see more. I wanted to go inside and see how they made their masks. "First, I had to be accepted as a member of the Nyau. One day, they said they were willing to accept me, but I would have to go through a ceremony."
"Ofis talked to the chiefs, and they agreed I could be a spectator at first, but nothing more. I started to go every week and take pictures of the dances, but I wanted to see more. I wanted to go inside and see how they made their masks. "First, I had to be accepted as a member of the Nyau. One day, they said they were willing to accept me, but I would have to go through a ceremony."
"One day I met a teacher from Zimbabwe named Ofis, who started to ask me why I was so interested in the Nyau. We ultimately became friends, and he confessed that he was a member. I started to learn about the cult from him, but he said if I wanted to know more, I'd have to join."
"One day I met a teacher from Zimbabwe named Ofis, who started to ask me why I was so interested in the Nyau. We ultimately became friends, and he confessed that he was a member. I started to learn about the cult from him, but he said if I wanted to know more, I'd have to join."
"Nyau keep both their rituals and their identity a closely-guarded secret. I later learned that during a ritual, the dancers will rotate so no one can tell their identity. "If you see a whole family watching a dance, maybe the husband will leave for a bit then go to a secret place to change and dance, then come back so his mother, sister or wife won't know he's a member. If one dancer falls down and injures himself and starts limping, all members of the Nyau will start limping so no one can identify the injured dancer. "
"Nyau keep both their rituals and their identity a closely-guarded secret. I later learned that during a ritual, the dancers will rotate so no one can tell their identity. "If you see a whole family watching a dance, maybe the husband will leave for a bit then go to a secret place to change and dance, then come back so his mother, sister or wife won't know he's a member. If one dancer falls down and injures himself and starts limping, all members of the Nyau will start limping so no one can identify the injured dancer. "
"After my first encounter with the Nyau, I spent a year in Mozambique looking for more dances, and trying to find members, so I could photograph them. This proved difficult, since everything about the Nyau is kept secret. If you're part of the Nyau cult, you're not supposed to tell anyone."
"After my first encounter with the Nyau, I spent a year in Mozambique looking for more dances, and trying to find members, so I could photograph them. This proved difficult, since everything about the Nyau is kept secret. If you're part of the Nyau cult, you're not supposed to tell anyone."
"The performance I witnessed was the Gule Wamkulu, a secret cult and ritual practiced by the Nyau brotherhood during the harvest, as well as important ceremonies, like weddings and funerals. Gule Wamkulu means 'The Great Dance' in the Chewa language. It is performed by the Nyau, who wear masks and costumes that represent the spirits of animals, called 'nyama,' and of their ancestors, called 'mizimu.' The ritual has had UNESCO protection since 2005, when it was included as one of 90 Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity."
"The performance I witnessed was the Gule Wamkulu, a secret cult and ritual practiced by the Nyau brotherhood during the harvest, as well as important ceremonies, like weddings and funerals. Gule Wamkulu means 'The Great Dance' in the Chewa language. It is performed by the Nyau, who wear masks and costumes that represent the spirits of animals, called 'nyama,' and of their ancestors, called 'mizimu.' The ritual has had UNESCO protection since 2005, when it was included as one of 90 Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity."
"One policeman told me they are never prosecuted. 'How can you put an elephant or snake in jail? The same is with Nyau,' he said. In spite of the rumors, I never heard of any accident involving a Nyau while I was there."
"One policeman told me they are never prosecuted. 'How can you put an elephant or snake in jail? The same is with Nyau,' he said. In spite of the rumors, I never heard of any accident involving a Nyau while I was there."
"I had no idea what Nyau was, so I started to do some research," said Sokhin. "I learned it was a secret society within the Chewa culture. Chewa people live in Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. I found out that many locals, and even policemen, were afraid of the Nyau and considered them dangerous. One type of Nyau, known as Nyau 'kampini,' or 'dangerous Nyau,' (pictured) walk around with machetes and have a reputation for attacking people."
"I had no idea what Nyau was, so I started to do some research," said Sokhin. "I learned it was a secret society within the Chewa culture. Chewa people live in Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. I found out that many locals, and even policemen, were afraid of the Nyau and considered them dangerous. One type of Nyau, known as Nyau 'kampini,' or 'dangerous Nyau,' (pictured) walk around with machetes and have a reputation for attacking people."
Vlad Sokhin: "From 2010-2011, I lived in Mozambique's Tete province, where I was doing different jobs. One of them was for a coal exploration company. One day they asked me to photograph the opening ceremony for a new camp. While I was waiting for the ceremony to start, I saw someone pop out of the bush wearing feathers and a mask. Locals started screaming, 'Nyau,' and started to run."
Vlad Sokhin: "From 2010-2011, I lived in Mozambique's Tete province, where I was doing different jobs. One of them was for a coal exploration company. One day they asked me to photograph the opening ceremony for a new camp. While I was waiting for the ceremony to start, I saw someone pop out of the bush wearing feathers and a mask. Locals started screaming, 'Nyau,' and started to run."
In 2010, photographer Vlad Sokhin gained rare access to the rituals and practices of the Nyau brotherhood, a secret society of the Chewa people that exists in communities in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia. He reveals how he managed to infiltrate, and ultimately join, this secret group. Photographs by Vlad Sokhin.
In 2010, photographer Vlad Sokhin gained rare access to the rituals and practices of the Nyau brotherhood, a secret society of the Chewa people that exists in communities in Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia. He reveals how he managed to infiltrate, and ultimately join, this secret group. Photographs by Vlad Sokhin.
These cows grow up to eight feet tall, and are worth as much as $500 each. It's no wonder the Mundari view these animals as their most valuable assets (or that they guard them with with machine guns).
Photographer Tariq Zaidi spent a fortnight earlier this year documenting their lives and the devotion they show towards these animals. Zaidi has captured tribes and indigenous people from over 30 African nations, though he was nonetheless taken aback by the relationship between man and beast.
"It's hard to overstate the importance of cattle to the Mundari people," says Zaidi, "these animals are everything to them."
The photographer describes how "almost every man I met wanted me to take a picture of them with their favorite cow." Their wives and children, on the other hand, were given short shrift.
Perhaps this is in part due to the function and symbolism of the Ankole-Watusi. Each bovine is so highly prized that it is rarely killed for its meat. Instead, it is a walking larder, a pharmacy, a dowry, even a friend. It is clear that cow is a resource maintaining not just a people, but a way of life.
The Mundari, tall and muscular, may "look like bodybuilders," says Zaidi, "but their diet is pretty much milk and yogurt. That's it." Other bodily fluids have more unlikely uses. Mundari men will squat under streams of cow urine, both an antiseptic, Zaidi suggests, and as an aesthetic choice -- the ammonia in the urine color the Mundari's hair orange.
Meanwhile dung is piled high into heaps for burning, the fine peach-colored ash used as another form of antiseptic and sunscreen by the herdsmen, shielding them from the 115-degree heat.
The cows, adds Zaidi, are among the world's most pampered. He says he witnessed Mundari massaging their animals twice a day. The ash from dung fires, as fine as talcum powder, is rubbed into the cattle's skin and used as bedding, while ornamental tassels swat flies from the eyes of the herd's most prestigious beasts.
Outflanking war
The Mundari sleep among their cattle, "literally two feet away from their favorites" says Zaidi, and guard them at the point of a gun. It's not unreasonable for the tribe to go to these lengths.
"Rustlers are a huge issue for them," the photographer explains. "Their cattle are a form of currency and status symbol, and form a key part of a family's pension or dowry. Since the end of the civil war, thousands of men have returned to South Sudan looking for wives, which has pushed up the 'bride price', making these animals even more precious and increasing lethal cattle raids."
Such raids have been deadly for the Mundari, but the effects of war are manifold. Landmines make finding fresh pasture a dangerous lottery. When he visited, Zaidi says the tribe were using a small island in the Nile as a safe haven. The conflict, he adds, has the paradoxical effect of preserving their way of life.
"The ongoing war in South Sudan has cut off the Mundari tribe from the rest of the world," he says. "They don't venture into the town, they stay in the bush, and it's why their unique way of life endures."
Zaidi says the Mundari have no taste for war and "their guns are not to kill anyone but to protect their herd." All the Mundari want to do is take care of their livestock, he argues, "and they will protect them at all costs."

