Linyanti Swamp, Botswana (CNN) Scanning Botswana's remote Linyanti swamp from the low flying chopper, elephant ecologist Mike Chase can't hide the anxiety and dread as he sees what he has seen too many times before.
"I don't think anybody in the world has seen the number of dead elephants that I've seen over the last two years," he says.
From above, we spot an elephant lying on its side in the cracked river mud. From a distance it could be mistaken for a resting animal.
But the acrid stench of death hits us before we even land.
Up close, it is a horror.
Elephant ecologist Mike Chase examines an elephant whose face was hacked off by poachers in Botswana.
He was a magnificent bull right in his prime, 45 to 50 years old. To get at his prized ivory tusks, poachers hacked off his face.
Slaughtered for their ivory, the elephants are left to rot, their carcasses dotting the dry riverbed; in just two days, we counted the remains of more than 20 elephants in a small area.
Visitors and managers at the tourist camps here are frequently alarmed by the sound of gunshots nearby.
And Chase worries that if Botswana can't protect its elephants, there's little hope for the species as a whole.
AN UNPRECEDENTED SURVEY
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Chase, the founder of Elephants Without Borders (EWB), is the lead scientist of the Great Elephant Census , (GEC) an ambitious project to count all of Africa's savannah elephants -- from the air.
Before the GEC, total elephant numbers were largely guesswork. But over the past two years, 90 scientists and 286 crew have taken to the air above 18 African countries, flying the equivalent of the distance to the moon -- and a quarter of the way back -- in almost 10,000 hours.
Prior to European colonization, scientists believe that Africa may have held as many as 20 million elephants; by 1979 only 1.3 million remained -- and the census reveals that things have gotten far worse.
According to the GEC, released Thursday in the open-access journal PeerJ, Africa's savannah elephant population has been devastated, with just 352,271 animals in the countries surveyed -- far lower than previous estimates.
Three countries with significant elephant populations were not included in the study. Namibia did not release figures to the GEC, and surveys in South Sudan and the Central African Republic were postponed due to armed conflict.
In seven years between 2007 and 2014, numbers plummeted by at least 30%, or 144,000 elephants.
And the specific cases are even more disturbing:
In the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania, and Mozambique's Niassa Reserve, elephant populations have plummeted by more than 75% in the past ten years as poachers cut down family herds, according to the survey.
The Babile Elephant Sanctuary in Ethiopia hasn't lived up to its name: Chase and the team counted just a single herd of 36 elephants -- the last in the Horn of Africa, a vast area roughly the size of Mexico.
A survey plane spots a herd of elephants in Botswana.
"When you think of how many elephants occurred in areas 10 or 20 years ago, it's incredibly disheartening," says Chase.
"Historically these ecosystems supported many thousands of elephants compared to the few hundreds or tens of elephants we counted."
The current rate of species decline is 8%, meaning that elephant numbers could halve to 175,000 in nine years if nothing changes, according to the survey -- and localized extinction is almost certain.
Even before the census offered proof, scientists calculated that far more elephants were dying than being born. Now the species has reached a tipping point.
AN EXTRAORDINARY INTELLIGENCE
Chase and other scientists feared they were in a race against time, which is where the Great Elephant Census came in.
The speed and scale of the project is unprecedented. Funded by Microsoft co-founder and Vulcan CEO Paul Allen, it brought together some of the best-known conservation groups and individuals, and teamed them up with the best bush pilots.
Small workhorse planes like the Cessna 206 were transformed into viewing platforms, using frames made up of rods -- in some cases telescopic golf-ball retrievers -- fixed to the wing struts.
Observers on board the planes counted every elephant they saw within the grid, from Kenya's Maasai Mara to the Zambezi floodplains in Zambia.
As well as the GEC, Chase and his colleagues in EWB are tracking the movements of Africa's elephants using satellite collars which transmit real-time data on the elephants' movements.
Their work has brought to light signs of elephants' extraordinary intelligence, including evidence that they recognize a host of man-made threats -- and are willing to cross borders to escape them.
Northern Botswana is a well-known elephant corridor for herds moving from Botswana's arid Central Kalahari to the lush savannahs and forests of Angola and Zambia.
During Angola's long civil war, elephants avoided the country. After peace was declared, they moved back in -- but now, with the dramatic spike in ivory poaching, they're staying away again.
"This is really the front line," says Chase. "This is as far as they come. They will no longer move across eastern Namibia into Angola and Zambia, fearful of the consequences of poaching. Their home ranges have shrunk to within the relative safety and security of northern Botswana."
'WE'RE FAILING THE ELEPHANTS'
In northern Botswana, the Linyanti river's proximity to Namibia's Caprivi Strip -- a thin finger-like stretch of the country just 30 kilometers (18 miles) wide in parts -- makes it an ideal target for gangs of poachers.
"Poachers can act with impunity here, because there is nothing blocking their movements," explains Chase. "These borders are open to wildlife, and within a matter of minutes [they] can be in three different countries."
He looks through a neat record of GPS coordinates recorded in a leather bound notebook, listing possible elephant carcasses spotted by commercial pilots flying over the area.
Their corpses rot in the dry river grass down below. One bull's trunk has been hacked off and placed nearby -- the poachers' signature.
A bull elephant killed by poachers on the border of Botswana and Namibia, its face hacked off for its valuable ivory tusks.
The killers often don't even wait until the elephant is dead before they begin their ugly butchery.
The grotesque scene is repeated again and again across Africa's savannahs.
"I've been asked if I'm optimistic or pessimistic about the future of Africa's elephants, and on days like today, I feel that we are failing the elephants," says Chase.
AN UNCONVENTIONAL WAR
Botswana Defense Force troops patrol near the Linyanti.
Botswana is one of the last strongholds of savannah elephants. Along with South Africa and Zimbabwe, it accounts for more than 60% of all elephants tallied in the Great Elephant Census.
To protect the country's wildlife from poachers, the Botswana Defense Force (BDF) has deployed an infantry battalion of specially-trained soldiers; more than 700 are stationed across 40 bases in the far north.
In an immaculate camp on the banks of the Linyanti, a lieutenant lays out the morning's foot patrol on the detailed operations map.
The soldiers are armed with a controversial shoot-to-kill policy for poachers, but this is an unconventional war.
Despite their "shoot-to-kill" policy, troops are hampered by national borders they cannot cross.
"There is no clearly identified enemy," explains Brigadier Joseph Seelo. "The enemy can be everybody, an enemy could be someone we are living with on a daily basis."
Though poachers are often foreigners, Seelo says their deadly work is supported by locals, who help coordinate the teams, bury water and food, and mark the spots with GPS tags.
And every poaching team has at least one or two shooters; BDF officers say they're often ex-Zambian special forces, equipped with high caliber weapons.
A herd of elephants as seen from a survey plane flying overhead.
But many poachers across Africa are less sophisticated, emptying out the entire magazine of an AK-47 to pierce an elephant's tough hide, using poison-tipped spears, spiked traps and snares, or poisoning water holes.
In Angola, poachers even use grenades and mortars left over from the war to kill the animals.
"They will use anything that has the potential to inflict serious harm or kill an animal," says Chase. "This is a dismal fate."
"Who are we to sentence this animal to the verge of extinction using the most inhumane and cruel means?"
The remains of an elephant carcass on the border of Botswana and Namibia.
Despite the poachers' desire to make a quick buck, elephants are actually far more valuable alive than dead.
Every elephant killed will earn a poacher just a few hundred dollars -- the overwhelming majority of the tens of thousands of dollars its ivory fetches on the black market go to middlemen and organized crime gangs.
By contrast, a live elephant can earn more than a million dollars for communities involved in eco-tourism, according to a report from The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.
FACING INCALCULABLE ODDS
Veterinarian Larry Patterson prepares tranquilizer for an elephant collaring.
Larry Patterson carefully draws 14 milligrams of Thianil into a syringe, then inserts it into a long-range dart.
Even a tiny drop of the morphine derivative can kill a human, so the antidote is always close by.
Moments after being shot with the drug-tipped dart by the semi-retired veterinarian, a bull elephant snores loudly.
"These are emblematic creatures of the African continent, they are symbols of Africa, symbols of freedom," says Chase.
"These animals are facing incalculable odds. It's not just poaching, it's habitat loss, human elephant conflict, climate change. These are issues confronting us as well -- they're emblematic of the struggle for survival."
Promise the elephant comes to after being tranquilized.
"They are our living dinosaurs, the romance of a bygone era, and if we can't conserve the African elephants, I'm fearful to think about the fate of rest of Africa's wildlife."
Chase and Patterson thread a tracking collar around the animal's massive neck, fixing it with four bolts and a lead ballast.
We have to work quickly; the bull can't support his six-ton weight in the sedated position for long.
Before it wakes, Chase asks us to name the elephants.
We call him Promise, for the hope -- the promise, however faint -- that this creature's future can be secured.


