(CNN)Novak Djokovic extended his current winning streak to 17 matches after beating Thomas Berdych 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the rain-interrupted final of the Monte Carlo Masters. But the Serbian world number one didn't have it all his away under uncharacteristically slate gray skies on the Mediterranean coast. Tight . Djokovic edged a tight first set before losing the second after the Czech sixth seed took advantage of the short rain delay and came back strongly. But Djokovic broke twice early in the third set to surge to a 4-0 lead. And although Berdych gamely fought back Djokovic served out for the title. "It was a tough match, a particular match," said Djokovic after winning his 52nd career title, and his second Monte Carlo Masters championship. "Tomas played a great match and deserves this trophy as much as I do," he added. "It was a good final, but bad luck today." Despite running Djokovic close it was Berdych's third loss in a final this year. "What can I say? Novak had another excellent week," he said. "I tried my best but it was not good enough today. I'm missing that one step in my clay game but I'm going to work to raise my game that little bit. I'll do what I can to make that happen and hope to come back next year and go a step further"." Strong start . 2015 has been a sensational year for Djokovic so far. After winning the Australian Open back in January, Djokovic has followed up with Masters' victories at Indian Wells and Miami. He then beat Rafa Nadal, arguably one of the greatest players on clay of all time, in the semi finals in Monte Carlo. Sunday's victory over Berdych means he becomes the first man to win the opening three Masters tournaments of the season.

Djokovic wins Monte Carlo Masters . Defeats Berdych 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 . Djokovic had earlier beaten clay expert Nadal in semis .


(CNN)Suzanne Crough, the child actress who portrayed youngest daughter Tracy on the '70s musical sitcom "The Partridge Family," has died. She was 52. Crough passed away Monday at home in Laughlin, Nevada, the Clark County Coroner's Office said. Tracy played tambourine and percussion in the traveling "Partridge Family" band. The group consisted of a widowed mom, played by Shirley Jones, and her five children, played by David Cassidy, Susan Dey, Danny Bonaduce, Brian Forster and Crough. Band manager Reuben Kincaid, played by Dave Madden, rounded out the cast. The band had real hit songs with "Come On Get Happy" and "I Think I Love You," though not all the members really sang or played instruments. The show aired from 1970-74. People we've lost in 2015 . Redheaded Crough was raised in Los Angeles, the youngest of eight children, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Crough also starred in the TV series "Mulligan's Stew" and had spots on other series in the '70s. She appeared in a "Partridge Family" reunion on the "Today" show in 2010. "I'm an office manager for Office Max," she told host Matt Lauer. "I have two daughters, I'm married, I have a normal job." CNN's Henry Hanks contributed to this report.

Suzanne Crough was the youngest member of TV's "Partridge Family" Crough died Monday at 52 in Nevada .


(CNN)The cast of "The Breakfast Crew" escaped from Principal Richard Vernon 30 years ago, but a draft script of the 1985 teen classic has just been found in a filing cabinet in the school district where it was filmed, the Chicago Tribune reported. "One day a few weeks ago, one of the assistants was going through a filing cabinet and found a file that had a manuscript from 'The Breakfast Club' dated Sept. 21, 1983," Ken Wallace, superintendent of Maine Township High School District 207 in suburban Chicago, told the newspaper. "It's a first draft of the screenplay by John Hughes," Wallace said. The manuscript sports the approval signature of the district's then-superintendent and reveals that Molly Ringwald's character, Claire Standish, was originally to be named Cathy Douglas, according to the Tribune. The movie was filmed at the Maine North High School building, which was auctioned off by the district years ago and is now occupied by the Illinois State Police, according to the Tribune. The file was discovered at Maine South High School as district officials prepared to move to a newly acquired building next door. Wallace told the Tribune that he would like to find a way to display the script as a piece of film -- and district -- history. "The odds of having such an iconic movie filmed and associated with your district are astronomical," he told the newspaper. "The Breakfast Club" returns to theaters 30 years later .

"The Breakfast Club" script was found in a high school filing cabinet 30 years later . School officials hope to display the draft script .


(CNN)An Egyptian court sentenced the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, on Saturday to death by hanging, along with 13 members of his group. The sentences will be appealed. The criminal court sentenced 36 other defendants to life in prison on charges of plotting terrorist attacks against state facilities. They faced charges that include "funding the Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in" -- a mass protest in Cairo in August 2013 that was forcibly dispersed by security personnel -- and spreading "false information" to destabilize Egypt. They were arrested in a sweeping crackdown on supporters of former President Mohamed Morsy, the country's first democratically elected president, who was overthrown in 2013 in a military coup that bitterly split Egyptians. One of those sentenced to life in prison was Mohamad Soltan, a 27-year-old U.S.-Egyptian activist. He has been languishing in Cairo's notorious Tora Prison, where he has been on a hunger strike for more than 14 months. The U.S. State Department released a statement condemning Soltan's sentence and calling for his release on humanitarian grounds. The presiding judge for Badie, Soltan and the other defendants was Mohamed Nagy Shehata, who is known for his harsh verdicts. Shehata has sentenced more than 180 people to death and was the original judge in a high-profile case case involving Al Jazeera journalists. Badie had been sentenced to death before on a conviction related to a deadly attack on a police station. He has also been sentenced to life in prison for inciting violence during 2013's unrest. The Egyptian news outlet Al Ahram reported that Badie had been sentenced to death twice before, but an appeals court overturned one verdict, and Egypt's Grand Mufti disapproved of the other. During the summer of unrest, hundreds of people died when the police forcefully cleared camps set up by protesting Morsy supporters and when security forces opened fire on Morsy backers who attacked police stations, government buildings and churches. The government accused the protesters of inciting violence. After the coup, the new government outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood. Morsy was arrested, and he too faces trial. Soltan's sister, Hanaa, is anxious about what the future holds for her family. She wrote a letter to her brother expressing her feelings. "Dear Mohamed," the letter read. "I'm often asked why, and how, you've kept up your hunger strike for 14 months now, despite our pleas for you to end it. I've watched your body go from a plump basketball-playing frame to one that has withered down to its bones. "Your face, with its beautiful smile often grinning, now looks permanently in pain. And, all I can do to explain is to tell people that it's the only form of control you have to hold on to -- now more than ever, on the eve of your sentencing." CNN's Don Melvin contributed to this report.

The death sentences will be appealed . Mohamed Soltan, a 27-year-old U.S.-Egyptian activist on a hunger strike, is sentenced to life in prison . Letter from Soltan's sister: "Your face, with its beautiful smile ... now looks permanently in pain"


(CNN)Tuesday is Equal Pay Day, the fictitious holiday marked by progressive women's groups as the point in the year women would have to work to make up for "lost" wages as a result of the so-called wage gap. In the wake of Hillary Clinton's presidential announcement, the "holiday" has special meaning. Clinton's election will no doubt center on women voters, and the Democratic women's agenda centers on pay equity and fairness in the workplace. Here's the thing: That 77-cent wage gap statistic is grossly overstated. It's a comparison of averages -- comparing full-time working women with full-time working men -- that doesn't control for any of the important factors that go into determining one's salary such as education, profession, title, time spent in the workforce and time spent in the office each day, to name a few. When we do control for these variables, a much smaller wage gap persists of about 4-6 cents, some of which may be the result of gender discrimination, but also is likely a function of women's choices and different behavior, such as not negotiating as often as men do -- factors for which economists simply can't control. The new women warriors: Reviving the fight for equal rights . I frequently reference my own experience as a working mom with young children as an example of someone who not only made the "mistake" of majoring in history but then pursued a career in the nonprofit political world -- not exactly a winning combination if a high salary is the ultimate goal. Add to this the fact that I took time out of the workplace and worked part time to have a family, and my earning potential simply isn't as high as some of my male counterparts. Opinion: Why Hillary Clinton should take a pay cut . Still, conservatives -- and by extension Republicans -- ought to be paying attention to Equal Pay Day. Because for many on the right the midterm election victories signaled that the "war on women" narrative was over. That Democrats had overplayed their hand and that candidates such as Colorado's Mark Udall simply couldn't succeed. In some respects, Republicans are right. Voters did choose policy substance over gendered rhetoric, and in many ways they rejected the insidious "war on women" narrative. The facts about the gender wage gap . But women voters are valuable, and Equal Pay Day ought to be a reminder that Democrats aren't ready to surrender. Let's remember a 5-point national gender gap still remains in the Democrats' favor. Bottom line: The "war on women" narrative hasn't been turned off -- it's simply shifted gears. And with the presidential election season just revving up, we can expect to see the "war on women" focus turn to the workplace, where Democrats will claim women are paid unfairly, not given the paid leave benefits they deserve and not given the child care support they demand. Many on the right fear if they try to push back on the issue of pay equity they will be skewered in the polls. But nothing could be further from the truth. Map: Where the gender pay gap is the widest . The Independent Women's Forum conducted a randomized, controlled experiment on the issue of the wage gap, and we found that not surprisingly the progressive message in favor of the Paycheck Fairness Act -- a legislative "solution" to close the pay gap -- increased support for the bill but surprisingly was not effective at increasing support for Democrats. In short, if the right is silent on the issue, the left has the potential to win the battle but not the war. It's tempting on days such as Equal Pay Day for Republicans to want to lie low -- to ignore the rhetoric and hope it will all go away by Wednesday. But the reality is that's the worst thing conservatives can do. The public is open to hearing the real story on pay equity, and conservatives need to be ready and willing to respond.

Sabrina Schaeffer: Tuesday is Equal Pay Day, a fictitious holiday marked by progressive women . She says the wage gap between men and women is grossly overstated .