The Mundari: The tribe dying for their cows


Ankole-Wartusi cows are among the most prized in the South Sudan, and could fetch $500. For some, this means protecting them at all costs.


Ascoli Piceno, Italy (CNN) Italy began the painful task of burying its dead Saturday following a massive earthquake -- as aftershocks rattled the heart of the country and the death toll climbed to 290.
A gym in the Italian province of Ascoli Piceno was transformed into a funeral hall.
In Ascoli Piceno province, a state funeral was held in a local gym.
Thirty-five coffins adorned with flowers and framed photographs sat in three rows for victims from the town of Arquata del Tronto.
A photo posted by @atikacnn on Aug 27, 2016 at 2:13am PDT
Taped at the foot of each coffin was the name of the deceased printed on white paper.
Before the ceremony, family members clustered around each coffin, one teenager sitting on the floor next to one, weeping inconsolably. One family encircled a coffin with peach-colored flowers and held each other in a long embrace.
Hundreds of people attended the Catholic ceremony of prayers, Bible readings and hymns, many themselves survivors in casts and bandages. A wall hanging of Jesus on a crucifix overlooked the grieving community, as mourners fanned themselves in the stifling heat.
'A new spring'
Bishop Giovanni d'Ercole led the ceremony, telling the painful story of a little girl who was saved from the rubble, her sister found dead on top of her, apparently shielding her sibling.
Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A woman rests in the courtyard of a convent in Amatrice on Friday, August 26, two days after a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck central Italy. Hundreds of people have been killed, and the death toll is expected to rise as rescue teams reach remote areas. Hide Caption 1 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Firefighters inspect a damaged building from the elevated platform of a firetruck in Amatrice on August 26. Amatrice has been the hardest-hit town, with more than 200 killed there. Hide Caption 2 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy An aerial view shows the damage in the village of Saletta on August 26. Strong aftershocks in the region have rattled residents and emergency crews. Hide Caption 3 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A man and woman comfort each other in front of a collapsed house in Amatrice on August 26. Hide Caption 4 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Firefighters cordon off an area around the rubble from a destroyed building in Amatrice on August 26. Hide Caption 5 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Emergency team members set up a tent camp for earthquake victims at a sports field in Arquata del Tronto on August 26. Hide Caption 6 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rescuers make their way through destroyed houses in Pescara del Tronto on Thursday, August 25. It's unclear how many people remain trapped under debris. Hide Caption 7 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A field kitchen in Amatrice provides meals for emergency workers and earthquake survivors on August 25. Hide Caption 8 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rescue and emergency service personnel use an excavator to search for victims under the remains of a building in Amatrice on August 25. Hide Caption 9 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy An old building in Amatrice is partly damaged after the quake. Hide Caption 10 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy An emergency services helicopter takes off in Amatrice as rescuers continue the search for survivors. Hide Caption 11 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A man rests on a bench after spending the night in a makeshift camp set up inside a gym in Amatrice on August 25. Hide Caption 12 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A bird's eye view of Amatrice shows the devastation after the deadly quake struck on Wednesday, August 24. Hide Caption 13 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rescuers help a woman from the rubble in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 14 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Search-and-rescue teams survey collapsed houses in Pescara del Tronto on August 24. Hide Caption 15 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A man cries as another injured man is helped in Amatrice. Hide Caption 16 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy This woman in Amatrice was wounded during the earthquake. Hide Caption 17 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rescuers carry a man through earthquake debris in Amatrice. Hide Caption 18 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rocco Girardi receives treatment after being rescued from the rubble in Arquata del Tronto on August 24. Hide Caption 19 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy The body of a unidentified child lies on a bench in Arquata del Tronto on August 24. Hide Caption 20 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy The quake left this house in ruins in Arquata del Tronto. Hide Caption 21 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Two people hug each other next to damaged houses in Pescara del Tronto. Hide Caption 22 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Two women pass along a stuffed toy in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 23 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Residents take in the damage in Amatrice. Hide Caption 24 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy This aerial photo shows damaged buildings in Amatrice. The quake struck at 3:36 a.m and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy. Hide Caption 25 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy An emergency hospital camp is set up to treat earthquake victims in Arquata del Tronto. Hide Caption 26 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A woman tries to comfort her child in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 27 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Residents survey a collapsed staircase in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 28 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Residents of Pescara del Tronto care for an elderly earthquake victim on August 24. Hide Caption 29 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Search-and-rescue teams look for survivors in Pescara del Tronto. Hide Caption 30 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Survivors sit among the rubble of a house in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 31 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Residents search for victims in Amatrice. Hide Caption 32 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy An injured man is rescued from a collapsed building in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 33 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A man leans on a wall in Pescara del Tronto. Hide Caption 34 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A dog searches for people trapped in collapsed buildings in Amatrice. Hide Caption 35 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rescuers search for victims in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 36 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A man is pulled alive from the rubble. Hide Caption 37 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A man surveys damage near a dust-covered car in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 38 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Two people huddle together in Amatrice after the earthquake. Hide Caption 39 of 40 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A rescue worker drives a truck of rubble as cleanup operations begin in Amatrice. Hide Caption 40 of 40
"They were holding each other, between them in embrace, both death and life," he said.
"A lot of the dead were children. So a thought to you young people -- we are now living in a time of war ... The earthquake is like a war because nature does not forgive. We have to defend ourselves because it is wise. We must have a dialogue with nature and never provoke nature," he said.
Relatives and friends attend a night vigil in Ascoli Piceno, Italy, ahead of Saturday's funeral.
But he also said that after the tragedy, the communities affected would be given new life: "A new spring and a new birth come."
"Faith is difficult. But faith shows us how to start again, with your feet on the ground and your face towards heaven."
The bishop led Holy Communion and blessed the dead, waving incense over their coffins, as mourners signed the cross.
Scouts hold hands to form a ring around grieving families. A photo posted by @atikacnn on Aug 27, 2016 at 4:23am PDT
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and President Sergio Mattarella arrived at the funeral, the latter after visiting Amatrice, a town reduced to rubble where the vast majority of deaths occurred.
The President met with mourners and consoled them. He also visited an emergency camp in Accumoli and Pescara del Tronto, CNN Affiliate RAI reported, on what was declared a national day of mourning.
Aftershocks continue
Even as communities mourned, the aftershocks rattled central Italy early Saturday, the US Geological Survey reported.
The rescue efforts continue through the aftershocks, though hopes of finding more people alive are quickly fading. Experts say the chances of survival drop significantly after a 72-hour period, a window that closed early Saturday.
In a hospital in Ascoli Piceno, one man talked about how he lost his mother in the earthquake.
JUST WATCHED Italy earthquake: Survivors fight for their lives Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Italy earthquake: Survivors fight for their lives 02:44
"My first thought is my mother is here but I can't help her," Mattia Rendina said from his hospital bed, his bones fractured, his face bruised.
"She passed away to God. She's gone now," he said as tears welled up in his eyes.
"I'm like this because my mother [taught] me to be a person like this. To be strong."
JUST WATCHED Italy's death toll soars as aftershocks hit Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Italy's death toll soars as aftershocks hit 02:32
2,500 displaced in camps
To accommodate the displaced, emergency camps have been set up across affected areas, offering food and shelter, and psychological support to those who have lost their homes and loved ones.
AnnaMaria Volpetti, 52 was visiting Accumoli with her family. They now live in Tivoli but travel here every summer to the town where her family originally comes from. "We are lucky," she says. "The earthquake was brutal. It came in waves." A photo posted by Lauren Moorhouse (@lomoorhouse) on Aug 26, 2016 at 3:08am PDT
The Civil Protection Agency said 2,500 were living in the camps, and that more were being built to meet the enormous need.
Images from an Amatrice camp showed displaced people lining up for pasta and an elderly couple sitting on the edge of mattresses on a gym floor, having a meal as those around them hugged and consoled one another.
The Italian Council of Ministers approved a state of emergency Thursday for the regions affected by the earthquake, allocating 50 million euros (about $56.5 million) in funding while the displaced took refuge in the camps.
People prepare to spend the night Thursday in a makeshift camp set up in a gym in Amatrice.
Residents gathered at a square in Amatrice, some of the women crying and hugging, as dust still lingered in the air. Men stood in stoic silence.
'So many dead, so many children'
At a camp in Sant'Angelo, northeast of Amatrice, people gathered and shared their stories of loss.
JUST WATCHED Life in the rubble Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Life in the rubble 01:57
"There is no hope, too many people dead. And Amatrice doesn't exist anymore," Angelina Leone said, holding back tears. "Amatrice has disappeared, and there are so many dead, so many children."
At yet another camp in Accumoli, Anna Maria Volpetti, 52, said she had been visiting her hometown with her family when the quake hit.
"We are lucky," she said. "The earthquake was brutal. It came in waves."