30% of Africa's savannah elephants have been wiped out in just 7 years, according to the Great Elephant Census, and localized extinction is almost certain.


New elephant study shows catastrophic decline in Africa


(CNN) The President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, was hospitalized Saturday morning after suffering a brain hemorrhage, according to the long-time strongman's daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva.
On Monday, she posted a family photo on her official Facebook page with an announcement about her father's illness.
"I would like write here about the sad events that befell our family last weekend. My father was hospitalized after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage on Saturday morning, and is now receiving treatment in an intensive care unit. His condition is considered stable.
"At the moment it is too early to make any predictions about his future health. My only request to everyone is to refrain from any speculations, and show respect to our family's right to privacy. I will be grateful to everyone who will support my father with prayers."
The Uzbekistan presidency's press service issued a statement Sunday on its website claiming Islam Karimov "is currently hospitalized. According to experts, a full medical examination is necessary."
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Story highlights USS Coronado suffers "engineering casualty" four days after leaving Hawaii
"We must get these problems fixed now," chief of naval operations says
(CNN) Less than two days after the US Navy revealed a third mechanical breakdown in a year of one of its $360 million littoral combat ships, the service has announced a fourth.
The USS Coronado was on its way back to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, after suffering an "engineering casualty," a Navy statement said. It said it expected to reveal more about what happened after an inspection once the ship returned to port. The ship was heading to an independent deployment in the western Pacific when the mishap occurred. It had departed Hawaii on Friday.
The Coronado was under its own power but traveling with the escort of the tanker USNS Henry J. Kaiser on the trip back to Hawaii, the statement said.
On Monday the Navy revealed that another of its littoral combat ships, the USS Freedom, suffered engine damage in July when seawater got inside the oil lubrication system, resulting in rust in the diesel engine.
Freedom's breakdown followed mechanical failures in the USS Fort Worth and USS Milwaukee, all since December.
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Less than two days after the US Navy revealed a third mechanical breakdown in a year of one of its $360 million littoral combat ships, the service has announced a fourth.


Story highlights Clay Cane: I applaud Colin Kaepernick's principled stand on race, but he lost me with his further remarks
He says to lump Clinton's transgressions with Trump's racial remarks is offensive and uninformed
Cane: Kaepernick's slam of Clinton shows that with his new activism, he doesn't grasp threat of Trump
Clay Cane is a television commentator and the author of the forthcoming book "Live Through This: Surviving the Intersections of Sexuality, God and Race." Follow him on Twitter: @claycane. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.
(CNN) Colin Kaepernick sparked a media firestorm on August 26 when he refused to stand for the national anthem before a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.
The San Francisco 49ers quarterback explained in an interview, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
I immediately applauded Kaepernick for using the art of protest to spark a national dialogue. People are dying. We are in the eye of a cultural crisis in America.
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Kaepernick put endorsements at risk and clearly angered many. Some complained he was anti-American. On the contrary, I thought his action was pro-American, following in the tradition of Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Protest is an American right, which Colin peacefully exercised.
Clay Cane
But here is where Kaepernick lost me: His remarks to the press segued into a rant of the type you hear from the conservative right. He said: "I mean, you have Hillary who's called black teens or black kids super predators. You have Donald Trump who's openly racist. I mean, we have a presidential candidate [Hillary Clinton] who's deleted emails and done things illegally and is a presidential candidate. That doesn't make sense to me, because if that was any other person, you'd be in prison."
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The 27-year-old opted not to play because of concerns about Zika virus
(CNN) More than a month ago, it sounded like Rory McIlroy -- who elected not to participate at the Olympics because of fears surrounding the Zika virus -- wasn't going to be watching the event, either.
But it turns out he did tune into some of the golf after all.
On Wednesday, ahead of the start of The Barclays in Farmingdale, New York, McIlroy gave a chuckle during his press conference when he was asked if he watched the Olympics.
"I saw Henrik (Stenson) and Justin (Rose's) fairway woods (shots) at the last (hole)," McIlroy said.
"I saw the chip shots, I saw the putts, and I saw the medal ceremony. I spent the weekend at my in-laws' cabin in upstate New York where there was no TV, no electricity, so actually didn't get to see much of anything that weekend. We got back Sunday afternoon, so (I) caught up with it.
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Frida Ghitis is a world affairs columnist for The Miami Herald and World Politics Review, and a former CNN producer and correspondent. Follow her @FridaGhitis . The opinions expressed in this commentary are hers.
(CNN) Sometimes a bathing suit is just a bathing suit. But not today. Europeans -- Muslims, Christians, atheists and others -- are fiercely debating the question of what women should be allowed to wear at the beach. It seems like a trivial matter, but it isn't.
More than a dozen French cities, along with some towns in other European countries, have banned the so-called burkini , a bathing suit designed for Muslim women who want to cover more of their body than a bikini or a regular one-piece bathing suit does.
With that, French authorities, aiming to protect women's freedoms, have missed their mark by a mile.
Let's be crystal clear here about two points:
Frida Ghitis
First, women should be allowed to wear what they want. The decision should not be up to men, police, or even society at large. And that should be the case for all women, no matter where they live -- whether it is Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran or the French Riviera.
Second, the places where women face the harshest, most oppressive restrictions on that basic expression of human dignity -- the right to wear the clothes you choose -- is not France or other parts of Western Europe. It is in countries ruled by theocratic regimes; countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, and territories controlled by the so-called Islamic State or ISIS.
So it is a travesty that we are even discussing a violation of that right in France, one of the freest, most liberal countries on earth.
Indeed, the ban on the burkini has handed a victory to Islamists and to other Muslims who want to restrict women's freedoms. And it has set back the cause of women's empowerment.
Police patrolling the promenade des Anglais beach in Nice fine a woman for wearing a burkini on August 24, 2016.
It is already easy to imagine how the ISIS propaganda department will make the most of the image now making the rounds in social media -- a Muslim woman on the beach in Nice, surrounded by four male policemen requiring her to take off her burkini.
The picture, the law, the decision, play right into the hands of Islamists who claim the West's so-called liberation of women is really the opposite, a way to humiliate them and exploit their sexuality.
Meanwhile, the new rules will inevitably produce exactly the opposite of their intended effect. They will make clothing even more of a political statement. They will alienate part of the population rather than encouraging liberalism and integration.
Even setting aside the propaganda fodder it offers extremists, it is simply unacceptable for the government in a modern, liberal democracy (just as it should be anywhere else) to tell people what they should wear. It is particularly galling to see men ordering women on the subject.
The French, as well as other liberal European societies, want to prevent Muslim communities from changing the character of their country. That is a legitimate concern. After all, they fought revolutions and shed blood to create a free nation. But this is the wrong way to go about it.
If they want laws and police involvement to protect their freedoms, they should make it illegal for a father, a husband or a brother to force his daughter, wife or sister to wear restrictive clothing against her will. If an adult woman wants to wear a bikini at the beach in Cannes, she should be allowed to do it.
Photos: Burqa, hijab, niqab: What's what? Photos: Burqa, hijab, niqab: What's what? Do you know the difference between a hijab and a niqab? How about a burqa and a chador? Click through to read about the different types of headscarves some Muslim women wear. Hide Caption 1 of 6 Photos: Burqa, hijab, niqab: What's what? Burkini: The full-body swimsuit worn by Muslim women leaves only the face, hands and feet exposed. Here a woman in a burkini wades in the water with a child at Ghar El Melh beach in Tunisia. Hide Caption 2 of 6 Photos: Burqa, hijab, niqab: What's what? Burqa: This full-body garment has a mesh over the eyes. The burqa is widely used in Afghanistan and was required under the Taliban. These Afghan women are shopping in Herat. Hide Caption 3 of 6 Photos: Burqa, hijab, niqab: What's what? Niqab: The full-face veil exposes only the eyes. A Palestinian bride in Jericho wears this one. Hide Caption 4 of 6 Photos: Burqa, hijab, niqab: What's what? Hijab: The scarf worn tightly around the head and neck does not cover the face. It is the most common Islamic head covering. This Indonesian girl is shopping for a hijab in Yogyakarta. Hide Caption 5 of 6 Photos: Burqa, hijab, niqab: What's what? Chador: The full-body black garment leaves the face exposed. These Iranian women are wearing chadors at a political meeting in Tehran. Hide Caption 6 of 6
The law should prohibit men from forcing women to wear a niqab, which allows only a slit for the eyes; a burqa, which drapes over the entire body, including the face; or even a simple hair-covering hijab. Adult women should be allowed to make their own decisions.
When it comes to the face-covering garments, such as the burqa or niqab, I believe the government has a legitimate security claim in wanting individuals in public places to be identifiable.
Beyond security concerns, I find the niqab and burqa deeply dehumanizing, not least because they relegate women to beings without an identity. The burqa, common in Afghanistan, is also cumbersome and impractical, making it more difficult to for someone to see.
The right of women to wear comfortable clothing of their own choosing is, in my view, a most fundamental of human rights. Yet it is a right that is violated every day in many countries.
Millions of women endure draconian clothing restrictions every day of their lives. And while Islam dictates that women dress modestly, the definition of modesty is up for interpretation. Plus, the interpreters are usually men.
In Saudi Arabia, women are required to cover up with a dark, loose cloak . Saudi women often wear beautiful, fashionable clothing, but in public they cover up, whether they want to or not. In Iran, women chafe under requirements that they keep their hair covered and wear some type of an overcoat or cloak. In both countries, religious police guard against violations, a deeply offensive affront, particularly to modern women.
In territories where ISIS rules, women are subjected to lashings if they wear the wrong outfits. They are required to wear double-layered veils, niqabs, full-body chadors, as well as gloves.
In all these places, summer temperatures add even more physical distress to the insult.
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In many countries where the law does not create formal restrictions, social pressures have the same effect, forcing women to wear clothes they might not otherwise choose. It is not uncommon to see men on vacation wearing shorts, while women swelter wrapped in yards of dark cloth.
In Egypt, for example, social pressures have made the hijab much more prevalent. But that has not been enough to prevent a pandemic of sexual harassment. A U.N. survey in 2013 found 99% of Egyptian women said they had been victims of harassment, and that was true even for women wearing the face-covering niqab.
All this suggests that if the French want to free women from the oppression of restrictive clothing, they should promote freedom. They should make the case for why everyone, including all women of all religions, should have the freedom to wear what they want. This not only would send a signal of support to women living in countries where they experience much harsher repression, but might mean we see fewer burkinis on Europe's beaches -- for the right reason, because people were free to choose.