(CNN)It was right after one of the longest lockouts in NBA history. Jeff Green, then playing for the Boston Celtics, was looking forward to getting back to the hardwood. That was until a routine physical stopped him in his tracks. The physical revealed he had an aortic aneurysm near the left valve of his heart. "I was shocked," said the Memphis Grizzlies small forward. "I had no symptoms of fatigue, shortness of breath." Green had to have open heart surgery. "Leading up to it was nerve-racking," he said. "I couldn't run. I couldn't touch a basketball. I couldn't get stressed out, it was tough." As Green learned how doctors would open up his chest to repair his heart, he considered the possibility he may never play basketball again. "The first couple of weeks after I was told, I really focused in on my career and what was next," said the basketball player. "I wanted to make sure if I wanted to come back, I was able to come back and play the same way I did before I left." If that opportunity wasn't there, Green wanted to have a backup plan. So, he headed back to his college roots at Georgetown University, finished his degree and became the first person in his family to graduate from college. Green's NBA basketball career wasn't over, but it was a slow progression back to the court. He missed the entire 2011-2012 season. "I didn't even watch any basketball," he said. "Six months after the surgery was the first time I set foot on a court." It was with the Hoyas where Green laid back down the foundation of his game, healing his body and regaining muscle. "The timing was off," he said.  "I wasn't concerned about getting hit, the biggest thing was just being in shape and being able to move and being able to function on the floor." Green believes the surgery and hard road back to the NBA have given him a new perspective and more meaning in his life. "I will never forget those days that I could walk 15 steps for five minutes," he said. "Now I attack every game like this could be my last." "I feel like the year I missed really added more years," he explained.  "It added more life into what I'm doing because I'm more grateful for it." Green's now using his story to raise awareness of hidden heart risk.  He also spends time with children dealing with cardiac issues -- often telling them they are "superheroes" and encouraging them to "show off your scar -- embrace it!"

NBA player Jeff Green had open heart surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm in 2011 . Green missed the entire 2011-2012 basketball season . Now he donates time to young cardiovascular patients .


Beijing (CNN)Amid tight security, a Chinese court has convicted veteran journalist Gao Yu for revealing state secrets and sentenced her to seven years in prison. Gao, 71, immediately said she would appeal, her lawyer Mo Shaoping told CNN Friday. After a closed trial last November, the No. 3 Intermediate People's Court in Beijing had twice delayed handing down a verdict, giving Gao's supporters some hope that the authorities' apparent hesitation may lead to her acquittal and release. "Today's conviction is mainly based on a forced confession that she had since retracted," Mo said. "This is a totally wrong judgment that doesn't respect the facts or the evidence." The government had accused Gao of disclosing a highly confidential "Document No. 9" issued by the ruling Communist Party leadership in 2013 to an overseas Chinese-language news organization, according to her lawyer. The document revealed the Party's ideological battle plan to counter advocates of constitutional democracy, banning public discussions on topics ranging from press freedom, civil rights to judicial independence. "There is no defense against state secret charges in China, anything the Party or the government want to label as state secrets will be labeled and treated as such -- they can even do it retroactively," said Nicholas Bequelin, the Hong Kong-based East Asia director of Amnesty International. "Her sentencing is in line with the very stern approach President Xi Jinping's team has taken on dissent, information control and challenges to the Party," he added. Beijing police detained Gao in late April of last year -- ahead of the sensitive 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown -- and state broadcaster CCTV soon aired her "confession" on national television. Expressing "deep remorse" in the video, Gao told interrogators she "deeply regretted that her behavior had harmed national interests and violated the law." Mo, her lawyer, said the authorities had extracted the confession by threatening her son's safety and released the police video to CCTV without her knowledge. He added the alleged recipient of the leaked document even publicly denied that Gao was his source. An outspoken journalist and press freedom advocate, Gao began her career as a reporter for the state-run China News Service in 1979 and, in recent years, had been writing columns for overseas Chinese-language publications. She was arrested after the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 and released more than a year later. She was imprisoned for another six years for leaking state secrets in 1993 -- though the government has never disclosed details of that case. Since Xi took power over two years ago, his government has jailed hundreds of activists across China despite rising international concern. "We are in the midst of one of the most severe crackdowns on human rights activists," said Bequelin of Amnesty International. "What the state used to tolerate, it doesn't tolerate anymore."

Accused of leaking a document revealing Party's ideological battle plan to counter advocates of constitutional democracy . Amnesty: Her sentencing is in line with the very stern approach President Xi Jinping's team has taken on dissent . Gao was arrested in April last year, ahead of the sensitive 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown .


New York (CNN)New York state authorities have issued a health alert following a dramatic spike in hospital visits for synthetic marijuana-related emergencies. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Friday that more than 160 patients in nine days have been rushed to hospitals across the state for adverse reactions to synthetic cannabinoid, known as "spice" or "K2." "Spice" and other similar synthetic drugs are often marketed as legal plant material coated with chemicals that are supposed to mimic the effects of marijuana, according to a statement from the governor's office. "Since the exact compounds contained in synthetic cannabinoid products change so frequently, it's often impossible for users to know exactly what they are putting in their body," acting New York State Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said. Symptoms after use have a wide range of severity, from confusion, drowsiness and headaches to increased heart rate, seizures and loss of consciousness, according to the New York State Department of Health. Synthetic marijuana is popular among teens because it is marketed as incense or natural products to "mask its true purpose," the health department statement said. "Young people may be fooled into thinking that these substances are safe because they are sold over the counter or are in colorful packaging, but they are not made for human consumption," New York Alcohol and Substance Abuse Service s Commissioner Arlene Gonzalez Sanchez said. "They are dangerous and can have significant, long-term effects on the brain." The recent surge is not isolated in New York; other states across the country have noticed similar trends. Alabama Department of Public Health issued a statement last week acknowledging a rise of synthetic marijuana usage and said there had been 98 overdoses suspected to be linked with "spice" in the previous month. Mobile County alone has seen seven cases in 2015 so far, more than the entire previous year, the statement said. Mississippi health officials are also concerned that synthetic marijuana is on the rise. Ninety-seven  cases over an eight-day span in April were reported to the Mississippi Poison Control Center, a Department of Health press release said.

New York reports 160 hospitalizations related to synthetic marijuana . Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a health alert .


(CNN)Amy Schumer seems to be trying single-handedly this week to make everyone in America laugh. And she's off to a good start. The comedian took a fake tumble on the red carpet Tuesday night at the 2015 TIME 100 gala in New York -- right in front of fellow honorees Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, who stepped around her as they moved down the line. The stunt drew guffaws from the paparazzi and other onlookers, although Kanye -- perhaps not used to being upstaged -- looked unamused. "I saw them, and I asked my publicist, 'Can I dive in front of them and act like I fell?' And she said, 'I can't stop you,' " Schumer told People. The prank came the same night the third season of Schumer's hit show, "Inside Amy Schumer," premiered on Comedy Central. The episode has won praise for its "Milk Milk Lemonade" video, which ridicules mens' obsession with a certain female body part, and a "Friday Night Lights" parody in which high school football players protest their new coach's "no raping" policy. And it came the night after Schumer appeared on CBS' "The Late Show" and turned David Letterman red-faced when she lifted her dress to show him a scar she got from surfing and said, "That's my vagina." Letterman, who had urged her to "do something now that you'll regret," turned to the chortling audience and said, "Well, I asked for it, didn't I?" So yes, you can say Schumer -- who in the past two weeks has graced the cover of Entertainment Weekly, hosted the MTV Movie Awards and learned her TV show was just renewed for a fourth season -- is having a moment. "They were right there! The epicenter of American (celebrity culture.) Gotta do it," Schumer told People about her Kimye red carpet dive. "It was the best."

Amy Schumer took a fake tumble Tuesday in front Kanye West and Kim Kardashian . The comedian pulled the prank at the TIME 100 gala in New York . Schumer, whose "Inside Amy Schumer" also premiered Tuesday, is having a moment .


(CNN)Once Hillary Clinton's official announcement went online, social media responded in a big way, with terms like "Hillary Clinton," "#Hillary2016," and yes, even "#WhyImNotVotingforHillary" trending. Certainly, you couldn't go far on Twitter (even before Clinton tweeted her announcement), without an opinion or thought on her new campaign (there were over 3 million views of her announcment tweets in one hour, and 750,000 Facebook video views so far by Sunday evening). Some tweeted their immediate support, with one word: .

Response across social media led to multiple trending topics for Hillary Clinton's presidential announcement . Some responded to her video and her new campaign logo .


(CNN)WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to be interviewed by Swedish prosecutors in London, his lawyer in Sweden told CNN. Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since June 2012 to avoid extradition to Sweden, where prosecutors want to question him about 2010 allegations that he raped one woman and sexually molested another. According to the lawyer, Thomas Olsson, Swedish prosecutors will now have to reach out to British and Ecuadorian authorities to request permission to conduct the interview at the embassy. The prosecutors previously balked at coming to Britain to question Assange. However, some of the alleged crimes will be subject to a statute of limitations in August 2015, according to a statement from Marianne Ny, the director of public prosecutions. Ny explained the logic behind the Swedish authorities' change of approach in her statement. "My view has always been that to perform an interview with him at the Ecuadorian embassy in London would lower the quality of the interview, and that he would need to be present in Sweden in any case should there be a trial in the future," Ny said. "This assessment remains unchanged. Now that time is of the essence, I have viewed it therefore necessary to accept such deficiencies to the investigation and likewise take the risk that the interview does not move the case forward, particularly as there are no other measures on offer without Assange being present in Sweden." The Australian national has not been charged and denies the claims. Assange has said he fears Sweden would extradite him to the United States, where he could face the death penalty if he is charged and convicted of publishing government secrets through WikiLeaks. Ecuador granted Assange political asylum in 2012. CNN's Per Nyberg contributed to this report.