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Italy began the painful task of burying its dead Saturday following a massive earthquake -- as aftershocks rattled the heart of the country and the death toll climbed to 290.


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Peter Salisbury is the associate follow of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House in London. The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN) US Secretary of State John Kerry was in the Saudi city of Jeddah this week, with Yemen's brutal civil war high on the agenda as he met officials from Britain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Yemen's warring parties are in the midst of a bloody stalemate: The Zaydi Shia-led Houthi rebels who along with military loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh have controlled Sana'a, the Yemeni capital, since their joint coup in September 2014; and Saudi-backed anti-Houthi forces ostensibly led by the President in exile Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who are supported by the Saudis, most notably through a campaign of aerial bombardment in Houthi-controlled parts of the country.
Unfortunately, the talks between the self-described "quad" of the US, UK, UAE and Saudi Arabia, are more likely to be an exercise in public hand-wringing than a serious effort to end the war and prevent further loss of life.
It's doubtful, for example, that they addressed the recent decision by Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to withdraw its staff from hospitals in northern Yemen after a series of broken promises from Riyadh that the medical facilities it operates and supports would be protected from airstrikes. And the framework for peace will be issued not by neutral parties but four of the foreign countries most deeply entangled in the conflict, along with the UN's top diplomat working in Yemen.
Moral authority
The meeting in Saudi Arabia could have ended differently, however. The US and UK might take a stand and reclaim some of the moral authority and independence they have lost through unconditional support for the Saudi-led aerial campaign. The alternative is more bloodshed -- and further loss of faith in the commitment of two founder members of the UN Security Council to International Humanitarian Law.
Image taken on August 16 shows damage done to a hospital run by MSF by an airstrike
Last week MSF, which does vital lifesaving work in Yemen, withdrew staff from six medical facilities in the northwest of Yemen after a Saudi-led airstrike killed at least 14 people at a hospital the NGO was running. It was the fourth time an MSF facility had been hit by an airstrike since the war began and one of dozens of schools and hospitals that the coalition has hit, many of them hundreds of kilometers from the frontlines of the war.
"This latest incident shows that the current rules of engagement, military protocols and procedures are inadequate in avoiding attacks on hospitals, and need revision and changes," Joan Tubau, the General Director of MSF wrote at the time.
Airstrikes toll
The UN believes that a huge number of the more than 8,000 civilian casualties in Yemen have been caused by Saudi-led airstrikes. In June, the UN added Saudi Arabia to a list of state actors that violate the rights of children in war due to the incredibly high toll the aerial campaign has taken on Yemeni kids, before being cowed into temporarily reversing its position
For all that they would have us believe otherwise UK and US are not mere bystanders in this. Both countries have sold Saudi Arabia billions of dollars of weapons for use in Yemen since the war began. The US helps the Saudis plan air strikes and provides air traffic control and aerial refueling services to Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) jets taking part in the campaign. London and Washington have also provided the Kingdom with political cover both at home and at the UN.
JUST WATCHED U.S. weapons for Saudi atrocities? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH U.S. weapons for Saudi atrocities? 04:52
But as they have done so it has become increasingly clear that Riyadh either cannot or will not use its expensively-purchased Western weapons with the care and skill needed to properly avoid loss of civilian lives when targeting heavily-populated civilian areas. In some diplomatic circles the Yemen war has become a symbol of Western disinterest in laws of war that they helped craft in the wake of the Second World War.
War crimes
The Houthis and Saleh, it needs to be repeated, are almost certainly committing war crimes in Yemen, according to human rights groups. With this in mind the Saudis, Yemenis opposed to the coup, and indeed Western officials, find it difficult to understand why so much attention is being paid to the Saudis' worst excesses. They aren't the bad guys, the argument goes. But this attitude contains a serious moral hazard: why should rogue states and rebel groups like the Houthis feel accountable for their actions if an ally of two of the UN's most influential member states is not also held to account for its actions or at least reined in?
Yemen's long civil war has reached a bloody stalemate
It's doubtful that the UK and the US will stop arms transfers or freeze the logistical support they are giving the Kingdom, as many aid groups and NGOs are calling for them to do. But at the very least they should call, publicly, for the Saudis to limit their airstrikes to the frontlines of the war. Privately, a number of Western officials concede that the Saudis are "not very good" at so-called dynamic striking -- hitting moving targets or responding to real-time intelligence. So they could at least stop these kinds of strikes anywhere other than clearly defined "hot" zones of combat.
While the initial aerial campaign destroyed most of Yemen's stock of long-range ballistic missiles, another 15 months of air strikes away from the frontlines have had no notable effect on the course of the war, and have turned a large number of Yemenis against the Saudis, the Emiratis -- a key Saudi partner in the Yemen campaign -- and the US and UK.
If they are serious about peace, and want to be able to claim the moral high ground in the future conflicts, Kerry and his British colleagues might want to start thinking about how to rein in the Saudi bombing campaign.

Why US, Britain are key to ending Yemen horror


US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Jeddah this week, with Yemen's civil war likely top of the agenda as he met British, Saudi and UAE officials.