If the French want to free women from the oppression of restrictive clothing, they should promote freedom, not ban the burkini, writes Frida Ghitis.


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Story highlights Mayor of seaside town of Cogolin stands by burkini ban, despite Friday's court ruling
"If you don't want to live the way we do, don't come," he says
(CNN) The mayor of a seaside town on the French Riviera is sticking by his town's burkini ban, telling beachgoers, "if you don't want to live the way we do, don't come."
"You have to behave in the way that people behave in the country that accepted you, and that is it," Cogolin Mayor Marc Etienne Lansade told CNN.
"If you are accepted in Rome -- do like Romans do," he said, adding, "go in Saudi Arabia and be naked and see what will happen to you."
Lansade, of the right-wing National Front political party, is maintaining the ban despite a ruling by France's highest administrative court that mayors do not have the right to outlaw burkinis.
He's not alone. Several French mayors are also enforcing their bans in the face of Friday's ruling, which concerned the nearby town of Villeneuve-Loubet although it could affect cities around the country.
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Chris Brown's troubled past has led to public scrutiny and legal battles, and a recent incident with the police has people once again talking
Source: CNN


Chris Brown's troubled past has led to public scrutiny and legal battles, and a recent incident with the police has people once again talking


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

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

Colombians react to peace deal with FARC


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


(CNN) You have to be careful of the quiet ones.
If that old adage fits anyone, it's surely Carlo Ancelotti.
He has one of the most impressive CVs in football -- one of just seven men to have won the Champions League as both player and coach, the Italian is also one of only two coaches to have won the European crown on three separate occasions.
The 57-year-old has not achieved this by bawling and screaming, fostering a siege mentality or through mendacious mind games, but with a calm, hands-in-pockets cool.
A quiet word here or there when necessary, resulting in a haul of trophies to really shout about.
"Quiet is my style of management -- quiet because that's my style, my character, my personality," Ancelotti told CNN ahead of his first Bundesliga match in charge of German champion Bayern Munich, on Friday against Werder Bremen.
Some have tried to change him, such as Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, but Ancelotti wasn't for turning.
His traits were instilled, he says, from his childhood growing up in a small village in Emilia-Romagna, in the north of Italy.
"I try to be quiet in my relationships with people," he explains. "I grew up like this because I lived in a very quiet and very calm family.
"I had a father who was very quiet, so I grew my character from the beginning."
Ancelotti has used his lifetime of training to good effect during a managerial career which -- starting in the 1990s -- has taken him to Italian clubs Reggiana, Parma, Juventus and Milan, English team Chelsea, France's Paris Saint-Germain and Spanish heavyweight Real Madrid.
JUST WATCHED Carlo Ancelotti on future of Real Madrid Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Carlo Ancelotti on future of Real Madrid 02:55
He has delivered league or cup titles in every country he has worked in, sometimes both.
Ancelotti -- assistant coach when Italy lost the 1994 World Cup final -- believes his relationship with his players is central to his success.
"With the players, above all I have to be myself," he says. "I cannot use another personality because I don't have one."
It seems to work, since a host of the world's highest-profile footballers featured in his autobiography -- this year's " Quiet Leadership: Winning Hearts, Minds and Matches " -- almost tripping over themselves to lavish praise on their former boss.
"I say Carlo is the best and I have worked with the best," said Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has worked under modern coaching giants such as Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.
"He's the best," agreed former Italy star Alessandro Nesta. "You have to understand how clever he is with his tactics."
Nesta, Paolo Maldini, Filippo Inzaghi and supposed hard man Gennaro Gattuso were in tears, David Beckham recalled, when Ancelotti left Milan in 2009, after an eight-year spell that had resulted in league, cup, Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup successes.
"He genuinely cares, and he takes the time to care," former England captain John Terry said. "That's what makes him the very best."
The Chelsea stalwart's relationship with Mourinho is widely believed to have been his closest bond with a coach -- but that's apparently not so.
"He is, for me, the ultimate," the veteran defender said of Ancelotti.
Even Cristiano Ronaldo joined in, saying the atmosphere at Real Madrid under Ancelotti was "spectacular." The Portugal star was one of the most vocal protesters when it became apparent Ancelotti was going to be sacked by Real in 2015, a year after delivering the club's long-awaited 10th European title.
These are serious accolades, which the star names didn't have to agree to, so what's his secret?
"I really didn't have problems with players -- in all my career," Ancelotti explains.
"I know what the player is thinking about a lot of the situations -- and know when a player is not happy and why.
"I really enjoy my job. It's not a job, it's a passion. I just love -- day-by-day -- my job."
Happy with the work of the team and for this debut with Bayern. We'll work hard to win more trophies #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/YAz70Zhwaa — Carlo Ancelotti (@MrAncelotti) August 14, 2016
Occasionally labeled the "Diva Whisperer," Ancelotti insists that working with top stars is easy because of their desire to be the best -- citing three-time world footballer of the year Ronaldo as an example.
"When we got back at 3 in the morning from away trips, instead of going to bed he would go to the ice bath, so this means he is really professional," Ancelotti says of the club's record scorer.
"Managing top talent is easy because most of them are really serious so it's not difficult -- really not."
He puts his emphasis on his squads, he says, because he can't control the president, the fans or the media -- though you will find him online, with 2.2 million followers on his @MrAncelotti Twitter feed -- so why would he even try?
For a supposedly soft man, one of the coach's role models may be a little surprising.
JUST WATCHED Carlo Ancelotti: Mourinho 'really good' for Man Utd Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Carlo Ancelotti: Mourinho 'really good' for Man Utd 00:50
He is in thrall to the lead character in mobster movie "The Godfather" (whose keeping-it-in-the-family attitude might explain why Ancelotti appointed son Davide to be Bayern's assistant coach this week).
"When you watch Vito Corleone in 'The Godfather,' do you see a weak, quiet man or do you see a calm, powerful man in charge of his situation?" he asked in his autobiography.
It's a telling comment which explains much of Ancelotti's approach, even if the violence is reassuringly absent.
His main football influence was part of one of the sport's most heralded triumvirates -- Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm -- the Swedish forwards popularly known at Milan as "Gre-No-Li."
Liedholm would later manage Milan three times, but he made his biggest impression on Ancelotti when he coached Roma, where the midfielder played between 1979-1987.
Liedholm, who Ancelotti describes as -- surprise, surprise -- "quiet but strong," was powerful, respected, flexible (like his protégé) and liked to both fine-tune players and give them responsibility.
Thanks Pep. I wish you the best. Good luck!
Gracias, Pep. Te deseo lo mejor. Suerte! pic.twitter.com/yRDmbf3ooq — Carlo Ancelotti (@MrAncelotti) July 20, 2016
After Champions League successes with Milan in 2003 and 2007, and Real Madrid (the all-important "decima") in 2014, Bayern -- whose last European triumph came in 2013 -- is hoping to tap into some of the Ancelotti magic.
"Carlo Ancelotti has enjoyed success everywhere as a coach and has won the Champions League three times," Bayern's Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told the club website upon the Italian's appointment in December to replace Pep Guardiola, now at Manchester City.
"Carlo is a calm, balanced expert, who knows how to deal with stars and favors a multifaceted style of play -- we were looking for this, and have found it."
After years working under such challenging owners as Abramovich ( who once chastised Ancelotti after a 6-0 win ), Florentino Perez and Silvio Berlusconi, the former Italy international is likely to relish working with former top-level players at Bayern, such as Rummenigge and Mathias Sammer.
And Bayern will surely benefit from the extended break Ancelotti recently afforded himself with his Canadian second wife Mariann, who he married in 2014.
"I think it was really good after 20 years to have one year off," he said. "I enjoyed beautiful places like Canada but now I am ready to start."
He is, he says, looking forward to the "longest period of sustained success" in his career at Bayern, where he has already won the season-opening German Super Cup.
Despite his calm demeanor, it promises to be some ride.