The WikiLeaks founder is wanted for questioning over sexual abuse claims; he denies the allegations . Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since June 2012 .


(CNN)North Korea is in the headlines again. According to a Wall Street Journal report Thursday, Chinese nuclear experts have told the United States that Pyongyang may already have as many as 20 nuclear warheads. And while that number may seem stunning, it is actually only part of a troubling story. The key takeaway from the latest assessment of North Korea's nuclear capability is not in the actual number of warheads, but the type of warhead, as this gives a better clue to the future of the country's weapons capabilities. True, the reported Chinese estimate of 20 warheads is large enough to constitute a nuclear "arsenal." However, this number is not actually significantly larger than conventional open source estimates of 10 to 15 warheads previously provided by U.S. and other experts. The big takeaway from the report is instead the prediction that North Korea could be in a position to double its arsenal by next year with weapons-grade uranium. If that assessment is correct, and Pyongyang can indeed boost its nuclear stockpile by the end of this year to around 40 warheads by utilizing highly-enriched weapons-grade uranium, then the plutonium program that the U.S. and members of the Six-Party talks had been negotiating over this past quarter century would suddenly seem trivial. After all, the plutonium program might be capable of spitting out maybe a few weapons worth of plutonium annually. This news could be much more serious. Why? For a start, it would mean that North Korea's activities would undoubtedly meet the definition, if it had not already, of a runaway nuclear weapons program, with the potential to be fueled by a large supply of raw uranium buried in North Korea's mines. In addition, while the plutonium program at Yongbyon has a clear and detectable profile, the thousands of centrifuges that spin in a uranium-based program have no detectable heat signature or topographic profile, meaning you could store the stuff not just in the labyrinth of underground tunnels in North Korea, undetectable from the sky, but in any large warehouse. Washington and Seoul have tended to have a policy that leans toward downplaying North Korean threats, at least when there isn't a full-fledged crisis going on. For example, the United States downplayed North Korea's missile threat until the country successfully put a satellite into orbit in December 2012. And up until 2006, no one thought the Kim regime would actually dare undertake a nuclear test. These new estimates could therefore be a timely reminder that we may have downplayed the threat North Korea poses once again. But Thursday's report isn't the only troubling information we have had recently. Just as concerning is the NORAD commander's assessment on North Korea's missile capabilities. On April 7, Adm. Bill Gortney said during a press briefing that the Defense Department believed Pyongyang's KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is operational, with a warhead capacity. This statement is troubling for two reasons. First, Gortney's statement, when combined with the latest Chinese assessment, implies that North Korea now not only has nuclear weapons, but the ability to miniaturize such weapons for a warhead that could be placed atop a missile with range rings extending to the U.S. mainland. Second, and just as importantly, Pyongyang's advances in mobile ICBM capabilities could end up undermining the state of stable deterrence that currently exists on the Korean Peninsula. Put simply, these capabilities could give North Korea confidence that it is immune from any U.S. counterstrikes. And if that ends up being the case, the United States could find itself with a renewed headache in Asia -- and its carefully calibrated plans for its pivot to the region crumbling.

Report says North Korea may have as many as 20 nuclear warheads . Victor Cha: Washington has tended to downplay North Korean threats .


(CNN)Two Transportation Security Administration screeners have been fired after conspiring to grope attractive men at Denver International Airport, Denver police said. Here's how police say the scheme worked: When the male TSA officer noticed a man he found attractive, he would alert a female TSA officer. The female officer would then tell the screening machine that a female passenger -- not a male -- was walking through. And that information would trigger a machine to register an anomaly in the groin area, prompting the male TSA officer to pat down the passenger, police said, citing a TSA investigation. But during the patdown, the male TSA officer used the palms of his hands to touch the passenger's front groin area and buttocks, which violates TSA policy. Former TSA agent sentenced for recording coworker . All this came to light after an anonymous tip from a TSA employee in November. The agency launched an investigation, and investigator Chris Higgins monitored the two TSA officers in question, Denver police said in a report. Higgins watched the plan being carried out on February 9. He interviewed the female TSA officer, who said she had done this with her colleague at least 10 other times, police said. Both of the TSA officers investigated have been fired, TSA special agent Charles Stone told police. Authorities did not release their names. Giant security gap at airports: Lack of criminal background checks . The TSA called the incident deplorable. "These alleged acts are egregious and intolerable," the agency said in a written statement to CNN. "All allegations of misconduct are thoroughly investigated by the agency. And when substantiated, employees are held accountable." But it's unlikely criminal charges will be filed because there is no identifiable victim. The TSA said it has been trying to identify the passenger in the February incident but to no avail. The TSA said no passengers have come forward with similar cases so far at the Denver airport. Hidden cameras reveal airport workers stealing from luggage . CNN's Tony Marco contributed to this report.

Police: A male TSA officer signaled to a female officer when he found a man attractive . Female officer would notify scanning machine a woman -- not a man -- was passing through . Police: That would trigger an anomaly in groin area, leading male officer to grope passenger .


(CNN)If newly revised NYPD training materials are approved by a federal judge, new cadets could be taking courses reminding them "not to engage in racial profiling." The proposed training materials, overseen by appointed federal monitor Peter Zimroth, were submitted to Manhattan Federal Court judge Analisa Torres on Monday for approval.  They include directives to "not tell or tolerate ethnic, racial or sexist jokes" and to "not imitate the speech patterns" of others. "Do not engage in racial profiling," the training materials read. "It is against the law. It violates fundamental democratic precepts and freedoms. It violates this Department's policies. It is offensive. It violates your responsibility to treat people equally. It diverts us from catching real criminals. It alienates us from people who need us, and hurts our ability to do our job. You can probably think of other reasons not to do it, but the point is that you will not do it." The training notes also instruct new cadets "not to use terms or words that devalue groups of people or stereotype them" and "not to imitate speech patterns of other racial, ethnic and class groups when communicating cross culturally" because "they appear disingenuous, artificial, and possibly racist." The revised training notes, which include 140 pages of instruction and PowerPoint slides, are a result of a 2013 federal ruling declaring the New York Police Department's "Stop, Question and Frisk" practice unconstitutional. The NYPD has said the policy -- in which police stop, question and frisk people they consider suspicious -- was used to deter crime. The practice had been widely criticized. Police Department figures showed that nearly nine out of 10 people "stopped and frisked" in 2011 were African-American or Hispanic, though New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has said 90% of those stopped were innocent. "The current training materials had not undergone a comprehensive review for some time ... [and] did not address some important subjects or account for some changes in NYPD policies and law," Zimroth wrote in a cover letter to Torres.  "All parties agreed it was essential that the materials be rewritten for the current class to reflect current law and policy." The NYPD collaborated with Zimroth's team in crafting the final training materials.  They will now "review their implementation in terms of our current and ongoing practices," said an NYPD spokesperson in an email to CNN. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association declined to comment. The materials also provide historical legal information on proper "stops" and offers detailed procedures for patrolling buildings for criminal activity.  They also give instructions on how an officer should lawfully conduct him or herself when engaging with the public. "Remember that a courteous, professional and respectful police officer who illustrates the opposite of bias and discrimination helps create a partnership with the community and builds rapport with the people in it. "The result is that the citizens become our allies and, in turn, policing becomes safer and easier. This enhances our effectiveness and increases our pride and pleasure in what we do," the notes read. If approved, the new training materials will be integrated into the class curriculum for the current class of cadets.  They are expected to graduate in June.

The training materials are a result of a 2013 ruling declaring "Stop, Question and Frisk"  unconstitutional . They read that racial profiling "is offensive. ... It diverts us from catching real criminals"


West of Baghdad, Iraq (CNN)Falih Essawi shouted on the phone as he described his situation. From his point of view, ISIS militants might be just hours away from taking the key Iraqi city of Ramadi. Fierce fighting has engulfed Ramadi, which lies only about 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of Baghdad and is the capital of Anbar province, Iraq's Sunni heartland. Essawi, the deputy head of the Anbar Provincial Council, told CNN from inside the city Wednesday that it's unclear how much longer government troops can hold their front lines against the ISIS offensive. The politician said he was on a front line himself, armed with a machine gun. Security was "collapsing rapidly in the city," and he begged the Iraqi government for reinforcements and the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS for air support. He stressed that urgent support from the military and security forces is needed to save the city. "This is what we warned Baghdad of what's going to happen," Essawi told CNN by phone, referring to the Iraqi government at the capital. "Where is Baghdad? Where is al-Abadi?" His plea for help comes the day after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington to seek more support for the fight against ISIS. "Just Allah knows if we will survive this," Essawi said. According to the Anbar official, at least 10 Iraqi security forces were killed and more than 100 others were wounded in the fighting against ISIS on Wednesday. The extremist group's offensive in Ramadi shows its resilience despite months of U.S.-led airstrikes and its recent defeat by Iraqi forces in the northern city of Tikrit. ISIS fighters have Ramadi under pressure from several angles. Essawi said ISIS militants made significant advances Wednesday in three areas east of Ramadi: Albu Soda, Albu Ghanem and parts of Soufia, which leads to central Ramadi. Later, he said that militants were rolling into the center of Ramadi. Over the weekend, the militants seized control of areas north of Ramadi. Routes south of the city were taken some months ago. That leaves only areas to the west of Ramadi in the hands of government forces, but those positions are under threat, Essawi warned. The recent fighting has driven a steady stream of refugees out of the city. On Wednesday, some residents packed what they could into metal carts as they prepared to flee on foot. People also were fleeing the areas where ISIS was advancing east of Ramadi. At least 150,000 people have already fled since Wednesday morning, causing huge traffic jams on the roads leading outside the city, according to Essawi. A CNN team met with three families that had fled an ISIS assault in the Albu Ghanem area. Those families said Iraqi security and military forces withdrew from Albu Ghanem after a battle with ISIS, which took over the area quickly. One fleeing Albu Ghanem resident, Abu Ahmed, paused to talk to CNN as he and his family walked east toward Baghdad, crossing a bridge over the Euphrates River. He said four ISIS militants had entered his house and set up a sniper position on his roof. Abu Ahmed said he, his wife and four children walked away from the home with his elderly mother while the ISIS fighters were busy setting things up there. He said his family left everything behind. His family was using a cart to carry his mother, who couldn't walk. While talking about the fighters' takeover of his home, his wife started crying and asked God to help the rest of the families who are stuck in Albu Ghanem. Ramadi has seen intense and persistent fighting for months. ISIS took over parts of the city in the first half of last year, placing it at the heart of a deadly tug of war ever since. The U.S. military has carried out multiple airstrikes against ISIS targets near Ramadi in recent weeks. "The coalition has been supporting the fight in Ramadi with airstrikes, and there have been seven airstrikes in Ramadi since Monday," Col. Ed Thomas, spokesman for Joint Chiefs Chairman Col. Martin Dempsey, said on Wednesday. He stressed that Ramadi remains contested. Another U.S. military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told CNN that the fall of Ramadi is "not imminent." Sizable parts of the city are under ISIS control or influence, but the area has been a target of a months-long offensive, that official said. CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali and Arwa Damon reported from west of Baghdad, and Jethro Mullen wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Jason Hanna, Jim Sciutto, Jamie Crawford contributed to this report.