Acquasanta Terme, Italy (CNN) They had been planning the perfect wedding for more than a year. The dress, the suit and the venue were all reserved.
And then four days before the big day, part of the church crumbled in an earthquake.
A photo posted by @atikacnn on Aug 28, 2016 at 2:40am PDT
Still, Ramon and Martina Adazzi tied the knot Sunday in the town of Acquasanta Terme, near the epicenter of a devastating earthquake in central Italy that has killed at least 291 people and flattened entire villages.
The couple were heartbroken when their celebrant told them the church's altar was covered in debris. Cracks had formed up the walls, and 16th-century frescoes had torn open and crumbled. The building was not usable.
A photo posted by @atikacnn on Aug 28, 2016 at 2:29am PDT
"At first I was shocked. We've been organizing this for more than a year," Adazzi told CNN.
But the couple vowed to carry on with the ceremony.
"When Don Giovanni said the church was not safe, I told my wife: I want to celebrate my wedding there because they need a moment to think of other things now," Ramon told CNN on the day of the wedding.
The band begins to play the wedding march. 6 year old Elisa is one of the flower girls strewing white petals before the bride. She takes her job very seriously. A photo posted by @atikacnn on Aug 28, 2016 at 3:26am PDT
"I love the city. I love the people. Why would I take my wedding to another city?" he said.
So despite the ongoing aftershocks they moved the service to a village square, with the green Marche mountains and the town's fractured buildings as their backdrop.
The wedding -- attended by dozens of people, including some from as far away as Brazil and Canada -- was a brief moment of joy in the grim central Italian quake zone and a testament that life does indeed go on.
"Of course I was worried and nervous. And I didn't want to create even more problems for the village," Adazzi said. "But everyone has been so wonderful and welcoming."
The father of the bride walks her down the aisle to applause from guests. A video posted by @atikacnn on Aug 28, 2016 at 3:30am PDT
These are the cookies they baked. With Grandma's help. Alessandro is particularly proud of the bride and groom cookies A photo posted by @atikacnn on Aug 28, 2016 at 3:02am PDT
Demolition zone
Communities in this mountainous region of central Italy are grieving so much loss of life and overwhelmed by the thought of how to rebuild.
Some 20 kilometers to the southwest, the center of Amatrice was a demolition zone on Sunday.
The home of the famous Amatriciana pasta sauce was supposed to be bustling with tourists this weekend to celebrate the town's 50th spaghetti festival. Instead, rescuers had all but given up hope of finding any more survivors.
A church partially destroyed in the earthquake in Amatrice.
It has been four days since the earthquake jolted central Italy -- now well past the 72-hour window in which experts say the chance of finding survivors is most likely. Many more bodies may still be trapped under piles of rubble.
JUST WATCHED Towns destroyed in Italy's earthquake Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Towns destroyed in Italy's earthquake 01:01
But the task now has moved on to knocking down the buildings left half standing to make sure that they don't come crashing down in aftershocks, causing more deaths or injuries.
CNN correspondents in Amatrice saw bulldozers knocking down entire homes Sunday and cranes lifting containers to carry out mountains of debris in what promises to be an exhaustive cleanup.
A town razed
Much of the town's main street was destroyed or badly damaged. The popular Roma Hotel partially collapsed, its rooms gutted and its roof slumped on one side in the shape of a wave.
The community in Amatrice are worried that a bell tower built in the 1400s will be demolished.
A single bell tower built in the 1400s stood tall among the rubble. But with its deep cracks, shaky foundations and little left around it, many fear that it, too, will have to be demolished.
What's left of Amatrice, it seems, is being razed.
The town is usually home to just 2,000 people. But in the middle of summer its population can swell to 15,000, particularly on festival weekends.
This makes it more difficult to ensure that everyone is accounted for. Demolition and rescue crews were thoroughly searching each building with sniffer dogs and consulting with residents before knocking anything down in case another body might be found.
JUST WATCHED Why is rescue work in Italy so hard? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Why is rescue work in Italy so hard? 01:55
The rescuers who worked through each night in the initial days to find survivors are now racing against time for a different reason: Storms are expected to hit central Italy in a few days, threatening to turn the mounds of dust to mud.
They are also working under a scorching sun. Temperatures soared to 34 degrees Celsius on Sunday, well above average in the mountainous town.
Laying loved ones to rest
JUST WATCHED Italy holds state funeral for earthquake victims Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Italy holds state funeral for earthquake victims 01:41
In his weekly Angelus prayer, Pope Francis offered condolences Sunday for those affected by the earthquake.
"Once more I say to those beloved people that the Church shares their sufferings and their worries. We pray for those who died and for the survivors. The quick way in which authorities, volunteers, civil protection members are working, shows how important is solidarity to overcome such suffering," Pope Francis said.
On Saturday Italy began burying the dead in a tearful state funeral attended by hundreds, many of them bandaged and bruised and still in shock from the week's traumatic events.
Some of the mourners at a state funeral for Italy's earthquake victims were clearly in shock as they said goodbye to victims.
In the town of Ascoli Piceno, a local gym was transformed into a funeral hall, a basketball net the backdrop of the altar.
Thirty-five coffins adorned with flowers and framed photographs sat in three rows for victims from the town of Arquata del Tronto. Taped to the foot of each coffin was a white paper with the name of the deceased.
Among the coffins was one belonging to a young girl named Giulia Rinaldi. Bishop Giovanni d'Ercole, who led the ceremony, told a painful story of how Giulia was found dead on top of her younger sister, Giorgia, who survived. The older girl apparently shielded her sibling from harm.
Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Police inspect the rubble and debris in Amatrice, Italy, on Saturday, August 27. A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck central Italy on Wednesday, August 24. Hundreds of people have been killed, and the death toll is expected to rise as rescue teams reach remote areas. Hide Caption 1 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A drone controlled by Italian firefighters flies over damaged houses in San Lorenzo, Italy, on August 27. Hide Caption 2 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Damaged coffins and rubble are seen at the cemetery of Sant'Angelo, Italy, on August 27. Hide Caption 3 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rescuers of the Italian Red Cross carry the body of a victim in Amatrice, Italy, on Friday, August 26. Hide Caption 4 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Firefighters and rescue workers stand near the damaged Sant'Agostino church and a destroyed ice cream shop in the Italian village of Amatrice on Friday, August 26. Hide Caption 5 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A woman rests in the courtyard of a convent in Amatrice on August 26. Hide Caption 6 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Firefighters inspect a damaged building from the elevated platform of a firetruck in Amatrice on August 26. Amatrice has been the hardest-hit town, with more than 200 killed there. Hide Caption 7 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy An aerial view shows the damage in the village of Saletta on August 26. Strong aftershocks in the region have rattled residents and emergency crews. Hide Caption 8 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A man and woman comfort each other in front of a collapsed house in Amatrice on August 26. Hide Caption 9 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Firefighters cordon off an area around the rubble from a destroyed building in Amatrice on August 26. Hide Caption 10 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Emergency team members set up a tent camp for earthquake victims at a sports field in Arquata del Tronto on August 26. Hide Caption 11 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rescuers make their way through destroyed houses in Pescara del Tronto on Thursday, August 25. It's unclear how many people remain trapped under debris. Hide Caption 12 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A field kitchen in Amatrice provides meals for emergency workers and earthquake survivors on August 25. Hide Caption 13 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rescue and emergency service personnel use an excavator to search for victims under the remains of a building in Amatrice on August 25. Hide Caption 14 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy An old building in Amatrice is partly damaged after the quake. Hide Caption 15 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy An emergency services helicopter takes off in Amatrice as rescuers continue the search for survivors. Hide Caption 16 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A man rests on a bench after spending the night in a makeshift camp set up inside a gym in Amatrice on August 25. Hide Caption 17 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A bird's eye view of Amatrice shows the devastation after the deadly quake struck on Wednesday, August 24. Hide Caption 18 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rescuers help a woman from the rubble in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 19 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Search-and-rescue teams survey collapsed houses in Pescara del Tronto on August 24. Hide Caption 20 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A man cries as another injured man is helped in Amatrice. Hide Caption 21 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy This woman in Amatrice was wounded during the earthquake. Hide Caption 22 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rescuers carry a man through earthquake debris in Amatrice. Hide Caption 23 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rocco Girardi receives treatment after being rescued from the rubble in Arquata del Tronto on August 24. Hide Caption 24 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy The body of a unidentified child lies on a bench in Arquata del Tronto on August 24. Hide Caption 25 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy The quake left this house in ruins in Arquata del Tronto. Hide Caption 26 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Two people hug each other next to damaged houses in Pescara del Tronto. Hide Caption 27 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Two women pass along a stuffed toy in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 28 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Residents take in the damage in Amatrice. Hide Caption 29 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy This aerial photo shows damaged buildings in Amatrice. The quake struck at 3:36 a.m and was felt across a broad swath of central Italy. Hide Caption 30 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy An emergency hospital camp is set up to treat earthquake victims in Arquata del Tronto. Hide Caption 31 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A woman tries to comfort her child in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 32 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Residents survey a collapsed staircase in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 33 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Residents of Pescara del Tronto care for an elderly earthquake victim on August 24. Hide Caption 34 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Search-and-rescue teams look for survivors in Pescara del Tronto. Hide Caption 35 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Survivors sit among the rubble of a house in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 36 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Residents search for victims in Amatrice. Hide Caption 37 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy An injured man is rescued from a collapsed building in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 38 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A man leans on a wall in Pescara del Tronto. Hide Caption 39 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A dog searches for people trapped in collapsed buildings in Amatrice. Hide Caption 40 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Rescuers search for victims in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 41 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A man is pulled alive from the rubble. Hide Caption 42 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A man surveys damage near a dust-covered car in Amatrice on August 24. Hide Caption 43 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy Two people huddle together in Amatrice after the earthquake. Hide Caption 44 of 45 Photos: Earthquake strikes central Italy A rescue worker drives a truck of rubble as cleanup operations begin in Amatrice. Hide Caption 45 of 45
"They were holding each other, between them in embrace, both death and life," he said.
Wreaths delivered for the state funeral. A photo posted by @atikacnn on Aug 27, 2016 at 2:13am PDT
Hundreds attended the state funeral and Catholic service to lay their loved ones to rest.
A woman at the funeral named Maria said she lost friends and family in the quake, and described how she and her husband used their bare hands to dig neighbors out of the rubble.
"Community is very important. In small villages like this," she said. "The relationship with the land and those you love, with our family, is very, very strong. It will be even stronger. We won't give up."