Carlo Ancelotti: Football's 'Godfather'?


Carlo Ancelotti, one of football's "quiet overachievers," begins his first Bundesliga campaign with Germany champion Bayern Munich on Friday against Werder Bremen.


Patrick Hardison's face transplant has given him a new hope for life. He can now walk in crowds without strangers staring and pointing at him.
Source: CNN

Firefighter's face transplant is making medical history


Patrick Hardison's face transplant has given him a new hope for life. He can now walk in crowds without strangers staring and pointing at him.


Renowned British broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough says he sees no other way than to ban the sale of ivory less than 100 years old.

Attenborough: Poaching 'will rest heavily' on humanity


Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM's radio's daily program "The Dean Obeidallah Show" and a columnist for The Daily Beast. Follow him @TheDeansreport . The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.
But it's hard to believe he's sincere given that Trump refuses to support the very prescription to do that: Gun safety laws. And unless he talks gun safety measures, it would appear the pundits are correct that Trump's true goal is not to help the black community but rather to persuade white voters uncomfortable with Trump's history of bigotry that he's not a racist.
Over the weekend we saw Trump continue to raise this topic . First, he tweeted after the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade was killed by a stray bullet while pushing a stroller down a Chicago street (and misspelled the player's name): "Dwayne Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will VOTE TRUMP!"
(This tweet, though, caused an uproar as many felt Trump was using this tragedy to score political points, especially since it was sent out before he had offered any condolences to the family. Trump finally offered his sympathies to the family via Twitter over an hour later after being shamed on social media.)
Trump again raised this issue Saturday in more detail during his campaign speech in Iowa, a state that's only about 3.5 percent black . There Trump told the audience that, "Across Chicago, more than 2,700 have been shooting victims since January of this year." Adding, "We cannot, as a society, tolerate this level of violence and suffering in our own cities."
So who did Trump blame for this gun violence? GOP-led efforts in neighboring states like Indiana to make it easier for people to buy guns without any background checks? The failure of Congress to close the "gun show loophole"? The NRA's opposition to any reasonable measure that could save lives from gun violence?
Nope. Instead Trump claimed that this gun violence was due to: "Failed Democratic policies -- the policies of Hillary Clinton."
It's time for Trump to make it clear whether he's simply engaging in political posturing or sincerely wants to reduce gun violence and help the African American community (as well as all Americans).
If he does care about people of color not being killed by gun violence, all he needs to do is follow this simple road map:
First, Trump should publicly support universal background checks to close what has been called the "gun show loophole." The result will be that private gun dealers -- like their federally licensed counterparts -- will be required to do background checks to ensure that criminals, terrorists and those with certain mental conditions are precluded from legally buying guns. Recent studies show that these types of background checks "can significantly curb gun violence."
Second, Trump should declare his support for proposed legislation drafted by both Republicans and Democrats in Congress that would "make firearm trafficking a federal crime and impose stronger penalties for "straw purchasers" who buy guns for convicted felons and others who are prohibited from buying guns on their own." This, too, could save lives by making it more challenging for criminals to have access to guns.
Trump should also support closing down what are known as "bad apple gun dealers." Shockingly, 90% of the guns used in homicides in the US can be tied to 5% of the gun dealers, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. But astoundingly, the NRA has fought efforts to crack down on these unethical gun dealers.
And if Trump is sincere, he won't respond by serving up the same tired and baseless NRA talking points that Chicago has the strictest gun laws in the nation so new gun laws won't work.
True, Chicago's gun laws are strict. But 60% of the illegal guns recovered in the city between 2009 and 2013 were sold legally in neighboring states that have lax gun laws -- the largest percent coming from Indiana , the state where Trump's running mate Mike Pence is governor. This is why federal laws are desperately needed to establish nationwide standards.
(Pence, while on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, spoke of gun violence against African Americans but uttered not a peep on changing the laws to save the lives of blacks from gun violence.) )
So will Trump make it clear that black lives matter more to him than the support of the NRA? We are awaiting his answer.

Trump, do black lives matter more than the NRA?


If Trump is serious in saying he's concerned with keeping African Americans safe from gun violence, he should support gun control measures


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


As Clinton's State Department relationship with the Clinton Foundation faces increased scrutiny, the Democratic nominee says there's smoke, but no fire.


Aboard the Topaz Responder (CNN) I'm aboard a boat run by the Migrant Offshore Aid Station that rescues migrants in distress in the Mediterranean Sea.
They are people from all over Africa, the Middle East and even far-away nations like Bangladesh. They hope to escape conflict or persecution in their homelands and make better lives for themselves in Europe.
But many travel in inflatable rubber crafts or rickety wooden boats that are overcrowded and not equipped to make the long journey from North Africa across the vast sea. This year alone, nearly 3,000 never made it to Europe; they perished in deep waters.
I've been speaking with the rescue and medical teams aboard the Topaz Responder and with the 366 migrants they plucked out of the sea on July 6. I'll be writing about them in the coming weeks; meantime, here are some of my Instagram posts. You can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter
Day 1: The @moas_eu rescue boat hurtles towards #libya in search of #migrants in distress in the #mediterranean. #refugees #eu #migrantcrisis #europe @cnn A photo posted by Moni Basu (@mbasucnn) on Jul 5, 2016 at 9:50am PDT
Day 2: Faces of the #migrants. Here are a few of the people on board the #topazresponder run by @moas_eu. Many are opposed to letting them enter #europe. #eu #migrantcrisis #refugees @cnn A photo posted by Moni Basu (@mbasucnn) on Jul 6, 2016 at 7:30am PDT
Day 2: Faces of the #migrants. Here are a few of the people on board the #topazresponder run by @moas_eu. Many are opposed to letting them enter #europe. #eu #migrantcrisis #refugees @cnn A photo posted by Moni Basu (@mbasucnn) on Jul 6, 2016 at 7:34am PDT

Rescues at sea: Saving migrants from disaster


CNN's Moni Basu is aboard a Migrant Offshore Aid Station boat that rescues migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Here are some of the images she captured.


(CNN) The end seems near for one of the world's longest running conflicts, with the announcement of a peace deal between the government of Colombia and the Marxist rebels of FARC.
Here's what you need to know:
A brief history of the war
It's been a devastating war, with more than five decades of battle between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym FARC) and the country's government.
It began in 1964, after the success of the Cuban revolution, with the rebels wanting to forcibly redistribute wealth.
An undated picture shows Ingrid Betancourt during her time as a FARC hostage in the jungle.
In the more than 50 years since then, the armed group has seized territory, attacked government forces and interfered with political life through high-profile kidnappings. The rebels hijacked a commercial airliner to kidnap a senator in 2002, one of at least three passenger plane hijackings in the early part of the century. One of the group's most notorious feats was the capture of presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt in 2002, who was held deep in the jungle for six years before she was rescued in a Colombian military operation.
FARC also turned to the drug trade, making millions from trafficking in cocaine. It was designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.
The rebels forced children to become soldiers, training them as guerrillas to lay mines and fight.
As the decades passed, thousands upon thousands of people were killed. Up to 220,000 died in the insurgency and as many as 5 million people were displaced -- more than 1 out of every 10 Colombians.
The long, bumpy road to a peace deal
There have been sporadic attempts at peace since the 1980s.
A ceasefire brokered in 1984 included the release of a number of imprisoned guerrilla fighters. That truce ended in 1990 when several thousand former FARC members were killed.
Another attempt fell apart in 2002. Then-President Andres Pastrana ceded an area the size of Switzerland to the guerrilla group but ended negotiations after rebels launched a series of attacks across the country in an apparent bid to strengthen their position.
Talks about talks began again in August 2012 and the two sides met in Havana the following November. Cuban President Raul Castro presided over the negotiations that went on (and off and on) for four years before a ceasefire deal was signed this June
That was another step on the way to the full peace deal, signed Wednesday by President Juan Manuel Santos and rebel leaders.
What's next
The deal needs to be approved by a majority of Colombian citizens and a referendum has been set for October 2.
The plan is that FARC rebels will lay down their arms and leave their jungle strongholds.
A FARC guerrilla listens during a class on the peace process and how life will be in the future.
The leaders of FARC have said they will switch to a political track, taking their battle from the countryside to the polls, starting a party to win seats in Colombia's congress.
The reintegration of the fighters and all those affected by the insurgency will be key. The government has promised training programs to help.
The reaction
Colombians celebrate in their capital, Bogota, as the deal is signed.
So far, so good. The key players are hailing the deal, President Barack Obama and US officials praised the triumph of democracy and Colombians celebrated on the streets. Economists also see an opportunity for a peace dividend.