A U.S. military official tells CNN the fall of Ramadi is "not imminent" Official in Ramadi says it's unclear how long government forces can hold out there . He begs the Iraqi government for reinforcements and the U.S.-led coalition for airstrikes .


(CNN)Just before writing this column, I reached into the depths of my wallet, and in between the pilot licenses, I slid out a postage stamp-size certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration. The certificate documents my successful completion of the DC Special Flight Rules Area, or SFRA, online course. The online course verifies that I am knowledgeable to fly a plane under visual flight rules into the most highly restricted U.S. airspace in the country. Although a "no-fly zone" over the White House has long existed, the SFRA airspace was developed to protect the Washington area further after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The size of the SFRA airspace is designed to be large enough to give our defense forces enough time to determine if a threat exists from an aircraft entering it, an opportunity to identify the threat, and if necessary, to divert or eliminate it. An airspeed restriction begins at a 60-mile radius from the center of Reagan National Airport. At the 30-mile radius, all aircraft must file a flight plan that identifies itself to air traffic control via a specific four-digit transponder code (a transponder is an electronic communication device that identifies a specific airplane on an air traffic controller's display screen to indicate authorization for the flight). Aircraft must enter the SFRA through specific flight "gates" that are displayed on a standard aviation map. Aircraft on instrument flight rule flight plans, which include all airline operations, are not required to comply with SFRA restrictions. Air traffic control assumes the responsibility for the appropriate routing. As a matter of standard procedure, flights using an instrument flight rule flight plan have specific clearances with specific transponder codes, so the authorization for transit through the SFRA airspace is already built into the system. Why do I carry the certificate as an airline pilot? I have had occasion to fly my own little airplane through the airspace on a visual flight rule flight plan. Pilot who landed gyrocopter blogged about why . Noncompliance with the airspace requirements, or worse, no communication at all, carries some serious federal penalties, which could include the suspension or revocation of your pilot license. Being at the wrong end of an F-16 missile is also a possible penalty. So how does a flying machine that looks like a sophisticated lawn chair with helicopter blades invade such highly restricted airspace, as happened Wednesday, when a postal carrier from Florida landed a single-person aircraft on Capitol grounds? Well, I'm making an assumption based on the video footage, but it appears that this aircraft is classified by the FAA as a gyrocopter. A gyrocopter cannot quite launch straight up into the air in the manner of a typical helicopter; it requires a short ground run for takeoff. And most gyrocopters are kit-built aircraft. It also appears that this particular gyrocopter may weigh just under 255 pounds, which classifies it as an ultralight aircraft in FAA parlance. Why is weight significant? Below that weight, a license for the pilot or a license for the aircraft is not required. In addition, to remain in the classification, the maximum designed airspeed can't exceed 55 knots. Lawmaker looking into gyrocopter landing as pilot goes to court . A facility tracking the movement of this particular gyrocopter on radar would witness a speed probably attainable by the average Canadian goose. And the radar reflection on a piece of machinery of that diminutive size is most likely very limited. If it was actually tracked on a radar screen, the target may have appeared to be a flock of birds. How much damage could this aircraft have inflicted had it been intended for nefarious purposes? Well, if it had been crashed into a building, I feel confident that the building would have been triumphant. If the intent had been to carry some sort of destructive device, the weapon would have had to be relatively small. The engine is not designed to carry more than one pilot. And lack of carry-on space is a definite issue. Not that a review of airspace security measures isn't in order, but I wouldn't be concerned that this event will become the next threat epidemic. As an airline pilot, I can say I am relatively confident that our nation's capital is secure from gyrocopter attacks orchestrated by misguided lunatics.

Les Abend: How did gyrocopter fly on to Capitol grounds when FAA, defense forces keep tight rein on airspace? He says gyrocopter may be lightweight and slow enough that it evaded radar . He says it's unlikely such a flight could pose a serious danger .


(CNN)It's not going to be enough to slake the thirst of the elusive Mars bunny, but scientists say new research seems to support the theory that what looks like a bone-dry red planet during the day could be dotted with tiny puddles of salty water at night. Experts have long thought that a particular kind of salt detected in Martian soil could pull water vapor from the the planet's thin atmosphere into the soil at night and then keep it from freezing despite the extreme cold. Researchers aren't saying they've seen direct evidence of brine hiding out in the Martian night. But they say the new study -- based on a full year of monitoring of temperature and humidity conditions by the Mars Curiosity rover in Gale Crater -- does seem to bear the theory out. "Gale Crater is one of the least likely places on Mars to have conditions for brines to form, compared to sites at higher latitudes or with more shading," said Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona at Tucson, a co-author of the new report. NASA chief scientist: 'Indications' of alien life by 2025 . "So if brines can exist there, that strengthens the case they could form and persist even longer at many other locations," possibly explaining channels seen on Mars that appear be formed by running water, he said. Researchers say Mars may once have had an sea as extensive as Earth's Atlantic Ocean, and Curiosity has found evidence of ancient streambeds and a lake on the planet. The vast majority of that water has been lost to space over the eons, leaving Mars an overwhelmingly dry and inhospitable place. The new study doesn't change the picture for life on Mars. The researchers say the temperatures they measured are too low and water too scarce "to support terrestrial organisms" (sorry, bunny fans). But scientists say evidence of water ice at the planet's poles and now more evidence toward the theory of widespread brines keeps them hoping they'll find evidence that life at least once existed there. "Liquid water is a requirement for life as we know it, and a target for Mars exploration missions," lead author Javier Martin-Torres said in a statement. "Conditions near the surface of present-day Mars are hardly favorable for microbial life as we know it," he said, "but the possibility for liquid brines on Mars has wider implications for habitability and geological water-related processes." In other words, we'll keep looking. Mars is the next step for humanity -- we must take it .

Analysis of Martian weather seems to support the idea that the planet could be dotted with salty puddles at night . The finding has "wider implications" for efforts to find evidence of life on Mars, a researcher says .


Shanghai, China (CNN)When China's biggest auto show opens in Shanghai this week, the only models on display will be the ones with four wheels. Gone, show organizers hope, will be the scantily-clad "car babes" that in previous years have posed provocatively on car hoods and sashayed through the aisles to draw crowds to the 9-day event. The focus, instead, will be the latest offerings from an array of global car manufacturers, which -- models or not -- are pulling out all the stops to compete for Chinese customers in what since 2009 has been the world's largest car market. "It's a major industry event for us," said Andrew Boyle, global product communications manager at Rolls Royce. It sells several hundred of its super-luxury vehicles in China each year, and in Shanghai this week will launch its latest model, the Phantom Limelight. Vehicle sales in China totaled 23.5 million units last year, almost a third more than in the United States. However, the show comes at a turning point for China's auto market, which is facing a second year of slower growth in 2015 after a decade-long sales and production frenzy. Intense competition for China's drivers means that car manufacturers are increasingly developing vehicles that cater to Chinese preferences. Nissan will use Auto Shanghai 2015 to unveil the Lannia mid-size sedan, which it says has been specially created for "the rising young Chinese generation." The country's gearheads have embraced the SUV or sport utility vehicle, sales of which jumped a third last year, and many will feature in the displays planned by dozens of European, Japanese U.S., South Korea and Chinese automakers. This year MG, once known for its sleek sports cars and now owned by Shanghai Automotive Industries Corp, enters the fray with its first SUV, the GS, while Ford will give two new luxury SUVs their China market debut --  the Lincoln MKX and Lincoln Navigator, the latter favored by hip hop stars. "The SUV is popular as a first car," said Raymond Tsang, a Shanghai-based partner at consultancy Bain & Company. "If you only have one, you want one that you can commute in and take on a road trip." Foreign brands have dominated sales in the past two years, but as they improve product quality and design, local rivals like Geely, which also owns Sweden's Volvo, and Great Wall Motor are clawing back market share, especially when it comes to SUVs. Geely, which already exports to Russia, the Middle East and Africa, is also stepping up its efforts to crack more developed markets. It is preparing to export the Volvo S60 Inscription to the United States from a factory in the southwestern city of Chengdu. It would be the first car made in China to hit U.S showrooms and may pave the way for Chinese brands to shake up the U.S. market like Japanese and Korean car manufacturers did decades earlier. With car ownership still at much lower levels than the U.S. and Europe, China is likely to remain the industry's most important market for decades. However, the breakneck growth may be a thing of the past. In 2014, growth in sales halved to 7% and according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the slowdown continued in the first three months of this year when sales rose just 3.9%. It comes as the wider economy slows and a prolonged campaign against corruption has hit sales of luxury vehicles, especially brands like Audi that have been the ride of choice for Chinese officials. On top of that, the hassles of car ownership are deterring some potential buyers, as is an awareness of the environmental costs. Congested and chaotic roads, restrictions on the number of new vehicle license plates and a shortage of residential parking space  may trigger a backlash against car ownership, according to a recent report from Bain & Company. "The car was seen as a status symbol," says Pierre-Henri Boutot, a partner at Bain and co-author of the report. "But now in larger cities they see the hassle and some of these people are thinking of giving up their car." Just maybe, China will need those car babes to boost sales after all.