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Story highlights Ugandan rapper Keko doesn't shy away from controversy, tackling pressing issues in her country
At the height of her fame she fought a battle with drink and drugs
She runs the organization "Sober Up So High" to stop young people falling into the same trap
(CNN) Ugandan rapper Keko is no stranger to overcoming challenges.
At the height of her success in 2014 she was struggling with drink and drunk abuse.
Two years later, after overcoming her own difficulties, she is working hard to stop young Ugandan's from falling into the same trap through her organization "Sober Up So High."
"We are hoping to get as much help for the young people out there as possible," Keko told CNN. "The future is always brighter, you always fall but you have to keep your head up and you can always rise up again"
...What you heard about me....♊😎 A photo posted by kekotown (@kekotown) on Jun 11, 2016 at 4:47am PDT
"It's a non profit organization that is focusing on creating awareness about drug awareness and prevention," adds co-founder Shadrack Kutesa.
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Rapper Keko is helping young Ugandans steer clear of drugs


At the height of her fame Ugandan rapper Keko was struggling with substance abuse. Now, through her non-profit and music she is helping young people avoid the same fate.


(CNN) The daily commute is the most mundane and often the most frustrating part of city living -- but photographer Chris Forsyth wants us to appreciate the beauty hidden in our transit systems.
The 20-year-old has spent two years capturing busy underground stations -- devoid of people.
Almost 150 subway stations have been photographed as part of his photo series " The Metro Project ."
The first edition focused on his hometown of Montreal and earned him the accolade of 2015's International Photographer of the Year award for interior architecture.
His latest series turns his attention to Europe, snapping the metro systems of Munich, Berlin and Stockholm.
"Each city's underground has something unique to offer," says Forsyth.
"Montreal's metro system is a microcosm of 1960s Canadian architecture."
Meanwhile, "Stockholm's Tunnelbana is known as the world's longest art exhibit," says Forsyth.
"Many of its stations have kept their raw, cave-like form, and include larger-than-life hand-painted walls and ceilings."
Amongst his Stockholm images is one of Europe's most photographed stations -- Solna Centrum.
Here, artists Anders Aberg and Karl-Olov Bjork painted its exposed rock an angry black and red, creating something altogether demonic.
Stockholm's stations are "truly a treat for the senses," says Forsyth.
Moving on to Germany, he says that Munich's stations are generally "very modern and spacious."
He adds, "Looking at Berlin, being that their U-Bahn is over a hundred years old, and has 170 stations, there's a variety of old and new."
In Canada, different architects designed each station, so each has its own character and atmosphere, he explains.
"That really fascinated me -- that you can see such a variety of architectural styles in such a short time."
Empty stations
Berlin's Rathaus Steglitz was designed by R. G. Rummler and opened in 1974.
Despite an average of more than 1.3 million passengers traveling daily on Montreal's metro system, Forsyth's photos feature little more than the stations' clean lines and bold colors. There's barely a human figure in sight.
This monumental feat started out merely as a way to avoid breaking the law.
"When I began the project in Quebec, there is a law protecting people against being photographed in public," he says. But as he traveled to other cities this "developed into more of a style decision."
Surprisingly, Forsyth succeeds in shooting these images during the day, spending up to eight hours a day in each city's underground.
"If I place down my tripod, eventually, I'll have an empty photograph. It's just a matter of waiting for that perfect moment."
Long exposures, motion blurs and color adjustments are also used to emphasize key design features. He's quick to add, "I tried to stay as true to the stations as possible."
#themetroproject
Forsyth is now looking to turn the project into a collaborative online archive.
He's asking members of the public to photograph the stations they pass through everyday and upload images to Instagram via the hashtags #mtlmetroproject in Montreal and #themetroproject internationally. Collectively it's garnered more than 2,000 posts.
He hopes to extend the series further by traveling through the underground systems of Warsaw, Moscow, Paris and London, which is the oldest on the planet.
"There are a ton of really interesting systems around the world and I'd like to visit them all eventually," he says.
The aim of the project is to help "people appreciate the spaces that they pass through a bit more and take the time to look around."
Forsyth hopes they "find something they like about what they see."
Want to see more? CNN put together a selection of some of the world's most stunning metro stations in the gallery below.

Are these world's most beautiful metro stations?


Photographer Chris Forsyth has spent two years capturing 150 busy underground stations in an aesthetically deserted state


Story highlights Two large earthquakes have rocked Iceland's largest volcano
Scientists are monitoring the situation in case of an eruption
(CNN) The Icelandic Meteorological Office is on alert for a possible eruption from the country's largest volcano, Katla, after two earthquakes rattled the region.
The volcano, which stands at 1,500 meters (nearly 5,000 feet) tall, hasn't had a major eruption since 1918. Scientists say Katla usually erupts once every 50 years.
Two magnitude 4.5 earthquakes shook the area early Monday morning.
CNN Map
The meteorological office confirmed an increase in seismic activity in recent weeks and said it was monitoring the situation. An eruption is not imminent, scientists said, but they can't rule it out.
"Such summertime increases in seismicity are common at Katla and the ongoing activity within the caldera is similar to summertime unrest observed in 2012 and 2014," the office said.
Read More

Iceland volcano: Katla may erupt after quakes


The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) is on alert for a possible eruption from the country's largest volcano, Katla, after two earthquakes in the region.


They tote cameras and binoculars, and they want photographic proof that they've been where they say they've been.
American photographer Roger Minick calls the genus "Sightseer Americanus."
In the early 1980s, Minick captured a cross-section of American tourists in his Sightseer series, a project he picked up again in the late 1990s and 2000.
The determined sightseers' fashion choices, delicious throwbacks for today's viewer, were a big part of what drew Minick to his subjects.
"I'd be at a great distance at an overlook, and I'd see a couple arrive, get out of their car. And before I saw them or their faces, I would see what they were wearing, their colors, and I would be drawn to them for that reason," said Minick, 72, who's based in Danville, California.
Those colors were missing the first time he set out to document tourists crisscrossing the American West to soak up the country's vast national parks and wide-open landscapes.
In 1979, he shot in black and white. That was a mistake "because the colors are so interesting, the juxtaposition of what people wear and the backgrounds."
So the next year he retraced his steps, this time in color.
A time capsule
Minick's interest in photographing sightseers was piqued in 1976 while he was teaching at an Ansel Adams workshop at Yosemite National Park.
Teaching alongside the legendary landscape photographer, Minick noticed how visitors arriving by the bus- and RV-load would elbow through the crowd of student photographers to take smiling snapshots in front of the dramatic scenery.
"And that became more interesting to me than taking the classic photograph of Yosemite Valley, which had been done a gazillion times before that," Minick said.
"So I became more interested in them. And then I started to look at the people closely and their faces and the way they were dressed, and I thought, 'Wow, this is pretty unique.'"
Inspired by the classic snapshot -- that proof-of-visit required by many travelers -- Minick set out to create a time capsule that would become more interesting as the years passed.
But he wanted the photographs to bear his own artistic stamp.
"If I was truly doing the snapshot, I would have photographed them usually in the first few seconds as they presented themselves, often with a big cheesy smile," he said.
"I think that's where I departed and I wanted to transcend that and show people maybe in a more vulnerable ... or what I see as a more neutral expression."
He took a little bit more time, although rarely more than a few minutes, to find a moment that worked.
Changing times
According to his field notes on the project, Minick wanted to explore what motivated people "at great expense of time, money and effort, to visit these far-off places of wonder and curiosity."
Overall, their motivations were good.
"Certainly there is the gross aspect of tourism ... the big Winnebagos, and American tourists can be loud and noisy and carry on and all that, but I think for the most part my sense was that people really did appreciate these places that they went to on some level," he said.
That appreciation is still there, Minick finds, but the contemporary selfie culture has shifted the landscape.
"There is a kind of frenetic running around, more so than I remember back in the 1980s," he said.
Yet despite today's photo frenzy, there's still time to pause and look back at vacationers past.