Colombia: 52 years of war, 220,000 dead, now peace


The end seems near for one of the world's longest running conflicts with a deal announced between the government of Colombia and the Marxist rebels of FARC. Here's what you need to know.


Story highlights 2016 hit with deaths of larger-than-life stars
The toll: David Bowie, Prince, Muhammad Ali
(CNN) Enough already, 2016.
So far through the year, there's a theme: the death of larger-than-life stars. David Bowie, Prince, and Muhammad Ali. How could these giants among us no longer be among us?
We go to social media to mourn. We shake a collective fist at the unfairness of it all.
Comedic actor Chris Rock summed it up when he tweeted a picture of Ali with Prince. "I wish this year would stop already it's just to much," he wrote in June.
I wish this year would stop already it's just to much. pic.twitter.com/QoIwdvWzvL — Chris Rock (@chrisrock) June 4, 2016
Death comes for us all, but when it is a beloved celebrity so recognizable, the grief takes on a different significance. Celebs are as deeply woven into our lives as those we can reach out and touch. They inspire us, entertain us, delight us and sometimes infuriate us.


Story highlights "I will walk you down a block, Mr. Trump, and I guarantee you won't get shot," rapper Rhymefest says
Trump recently linked a high-profile shooting death in Chicago to his efforts to reach black voters
(CNN) Grammy- and Oscar-winning artist Rhymefest extended an invitation to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday.
"I'm inviting Donald Trump to Chicago. I will walk you down a block, Mr. Trump, and I guarantee you won't get shot," Rhymefest, whose legal name is Che Smith, said in an interview with CNN's Carol Costello.
Although Smith was robbed at gunpoint Saturday morning , he said not everyone in his city is dangerous.
"Chicago is in a fragile state. However, it's not what Donald Trump is saying it is," Smith said. "I live in a South Side community. I can walk down my block without getting shot. I can walk down many blocks without getting shot. But it is the decades of disinvestment in the community that makes us not able to really come together."
Read More

Rhymefest to Donald Trump: Come to Chicago


Grammy- and Oscar-winning artist Rhymefest extended an invitation to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday.


Gautam Lewis is a pilot, photographer and polio survivor from Kolkata. He spent his early years at Shishu Bhavan, under Mother Teresa's care, before being adopted.
(CNN) It's impossible for me to forget Mother Teresa -- soon to be Saint Teresa of Kolkata. She gave me a chance to escape poverty and live a different destiny in England.
I was born in Kolkata in 1977, although there is no official record of my birth. I've no memory of my birth parents and there are conflicting reports as to where and when I was born, and to whom.
Some paperwork traces my origins back to the 24 Parganas district, born to destitute parents in an impoverished part of Kolkata's urban sprawl.
Gautam Lewis, right, doesn't know how old he was when he was taken to Shishu Bhavan, Mother Teresa's home for children.
Another letter details my beginnings in the wealthier city of Howrah, to a high caste doctor and nurse. My adopted mother, Patricia, is of the view that this may have been a story fed to her, in the misplaced assumption that she might look upon me more kindly if my origins were more privileged.
It's hard to keep track of the conflicting claims and different paper trails.
Either way, maybe because I had polio and was paralyzed, my original family weren't able to look after me properly.
For me, I have limited lower limb mobility. Polio can result in death or permanent disability; I survived the virus, which attacks the nervous system, at a time and place when one in five children were dying of it.
The throwaways of society
Although my start in life could be seen as unlucky, I consider myself lucky because Mother Teresa took me into her care.
Photos: Mother Teresa and me Gautam Lewis is a pilot, photographer and polio survivor. He spent his early years under the care of Mother Teresa. He photographed these sisters praying on the tomb of Mother Teresa in May 2016. "It was very emotional being there," he says. Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Mother Teresa and me This woman is a beggar from 24 Parganas, possibly the same district Gautam is originally from. She told Gautam she was also a victim of domestic violence. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Mother Teresa and me Mother Teresa opened Shishu Bhavan, a home for abandoned street babies and children, in Kolkata in 1955. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Mother Teresa and me Today, Shishu Bhavan still provides a home for abandoned and destitute children, including those with special needs. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Mother Teresa and me These orphans, photographed by Gautam in 2009, were rescued by the Missionaries of Charity and taken to Shishu Bhavan. Gautam says the time he spent at the home was tough. "My memories from that period are dark, sad, and lonely," he says. Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Mother Teresa and me Gautam photographed this girl begging outside the children's home. "She reminded me of my little sister, Lindi, and my mother, Patricia," he says. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Mother Teresa and me Gautam photographed these sisters, who have stayed together as orphans at the children's home in the care of the Missionaries of Charity. "I probably have brothers and sisters but I don't know who they are," says Gautam. Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Mother Teresa and me Gautam says it took him years to be able to return to Shishu Bhavan. "But now I feel as though I'm going back to my fellow siblings, to the brothers and sisters I left behind." Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Mother Teresa and me Novice nuns stand and pray before they start their work at the Home for the Dying and Destitute. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Mother Teresa and me The Home for the Dying and Destitute was the first home Mother Teresa set up when she came to Kolkata. "I've never taken a photograph of a dying person before," says Gautam. "It's something I'll never forget." Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Mother Teresa and me A tabla player is pictured at the Home for the Dying and the Destitute. "Even though he was in a place where he was being provided end of life care, he was still happy and musical," says Gautam. "Where there is joy, there is life -- one of the reasons Kolkata is also called the 'City of Joy.'" Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Mother Teresa and me Women at the Home for the Dying and the Destitute. "I found seeing simple, everyday acts done with such care and support from the sisters really overwhelming," Gautam says. Hide Caption 12 of 12
It's unclear how old I was when I was taken to Shishu Bhavan, Mother Teresa's home for children in Kolkata; anything between 18 months and 4-years-old.
It must have taken my family a lot of courage to do that for me.
It was a chaotic place, but Mother Teresa was not trying to be a social worker -- that was not her job.
She was just following her deep love of her faith and her religion, and that's what drove her humanity.
She wasn't there to cure people and provide rehabilitation. She was there to pick the dying person, the throwaways of society, up off the street when no one else cared.
When Lewis stopped talking for six months, Mother Teresa brought in a psychologist to help him.
She had never run an organization like it, and probably had no idea how big it was going to get. When I lived there it was just endless rooms of cots and children, and all the sisters just trying to do their best.
But as long as you have food, and water and love, it's the foundation for everything else.
'My tall shadow'
I didn't see Mother Teresa every day because she had a lot to do in her daily work schedule. But she always made sure to check in on her "children."
Every Sunday, she would come and get us dressed up in our best clothes, take us to the chapel at the Mother House and give a mass for everyone.
I couldn't walk at that time, and though the sisters would carry me to mass so I didn't get my clothes dirty, at other times I had to crawl on the floor.
As a child, Lewis had to crawl because polio affected the use of his legs. He remembers Mother Teresa as a towering figure even though she was tiny.
Because I had to crawl everywhere, Mother Teresa seemed very tall to me as I looked up to her, even though she was actually very petite.
She was my tall shadow that kept a protective eye on me.
She spoke very softly, and with slightly accented English. I never saw her shout at anyone, but she was someone you knew you didn't want to mess with.
My three mothers
Many of the memories I have of Kolkata and living as an orphan are a nightmare. It was a dark, sad, and lonely period.
I even stopped talking for six months when I learned no one was coming to get me, and I may not have spoken again had Mother Teresa not brought in a psychologist to help me.
The few memories I have of her are happy ones, and I prefer not to embrace the demons from my nightmares, but instead focus on my fond memories of her - especially her smile.
In my life, I have had three mothers. My birth mother, the woman who adopted me, Patricia, and Mother Teresa.
Most likely I wouldn't be alive had my path not crossed hers.
She gave me protection when I needed it the most.
She fended for me and fought in my corner so I could survive the 'Black Hole of Kolkata.' I wouldn't be sitting here writing this had it not been for Mother Teresa.
A different destiny
I was adopted by my mother Patricia in 1985 and taken to Auckland.
My adoption hearing was on the 12th February, so the judge assigned my birthday as the same day as the court hearing -- February 12th. He then chose my birth year as 1977.
12th February 1986 was when the nightmare ended and the dream started. We moved to England eighteen months later, where I was lucky to lead a privileged life. I had a great education, good friends and the best medical treatment.
Today, Lewis has a business degree and is a qualified pilot. He's also the founder of a UK-based flying school for disabled people.
When I was 18, I returned to Kolkata for the first time since leaving. It was a difficult journey for me. I had no connection with the place, the culture, the environment.
Honestly. it forced me to confront some difficult issues relating to my sense of self and my identity. It wasn't until much later that I better came to terms with my roots, and it was another decade until I returned to Kolkata.
I did go and see her on that first trip though, and it was the year that she died.
I don't know if I said, "thank you for giving me life," but I should have.
This is what she said to me:
"Nothing is difficult, just different. If you can't find anyone to help you achieve what you want to do, do it alone and don't be afraid of the unknown."