Organizers want to ban scantily-clad models at car show . The Shanghai Auto Show is a key event for global automakers . Cars are no longer the status symbol they once were in China .


Bangkok (CNN)Thailand has lifted martial law, replacing it with it a controversial new security order granting sweeping powers to the ruling military junta. Critics have expressed alarm at the move, with Human Rights Watch's Asia director Brad Adams saying it marked the country's "deepening descent into dictatorship." Martial law was lifted Wednesday when the Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej approved a request from Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha to proceed. Prayuth -- head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) junta -- immediately invoked Article 44 of the country's interim constitution "to curb acts deemed harmful to national peace and stability." Article 44 states, in wide-ranging terms, that when the head of the junta believes it is necessary in the name of public harmony or to prevent the undermining of national security, then he has the power to act as deemed necessary. According to a statement issued by the NCPO, the new order grants military personnel powers to issue summons and arrest those who commit crimes against the royal family or against national stability, who commit crimes involving war weaponry, or who violate the orders of the NCPO. Designated military personnel were granted powers to seize assets, to block media from reporting or publishing, and to detain suspects up to seven days, the statement said. Unauthorized political gatherings of more than five people were banned, while those who defied NCPO orders could be imprisoned for up to a year, it said. Those who were detained could not leave the country without the approval of the head of the NCPO. Human Rights Watch said in a statement that the new security order would allow Prayuth "to issue orders without administrative, legislative, or judicial oversight or accountability." "Thailand's friends abroad should not be fooled by this obvious sleight of hand by the junta leader to replace martial law with a constitutional provision that effectively provides unlimited and unaccountable powers," Adams said in a statement. Sunai Phasuk, Human Rights Watch's senior researcher on Thailand, told CNN the move would see Prayuth "become a strongman with ultimate power in his hands to wield as he wishes." "This is a dangerous indication that the junta is not going to keep its promise to restore democracy and respect for human rights in Thailand," he said. Rupert Abbott, deputy director for Asia Pacific at Amnesty International, called in a statement for the NCPO to "reinstate the rule of law and constitutional protections for human rights which the 2014 coup steamrolled over." Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed alarm at the news. "Normally I would warmly welcome the lifting of martial law -- and indeed strongly advocated for it to be lifted in Thailand," the High Commissioner said. "But I am alarmed at the decision to replace martial law with something even more draconian, which bestows unlimited powers on the current Prime Minister without any judicial oversight at all. This clearly leaves the door wide open to serious violations of fundamental human rights." Martial law was imposed shortly before Thailand's military seized power last May, ousting the democratically-elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra after months of sometimes violent street protests. Since then, the NCPO has curbed civil liberties, muzzled the media and rounded up opponents. Amnesty International says that since May, hundreds of people have been arbitrarily held and dozens brought before military courts for engaging in peaceful political gatherings or expression. Thai political scholar and coup opponent Pavin Chachavalpongpun told CNN that the move from martial law to the new security order amounted to "pouring the same wine into a new bottle." "The junta is trying to reinvent itself, but the substance is still there," he said. "In a word: it's absurd. Everyone knows in Thailand they had to abolish the martial law because of international pressure. "But Article 44 is a lot worse than the martial law because it gives total power to the NCPO." Thailand's military rulers have insisted that such restrictive measures are needed to maintain stability, following a decade of political conflict which has pitted a royalist, middle-class Bangkok elite against Shinawatra's supporters, mostly drawn from the urban working class or the rural north. But Pavin did not believe there was a sufficient threat to national security to justify the new order. "The notion of national security has been exploited over and over," he said. A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok said it was important that Thai citizens were allowed "to freely exercise their fundamental rights, including the rights of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly."

Martial law has been lifted in Thailand after 10 months . It has been replaced by a new order granting sweeping powers to the military junta . Critics warn the move deepens the country's "descent into dictatorship"


(CNN)Oprah's in there. So's Bill Murray, George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Jerry Seinfeld, Howard Stern, Tina Fey, Michael Keaton and Ray Romano. On Tuesday, "The Late Show with David Letterman" announced some of the guests for the talk show host's final month of broadcasts. The last "Late Show" will air Wednesday, May 20. Among the notables are Oprah Winfrey, with whom Letterman has had an on-and-off faux feud for years; Clooney, who's starring in "Tomorrowland," which will be released on May 22; and Stern, who's always an engaging Letterman guest. But longtime fans may be even more intrigued by the appearances of Keaton, an old acquaintance who once shared a stage with Letterman as players on Mary Tyler Moore's short-lived 1978 variety show, and Murray, who was the very first guest on Letterman's old NBC show, "Late Night with David Letterman." Steve Martin, who's taken part in some of the "Late Show's" best bits, will also be dropping by. Letterman has been a late-night host for 33 years, close to 22 of them on CBS' "Late Show." Stephen Colbert will take over the "Late Show" on September 8.

"The Late Show with David Letterman" concludes May 20 . Letterman's guests will include Oprah Winfrey and Bill Murray . Stephen Colbert takes over the slot September 8 .


(CNN)A massive brawl involving two dozen people at a Queens, New York, casino was captured on video Friday night. The cell phone video shows a number of men throwing punches and even chairs into crowds of people. Stanchions can be seen flying and being used as weapons in the chaotic scene. The fight took place in the food court area of Resorts World Casino where approximately 300 people were still at the scene when police arrived, according to the New York Police Department. One witness told CNN affiliate WCBS the scene was "chaotic" and compared it to a World Wrestling Entertainment event. The brawl took place in front of Fat Tuesday, which opened at the food court Friday. Police said that there was a drink special advertised at the casino. Several thousand dollars' worth of damages was done to the casino, police said, and an officer was taken to the hospital for a hand injury. Three men were arrestted in connection to the brawl, according to police. Two of the men were given a summons for disorderly conduct and released, while the third remains in custody and has been charged with obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct. Police were not able to confirm the cause of the fight and the case is still under investigation, the NYPD said. CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report.

The video shows people throwing chairs and stanchions . Friday was the grand opening of Fat Tuesday at the casino . Three men have been arrested .


Tripoli, Libya (CNN)It took one Somali woman seven months and 4,000 miles to trek to Libya. From there, she hoped to cross the Mediterranean Sea so her baby could be born in Europe. She didn't get there. She was arrested as she was sailing north and is now one of 350 migrants being held in a facility just outside Tripoli. Other pregnant women fleeing repression have come to Libya -- many fleeing fighting that refuses to stop. They, like male migrants, are willing to risk their lives on crowded boats to make the final part of the trip. The Somali woman's baby, Sabrine, was born a week after she was detained. Libyan officials are in a quandary. The prison head admitted to CNN there is no system in place to send these people home, jail them or let them go. About one-third of the migrants are from Eritrea on the east coast of Africa. They denied they were heading to Europe and told CNN they just want to go home, which is several thousands of miles away. In one sense, they are fortunate, even though the time in prison seems like forever. They are alive. Many others have died when smugglers' ships sink. Bodies wash up on Libyan beaches. They are anonymous -- no IDs, no links to who they were and what was in their past that drove them to try the dangerous trip. In Malta, there are similar stories of death. On Thursday, the bare, stark caskets came in one by one on the shoulders of Maltese soldiers. The tears soon came along with them. That was the scene in a tent outside the Mater Dei Hospital in Valletta, Malta, a chance for citizens and dignitaries to remember 24 of what's thought to be hundreds of migrants killed when their crammed ship sank in the Mediterranean Sea. Almost all the other victims haven't been accounted for yet, with the presumption that their bodies remain trapped inside the 66-foot (20-meter) boat that capsized late Saturday roughly 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Libya. Italian authorities have said that many of the estimated 850 aboard had been locked in the ship's lower levels with no way out. Why I fled: Migrants share their stories . The tragedy has prompted questions about the growing migrant crisis facing Europe, as well as about who is responsible for Saturday's tragedy. The Catania, Italy, prosecutor's office announced Tuesday that the vessel's 27-year-old captain, Mohammed Ali Malek, and crew member Mahmud Bikhit have been arrested on suspicion of "reckless shipwreck, multiple manslaughter (and) abetting clandestine immigration" for their roles in the disaster. Those questions still need to be answered. But Thursday, at least, was a day for reflection -- about lives snuffed out simply because people wanted a better life. "This event reminds us that we are all immigrants and our life is a journey of migration," Imam Mohammed El Sadi said at Thursday's funeral. "Our grandparents Adam and Eve, peace be onto them, emigrated from heaven to earth. We emigrated from our mothers' wombs to this world, and we will immigrate to the graves." The deaths are the latest illustration of the increasing flow of migrants from North Africa and the Middle East through the Mediterranean and into Europe -- assuming they survive the trip. Gemma Parkin, a spokeswoman for Save the Children, said that the number of migrants who have fled to find refuge in Europe has skyrocketed 70% this year over last, a dramatic rise that she attributed mostly to the deteriorating security situation in Libya. About 8% of the recorded migrants between January and April 19 of this year are children, Parkin said. Of those, 70% aren't unaccompanied by adults -- some of them as young as 9 years old. Such numbers represent only people rescued at sea or caught once they reach land. Frontex, the European Union's border management agency, says that many illegal immigrants get through without being detected; moreover, most of them come in legally via airports and then overstay their visas. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reported from Tripoli and CNN's Steve Almasy and Greg Botelho wrote in Atlanta. CNN's Ingrid Formanek in Catania, Italy, contributed to this report.