Sightseer Americanus: A throwback to tourists past


They sport leisure suits and pink rompers, cowboy hats, logo T-shirts and blue checked pants.


(CNN) Nico Rosberg will start in pole position in the Belgian Grand Prix Sunday after finishing fastest in qualifying.
His Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton who leads the championship race by 19 points will start at the back of the field at the Spa circuit after taking a grid penalty for using more engine parts than is permissible.
The defending champion was plagued with engine problems at the start of the season and has to accept the penalty for replacing key components. He sat out most of the qualifying laps.
Rosberg was pushed hard by Max Verstappen in the Red Bull who was only a fraction of a second behind his time.
Team mates Kimi Raikkonenen and Sebastian Vettel in the Ferraris complete the front two rows of the grid.

F1: Rosberg makes the most of Hamilton's penalty


Nico Rosberg will start in pole position in the Belgian Grand Prix Sunday after finishing fastest in qualifying.


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

ISIS says senior leader killed; vows revenge


Two ISIS sources claim a key leader of the terror group was killed while inspecting operations. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports from Turkey-Syria border.


Story highlights Six crew members spent 365 days in a Mars simulation in Hawaii
The experiment was intended to study the effects of isolation
(CNN) A crew of intrepid astronauts have emerged after a year on Mars... kind of.
Six scientists spent 365 days in a geodesic dome set in a Mars-like environment 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) above sea level. The simulated habitat was located on the slopes of Mauna Loa, a volcano in Hawaii.
The experiment, the longest of its type ever conducted, was designed to test crew cohesion and performance in isolation. It forms an important part of any real mission to Mars as journeys to the red planet will take upwards of six months, before any surface missions even begin, and astronauts will have to spend long periods of time together in a claustrophobic space.
"The UH research going on up here is just super vital when it comes to picking crews, figuring out how people are going to actually work on different kinds of missions, and sort of the human factors element of space travel, colonization, whatever it is you are actually looking at," Tristan Bassingthwaighte, who served as the crew's architect, said in a statement
"We're proud to be helping NASA reduce or remove the barriers to long-duration space exploration," said University of Hawaii professor Kim Binsted, the project's principle investigator.
Read More

Mars simulation crew 'return to Earth' after 365 days in isolation


A crew of intrepid astronauts have emerged after a year on Mars... kind of.


(CNN) Lewis Hamilton may have kept his powder dry in practice for the Belgian Grand Prix Friday, but the Mercedes driver will need all the pace he can muster to keep his title challenge on track this weekend.
Hamilton, who leads the F1 championship by 19 points following the summer break , was 13th fastest on a warm day at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
He will be forced to start from the back of the grid come Sunday, having exceeded the prescribed number of engine part changes cars are allowed in a season.
Hamilton was given a 30-place grid penalty on a day when local favorite Max Verstappen was fastest in qualifying.
The Briton has already overcome early season problems with form and his car to wipe out a 43-point deficit to Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in the overall standings and revive his hopes of winning a fourth world title, and third in a row.
"In terms of winning, it's going to be very, very hard," Hamilton told reporters.
"But I'll do everything I can."
SPA GRID PENALTIES
Alonso - 35 places
Hamilton - 30 places
Ericsson - 10 places
More >> https://t.co/ZNB6rhZWiW pic.twitter.com/mB8lMo1Lya — Formula 1 (@F1) August 26, 2016
Mercedes had "not ruled out the possibility of (Hamilton) using even more fresh parts prior to Saturday's qualifying," the official F1 website said.
This would earn a further grid penalty, but Hamilton is already at the back of the 22-car field and the sanction cannot be carried over to the next race.
His car can thus be loaded with up with fresh equipment for the eight races left after Spa.
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Fernando Alonso is also set to start Sunday's race at the back of the grid for McLaren after he replaced his power unit with a fresh one following Friday's session in unexpected heatwave conditions.
Later, the Spaniard reiterated his frustrations over the current state of F1, saying he will wait to test a 2017 car before deciding on his future.
"In the last couple of years, in this turbo era, the cars are different to drive," the two-time world champion said.
"But I was lucky to drive the 2004-2005 car, and even in 2009, they were more extreme F1 cars. When I see a GP2 car is three seconds slower than FP1, I feel a bit sad.
"Next year, if the cars are fun to drive and exciting to drive, I will probably stay longer in F1. But if the cars still give me the feeling of the last few years, I will stop."
On the track, Rosberg was fastest in the first session of the day but Red Bull's Verstappen led the way in the afternoon session.
Born in Hasselt just 50 kilometers away from the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, the 18-year-old Dutchman drove the fastest qualifying lap with a time of one minute 48.085 seconds.
"I'm happy to be first in front of so many Dutch fans but it's still not qualifying and not the race so let's see," he said.
"When I went up to first position in the second practice the fans were all cheering me on with their flags. It definitely gives me a boost and motivates me a lot."
That allowed him to outpace Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo by two-tenths as the Austrian outfit continued its resurgent form.
Nico Rosberg with the halo device fitted on his car at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, Rosberg was one of several drivers to trial the new halo head protection device Friday.
"The team have done a great job on the halo. It doesn't disturb me when driving," the German told reporters.
"I could go fast straight away and even set the best time of the session with it this morning, so I think that was a success."
"From a visibility point of view, it wasn't too bad," team boss Christian Horner told reporters at Spa after Ricciardo also tried the official three-pronged cockpit protection system. "There were some restrictions around the side, but it is a work in progress."

Lewis Hamilton takes 30-place grid penalty


Lewis Hamilton may have kept his powder dry in practice for the Belgian GP Friday, but the Mercedes driver will need all his pace to keep title challenge alive.


NBA great calls Kaepernick's protest "patriotic"


Former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar comes to the defense of Colin Kaepernick after critics call his sit-down protests unpatriotic.


Story highlights Serena Williams cruises into round two
Sister Venus struggles through
Andy Murray wins in straight sets
Eugenie Bouchard crashes out
(CNN) Serena Williams sailed through her first-round match at the US Open, showing no signs of the shoulder injury that derailed her quest for Olympic gold in Rio -- but she revealed her ailment played some part in her eye-catching new outfit.
The top-seeded American eased to a 6-3 6-3 victory over Russian Ekaterina Makarova Tuesday at the Arthur Ashe Stadium as she bids for an Open-Era record 23rd grand slam singles title.
Williams hit 12 aces during the match but admitted that she was aiming for placement rather than power.
"I didn't hit my serves as hard as I normally hit them," the world No. 1, who next faces compatriot Vania King, told reporters. "I just went for more placement. I didn't go for the big 120s, just the regular.
"I was pleased with my serve because I haven't been hitting a lot of serves at all. In practice, none of them were going in, so I was definitely excited about that."
VERY strong outfit by Serena Williams. Liking the black superhero vibe. But with opera sleeves! Great stuff #USOpen pic.twitter.com/Z385OP7LNd — Uche Amako (@UcheAmako) August 31, 2016

US Open: Serena Williams starts bid for record 23rd slam


The American sailed through her first round tie at the US Open, showing no signs of the shoulder injury that derailed her quest for Olympic gold in Rio.