Mother Teresa: The saint who was my mother


It's impossible for Gautam Lewis to forget Mother Teresa -- soon to be Saint Teresa of Kolkata. She gave him a chance to escape poverty and live a different destiny in England.


After 15 cities in France banned the full-body swimsuit, the French court has ruled mayors cannot ban burkinis.


Story highlights Ukraine has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in Europe
Pascal Vossen and Nils Adler have been documenting the most vulnerable groups
(CNN) On the 17th floor of a disused building in Kiev, Ukraine, is a secret spot where people from across the capital city congregate with one purpose: to shoot up.
Standing by the door leading out to the balcony is 31-year-old Roman, busy filling his needle with methadone as he prepares to inject it into his groin. He won't inject into his arms, despite it being safer, as he can't let his family see his scars.
Roman collected his potion next door, where a range of drugs are made by his dealer -- predominantly methadone and the street drug krokodil.
His daily highs are made easier by this close proximity, and once his drug is injected Roman prefers to venture out onto the balcony to experience his elation with a view out to his city -- and down onto the police station also next door.
This floor of the abandoned building serves as a hidden "shooting gallery" where those marginalized from Ukrainian society come for their relief. As long as they stick to the rules -- and this floor -- no one gets in trouble.
Read More


Ukraine has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in Europe, according to the United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS.


Cody Cain is a writer and commentator in New York City. Follow him on Twitter @codycainland . The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.
Huh?
Hillary Clinton? A bigot? That makes no sense. It's absurd. Hillary Clinton has spent much of her career working to improve race relations. She is the furthest thing imaginable from a bigot. So what in the world is Trump doing here?
Trump is employing the technique of the reverse attack. When he is faced with a legitimate criticism of himself, he attempts to deflect away the criticism by attacking Clinton for the exact same shortcoming that plagues Trump, regardless of whether it actually applies to Clinton.
Trump faced serious and legitimate criticism for his own appalling racism, so he responded by making the false accusation that Clinton is racist.
Trump uses the reverse attack all the time. He did it on the issue of his lack of qualification to be president. This is a legitimate problem facing Trump because he has no experience whatsoever in government or politics. So how did he respond to this criticism? He attacked Clinton by alleging that she is not qualified to be president.
JUST WATCHED Donald Trump doubles down on Clinton 'bigot' comment Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Donald Trump doubles down on Clinton 'bigot' comment 01:22
This, of course, is absurd. Clinton is perhaps the most qualified person to be president in history. She served as secretary of state, a United States senator, and she lived in the White House for eight years as first lady.
Trump also pulled the reverse attack on the issue of being mentally unfit to be president. Questions about temperament are a legitimate criticism of Trump due to all his outrageous behavior and statements.
So how did Trump address this criticism? He tried to turn the tables by alleging Clinton is mentally unfit . To be sure, Clinton has many shortcomings, but being mentally unstable is not one of them. Yet that does not matter to Trump.
Trump has accused Clinton of being a "bully" when obviously it is Trump who is the bully. The examples go on and on. So does it work? Is the reverse attack effective?
Well, it certainly is not the best way to overcome a criticism. An ideal response would be to clearly show that the criticism is inaccurate, say, by listing specific qualifications to be president. But when there are no good responses to a criticism, the reverse attack comes into play.
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Photos: Donald Trump's empire Donald Trump, the Republican Party's presidential nominee, has been in the spotlight for years. From developing real estate to producing and starring in TV shows, see how he's shaped his empire. Hide Caption 1 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump stands with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York's economic development administrator, in 1976 while they look at a sketch of a new 1,400-room renovation project of the Commodore Hotel. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, Trump worked with his father on developments in Queens and Brooklyn before purchasing or building multiple properties in New York and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Those properties included Trump Tower in New York and Trump Plaza and multiple casinos in Atlantic City. Hide Caption 2 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump was married to Ivana Zelnicek Trump from 1977-1990, when they divorced. They had three children together. Hide Caption 3 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump signs his second book, "Trump: Surviving at the Top," in 1990. Trump has published at least 16 other books, including "The Art of the Deal" and "The America We Deserve." Hide Caption 4 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump dips his second wife, Marla Maples, after the couple married in a private ceremony in New York in December 1993. The couple divorced in 1999. Hide Caption 5 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire An advertisement for the television show "The Apprentice" hangs at Trump Towers in New York in 2004. The show launched in January of that year. In January 2008, the show returned as "Celebrity Apprentice." Hide Caption 6 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire A 12-inch talking Trump doll is on display at a toy store in New York in September 2004. Hide Caption 7 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump attends a news conference in 2005 that announced the establishment of Trump University. From 2005 until it closed in 2010, Trump University had about 10,000 people sign up for a program that promised success in real estate. Three separate lawsuits -- two class-action suits filed in California and one filed by New York's attorney general -- have argued that the program was mired in fraud and deception. Trump's camp has rejected the class-action suits' claims as "baseless." And Trump has charged that the New York case against him is politically motivated. Hide Caption 8 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump attends the U.S. Open tennis tournament with his third wife, Melania Knauss-Trump, and their son, Barron William Trump, in 2006. Trump and Knauss married in 2005. Trump has five children from three marriages. Hide Caption 9 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump wrestles with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania in 2007. Trump has close ties with the WWE and its CEO, Vince McMahon. Hide Caption 10 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire For "The Apprentice," Trump was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2007. Hide Caption 11 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump appears on the set of "The Celebrity Apprentice" with two of his children -- Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump -- in 2009. Hide Caption 12 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump poses with Miss Universe contestants in 2011. Trump has been executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants since 1996. Hide Caption 13 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire In 2012, Trump announces his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. In May 2012, on CNN's "The Situation Room," Trump said that President Barack Obama's birthplace is a matter of opinion. In regards to the President's Hawaiian birth certificate , Trump said "a lot of people do not think it was an authentic certificate." Hide Caption 14 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump speaks in Sarasota, Florida, after accepting the Statesman of the Year Award at the Sarasota GOP dinner in August 2012. It was just before the Republican National Convention in nearby Tampa. Hide Caption 15 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump appears on stage with Nick Jonas and Giuliana Rancic during the 2013 Miss USA pageant. Hide Caption 16 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire In June 2015, Trump announces that he is running for President during a speech from Trump Tower in New York. He said he will give up the show "The Apprentice" to run. Hide Caption 17 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump -- flanked by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, left, and Ted Cruz -- speaks during a CNN debate in Miami on March 10. Trump dominated the GOP primaries and emerged as the presumptive nominee in May. Hide Caption 18 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire The Trump family poses for a photo in New York in April. Hide Caption 19 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump speaks during a campaign event in Evansville, Indiana, on April 28. After Trump won the Indiana primary, his last two competitors dropped out of the GOP race. Hide Caption 20 of 21 Photos: Donald Trump's empire Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in July, accepting the party's nomination for President. "I have had a truly great life in business," he said. "But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country -- to go to work for you. It's time to deliver a victory for the American people." Hide Caption 21 of 21
The objective is to create confusion. The bigger the mess, the better. This way, the focus of attention shifts away from the devastating criticism because everyone becomes caught up in the food-fight. This is Trump's playbook. He is the circus ringmaster who creates all sorts of spectacles to divert attention away from his own disqualifying inadequacies.
While the reverse attack is devious indeed, it ultimately falls short. Once the technique is understood, the reverse attack is easy to identify and the truth becomes clear. After all, the reverse attack is rooted in lies because the target of the attack simply does not possess the same flaws that plague the attacker. It is a flat-out lie to say that Clinton is a bigot.
Trump's attacks create a spectacle but after a while all the fighting becomes tedious and we recognize its futility. After we sober up, we see very clearly that Trump is not offering any solutions whatsoever. He has no policies. He has no good ideas. He has no strategy.
Shockingly, Trump's circus act has carried him to the top of the Republican ticket for president. The polls indicate that Trump is running behind Clinton but within striking distance, so from this perspective, Trump's underhanded reverse attacks may work. The question is whether the voters will begin to see through Trump's circus act before it is too late.

Hillary Clinton is a bigot? The art of the reverse attack


When Trump is attacked, he tries to turn the table and use that charge against his opponent, says Cody Cain.