Migrant women hope to reach Europe so their babies will be born there . Hundreds of arrested migrants are detained in Libya while officials try to figure out what to do . A funeral is held outside a Valletta, Malta, hospital for migrants killed in ship's sinking .


(CNN)A mammoth wave of snow darkens the sky over Everest Base Camp. Appearing like a white mushroom cloud roaring over the climbers, they scurry as their tents flap like feathers in the wind. Then panic hits. "Whoa! Whoa!" Screams and expletives are heard. The few people in the video scatter and dive into a tent as the deluge of snow falls over them. Cursing and breathing heavily, they wait until the pounding is over. After a while, they scream to each other, "Are you all right?" "Are you OK?" The camera jostles back and forth as German climber Jost Kobusch heaves to catch his breath. Nearly 4,000 dead in Nepal earthquake . When they finally emerge from their avalanche ordeal, their faces are scarlet and their bodies crusted in snow. They trudge away, completely dazed and shocked. "The ground was shaking from the earthquake and as soon as we saw people running, we were running ourselves to save our lives," Kobusch wrote in a post on his YouTube video. The harrowing two-minute clip shows the unimaginable scale of the avalanche that smashed into Everest Base Camp on Saturday. At least 17 people have been killed, with dozens injured and several missing -- likely buried beneath the snow and ice. The fates of the climbers and the local hires are one part of the enormous human toll in Nepal from the catastrophic quake that has so far claimed the lives of more than 4,300 people. At least 8,000 people were reported to have suffered injuries. Helicopters brought stranded climbers off the mountain Monday amid growing concern for the groups stuck around 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) high in Camps 1 and 2. The climbers who were higher up Everest appeared to have avoided the deadly avalanche that struck Base Camp, but many -- estimated to be in the hundreds -- could not descend on their own. The climbers can't head down because the dangerous Khumbu Icefall has been ravaged by a series of aftershocks. The aftershocks sent snow and rocks thundering down the mountainside, complicating rescue efforts. Tshering Sherpa, who manages the icefall route, estimated that 100 to 200 people were stuck in the higher camps after the avalanche. "Bottom line, the icefall has been deemed impassable at this point," said Alan Arnette, a climber and Everest blogger who was at Camp 2 when the avalanche struck. He said that climbers at Camp 2 and others higher up would descend to Camp 1 (elevation 19,500 feet) to await helicopters. Arnette was helicoptered down to Base Camp on Monday. Witnesses said three helicopters rescued climbers and Sherpas from Camp 1, taking two people down at a time. Carsten Pedersen, a Danish climber at Base Camp, said that he heard a steady stream of helicopters ferrying people from the mountains back to Base Camp throughout the morning. "They land every 10 minutes here," Pedersen said. "I estimate half the people have been rescued, and it's probably less than 200 people in the mountain this morning. I wouldn't be surprised if 100 people came down already." The window for helicopter rescue was expected to be between 9 a.m. and noon Monday. The helicopter rescues are heavily contingent on the weather. Jim Davidson, a climber on Everest, tweeted that the evacuations were going well. Down at Base Camp, Jamlins Sherpa said he counted about 22 body bags that were to be transported back to their families in Kathmandu. The death toll on Everest is still unclear. In an audio blog recorded from Camp 2, Arnette signed off with this message: "It's important, it's not about mountaineering. This is about the earth and it's a horrible loss of life at Everest Base Camp and down at Kathmandu. "It's a massive loss of life." A member of Arnette's team, Eve Girawong, a medic from New Jersey who worked on the mountain, was killed at Base Camp, according to her family and employer. Several Everest climbing teams have confirmed deaths. Five Nepali staff members were killed at Everest Base Camp and Camp 1, according to Adventure Consultants. It did not identify the staffers. Three Sherpas from the 360 Expeditions team died, the company posted on its Facebook page. Their names were also not revealed. The foreign casualties at Everest Base Camp include Dan Fredinburg, an American executive at Google who died after suffering a major head injury, and Tom Taplin, a documentary filmmaker from California. "He was blown away by the blast rather than being buried in any rubble," Taplin's wife, Corey Freyer, told CNN affiliate KABC. The exact number of dead remains unclear. CNN's Jessica King, Jethro Mullen, journalists Wayne Chang and Naomi Ng contributed to this report.

A YouTube video shows the scale of an avalanche on Mount Everest on Saturday . Eight Nepalis are dead at Everest, but not identified; three Americans are also dead . Helicopter rescues are underway to retrieve climbers stranded on Everest .


(CNN)The University of Florida and Emory University are investigating allegations that Zeta Beta Tau fraternity members disrespected wounded war veterans last weekend at Panama City Beach, Florida, by spitting, urinating and pouring beer on them. "They actually spit on me and my service dog as well, and that's just so disrespectful and it hurts. I come and I feel honored and I feel safe and that I belong, but now I feel like I'm defending myself," wounded veteran Nicholas Connole told CNN affiliate WJHG. "People were urinating off the balconies, throwing up in the elevators, making suggestive and sexual comments about veterans with their service dogs and derogatory and suggestive comments about their wives," said Linda Cope, organizer of the Warrior Beach Retreat. Both the University of Florida and the international office of Zeta Beta Tau are investigating, have apologized to the veterans group and the international office suspended activities for the fraternity chapters at the Florida school at at Emory in Atlanta. The fraternity's executive director, Laurence Bolotin said in a statement that three fraternity members from the University of Florida have been expelled from the group. "While the details of their actions are still under investigation, there is no doubt that some of our members engaged in ugly and unacceptable behavior," Bolotin said. "On behalf of our entire organization, I want to apologize to veterans, both those who were in Panama City Beach, and those who have felt the pain from afar, as well as to their families and all who support the Warrior Beach Retreat and had worked to make it a positive and meaningful occasion for attendees." "I am personally offended and disappointed by the behavior that has been described to me," University of Florida Student Affairs Vice President Dave Kratzer said. "This is not representative of our students or of the university." A reporter for CNN affiliate WFOX went to the University of Florida fraternity house on Friday seeking comment from members. Nobody answered her knock on the door or would talk when she approached them in the parking lot. Do fraternities make men behave badly? Emory University issued a statement saying it was appalled to hear of the disrespectful acts but said "no evidence has been found to implicate Emory students in these reported incidents." Cope said the Wounded Warriors stayed at the same resort where the fraternities were having their spring formal. She said the fraternity members had too much to drink the night of April 17. "We had an American flag flying outside and there was urination coming down from the balconies going onto the flag," she said. "One of the drunk kids pulled a veteran American flag out of the ground and [we] made the boy put it back. This all happened Friday afternoon, through the night, into the late morning." She said the veterans and their families did not retaliate. "These men and women acted like the leaders they are of our country," she said. Cope told WJHG she received an apology letter from the University of Florida president and the president of Zeta Beta Tau at that school. The website for Zeta Beta Tau says it's the the world's first Jewish fraternity and prides itself on being an inclusive organization. In 1989, it became the first fraternity to abolish pledging from its organization, the website said.

The executive director of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity apologizes for "ugly and unacceptable behavior" University of Florida and Emory University fraternity members are being investigated . Wounded veterans, fraternity members stayed at the same resort at Panama City Beach, Florida .


(CNN)It takes a village to raise a triathlete. Since returning home from our kickoff weekend where we got to experience life as a full-time triathlete, I've been juggling training life with a full-time job, hectic commute and time with friends and family. With my Fit Nation teammates spread far and wide, this was a solo effort. Throw in a notorious Chicago winter that refused to go gently into that good night, and I'll admit it: I was not very diligent in getting all of my training done. "Partner up," the Facebook status read. Jae Rockwell, the founder of my local women's fitness groups, Women RUN the World, posted this mantra to help us keep ourselves accountable. And so that's what I did. I'm lucky to count a handful of both experienced and aspiring triathletes among my friends. So, I reached out to them to ask what they were up to. Annastasia W., who's training for her first Ironman half-triathlon this summer, suggested a group brick workout at our local gym. She invited several other women, including complete newbies, through the SoleTri Sisters Facebook group and 10 of us met up on a cold Chicago morning to swim for 15 minutes, bike for 30 minutes and run for 15 minutes. That was great motivation to keep up with my workouts for the next week. A few weeks later, I traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, to run a marathon. I traveled to Little Rock with three phenomenal "fitspirations": Samantha Goga, Natali Villarruel and Umber Rahman -- who are members of an obstacle course race group called the Midwest Vikings. Seeing how much fun they've had participating in some really daunting physical challenges helped me push through some of the more difficult moments of running my first marathon! Swimming remains my weakest link. I just learned to swim last summer. Sometimes I forget that and don't cut myself any slack or recognize how far I've come. Once my formal swim class ended in February I found myself seriously slacking on my swim training. Enter my swim angels, Lovie Twine and Eanista Bailey. They took me out into Lake Michigan last year after my first swim class was complete for a celebratory "swim" (which was really just wading). It was great to have them join me for a swim workout. I appreciated their perspective and gentle coaching. And you know what was happening while I was partnering up? Spring was on the way! And that meant I could finally break free of my Computrainer bike sessions and hit the road. I was lucky enough to connect with the Major Taylor Cycling Club of Chicago (MTC3) for a series of novice rides they've been hosting on local trails around Chicagoland. With two falls behind me (hey, those clips take some getting used to), we got in nearly 23 miles and a new addiction was born. Riding outside with the wind whipping your face, chasing your friends and breathing fresh air is exhilarating and I'm looking forward to many more rides outdoors. I want to say thank you to the fellowship of fitness that I've been lucky enough to find. There are so many others we keep me inspired, accountable and motivated. I'm so grateful that they keep me moving in the right direction and I hope that I can help others do the same. So when times get tough, partner up!