Police in China say they have captured a man that raped and killed 11 women since the late 1980's.


(CNN) Welcome to the dark side of the universe. In a direct contrast with the beautifully bright Milky Way galaxy, a "dark twin" called Dragonfly 44 has been discovered 300 million light-years away in the Coma constellation, according to a new study .
But don't cue "Star Wars' " Imperial March theme music or Darth Vader breathing just yet (even if the closeup image looks like a slightly creepy emoji). Although it's massive and mysterious, Dragonfly 44 is really just misunderstood.
Dragonfly 44 went unnoticed until last year because, when regarding the darkness of space, this galaxy resembles a virtually indistinguishable blob. But by looking at it with some of the world's most powerful telescopes, including the Dragonfly telescope array designed and built by study authors Pieter van Dokkum and Roberto Abraham, researchers realized something else. It is named for the telescope that found it.
Dragonfly 44 is an incredibly large but diffuse and dim galaxy. Encircling its core is a halo made up of clusters of stars, much like what we see in the Milky Way. But this galaxy is only 0.1% stars. The Milky Way has more than a hundred times that. The researchers knew that something had to be holding those few stars in place.
"We knew as soon as we discovered the galaxy that it would be so tenuous if it was just made up of stars and no dark matter, that it would quickly disrupt and disappear," said van Dokkum, lead study author and Yale University astronomer.
A huge amount of gravity was working to hold those stars in place, and once researchers used star velocity to measure how much mass the galaxy contained, they realized that the other 99.9% is dark matter.
To put this in perspective, Dragonfly 44 is comparable in size to the Milky Way, which is 100,000 light-years wide. Mostly it is just unseen because it is cloaked in darkness.
"It's very exciting because we thought we had sort of figured out what the relationship is between galaxies and dark matter," van Dokkum said. "This discovery turns that on its head. Now, you can have a hundred times fewer stars in the galaxy with the same amount of dark matter as the Milky Way. That was entirely unexpected, and that means that there is something missing in our description of galaxy formations, and there are physics that we don't yet understand in that process."
This newly observed galaxy could hold the secrets to understanding dark matter, the hypothesized ingredient that makes up 90% of the universe. Given the fact that we know next to nothing about it, this find could open the door to our discovery and understanding of the mysterious building block.
"One of the things we are after are finding galaxies like this that are even closer to us, ideally 30 or 50 million light-years away so we could study them in detail," van Dokkum said. "We could be looking for the dark matter particle itself. Currently, people are looking at tiny dwarf galaxies that circle the Milky Way to search for the dark matter particle with X-ray and UV telescopes, but nothing has been found yet. These galaxies are a million times more massive, so we have a higher chance of detecting a dark matter signal if we find one close enough to us.
"But dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries in science. We don't even know if it is a particle or not. It's a bunch of steps from where we are now. For us, it's finding the best candidates. It would be incredibly exciting if it helps the search in that way."
The invention and building of the Dragonfly telescope came out of a dinner conversation between the two men, that led to a bet in 2011. It has grown from one lens in a parking lot to an array of 48 lenses with a coating that enables them to do special imaging of these faint galaxies.
Abraham, a professor of astronomy at the University of Toronto, is credited with putting the telescope together. Van Dokkum also has a background in photography, which enabled him to help with selecting the lenses.
As it happens, in his spare time, he uses his photography skills to capture images of the underappreciated dragonfly. He calls it a "strange confluence of work and hobby," considering the name of the galaxy and telescope.
Join the conversation See the latest news and share your comments with CNN Health on Facebook and Twitter.
Using their Dragonfly telescope, van Dokkum and Abraham will continue their research by surveying a random large batch of the sky rather than targeting of particular galaxies or groups of galaxies, as they had been doing.
"We built this telescope to try to uncover what's out there," van Dokkum said. "What other things have we missed that are right above us?"

'Dark twin' of the Milky Way galaxy discovered


Welcome to the dark side of the universe. In a direct contrast with the beautifully bright Milky Way galaxy, a "dark twin" called Dragonfly 44 has been discovered 300 million light-years away in the Coma constellation, according to a new study.


Story highlights The Gottschalks have been married since 1954
Their granddaughter posted the picture of their tearful goodbye
(CNN) A photo posted online showing an elderly couple holding hands and crying has been shared thousands of times on Facebook.
The reason is more heart-wrenching than the picture.
Wolf and Anita Gottschalk of Surrey, B.C, have been married for 62 years. But they were admitted into separate nursing homes and, for the last eight months, have been forced to live apart.
Every other day, a member of their family, usually their granddaughter Ashley Bartyik, drives the 40 minutes so they can see each other. Every time it's time to say goodbye, there are tears.
"It's an emotional outburst from both of them," Bartyik told CNN.
Read More

This photo of a couple saying goodbye is breaking hearts


A photo posted online showing an elderly couple holding hands and crying has been shared thousands of times on Facebook. The reason is heartbreaking.


(CNN) It's been a good year for blunt, fiercely macho leadership around the world.
They're all known for controversial, shocking remarks -- can you work out who said these quotes?

Trump, Putin or Duterte: Can you pick which 'strongman' politician said what?


It's been a good year for blunt, fiercely macho leadership around the world.


Story highlights Authorities release some of the 911 calls that came after the Pulse nightclub shooting began
One caller tells dispatcher he has a friend in the club who has been shot three times
(CNN) One caller reports that a friend just texted him to say he'd been shot and was in the bathroom at Pulse in Orlando. Another man calls to say he safely fled after gunshots erupted at the popular nightclub.
The dispatcher asks how many shots he heard. "More than 10, I can tell you," he replies.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office has released the 911 calls made in the early hours of June 12, as a lone gunman killed 49 people and wounded dozens more before police killed him in a shootout.
The Orlando Police Department, which received the bulk of the calls after the shooting began, has yet to release its 911 calls.
Alert: Under FL St. 119: OCSO is required to release 911 calls from Pulse. Call 407-500-4673 for emotional support pic.twitter.com/DNF2nfrfLs — OCSO FL News (@OrangeCoSheriff) August 30, 2016
The caller who reported hearing 10 gunshots reported later in the call that he heard more gunfire upon leaving the club.
Read More

Orlando Pulse 911 caller: 'Gunshots were just going like crazy'


The Orange County Sheriff's Office has released 911 calls made from Orlando's Pulse nightclub as a gunman killed 49 people and wounded dozens more.


Story highlights Gene Wilder has died, his lawyer confirms to CNN
The actor, who played the title role in 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,' was 83
(CNN) Gene Wilder, who brought a wild-eyed desperation to a series of memorable and iconic comedy roles in the 1970s and 1980s, has died, his lawyer, Eric Weissmann, said.
He was 83.
Wilder is best known for his collaborations with director Mel Brooks, starring as the stressed-out Leo Bloom in Brooks' breakout 1967 film "The Producers" and later in the monster movie spoof "Young Frankenstein." He also portrayed a boozing gunslinger in "Blazing Saddles."
For many people, Wilder might be best remembered for "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," playing the mysterious candy tycoon in the 1971 adaptation of Roald Dahl's book.
In a statement to CNN on Monday, Brooks called Wilder "one of the truly great talents of our time."

Gene Wilder, star of 'Willy Wonka,' dead at 83


Gene Wilder, who brought a wild-eyed desperation to a series of memorable and iconic comedy roles in the 1970s and 1980s, has died, his lawyer, Eric Weissmann, said.


Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On August 8, Paul Pogba became the most expensive signing in football history after rejoining Manchester United from Juventus in a deal worth €105 million ($116 million). Hide Caption 1 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On July 26, Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain became the third most expensive signing in history, joining Italian champion Juventus from Serie A rival Napoli for €90 million ($99 million). Hide Caption 2 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On June 30, Brazil forward Hulk became the Chinese Super League's most expensive signing, after joining Shanghai SIPG from Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg for €55.8 million ($60.8 million). Hide Caption 3 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On June 28, Sadio Mane became the most expensive African player when the Senegal forward joined Liverpool from Southampton in a deal worth a reported £34 million ($44.5 million). Hide Caption 4 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings It might have been a free transfer, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic's July 1 move to Manchester United is one of the biggest deals of the summer window. The free-scoring Swede joined Jose Mourinho after his contract at Paris Saint-Germain expired. Hide Caption 5 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On July 6, Mourinho made Henrikh Mkhitaryan his second signing at the club, with Manchester United paying Borussia Dortmund a reported fee of $40 million for the Armenia midfielder. Hide Caption 6 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings Mourinho's first acquisition was Ivory Coast defender Eric Bailly. On June 8, Manchester United announced the 22-year-old's signing from Spanish team Villarreal for a reported £30 million ($39.2 million) fee. Hide Caption 7 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings John Stones didn't play a single minute in England's ill-fated Euro 2016 campaign, but on August 9 the 22-year-old joined Manchester City from Everton for a reported fee of $62.7 million -- which made him the world's second-most expensive defender. Hide Caption 8 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings A week earlier, Leroy Sane had become Pep Guardiola's fifth Manchester City signing, joining from Schalke for a reported fee of $49 million. The 20-year-old made one appearance at Euro 2016, as a substitute in Germany's semifinal defeat by France. Hide Caption 9 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On July 1, Spain forward Nolito became Guardiola's second signing when Manchester City triggered the €18 million ($20 million) release clause in his Celta Vigo contract. Hide Caption 10 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On June 2, Germany midfielder llkay Gundogan became Guardiola's first City signing, joining for a reported £20 million ($26 million) fee from Borussia Dortmund. Hide Caption 11 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On July 21, Andre Gomes joined Barcelona from Valencia for an initial fee of €35 million ($39 million) after a successful Euro 2016 in which the midfielder helped Portugal win its first international title. Hide Caption 12 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings Valencia's young Spain striker Paco Alcacer also moved to the Nou Camp after Barcelona clinched a €30 million ($33.4 million) deal on August 30. The 23-year-old has a buyout clause of €100 million ($111.4 million) Hide Caption 13 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings France defender Samuel Umtiti moved to the Spanish champion on July 30, signing a five-year deal after Barca paid French side Lyon €25 million ($27.9 million). Hide Caption 14 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings Barcelona also completed the €16.5 million ($18.4 million) signing of France international left-back Lucas Digne from Paris Saint-Germain on July 13. Hide Caption 15 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings Italy striker Graziano Pelle reportedly became the joint-sixth highest paid player in the world after he left English club Southampton to join Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng in a £13 million ($17 million) deal on July 11. The 31-year-old will reportedly earn that much in one season Hide Caption 16 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On July 30, Spanish club Atletico Madrid signed French forward Kevin Gameiro from La Liga rival Sevilla for a reported €32 million ($35.6 million). Hide Caption 17 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On June 16, Champions League finalist Atletico also agreed a €25 million ($27.8 million) deal for Benfica's Argentinian midfielder Nicolas Gaitan. Hide Caption 18 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings World Cup winner Mario Goetze rejoined Borussia Dortmund on July 21 after an unsuccessful spell with Bayern Munich, which had made him Germany's most expensive player at the time when it paid €37 million for him in 2013. Hide Caption 19 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings The next day, Dortmund continued to bolster its squad by signing Andre Schurrle from Bundesliga rival Wolfsburg for a reported fee of $33 million. Hide Caption 20 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On July 16, France midfielder N'Golo Kante was the first star name to be sold from Leicester City's Premier League-winning side, signing for English rival Chelsea in a $42 million deal. Hide Caption 21 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On July 3, former Juventus and Italy coach Antonio Conte started his Chelsea revolution by signing 22-year-old Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi from French club Marseille for a reported €40 million ($44.5 million). Hide Caption 22 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On June 13, Juventus paid Italian rival Roma €32 million ($35.6 million) for Bosnia and Herzegovina midfielder Miralem Pjanic. Hide Caption 23 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On July 15, Juventus completed the signing of Morocco defender Medhi Benatia from Bayern Munich on a season-long loan costing €3 million ($3.45 million), with an option to buy for an extra €17 million ($19 million). Hide Caption 24 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings Juventus signed Brazilian defender Dani Alves on a free transfer from Barcelona on June 27 after his contract at the Spanish club expired. Hide Caption 25 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings On June 21, Real Madrid activated the €30 million ($34 million) buy-back clause for Spain striker Alvaro Morata -- who it had sold to Juventus for €20 million ($22.3 million) in 2014. Hide Caption 26 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings Granit Xhaka made headlines at Euro 2016 when his shirt ripped -- before the tournament the Switzerland midfielder had already secured a move to English club Arsenal from Borussia Monchengladbach in a deal worth a reported £30 million ($39.2 million). Hide Caption 27 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings After failing to challenge for the Premier League title last season, Arsene Wenger was under pressure to further strengthen his squad with high-profile players -- but it took until August 30 for Arsenal to announce the signing of Lucas Perez from Deportivo la Coruna for a reported fee of £17 million ($22 million). The 27-year-old is uncapped by Spain, but scored 17 goals in La Liga last season. Hide Caption 28 of 30
Photos: Europe's biggest summer signings Bayern Munich started the big-money moves in May, when the German champion announced a €35 million deal for Benfica's teenage midfielder Renato Sanches, who would help Portugal win Euro 2016. Hide Caption 29 of 30

Biggest signings of the European summer transfer window


The biggest deals of European football's summer transfer window.


Story highlights Team China's performance in Rio was considered disappointing
Some point the finger at the country's sports system
Beijing (CNN) For a nation known for its obsession for gold, Team China seemed to have had a rough time in Rio de Janeiro.
The country came in third place in the gold medal count at the 2016 Summer Games, trailing the United States and Great Britain. Eight years ago in Beijing, China sat on top with a record 51 gold medals.
Now, analysts and spectators are debating if China has moved beyond its single-minded determination in winning gold.
Some see a diminishing role for sports as an outlet for nationalism, thanks to China's economic and military ascent on the global stage. Others consider funny swimmer Fu Yuanhui's instant popularity a sign of a demographic shift in Olympic viewing, as younger generations focus more on personalities than results.
But if one looks at the hardware, there is no denying that China came up short.

Was China's Olympic performance disappointing?


For a nation known for its obsession for gold, Team China seemed to have had a rough time in Rio de Janeiro.


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

Police officers shoot at teen during chase


Newly released surveillance video shows a teen running from police in December 2013. The teen's family has filed a federal lawsuit against the officer citing excessive force.


Trump reverses on his immigration reversal


Our political panel tracks Donald Trump's different statements on his immigration plan. Has Trump changed his position?


(CNN) Barcelona has the chance to join familiar rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga and open up a two point lead on the rest after just two games.
Real Madrid secured its place at the top of the pile by beating Celta Vigo 2-1 at the Bernabeu with goals from Alvaro Morata and Tony Kroos.
A minute's silence was observed ahead of kick-off in memory of the victims of the devastating earthquake in Italy and the Real Madrid players wore black arm bands.
Real Madrid has made an impressive start to the season and has now won the last 14 league games, and, according to the official website has gone unbeaten in the first home match for 11 consecutive seasons.
With Deportivo La Coruna only managing a 0-0 draw at Real Betis Friday and Leganes also playing out a goalless draw at home to Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid, it gives Barcelona an opportunity to open up a gap.
Read More