Story highlights 10-year-old girl killed Wednesday
Her mother is one of three accused in the murder
(CNN) Candles, flowers and stuffed animals mark the memorial for a 10-year-old girl, who New Mexico police said was brutally murdered. Three people arrested in the case include her own mother.
Victoria Martens had just started fourth grade at an Albuquerque elementary school and celebrated her 10th birthday Tuesday. On Wednesday, she was killed in what police described as a "horrific" crime.
Friends and family honored the victim during a vigil Thursday, with one person saying Victoria Martens will always be remembered by her smile.
Albuquerque Police identified the suspects in her killing as Victoria's mother, Michelle Martens, her mother's boyfriend, Fabian Gonzalez and Gonzales' cousin, Jessica Kelley.
Michelle Martens was charged in court Thursday with kidnapping and child abuse resulting in death
According to a criminal complaint obtained by CNN, officers arrived to discover two adults with minor injuries and saw a third adult attempt to flee the family apartment by jumping off a balcony.
Read More

10-year-old girl killed in gruesome murder, mother under arrest


Candles, flowers and stuffed animals mark the memorial for a 10-year-old girl, who New Mexico police said was brutally murdered. Three people arrested in the case include her own mother.


Story highlights Wolfowitz also called Trump a continuation of President Barack Obama
Trump has been an ardent critic of the Iraq War on the campaign trail
Washington (CNN) Former Bush administration official Paul Wolfowitz said he is considering voting for Hillary Clinton in an interview in which he lambasted Donald Trump as dangerous.
Wolfowitz, who was the deputy secretary of defense for President George W. Bush in the lead-up to and start of the Iraq War, said in an interview published Friday that while he isn't enthused about it, he may be forced to vote for Clinton.
"I wish there were somebody I could be comfortable voting for," Wolfowitz told the German publication Der Spiegel. "I might have to vote for Hillary Clinton, even though I have big reservations about her."
In the interview, Wolfowitz repeatedly expressed concerns about Trump, saying he agrees with 50 other former Republican security officials who recently blasted Trump as "dangerous."
Read More

Paul Wolfowitz 'might' vote for Hillary Clinton


Former Bush administration official Paul Wolfowitz said he is considering voting for Hillary Clinton in an interview in which he lambasted Donald Trump as dangerous.


After analyzing Lucy's bone fractures, scientists at the University of Texas at Austin may have figured out how our early human ancestor met her end.
Source: CNN

How did the world's most famous fossil die?


After analyzing Lucy's bone fractures, scientists at the University of Texas at Austin may have figured out how our early human ancestor met her end.


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


Katie Quinn rises before dawn to attend a sober morning rave.


"Social anxiety" motivates Trump supporters


"Hillbilly Elegy" author J.D. Vance says "social anxiety," including a complex mix of issues, fuels support for Donald Trump. He calls for more "nuance" in campaign coverage.


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. 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.
"We have a witness who came forward to identify the gunman," Dagupan police Chief Neil Miro told CNN. "I will withhold the name of the suspect, but it seems it may have something to do with illegal drugs, too.

Philippines: 5-year-old girl killed in drug war, Human Rights Watch says


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


If Olly Hicks and George Bullard can paddle from the Arctic Circle to Scotland in their two-person kayak, they'll be the first modern explorers to do so.
Source: CNN

Kayakers try to paddle 1,200 miles in freezing seas


If Olly Hicks and George Bullard can paddle from the Arctic Circle to Scotland in their two-person kayak, they'll be the first modern explorers to do so.


Manila, the Philippines (CNN) Lifeless bodies lying on the streets of the Philippines are a visceral sign of new President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs.
So far more than 1,900 people have died. Of those more than 700 have been killed in police operations since Duterte took office in late June, according to police statistics. Many of the unsolved deaths are attributed to vigilantes.
Duterte's tough talk on the country's drug and crime problems won him the election and, 60 days on from his inauguration, he remains extremely popular.
"Double your efforts. Triple them, if need be. We will not stop until the last drug lord, the last financier, and the last pusher have surrendered or put behind bars -- or below the ground, if they so wish," he said in his July 25 State of the Nation speech.
Dela Rosa said that about 300 of his officers were suspected of involvement in the drug trade and would be relieved of their duties and tried in court.
CNN spent a week in Manila and met six people living and working close to the bloodstained sidewalks.
'My God, Duterte, stop doing this!'
"Janie" -- not her real name -- the sister of a man killed, she alleges, by crooked police
He was 47, a motor-tricycle driver who was estranged from his wife. He had two kids.
Police officers came to his house on August 14 and forced their way in, says his sister, who doesn't want to reveal her name or her brother's, or even the name of the town they're from -- to protect her safety. We'll call her Janie.
"Those policemen might kill us once we spoke out the truth," Janie says. "I said to myself, they have the license to kill already."
They came to his house, she says, and forced their way in.
"Handcuffed already, they shot (him in the) head." Janie alleges they killed three other men with him.
But, a police report says, her brother, was a suspected drug dealer, and was shot and killed after he opened fire on police. His sister insists her brother was a user, not a dealer. His body is still in the funeral home when CNN meets her.
JUST WATCHED A brutal war on drugs in the Philippines Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH A brutal war on drugs in the Philippines 03:24
Janie says that President Duterte's rhetoric has created a climate where the cops feel they can act without fear of retribution, official or otherwise.
"I feel afraid and very scared when I hear the president say they will kill drug users. Because we will have no justice at all," she says.
"We can put the users in rehabilitation, right? They shouldn't punish (them) by taking their lives."
She says that her brother stopped using meth long ago. "My brother had no enemies. He's a very kind person."
The perpetrators were police officers who were involved with meth trade themselves, Janie insists.
As we speak to her, she becomes increasingly agitated. The powerlessness she feels is palpable.
"My God, Duterte, stop doing this," she says, breaking down into sobs. "You don't have the right to take the lives of these people."
"Why don't you take the lives of these policemen too? They were drug users and pushers!"
'We feel already that there's something different in us'
Raffy Lerma, a crime beat photographer for the Philippine Daily Inquirer
On the streets of the working class Manila neighborhood of Tondo, we find the victim face down in a trash-strewn stairwell, one of his flip flops lying meters away, in a rutted, rain-soaked alley.
There's a small, cheap revolver next to his lifeless hand. He's the victim of a police "buy-bust."
Police on the scene say he got suspicious while selling drugs to an undercover officer and drew his weapon. The officer, they say, had no choice but to shoot him.
I'm out shadowing Raffy Lerma, a photographer for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, on his nightly beat. He spends night after night covering violent deaths like this one.
An unnamed man, killed by police in what they say was a legitimate shooting during a "buy-bust" operation
He's best known for his image of Jennilyn Olayres , a Manila woman he photographed cradling the body of her partner, suspected drug pusher Michael Siaron.
It's a picture that helped bring the wave of drug-related killings to international attention.
Lerma's covered natural disasters before, with higher death tolls. But this time it's different. "In this war we're also witnessing the devastation of these men's families. It's traumatizing," he says.
Lerma says he's seen more deaths since President Duterte's war on drugs began in June, than he did in an entire year covering the overnight crime beat as a rookie photographer 10 years ago.
"I want drugs to stop but not how it's being done. I'm not for killing people," Lerma says.
"The scary thing is that for every day that passes there will be more deaths. Can we take this for six years?" he asks, referring to the standard presidential term.
He says there are strong bonds between him and other crime beat photographers.
"We support each other mentally and emotionally. One time we didn't cover the deaths out on the streets, we just talked; shared experiences."
But he's worried that it might be too late; the emotional toll already taken.
"We feel already that there's something different in us."
'We are overwhelmed'
Bien Leabres, head of the DOH-TRC Bicutan Rehabilitation Center.
Bien Leabres is a rarity -- one of fewer than 20 specialists trained in treating drug addiction in the country.
He heads up the DOH-TRC Bicutan Rehabilitation Center, the largest of only 40 public and private facilities in the country.
It has an approved capacity of 550. It currently houses 1,557.
"We are overwhelmed," Leabres states, matter-of-factly, though he says they've been promised more funding.
In many of the dorms they've taken out the bunks, as they could only hold two patients. Now, his patients sleep crammed on rubber foam mattresses on the floor.
Sometimes 30 new patients come in each day, but at most they're only able to discharge seven.
JUST WATCHED Philippines drug war sparks outrage, fear Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Philippines drug war sparks outrage, fear 03:36
"Most of them are here because of fear," he says. "The crackdown (has) made them fear that they will be incarcerated or even worse, killed."
He says his staff is finding the huge number of patients tough to deal with.
"We're relying on group therapies -- one-on-one counselling has drastically been affected."
He's pleased that addiction has become a more visible issue but the deaths, he thinks, are avoidable.
"These people are victims," he says. "Not criminals. "
'The things, the years that I lost'
"A.R.," an inmate at the DOH-TRC Bicutan Rehabilitation Center
"You can call me A.R.," he says.
He's keen to use an alias as he doesn't want to be identified as a drug user -- anything that can link him to that murky underworld could come back and haunt him, in the form of a bullet from a vigilante -- or a police officer's -- gun.
He's a chronic meth user, classified at the DOH-TRC Bicutan Rehabilitation Center as a "drug dependent."
Before he came in here he says he was smoking at least a gram a day of "shabu," -- the local name for meth.
Through the gaping space where his front teeth used to be, he tells me that he used almost every day for 16 years.
"The main thing is the regrets -- the things, the years that I lost. When I was on the drug, it was normal to be aggressive," he says in the local language, Tagalog, translated by a rehab center official.
He's what Filipinos teasingly call a "nose bleed" -- a local who never bothered to learn English.
The joke, which doesn't translate terribly well, is that their noses start bleeding when they try to speak the language.
A.R. says he's worried that, despite this six-month stint getting clean, he'll soon fall back into his old ways when he's out.
"The drugs are too cheap," he says. "It's so hard to break the loop."
'I'm here because of the president'
"Alex," an inmate in the Quezon City jail.
Quezon City Jail is so crowded prisoners take turns to sleep.
It's always been busy, officials tell us, but since the war on drugs began numbers are steadily mounting.
Inmates range from shy teenagers to worn, haunted men in their eighties -- over 4,000 inmates in a prison supposed to hold 800.
Alex, a 29-year-old call center worker with a pockmarked face and a crude dragon tattooed on his right arm, has been in this mass of yellow-shirted humanity for little over a month.
He was arrested for a "9165" violation -- the slang used for a drugs charge. It's the name of the drugs act enacted in 2002.
He was drunk, he says, and fighting with his wife when neighborhood officials showed up and accosted him. Alex says he only had a little shabu on him but it didn't matter.
He was hustled away to the cops and now finds himself incarcerated, potentially for years while he waits for a court date -- fighting for floor space to sleep on.
"I'm here because of the president's (drugs) policy," he says, through a guard's translation.
"Before, you wouldn't get arrested for such a small amount."
JUST WATCHED CNN goes inside massively overcrowded jail Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH CNN goes inside massively overcrowded jail 02:26
The food is terrible, he says, grasping at the wire fence and looking out over the prison compound and its impossibly cramped conditions. Life in here is especially tough for the new guys, he adds. "It's hard to find a place to sleep, especially when it rains."
'We might as well abolish our courts'
Human rights lawyer Jose Manuel "Chel" Diokno.
Jose Manuel "Chel" Diokno, one of the Philippines' foremost human rights lawyers, says that under Duterte, the country is experiencing a climate of fear worse than the dark days of martial law under late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Back in the 1970s and 80s, enemies of the state were branded "communist," he says.
"Now, it's 'drug user,'" says Diokno, the chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG).
"The presumption is reversed -- you have to come forward (these days) and prove your innocence. It's harder than during the Marcos years. Anything goes."
In a nationally televised speech in June, Duterte made his feelings plain to everyone. "If (a criminal) fights, and he fights to the death, you can kill him." He went on to say, "Please feel free to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun ... you have my support."
From a human rights perspective, Diokno says he's "disgusted."
He says due process is being trampled on, from the bodies of those killed in police operations, to "knock and plead" operations, where police invite suspected drug users to surrender to local authorities for registration.
The government insists these are entirely voluntary registrations. Those who register are sent to rehab. But Diokno says the procedures are in his view "warrantless arrests."
Despite repeated freedom of information requests, he says he's seen no formal guidelines for prosecuting this bloody war on drugs.
Suspects are "made to sign documents incriminating themselves, which is a violation of our bill of rights," he laments, arguing that many of those targeted are poor and unaware of their legal rights.
"Law officials (are) acting as judge, jury and executioner. We might as well abolish our courts."