Working out in a group of friends inspired Fit Nation participant Erica Moore .


(CNN)After more than nine years of traveling through the solar system, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has sent back its first color image of Pluto. The initial picture released on Tuesday shows a couple of orange-tinged blobs: Pluto and its largest moon, Charon. But the probe will soon be beaming back much sharper images and a wealth of other information about Pluto's remote, unexplored corner of the solar system. "This is pure exploration; we're going to turn points of light into a planet and a system of moons before your eyes," said Alan Stern, New Horizons' principal investigator. Launched in 2006, New Horizons is nearing the crucial point in its epic voyage of more than 3 billion miles. The probe is due to make its closest approach to Pluto on July 14. "In an unprecedented flyby this July, our knowledge of what the Pluto system is really like will expand exponentially, and I have no doubt there will be exciting discoveries," said John Grunsfeld, an astronaut and associate administrator of the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Discovered in 1930, Pluto was once considered to be the smallest planet in the solar system. But scientists have since revised that view because of Pluto's size and location, demoting it to the status of "dwarf planet": a planet that's too small to clear other objects out of its way. Pluto is 1,400 miles wide, roughly half the width of the continental United States. At 3.6 billion miles out in the solar system, it's about 40 times as far from the sun as Earth is. By discovering more about Pluto and its moons, New Horizons will shed light on a little-known third zone of the solar system, beyond the rocky planets and the gas giants. The area, known as the Kuiper Belt, contains "mysterious small planets and planetary building blocks," according to NASA. It's known for producing comets, such as Halley's Comet, which orbits the sun about every 75 years. New Horizons will use its array of cameras and other instruments to study Pluto's surface and atmosphere, as well as its moons, which number at least five. It will also be on the lookout for rings and other satellites. Stern said the spacecraft's encounter was set to be "an exploration bonanza unparalleled in anticipation since the storied missions of Voyager in the 1980s."

The New Horizons spacecraft captures image of Pluto and its largest moon . It's set to reveal new details as it nears the remote area of the solar system .


(CNN)There is a special kind of hell reserved for the women who fall into the clutches of today's Jihadi fighters. We are all familiar with the brutality of ISIS, the self-anointed Islamic State, or Boko Haram, the Nigerian terrorists who have pledged allegiance to ISIS. This new wave of violent Islamist groups proudly brandishes medieval methods of cruelty through modern technology as a tool of recruitment and intimidation. But there is something very different about the way they treat women. The jihadi chiefs have a strategy beyond the battlefield. Their treatment of their female victims plays an important part in their ambitious radical strategy. Killing the enemy, the men, is a tactic for winning battles and conquering territory. What they do to women has an altogether different purpose: It is part of the larger plan of building a "caliphate," a Sharia-ruled state complete with controls and norms harking back to the seventh century or, rather, to the group's interpretation of life in the early days of Islam. Yazidi girls who slipped ISIS after its siege of Mount Sinjar describe how they were sent to slave warehouses along with hundreds of other women. There, they were lined up in groups of 50 and displayed for ISIS fighters to choose among them, some for marriage, others for sexual slavery. The stories told to journalists or to human rights workers are confirmed by doctors who have examined the girls and say they have found evidence of repeated sexual assault. An investigation by Human Rights Watch found  "a system of organized rape and sexual assault, sexual slavery, and forced marriage by ISIS forces," actions that the group says "are war crimes and may be crimes against humanity." In Nigeria, Boko Haram also has a very specific approach to women. The 276 students kidnapped one year ago make up a small portion of the 2,000 women and girls kidnapped by the group since 2014, according to  Amnesty International. There, too, women captives move from house to house and village to village, forced to convert when they are not Muslim, and prepare for marriage to jihadis. It's a stark change from the previous generation of jihadis, when Osama bin Laden headed al Qaeda. Women were not a big part of al Qaeda's immediate plans because al Qaeda, unlike ISIS, viewed the establishment of a caliphate as a distant goal, one for future generations. In contrast, ISIS is actively engaged in building those social structures. And if you want to build a new society, you need more than soldiers. You also need women. Women are indispensable for establishing a functioning community, even one whose laws are brutally repressive. Even if women are viewed as the property of men, they are still needed, not just for cooking, cleaning and sex, but to keep the home and raise children; hence the methodical capture, assault and subjugation. It is no accident that Boko Haram has targeted students, as it did in Chibok, or that Somalia's Al-Shabaab Islamists killed scores of women in the massacre at Kenya's Garissa University in Kenya. As in previous conflicts, women are spoils of war and rape is a weapon of war. It is a way to humiliate the enemy, a "reward" for soldiers and a tactic of ethnic cleansing. During the Bosnian war of the 1990s, experts said Serbian soldiers engaged in systematic rape, thinking the babies of raped Bosnian Muslim women would be Serbian. In Darfur, government-backed militias were accused of using mass rape to humiliate the non-Arab groups. But this is different. The women are not simply abused and discarded. ISIS and Boko Haram are enslaving them and incorporating them into the daily life of territories they rule, subjecting them to asphyxiating restrictions and abuses that have caused many of them to attempt suicide, according to some of those who escaped -- a phenomenon reminiscent of Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban, another radical Islamic group that managed to take control and impose unspeakable rules for women. ISIS is going to great lengths to prove how its treatment of women, including the selling of Yazidi prisoners as slaves, is in keeping with Islamic law. Its online magazine cites Islamic writings proclaiming: "We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women, by the permission of Allah." The worst fate is reserved for non-Muslims, such as Yazidis, but Muslim women in areas seized by Islamists have seen disaster. From Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, a modern town until ISIS conquered it last year, women say, "They have withheld all freedoms from us" and describe oppressive, fear-filled lives. The brutality of the new jihadis is more than mere sadism. If it is madness, it is madness with a method. And when it comes to women, the method is one that aims to control them as a way to establish the society they envision, one where some women say life is simply not worth living.

Frida Ghitis: ISIS and other jihadi groups see women as crucial in role of caliphate they want to create . She says the groups want to enslave women, tie them to a long outdated view of how society should work .


St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands (CNN)Government officials are trying to track down vacationers who stayed at villas in the Virgin Islands who may have been exposed to a deadly pesticide. Local officials said methyl bromide is suspected to have been used improperly several times in the U.S. Virgin Islands, in different parts of the island; even the governor said his condominium complex was fumigated with it in 2013, without his knowledge. Investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what happened at the Sirenusa resort, where a Delaware family's vacation in paradise turned into a nightmare. Theresa Devine and Steve Esmond and their two children fell gravely ill and suffered seizures; two brothers, ages 14 and 16, remain in comas. But this was likely not an isolated incident. Local authorities here tell CNN there is evidence methyl bromide was used at least twice at the gated Sirenusa resort on St. John by the pest control company Terminix.  They also say Terminix used the pesticide across the islands on different occasions. Dawn Henry, the commissioner designee of the local Department of Planning and Natural Resources, or DPNR, said that while investigating what happened, the agency found methyl bromide was likely also used last fall at the same Sirenusa resort, as well as in a vacation villa in St. Croix and in two nontourist locations. Methyl bromide is banned from indoor use, and is only approved as an agricultural pesticide. Other pest control companies on the Virgin Islands were found in possession of methyl bromide and officials said they are checking records to see whether it was used improperly. Ken Mapp, the governor of the Virgin Islands, said it was. "What these companies did or appear to have been doing is clearly a violation of the law and they'll be held accountable for it,"  Mapp said. He said he learned his own complex was fumigated with methyl bromide in 2013, but said there have been no additional reports of people falling ill. Authorities are trying to track down anyone who has stayed at the affected villas or who might have been exposed. Family slowly recovering from illness after Virgin Islands trip . Terminix issued a statement saying it is "committed to performing all work ... in a manner that is safe for our customers, employees, the public and the environment" and is "looking into this matter internally, and cooperating with authorities." When CNN visited the Terminix office on St. Thomas, which is corporate-owned, an employee refused to comment, and another employee closed the door. Henry said all canisters of methyl bromide known to exist in the area have been confiscated and will be shipped off-island for destruction as soon as possible. In the meantime, an attorney for Esmond and Devine said the family is still struggling. The two teenage boys remain in comas. Their father has regained consciousness and is slowly getting better. Devine is in better condition and is undergoing occupational therapy. DPNR, the local environmental agency, already had been under scrutiny. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has oversight, designated it "high risk," saying the agency "does not meet management standards." The EPA's inspector general is also investigating. According to the Department of Justice, a former commissioner and two DPNR directors have been sentenced to jail terms since 2008. That year, Dean C. Plaskett  was sentenced to nine years for receiving kickbacks in awarding local government contracts. In 2014, Roberto Tapia, the Justice Department said, pleaded guilty to using his position to engage in illegal drug trafficking while he was head of that same agency.  He was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison. In January, Mapp was sworn in and appointed Henry as a new designee to run the department, so it is under a new administration. A spokeswoman for the EPA said the DPNR has been cooperative in this investigation. She added that none of the troubles the agency has had are directly related to pesticide enforcement, but instead general practices. Mapp said the agency's problems have nothing to do with what happened to the Devine and Esmond's family. Instead, he blames the pesticide companies. "It occurred because someone was cutting corners, thought they could enhance their profit margin and thought they could get away with it, and apparently in my own residence someone had been getting away with it for quite some time," Mapp said. Part of the investigation, he said, will be tracking whether the proper paperwork was filled out when the canisters were ordered, or if the pesticide was smuggled in. The Department of Justice is also investigating. "If they purchased it and on these forms they said their use was for agriculture purposes, which is the only legal way they could use it, and then brought them into the territory and used them in commercial and residential buildings, that's a clear and malice violation of the law," Mapp said.