Duterte's crackdown: 6 stories from the front lines


In Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown on drugs, the body count is rising. We talk to six people on the front lines.


Story highlights Hillary Clinton delivers a speech Thursday attacking the so-called alt-right
Timothy Stanley: Clinton created an imagined relationship between everyday, mainstream conservatives and the alt-right
Timothy Stanley, a conservative, is a historian and columnist for Britain's Daily Telegraph. He is the author of "Citizen Hollywood: How the Collaboration Between L.A. and D.C. Revolutionized American Politics." The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.
(CNN) There were two big winners in Hillary Clinton's speech on the alt-right. One was Hillary Clinton, who was able to present herself as the opponent of a neo-racist movement. The other was the alt-right, which hardly anyone had ever heard of and which got some free advertising.
The big loser of the night was the Republican Party. Most of its activists had probably never heard of the alt-right either. Now their label is tarred with it. Never mind that the alt-right is tiny and unrepresentative of conservatism, or even that Trump has allied with alt-right figures but never endorsed the movement by name. These are details that Clinton doesn't benefit from so she didn't dwell on them.
Timothy Stanley
What exactly is the alt-right then? Come back and ask in about 30 years' time. It's too soon to be exact about a movement so diffuse and containing so many factions, some disputing the label.
JUST WATCHED Clinton ties Trump to white supremacists, anti-Semites Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Clinton ties Trump to white supremacists, anti-Semites 02:42
To put it generously, alt-righters are conservatives who are as critical of the Republicans as they are the Democrats -- believing both to be slaves of political correctness. Put ungenerously, they tend to preach a white rights, hypermasculine identity politics that comes off like sheer bigotry.
Notably, they contain few Christian groups. They are post-Christian, almost post-capitalist, rather obsessed with biology. The American Renaissance, an alt-right group, posted a response to Clinton's speech, arguing: "If whites really understood the racial implications of what she stands for, they wouldn't vote for her as dog catcher."


Hillary Clinton has created an imagined relationship between Trump, everyday, mainstream conservatives and the alt-right. Don't be fooled, writes Tim Stanley.


Pence: Kaine's KKK comments 'sound desperate'


Indiana Gov. Mike Pence responds to Sen. Tim Kaine's remarks that Republican nominee Donald Trump's values are similar to those of the Ku Klux Klan.


(CNN) After a tumultuous few weeks, Hope Solo says she needs some time on her own.
The 35-year-old goalkeeper, who is serving a six-month suspension from the US women's national team following a contentious time at the Rio Olympics , has announced she will not be returning to her club team, the Seattle Reign, this season.
"Coming to terms with the fact I was fired from the US women's national team after 17 years of service has been devastating," Solo wrote on her social media accounts Tuesday.
"After careful consideration, I have decided to end my season with the Seattle Reign, an organization I love playing for," she added. "Mentally, I am not there yet."
With two Olympic gold medals and one World Cup title under her belt, Solo has long been acknowledged as the world's top female goalkeeper.
But the Washington native has also been a polarizing figure in the sports world for number of years. In the lead-up to the London 2012 Olympics, she admitted to going on the Today Show drunk after partying all night following her 2008 gold medal win in Beijing.
In 2014, Solo was arrested on domestic assault charges related to a drunken fight with her half-sister and her nephew (a local judge dismissed the charges on procedural grounds; a state appeals court reinstated them and trial is pending).
In 2015, Solo was suspended from the national side for 30 days after her husband was arrested and charged with driving the US Soccer team van under the influence (Solo was with him at the time).
Leading up to the Rio Olympics, she created a stir by posing under a bee net with insect repellent in hand, prompting cries of "Zika!" by local fans every time she touched the ball -- a reference to the virus that concerned many athletes ahead of the Games.
On the pitch, Solo was not at her best in Rio. She let a crucial goal slip through her legs against Colombia, before venting her frustration after crashing out to Sweden on penalty kicks.
Calling the Swedes "cowards" after the semifinal match appeared to be the last straw for US Soccer, which promptly suspended her for what it said was an accumulation of actions.
JUST WATCHED US women's soccer team loses to Sweden in Rio Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH US women's soccer team loses to Sweden in Rio 00:50
JUST WATCHED 2012: Hope Solo: 'I have a bad rap' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH 2012: Hope Solo: 'I have a bad rap' 01:36
Seattle plays in the 10-team National Women's Soccer League and has four regular season games left on its schedule. The team is in fifth place, one spot out of playoff contention.
Solo was granted personal leave from the Reign's last match, but has left her future with the team -- and her career -- in doubt. Solo cited the solid play of her understudy Haley Kopmeyer as one reason she felt comfortable with the move.
"I truly believe this decision is what's best for me and for the Reign organization," she said.
Reign coach and general manager Laura Harvey accepted her goalkeeper's decision with comments on the team's Twitter account.
"While disappointed that Hope will not return to Reign FC this season, we understand and respect her decision," she said.
Solo, whose contract with US Soccer was set to expire at the end of the year, will not be eligible for national team selection again until February.

Hope Solo will not return to Seattle Reign


Goalkeeper Hope Solo, who suspended from the US women's national team, announces she will not be returning to her club team, the Seattle Reign, this season.