Methyl bromide is suspected to have been used improperly several times in the U.S. Virgin Islands, local officials say . Teen brothers exposed to the pesticide while on vacation are both in comas; parents are recovering .


(CNN)About 150,000 years ago -- give or take 20,000 -- a guy fell into a well. Last month he made science history. The Altamura Man became the oldest Neanderthal to have his DNA extracted by researchers. It took them more than 20 years to get around to doing it. Scientists in southern Italy have known about him since 1993, when spelunkers spied his skull staring blankly back at them from its nook in the Lamalunga cave, deep under the town of Altamura. The cave explorers told researchers at the University of Bari what they'd found, according to their report published in March in the Journal of Human Evolution and Phys.org. Altamura Man's intact skull and jumbled pile of bones made for a great specimen, but they were wedged into a panoply of stalactites and stony globules deposited by water dripping over them for tens of thousands of years. Researchers decided not to rescue the bones for fear that trying to ease them out of the cave's calcified grip would shatter them and ruin Altamura Man. So, they left him forever a cave man. Calcite pebbles line the Neanderthal's eye sockets, nose bone and an upper jaw like a hundred decorative piercings. Analysis of the calcite has shown the bones to be 128,000 to 187,000 years old. Scientists believe Altamura Man wound up in the cave at least that long ago after falling into a prehistoric well, then died in the caverns at its bottom of thirst or hunger. Recently, researchers made an exception, and toted off a chip from his right shoulder blade to the lab. Metrics taken of his skeleton confirm Altamura Man was a Homo neanderthalensis. He will spend perhaps endless eons glaring silently out of his cranny in the world's most secluded spot, or, as Altamura's archeological museum describes it, "in the corner of a small cavity situated between the ground and the back wall." The scientists hope they will be able to sequence his DNA, to find out more about the evolution of all hominids -- including us. And to hear some of Altamura Man's story about life in Neanderthals' early days in Europe, before he happened to stumble into that darned hole.

Scientists in southern Italy have known about him since 1993 . Researchers worried that rescuing the bones would shatter them .


(CNN)It's easy to be anxious about the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. After all, this is a brutal organization that not only kills but seems to revel in doing so in ways designed to shock the world -- from the beheadings of journalists to burning a Jordanian pilot alive. Such moves are part of this murky group's propaganda and its deliberate efforts to manipulate information. So what can and should we make of the organization? I explore the issue in depth in a special airing Sunday night. And although it's important to start with the caveat that ISIS is indeed trying to scare and confuse us, I took away some tentative lessons from speaking with the people who have traveled inside the minds of ISIS. First, ISIS is clearly about religion -- its version of radical Islam -- but it is also about power. There is increasing evidence that the military backbone of ISIS is made up not by a group of Islamic zealots, but rather high-ranking officers from Saddam Hussein's army -- Baathists who were at least ostensibly secular. An internal ISIS report detailing its organizational structure was reported on last week in the German weekly Der Spiegel. That report describes a group that uses its religious ideology as a recruiting and governing philosophy, much like communism. But underneath it, much like communism, is simply a drive for control, a lust for power. Next, ISIS presents itself as a global organization, but it has thrived because of a local cause. The group has gained territory, cash and recruits primarily because of the rage and rebellion of the Sunnis of Iraq and Syria, who believe they must fight the Shiites to secure their own survival and strength. The reality is that that Sunni cause is going to endure for some time. The United States has been successful in its tactical battles against ISIS and has managed to push the group back from many of its gains in Iraq. But the Sunnis of the region will remain in rebellion and the Sunni-dominated areas will remain in turmoil -- chaos that ISIS will be able to capitalize on this chaos. In the long run, ISIS might very well find that its greatest foes lie within its so-called Caliphate. The few reports that are emerging from areas controlled by ISIS suggest that, unsurprisingly, people do not like living under a brutal, theocratic dictatorship. They live in fear, and even those who chose it as an alternative to Shiite rule are growing disenchanted. In this respect, ISIS is like other radical Islamic groups, such as the Taliban -- they have an allure in the abstract, but once they are actually governing in their medieval, barbarous manner, the allure fades and the disenchantment builds. The result is ever-increasing repression. Remember, no one has ever voted ISIS into power anywhere. The group simply slaughters its way to control. Of course, one of the big questions has been: Is ISIS a threat to the West? The group's leaders declare that it is. But their ambitions appear to be mostly centered on their Arab enemies, on building a caliphate in Iraq and Syria. They understand, of course, that to be Terror Group No. 1, they must battle the country that is the world's No. 1 power -- the United States. With that in mind, they seek such a confrontation and hope that the United States will come to the Middle East and fight them on their terms, on their terrain. Still, while they are opportunists, and they ask and hope that their followers act in America, their main focus is not to come here -- they want Americans to go there. Yet no matter how one rates the level of the threat ISIS poses, the group has changed the nature of terror. The leaders of ISIS have recognized that above all, they are a messaging machine, which in turn becomes a recruitment machine. This means that the key is not what happens on the ground, but on the airwaves and in the bits and bytes of the Internet. And ISIS does this better than anyone before them because while their gruesome videos would seem a repulsive turn-off -- and are to most -- they still work on the web. The shock and awe they produce makes them go viral, and thus are seen by tens of millions. That ensures that these videos attract those utterly alienated young men -- a few thousand among the world's 1.6 billion Muslims -- who seek revenge, glory and gore. Unfortunately, as long as those young Muslim men, scattered across the globe, are attracted to ISIS and stream to its cause, the group presents the world with a danger that is impossible to fully assess but is one that grows by the month.

Fareed Zakaria: ISIS has thrived because of a local Sunni cause in Syria and Iraq . Leaders of ISIS have recognized they are a messaging machine, he says .


(CNN)Pope Francis will visit Cuba on his way to the United States in September, the Vatican said Wednesday -- a trip that will come months after he helped negotiate a diplomatic thaw between the two countries. The exact timing of the Cuba trip wasn't immediately released, but the Vatican said the Pope would stop in Cuba before his planned late September stops in Washington, New York and Philadelphia. In Havana's Cathedral Square, people reacted joyously to the news. "The Pope coming here, maybe he could ... make more positive ways for Cubans to go towards religion, more than politics," said Raul Garcia, a Cuban-American who returned to the island. "I think it's going to be a very good visit, very beneficial for the country." "We are waiting for him. We're very happy he is coming," said Ulises, a man who sells brightly colored paintings of antique cars to tourists on the street next to the sprawling Havana Cathedral. "He should come and get to know it and walk around the pretty spots in Havana." Cuba's state-run television reported that Francis would visit, but like the Vatican did not report exactly when he would arrive. Francis, the first pope from Latin America, played a role in restarting diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, earning praise from both U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro. The Pope made personal pleas to Obama and Cuban leaders in private letters, writing that the two nations should try to reset their relations after decades of friction. The Vatican also hosted talks between U.S. and Cuban delegations in October, where they hashed out aspects of a new trade policy and discussed the release of jailed American contractor Alan Gross, who was freed as part of the detente between the two countries. "I want to thank His Holiness, Pope Francis, whose moral example shows us the importance of pursuing the world as it should be, rather than simply settling for the world as it is," Obama said in December as he announced a U.S. policy shift on Cuba. Since his election in 2013, Pope Francis has displayed a deep interest in international affairs. He repeatedly urged Western leaders not to bomb Syria, hosted a prayer service between Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the Vatican and waded into diplomatic controversy last week by referring to the killing of 1.5 million Armenians a century ago as a "genocide." The latter move deeply upset Turkish leaders, who recalled their Vatican ambassador. The Pope is expected to continue his international activism in July with a trip to South America, where he will visit Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. In late September, Francis will visit Washington, where he will address Congress; New York, where he will address the U.N. General Assembly; and Philadelphia, where he will celebrate a public Mass that's expected to draw more than 1 million people. Francis will be the third consecutive leader of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Cuba. St. John Paul II stopped there for several days in 1998, and Pope Benedict XVI visited for three days in 2012. Church officials in Havana said that they expect Francis' visit to be shorter than those of his predecessors. Officials from the Vatican are expected to travel to the island soon to finalize logistics for Francis' trip, the officials said . CNN's Patrick Oppmann reported from Havana. CNN's Jason Hanna wrote in Atlanta. CNN's Hada Messia contributed to this report from Rome.

Trip will come before Pope Francis arrives in United States . Francis played key role in re-establishing diplomatic ties between Cuba and U.S.